At the beginning of 2008 bass season, Davis was contemplating turning full time pro and kept oscillating back and forth with the idea, but when his mother suffered a stroke, it made him realizing just how short life can be. He always loved bass fishing and he did not want to come to the end of his life and wonder if he could I have made it as a full time pro angler.

“The reason I had such a successful year was I had more time on the water,” said Davis. “When you have more time on the water you practice smart and it allows you to look for new areas and not keep going back to the same old spots. By spending more time on the water, you are able to adjust quickly when things start falling apart during a tournament, make the right adjustments at the right time, and have back up patterns. Another key to my success this year was I didn’t have to worry about money and kept it fun and exciting.”

“I’ve never put more effort or work into a job,” said Big Jim Davis. “This tournament fishing job can be very frustrating and rewarding at times. Any other job that I have worked, when you got to a certain level and got it, you got it. Bass fishing can be very humbling, just when you thought you have figured it out, it changes and you better be able to change and adjust.”

Davis was always known for being an excellent finesse angler. But when the reaction bait crazy was in its heyday and the big swim baits were winning tournaments, he got caught up in it and lived and died with these baits in the tournaments. This past season he didn’t get caught up in it and made the adjustments to change to the smaller finesse baits when needed.

Changing his game plan was another reason for success this year. Big Jim’s strategy was don’t start out looking for a limit, go for the bass that will win the tournament and then because of good pre-fishing , if needed, he could fill in the rest of his limit with keeper bass. As the famous Gary Dobyns the all time WON BASS money winner would say, “Don’t fish chicken.”

On the WON BASS tournament trail this year, Davis was successful across the board. The Delta and Lake Shasta were the bodies of water that brought the most success. He hadn’t cashed a check in 3 years on the Delta and this year he was successful on the WON BASS and the FLW circuit. Shasta in the fall was always a good money tournament for him because it’s always a finesse bite that time of year. This year that streak continued and he cashed checks in both WON BASS and Stren tournaments to start of the season with confidence and gain momentum.

If Davis only had 3 rods on the deck of his boat, they would be rigged with a drop-shot, crank bait, and swim bait. When he pre-fishes, he starts in areas of the lake where he has had past success and will stick only a couple bass in each area. Time of the year is of course important and every lake will produce in certain areas at different times of the year. The first thing Davis will establish in practice is a pattern. After he has a solid pattern he will expand the pattern into different structures throughout the lake.

All the bait’s that Big Jim throws is tweaked, tuned, and all the hooks are changed to premium hooks. His swim baits are scented only if the bass are not holding on to the baits or punching the bait. All his swim baits have stinger hooks on the bottom back half of the bait, for when the bass are just punching the bait or short striking.

All crank bait hooks are changed and the baits are tuned to run straight. When throwing crank baits he likes using a thin hook with a sharp point so he doesn’t have to use a hard hook set. Anglers with a soft steady hook set will get the proper set and not pull the hooks out of their mouth with the thin sharp hooks. Spinner baits also have trailer hooks or stinger hooks for short strikes. When he uses a spinner bait with a tail, he likes to attach a curly tail grub for a little more vibration and flash.

Davis had these tips for up and coming anglers. Don’t force the bass to eat the bait you are presenting. Find the pattern and present the baits the way the bass want to feed. Before an angler turns touring pro, have all his financial ducks in a row, spend as much time on the water as possible, so you have that six sense and experience on the water to make the necessary changes at the right time, and if you have the confidence go for it.

Article by Bill Mays