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Sometimes you just need to slow down and go fishing. What did you learn? The bass didn't react to the lures you used, the depths you fished at. The surface bass, if they were bass, were feeding on what? The suspended bass were not feeding or not interested in crank baits. Good day on the water considering a holiday weekend with low boat traffic. Sometimes a 1/8 oz dart head jig with 5" curl finesse worm works on suspended bass or a smaller size jerk bait. Structure or flutter spoons are always worth trying on school bass. Split shot or drop shot finesses worms working a point can put a few fish in the boat. Football jig hopped down the rip rap or a long point can put a few good bass in the boat. Relax and enjoy your time on the water. Tom

Interesting thread, several points of view from some very accomplished anglers. I love reading this kind of stuff. Really makes me think about my own approach to fishing for the bigger fish in a system. Quite a bit of the focus of the discussion has revolved around location and with good reason. My simple but true addition to the thread is this ~ For the past several years, with very few exceptions, my fishing style has consisted of techniques & presentations that target the bigger fish in the systems I'm fishing. This style, though often not super productive, has rewarded me the biggest bass (both lmb & smb) I've caught in those systems - meaning I don't believe that I caught any of these fish by accident. I was targeting them and I'm very satisfied with that. But I always believed that I was capable of more. What may be noteworthy here is that once I made a commitment to travel & fish habitats that have traditionally given up larger fish than I have been able to catch locally, my Big Bass catching success improved - Dramatically. I didn't do anything different,(except use slightly heavier tackle) there was no special / magic lure or technique. By simply fishing an environment that supported the size of fish I have always wanted to catch - I did. So my perspective on the role that location plays in the quest for larger bass is ~ It's not only an important factor ~ It's The Whole Show. A-Jay

Keep your head up. I know how frustrating it can be sometimes when the bass are physically active all around you and you can't dial in on what to catch them with. If you find yourself in that situation again, maybe throw a fluke, its a lot more subtle than a buzzbait and spook.

First you have to find them –that’s location. Then you have to catch them –that’s presentation. At first, location (and all that encapsulates –gonna lump timing in here for brevity) is 90% of the game. After that, the fundamentals of presentation become 90% of the game. After that, what you choose to throw becomes 90% of the game. After that, tweaking, altering, adjusting can become 90% of the game. There is no one answer. It’s a process. Where's the missing 10% at each step? That's luck. And stuff I have no control over, or simply don't understand. And to be fair, there's a sliding scale there.

According to my cousin in law. Apparently your not supposed to hang blue or pink baby ribbons on your doors now. It makes you a target for baby thief's. She was very serious when she told us this. Uhhhh. I'm not sure I really need to worry about this too much. The freaking welcome mat states in plain terms, "Guns don't kill people. I Do!". I think that's pretty obvious that a gun(s) live in my house. Just in case I've loaded down a drum with 7.62 armor piercers. I also loaded a drum with 12guage buck shot for my newest shotgun. Homie don't play that game. I've even moved in some duck tape and my smallest chainsaw in case they really wanna try their luck. Bring it on baby snatchers..... Raider is waiting for ya.....

Finally got my mount of my PB 10lb14oz bass caught at Lake Baccarac in Mexico. It is truly a work of art. Jeff

Tied my PB smallmouth today fishing the River2Sea S-Waver 168, the fish was 19" long, a mark that seemed impossible to beat, I had landed about 5 or 6 that size and never one bigger. Then I totally blew my PB out of the water with a 23" smallie, it was definitely the biggest smallmouth I had ever seen in my life, and the fact that I was able to spot him, back off and give him some time (about 10mins) to calm down, then go back to the pool, fish for him, and actually catch him? Priceless! I was fishing some heavily pressured water (although not known for smallmouth) and I acutally watched some fish spook off of senkos that I threw at them, but I guess they haven't seen swimbaits before here in VA. Released to be caught another day!

Earlier in this thread, I said that Where, When & How are all key players, that no single element can stand alone, because success depends on the whole ball-of-wax. On the other hand, I never suggested that equal time should be devoted to each component ‘Location’ is a comprehensive science that begins with Waterbody Selection and ends with Cast Placement (geographic location to bass lair). The lion’s share of my time is spent on ‘location’, both at home and on the water. Before fishing any new lake, I’ll always have a 'paper route' of trial sites that were meticulously pinpointed at home. The original waypoints will be tweaked over the years, but the basic framework of the route usually remains remarkably the same. It goes without saying, this isn't possible without a deep understanding of location, which makes a compelling case for learning as much about ‘location’ as you can (depth ranges, bottom contour, cover types ~ ~). Roger

You know now that you mentioned it I missed a couple of fish on my last trip. Do you think I'm fishing in the right spot? I wonder if it might be my wife's fault? Thanks for the informative post!

Yes. Additionally I'd like to make two more points. 1. My experience fishing swimbaits is minimal. Though I have a rod, reel and plenty of big baits - I do not fish them any where near as much as others here and definitely less than other methods. I have caught fish with them and believe them to be a very effective way to catch big bass. So my limited experience & knowledge of the that technique continues to grow. 2. All the bass I've caught from systems I've traveled to and that have been larger than any bass I've taken from local waters (that means a lmb over 7 or a smb over 6) has been taken on one of the following baits: Jerkbait, Spinnerbait, Lipless Rattle bait, Scrounger head w/ Flukes or Slugg-O, a weighted Fluke & a Jig. As mentioned, I don't fish Swim Baits that much, doesn't mean they wouldn't have worked as well - I just didn't throw one. Admittedly, I do not consider myself in the class of many of the fine anglers and authors who are also BR members here. I do believe that if I'm able to put myself around the right fish enough times, sometimes I can catch a few. So can you. A-Jay

Thre is a misconception that all anyone needs to do is tie on a swimbait and go catch big bass. I am a believer in it's easier to catch active bass than inactive bass. What most anglers don't realize is bass are inactive about 60% of the time! active about 20% and in transition between being active or inactive about 20% of the time each 24 hour period. Your window of time to catch these bass is about 4 hours out of 24 hours. The rest of the time your are hunting to locate where these bass are. A curious bass may swim up to look at a swimbait, watch for this. Look at your sonar unit for big fish and make a note where and how deep the mark was. My routine is to visit spots that I have located a big fish about every 2 to 3 hours. If I have located several potential big fish, my day is going from spot to spot several times a day (milk run). This routine keeps me busy and focused knowing there are fish in that area, how deep they are and anticipating strikes. None of this is blind fishing, unless I haven't located any bass, then it's search time. I do a lot of metering with my sonar before fishing. My sonar survey starts in the marina so I can determine the depth to start at, then lures are selected for the cover/ structure I believe the bass are holding. If you want to consistanly catch big bass you must fish for them! Tom

I agree with you, and I would've included that in my post, I just assumed it was common knowledge that standards of what we call big bass is relative to where you are fishing. Phenomenal post! Really hit a chord in me. In relation to my earlier post , would you agree that once you found the environment that had the size you wanted to catch (location OF the water) that everything else you that factors in is equally important to where, on the body of water you are fishing (location ON the water) ?

Went out today to the Everglades for bit with my BIL. We got a later start than usual. We were fishing by 2pm and called it a day by 745pm. We were the only boat out there the majority of the time, only one other boat came by after we arrived and soon after left. It was hot, I am not going to lie however the wind was constant so it made it enjoyable. Fishing was slow but the bite's came from quality fish. Total fish caught were 8. Bait on the menu today were LT frogs. Yes it was slow, but when nice bass are slamming frogs I'll take what I could get. Here are some pics....

Largemouth-Nov 2013 10lb-3oz released Smallmouth-May 2008 7lb-6oz released

I've had that happen - get close to surfacing bass, make my presentation and they ignore it. It's a little frustrating. I have found that by backing off the fish even more and presenting a weightless fluke style bait on spinning gear, I can often times get a few of those fish to commit. A couple more points of interest ~ ~ Braid helps with long bomb hook sets ~ A small ball bearing swivel in front of the bait helps with line twist - whether you use braid or not. ~ Turning off the sonar / Fish finder well before the approach seems to help the fish stay up longer - don't really need it right then anyway. ~ Finally, though satisfying & fun to catch, none of my largest fish have come this way. Good Luck - edit BassinLou beat me to it A-Jay

I think that is fair, the rods were broke accidentally, it would be different if they broke due to defect. That said, I also applaud the OP for honesty and telling them what happened, most would make up a story of how the rod broke on hook set just to score a new rod for free.

Now wait a minute. Egg McMuffin juice is perfectly natural...lol. Hootie

Not only will they work with plastics, crazy colors will work with moving baits too. A closeup of the bait in that studly basses mouth, which came from a very pressured local lake. When the normal colors aren't working is a good time to try them. I've had really good luck with pink in clear water. Neon orange works well around fish that are eating bluegills and sunfish. A bright orange and yellow spinnerbait is a killer around cover in the spring for me.

IM ratings are like many other things in the fishing industry, non-standard. You may be able to gain some type of useful information within a brand of rod if they use an IM rating to rate all their rods. There is no current standard to rate a rods ability to transmit vibration, and any attempt to do so is entirely subjective and an opinion of the person performing the review or rating. Even if all rods were rated in terms of an IM rating, it would only describe the graphite used in the construction of the blank. There are many other factors that end up determining the overall "Sensitivity" of a rod.

If you're just fishing for fun and don't mind losing the occasional fish due to bad hook ups, use whatever hooks you want. In some cases it probably doesn't matter much, in others, it definitely does. Why spend all that money for a boat, rods, reels, baits, gas, etc, and then use cheap hooks? The hook is the part that actually catches the fish and they're cheap compared to everything else.

No I was being a little tongue in cheek. Lost one when a fish got wrapped in a laydown and got rocked on the other! Constantly hooked up on that jig this afternoon.

They catch big fish. Keep at it you will get the hang of it. I have got some big fish without walking it. Sometimes all you need is a steady plop plop stop or to just cast it out there.

Here is two we caught last week .... A DD Large Mouth at 11.2... And a over 23 pound Catfish... Cant seem to get the Catfiish to post here ... But it is in my gallery photos...

I heard today that Kevin Van Dam didn't make it classic.

Hey guys, Just got back from my favorite pond and it was terrible conditions. It was hot, clear water, and there were no clouds. I wanted to go for a bigger bass today and I decided to bring the hardgill along. Since the water is clear, I can see every follower or strike that I get. I spotted a large bass cruising by the dock and dropped my hardgill down. It just floated down in front of it's face, I ripped it off the bottom and BAM! I see a huge white mouth open and suck in my hardgill. This fish was 4lb 13oz, but skinny. Sorry for the goofy face, i was excited! I have no idea why my pictures are always sideways

Haven't posted on here in a while. Here are some fish from the summer, enjoy.

Went for a walk this evening with my daughter to get her to sleep. Walked threw town to the opposite end to a ice cream shop. Apparently a single guy pushing a hot pink stroller with a baby girl in it is the ticket. I got more girls honking and yelling and whistling at me then ever well not that it's ever happened before but it was different lol. Now to move this show to the mall next weekend haha.

My brother n law and I fished a small pond behind his house on some common ground. I never had a day like this before for bass. In just 3 hours, from 3 pm to 6pm, I myself caught 25 bass. Everyone about a pound and very spunky. They hit everything I threw at them. Jigs, plastic worms. grubs, lizards, and every color. Nothing big but what a blast.

A woman goes into Bass Pro Shops to purchase a rod and reel for her grandson, but has no idea which one to get him. She picks up a combo and approaches the clerk at the counter. I'm blind, he tells her, but if you drop it on the counter, I can tell you all you need to know about it. She doubts him, but does so. That's a Zebco 33 combo. A good all purpose rod and reel spoiled with ten pound test line. It's on sale for 29.99 She can't believe it and as she reaches into her purse to pay, she drops her credit card. Master Charge he says and as she bends down to pick it up she farts. Thinking he will never be able to figure out it was her, she says nothing and hands him the card. That will be $45.99. Wait a minute, I thought you said it was $29.99 for the combo. It is he says and the goose call is $10 and the bear repelent is $6.

Yes Sir, slob is right! Great Fish!

Good grief, that is a slob, man! Nice work.

Awesome, great fish!

Mike at DVT is a site sponsor. He is good guy who has done great work for many of us at reasonable prices. He is always willing to answer equipment questions. Give him a shout.

Sharp is sharp IMO haha I guess it can never hurt to be sharper but I do fine with my cheaper hooks and eagle claws...

Try using some spooks. They practically walk themselves, and once you got the hang of it you can transition it over to frogs.

Nonresident Fishing: $42.50

Red Eye Shad in Orange Belly Craw works sometimes...

It's a baby cobra. You went ricki ticki tavi on it.

Does anyone know we're I can get a hold of some plain black baby brush hogs? Black is by far my favorite color and the baby brush hog is my favorite plasticbut i can't seem to find them in just plain old black.

The other thing is, it's much easier to walk a frog on a longer cast. When it gets close to you it gets tougher. If you're only practicing in a pool, you're making it harder on yourself.

You mentioned you were practicing in your pool, are you able to do this working the frog with the rod tip down.

Have you tried trimming the legs? It helps them walk easier. Especially the Livetarget ones. Anyways, when I walk a frog its all about the wrist. It's one constant motion, and I let the butt of my rod hit the interior of my elbow. You have to do this motion quickly though. Kinda hard to explain, I'll try to find a video Found the video. Look at around the 9 minute mark. I do exactly what this guy does.

I've never gotten the walking action down either even after watching many videos. I have only gotten them on hollow bodies on the initial splashdown. My friend was using a hollow body and he just cast and would slowly retrieve it making a little wake. He got like 7 good bites the day we fished and landed 3. I wonder if he had a trailer hook if he would have landed more.

Awesome fish! Man, I have that same scale and it never reads 7-5, what's up?

That looks amazing. Also tip my hat to using a Replica, that bass will sire many more lunkers in that lake.

That is a replica. She puts the rest of my mounts to shame....to say the least! Jeff

or you can pick up a copy of Bill Siementels "big bass zone" and learn just about everything you really need to know, including what types of locations, baits, and techniques. More importantly it teaches you the right mindset to have when targeting trophy fish. I don't get to metapausal over people asking for the "magic" bullet, because the majority of those people will not achieve what they are looking for anyways, and if they do... they will not know how or why they caught a big one. Remember this is a hobby and a weekend sport for 95% of the fisherman out there. they are just looking to make the most of there fun time. the fishing Industry has always promoted that mindset anyways, its nothing new... that is how lures get sold. When I lived out west, I'd get crappy if I didn't see anything over 5lbs.... now that i live in new jersey, a 5lber is most guys personal best fish for a lifetime, and a few avid anglers have been lucky at a 6lber.... Its all about perspective and what you want to do with your fishing time.

I thought bass had to be a minimum of 8lbs to hit a swimbait.. Good to know I can put down the drop shot and start thorwing my swimbaits again

Hey guys, this is August i.e. FISHING SEASON!! Isn't this more of a January or February topic? Just saying . .. ...