Nick.Culver

One of the biggest mistakes is people (Myself included) tend to get ansy when they aren't catching fish. Which makes them get out of fucus or speed up or not fish the area as productively as one should. I'm a naturally confident person. So it's hard to get me down and I believe it helps me out alot when tournament fishing. Because I believe every cast holds a 5lber. It like last weekend at a tournament. A lot of what a slump is all mental. If your focused your not in a slump the fish have lock jaw. Nothing you can do about that. It's like Rick Clunn says take out all of the little so you don't have to worry about the things you can control. One thing many people need to work on is CASTING ability. It is one that you can control from the presence of your own home. You don't need to be on a lake to do it. Yet every year I see guys struggling with this. If you can place that bait where it needs to be as much as possible then chances start going into your favor. Another way to get out of a slump is to stubborn. A lot of people believe cranks work best when fish are active or feeding. I use a crank if they aren't. I force feed them. Some days I'll only get 6 or 7 bites but I know on those days chances are they'll be big. The biggest thing I've personally learned is persistance and patience.

Narrow it down for everone Boo. Are you talking about shallow subsurface vegatation or floating weeds. Their is so man differnt ways to fish weeks. From shallow cranks to deep diving cranks. Heavy jigs to weightless stickworms.

For drop shoting I'm a little different. i always try to use the littest possible. If I know I'm on bottom then it's okay. I like to use a 3/16oz tungsten weight. It's smaller and it also telegraphs the bottom to you better. I usually give my bait a couple little pops and let it sit. I always start off with a really long leader and shorten it up until I find the right length if their is one for that day.

Heres the biggest thing i've personally encountered from being on boats with each brand. It's all down to the blade. I'd go with Motorguide if you were to fish alot more open water than weedy lakes. The motorguide seems to clog up or get choked up with weeds easier. If you like to pitch and flip in close go with a Minn Kota. Minn kota accelerates to the speed you want so on low speed doesn't stur the water up as much. I like both brands and see no difference between the two in durability these days.

how many new how-to tips does one guy need. Have yiou heard their are no more secret spots or secret baits in bass fishing. If you're a pro then you can fish prototypes and get a new bait before it comes out. But to a weekend angler or an angler wh does have big name sponsors you get what every one else can get. In order to better yourself you need to learn how change the action of those baits and fish them different. Give yourself an edge. magazines can teach you the basics but they can't make you better than the other guy. It's all about your own originality. That's why pulling out an old bait catches more fish than the new trendy bait. It's different than what they're used to seeing. instead of using a 3/8 or 1/2oz tandem willow leaf blade spinnerbait in chartruse and white use a 1/8oz spinnerbait with an oklahoma blade and that has the same skirt. It's all about throwing what everyone else probably isn't. Everyone see's those articles in Bassmaster magazine and they all go out and apply it.

No don't worry it wasn't you.

Okay theirs been atleat two or three other people who have said that they support originality and you say it to me. I in a way find that rather offensive. I haven't come out and attacked anyone or anything. I just said it was all my opinion and no one elses. Yes, I do believe in originality. Every little detail in a biat that is different counts as not being the same. But, the original creme worm is the original and it's true he copied. I never stuck up for GYCB and the high prices only that they work under curtain circumstances and conditions. That's what I wrote and I'll stick behind it. I pay alot of attention to the fall rate and who makes it. During the summer when it seems they like the bait falling more and to sit in their face I tend to sway towards the Tiki Stick and the Yum Dinger. I do use other peoples bait. Just like I use Sweet Beavers and since they can't keep up I've looked else where for the same bait. But when my favorite tackle shop has them in stock I'm sure as Hell am down their buying reaction innovations baits over the next because they spend all their time and money working on perfecting this bait. Plus I use them so much that i know exactly what color and what colors I like to use. Also I use about 8 different companies baits when it comes to finnesse words. As in other posts I've written I've said that I belong to no one unless they show absolute loyalty to me and then I'll show the same if not more. That also depends on the circumstances.

I use tiki sticks, Senkos, and Yum Dingers. I use Yamamoto because I like a few of their colors and the rate of fall for certain applications. Then i use the Yum Dinger at other times. I use certain colors in yum because I like them more. Then Tiki Sticks I use in certain situations. They are for when I feel i need a really slow fall. For me it's all about color and the rate of fall. I've had a senko tied up on one rod and Yum Dinger on another and caught them on the Yum Dinger the first day of the trip and the they hit the senko on the second day of the trip. Low_Budget_Hooker if your comparing baits that's good. I do it all the time. I know some people like saving money and so do I. I also know that I can save money using Yum but it could also take that little key element out of my bass fishing arsenal. Then I also like to give my money to the guy who originally came up with the idea and the bait. It just like the sweet beaver I know I could save by buying knock offs but to me that's all they are knock offs. Once again my own personl opinion not any one else's. Just one last statement I fish as many tourneys as I can so I pay attention to the subtle differences such as shades of colors and the sparkels and the rate of fall. I believe the rate of fall is the key among most baits. especially in the stickworm catagory. I believe it's all about the rate of fall and not the wiggle or action

I'll put myself at a 6. I need to learn and build up my finnese fishing skills in more than one finnese technique.

Biggest alrgemouth went at 7lbs caught on a 4" senko. Biggest smallie is 5.5lbs came on a pegged texas rig. Best fighting fish I'v ever caught.

If fishing structure such as a ledge, stump, dipd, and channels I would personally use a drop shot. With ledges you can use a jighead and a grub or drag a carolina rig. Learn to pitch drop shots around docks. It a big producer for me. I key in on docks that are 20ft to 25ft deep this time in the year for myself and for where I'm from. The fish are in a late post spawn to early summer staging point. You can fish a wacky rigged senko and fish it out to 15ft. It's a great way to catch smallies on weed flats from 10 to 15 feet of water. Then you can toss deep diving cranks and bounce them off of rock piles and big boulders or even over run it on a gravel flat. Spinnerbaits works good to. You can get smallies to come from 20 feet down to take it at the top. Don't be affraid to throw a topwater in 20ft of water for smallies either. Now just as a procaution I come from Washington and we have really clear water. So a majority of the techniques are for clear water fishing. We have any where from 10ft of visiblility to 25ft. So I'm used to clear water. If your fishing murky water I'd fish a crank and the spinnerbait.

Just throw a plastic about ten feet in front of it. Let it sit and they'll usually pick it up. Senkos and tubes work great for this. I'm not the best at this style of fishing but can still catch them. Also are they sticking to a curtain area. If they are then they're there to protect something or spawn.

Shade and confort is what the big females seek after spawning. Remember that they usually suspend after the spawn. Senkos and crankbiats will get them. Topwater extremely good to find what they are realating to. It get's them ticked off and get's a reaction strike.

Hey, Nick's just trying to give his best answer. Plus you can fish spinnerbiats down 20ft. Why do you think ledge buster spinnerbiats were built for. That's why they weight so much. Plus maybe 15ft is deep water to him. Especially if you're fishing for largemouth in a pond. And once again it all depends on what part of the coutry your from. Plus they're probably isn't to much weeds in the lake if the ice just cleared. Plants need sun light to grow.

Just remember this. The size speed and cost of the boat don't make you a better fisherman. In fact I bet their plenty of people out their who can fish just as well out of a tracker. Than half of us on this forum. I hate hearing people talk about how great their boat is. Yopu may like the boat and the company. So what? Who cares I don't. I also think it's wrong to judge a person by the boat they drive and what they say. I have a tracker and have caught plenty of fish out of it. I also have to deal with alot of people looking down on me because I'm 17yrs old. With sponsors backing me. You guys all have to realize their's people on here that can't afford a boat like you. I would love to have any of the baots listed in this list of posts. I'm trying to make a carreer out of this sport. I really don't like seeing this stuff. It's kind of like the thugs in school talking about who like low rider is better than whoms. Is just a ticking war and it's wrong. Sorry just had to get this off my chest. I'd really like to see stuff like this go away. P.S. People really need to quit taking offense to people's post. I never saw JT disciminating any other boat. Plus he never made Triton sounded better than any other boat. He just made a well written reply. Sorry if I affend or have singled any one out.