You can lead fishermen to big-bass water, but you can't make them think. Everyone wants the tip, the tactic, the inside deal to angling success - but it isn't that easy. Big bass or otherwise, your success hinges on acquiring - and understanding - a compendium of knowledge. Whether these are tidbits or big-picture strategies, they're all pieces of a much larger and more intricate puzzle.

No big-bass system – no new program for consistently catching big fish – can rest itself on false assumptions. Therefore, we continue our effort to convince readers they need to rethink their entire approach to catching big fish. Here are some common beliefs in the current fishing pantheon, followed by our opinions of them.

Mike Lucchesi of Elk Grove, CA wrote: Interesting reading and cleverly written, but completely lacking substance. Tips? Tactics? How big bass relate and react to seasonal changes vs. school fish? Couldn't find any of that, which was disappointing. Would have loved to have seen Mr. Siemantel's brain picked more for that type of information.

Anyone who has ever picked up a rod has done so with one thought: To catch a big one. While this intent may be refined, reworked or seemingly tossed aside from time to time, there exists in every angler a lingering thought that the next cast might produce a big fish.

In the previous column, we began a list of some popular notions about big bass behavior. While each contains an element of truth, these angling maxims often do more to lead a fisherman away from success than toward it. Instead of providing clues to better tactics and strategies, they deliver handy excuses for failure.