hawgenvy

Thanks, A-Jay!

Only one 10 pounder, a few years ago. I may have come close yesterday with this cow caught from the bank, but my darn scale was dead. Oh, well.

Sorry, Tom, it's the angle of the sun, not the distance that makes a difference. The sun averages 93 million miles from the earth, and the distance difference between the equator and the northern latitudes is, percentage-wise, insignificant. As a matter of fact, the earth is 3 million miles closer to the sun in January than it is in July. There are certainly many variables that influence the temperature differences between areas of a lake. However, sun angle may be an especially important factor in more northern latitudes, in smaller lakes, in lakes where the southern shore is forested, and in lakes surrounded by hills or mountains. In such conditions the lake surface at the southern end may rarely (or never) be struck by the sun's warming rays. But if the southern end is not shaded by trees or high terrain, sun would make no difference at all, because the sun's angle is the same across all areas of the lake surface at any time.

I've been catching plenty of 1 to 3 pounders but no big ones for many weeks. Then tonight I pulled this babe out of a hat. From the bank. My stupid scale failed, but the girl couldn't have been less than eight pounds. She was dripping eggs. A friendly and duly impressed golfer, visiting from Canada, snapped the photo for me. Caught her on a 1/4 oz Strike King Heavy Cover Swim Jig with Rage grub trailer.

According to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, per the link above, there are 57 species of crawfish in Florida. Some are bight blue, many are very dark, some are white. It seems Alabama has the most species, 74, which is astounding. Alaska has none. Maryland has ten species.

Like I mentioned earlier, the word "flipping" has more popular appeal than "pitching." Common usage over time frequently defines words in ways often contrary to the original meaning. Pitching, the more popular toss, is becoming known as flipping, the more popular term.

All the artificial lakes and ponds I fish have been stocked with sterile grass carp. In south Florida all freshwater areas are prone to choking overgrowth, especially of algae, hydrilla and hyacinth. I catch plenty of bass in places with grass carp, but have seen tremendous bass declines in areas where the weeds are controlled chemically. I think the key is to balance weed control judiciously, which should be possible by controlling the quantity of the carp released, since they do not reproduce. Unfortunately, many homeowners near the lakes and ponds want no weeds at all and couldn't care less about fish. I am also concerned about whether mosquito control measures have adversely impacted bass populations, in areas where mosquito larvae are important in the the diet of forage species. When bass fishing in an area declines the cause may not be obvious, and it is too easy to attribute the cause to contemporaneous circumstances and anecdotal evidence. We probably should ask the pond boss guy what he thinks of grass carp. By the way, many years ago Louisiana considered the importation and introduction of African hippopotamuses to clear waterways in the state that were choked up with hyacinth. The measure failed in the state legislature by one vote.

If you're gonna order stuff from TW soon, you can essentially get 10% off everything by first buying and then using a gift card, as the gift cards are 10% off until Jan 8.

Thank you, Tom. We are deeply indebted to history and the innovators that preceded us, in fishing and everything else. It is amazing how new the modern sport of bass fishing is, how quickly it has evolved. It will be fun to experience it's continued advancement over the next decade.

Theoretically, at very close distances when tossing a bait through heavy cover, flipping is more accurate than pitching, is quicker than pitching, and the spool stays locked so you don't have to worry about a fish grabbing the bait before you turn the crank. I should flip more often, but I'm so accustomed to pitching it usually doesn't occur to me to flip. I'm going to make a point of flipping next time I'm deep in the hyacinths. If I can remember.

Bass fishing is a highly technical sport with specific techniques and baits that have proven success. But, as this thread demonstrates, when it comes to creature baits there is not much consensus. Perhaps all of them can work. When choosing creatures you can pretty much go crazy and let loose your creativity. You can buy bags of space monkeys or sweet beavers or ugly otters simply because you think they have great names, and then you can go out and actually catch tons of bass with them! After a while you'll get confidence in one or two or three or four of them and stick with those. But until then let your imagination help guide you.

I have several different brands of rods, but more often than not I find myself reaching for one of my Dobyns sticks.

Well, it's a word now, and should be. I'm quite sure I know what you meant. Bass were chasing, causing the shad and minnows to skitter across the surface. Love it!

Don't know about lakes in Oklahoma, but I admire your optimism.

All above great baits. If I were starting out, I'd chose at least one bait in each of the following three categories of flipping creatures: 1) Something with a slim profile to punch through the thickest mats, such as Gambler's BB Cricket 2) Something with a fat profile to attract big mamas, such as Missile Bait's D-bomb 3) Something with a lot of flapping action to ring the dinner bell, like the Strike King Rage Craw

Some individual bass fight much harder than others. Earlier this evening I tossed a jig/trailer to bridge pilings and a bass inhaled it the instant it touched the water. It must have tracked the lure visually as it arced through the air. The bass then pulled with incredible strength, and even pulled out some #40 pound braid from my reel, even though the drag was almost maxed. The fight lead me to expect at least a 6 pounder. But it was a skinny 2-1/2 pound fish. That bass deserved a medal.

Particularly in tournament fishing, and probably in most bass fishing situations, the majority of sensible anglers will want to bring in the fish by the most efficient and effective manner, the way most likely to get the fish into the boat. The best method to achieve that will depend on the on the line, the lure, and the cover. It is counterproductive and perhaps cruel to torment a bass by toying with it too long, and during that extra time she may spit the hook or break away. Likewise, one can quite easily yank a hook out of a fish's mouth by pulling too hard. The best way to get a fish in the live well -- or posing for a prerelease photo -- might involve a long fight with light line and thin wire hooks, or it could require 3 frantic seconds after catapulting the fish out of thick mats with a stiff stick and #80 braid.

I personally prefer a fast reel (between 7:1 and 9:1) for everything besides big cranks. For those I like a 5.6:1 or so, which gives better leverage for pulling high resistance bait.

Texposing will help, as will a hook with an exaggerated z-bend (I like VMC). But also, you can peg the bait at the eyelet using a tiny bit of 40 pound mono line leader. Rig the bait so the nose of the bait is just over the eye of the hook, then insert the mono line through the nose of the bait so it also goes through the eyelet and just reaches the other side of the bait. Then trim. You can keep a handy length of the mono line tied on your belt loop for this purpose. Anyway, bass will tear up these baits. So you will, in any case, have to refresh your hook with a new bait after each bass or two.

Good suggestion for a high end jig rod. Would love to have that stick someday. BTW, nice tardigrade photo.

Caught these guys in my home town.

I have no idea what you are asking.

In any given bass fishing situation there's going to be one bait that will be more effective than the others. And half the time that bait is going to be somewhere amongst the 1200 different baits I have brought along.

I agree. I go through a lot of Menace grubs. I pull the tails apart before I go fishing so I don't forget. I usually take them out of the fancy packaging as well. One of the SK zip-lock baggies will hold 3 packages worth of grubs if you remove them from the packaging shells, and the grubs don't seem to deform when thrown together in one batch. I methodically pull the tails apart as I rebag them.

Residential pond in Boca Raton.