Leaderboard

Don't spray it on your lures. Tom

There are a couple of difference scenarios to consider when discussing how bass relate to that type of cover and how an angler may approach fishing it. Clearly we've all seen times when the bass are buried right up in the heart of the tree. Sunny blue bird skies is one time that comes to mind. This often requires a concerted almost surgical approach, probing every nook & cranny with the bait. Often one needs to get the presentation right in Old Mrs. Big's face to get bit. Another scenario occurs sometimes during less sunny, partly cloudy and even overcast days (and a lot at night). Bass may not be right up in the middle of the mess. They might be some distance from it - relating much more loosely to it rather than being in it. Depending on the proximity of a decent depth change or even some other cover that's a little deeper, I'm often surprised how many fish can be taken by fishing "around" the area First. So I'll say until you've determined where the fish you're looking for are at, start outside first and work your way in. But just as you'll work that tree hard to get bit, first allow the "perimeter" to produce by giving it the same level of attention. You may be surprised I think a lot of anglers are missing some decent fish by passing this water up in haste to "Go Flip That Tree" Just because that's what everybody does, doesn't mean it's the best approach. A-Jay

Hey guys, With three kids four and under, I don't get our nearly as much as I'd like but this week was good for fishing. On Thursday I took the day off and chased spots on Lanier with a well-known local guide. I've caught spots before but never targetted them until that day. It took us a while to get the fish to cooperate but we finished the day strong running and gunning, throwing swimbaits across the top of brush piles. Wow, do those spots hit a swimbait! This will not be my last trip to Lanier, especially after watching a 5+ come up from the deep and give my swimbait a brief kiss On Saturday, I got the honor to fish the VERY private and VERY well managed lake at the Piedmont Driving Club with my daughter. A buddy of mine won a charity auction and was kind enough to invite us over there for the experience. The fishing was a bit slower than we would have liked but my daughter got to spend some time in a boat and most importantly got her first fish so I will consider the trip a smashing success. I loved the time with my daughter, but in the back of my mind I was wondering what I could have done on that lake in my boat with all my gear. Oh well, I guess I'll just need to join the club to get access -- anyone have a spare $100k I can borrow?

It's not so much what I fish but where . . . . . A-Jay

Went to Shawnee Mission Park yesterday morning for a couple hours with Micah. Caught around 10 fish. One went 20.5 inches (he forgot his scale but i bet it went 5lbs). Definitely a spawner.

After using a Ned rig for the first time a couple weeks ago, I made a thread about the experience (http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/155892-uh-yep-the-ned-rig-is-awesome/). However, even though it caught a 7lb catfish, I wondered if it was strictly a numbers lure, something that wouldn't catch big bass? No problem if it was, I am a numbers fisherman, but the mantra of "Big Baits+Big Bass" was in my head. It made sense that such a small lure wouldn't attract a larger fish. So last Saturday morning I am out fishing, having already caught 3 bass in the 12" - 14" range on little Neddy, when this gal suddenly shows up near my boat. She was kind of brutish, with a big mouth & she told me that the Ned rig will catch big bass no matter what I think. I was a bit taken aback, but since she looked like she might win in a fight with me, I didn't argue with her. I figured it best we just go our separate ways, but before we did, I snapped a few photos of her... She weighed 7-6 and I could have fit 6 dozen Ned rigs in her mouth...

After being out of fishing for the past 7 months, due to torn tendons in my casting arm, I will finally have my surgery tomorrow morning to repair them. Since last November, I have undergone procedure after procedure, rehab, injections, & everything we could think of to repair the tendons. Nothing has worked, so we decided the surgery was the only option left. As much as I hate going under the knife, I am actually excited to finally be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As long as there are no serious complications, I should be able to sling a rod by the middle of June...Just in time for my 2 week fly fishing trip to Montana & Wyoming in July! I can't believe it has been 7 months since I last fished...too long!! Jeff (00 mod), if you read this, have your frog & jig rods ready. As soon as I am able, we are hitting Glenn Springs Lake for some lunker hunting!! Carlton

Ok....back it all up. OP didn't say that there was a bottle opener built in. Sign me up for three!

Good for you, it is always a positive when fishermen go to lengths to help the wildlife. As is often said, the people who care the most for the environment are hunters & fishermen.

thursday, may 7, i was fishing in a local creek. caught 7 fish, 4 redeye and 3 bluegill, and one hawk. he had flown up the creek earlier during my trip. well, he flew back down later, after i'd cast a hula popper to the other side of the creek. he got tangled but not hooked, as he flew right through my line. after the tangle, he fell into the water so i had to get him up out of there. he fell in on my side of the bank in shallow water. i pulled him up and let him lay on the ground. he laid there on his back with claws up. i sure didn't want any of those SHARP claws and beak. i saw the lure wasn't hooked, but before i could get to it, he decided to hop away. i chased after reeling in slack. he stopped again, this time on his feet and trying to peck at the lure. i got to him and pulled the lure a little and he hopped away again into some weeds. i pulled him out of the weeds and got out my knife. i grabbed the lure with my free hand, and cut the line with my knife hand. he still laid there, so i cut the other part of the line. after that he flew off. glad he was okay, i got my lure back, and neither of us was worse for wear.

Yup......but... More times than not the best fish the peice of cover has to offer, is right in the thick of it. Only problem is, once you cause a ruckus getting her out, any less dominant fish in and around the cover tend to scatter. The same is true in reverse to a lesser extent. Start yanking the fish off the edges, and the lord of the manner gets edgy. This can work in your favor though. Sometimes it makes them more aggressive when they are on high alert. For me it depends on what kind of fish I am looking for. Need to get a few bites? I work from outside in, need a kicker? I swing for the fences.

Are you sure? We have never seen a full body shot of him fishing, but then again. It would take the Hubble telescope to get him in frame.

A few nice smallies, lots of 15 inchers some nice largemouth and a swing and a miss on a 30"+walleye. My son had the walleye on his second cast of the trip. Got the beast up to the boat and it did a barrel roll before I could get it in the net, and swam away with his crankbait. Water temps 49*-55*. Probably another week or two before prime time. Here's some pics

The most active bass are on the outside edges looking for prey, the bass inside the middle of cover are usually less agressive. The brighter the sunlight is, the deeper into cover the bass tends to get, however those are still the less active bass and harder to catch. Fish the edges first for active bass, then go deeper into cover for those less active bass. Tom

Ok not a PB over all but PB with a fly rod. I've had this set up for almost 5 years and never used it didn't know how and honestly a little intimidated by it. My buddy has been sending me pics of smallies he's catching by fly for a few weeks now so today I said the heck with it I'm grabbing the fly rod and going. Each fish got bigger as I kept catching them. Had 5 on landed 4 one broke off as it got in some rocks and cut the leader. We even got a double I'm hooked now bout to order a 6wt blank for a build just for smallmouth fly fishing.

Costa Del Mar hands down. Glass lenses. You will certainly thank yourself later.

I fished Champlain from shore yesterday. I went out first thing in the morning to a point I fish from a lot, but only got two fish in a few hours. I took a break in the middle of the day and went back to the same spot later in the afternoon when it had warmed up and had a couple hours full of nice smallies. Even though I've now witnessed it many times, I'm always amazed at how the fish turn on and off with the wind. It was overcast and hot Saturday, and the wind started rippin' and I immediately started catching fish. I caught a couple on a perch colored jerkbait, but switched over to a watermelon super fluke with a little weight to it because it's a lot easier to cast in the wind. I saw some gulls pluck baitfish from the same spot a couple times, so I sent my fluke in their direction and caught a 4lb smallie that cast. I continued casting to where the gulls were feeding and caught multiple smallies around two-and-a-half pounds, and another good one that weighed 3lbs 12oz. It's fun to see how quickly the fish react to the weather/wind conditions, and was pretty neat to watch what the birds were doing and get some good fish as a result. I hope everyone was able to get out this weekend and lip some nice bass!

After it seemed like forever, fishing season finally opened up here in Wisconsin last weekend. Both my father and I went out to a local park to do some fishing on foot. We started out fishing near the d**n, which is usually where we do the best. The water was warmer and murkier than I had expected it to be. I had one gentle bump from a fish on a squarebill. I saw some fish breaking on top, and I tried a topwater, but that didn't pan out. The fishing season opener is like a national holiday in Wisconsin, and us fishing at a public park, it started to get crowded and we decided to abandon the usually good spot. Instead we went to the south end of the pond where the creek runs into it. This spot is also where we caught most of our bass during last year's opener, as well as this: This trout was caught during last year's opener, and I also caught some smaller brook trout in the process. So all this winter I have been thinking of what I should throw to the bass to imitate these trout. A few months ago, I went to an outdoor expo and purchased some awesome looking swimbaits made by a local guy in Wisconsin. I had decided I was going to use this opening day the day that I bought the swimbaits haha. Anyways, I rigged up the swimbait Line-through style ( because I have NO confidence in those weighted swimbait hooks). Me and my dad tried fishing this area, but again zeroed out, not even a bite. We felt a little discouraged, I thought we might get skunked! We had one last spot try on this body of water, which is a long, nearly featureless bank. (that I usually do pretty poorly on). Me and my dad decided to walk the length of the bank (maybe 3/4 of a mile), he had a T-rigged soft stickworm and I had my swimbait. After fishing a hundred yards or so, I got a tap on my swimbait, then my dad hooked up with a 2 pounder! Then his very next cast, he caught this pond behemoth. Weighed 3-15 on our Rapala Scale (which I think is off ) And is the biggest Largemouth he has ever caught! A short ways down the bank, I caught a 2-10, and the first fish I have caught on a "bigger" soft swimbait. A few minutes later, I hooked up with this big girl! This one went 3-7 and was 2 ounces less than my PB largemouth. Me and my dad were certainly happy we didn't give up earlier! I ended up catching 7 bass and my dad 5, all but two were 15 inch plus fish. We had a great day on the water, it was challenging at first, not having a meaningful bite for almost 2 hours, but we stuck to it and we figured them out. I don't know what else you could ask for in a day of fishing!

This is my biggest sale to date from now until May 17th 2015 all listed items below are 15% off. Mega Strike Rage Tail Owner Keitech Strike King Mattlures SOS Cranbait Dredge Tungsten Jig (NEW) Now introducing the Tungsten Dredge Football jig. Available in 1/2, 3/4, & 1 oz. These are in limited supply and price below just about every tungsten jig on the market. This is a Tungsten standard football style jig with an Owner Deep Throat hook in it. I even tossed the jig on sale for its introduction!

More like a sea cow

Andy - I tried the sales pitch just like you laid out. I thought I was pretty convincing, but her reply was quite succinct. "No" It was worth a shot

A-Jay I will DEFINITELY be smart with rehab! I want it to heal not hurt it again. As for the other...now that's what I have such a pretty wife for Carlton

Good Luck and remember to rehab intelligently. also - if it's your dominant arm, be prepared to take a lot of showers. . . . A-Jay

You either have to pull the little lever out to release the bail or turn the handle. No choice with a 300. To be honest you'd be better off keeping it as a momento of times past and buying even a cheap modern spinning reel. They are so much better today than the old 300 reels that I spent a long time saving up for in my youth!

And yet a Jig-n-Craw accounts far more big bass at only 3"!

It an ugly stick.

My hat is perfectly fine, thank you You know, I didn't think about that angle. I'm sure my wife would appreciate me going to Baccarac instead of joining the club. Let me ask her and I'll let you know how that conversation goes. Hehe... Understatement of the decade, Dwight.

You own a fishing rod? Raider, you never cease to amaze me.

NOPE. Get a Bomerang snip and be done with it! Jeff

Fished my lake hard for five hours, caught two small bass. Pulled the boat back to the community dock and there were two, not one but two, five to six pound bass swimming around the dock. So, I said to myself, "Self, if there are big fish swimming around this dock, maybe I should fish some of the other docks on the lake." Did, and it worked. A four and a seven in about an hour. Pretty good. BTW, it's not considered good form to fish around the community dock. Bob

Lunds & scratches go together at least my old Lund did. Good outing.

I always fish for big bass and target them with jigs, big worms, swimbaits and deep crankbaits. You need to fish for big bass where they are located to catch them. Read Bill Murphy's In Pursuit of Giant Bass for starters. Tom

Should I Get An Nrx 893? Yes - they work - catch fish...

I use my KVD split ring pliers and I can't, for the life of me, think why I'd need anything different - maybe something more compact on a lanyard around my neck? But for $10, I'm very happy with them. What do $170 scissors do that $10 scissors won't?

I was taught to always work outside-in. Thinking was that if you pull fish off the outside, you'll disturb the inside ones less, but if you cast to the heart and get bit, you'll have less shot at the outside fish. Makes sense to me, but I admit that it is quite rare for me to pull more than one fish off of a 'cover' - even if its a 40 foot long tree, I don't often get more than one bass. Now, I will say that my wife and I might get bit at the same time from one outside and one in the middle.

Cut my fishing teeth at SMP back when I just had a john boat. Hate that it is trolling motor only, but I guess it keeps the traffic down. It's a fun lake, and I'll definitely be considering purchasing a permit again if the smallmouth fishing takes off.

Fished LOZ this weekend around the N Buck Creek/Gravois area. It was primarily a meat fishing trip in a last ditch effort to put slabs in the freezer for a memorial day fish fry, but when we did take a break from trolling it wasn't hard to catch green fish. Nothing much bigger than 2 lbs but they were just hammering walking baits and jerkbaits worked very quickly over deeper water. I think the shad spawn might be taking place, if not it's right around the corner. Definitely post spawn fishing at it's best but we still could have bed fished if we wanted to... But to be honest, the better tug wasn't to be found from crappie or bass... 30 pound class blue cats fight much harder

Strike King S11's, love these glasses, i have to two pairs one for sunny days and another for cloudy

1993 Norris Craft 20 XLDVee.200 H.P. Mercury which is a little over stock. It is running a 27 pitch 4 blade prop. I am the second owner of the boat It is well maintained as you can see by the pics. The cap, hull, carpet, seats, and trailer are all original .She still turns heads on the trailer as well as on the water, not bad for a 22 year old boat.

My brother caught the biggest of the day

So for starters, I should have included "in my experience" of like wording since I'm just stating my opinion... Personally I've not experienced any issues with knot strength during my fluoro use. But if this problem is prevalent then I would say you can learn alternative knots that are more effective for different lines to overcome this problem. But on the other hand, you cannot change the properties and performance of the line so to me, any knot strength issues with fluoro can be worked around, but there's nothing that can be done to make mono/co-poly as sensitive as fluoro in my hands. If I'm letting a plastic or jig drop, there's slack. Also when I'm bumping the bottom with those same techniques, I'm not holding the line very tight so there is always at least a bit of slack unless I'm pulling tight to move the bait. It's NOT enough slack in the line that a few cranks of the handle before setting the hook cannot solve. But by all means use what you like. I happen to like fluoro, but if you don't, I ain't mad at ya! Just seems to me that the OP does recognize improved sensitivy of fluoro (like I do), so my guess is that replacing the fluoro with mono would not result in the same sensitivity.

Don't drink and ebay!!!

Caught my first chatterbait fish! It was a tough morning. All the fish have moved offshore at this small lake and the water is very muddy. Caught this one and another on a lipless crankbait...

Agreed..I use myibidder auction sniper for android..have used it for 4/5 years..its free and has never failed me.

I saw that picture on Micah's FB. That's a great fish anywhere and an absolute monster for SMP! Looks like she's just getting ready to drop her eggs.

EBay can & does offer some pretty Killer deals but so does the Bass Resource Fishing Flea Market Forum right here ~ btw - on the Bay - I am a last second sniping fool . . . Sometimes I even feel a little bad about it, just a little though and it doesn't last very long. A-Jay

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. George Carlin...

Maybe he's just built a little like a T-rex.....little arms.

Here's my beast. Big enough for me and goes as fast as I want to go. Storage sucks though. 15 1/2ft 1989 Sea Nymph with a 25hp. Huge livewell which is wasted since I don't keep fish. Need to turn it into storage. My first boat and a great starter.