james 14

Look at the property appraisers website for the county in which you live. There you can find a GIS map that will show the parcel of land you are talking about and it'll list who owns it. If it's publicly owned you have ground to stand on. If it's not you might as well find another place to launch/fish. If this sounds confusing send me a PM with the location and I'll help you find the info.

Being a tournament angler 5 lbs seems to be the benchmark for a solid fish. I'm looking to get one or two over that mark each time out...preferrably more...most times less.

I rigged mine to fit on an old Gator Mount I had leftover from a TM that went out. I unbolted the clamp for the old TM and bolted on some blocks of PT 2x4 strategically screwed together to create a place for the TM to mount to. Now I can pull the motor up by the cable or tilt it up. Your shaft length should be fine unless you're in a deep-v jon boat. Of course I still had to mount this to the boat and for that I used a piece of 1/8" diamond plate (turned upside down so the motor was on the flat side) with some angle alum. to trim out the sides. I mounted the plug in a hole cut in the angle and painted it all black with appliance paint. Now, you may not have an old TM mount laying around like I did but it's pretty easy to create something from the many random metal parts you can find at a Home Depot or Lowes. Use wood to mount the TM directly to and bolt the wood to the metal. The wood provides a better grip to clamp the motor to. I would try to stick to aluminum parts if at all possible.

I use the triple surgeon's for braid to flouro connections and I don't find it to be bulky at all. The tests I did showed it holding up better than a uni-uni. I tried the alberto but need to practice more with it. It didn't hold for at all when I tested it. When I tested the surgeon's my palomar broke at the hook before the surgeon's did.

There ya go. These guys stand straight up...especially with a jig head that stands up like a Chompers or Spot Remover. Make sure you get the Strike King version that says "Elaztec" or "3x".

This will make your problem worse. Been there and done that. I used to hook mine this way and had frequent troubles with hooksets until I started bringing the hook out through the back instead of the slot. If you're fishing in heavy grass you can go ahead and use braid but you really shouldn't be having a problem. When are the fish coming off? Do you get any fight out of them or are they coming off immediately?

HA! That'd be fun to see down here on one of our natural lakes. 99 anglers flipping grasslines should make for good TV. At least during the spawn there are several techniques playing out. I do see an issue, though, with the timing of the classic. Using the golf analogy, you have the Master's which occurs on the same course each year and you have the other's which rotate. It'd be boring if the Master's were the only major. It sets up well for certain players and not so well with others. The same way some fishermen are better in the spawn/prespawn some are outstanding during the dog days of summer or mid-winter and may not ever win a classic while being a better fisherman. I think it's unrealistic to expect the date of the Classic to change each year so the best option seems to be to add other "major" tournaments. However, one could argue that, with only 8 tournaments in the season, they're all "major" tournaments. At least in golf you have a tournament every weekend of the year. You can even miss getting into a major and still have a regular PGA event to play minus all the really good guys. To sum it up...I'm not sure what I think should happen. I'd like see a little more variety in the Classic but don't want to see a different date each year. Perhaps a move to a date later in the year would give them to option to fish during the Spawn in the North or during the Summer patterns in the deep South. Each year they could move it latitudinally to give a variance in techniques and allow different anglers with different skill sets the best chance to succeed at some point.

Yeah, when I mentioned "clips" in my post I was referring to the pins that look like a big safety pin.

Gotta be bigger than 6.8 at 26.5". That is unless she was super skinny.

If the boat was for me only or just for me and one other person I'd go for it. I have a 12' jon that's 36" wide at the bottom and decked over my center seat. If I can handle the stability issues you can certainly handle them with a 48" bottom. Yes you will add some weight but it doesn't have to be a ton. 3/4" pressure treated plywood is not necessary. Yes it's rock solid and will last a long time but you can make thinner plywood solid as well and, with preparation, can make it last a long time as well. I've even seen guys find old road signs at a junk yard and use them as flooring/decking. To do it I'd use angle aluminum on the sides and screen room studs (aluminum as well) across the middle to provide stability under the wood deck while weighing very little. This allows you to use thinner ply on top to save even more weight. I think I may have 3/8" on mine that's 3 years old and still going strong and is very solid.

A "seach" bait is more aptly called a "reaction" bait and is effective in "seaching" since the fish don't have to be feeding to strike it and you can cover more water with it. It's really all about the water coverage aspect of the bait. You can move through an area and if you get a couple strikes you know the area holds fish and can go back and fish it more thoroughly. Heck, you can even keep using the "search bait" once you know the area has fish if you're happy with the results you're getting from it. "Searching" is a technique you use these specific baits for. However, just because I'm casting, say, a shallow crank down the bank doesn't mean I'm searching at that time. I may have already found the fish there and determined that's what they wanted to eat. Once the action slows down I can go back with something slower and possibly pick off a few more. I know the fish are there and would feel like it's worth my time to use a slower approach. As far as determining which search bait to use it really depends on the water you're fishing (grass, wood, depth, etc.), what the bass might be feeding on and what lures they might've seen 50 million times. It's really all about getting a reaction from any fish that might be there. Many, many baits can fit this bill. I can even "search" while flipping a grassline by using a heavier weight and brighter color.

I made my own for less than 10 bucks. I ended up with 6 but could've done more. That was much better for me than paying 30 bucks or more for some of those other systems. Here's how I did it: Get some nylon rope (about 1/4" thick), 5 ovular styrofoam corks and a chain style fish stringer with the metal safety pin style clips. Cut the rope in 16" lengths. Burn the ends to keep them from unraveling. Ream out the middle of the cork a bit with a drill bit. Thread the rope through the cork. I actually had to pull the rope through and I forget how I did it exactly but it was a little bit of a tight fit depending on how well I did with the reaming. Tie a knot before and after the cork so it doesn't slide. Cut the clips off the stringer and tie them on the other end of the pieces of rope. Use a file to sharpen the ends of the clips. Use a sharpie to write numbers on each cork. 1 through 5. Looking back I think I might've cut each piece of rope after I got the cork on and tied the knots. It doesn't really matter how you do it but this ensured I had the same length markers after I was finished. As far as the markers hurting the fish. The only thing I've noticed is some redness on the lips of the fish where the clip comes out of the mouth. I may actually start using some Please Release Me to help them out a bit. This happens whether I go through the gills or pierce the lip. I actually prefer to pierce the lip because less of the clip is in contact with the fish this way. They may be a small thing but they're a big help.

Glad to see it's worked for you since I'm sure you've fished the lake in question. My actual setup, besides the swimjig, was going to be a 1oz tungsten weight with a bobber stopper, 6/0 trokar flipping hook and a black/blue flk Pit Boss...fairly close to your suggestion with an 8ft flipping stick. I'm really hoping the swimjig will work since I think I can cover water quicker that way. Getting them out will be fun for sure. I think I'll be alright if I make sure to at least get them to the surface.

This time last year I started fishing tournaments seriously and had 3 baitcast combos. Now I have 9 and will probably get a 10th for Father's Day since I'm "in need" of a spinning outfit for the rare occassion I do any finesse fishing. Now that I have this many rods I don't know what I'd do without them. I've got something different on each one and enjoy the freedom of being able to jump from bait to bait while trying to establish a pattern. All but one is spooled with braid and I'll use a flouro leader in clear water or when throwing a slower bait like a worm or jig. The other has mono for topwater baits. This gives me the ability to use each rod for whatever I want...generally speaking anyways. I do have a dedicated flipping stick and another that has a frog tied on 99% of the time. The others are 2 each, 7.5', 7' and 6.5' not counting the topwater rod.

I have a lake here in Central FL where the bass seem to prefer hanging out in the bulrushes more than any of the other emergent grasses on the lake. I'm guessing this is because they're a little deeper than the maidencaine and sawgrass found elsewhere on the lake. With the heat of summer quickly approaching and everyone and their brother fishing the outer edges of these bulrushes I had thought about a new technique. I was going to use either a heavy swim jig or some form of compact swimming plastic bait with a 1oz tungsten weight and toss it back as far into the middle of the bulrushes as I could get it. The heavy weight would drag the lure down to the bottom and, hopefully, allow me to snake my line down as well. From there I would slowly retrieve the bait allowing it to bump through the reeds and any fish holding in there should react as it passes by. My thinking is that, with little to no offshore structure, the bass have to go somewhere to hide from the sun's rays. I haven't hit this lake in a long time and I'm already planning on hitting some docks and a brushpile or two that I know about but I wanted to try something out of the box as well. My only concern, besides the obvious issue of extracting a fish from deep within a stand of reeds, is that the water back in there will see little to no current and not hold as much oxygen...thus negating any shade benefit. Thoughts? Anyone tried something like this before? I suppose I may have been inspired by the recent "tule dipper" article in Bassmaster magazine.

Looks nothing like any sheepshead I've ever seen. They're more round in shape with black and white bars. http://en.wikipedia....eepshead_(fish)

Is this with all baits or only certain ones? I don't have this problem at all and would have to second what J Francho said about having in mind where my hookset is going at all times. Whether I'm going left, right, up or down under one leg (kidding) I'd have my body in position to make it effectively as soon as I got a strike.

Take it right back to the shop if it's making bad sounds and not running right. I wouldn't use it at all until you knew exactly what was going on.

It's not an immediate on/off type of thing. I'm not sure about fish but deer are definitely affected by the lunar phases. I think it's a combination of the light and the affect of the moon's gravitational pull as I've noticed definite patterns correlating to both. While the moon does affect the timing of the spawn I haven't yet noticed the same affect on fish that I notice on deer. But this isn't to say it's not there.

The Canadian/French language thing makes sense.

I seem to notice quite a few lures with French translations on them and I can't, for the life of me, understand why. I can see Spanish or even Japanese...but French? Do they even have bass over there?

After re-reading my post I realized I completely misstated my question/discussion. I was mainly looking for exactly WHEN you notice this change happen. Yes, summertime patterns begin shortly after the spawn is over but bass activity is still pretty high until water temps rise and, at least down here, the wind stops blowing. Once activity levels drop it calls for a change in tactics. Down here we don't usually have the luxury of deep water structure (or even deep water at all) so you have to deal with catching bass out of still, hot water. This can be a side bar to the original discussion...getting them to bite in still, hot conditions without the luxury of deep water structure.

With summer approaching I was wondering what everyone's experiences were with bass slowing down and water temps as it heats up. Usually down here the arrival of summer coincides with a reduction in wind so you get a one-two punch of water temps hitting high 80s - low 90s and lack of current in the natural lakes we have. Coming out of winter you can usually start fishing faster and faster with the rising water temps. However, as with most things, just because a little is good doesn't mean a lot is better and there's a point where you have to change tactics again...especially when the lake surface is like glass and the summer sun is bearing down overhead. Thoughts?

I use the surgeon's knot but I'm going to have to try the alberto knot since it looks to be a little easier to tie. I like the surgeon's, however, because it cinches down without much risk of burning the line. I will not use the uni to uni. I don't like the way the knots sit against each other, it's cumbersome and time consuming to tie and when I tested it it broke first before anything else. When I tested the surgeon's knot my palomar knot would break first at the hook. You can't get much better than that. I've yet to test it on really light line. I want to see if I can get the same results on 8lb flouro. I really love braid but made a brief switch to all flouro on my reels (except for topwater) to see if I could catch more fish. I didn't notice enough difference to deal with the line management issues. I'm back to all braid and will use a leader when necessary.

Only fish with 10lb line and you should be good to go. I'll go ahead and give you the lecture of weighing the importance of proper healing with the importance of fishing and that you should probably not risk it. With that out of the way...what I would worry about the most would not be hard the fish pulls but how hard the required hookset is. If you were to go I might stick with lures that only required a sweeping hookset like treble hook lures or finesse applications. Now would NOT be the time to flip heavy cover with 65lb braid and an 8ft extra heavy flipping stick.