Paul Roberts

Great post! Very funny, and so true. I'd be darn wary of the $6.49 price though, because the next big discovery will be a GOOD scale. And even these need re-calibrating every now and then.

Photos, because of the way lenses work, distort the image -much more than you might realize. It's really hard to judge a fish by a photo. I'd agree with others on the ballpark size of that fish. Carry at least a measuring tape with you. Here's a table that offers weights for length for average condition bass. Each half inch can make a big difference, especially with larger bass. Length Weight Source: American Fisheries Society 8 in. 5 oz. 9 in. 7 oz. 10 in. 9 oz. 11 in. 11 oz. 12 in. 14 oz 13 in. 1 lb. 3 oz 14 in. 1 lb. 7 oz 15 in. 1 lb. 13 oz. 16 in. 2 lb. 4 oz. 17 in. 2 lb. 12 oz. 18 in. 3 lb. 4 oz. 19 in. 3 lb. 14 oz. 20 in. 4 lb. 9 oz. 21 in. 5 lb. 6 oz. 22 in. 6 lb. 4 oz. 23 in. 7 lb. 3 oz.

Over the years I've had to concede that there just isn't a single lure out there I can reasonably expect to produce every time, or when I wish it to, at least with a satisfying catch rate. Catching fish consistently really comes down to understanding water/cover type and conditions in front of you, and then having the confidence with a variety of lures to cover those. My "GoTo's" change seasonally, daily, even hourly. With catch rate being my focus I tend to go with the fastest lure I can get away with. This may mean a buzzbait, or swimming jig, a crankbait, a topwater, or worm, depending on conditions. I expect to change lures, finishes, and retrieves throughout the day. For instance: I love to see bass blow up on topwaters. If conditions allow I like a buzzbait. But buzzbaits tend to require overcast and/or wind rippled water. Otherwise a buzzbait simply falls off my "go to" list. If the surface calms but I still have some clouds, or even haze, or the bass simply won't commit to the rhythmic cadence of a buzzer, I'll likely switch to a jumpbait. If things calm further and water is clear enough I may have to go to a popper (slower). Might be the same pod of fish, but as conditions change I change. There's not a "go-to" out there that will cover all the bases. I suppose some lure types produce a greater catch rate over a variety of conditions than others, deemed versatile. But the exact version of that lure type even, will vary with the water or cover type I'm presented with, my experience and confidence, and often must be adjusted to the fish's reaction. I do have lures I've done particularly well with, but my response tends to be then to move on to something else for good reason. I'm not a tournament angler which puts me in the position of being free to experiment every time out, in order to expand my versatility my options. I'm also a small water angler, and I commonly find certain areas in a given water body that hold the majority of bass, and some waters are small enough the bass stay put. Such areas usually lend themselves to particular lure types: a jig, or a worm, a bulged spinnerbait, or a crankbait type, brings satisfying results. But I still may have to adjust size, finish, or retrieve, depending on conditions. Interestingly, I've also gotten to know particular fish that responded to particular lures better than others. I remember a 28-30 inch pike (he grew over the three years I fished there) that was vulnerable to small dark colored crankbaits. Other lures might only elicit a follow or short strike. I knew a large bass in another pond that loved BIG crankbaits. I knew of a particular place where walleyes targeted concentrated shad under bridge lights. I found these walleyes could learn to discern lures. I'd catch three on a particular plug, then only get short strikes, then nothing. So I'd switch plugs, and start the series again. It got so I would start my fishing at that spot with a half dozen plugs layed out. And I'd go through em one at a time. Showed me that fish can discern seemingly subtle (to us) things about lures and retrieves, and their response can vary greatly to these seemingly subtle differences. I think rods and lines magnify what we do at the rod end, and if we are not concentrating, the lures may fail to trigger for us. Thus, confidence/concentration (knowing what to do with a particular lure in real time), results in bites. This is one reason I think lure colors are so often ascribed to explain a good catch, when it was actually subtlety in the particular lures action, coupled with the retrieve that served as the more important trigger. There's lots one can do to add triggers to a retrieve, that far outweigh color in effect. I also believe that there are colors, or more accurately, finishes, that outperform others in certain conditions but one would never discern them if they didn't have the other parameters, depth, speed, action/triggers, understood and in control. All this said, there are some basic lures that will catch a lot of bass, even the majority of the bass we catch. Even with the above mentioned walleyes, I did discover some lures, one in particular, those eyes had a darn hard time learning. And I believe I know why. It lies in the ease at which those subtle triggers can be elicited even when you're tired, or psyched out. Some lures have this built in more than others. In most of my bass waters, I could get by with a plastic worm (or two), but some waters and conditions lend themselves to a dramatic catch increase by my switching to...a lipless crank, a swimming jig, a spinnerbait, or a weedless frog, or... But that's the macro scale. Most anglers know where to apply these. At the micro-scale, at times when I've plied my tricks and I'm not catching, then rarely is it a lure change that turns the tide. That comes either from the conditions/fish side of the fence, or it's a locational, or a concentration/triggering deal. Lures just don't fish themselves much of the time. SO...if you're still with me: When I choose a lure, I look at water/cover type and particular conditions and pick a lure I already know how to operate my Go To for that particular place and time. And then I play with it until I elicit reactions. Then I just keep concentrating and adjusting until I've dialed in, or admit defeat, or the sun simply goes down on me.

Our slop fishing has set up. This develops earlier in my shallower ponds and, for some reason, weed development has come even earlier this year than usual. I found my first slop fishing on May 29th this year. Bluegills pile into the slop as it develops, especially when it matts. This is a feeding movement for the 'gills, and often you can hear them "kissing" the surface. On the 29th it sounded like popcorn! This piling into broken cover makes them vulnerable to the bass, which take exuberant advantage. They need a little room to be effective, so the hot spots are often breaks in the cover where the bass can get at those gills. On a good day almost every good break in the cover will have a bass, and some of the larger females are usually there (they really stay on those 'gills). Breaks were created by bottom substrate changes, rooted brush, bluegill spawning colonies (a double attraction), and especially in some of my ponds, muskrat burrows. The coming and going of the rats wear a channel through the vegetation, offering the bass a great place to get in, and hunt. The word ambush is often used to describe bass hunting, and used loosely, this is fine. But technically bass are not lie in wait ambush predators like some fishes that specialize in this. Nor are they very good open water bust and run hunters, like tuna, which specialize on schooled baitfish. Bass are generalists and hunt in a variety of places. But the best description of how they hunt, and where they are most effective, is stalking in broken cover. They are constantly looking for opportunities to get into an advantageous position on prey, and explains the ofttimes subtle ways our truly crude lures (sorry Lucky Craft) can suddenly look vulnerable to a bass. Open water bluegills, and those in dense cover, are difficult for bass to catch. So the bass bide their time, waiting for opportunities to get close: low light, and broken cover, are primary. The early slop, as it develops enough to attract gills, and offers good openings for bass to hunt effectively, is a great time to fish this scenario. Later, water temps get high (where I fish), and cover becomes denser, and the slop fishing becomes less consistent. The other day (16th) I had a neat, and new, experience with this fishing. I found a pond with both smallmouth and largemouth. I decided to target the LM and found some in the slop (milfoil and algae) -the 'gills were in there. But I found smallies mixed in too. They had inserted themselves into the dense cover with the 'gills and LM. These are not extensive slop areas, in this pond, just a 20 foot wide band of mostly milfoil with filamentous algae. I had to adjust the hookset, further than with LM -waiting a tad longer for them to handle the lure. I finally went with a ScumFrog popper that was smaller and had a smaller hook. This 19" though didn't need extra time. She made a ferocious strike through a matt of algae and was hooked deep, on the back of the tongue -a dangerous location for the fish. She didn't bleed though and I hope she's OK. I hooked two more big smallies too, on a weedless jig, at the outside edge of the weedwall -another 19", and a 20" I dropped. That 20 jumped, then spun me around in my float tube before popping free directly below me. Oooooh that was a nice smallie. But, I'll see her again. Favorite slop lures: Mango Jig (fished with trailer), ScumFrog, Hollow Frog (this one is by Mann's), Strike King Grass King spinnerbait (This amazing lure is not made anymore!!! Everyone should write to SK and request that it be re-issued. I have and they say it's not scheduled to be re-introduced. To arms!!! Call them. Inundate them. I only have 5 left!).

Nice work. Very beautiful. I liked the music -the mix. In general, 'm not big on heavy metal for fishing vids -maybe it's worn out on me. But you had a nice mix. Very creative. What equipment did you use -for the underwater shots? What's a head cam?

I guess I've had no trouble with them. They come with a hole punched for the hook. The trick is finding it. It's quite close to the front edge. If it tears out eventually, I pop in another with a knife or awl. To back the hook out, I rotate the pork around inside the hook bend and pull to open the hole, with the pork pulled out away from the barb. It just pops off the hook. I re-use the pork. Just pop it back in the jar. The more use they get the softer they get (I had some that were about 10years old -they were the best!). I pre-soften my pork, by tapping the tails with a hammer against a hard smooth surface just hard enough to soften but not cut. This increases action a lot. To keep pork from drying out on the rod when I'm throwing other stuff (I almost always have a jig-n-pig on a rod), I carry a zip-lock sandwich bag, enclose the jig and pork, and stick it on the rod keeper as usual. When I need it I stash the bag in a pocket.

Had a neat, and new, experience the other day. I'm normally a largemouth fisher -of late anyway. I found a pond with both smallmouth and largemouth. I decided to target the LM and found some in the slop (milfoil and algae) -there were bluegills in there. But I found smallies mixed in too. They had inserted themselves into the dense cover with the 'gills and LM. These are not extensive slop areas, just a 20 foot wide band of mostly milfoil with filamentous algae. I had to adjust the hookset, further than with LM -waiting a tad longer for them to handle the lure. I finally went with a ScumFrog popper that was smaller and had a smaller hook. This 19" though didn't need extra time. She was hooked deep -she didn't bleed but was hooked on the back of the tongue. Hope she's OK. I hooked two more big smallies, on a weedless jig, at the outside edge of the weedwall -another 19", and a 20" I dropped. That 20 jumped, then spun me around in my float tube before popping free directly below me. Oooooh that was a nice smallie.

Ditto grimlin. Check all plugs and tune.

Great stuff here. I'm a small water angler and think this is great.

In the Colorado ponds I fish it takes about 4 years, same in NY ponds.

I never did anything fancy -there is a commercial rod sling out there -holds one rod. I just stuffed a rod in each hip boot, and one in my hand. A bit awkward, but it worked.

Your in MN. My guess is you are post spawn? The big ones are the females. Fish slow for them, near spawning banks. They'll reappear in your catches soon, when they get more aggressive again.

Spawning should be done there. The answer is probably the additional (and clueless prey) added maybe along with additional (and clueless) bass added creating high competition. Ten feet from the bank might mean the easy prey is taking refuge along the shoreline. There are my guesses. Was it a sunny or overcast day? Overcast is easier in terms of not putting fish off.

How do you adapt in your fishing?

Just curious why you ask. Were you catching mostly smalls? Was this a poorer showing for you on this lake?

Fun thread. I'd love to hear more on how you guys fish your topwaters -specifically. Bass_Fanatic, when you say high noon, is that ever under bright sun? I tend to fish "in the box" then. Am I missing something? With the Pop-R, how do you adapt to condtions? Or what have you seen? Thanks!

No sympathy here either ;D. I don't think that "someone" fished any better than you. It's just the numbers fell on his side. You're splitting hairs here. Your rollin' dice at that point.

This sounds pretty normal. No, your deep fish will not likely move up shallow. But, as Catt and CJ mention, shallow fish may become more willing to hunt during daylight. The reason, as CJ mentions, is that bass and most other warmwater fishes cannot adjust the amount of air in their swim bladders quickly enough to adjust for the pressure change associated with rapid depth change. How far can they move vertically? There doesn't seem to be much direct information out there, but observations by anglers show bass can move as much as 15 vertical feet to chase prey, but this is for short duration and they must move back to their acclimation depth. I'd have to double check what I have, (as I collect this sort of stuff), but anglers report swim bladder distention in bass when bass are caught deeper than 25 feet, although this varies with how long they are held, and, the difference in water temperatures. However, the two big factors will be presence and availability of prey (affecting bass activity and vulnerability nothing new here) and sky water conditions (affecting your presentations nothing new here either). If you've got bluebird skies and calm clear water, you may not be able to get close to shallow fish. You can adapt to this, or you may be better off staying with your deeper fish. If you can find lotsa active prey in the shallows and visibility is not crystal, or you can adapt, you may find a good bite shallower. Might be good time to try flippin' or froggin' in the shallow heavy stuff -if you have such places.

That's the game. There are no hard and fast rules really, but there are things, like those details I mentioned above, that can sometimes squeak out more fish for you. Varying the retrieve, with any lure, can make the lure seem more alive, exciting, and vulnerable. The key with a Jitterbug, or other topwaters, is often the pauses, and you may have to figure out what works best on a given day. Here's how I look at it: If they'll take it well with mostly retrieve, and short pauses -great! I can cover more water and catch more bass. But sometimes a longer pause works well. At times, a Jitterbug can catch fish with a steady cadence, like a buzzbait, but unlike a buzzer, a treble-hooked lure can't pass over weed clumps, free-floating weeds and algae, or bounce off logs and twigs, like a buzzer can. If you've got really active bass committing suicide in front of you, a faster topwater like a spinnerbait, buzzer, or jumpbait may catch more fish in a given time. But when things are quieter (and fast stuff isn't blowing over) you may have to tease up some hits. A slower presentation may pull some bass up, and Jitterbugs shine here.

Yes! Ditto, Raul. Big ones will find weaknesses and those old non-free-swinging hooks are just that.

I used to love saltwater fly-fishing, pitching streamers n such to striped bass, blues, and false albacore on the Atlantic coast. Still love it, but she's long distance affair, and just memories now. One time I and some friends (a fishing/environmental education program I co-lead) were guests of a fly-tyer of some re-known off the coast of RI Little Naraganset. We were ferried out to an expansive sand flat off a small sandy island (Sand Island) in the bay. As the boat approached the little island (really just a spit of sand and grass) I stood up on the foredeck and saw groups of gunmetal schoolie stripers scattering ahead over the pale sand in gin clear water. Oh man, I can smell that salt air right now. The fishing was just wonderful: Stripers from 4 to 6 lbs all around us. We could blind cast, sight fish, (some tailer's), and catch em. In that warm shallow water they were very speedy. Basically, we followed them out with the ebbing tide, where they piled up at the first drop-off, intercepting sand eels that were sucked off the flat with the tide. Terns told us where the concentrations were. It was great! Then, well before our appointed pick-up time, a HUGE black cloud appeared to the south. We kept out eyes on it and it soon became apparent it was bearing down on us. It was truly a scary sight: huge, towering very high above us, and absolutely black. The wind picked up (we had to pocket our caps) and lightning began to show in it, big thick jagged bolts, and soon they seemed almost constant. As we realized it was going to engulf us I had everyone stack the rods at the highest point of the island, (really just a mound of sand and grass) and then get flat down in depressions away from our makeshift lightning rod. I quickly tallied the rods and noticed one was missing. I set off around the island looking for the missing boy. I made full circle and when I returned the boat was there, everyone was in it and Paige was waving me on frantically. I walked, a bit too leisurely for Paige, and when I boarded she seemed really ticked at me for my nonchalance. On the run back it rained so hard it hurt. Paige was a minister and prayed all the way in. By that time I wasn't nonchalant about storms. I guess I felt so relieved the boat was there, and everyone was accounted for, and the speed of the storm, that I was comfortable with our run time. Back at John's tackle shop (Cove's Edge), we all sat around sipping coffee and hot cocoa and listening to Paige tell the story of the hurricane of '33 the very one that severed Sandy Point, leaving Sandy Island orphaned in its wake, and 600 dead. She had everyone's attention, and we all felt a very real connection to it. Sometimes very intense storm cells, often the worst of them, have very calm conditions around them. And lightning can discharge well ahead. I remember watching a huge black mass to my east while I fished in sunshine, and I later heard that storm took a life. A man was watering his garden, in calm conditions, when he was struck by lightning, and I as I heard it, the bolt blew his arm off as he held the hose. His wife called the EMTs. Gosh I felt for her. Oh yeah, one more not me this time. Some guys came into the tackle shop one day and told me what happened out in the lake. They were in a fiberglass boat and saw an approaching storm. As they fished they said they could hear ticking sounds coming from their graphite rods. They said the clicks seemed to rise up the musical scale. Then, when they looked at each other, they saw each others' hair was standing on end! They got off the water. They said that an engineer friend told them he thought that they, being in a glass boat and holding graphite rods and the approach of that big electrical storm, had become a giant electrical capacitor, and that they were lucky. I don't know electricity very well to verify if this could be so. But if I ever my graphite rods ticking I'll be outta' there if I can. I have enormous respect for lightning, and it scares me, I suppose because I really know so little about it.

Bass can adjust amount of patterning and lightness/darkness to match surroundings, or likely to communicate. Bass are also individuals. Some are unique. I saw a female on a bed this spring that was unique. She had four stripes, alternating with pale ones -she looked like one of those small round striped watermelons! She was so gravid she was nearly round, and very buoyant, the male could push her around like a balloon. Also, there are some notable regular color pattern changes I see during the spawn that must mean something, but I'm at a loss to explain what .

Great lure -night or day, but best in low light -overcast, early, late, after dark. I tend to fish it this way: Cast. Wait after splashdown. Twitch. Wait. Then start a slow gurgling cadence. Then pause. Then retrieve some more, then pause, etc... Here's why the above: Wait immediately after splashdown because aggressive bass can see lures in the air and will chase after it (At least under low light. In bright light and clear water they usually bolt away from the lure). Sometimes they meet it right at splashdown (that's how these hits happen, btw), or shortly after. Also, aggressive bass some distance away will investigate the sound of the splashdown, so I give 'em time to get there before I start the retrieve. The twitch takes bass that might not commit otherwise. Often they'll zoom up, then hang below and watch. An aggressive retrieve might put them off. The twitch can be deadly, and is less apt to put a tentative fish off. If no strike, I start the retrieve -taking the plug into new water. Blub, blub, blub, blub... then pause. The retrieve is again an attractor, then I play with pauses. Often they hit on the pause, a twitch, or just after it starts up again. Sometimes it's a long pause that works. Makes 'em sweat! I don't tend to fish it with a continuous retrieve because there are faster, more weedless baits for this -like a buzzer. It's disadvantage is that it is a slow lure. Other topwaters can cover more water and catch fish -jumpbaits, buzzers. But the Jitterbug WILL draw fish, and big ones too -this last is a particular advantage to the slow speed. This is a lure that is capable of taking the biggest bass in the pond. I actually have my grandfather's Jitterbug -about 60 years old now! The first bass I ever saw, and many others after, fell to it on my Dad's rod. Eventually he gave it to me. I've caught a lot of bass on it, but it's now hanging over my desk, waiting for my son to come of age.

Yeah, it takes some time to get used to it. But they'll take you to fish, albeit relatively slowly.

I make my own. I use an Eagle Claw L42, put it in my fly-tying vise, and tie on a loop of stiff 20lb mono (XT) that sticks out forward past the hook eye. I make the mono loop of proper length to then fold back over the hook point. The mono loop is pinched at the apex so it stays in a V-shape, that will fit over the point. Whip-finish then apply a thin coat of 5-minute epoxy. Easy to make, weed guard is virtually invisible (I use green XT), the hook has good hooking qualities, and the rig is very weedless. If fishing in brush I use .016 tempered wire -leader material (saltwater tackle shops).