Rethinking Everything: The BBZ's Explosive Take on "Location, Location, Location"

BBZ Exclusive

If you were ever in the market to buy a new home, the mantra you’d always hear is "location, location, location." Real estate agents will explain this in terms of proximity to freeways, schools, workplaces, and the quality of the neighborhood. In essence, location is paramount because it is the single greatest determinant of value for an individual's specific needs.

Now, fast forward to the fishing world. We hear the exact same quote thrown around constantly. But does "location, location, location" hold the same weight in fishing as it does in real estate?

The answer is a resounding yes. But for decades, the fishing world has largely failed to explain what it actually means. Today, we’re breaking down this cryptic system within the world of "fishing real estate" and the mindset of the BBZ.

A Shot Across the Bow: Why the Old Saying Falls Short

This is a direct shot at every angler and TV personality who has ever used this quote as a piece of advice: most of them don't get it.

Telling someone, "You must find the location, location, location to catch a bass," might sound cool, but it’s an empty statement. It’s the kind of vague advice that leaves you hanging and is the core problem with modern bass fishing instruction. It identifies the what but completely ignores the how.

Okay, brace yourself. The real meaning is devastatingly simple, yet it's almost universally misunderstood. In the BBZ, "Location, Location, Location" (LLL) isn't one thing repeated three times for emphasis. It’s a three-step hierarchy—a tactical sequence that, when followed, funnels fish into your lap.

Location

1. The First Location: The Structure Element
This is your starting point—the macro-scale geography of the lake bottom. These are the classic features: points, humps, ridges, creek channels, and flats. These are the highways and cities of the underwater world. While their importance shifts with the seasons, identifying them is your non-negotiable first step. (And yes, this absolutely includes other key features like bowls, bays, washes, ledges, and constrictions).

Strike Zone

2. The Second Location: The Strike Zone
Now, you use your electronics and your eyes to find the precise depth and position where the fish are holding within that structure. Are they on the Top, Middle, or Bottom (TMB) of the water column? Are they suspended over the creek channel, glued to the bottom of the hump, or roaming the flat? This seems simple, yet countless anglers fail to make this critical distinction, fishing around fish instead of to them.

Your Position

3. The Third Location: YOUR Position (The Game Changer)
This is the final key that unlocks the door you’ve been pounding on for years. This is the piece of the puzzle almost everyone misses. The third Location is the place you make your stand.

It is the position you place your boat and the angle from which you retrieve your lure. This determines the path your "tool" takes as it crosses into the fish's domain. Your location creates a funnel into a "commitment zone," presenting your lure in a way that triggers an instinctive strike. Whether you're on the shore, working a trolling motor, deploying Power-Poles, or drifting with the wind, YOUR location is the final, critical element that brings the entire LLL system into perfect harmony. It’s what plugs you directly into the heart of the Big Bass Zone.

Pulling It All Together: The Four Actors in the Fishing Drama

If you’ve followed so far, you understand the basic LLL sequence. But to truly master it, you need to see the whole chessboard. In every fishing scenario, there are four actors, and each has its own LLL.

  • The Predator (The Bass): The bass has its own LLL—a specific spot within a spot where it feels safe, has an ambush advantage, and can conserve energy. This is its "office."

  • The Natural Prey (Shad, Bluegill, Crawdads, etc.): The prey has its own LLL, which is strategically chosen to avoid the predator. It’s the zone where they feel safe from attack. Their entire existence is about staying beyond the reach of the bass.

  • YOU (The Angler): You have your LLL, as defined in the three steps above. Your position relative to the predator and the prey is everything.

  • Your Artificial Prey (The Lure): This is the fourth, and most crucial, LLL that you control. It’s the specific path and depth within which you place your lure.

The explosion happens—the KABOOM—when these four LLLs align. When your lure's LLL convincingly mimics the natural prey's LLL and crosses directly through the predator's LLL, the bass has no choice but to strike.

But here’s the advanced BBZ secret: you can use your LLL to become a director of this underwater drama. By positioning your boat and presenting your lure strategically, you can push, herd, or tempt the natural prey's LLL directly into the predator's LLL. You can trigger a feeding frenzy that would never have happened otherwise. You are no longer just an observer; you are the catalyst.

Once you understand the dynamics of these four interacting zones, you can orchestrate this chain of events all day long. You’re not just finding fish; you’re controlling them.

That's enough explosive information for now. Hopefully, "Location, Location, Location" means infinitely more to you than it did just a few minutes ago.

I'm Bill Siemantel, and we're keepin' it in the BBZ.

 

Bill Siemantel