Shad_Master

A technique that works well in this area is swimming a jig, this is similar to slow rolling a spinner bait and works well in fairly clear water from Spring through early fall. Once the water temp starts dropping the fish get sluggish and this won't hold up. I was surprised at how effective this can be and have been using this more in the last year. Still prefer the traditional pitch and hop action in the hot part of the summer, though.

The one BD is referring to is similar (if not the same thing) as a lure that was being sold through Cabela's several years ago that was billed as the "slowest jig ever". I got one and it was a piece of crap. The "craw" part was hollow plastic and was stiff as a board. I threw it away and fially lost the jig a month or so ago while fishing in an area where I was likely to hang up.

Over this past year there is a stretch of bank that I fished almost every night. I found it while fishing in a tournament and they were just stacked up on the weed line. As the summer dragged on, I would head out to fish from the bank for about an hour or so every evening. I found that when I would first arrive, I would get hit repeatedly by bluegills on plastic worms. But within 15 minutes or so of sundown the bite would stop abruptly and I would get nothing for 10 minutes or so. Then about the time the sun touched the horizon, I would start to get bass strikes and lots of them. I started carrying a buzz bait to throw at this time and found that I could get up to four strikes in a row (sometimes) before I hooked up. This would keep up until it was dark and the "skeeters" got so thick I had to leave. In this case, my conclusion was that the bass were moving into the shallows to feed and would strike because they were attracted to the noise and the commotion. I could also get some strikes on a jig or a plastic worm but not as many and not as big.

One of my all time favorite books is "Think Like a Fish", an autobiograpy by Tom Mann. Not a whole lot in there about how to catch a biggun or what bait to use when, but some great insight from one of the legends in this crazy sport we call bass fishin. It will make you laugh and make you cry and give you a lot of inspiration to keep on chunkin.

Around here they get T-rigged (usually with a 1/16 oz weight or weightless depending on the wind) and C-rigged as well. Another way to fish 'em is rigged weightless with a nail weight stuck in the bottom. This makes 'em back up and gives the fish another look. The primary colors in the this area are green pumpkin, water melon red flake, and colors like this. They did make one that was called blue bruiser, I think, that was a black/blue laminate but I have heard they stopped making them. Also, a lot of guys throw both the regular 4" and the Baby ring fries (3.5"). I think the design casues subsurface water displacement that gets the bass' attention and causes them to stike, but any way they are deadly.

the second time I took my son (now age 15) out fishing (he was about 5 at the time), on my second cast, my Zebco 33 fell all apart and my fishing was done for the day. Spent the rest of the day showing him how to cast, bait the hook, take the fish off, etc. Turnded out to be one of the best days we ever had on the water.

Catt, can you tell me where you found those studies or how you came to find this information? It sounds like something that would be good to look at. Thanks.

Thanks for all the input guys, this really isn't a deal breaker for being a part of this club it just comes up every so often and we argue back and forth over the winter. I agree that it is important to know what is going on with the lake and what the fish may be doing at that time, but the issue is more about those guys that go out on Friday and stir things up before the tournament on Saturday. I was hoping that someone had some good insight into what the effect of this type of pre-fishing might have on tournament day. I know the old saw, "if you catch 'em today, you won't catch the same ones tomorrow", but what about the other fish holding in that area? Are there studies that show how fish react to their neighbors being caught? Seems like I have heard about this somewhere, but can't track it down.

Saw some of it and it was a good show -- Awsome about Sonny James being inducted into the CM HOF -- there is a video running about Faith Hill's reaction when Carrie Underwood was announced as the Female Vocalist of the year -- kinda makes you wonder what that was all about. Glad to see Brad Paisley get album of the year also.

My club does a "paper tournament" -- catch, measure and release. Points are awarded according to the length of the fish, with a minimum length of 12" and premium points awarded for 15" and over. The best five are counted as the "stringer" and the winners are awarded finish point -- 100 for 1st place, 95 for 2nd, 90 for 3rd and so on down to 19th place and then everybody get 10 points for participation. We fish 7 tournaments per year and you are allowed to drop your lowest two finish points for the year end "Mr. Bass" award. We all use the same measuring board so there is no discrepancy for the length and the score card is totaled and signed by your boating partner (either boater or non-boater). Not only does this promote Catch and Release, but in the summer months it is easier for us to get tournament permits from the DNR guys. The rules do allow each member to keep one "trophy sized" fish per year, but nobody every does. If you would like to know more about our scoring system, PM me and I will let you know how to access it.

I am a Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant, which means that I help workers who have been injured on the job and can't return to the work they were doing find new employment. I also provide "expert" testimony in lots of legal cases where "loss of earning capacity" is an issue.

Lake Fork Ring Fries work good in this area as a C-rig bait, both the regulars and the baby ring fries.

Around here drop shotting in the submerged brushpiles is working well -- try using a "fluke type" bait on your DS rig.

Maybe I missed something, but I didn't see where you said the dude actually caught the fish -- findin 'em is one thing -- catchin 'em is another. Last year I was fishing with a guy -- he had his depth finder working, his GPS all marked and his trolling motor hummin -- we sat in the boat and wached this lady pulling 6#'ers out of the water with her cane pole while we pulled a blank. :'(

You know, you guys sound just like the members of my club The Sunday option is really not one because of other committments a lot of the guys have and this has already been beat to death. Matt, about the "PHERMONEs" -- do you have any specific articles, books, etc that you can direct me to about this? Or anyone else for that matter. I would really like to spend some time looking into this over the winter. Thanks.

My local club is having it's annual debate about whether to allow pre-fishing before our monthly tournaments. Currently all of our tournaments are held on Saturdays and this allows those that can to take Friday off and head on down to the lake for some extended time on the water and then hang around the campfire the night before. Part of the problem is that not everybody in the club (we usually have anywhere between 10 and 15 boats for the tournament) can take off on Friday and get on the water. Now everybody claims that they are real careful and don't pound on 'em on Friday, but the stories allways are told around the campfire of guys who are "on fish and lots of them". There are even stories of big fish caught (often not witnessed by anybody). The argument by some in the club is that this activity causes the bite to slow down on tournament day (these are not real big lakes that we are fishing in most cases) and the proposal comes up almost every year to make the lake off limits for a week before the tournament. Do you guys have any thoughts one way or the other about this topic? Everybody pretty much agrees "if you catch 'em on Friday, you won't catch the same one on Saturday". But does this catching the fish in a particular area have an affect on other fish in the immediate area once they have been released? Also, one of the guys in the club mentioned either seeing or reading about a film that involved Gene Lau some years back that showed the affect of an injured fish on others that were holding in that area. If you have any information about this film or any articles based on this film I would appreciate that as well. Thanks for your input.

Last year I was fishing at a local lake over my lunch hour and noticed this guy trolling around in circles - I could see he was dragging something and thought maybe he had an aqua view of somethning -- after a while he came closer to where I was fishing from the bank and told me he had dropped a rod/reel out of his boat the day before and was searching for it with a magnet. When he pulled it up, there was a bass hooked on the spinner bait Probably a pretty cool idea if you want to take the time away from fishing, no telling what you might find -- Jimmy Hoffa is still out there somewhere.

Fishing a tournament this year I was throwing a crank bait along an old fence row and snagged a crappie -- on my next cast I had one bite the CB that was approximately 1/4" shorter than the lure (LOL).

Thanks for the replies -- anyone else have an opinion or insight?

Has anyone seen, heard about, used, etc. this lure? A buddy asked me to find out what I could about it. Their website is www.actionlurescompany.com. Would appreciate any 411 you could give me.

I don't know the name of the song, but I think it's by emnemenem or how ever your spell his name.

I haven't tried the Booyah's yet, but a friend of mine did and had good results -- the leverage hook was a good addition, but made it kinda hard to unhook the fish. I have fished the Rad's quite a bit with excellend success and tried the Gambler version. The blade on the Gambler was softer and could be tweaked easier to allow for a deeper or shallower retrieve. Plan on spending this winter tyring my hand and making some myself and see what I come up with. Will let you know.

So why does the wind always blow at my local lake? Today, as I was driving to the lake during the lunch hour, I passed the bank and the flag was hanging limp -- same with a couple of other flags that I passed on the way (about 4.5 miles from my office to the lake) -- when I got there, the flag at the entrance was standing straight and the wind was blowing anywhere from 15 - 20 mph. I have noticed this phenomenon all year. Any ideas?

I started fishing for "fish" when I was about 6 years old -- as I got older, learned that bass fishing was the most interesting of challenges because of some of the same comments as noted above. When the BASS burst on the scene, I became more interested because I had an opportunity to be a part of something besides just fishing. Over the years I have continued to love the sport of fishing and have even had some desire to crank up a big ol' tuna or swordfish, but the elusive bass has always been my primary target. Now that I have had an opportunity to join a bass fishing club and fish competitvely and learn at the same time, my love of the sport has grown even more. I still like to do some crappie jerkin once in a while and am never disappointed when I manage to land a big ol' catfish, heck I even enjoy playing with the blue gill. But for me, the challenge of figuring out how to trick those big ol' bucket mouths into biting my plastic worm, buzzbait, crankbait, etc. still give me the greatest satisfaction of all.

It's that white stuff on the ground that means there "snow" fishin :'(