Paul Roberts

Ice, Yes, this is a slower warm-up year. I was doing this last year by the first week of March. I didn't use a soft jerk because they fish a bit slower and the water was quite roiled from recent winds. They don't work as well as something flashier and noisier then. Senko's sink too fast. These early fish are surface oriented. But, I also have a bias. In general, I rarely fish Senko's. I already know they work and they are expensive and tear easily. I do use other types of stick worms, but later in the year. Topwaters are a possibility anytime the bass are willing. Temps of 55+ help, but isn't the whole story. I tried twitching a floating Rapala the other day, but they didn't go for it. Water was a bit too roiled from recent wind I think. That's usually deadly, and the first topwater I GoTo in the spring. We get consistent spring midge emergences on my ponds and the bluegills really go for them: I've seen them rising as early as early March and as late as November -water as low as 50F. And the bass follow. Again, I tend to go with the Rapala, but I expect other things would work. What do you like in topwaters?

Ice, CO (where I'm at) is ahead of NY, by about 3 weeks. But the bass response to temperatures (their metabolic engines) seem to be the same -it just happens earlier here. Hey, I do the trout too. But less so the last few years; Really enjoying the bass fishing. Nice thing about understanding activity patterns of fish well enough to predict them is you can pick your days, and your quarry. On the dreary cold front days in March, when the bass fishing is like pulling teeth, the Baetis (olives) are popping and the trout streams are the place to be. Colorado has great fishing. But that seems to be the case everywhere I've been -if you adjust your expectations a bit.

March 20th, 2008 Brilliant sun and high temps (65F) forecast awesome heating day. I was gonna KILL EM!!! But Mother Nature threw me a curve; No confusion just another fascinating day. When I arrived I stopped to chat with a fly-fisher. He mentioned that it was supposed to get windy. It was absolutely calm as we spoke and I replied that I hoped it would hold off for a while. We said goodbye, and I turned around and walked right straight into a very stiff wind! I started running! I hit one favorite spot screened from the wind and tallied a 13, then ran to a second, where I rose a big mama I know very well. By then the water had only just begun to heat up and she was tentative (and educated). I also reacted tentatively and was rewarded with a large flash beneath the water as she let go of my lure. AWWWWHH! ...Good morning Mama. Go back to whatever you were doing. Rats!!! By then there were whitecaps across the water, and I watched as water temps eroded all the way around the pond as cold water was rolled up from the depths. Heating never happened. And I fished hard, in a very uncomfortable wind, just to see if I could pull something together. I couldn't. I finally abandoned the pond and headed to another I thought might be protected it wasn't, the water roiled and cold. I failed there too, and I was chilled enough not to beat myself up trying to eek out a couple bites. March 25th 2008 Warm spell following good cold front. Monday was to hit mid 60's but a strong wind came in that made me decide to hold off a day. Tuesday was calm, and promised 65 and sun, which was realized. I was almost trembling in anticipation. I started early, to watch the pond heat up. And it did, but slowly. I measured 49F at 10AM the air was chilly. I spent the time fishing and observing. No bluegills were seen in the immediate shallows yet. I didn't turn a fish from 10AM til I broke for lunch at 1pm. And I even began to let a few doubts creep in. Could I be wrong? Could something else be happening? But I quashed em. After lunch, at 2PM, I started my rounds again. I got 52F at the upwind corner, and 56.5F at the downwind a half hour later, and spotted little fish (1½ ) along the cattail roots and shoreline flotsam. I do not know what they were! Wish I'd had a net. They were predacious and even chased my lure moving in quick starts and stops like bass or sunfish. They must be late summer born sunfish likely greens. I talked with one of three anglers who'd been there all morning. He'd caught 2 little ones, he said, and was headed home. From there the day began to heat rapidly and the temps of the downwind side reached 60F at 5PM, then fell back to 56F by 7PM. Bluegills had lined the bank, and soon after, the heavy boils and thick wakes of large surface (and bluegill) oriented bass appeared. It became pure carnage as big females rolled in to pick off those concentrated gills! My tally was 11; The 6 largest in order of capture: 20 even. Jerkbait. On 8lb line I had to backreel again and again. I had no idea how big she was going to turn out to be. I had my scale but forgot to use it! She would have been shy of 5lbs. Healthy but not a barrel. Look at the long tail on her. Man, did she use it! Gorgeous 17¾ Jerkbait. Gorgeous 19 Jerkbait. Thin 19. I switched to a swimbait, as the bass were onto my jerkbait. This one chased to the shore and I ran out of water! So I killed it in 8inches depth, and she sucked it off bottom. She had several old hook bruises, and was very thin. I would have liked to kill her and check stomach to see if she was impacted with a plastic bait. But I didn't have the heart. Gorgeous 19½. Swimbait. She took a ways out (in amongst a pod of gills) and was a handful to subdue (12lb line). 18½. In-line Spinner. Last fish of the evening. A very strong fighter lots of back-reeling on 8lb line. The Jerkbait. This one I made from a Bagley's Topgun, by belly weighting. It's a much shallower running plug then most others, which allowed me to fish it over the dead weeds and algae less hook cleaning, more attraction and triggering time. A less stable plug, it took me some practice to get er to twitch and flash just right. As you can see, color is low on my list of priorities. Took about three hours to catch these fish. They were not pushovers. Seems bigger bass rarely are, especially if they've seen lots of lures as they do in this public water. You know, if I didn't keep a journal, these days would be remembered as me catching bass hand over fist, losing the real effort put in.

Juggerxx, There are two parts to it. The first is recognizing the conditions. The second is knowing what to throw when. Both are predictable enough to get you in the ballpark. Then you fine tune to the current day, or better, the current hour. I have some advice for your coldwater fishing. Learn a couple lures for those conditions. I'd suggest the suspending jerkbait, and a crayfishy jig or soft plastic creature, or a slow-rolled single-spin. You probably already have the last two. Don't worry about colors. Pick one of each and get to know them. Spend a little time with the jerkbait, how it looks and feels as you retrieve. The key to jerks, and any other lure, really, in terms of speed control, is that it has to trigger hits, yet the bass must know they can catch it. That's the rub in cold water they won't commit to something unless they know they can catch it. Part of the trigger besides the obvious size and flash and baitfish shape is making the bait look erratic, and then CATCHABLE! Then you make it so. Essentially, you are trying to keep a lure in any one area as long as possible. In other words avoid too much horizontal movement. Horizontal movement is the attraction, something that can escape (exciting!), but it must be deemed catchable by the bass. And this depends on your knowing, or divining, the general metabolic speed, and the eagerness, of the fish in front of you at the moment. Jerkbaits are made to order in colder water because they suspend. The erratic darts and flashes attract and trigger, the pauses allow the interested bass to catch it. An example of fine-tuning might be: You are in the ballpark and have bass chasing up, but they miss a lot. So you respond by lengthening the pause. Metabolic Speed (from my experience with CO and NY bass): At 45, it's very slow a crawl. Simply takes patience. At 50 options increase, and fish are much more willing, or at least able to meet you part way. At 55 I start picking up the pace. The bass can chase well by then. I may speed test small fish when I start. A thermometer is faster though. Topwaters are a possibility. Above 60 bass can really chase and at 65 or better you physically cannot reel too fast if a bass really wants that bait. Not that that's the best tact, but if the fish are willing you can sure cover water and catch a lot of bass. Eagerness: Actively feeding bass, with prey in front of them, and their target screen set, are more willing to chase at any temperature. As are bass in high competition with their cohorts, usually smaller bass in our waters (<15). There are many other lures that can work in cold water of course. You can add them as time permits. But get to know them first in practice, tinkering, sessions.

Sorry to be so cryptic on this one. I guess the question, Does temperature matter was way too simplistic, to the point of being mis-leading (not in any manipulative way). I was after the behavioral aspects of the bass. Catch-ability adds another bunch of variables which happens to be between you and the fish. As Todd mentions, KVD can catch fish almost anytime, but the point is moot since we are all at our own level. And there are conditions Kevin, and we, would rather be fishing in than others. So, it's the behavioral aspect I'm interested in. Specifically, I'm looking for something much more intensive -like on a daily or hourly basis, rather than seasonal. I am wondering if and how other anglers use temperature in their day's fishing. I'm interested in other angler's perspectives and especially, observations. Has anyone measured temperature changes and related it to bass activity? Seen anything... unanticipated? Anyone measured temperatures at depth of caught bass? And coupled with this, what was the prey in the particular instance? Just curious if anyone's out there taking measurements and attempting to use them. Again, sorry for the cryptic post.

Varies by latitude (growing season), the specific water body, and year to year. In my waters in Northern Colorado I'm coming up with about an 1-1/2" per year for fish over 10inches. Takes a good 8 years to grow an 18 inch bass here. Talk to your Fisheries Biologist. He/she can probably give you a range of numbers to go by.

Get in the habit of asking. I often find landowners very willing to allow access, and since so few people ask, that posted sign works in your favor.

Yeah, I hear you. It sucks to be burned. That's a particularly bad one. That guy lost out more than he gained by being so stingy (that's the nice way of putting it). Let's say I like to share, but am careful. It SUCKS to be burned.

Bob, excellent post! No surprise there. Great game plan for turning that pond around, and would be well worth the effort to have a quality water that close to home. Your baby, so to speak. Here's some encouragement that shows how quickly bass can respond to "management" -in this case by the hand of nature: I used to be the sole fisher of a large pond close to my home. The first day I fished it I stopped counting the bass at 130 -every cast, every lure. Not one broke 11inches. That very winter we had huge snow and a catastrophic kill resulted. I continued to fish it and the growth was impressive. Here are some photos documenting those very fish: One of 130+ caught the summer prior to the kill -10inches. Four 14"-16" taken four years later. (Remember, I was the sole angler on this 100acre pond, and the vast majority of fish were released).

Amongst friends, and ethical regulars on my waters, I have no secrets. I've found that when I share good info, I get it in return. I have a lot of waters to available to me and I can't be everywhere, so shared info is valuable. I'm not a tournament fisher so I don't have competitive needs. I'm more a naturalist that focuses a lot of time on aquatic systems. With the above "shared info" idea in mind, I try to keep my competitive urges (and resulting stinginess) in check. I do control the information I possess though. I have places, spots, timings, etc... that I may be currently working on and don't want added interference, that I share after I've gleaned what I'm looking for. I don't share specific locations on open on-line forums, or just anyone on the water. I have been burned, but rarely. I'm pretty open with newbs on the water, if they ask, but usually it's the more important basics, the WHY of a certain pattern or scenario, rather than the specifics like exact location, bait, and retrieve. It's like the adage, "Give a man a fish..." In this case it's more like, "Give a man a fish, he'll tell you what you already know. Teach him the why's and he'll come back and tell you things new to both of you. I really value all the extra eyes and ears on the water.

How do you use water temperature specifically? Say it's pre-spawn, on a given day. How do USE water temperature?

Guess I should elaborate: I almost never hear water temperature (the numbers) as part of people's fishing reports, planning, or discussion of patterns or results. It's like everyone knows it's important, but it's not mentioned, beyond, "Tough day! I nearly froze my bits off!" I've actually NEVER yet met a bass angler, on the small waters I fish, with a thermometer (in 40 years)! It's regular gear on trout streams (although few seem to really use them). Maybe it's only the big water guys with an in-dash surface temp gauge using temperature? So, how does water temperature work in to your plan of action on a given day -specifically? How many actually take temperatures? What does that look like?

Does water temperature matter in bass fishing?

Several ways I think of off the top of my head: Gently turn rocks and look. Look for burrows in mud shorelines and offshore humps. Look for broken claws in shallows. Gently squeeze fish bellies to feel for craws. Seine or better, a baited crayfish trap. Walk shallows at night with a flashlight. You may be shocked at how many craws are there!

I start fishing immediately after ice-out. Shallow ponds warm fast.

Oooops! Sorry Bassackward, confused you with another "BassAckward".

I hate it when I damage the fish I catch, which can be a common thing with soft plastic baits. Also, I get to do a lot of sight fishing in the clear shallow ponds I fish, so I'd ended up with a problem at the other end of the spectrum missing fish. What I suspected was happening, and my response to it, has been born out from research on bass feeding behavior. Bear with me; It's interesting, and practical: Bass mouths are adapted to suction feeding. Suction feeding is a two-part action: Water, with the food, is sucked into the mouth, THEN the water has to be expelled out through the gills. This is important in people missing strikes I believe. I know it has been for me. The trick is, you have to wait for the bass to expel the water before you set up. This can be less a problem with fish you don't see take because by the time you've detected, the deed is done especially with larger fish. But on a short line, when detection is instantaneous, and on sighted takes, this becomes a key issue. There's a third part too called handling time how long it takes for the bass to get control of the prey before they ingest it, or spit it out. Handling may involve further suction (gobbling) and crushing bites (with tongue against pharyngeal teeth). Handling time is important for anglers when we use a long lure like a plastic worm and is dependant on the size, and aggression, of the bass. I've noticed that with a 5 Senko (a bulky worm), a roughly 15 bass often takes a couple gobbles to suck down such a worm, which you feel as multiple taps. With really small fish you may feel rapid multiple taps as the small fish attempts to gobble up the length of the worm. I often gently pull the bait away from such fish. With large bass handling time is minimal. Line watchers will see the suction events as a flicks' in the line. On the dead weight' feeling, the fish has already engulfed it. When the line skating off, the deed is done and he's moving off with the bait. Usually the complete action, with a say 15 bass, is like this: Suck, getting half the worm in, then suck once more to engulf it, then expel the water, then bite down. If I set up anytime prior to the water being expelled, I'll likely pull the bait from them. I have to wait until the bait is in, and then allow them the added second to expel the water. They then bite down on the bait, which is the optimum time to set the hook. Again, the biggest problem, for me and I assume others, has been when sight fishing (seeing the bass take), or on a short line when detection is instantaneous. You have to wait until they go through the process: inhale, and expel the water. This takes a good full second, or two. If I don't see the take and it's a ways out I may miss the sequence and simply feel weight, or see the line moving. Deep hooking appears to be part of the game with soft plastics. Often, if the bass don't feel you or the weight of the line, they choose to ingest. I don't know any sure way around it. Sometimes you don't detect in time. Sometimes it's a very aggressive hungry fish that ingests right away. Sometimes it's a big one that needs no handling time you can't always tell whether it's a 14 incher or a 20 incher. Salted and formulaic (PowerBait) baits are more apt to be ingested, in my experience and others. (See this particularly interesting post: http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html) Some waters in Colorado even have a ban on salted lures like Senko's. I feel somewhat responsible to be careful in fishing with soft plastics, especially the new salted and formulaic baits, (which we can't seem to get away from). I went barbless with my soft plastic baits last year. Studies have indicated that barbless hooks do not always save fish that are deeply hooked (see discussion at: http://www.bigindianabass.typepad.com/big_indiana_bass/2007/10/ But I counter that barbless hooks decrease time spent trying to extract any hook, especially important with gill or esophagus hooked fish. Anyway, glad you're interested in the issue, as I know we share water here in Colorado. That simply gorgeous 5lber you took last week deserves to swim again. You'll see her later, I'm sure.

Hey Todd, That's a big bass, and in beautiful condition! Was that from a public or private water? Size your images to 500pixels wide -then they'll fit. Paul

Finally got out to bass fish two days this past week the 11th and 14th Each very different days weather-wise, and very interesting days to test an idea I've held dear for a long time about fish activity and their response to lures. Both days were spent on a public pond that has a good population of bass of various sizes. The 11th was a nice fairly rapid heating day, sunny and high in mid 60's. I watched water temps go from 47F to 55.5F in 3 hours. When I first arrived, and temp'd 47, I thought, Ooooh, still cold. So I started fishing slow: a slow-rolled SB, a jig, and a tube. Nada! At one point as I picked up my tube to make another cast a small bass chased it up quickly. Not too fast for you! I thought. Ok, you want speed, you got it! I switched to a hard jerkbait and began an aggressive retrieve and started getting hit. Ended up with 9 in an hour-and-a-half from 12 to 14.5, and 10 of 8 to 9 (bodes well for the future). I then quit this pond about 1PM. Contrast this day with the 14th: Same pond 3 days later during a cold spell, and a descending front. In general, I target heating days and tend to avoid the cold days. This time I purposely chose a cold day that wouldn't heat the water, to see if my avoidance is only due to my own ideas, not the fish's. As a long time trout angler I'd long ago convinced myself of the importance of temperature trends in fishing quality, and this has carried over into my bass fishing. Fish are fish I figure, although their engines run at different temperatures. But I don't want my pre-conceived ideas getting in the way of the truth, so I decided to return to this pond and fish the same way, but on a cold, non-heating day. The 14th ended up a great day for this, ending up at a miserable 38F with rain and sleet by late afternoon. The pond was 49.5F when I started, warmed to 51F in three hours, until the front descended and it fell back to 49 and 47 (at different shoreline locations). I went through exactly as I had on the 11th, using the same aggressive jerkbait retrieve. Nada! I followed up with a jig fished in slow pulls and got bit. I then went through again with the jerkbait, this time fished very slowly and subtly, and got bit as well. Ended up with 6 from 12 to 18 and 7 from 8" to 9". Two best were a 16 and 18, on the jerk and jig, respectively. (The 16 was fat yea!) The two days were very different in bass' response. The fishing was tougher on the cold day (in terms of catch per hour), but both days would have been a skunking if I'd not adjusted. I believe the difference between the two days had to do with the bass' willingness/ability to chase -not to be confused with the given temperature at the moment. 16" -nice condition 18" -a tad thin for pre-spawn 14.5" -Glorious condition! Look at that beautiful fish!

Are these lures very weedless? They all seem to have wide football style heads. Do they shed weeds easily?

I'd be very interested to know what specific baits those were. Right now there's a controversy in Colorado over salt impregnated baits -they are illegal in many waters here due to the concern that fish will ingest them too deeply. I've found that bass can deeply ingest any soft plastic at times. But there appear to be differences in soft plastics. I used to fish for lake-run trout and steelhead and occasionally killed a fish or had them regurgitate. When Powerbait hit the market I began finding various Powerbait trout products in the trout stomachs. Interestingly, I never found a regular plastic egg, wiggler, worm, or hair or feather fly in a stomach. Now trout have relatively small mouths and key on small baits in streams, so impacted stomachs are not likely to be an issue. But with bass, this is an issue. Anyone know how to find out what baits these were? Regular plastics (if that even exists anymore), heavily salted (like a Senko), YUM, Moloko, Powerbait, Gulp!, ...? I wonder if they were all of the same formula. And how many other fish this was found in.

Now that was a good. ;D Now does that mean that C&R is akin to blasphemy? Does that mean I'm headed straight to hell??? 'Cause I'd rather eat perch, 'gills, cats, walleyes, trout, and .... Will those save me???

Some thoughts: There are better tasting fish, and those that grow faster, than bass. Most ponds are stocked with bass and sunfish. Some have the addition of channel catfish. If there are cats, I'd target them for eating! How many and what size bass you take depends on the pond, and the year. Populations commonly fluctuate in such small waters. In general, I'd keep a few of the sizes that appear most abundant, realizing that such a small water most certainly won't produce good fishing down the road if you take too many. You'll want to get an idea about how many other anglers are fishing, and keeping, too, when figuring your take. Not sure where you are, somewhat south I assume, but bass grow relatively slowly. Those 17s you caught would most likely be 7 or 8 years old where I fish. Most certainly, there are not many 17s in such a small pond. So, I'd release the larger ones, as they are harder to replace, the most fun to catch, and proven spawners. And, in many waters this can be very important: For every bass better than 12inches I take out, I'd also take out at least 10 sunfish.

WRB is right on. I don't think you could keep more than one or two mature bass in a 5gal bucket in warm weather for very long. Not sure what the set-up for this contest is but if I had to hold fish for very long (especially during warm summer weather) I'd have a cooler with a bubbler attached, or not participate.