paul.

sounds like y'all did well. congrats to ya.

what?!?! no pumkinseeds? no fish poo? actual bass on an actual fishing trip?!?! absolutely amazing! just kiddin' dave. very nice bro. glad y'all got out and had a good day. y'all's fishing usually starts heating up about this time every year. lookin' forward to more cool posts. what do you think y'all's water temps are like? reckon the spawn will be on soon for y'all?

phenomenal trip man. y'all rocked the house. way to go.

an absolutely gorgeous fish! big congrats to ya bro.! you'll remember that one forever, even if you catch a bigger one next week. awesome.

weighed 8-4 dave. trav, i have kicked around the idea of a replica mount for my pb. i have the measurements. at 14-2, she was only 6 oz. shy of our state record. i have come to the conclusion that i have to be delusional to think that i'll ever catch a bigger bass. ;D but that's a pb i can live with i guess. replicas cost a lot of money though, and for now i'd rather spend fishing money on more stuff to catch 'em with. the pictures are good enough for me at present. i did think your replica turned out really well though. remind me who did yours again please bro. that was an absolute beast for your area - much more impressive than many of my catches. thanks as always for the kind words y'all.

i don't even normally look in the smallie section b/c i don't fish for 'em, but when i saw this i had to read it. excellent instruction here and totally entertaining as always. nobody, and i mean NOBODY tells a fish story like you chris. great fish dude.

i found this nice fish getting ready to set up shop and make some baby lunkers on friday morning. but she wasn't ready and i went somewhere else fishing and caught 1-3 pound fish all day. ;D yesterday was ball games most of the day for our young 'un so no dice then either. finally i got to spend some time with her today. and buddies, let me tell y'all, she pushed the light spinning tackle to the brink. what an epic battle! 3 awesome jumps where she totally cleared the water all 3 times. just a beautiful fish. and just in the nick of time too. the weather here is supposed to get really nasty within hours i think. weatherman is even calling for a chance of snow tonight i've heard. so i was VERY LUCKY to catch this fish. there is a pretty good chance she would've been gone tomorrow. better late than never i guess. hope y'all are catchin' some too. and good luck to all the roadtrip guys while you're here. i think i'm gonna try to come up and at least say "hi" while y'all are this close.

very nice dude! looks like that fish had a gigantic mouth. congrats and hope you get another one soon.

honestly, i think it depends on the fish. i have seen some females that will hang around a particular nest for several days, long after they have dropped their eggs there. i have seen other "spawn and gone" females that do their business and quickly move off. i have also seen a few times one male with several females relating to his bed and spawning with him. one will spawn with him for a while and when she leaves, another will move in and start up immediately, "taking turns" so to speak. . and very rarely, both will spawn with him at the same time - a bass orgy. i bet in these rare cases, the little male feels like the biggest stud in the lake. ;D

you know chris, my hat is off to anyone who has the sheer willpower to be a trophy hunter every second of every day they are on the water. i have untold respect for guys who can do it even 75% of the time. honestly, i tried it and it just about destroyed my love for fishing. i made catching big fish my no. 1 priority. i found myself feeling empty and depressed when i couldn't produce. the longer i went between catching big fish the worse it was. it finally got to a point where few highs couldn't overcome the many lows. i decided i had to re-evaluate what i was doing or stop fishing altogether because it was becoming too much like work. my problem was easy enough to identify when i stepped back and looked at things objectively. i had stopped fishing like i wanted to, and started fishing the way i HAD TO (to produce big fish). i felt i had to do everything in my power to "make it happen" every time i went. and when i inevitably couldn't "make it happen", i always left the lake feeling like an idiot because obviously i had done something wrong if i hadn't produced a big fish. it was quite obvious that i was not wired to be a full-time trophy hunter. it was there and then that i decided to restore some balance to my fishing. in the process, i found that i also restored the enjoyment and the fulfillment. i still enjoy catching big fish from time to time. but now i have struck a balance that i am happy with. i dedicate a portion of my fishing to producing big fish and a portion to fun and just trying to catch a few decent ones (or better yet, many). i never try to "make it happen" anymore. i give myself a certain portion of time most trips to "let it happen" if it's going to. if it does, great. if it doesn't i take what the lake will give me and go home happy. i think there are 3 important W's in being able to catch big fish - (1) what (the type of bait you are throwing or technique you are using). (2) where you fish. and (3) when you fish. of those 3, i think "what" is the least important. yet it's the one everyone wants to focus on. be at the right place at the right time and if you get a convincing presentation in front of a big fish, they will bite plenty of the time regardless of what you have tied on. as far as the "what's" go in my bass fishing, i only throw what i want to and what i feel comfortable with. the big fish that i miss out on because i'm not using a technique that i despise are not worth the frustration of doing it and trying to convince myself i'm having fun. so i guess i can kinda relate to your friend. i just have to have that "balance" to take the pressure off and enjoy myself. hunting big fish full time by whatever legal means necessary would make me a miserable person. and ironically enough, i think when i catch a big fish now, it is far more enjoyable and satisfying than it was back in my "gotta make it happen" days. this is a great thread chris. a lot of food for thought here and a good prompt for us all to take inventory and see if we're happy with the "type" of fisherman we are. thanks for posting it.

o.k. dave. that's cool and all, but the next fish picture i wanna see from you is you holding a bass. ;D

matt this is great stuff. thanks you very much. my thoughts on "the most important thing" in a bed fishing scenario, or any other fishing scenario go a little sumpn' like this: "the most important thing" is always the thing that we failed to do correctly, thus causing less than optimum results. even the most insignificant detail becomes "the most important thing" if doing that thing or not doing it results in failure. "the most important thing" also varies from fish to fish in the bed fishing game. for some fish, how you set up on them seems to make little difference if any as long as you are stealthy and avoid foolish blunders. there have been a few fish that i have realized this with and actually gotten closer to them so that i could more easily see the drama unfold before me. with these fish the set up was not the most important thing. it was the bait presentation that was most important. with other fish i have encountered, they would hit just about anything i tossed in the nest regardless of how it was presented as long as it wasn't downright clumsy. but if they saw me, it was game over. in this case the set up was the most important thing. and so on and so on with the important aspects of sight fishing. i guess what i'm saying is that the smart move is to treat every aspect of your fishing trip, no matter how small, like it is the "most important thing" because it just might be.

the most important of my questions you say? well i guess it would have to be this one: because so far it looks like i'm batting 1000. how about one of those new hard baby bass like randall posted. well, actually 2 would be better. one autographed by yourself, mike long, john kerr, fish chris, and jay. the other one i'll fish with. ;D ;D ;D

check the quiz thread for your answers. now post your scores on this thread. c'mon, don't be shy. ;D it will be interesting to see how everyone did. did anyone get a perfect score?

********spoiler alert!!!!!!********** if you have not taken the test yet and want to, stop reading now because i'm about to post the answers!!!! this quiz came from this article. this is one of the best spawn articles i have ever read. http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/fishing/bass/how-fish/2007/11/going-deep-name-bass-research now i realize that everyone's experiences vary. and i realize that some will want to argue. if so that's fine. argue with field and stream or if you think you know more than john kerr, argue with him. or argue amongst yourselves if you want. i didn't post this to argue with anyone and i'm not going to, so don't try. ;D ;D ;D i'm sure this will generate some further discussion among us, and that was my goal. i hope y'all enjoyed this little exercise, and more importantly i hope we learn from the article and each other. best of luck to everyone this season whether you bed fish or not. without further delay, here are the answers as per the field and stream article. everyone please post your grade now along with any thoughts you want. no going back and changing answers! obviously, each question is worth 10 points. did anyone get a perfect score? oh btw, matt old buddy, if i have stumped everyone who responded and no one got a perfect score, then do i get a prize? ;D ;D ;D 1. false. this approach could cut off the bass' "escape route" and make them more spooky instead of less. 2. b. when you cannot find the female, the male will often "point" right towards her, making her easier to locate. 3. false. many times the only way to engage the female is for her to see the male get agitated first. 4. false. somewhat of a trick question. while it is true that there are "sweet spots" that will aggravate bedding fish more than the other surrounding area, these are not always IN the bed itself. quite frequently the female will have a different "sweet spot" than the male and it may not be in the bed at all, but somewhere on the perimeter. 5. even though it sounds somewhat silly on the surface, this is true. 6. true. beds which have a "backdrop" (stump, log, etc.) are easier to defend. hence fish will seek out these type of areas to make their nests. 7. true. bass prefer to bed on flat or mostly flat surfaces whenever possible. 8. b. although the other answers might be in some situations somewhat correct, the best answer is "water clarity" since this determines the essential element of light penetration. 9. a. a fish hooked on a bed will most likely move to cover when possible. 10. true. the idea that big bass do things differently frequently applies to the spawn just like it does to other fishing scenarios.

y'all are killin' me here. ;D ;D ;D. #10 is a true or false question and has been correctly interpreted by matt. any answer other than "true" or "false" is incorrect. sorry for the confusion.

now how are we supposed to guess how many if you tell us how many? :-? way to go bud! that's flat out smokin' 'em right there for sure!

yep, that's a good one for sure. way to go buddy.

with the spawn already here in some parts of the country, and rapidly approaching in others, i thought a little refresher quiz might be kinda fun. see how much you actually know about spawn time fishing. post your answers here if you dare and you will be graded (c'mon, do it, we're all friends here ;D). i cannot post the grades here for a while to avoid spoiling the test for others. if you want to know your grade before i post them, let me know and i will gladly p.m. you. who'll score the highest? will anyone get a perfect score? just 4 rules. (1) take the test individually-no answer sharing. (2) this is a "closed book" test. no researching. (3) you cannot look at someone else's answers before you take the test. (4) you cannot go back and change your answers. after one week, if there is decent participation in this thread, i will post the correct answers, along with the source from whence they came. hopefully this thread will spark some good learning and discussion. remember, for grading purposes, if part of a statement is false, the correct answer is "false". and please remember, this is for fun, not competition. ;D good luck y'all! here's the test: 1. true or false - to avoid spooking fish unnecessarily, when approaching bedded bass, it is a good idea to position your boat on the deeper water side of the nest if possible. 2. if you find a bed with only a male fish guarding, and the female does not manifest herself, the quickest, easiest, and best way to find her if she's still in the area is usually by: a. quickly backing away from the nest site a little. females are more wary and sometimes will not show themselves if they perceive any danger at all. b. watch what the male does. c. search carefully in any cover close to the nest where she might be hiding. d. cast to all areas around the bed thoroughly. you will probably spook her out if she's there. make a note of where she was and return later to try and catch her. 3. true or false - you should attempt to catch the female bass first by making sure she's not close to the more aggressive male when you cast to her lest he ****** the bait away. 4. true or false - there is a usually a spot, often referred to as the "sweet spot", in the nest which will be more likely to trigger a strike from bedded bass. 5. true or false - you can identify how "catchable" a bedding fish is by paying attention to its coloration. 6. true or false - bass will attempt to bed around logs, stumps, and other cover or obstacles. 7. true or false - the steeper the incline of the lake bottom, the less likely it is that fish will attempt to spawn there. 8. of the following, which is the most important factor in determining how deep bass will attempt to spawn: a. fishing pressure. b. water clarity. c. water temperature. d. weather conditions. 9. once a bedded bass is hooked, he or she will most likely: a. move towards nearby cover. b. attempt to jump. c. move towards the resistance of the angler's line. d. move away from the resistance of the angler's line. 10. true or false - the biggest bass in the lake will usually spawn earlier or later than the majority of the other bass.

fantastic!!!! man that's just flat whackin' 'em randall! and what a great lookin' bait matt!!! incredible realism!!!

thanks y'all. bb, there ain't many critters she is afraid of. just the stuff i've taught her to stay away from pretty much. she's been playing with frogs since she was old enough to walk. she does love being outside. i think it's cool she had to have a hat and some "magic glasses" (polarized) to see down in the water like daddy.

excellent! just one of those fish pictured woulda made my day week month, but both in the same day? that's just ridiculous. you are definitely the man chris.

my young 'un has been off school this week. here are some pix from our outings. she was able to catch the "tennessee slam" - a gill, a bass, and a catfish. ;D and of course there was the annual spring break frog hunt tonight.

live bluegill ron. i got the male to bite plastic time after time. basically, he was a guinea pig for the half of the ragetail line. ;D he bit a lobster, a craw, a spacemonkey, and an anaconda - all repeatedly with a vengeance. it was quite amusing seeing him so p.o.'d. ;D i never set the hook on him though 'cause i needed him to have a shot at catching her. but she was having none of anything artificial. without the gill, i woulda never got her. score another lunker for live bait.

i've always liked bass to eat. but only the small ones that need thinning out. i do think crappie and bluegill are both better tasting fish. the absolute best freshwater fish i've ever eaten was walleye. i've never cared for catfish that much.