bigbassctchr101

The X rap is a favorite river lure. You could do well with the varying sizes of zoom flukes too if you are worried about snagging.

I have seen the same fish caught three times in less than 10 minutes off a bed. Probably bad practice, but a point was trying to be proved. The last time the fish was released and went straight back and set up just like it did the other three times. It was pretty amazing honestly. I have also witnessed males being caught, placed back in the water on the opposite side of the boat and head straight back to the nest.

I've found that if you are referring to a big cold front in spring... the low pressure is better to fish as they seem to feed better. Once the high is here (usually tournament day haha), the high blue sky and colder temps can make them drop back down to the next deepest cover, dropoff, ledge etc, or back off and completely suspend off (sometimes way off) a point like smallmouth tend to do a lot... They can put their noses right up in the cover and rocks and usually won't actively feed nearly as good as they did before the front. 2 different ways to fish for them after they do this is with a jig/texas rig, or a reaction bait that they hit out of complete reaction rather than a feeding mode.

Hey guys, I'm not sure how many people run a raymarine unit for bass fishing yet. And of the ones that do, I bet 50% of them are dragonfly users. So I may be shooting in the dark here. I have a raymarine a 98 series. It has a video connection for the FLIR cameras. I was wondering if anyone knows if you can directly hook up an underwater video camera to these units like people can do with the lowrance units?

I would personally buy one 7'MH of good quality...*** 13/Duckett Ghost/Crucial, etc... and pair it with a Pro Qualifier... With a new rod and used reel that will set you around $165 (more so around $150 if you shop and look for deals on the buy and sell and ebay). I would also get a 7' Med of same quality. That will put you around $60-$80 to buy either a decent combo spinning rod or just a nicer quality spinning rod and you can find a spinning reel on ebay for $20 and it will do you just fine. That will put you right at or just a hair over $400 and you will have the ability to have sensitive equipment (even if you get serious and want to start tournament fishing), and you have the capabilities to perform ALMOST every needed task you would need to do.

if your throwing the little dippers on the outside, are you throwing the 3.8 impact or 4.8 on the middle? Do you change colors of your baits for any reason? Water clarity or anything?

Do you tip the silver minnow with anything (trailer of any sort?) Are you throwing a rig with or without blades?

I know there has been several posts made about A-Rigs on about every Bass Forum known to man. This question is not so much about the rig, but the baits and things that are used on it. I have fished this thing a lot and noticed that sometimes there are better baits to use than others. Has anyone figured out any type of strategy for what works best for when and where? i.e. (money minnows in murkier water), (blades in deep water/clear water/stained water), (no blades?? when and where) I would just like to hear some personal preferences. I know a lot of guys probably do not throw it and thats fine...you probably don't have much intel to give about it then? Also, I would say a lot of other guys throw the same rig-baits 100% of the time. You guys probably have a lot more intel to offer than you think. When/where do you catch most of your fish if your doing that and what type of conditions and baits are you throwing under?

The strain is documented. For a record to be obtained the fish does not only have to be weighed on certified scales, but DNA also has to be taken from the fish. I would bet that this fish probably is Florida strain. But that doesn't mean that we can't grow them that big anyway. Beech Creek, right above John Sevier Steam Plant on Cherokee Lake has produced numerous 12lb + fish. Including this one: http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/2014/05/29/15-pound-bass-doesnt-count-for-state-record/9748891/ This river system has never been stocked with any Largemouth. But the fisherman did not submit DNA evidence (this link says it was not on a certified scaled), but if I recall, I think the scale was certified, but he released the fish before officials were called and did not know about getting the DNA. Nonetheless, Gabe's catch is amazing. I can't imagine being the proud angler to catch a fish like that in home waters. Congrats to him!

Confidence. The problem isn't that you can't read the sonar. It's not that you can't fish. It's not that you don't know where to look. Your problem is that because you aren't confident in your skills of reading the sonar, and that you do not put confidence in the data given, you go back to your old ways. You are given pieces of a puzzle. Its just up to you to put them together. It took me awhile to do the same thing. If I didn't see fish on my graph, that was ok. I still stopped and fished. haha That type of fishing is fine for resident fish. You will still pick up a few on a jig and worm that stick close to that area and feed in that area. But when it comes to schooling fish, fish that roam and actively feed on shad, thats what you want to use your graph for when your searching for the "archs". If there are no shad then there will be no bass FEEDING ON SHAD, point blank no ifs ands or buts about that. But you could still catch a few holding to the bottom or the nice drop off that you find. Thats excellent!! Use your graph and find more areas with the same type of drop off and fish them. There is no reason to probe the point from 0-30ft when you consistently catch fish on multiple 12-15ft drops near deep water. I also started doing something the past few years that have helped me out a lot. SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS vs --------------- Imagine a boat graphing a point using the two different paths above. One S'ing in and out from 6ft-18ft back from 18ft-6ft, and the other making a single pass at 12ft depth. As papajoe said above...you are already viewing a small portion of what is directly below the boat. So, increase your viewing area. You have more ability to see: bottom hardness active fish shad drop offs brush piles etc... If none of them things are located in your quick straight pass at 12', then you would just want to move on. But if you found any, all, or even a few in your S passes, you can start putting together a pattern. Once you keep adding pieces together, eventually your puzzle will all be complete. In a matter of hours you will know the fish are targetting bait balls, while suspended in 12-16ft off clay humps with deep water access. But you have to single out certain things before you can develop and realize what is going on. Thats where the confidence in knowing and believing in what you are doing and what you are seeing comes in.

I want to catch an 11lb smallie! haha There are several 7lb smallies here though. South Holston, Watuaga, seem to be the go to places to catch some of your bigger smallmouth this time of yr. Damiki Shad drop shot in 40-60ft of water is a big success this time of year. Also--tightlining is a great way to catch a lot of fish during the winter. I've been having success on Cherokee, Douglas, South Holston and Watuaga doing it lately. 1/8oz jig head and 3" Berkely Gulp. Nathan Light and Brad Burkhart are pretty successful with it and Brad will book a guide trip for you if you want. (Nathan may too, not sure?) As far as baitcasting techniques... Jerk bait, small jigs, alabama rigs, and crank baits all work. In the colder clearer water the shad rap will out produce your other cranks---which puts you back on a spinning reel. If you haven't caught but one fish in the last two months on a jerk bait, then you are fishing it in the wrong places or fishing it way too fast. Target 45 degree banks or steeper, look for shad on the graph. If you can find it anywhere between 5-15ft you should have success on that jerk bait. Let the bait set for at least 10-15 seconds during the pauses and make the pauses plentiful. Once you caught one or two, I would go back and target the same areas with the alabama rig. The crank bait is better for me in places that has deep water access near by, but has a flat for the fish to come up on... Like a slate point dropping straight off into a creek channel. They need to be able to get warm and feed quickly, then get deep and rest without expending much energy. Your just hoping to hit them when they are sunning or feeding during that period.

I fish them primarily in the Spring--- I do well pre spawn through post spawn. However, I really think they start to really shine around post spawn. When the bass are gaurding fry, then feeding up on the flats right before they move to deeper water. Thats usually around April and May down here. Later in the summer I will throw a fluke in a lot of the same places people throw frogs. Especially since we do not have the matted grass around here much. The fluke can go in and out and gives a good presetation on a taught line fall. I also usually like to have one tied on when I am fishing topwaters for any short strikes or blow ups around me. I've heard of people doing well in fall and winter... But for me, there are better options. I have 3 colors I use. Albino, bubble gum, and chartruese. I probably destroyed 15 packs of bubblegum flukes last yr.

I was lucky enough to get caught without HAVING mine. But i did buy them. I flipped a lawn tractor and my wallet fell out and got chopped all to shreds. I did not have anything in whole...my drivers license, scuba cert, college id, everything was in pieces. I picked through what I had left of my id's and put them in another wallet. Since i did buy the license my info was on file. So he was able to call it in with no problem. I went to school for Wildlife and Fisheries and knew a lot of the same guys he did...so that also helped to have some convo while he was checking into it.

I like a longer rod for pitching. Also when we were kids my dad would teach us to pitch by playing a game. We would stand on the steps in the yard and try to hit baits in solo cups. I still do it today when I am not able to get on the water. Get on the steps (raised platform like a boat) and pitch at certain leaves, rocks, sticks, etc... that are laying in the yard. I even give my little boy a cup sometimes and have him move around and see if I can put it in the cup he's holding. Tickles him to death. You really want to keep your lure very close to the water though. Silent entry and much more accurate.

With the start of fall In our neck of the woods this cold front this weekend will finally push them back in the creeks and pockets. In the spring it would do opposite...they wait for the warming trend to finally get shallow. But in fall it takes a good cold snap to push that fall frenzy into action. We have water temps around 67. This snow will probably throw it down into the low 60's pretty quickly. With daylight hours and temps falling...them fish will realize they have to feed up and get fat for the winter. Before backing off and going deeper...I'd stick with the pattern you found. Then I would try different baits at the same depth that you found them. Then I would go further back and shallower. Then I would check deeper.