Shad_Master

Yeah, there are a lot of idiots out there - why I have even heard of people paying $18 - $40 for a crank-b....Oh, wait - never mind!

Frogs will work any time of day, if you are in the right location - work 'em in the heaviest weeds/slop you can find. If the fish are there, they will go after 'em.

It could be because they don't catch fish and stink worse then GULP! - just a thought

One other thing on this topic - if the fish are not hitting on top in the early morning, I'm going to start to think that they may not be active and will not be in a "chase mode" even below the surface - I will go ahead and check this out, but it is sort of the starting point of putting together a pattern for the remainder of the day.

If they ain't on top, I switch to a shallow crank bait, then a spinner bait or chatter bait, etc. I keep working my way down the water column until I connect with fish. As the day goes on, I will keep working deeper, especially in the hot months.

I got a lesson in dirty(!!!) water fishing at a club tournament a couple of years ago - our club arrived at the lake to learn that heavy rains and flooded creeks had turned it into a big bowl of chocolate milk - you could almost walk on this thing - after six hours of fishing - 3 anglers out of 20 caught fish - one was totally an accident (possibly a suicide fish), one was the result of fishing chartruese chatter baits around the deepest water on the lake (the dam) and the third and most productive was take with white spinner baits and chatter baits by fishing at the lower end of the lake where new water was comming in - thus starting to clear up first. If there is a lesson to be learned there - you welcome.

Swimming a jig is a technique that is overlooked by a lot of fisermen, but can be a very effective tool in certain circumstances (I only wish I knew what they were - LOL). But it is usually an alternative to a spinner bait or a buzz bait. Now one of the things I have learned in fishing top water lures is you need a follow-up lure to throw if you get a strike and the fish doesn't hook up (a Senko makes a good follow-up lure for instance). The fact that a fish strikes a top water lure is a sign that he is fired up and ready to go. You just gotta put something out there that he will respond to.

Are these theories unique to buzz baits or would they apply equally to other top water lures or even spinner baits burned across the surface?

Unlike Bobby - I throw buzz baits a lot and have had two experiences recently that relate to this topic: 1) I was fishing a new "lake" (really a large pond) and throwing a buzzer - I had several strikes from what I believe were smaller fish that didn't get hooked up - but then I had another strike that literally knocked the buzz bait out of the water - I believe this was an "anger" strike. 2) I was fishing in another small lake with very clear water and was able to watch a bass (another dink) track the buzz bait and follow it for about 12 feet before breaking off the strike - this, to me, was a feeding response and he somehow figured out that this wasn't food.

An interesting question - actually, I think of a buzz bait bite as being more of an aggravation bite - this thing keeps comming into his territory until he get's mad enough to attack it. The same may be said for pop-r and chug-bug bites, but usually these tend to represent more of an easy meal and therefore, I think of them as feeding bites (same with spooks). A "reaction" bite to me is anytype of moving bait that suddenly appears in the fish's bite range and causes the fish to instintively strike out. This could be a crank bait, spinner bait, even a T-rigged worm or jig falling into the fish's bite range. It will be interesting to see what others have to say.

Not a problem

Well, you see, it wasn't the only thing I brought up - but it could the what is happening. You make a good point about bass feeding on top and that was why I suggested a top water.

Don't know the conditions at your lake, but two ideas came to mind while reading your post: 1) it could be carp - they like to jump and are not likely to hit on a bass lure 2) if it is bass, then a top-water bait would be your best bet - either a "walk-the-dog" type bait or a Popper would be my suggesiton - even a buzz-bait might draw a response

Just throwing some brush out in the water doesn't mean that fish are going to swarm to it like a magnet - there has to be some other structure there to attract the fish in the first place - "all brush piles are not created equal" - and like five-bass-limit says, it takes a while for the bass to migrate to the brush pile once it is there. Around here the problem is not having the brush piles planted (everybody does that) - it's guys carrying grappling hooks and moving 'em. It was there yesterday - today it's gone???

Maybe the first one was autographed ---------- by the bass :

Before somebody else jumps in - welcome to the wonderful world of bass fishing - there is lots of good information in the "articles" section of the forum. Also, I don't know much about Modesto but you might try posting in the "fishing locations" part and perhaps somebody closer to you can offer some suggestions. Good luck and tight lines.

I usually don't use a trailer, but I do use a trailer hook. There are some spinners that have a skirt that is trimmed to allow some of the strands to hang lower and sort of look like a trailer - can't remember who makes 'em - I have used those.

I don 't think so, I 've fished jigs a bunch of times without trailer and I still catch them. So if it's not the trailer - is it the skirt or the jig?

This has been the biggest mystery to me - there are guys in my local club that never throw anything but red shad whatevers - I have bunch of 'em in the boat/tackle box but can't say that I have ever caught anything on them. They sure do look purty in the water, though.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by this? I have heard this and have a general idea of what you are saying, but would appreciate more description of the differences. Thanks

Is it the jig, the skirt or the trailer? I know I will get a lot of responses that it takes all three, but how you rank them in importance for attacting the bite?

I guess the question you have to ask yourself is "how did you catch him?" - if you were using a bait with lots of vibration - then it was probably able to detect the lure through it's laterl lines - if you were using a more finesse presentation - then it may have been the scent that attracted the fish. These creatures truly are amazing in how they can survive and thrive.

This is my point exactly - by listening to people who disagree with me and making their case in a rational way - I can perhaps learn something new or even share some new information with someone else. The articles and such are good resources, but I can't say I have read them all. And somebody new to the forum may not even realize they are there. Including that suggestion when responding to a question (especially from a newbie) is fine - but making someone feel put down because they didn't see all the articles or read all the suggestions it not constructive. Just think about how much we might know or have learned if this forum had been there when we were starting out.

Well, since you bring it up - yes, I did report the first instance and I was told the standard line about misinterpreting what was typed and this is one of the "good ole boys" who probably didn't mean anything by it. I took it upon myself to PM the "offender" and there was no response. In the second instance, the topic was locked after I pointed out this was the problem with trying to have a political discussion on a board like this. I don't know what you read or how you interpret it, but I do see enough "snarky" comments that I think it is worth pointing out that it shouldn't be happening.

Well, I guess I need you to help me out here. What is the "correct" way to interpret being called: 1) ***** 2) un American In the first instance it was in response what some people thought was a pretty witty response to a joke posted on the eveything else page. The second instance was when I pointed out (to a Moderator who attends the road trips, by the way) that a topic was of a political nature and did not fit with the published policy for the forum. Please help me understand how I should have interpreted these comments as positive.