tommy

in my local reservoir i can go to 60 ft. water and see the thermocline at 25 feet, i can go to the back of the lake to 25 ft. water and see the thermocline at 10 feet... is this normal?

ive been catching them on a jig on steep banks on different sizes and colors...lift the bait up 2 feet and let it fall on a semi-slack line...1/4 oz. finnese jig with 60 strands to 1/2 oz. with 15 strands...the fish, when you catch them, are all picking it up after it hits the bottom and sits there a few seconds... im not sure if i should be dragging, hopping 6 inches at a time, or using a different bait completely...its catching fish, but its not tearing it up, i watched 4 miles of line to get 4 bites last night...same thing with a senko, fished weightless or on a 1/8th oz. jighead... what would it tell you, and what would you change?

im my experience, tap tap tap is usually a 9 inch fish knocking on the door....

ive done it 4 times in the last year.... 3 of them on topwater... last week a 5 and a 3 pounder on a dd22....

how quiet is your lure going in the water? the lakes where i pitch, if it makes a splash, your dragging water.......

boat positioning....

some of my best days in summer are windy days....windblown banks and points, carolina rig, and the trolling motor in whatever gear it takes to stay where i want.... i had to upgrade my trolling motor, last year, i made 7 casts to a small point and caught 7 fish, but couldnt stay there with my trolling motor in 5th gear... i used to find the protected coves too, and when i go out and its windy thats where every other boat is, but i wont trade back...youll catch 5 in the wind for every 1 in the slack water....and your subject to catch a pig... you just have to get out there in it a couple times and find your rhythm....

the bite goes dead right now after sunset, and we only have an hour of light when we start... the guys winning the last couple of weeks are fishing bed bass....they broke the lake record stringer last year on bed bass...friday night tournament 2nd place was 3 pounds, 3rd was 1 pound, they won with 24 pounds.... i have 20 beds marked with only 5+ pound fish...i just need to figure them out...

anyone with any experience at this? lures, techniques different than daytime or when you cant see them? im scratching my head....need help....

im going to try the anise oil....ive been looking for something...im a smoker... and i have yet to catch a bass with a half pack of cigarettes in his possession.....

i tie on a jig and go pitching bushes......its work, its hot, but the bites will be quality.... if im going to catch nothing, its gonna ba a big nothing.....

i call that squirrel fishing....... a guy that goes with me sometimes is a world champion squirrel fisherman.....

do you backlash when you lose the bait? if not, it sounds like the line is getting wrapped around the rod tip... ive had this happen a few times at night....

im guilty of most of those.... plus..... practicing for our monday and friday tournament and getting a game plan.....then throwing it out the window once i get out there.... leaving one spot to run to another....and stopping at 5 others on the way..... not spending enough time on a spot.... not fishing a spot thoroughly.... fishing plastics and jigs too fast... having my trolling motor in 4th gear...on a spot i should be using 1st or 2nd gear at the most...... fishing outside a pattern... trying to tell the fish how, where, and when they are going to bite...as opposed to them telling me.... i keep my rod tip too high when working jigs and soft plastics, so im out of position when i need to set the hook....i also raise my tip up for better feel when i think im getting a strike...old habit... other than those things there are only 2 things that keep me from being the best in the world....finding fish, and catching them....

5.43

im a drag only man, i use 6# alot and when i set the hook the drag is loose enough to give some. i dont think i would like backreeling, but ive never really tried it.

i tried out a spro bronzeye jr. frog, wasnt impressed...could never get it to turn sideways, it just looked straight at me and hopped straight forward (when it didnt sink)...i shortened one leg skirt, didnt help, added a split ring, didnt help...is there more mods i can try, did i get a bad one, is the spro overrated? im not up on all the brands, so if theres a better offering im all ears...

hey guys, im tom, been lurking here for a while...lots of great info and advice...i live in alabama, 5 minutes from our local lake catoma, 10 minutes from smith lake, 35 minutes from guntersville...im about to dive back in to my fishing and look forward to quizzing you guys on some info...good fishing...

then you havent been fishing long enough this is true... ;D