Frequently Asked Questions

What is Exposed?
What if my streaming player is not working or videos are pausing?
What is a ProPatterns Journal?
How does a ProPatterns Journal work?
Why must I make separate posts anytime something changes?
I only fish a few times a year. Should I Journal my fish?
How can a professional fisherman or guide benefit from Journaling fish?
What if the lake or species, or type of fishing I desire does not exist?

What is Exposed?

The Exposed project started with a concept the old fashion way, over dinner with Tim Horton and ProPatterns President, Chad Ekroth.   Tim's ideas coupled with ProPattern's educational services and online presence were the foundation for this project.   With relentless planning it's evolved into the video series being offered today.

No where has there ever been a fishing video series of this magnitude with so many professionals working together to deliver the best education possible.   This is fishing reality on steriods as the anglers let us into their boats during their practice days and in cases like B.A.S.S., FLW, PAA and others, a finite number of days called official practice which are the only days they can be on the water before the event.   These videos are unscripted and unrehearsed, and you will see no double takes or staged highlights.   The anglers are their own hosts with insights provided by Tim and others, you will see a different side of the anglers versus almost every other show you've seen them in before.

The delivery methods of online on demand are also new to the angling world, ProPatterns has pioneered this format and made it possible in part due to the evolution of technology and ability for delivery to almost every end of the earth.   Watching these videos at your leisure in almost any setting is a luxury ProPatterns is proud to be a part of.
 

What if my streaming player is not working or videos are pausing?

The Exposed videos are available through a streaming interface at this site and now DVDs.   The resolution of some of our streaming videos including all of Season 1 and first half of Season 2 are extremely high, this results in a bigger file size and requirements to watch the videos without interruption.   Most of our viewers have no issues at all.

If you are experiencing any sort of delay or pause in your video stream be sure to try some of the following suggestions.

• - A hard wired internet connection provides the most reliable connectivety to our video server, and will offer the best streaming environment to view in
• - This is a sample MP4 video stream from the third party player we use, are you able to view this SAMPLE, if this is not working check to make sure FLASH is installed on your device.
• - Different browsers handle video streaming different, free browsers such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have been used to resolve some of our viewers issues
• - Some mobile devices including Apple have had issues viewing the FLASH stream depending on the version, quality may be hampered but this browser has been known to fix Apple issues Photon
• - Firewalls and Security software may prevent or slow down streaming
• - Watching a Youtube video and trying to watch one of our videos is not the same, the resolution is significantly different, try watching an on demand video from a premier network as a more fair comparison for testing of your connection
• - Pausing is a result of the video player getting ahead of the stream being sent.   This is usually a result of slow connections, intermittent connections, or environment variables such as hardware and software which are outdated.  
• - Try your viewing on a different device.   If you are at work or home and there is another device available, you can quickly check to see if your connectivity is an issue by trying your account through another device in that location.   Or, call a friend and have them try your account.
• - Try a different video, make sure the video you purchased is not the issue, the second half of Season 2 is formatted differently and may stream faster than Season 1, in some cases.
• - If one video is working and another is not try a hard refresh of your browser to clear out the cache, for most it is a CTRL-F5 key sequence.

Whatever your issue please contact us if you are having viewing issues which you cannot resolve.   We will make all attempts to offer further viewing solutions to make your experience more enjoyable.
 

What is a ProPattern’s Journal?

ProPatterns Journals are a database designed to allow anglers like you to input your fish catches and search through your information. In addition to your own information, information from the ProPatterns Pro Team and other ProPattern members can be searched to get the best results for catching the fish of your choice.
 
We have identified nearly 40 popular fish species in order to cater to all types of anglers, and although our current Pro Team members are currently ESPN/BASS Elite Series bass fishermen there are absolutely no restrictions on the types of fish, location of lakes, or fishing gear that can be added or modified to suite our most unique angler.

ProPatterns has the most in-depth information including lure type, color, water temperature, air temperature, structure, depth to fish, time of day and many more useful criteria designed to increase your productivity on the water. When you journal you can include your own comments such as the secret cove where you caught the fish or who was fishing with you, personal GPS coordinates (that only you can view) and other information that other members will not be able to view unless you allow them to. Ultimately you can search your own Journaled data, or you can search the vast collection of other member’s data including that of our Pro Team.

New to the journals are the enhanced contour maps for several of our most popular lakes, these maps allow interaction and integration of your journal entries.  The maps offer yet another visual way to educate yourself about the layout of a lake and way to apply your acquired wisdom.

Register today and experiment with the searching and journaling options available. Experience the power of our searches by first using the required criteria and then expand your options. The same is true for journaling your own records. Entering as much data as possible will keep your journal more accurate. When you choose to post a record to the public database, we encourage information you enter be as complete as possible. Your experiences and journaling will be a reflection of the membership as a whole and accuracy of the ProPatterns service.

How does a ProPattern’s Journal work?

A ProPattern's Journal is a recorded entry of actual fish caught and conditions present during an fishing adventure by our Pro Team and other members. In order to be accurate, we suggest a different post for each criteria that differs like time periods in a day when using that particular lure. For instance, if you catch 5 fish on the same lure and 2 of them were caught from 9:00AM to 12:00PM and 3 were caught from 12:00PM to 3:00PM, you should make a separate entry for the 2 time periods. If you incorrectly posted all your fish in the 9:00AM to 12:00PM time period, the ProPattern's Journal will not be able to figure in the fish caught in the 12:00PM to 3:00PM time period.

Fortunately when entering data in this manner, the Fisherman's Journal will remember all the details so you won't have to enter everything again. As mentioned above when you enter the 2 fish for the 9:00AM-12:00PM period, your next post will remember previous entries and you will only need to enter conditions that changed since the previous period (most likely the time period, wind speed, & air temp). You may lump multiple fish together when caught on the same bait provided all of the other details remain the same. If you catch several fish on the same bait in the same hour, you may choose to enter an average weight. Since most of the details don't change it doesn't take very long to Journal a full day fishing trip. You should be able to accurately record a full day's catch in less than 10-15 minutes, even if you have a 50 fish day.

Why must I make separate posts anytime something changes?

A database is only as good as the data that is in it. It may be easier to lump a whole days' catch in a single entry, but then the database would not have a way of distinguishing between different time periods and patterns. If we lumped them in a single entry, it would be no better than a paper journal and would prohibit the freedom to search. The ProPattern's Journal is designed to search all the Journaled data to determine what lure, color, depth to fish, rod type, line weight, technique and other useful tips and strategies you should use for the conditions you are fishing. I.E.: time periods, water clarity, water depth, cover, structure, etc..

Imagine for example a database with thousands of bass caught on spinnerbaits without any detail, would this really be of any value? For every fish record we include the important details such as blade combination, blade color, brand, lure weight, skirt color, trailer, water type, time of day, date, cloud cover, water temp, water clarity, depth, cover, structure, etc. With that degree of detail we can get a spinnerbait matrix that will tell us exactly which type of spinnerbait combinations catch the most and biggest fish under each condition. We can also determine the best choices of depth, cover, and structure for the given time of day and seasonal pattern which makes the matrix even more complex. We provide this same type of matrix not just for spinnerbaits but for every type of lure and associated criteria available on our site.

I only fish a few times a year. Should I Journal my fish?

If you feel comfortable that you have a pattern that is valuable to others, it may be recommended you post to the general database. If not, we still recommend you logging data in your personal journal for future use.

How can a professional fisherman or guide benefit from Journaling fish?

A professional fisherman and guide will both benefit tremendously by Journaling data. With the ability to Journal personal data and keep records of a favorite lake, a guide or professional will be able to quickly recall what works on their lake. Many professionals and guides have GPS coordinates and way points already stored on their depth finder. However they may not remember the specific techniques or lures they used to catch fish the last time they were there and the conditions could be drastically different making their previous information obsolete. With ProPatterns wealth of information and detailed data, a Professional and guide can recall their information quickly and greatly increase their chances of catching fish and saving valuable time and energy.

What if the lake or species, or type of fishing I desire does not exist?

If there is a specific body of water, or species of fish you would like to add to the list for your personal preferences just make a request and we will put it on the list. Or, if you have a style of fishing we have not yet addressed, we are willing to entertain the option of adding it. We want to keep our database clean from private ponds, fishing slang, and other unrecognized record types. A simple request for a specific item will more often than not result in the item you need. We are willing to structure this site to fit the needs of many.