bassnleo

Allegheny River in PA, we start when the water gets into the 40's, best early bite is when it hits 45 or so. Fish wintering areas with tubes, grubs, jerkbaits.

Do you mean the tube or the jig head you would put inside it?

Man, have you been up yet? I've been there bassin twice in past 2 weeks, the water level appears to be about 2-3 feet low. Most ALL the shorline cover is high and dry. The shallow bays on the North end are mostly inaccessible. The park office says it's only 1 1/2 foot below normal pool but after seeing the lake both times I think they are off their rocker. It's sooo low I'd recommend putting a junk prop on your boat if you have one. No pads emerging yet by the way, but after this warm up this week they should start. Later....

I have a 1648 and it is definately stable for 2. Just my opinion, if you can afford to go a little bigger and welded as opposed to rivited, you'll be happier in the long run.

You may not even the bite, you'll go to twitch it and feel resistance, lay into em! Some days you may feel the tick or see your like jump. All depends on the mood of the bass.

Any Navy guys have any mini depth charges? :

Jerkbaits worked for me a few days ago in 42-44 degree water. I would try to find the warmest water in the lake then fish it. Senko's, jig and pig, would be good to try also.

deadstick, little blue pill, avid your killin me...

I found that reading.... alot..... about the seasonal movements of bass really opened my eyes. I then took what I read, applied it to the lakes I fish, and really had success. I went the lake with the mindset that I WAS going to catch them differently then I was used to doing or comfortable with. Best example I can remember, I was same as you, hot early in the year then seemed like the bottom fell out and struggled. I quit bringing the equipment that I commonly used and only brought deeper stuff like carolina rig, deep cranks, drop shot. I had come to the conclusion that (after reading several things from this site actually) the bass had moved off shore into a summer pattern. I targeted channel breaks and swings, humps, any kind of off shore structure I could locate. What I achieved was vastly improving my confidence in fishing those different ways by catching a few, which in turn gave me incentive to work harder to get better. You are right that there probably no set answer, but this is what helped me.

I kind of thought that too but who knows? The activists are just stupid enough to try it.

Hate mail should be a crime also..... It actually is here in PA but few people ever act on it by reporting it to the appropriate law agency.

Just found this on another forum. I decided to post it here to because I have seen some of the lake's names mentioned here. Talk about goofy.......... Calling All PETA Activists! We're unveiling PETA's newest tool to protect animals! Check out our beautiful, brand-new, state-of-the-art activist tool to help fish. [http://www.fishinghurts.com/RoboFish.asp] Using remote controls, pro-fish activists can direct robotic fish to circle anglers' boats and emit very loud noises, thereby scaring away all the fish and saving them from horrible injuries and deaths on anglers' hooks. We need your help to put our school of robo-fish into action! If you want to use one of PETA's robo-fish to disrupt fishing tournaments in your area, please let me know. We already have team leaders for the following three tournaments, and they would love to have your help! Please contact me right away if you want to get involved. Five Alive Bassmasters Buddy Bass Tournament at Assunpink Lake in New Jersey Wal-Mart Walleye League in Trenton, Michigan IFA Redfish Tour in Lafitte, Louisiana There are dozens more tournaments on our radar. If you're willing to help out, we can send you a robo-fish with operating instructions and find a tournament for you. Please send me your name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number if you would like to receive a loaner robo-fish. Just a few hours of your time can save hundreds of fish from horrible pain and suffering. PETA has found that the robo-fish are 100 percent effective. Imagine the looks on anglers' faces after spending an entire day trying to impale unsuspecting fish and coming away with nothing! Thanks again for all that you do for animals. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Karin Robertson, Manager Fish Empathy Project

My opinion..... I was in the same situation as you a few years ago. I looked at all the places I fish, what the water can get like during a storm or on a busy day etc.... I settled on a glass rig and got a great deal on a used one. I love it and never regret my choice. No matter what you decide if you have 13 to 14k to spend you can get a really nice rig, glass or aluminum.

Are you fully charging your batteries after every use? How old is the battery(s)?

I practice my flipping and pitching over the winter, seems to help keep the muscles used to the repetitive motion nad alleviates some of the soreness.

Not speaking badly of the original chatterbait, it has caught alot of fish for alot of people and gained some recent fame, but I have personally spoken to 2 Elite series pros who both told me that they have fished the chatterbait and both experienced the same problem with the bait, that being losing fish. Both felt that once the fish engulfed the bait the blade folded back toward the hook point and they could not solidly hook the fish. One of the pros had multiple times where he fought a fish all the way to the boat only to have it open it's mouth and the bait came flying out. As in everything bass fishing related, it's their "theory". IMO earthworm is not saying the chatterbait is substandard. In his opinion or "theory" he views some things he would do differently, and he has done them in his bait. just my .02

Agree 100 %

In all of the articles I have read on this fish, not one says that anyone has yet applied to the IGFA for WR status. I think the story is real, these guys hunt big fish and have proven in the past they can catch 'em. Why did they release it? Because they know the rules and know it would not have been certified because it was not hooked fair. Look at all the past records they have caught, the fish were taken to certified scales and officially documented. IMO they released it knowing it was the WR, it wouldn't be certified because it wasn't hooked within the rules, they are going to try for it again in the coming days.

IMO, I do think pro anglers are athletes. Maybe not because their "sport" isn't like a team game or sport but because what they go through day after day on the water, waking early, sleeping little, the body taking the abuse it does while fishing hour after hour., day after day, traveling etc.... That has to take quite a toll on your body similar to what athletes in other sports experience.

I also think it's a golden shiner. I just caught one of those from a local lake on Sunday while fishing for crappie.

Yes, as LBH said nice rig. I considered one of those when I was looking last year. You may want to look at the Tracker Grizzly jon's. I have a 1648, love it. Settled on the Tracker vs. Lowe due to a few factors, cost was one, hull weight was another. I'm thinking you will get into a 1648 Tracker Grizzly less than the Lowe 1542. Mine is very stable, just finishing project of extending the front deck.

I was just watching a fishing show, 2 guys pitching jigs into shoreline bushes and laydowns. They were catching quite a few smaller LM and with every fish they landed, one of them would make a comment about how amazing it was that the fish were in the structure, for example "man Jasper, that dude was tight to the structure, folks this is the ticket, using dor-kee-jigs and pitching them to the shorline structure, man this is great" Ok, I'm no expert, but it drives me crazy to hear people on TV calling cover, structure. Am I alone in this thought or have I been spending too much time behind this keyboard? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I have learned that structure is changes in bottom depth and composition, creek channels, humps, drop offs etc.. Cover is stuff that bass hide in, under or around like trees, stumps, rocks, grass, docks etc... Combine structure with a little cover and look out! Opinions???

Chigger is cool! ;D

I've got to be honest, I love to catch bass, but under no circumstances will I stay on the water if lightning is in the area. With that said, I have had good times before storms but never have I fished through a thunderstorm. If I see lightning or hear thunder I'm runnin'

IMO this a great idea, prize or no. There are soooo many variables that could come into play on the water in the spring. The only thing I can see that maybe should have been in the original post is general location of the body of water, like South, Central etc... I know that really makes a difference, for example, up here in the North the LM will be smoking as soon as the water gets into high 40'S where as they are still in shock when it's that cold further South. Anywho, great idea CJ