Peter E.

I would like to know how many of these folks we have on the site, what they did to get a team or club started, and how it has been for them. The reason for this is because I am interested in starting one at my university. Thanks, Peter

I always like fishing for them with cheap spinner bait, they seem to love the flash. Weedless spoons have always been good to me for these toothy critters and they survive the teeth. I like fishing for these fish in back bays in lakes with a cold water inlet. They seem to like shadowy areas with plenty of vegitation. Of course I ussually don't target these fish, but they seem to like this sort of thing. Oh and they love frogs and flukes. Good luck, Peter

My buddies and I got into striper fishing this summer on the Alabama river. We got hooked. We chased these fish in kayaks and even though I had chased them in bass boats several times with friends, it had nothing on kayak fishing. Now we fished these fish on the back side of an island in the river, in jetties that would become covered by the water as the dams loosed the water through the turbines. We had the best luck on big poppers and Zara spooks. This seemed to work great but mostly when the fish were blitzing on shad. I had thought about trying an eel approach, due to the fact that I had so much about it in salt water. I have seen eel caught in the river so well why not. I had also heard of using large jigs around the dams, but anyway I am most definately open to any and all tips. Thanks, Peter

I had a boat like that when I was a kid. I wish i had tried that!

Avid is dead on when he says to avoid a silver shine, this is one of the reasons why an old rule of thumb when fishing spinner baits and it clouds over, switch to a gold blade. It has a more subtle flash the matches the bait fish better.

Boat positioning is a biggy, and i am going to work on quickly making good presice presentations with several baits in a short amount of time in tough tournaments.

January 5th

I agree with anybody and everybody that mentioned the expense of our habit, another one I don't know if it was mentioned but how aboout jet skiers.... I hates them.

I use them for salt water and have found them to be very good i would like to find them for my area. Peter

I have been aching to do some striper fishing, this just made it worse.

Oh yeah, theres nothing unusual with what your seeing. Bass will come shallow in protected areas that don't get much wind and receive more direct sunlight. They do this to feed and to soak up some rays. If the bottom is dark it will soak up the light and warm the water the same is true sandy bottoms. As the vegitation starts to come out those fish will spend more and more time there. Peter

There are a mess of boat shows around mobile and throughout the pan handle. I'm looking forward to going to one this spring and going to the florida sportsman shows. So all in all the part of the world I reside in is keeping up fairly well.

I'm going with the drop shots and the deep diving suspending jerk bait. Though the idea of big swim baits doesn't sound bad... Peter

Sorry but that is a sad but funny mental image. *dark chuckle*

Well you have a point Alpster, I suppose that if no one has a clear advantage and both parties accepth then you'd be good to go. Me down here I just moved down here so all the water is new water. Exact opposite for me.

definately argreeing with T-Rig, spinning gear is where its at. The type of bait that you try to skipp has alot to do with the success or failure of your attmpts. I alwas try to go with lures that are like one peice. I go with soft plastics and so on, the lighter the lure the more affective, also the way you cast makes a big difference. Just keep in mind being a kid and skipping rocks. Peter

Sounds to me like a fantastic plan, if the challenge were to involve tubes, kayaks and wading I beleive that the rules should apply the same as bank fishing described by LBH. Another thing might be that the water should be new or relatively new water for both anglers if possible. I have to say though that it sounds like a blast and I'd love to get in on it. Peter

There are a few tips I would hand out, we'll go by the types. Location changes: one general rule of thumb about overcast days is that the fish will move away from tight cover and will be more comfortable roving shallow flats. They are more likely to spend their time in shallow water actively forageing. Since bass are naturally a low light ambush predator the low light allows them a golden oppurtunity to actively hunt their prey. Hunting Style Changes: Shifting from ambush to active hunting. Now I know this is repeating myself but this means that the strike zone of the fish has become much larger. When in a normal sunny day the fish have about a foot to a foot and a half that they are willing to go to catch their prey. Prey info: One little thought is that forage like shad and other bait fish will develope a gold shine instead of a silver flash when they catch light, just another survial mechanism. So it is your job to react to the change in factors. You may try moving to areas that are more productive in the sun up and sun down times of the day, fishinf the flats, and or using more horizontal baits to cover larger amounts of water. Shallow back bays may become more productive, faster retrieves and more reaction strike techniques. One thing though is that even though the fish are actively feeding, how they relate in the water collumn will depend on the barometric pressure, if its too high they may suck into cover to the extent that you have to hit them on the nose. Learn the habits of your fish then adapt to them. Good luck, oh and try keeping a journal and when you have days with similar conditions you can relate to a past time. Peter

It would have to be a tie between the catch and release aligator incident, and the "3 hour" kayak trip. The aligator had a fondness for crankbaits, and the 3 hour trip turned into five hours, two of which being way after dark in a kayak, in unfamiliar water. Luckily my friends and I are able to laugh about both incidents.

I fish for fun as much as possible, but some times I get drugg into tournaments by friends of mine. Personally I find the whole tournament thing to be a blast.

Definately the fight, i have paddled 4 miles in a kayak to handle the biggest spots and stripes in my area.

Zel, That was one of the most brilliant statistical analysis ever used to shoot the bull. I took the time to read your figures and began wondering how long you had been keeping a journal of your fishing trips and how long it had taken you to figure out to statistically analyse your catches to determine the most effective manner of fishing. Then i sat and wondered how long it had taken me to get took. good post, Peter

Cranking in winter? Not a bad idea, and yes it can be very affective. the thing is, your taking fish that are on a reaction bite and the way that works is as you go about fishing these fish, after you pull them in they go inactive. So you are fishinf for in-active fish in a manner made for active fish. So what do you do, well you got a ton of great suggestions, the suspending jerk bait can be a great suggestion. The only thing about that is that is that as your visibility decreases the affectiveness of this lure decreases. Catt suggested plastics, and this can also be a good alternative. But the important thing to do is to match what your fish are feeding on. That being said lizards might not do very well, nor might a crawfish imatation. But a big ol' worm might be what the doctor ordered. Thats up to you to experiment. Another person suggested that you pitch a jig, thats ussually a good choice, but keep in mind that you are not power fishing this time of year. Someone told you to downsize, here i differ a hair. Though i normally suggest the same thing, well the fact is that during this time of year bass are looking for the most food for the least amount of energy expended. another thing to think of would be slow rolling a single colorado blade spinner bait. Also the north side of the lakes will warm the fastest. Another thing to keep in mind is that areas with a dark bottom will warm faster than areas of lighter colored bottoms. look for bass sunning on sandy bottoms, remember theses bass spook really easy. Go big, go slow, use darker colors and don't be afraid to try two or three different presentations before moving on. Good luck, by the magic number for bass to start feeding is 57 degrees. Peter

Sounds like fall turn over in general. Fish are moving all over the lake moving out of their summer haunts into their fall and winter positions. The thing to remember is that fish will be moving deeper because of the fact that the dying vegitation will start to give off Carbon Dioxide instead of oxygen. The fish will use the creek channels to move into their fall positions before moving to their even deeper wintering areas. So it can be hit or miss. Fish will move down the points so its really not that the fish won't be at one place or the other, just that they may not be as active in one place or the other. So what you can do is get a broad look of the lake and isolate the areas in the lake where the algae die off isn't as bad as in others, then hit the creek channels and points, spend about 20 min in each one. This way in the space of a couple hours you can isolate the most productive structure. Now if the conditions change, then you may want to switch to the other form of structure. I really feel that it will be later in the year before you really experience the fall pattern, but the algae die off may have force the fish on that sort of pattern early on. Trial and error will be the best thing, but document the conditions, of each day. That is what makes a good fisherman a great one. paying attention to the little things.

I just move to Mobile AL for college and i was wondering if there are any clubs that accept poor college students in the area. Let me know if any of ya'll can help. Thanks, Peter