Breaks on Breaks

"Breaks On The Break (1972)"

If you were a structure fisherman back in the day, you no doubt knew about a ‘break on a breakline,’ later known as a ‘spot on a spot.’ Carl Malz offered up this illustration and important points in a 1972 article, “For Real Success - Fish The Breaks.’

📚 Each month we have a page in Fishing Facts called "Fishing Talk - Our Language of Structure Fishing".

➡️ A breakline is defined as "A line on structure where there is a definite increase in depth, either sudden or gradual; weedline, brushline; edge of a channel or holes; where two bodies of water, deeper vs. shallower, meet...etc." 

➡️ A break is defined as "Where structure is no longer uniform due to dips, or a quick drop in depth; rocks, stumps, etc."

📚What is it that helps make these great fishermen so great? One of the major reasons is their ABILITY TO INTERPRET THE "BREAKS ON THE BREAK."

✅ First let's start with some examples of typical underwater objects that could be called breaks. A rock pile, a brush pile, a sunken tree, a sunken boat, a hard spot surrounded by mud, sunken cribs, an under water hump or depression, an old hot water heater, a six pack of beer or pop, a pair of old rubber boots, a pile of broken glass or (as you have probably already surmised) anything else that can be seen by the fish and used to guide them when they move, or any object that could be used to pause or hold the school.

✅ To further illustrate the point, let's take that old hot water tank and drag it away from the rock pile toward deeper water and closer to the "home" area. The large rock pile would be fairly easy to locate. Anyone with a depth finder could accomplish this. But now we have moved the hot water heater closer to the home area and created a deeper break away from the rock pile.

💯 The man who only fishes the rock pile would believe he had found the hot spot. The more knowledgeable fisherman would not quit at that point. He would continue to search for the breaks that the school would use to arrive at the rock pile.

✅ So when we find a structure which produces fish, we must always be thinking in terms of, "How did the fish get there? What breaks did they use to arrive at that point? Where did they come from? Are there deeper breaks than the one I am fishing that might hold the school? If so, can I reach it or is it too deep to present my lures? Have I really taken the time to look for that small detail on the structure or breakline that could be termed a break on the breakline' or 'a break on a break'?"

Carl Malz, Fishing Facts, 1972

 Repeat: always ask, "How did the fish arrive at the point where I caught them?"

Then seek the answer.