Shad_Master

In the last three years, I have caught 4 20"+ bass: 1) Was fishing from the bank at the pond at my housing development (you are not supposed to fish there unless your property is on the lake, but since it was not completely built up, I used to sneak down there and catch a few). Had been hitting some 10" to 14" bass on a regular basis and had caught a few nice blue gill when I felt a thump and new it was a good'en. Tried to reel him in and he kept taking drag (though my reel was broken ). When he jumped I almost had a heart attack. Managed to get him landed and had to estimate the length/girth: approximately 21.5"/16" -- 6.15# by the fish weight calculator on this website. 2) Fishing a tournament at a local lake. Had been having some luck from shore on a particular bank but one of our guys had camped out on this spot and stayed there for a couple of hours. Wasn't doing much good elsewhere and so decided to move in after he left. On the first cast, caugt a 20.5" . Didn't get the girth measurement, but he was a realy hog. 3) Earlier this year I was fishing at my test pond. Lots of people fishing there in the Spring with worms and buzz baits. The weeds were starting to get thick and decided maybe I could get some bites by crashing a crank bait into the weeds. First cast, felt the fish bite, but he didn't hook up. Threw down my crankbait rod and followed with a 6" Vibra Tail worm and he took it (no more than 10' of line out) and he nearly ripped my arm off. Measured him at 20.5" with a 16" girth (just under 6#) 4) About a week ago, I was fishing over my lunch hour at a lake near my work. I had been fishing the weeds, but the blue gill were pestering me so bad, I decided to just have a little fun and tied on a 4" GULP Nightcrawler and let the blue gill drag it around. On my second pitch, I felt a pretty good tug and thought it must be big BG. Pitched again and felt the hookup, reeled him in and was shocked to see a giant mouth. I had to estimate his length at somewhere between 20" and 21", an easy 5#er.

"Deeper" water is a relative term and depends on the depth of the lake, pond or whatever. The primary purposes for "deeper" water for bass is to have somewhere to pull off to when needed. As you probably know, fish tend to spawn on shallow flats (again a relative term) and then pull back after the spawn. They really don't travel far from their spawining areas and will often comeback into these areas through out the summer and fall to feed. I have been struggling with this some myself and recently read an article where Mark Davis was talking about where to fish in a lake that you are not familiar with. He said he will always try to identify the spawning areas, regardless of time of year and then start pulling back until he finds the fish. The he will target areas at similar depths as he travels around the lake. I'm sure others will have more advice and I will watch to see what suggestions you get. Thanks for the question, it's a good one.

Just to follow-up on this, then if smaller fish bite first will that turn the bigger one's on? In other words is it productive to keep fishing an area even if the fish you are catching are smaller, 'cause there might be a bigger one hanging around? Or is it better to move off in search of bigger fish? Should I stay or should I go???

If this has been covered in other topics, please give me the link and don't say bad things about me, please. I have always heard that bass of the same size tend to school together, but I am not sure this is true. I have caught fish from 4" to 18" on one brush pile within minutes of each other. But when bass of different sizes are "bunched up", which ones will bite first? Is it the bigger ones or the smaller.

I have a friend who makes in-line spinner baits and had trouble finding a paint that wouldn't chip when banging off the rocks. After hearing a commercial on television, he started using his wife's finger nail polish. Now he is a regular customer for the Avon lady (Ding-Dong ).

There is no rule that says you can't use split shot as the weight for the sinker on a drop shot. This was how I was first introduced to the technique. However, split shot will crimp your line and cause it to have a weak spot and will have a tendency to get hung up easier. The "drop shot weights" are designed to pull loose when you get hung up so that you only lose the weight and not the hook and lure. I personally use "finesse" weights (the long ones) and peg them to the line. This way I can slide them up and down to adjust the depth of the lure and they don't get hung up as much. Bottom line, what ever will keep you in contact with the bottom and allow you to "wiggle your worm"

The main thing you want is a bait that falls slow (Senkos and GULP Sinking Minnows for instance) but it is also helpful to have a bait that displaces some water as you pull the weight along the bottom. This will often trigger the fish to come and locate your offering. That is why lizards and other creature baits are used so often on C-rigs. There really is no right or wrong bait. I have recently heard of guys tying suspending crankbaits on their C-rigs, but haven't tried this myself.

a good rule of thumb is to fish parralell to the drop until you find the depth where fish are holding. Then you can tune your presentation to keep the offering in that zone longer. By fishing perpendicular to the drop you are only presenting your lure for a short time and this may not tell you where the fish are.

One good way to get the hang of this is to study your current surroundings. If the place where you are were suddenly underwater, what would it look like to a fish (or a scuba diver)? Where would the points and the humps be? What kind of cover would there be? etc.

Right after it rains can be EXCELLENT fishing. My "test pond" has a culvert that runs into it from the golf course water hazard across the street. Right after a rain, the fish will stack up there to feed on whatever is washing through and can be caught on durn near everything you throw at 'em.

NO, a better word for structure is contour. The changing depths of the lake, pond, whatever. Cover is anything in the water that fish can relate to: grass, rocks, weeds, laydowns, etc. The term "structure" refers to the structure of the body of water. Bass will find the depth that they feel most comfortable with and hold there, but there will almost always be "deeper" water nearby so that they have an avenue of escape if needed.

For me the advantage of a C-rig is that it allows me to fish at a variety of depths on a single cast. I use baits that I know have a slow fall and try to visualize what it going on when I drag the weight. If the fish bite just as I drag it, I know that they are relating to the bottom. If they are hitting it on the fall they may be suspended, in which case a drop shot may be a good follow up. they are good for covering a lot of water because you can defintely throw a 1/2 to 1 oz weight further than a 1/4 oz, but that it not how I use the weight. I want something that will get down and then come through the structure. I feel for what is going on below the water by how the weight acts. I can detect rocks, grass, soft bottom or whatever is going on and this helps me know what to follow up with. Hope this helps.

I use either a GULP! Nightcrawler or Baby Ring-Fry rigged weigtless (if the wind permits) and hop it on top or through the weeds. If the wind will not allow for weightless, I try to use the least amount of weight possible, perhaps a 1/16 Slider hook.

Try fishing for 'em in the evening. I hit my "test pond" about 8:15 every evening and stay until the 10:00 news is comming on or until the skeeters start carrying me off, which ever comes first >. From about sundown until then the fish get real active.

A reply to my own post - of course they are legal or he wouldn't be using one and certainly not telling everybody :-[. But the rest of the post is still there, are you guys using this thing?

One article I read right after the classic said that KVD was using one of these and said that this was what made the difference for him. Are these things legal in tournaments? Are any of you guys using one? and with what results?

If I'm going to be spending the day fishing, I like to use a top - down approach until I find the fish. I will start out with a topwater (buzz or spook). If I don't get hit, I may switch to a spinnger bait or shallow crank. If that doesn't get a reaction, I will switch to a C-rig and then to T-rig until I start getting bites. Once I find where they are, I start tuning up the colors. I may switch back as the day wears on but usually just one step at a time and stay close to the colors that are working, but with variations. For instance, I was fishing a black spinner bait a few trips back and had some swirls but no hookups, I switched to a black with red and started catching fish. My partner went to a chartruse and got nothing in the same area.

I have tried purusing the articles and have not found this. If I overlooked it, please provide the link. When, and under what conditions, do fish start "chasing bait". The reason I ask is that in the last few weeks I have noticed a sharp drop in the numbers of bass hitting on cranks and spinner baits. They seem to be more after plastics on the bottom now that the heat has really picked up.

The "bead" is simply that a bead (usually glass, but can be plastic or some other material) that is threaded on the line above the swivel and below the sinker. The purpose is to produce a "clicking" sound to attact attention to your rig. It also provides a cushion for the weight to avoid putting additional pressure on the knot. It really is not a requirement, it is just one option for rigging. There are Carolina Pre-Rigs that are being sold now that have the weight, the bead and a clacker all installed on a wire that you can just tie to the two lines and accomplish the same thing. I just usually tie an egg sinker on and let 'er rip.

My primary experience with in-lines is in the fall while fishing for white bass at Lake of the Ozarks. One of the guys in our group makes his own in-lines and paints up lots of different colors. When we start fishing we each use a different color (maybe four or five of us fishing) until somebody starts getting bit. That night he will make up a bunch of that color for us to use over the next several days. Over the last few years, the color has varied from white/red, yellow/orange, bright purple, puple/green. You just never know. Also, as the day goes on the color may change again. A lot of people don't believe in color, but I do. You just have to experiment.

"what is fishing pressure?" -- that's a good question. For me it would be having lots of lures presented to th fish where they are either caught or bite and have the lure pulled away or come ubottoned. This would seem to cause them to be more reluctant to bite a something that they are not certain is food. It will be interesting to see what others have to say about this.

I agree about sharpening the hook, these lures don't have the sharpest point, but they are good offerings around pads and reeds. I have never tried a trailer hook on these things, but if conditions allow that might be an option.

I had this dicussion with some guys last year. There was either an article in a magazine or a T.V. show where, I beileve it was, Rick Clunn was discussing that fish emit an enzyme in the water when they become stressed and this transmits to the other fish in that area causing them to turn off. The example that was noted was that he, Rick?, was catching fish on a brush pile and releasing them at the back of the boat to keep them from signaling the other fish on the brush pile. I have also heard of people putting fish in their livewell while the bite was going on and only releasing them after it shut down. Don't know if this adds to the dicussion, but I was reminded of this by the question.

Each year I set one goal for improving my fishing. Last year it was working on my soft plastics. This year it turned into two, fishing a jig and buzzbaits. The reason it was two was that I stuck a couple of fish for the first time with a buzzbait early in the year and have been working on this. As for the jig fishing this has not panned out as good. I still need a lot of work in this area and will probably carry this goal over to next year as well.

I have fished as a non-boater for my club tournaments for three years now and that has probably helped me become a better fisherman, because I have to adapt not only to the lake (most of which I did not know when I started) but also to fishing a style that may not be my natural way to fish. However, I do have a "test pond" where I try out different lures and techniques. I know I can catch fish there so I concentrate on how they can be caught so that when I am in a situation that is similar I have confidence in what I am doing. I think I'm becomming a better fisherman (if fact I know I am), but it is a combination of things that I am doing that makes the difference.