toni63

Light penetration in water and or line visibility in water. Like, tell me at what depth do different lines disappear. Or fluifd dynamics as they pertain to lure movement and depth. Lures in water are all about physics.

When I first got serious about angling instead of just fishing I used to ask reasonably reliable fisherman I was friends with about different lures, presentations, etc. And I would ask are crank baits good? What about lipless? Do Zara Spooks really work? Backs of coves or do I really need to learn how to fish main lake stuff? Chatterbaits work? Should I use a trailer? The answer I got most of the time, and that I got sick of hearing, was "oh yeah, they'll kill that..... if that's what they're biting...." or "Oh sure, you can catch a ton of fish back in a cove when the conditions are right....." Which led to me to ask them well, what conditions, where and when?... Which led to seasons, forage, structure, water temp, clarity, depth, bottom hardness. The list of factors that affect fish is pretty lengthy and what will come into play when depends very much on the lake and the fish in that lake. No two lakes are the same. No two days are the same. No morning on a lake is going to be exactly the same as the afternoon on most lakes. You can troll through two coves and think wow, these look great and fish them with 3 different lures and get nothing then hit on a third one and catch good fish on the first thing you throw. Fish are generally not reliable creatures when you get right down to it. They are finicky. They turn on and turn off in a minute. Sit in a cove with schools of fish all over and it will be calm for an hour, then all of a sudden it's like someone threw a light switch and every school is getting blasted by bass feeding on them. You throw the kitchen sink at the attacking bass and they totally ignore your offering but keeping marauding the schools. Then it stops and you wonder why they didn't hit your lure in the midst of that feeding frenzy and where did they all come from and where did they all go? You'll see a lot of pros and amateurs alike say cover water. KVD, the all time great, says in practice for major tournaments if he tries something for ten minutes and doesn't get a bite during practice, he's either changing lures or moving to another location to try something new to find the fish. He doesn't waste time looking at his electronics and the available visible cues thinking "Man, but this spot looks good, they gotta be here!" He either gets a bite and takes it from there to determine how good that spot is for bigger fish, or he moves on. The question is not whether or not a spot looks like it should hold fish, therefore you must find and catch the fish that are there. It is a matter of fishing a spot awhile and you either get a bite or you don't and you keep moving. I used to fish stuff endlessly thinking "this cove, these laydowns, the shade along here, man, there just has to be fish here!" and there could very well be. And I would spend 2-3 hours of my fishing day working the crap out of that area fishing everything I could think of for fish that weren't feeding when I was there. Now I don't do that. I troll miles of shoreline, and if I get bit in a stretch, I might double back on that 100 yards or whatever and use a different lure. Or if its near a lay down, I might stop and work that for a bit and see if I can pull some good fish out. But I certainly cover 200% more water than I ever did when I started. Now I get it. If I want to catch, and not just fish, I am going to cover a lot of water and see a lot of "good" spots and maybe catch some fish in some of those spots. But it won't be every single one, and I will be able to narrow down where the fish generally are and what they are biting that day to refine and improve my targeting as the day goes on. Like "everything I have caught so far has been a this square bill crankbait on points in about the 6-10 foot range depth wise" so guess what I am looking for? Points, and I will be using that square bill in the 6-10 foot range first. And I might spend the rest of my day hitting points and targeting that depth range and using the same retrieve if it consistently gets bites. Of course to each his own, but I am still going fishing to catch fish, not to target bigger ones specifically. Maybe someday I will make that my goal and refine what I do. But my goal is to catch as many fish as I can with what time I have available, not necessarily big ones, so this is what I do. And I have a lot of fun and do bag some decent ones, some days more than others. Good luck. You're hooked on a sport now that's worse than crack and more expensive...

You mentioned you rely heavily on what your electronics show you is down there to decide if a spot is worth fishing. My thinking is use everything else (season, water temp, forage, weather and water clarity) to establish what might be the best presentation and lures to try then find structure that fits into where and what the bass should/could be doing on that lake during that time. Then just go fishing. If you throw a crank bait for awhile where crankbaits make sense and get no strikes, try a different lure or move to another spot and try again. I’ve come to the conclusion that my electronics are really only useful for temp, depth/depth changes and bottom hardness. I never even look for fish on mine. Maybe a bait ball if I’m in deep water but that’s rare for me in my boat. As far as visibility, someone from IDNR told me along time ago wear your darkest sunglasses till the suns almost gone down then take them off. That difference in visibility at dusk with sunglasses on then off is pretty much the difference between what your eyes can do in low light and what a bass can see in low light under water. So basically while duse looks pretty dark to us it’s still pretty bright to a bass.

Newton yesterday afternoon, from about 1 to dusk. Deep cranks back in the coves. Funnily enough I use a huge deep diver in like 6-10 feet of water and drag it along the bottom making sure it smacks everything in sight and it gets a lot of action. And black and blue jig in the laydowns. What is really cool to see is IDNR has been back in the coves cutting all kinds of small trees and dropping them in the water. I didn't take a lot of pictures but this one was worthy. I'm thinking 4 plus, maybe she went over 5. I really need to get a good digital scale so I know for sure cause I really stink at guessing weights. If anything I underestimate just so I am not that fisherman who constantly claims "6 pends at least!" for every fairly above average fish I catch... lol

As promised. A selection, of schools in the water, being attacked by marauding bass and up close.

Night bite? Really? I kinda figured that was a dog days of summer thing.

"You should go fishing this weekend/today/tomorrow." Especially if its been crazy and I haven't had time for awhile. "You could of gone fishing today but you chose to _______ with me." Yes, I do actually choose my wife over fishing, especially if we haven't had a lot of time to ourselves for awhile or things are hectic in her or my life. The fish will be there another day. It's just nice that she sees it that way and says something. And finally... usually by text late in the day.."What time do you think you'll be home? Not trying to rush you or anything, just want to know what time to have dinner ready. And what would you like?" Yes. She is my all time Keeper.

Don't listen to dock talk. Don't buy every lure that "looks like it should catch fish" in the store. Realize many fisherman are habitual liars and whatever they are telling you is what may, or may not have, actually worked for them, when they said it did, where they say it did. Start simple and try to stay that way. Just because it worked for KVD and he won a big tournament doing it doesn't mean it will work everywhere, all the time. Like many other posters have said, there is a reason certain presentations are still commonly used today as much as they were 30 years ago. Because they are simple, inexpensive, don't require any special equipment or skill and they work. If it starts feeling like work, it's time to go do something else for awhile. Or maybe just go to some great spot you always catch fish at and get back to enjoying catching instead of fishing...

I hate to say it, but when you start seeing schools of bait fish that are being attacked by predators, you'll instantly know it. Imagine an old 55 gallon metal drum with water standing on top in that metal ring, then that drum getting hit with a sledgehammer and the water blasting off the top. That times whatever size the school is is the best way I can describe kinda what it looks like on the surface. Bass even come busting up through the school and break the surface when they are actively feeding. When a school is near the surface you can see the swirling movement in the water too, so just keep looking for anything that is an anomaly on the surface, that seems out of place. Of course when there is a lot of chop or even a breeze you might not see the swirl, but in calm water you can make it out. But like other posters have said, if you don't see bait fish breaking the surface and that kind of explosive reaction of the school, there probably aren't any bass feeding on it at that time. I'll try to get some pictures of it and post them here.

Have a little time off this week, headed up to Newton (again). Had a pretty good time, caught quite a few. These were the best of the ones I got in the boat. The biggest one was really fun, back in a cove and threw the crank bait near a corner. When it hit the water it landed right on top of a school of shad that reacted explosively, which seems to trigger the big girl who then slammed the crank bait before I could turn the handle. Of course, after release I threw back into that corner again and landed the monster bluegill........ Then I took the shot at the ramp of the moon. It was a pretty awesome moonrise.

Cool. I just read the "reactions" update section and it appeared negative reactions that reduced reputation were going to be part of this site going forward. Hence my comments. This is a great site, and the moderation is outstanding at policing behavior to keep it above board and family friendly. Thanks for the hard work and dedication you put in here.

Not on this website, because I have never seen anything more than a simple "like" button available. But I have been on other forums where a reputation score system was put in place that allowed users to like and dislike other members comments and it turned into groups of people targeting those they disliked and someone in one group would always react negatively to anything a "target" member stated, even if it was "Have a nice day." I've seen reputation scores in the negative hundreds because of it. I like this site because it is so well policed, but introducing a system that allows for members to react negatively and reduce a member's reputation score is something I would personally avoid if it was in my power as an administrator, simply because of the things I have seen on other websites.

There's a little farm pond near me that I hit when I have an hour or two and not enough time to get the boat out. Same situation, catch lots of 1 lb bass and occasionally something bigger like 3 lbs but never anything bigger for a long time. I figured out that there is one section of it that warms up really fast in the spring and all the bass on sunny March afternoons all congregate in that corner and just laze about just below the surface. Seeing them all there in one place convinced me there were a lot more bigger fish in that pond than I ever realized. So now I know they are there, I just keep fishing it and have actually caught a couple 5 lb fish out of it I would have never thought were in there based on what i usually catch.

I think "liking" someone's post, picture or comment and keeping a tally of how many times a member's posts, pictures or comments have been "liked" is just fine. I think putting in the option of negatively reacting to a person's comment, post or picture and damaging their reputation score doesn't add value to the user experience on this website and gives people an opportunity to target and troll other members that did not exist before. Other than that, looks good. Just my 2 cents.

Yeah, I have read it. Particularly the chapter on stitching. It accomplishes two things, if my memory serves me correctly. One, it slows down the presentation, which more accurately reflects what life is really like under the water. Things move slowly, so your lure should move slowly too. I don't have a problem with slow. A recent trip with a fishing guide confirmed that because he said to me his most oft given advice to people he fishes with is "slow down, you're moving that thing way too fast" and he said to me "you're moving it too slow, no fish is going to even see that thing move down there if you don't pick up the pace a tick." followed by that was the first time he can recall in 20 years of guiding having to tell someone to pick up the pace. Second thing it accomplishes is giving you the greatest amount of feedback as to what might be going on with your lure, subtle bites, debris it is moving over, rocks, brush, etc. My point remains the same. Old fiberglass rods or whatever else they were made of (I seem to recall aluminum being popular at some point) probably don't transfer as much subtle information to the angler as the common graphite rod does now. And remember, Murphy's book was aimed at catching "teenagers" as he called the 10 plus lb class of bass, and he goes to great lengths to tell you that those bass are older, wiser, more easily spooked and incredibly well versed in detecting even the subtlest different between what they normally eat and a lure, so to fool them you really do have to pay close attention to the details and present your lure/bait to them in the most accurate way possible. To fish for garden variety bass, stitching is a huge waste of time. But if you're going after a wise old trophy girl, you are probably not going to find a better retrieve technique to give you the best odds. As far as keeping your fingers on the line, I always have a finger or some contact with my line. My grandfather taught me that when I was a kid, so its something I always do, let the line feed between my fingers to keep a little tension on it as it spools and to feel for bites. But once again, to each his own.

I think back in the day when he wrote it, rods were way less sensitive than they are now so it was a way to overcome a deficiency in equipment. These days rods and line transmit subtle movements so much better it's probably not a technique that is going to be significantly better than using the rod along, but to each his own.

Had Friday off, went to Newton. Caught about 15-20, these were the couple of decent ones, both caught on a deep crank bait. I tried the black n blue jig-n-pig as someone else mentioned, worked real well too but by the time I got around to using it I didn't have a whole lot of fishing time left. Never had much luck with jigs anywhere else but certainly going to be a go to bait there now. Lot easier on the shoulders and arms than deep cranking. On a funny side note, I did catch two 10 inchers on one cast of the crank bait at one point. I was reeling them in, thought I had a halfway decent fish on, imagine my surprise when two little mouths, each one attacked to a different treble hook, came up. I was fumbling around trying to get my phone out to get the pic when the one on the back got off. Shoulda netted em I guess. I never had that happen before but I have heard it happening to other people.

I worked till about an hour before totality, then took off to meet up with my wife at her office about 20 minutes before. It was 99.5 where I was at. If I had been of a mind to, I could have driven an hour south on some country roads and been inside totality. I've been in the 90% plus range before, so I figured that half percent wouldn't be a big deal. I couldn't have been more wrong. The streetlights came on and the locusts went nuts, just like a normal dusk. It got noticeably cooler at totality too, like it dropped a good ten degrees. Shadows were oddly weird, very sharp and distinct but the lit areas really lacked "brightness." Anyway, after it was over it lit up pretty fast and I had towed my boat with me because immediately after it was over I headed off to go fishing. Fishing wasn't much. Went to a new lake, caught a few dinks and a couple keepers over about 5 hours. All in all, if I ever get near totality again, and next time my house is going to be dead center in that track, I am hoping for clear skies again and I will get in totality. From what I have heard and now experienced, even 99.5% is a big let down from totality. Funny thing I head was Carbondale, ground zero, was bright and sunny right up until about 3 minutes before totality then some wispy clouds moved in and blocked the sun for about the length of time of totality and then they moved away. Maybe not all of Carbondale, but that is what some friends who live there told me was there experience where they were standing. Darn the luck!

10% of anglers think they catch more than the other 90%. lol And the 90% don't care what that 10% think. And if you really get down to it, that 10% who catch more than the other 90% also spend way more time fishing. I like fishing, but I wouldn't do it all day, 5 days a week. And I think that all day, 5 days a week fisherman who catches more is the 10% guy. It just stands to reason that come tournament time, the guy who has all the time in the world to fish the lakes where the tournaments are is going to know the patterns better, have better locations marked and more knowledge come tournament day than probably 90% of the other anglers there. It aint rocket science, it's just a lot of time invested that gives them that edge on tournament day. So sure, it looks like a handful do that little bit better than most, but how many days do they fish that lake compared to the rest? I don't buy that 10% are just better fisherman, I think it's 10% are way more dedicated and devoted and have time available to devote to it that means they catch consistently more in hard conditions. It's like someone once said, the best baseball pitcher the world has ever seen is driving a garbage truck in Des Moines. He just never had the circumstances in his life to be able to develop his talent.

2 things (and forgive me if this is stuff you already do.) 1-Spare outboard, spare TM. I have an old Outboard that isn't the greatest but it runs to keep me fishing if my main OB goes belly up in fishing season. Same with a TM. I actually have my spare TM on my boat right now because my main one I managed to bend the shaft on a stump early this season. But so far, I am still fishing. And I drag that TM out every now and then and hook it up just to make sure it still functions as it should, and the outboard gets started a couple times a year just to keep it in good check. 2-I get my main stuff in for service/repair usually around November, because that is the time of year I'm not fishing anyway with T-day and Christmas and cold weather. That way if it takes a couple months, it won't be that big of a deal and put me off the lake. I agree with the posters above. Sure this guy might take some time, but my experience is the guys who are old school, reliable mechanics who don't see every customer as an ATM have longer wait times but at least they fix your stuff right and hopefully, if you get your stuff looked at in the offseason, you won't have too many breakdowns in fishing season. Oh, and if you think this guy is slow, I have two stories for you. One is my Honda 300 EX that a guy took in to do valve job, head work and rebuild on. 18 months later it was finally done and I picked it up. Of course, I have 2.... so you know what I was riding in the meantime. He did great work on it though and I am happy with it. The second is a company called Rocktron that sells guitar effects stuff. I had a faulty unit and it took them 6 months to replace it, and all along the way all I got from the company was excuses about their "repair guy" not getting the work done. Now that one I was really ticked about because I play a lot and rely on my effects a lot. I got sick of using my backup stuff over that because that unit was an upgrade to what I had. You're at a little over a month. In this day and age I would almost call that great customer service.....

I think it has to do with competition for food whether its scarce or not. If that bass doesn't make that decision to nail something when its falling right past them, they may not get a second chance, another fish my grab it. They can always spit it back out if its something they don't want to eat. Hence attractants, soft plastics with garlic or salt in them, etc, to get the fish to grab and hold onto it to allow you time to set the hook. The trick isn't so much getting them to grab onto it, bass are predatory and aggressive anyway, but getting them to keep it in their mouth long enough for you to know they have grabbed it and to set the hook. I just think bass know if they don't act first, they may not get a bite. Anyone who came from a large family will understand that thought process..... lol

Go through your casting motion and see what the mechanics in your hand are that are causing low level repetitive stress on those joints. I had tennis elbow not playing tennis, but by the way I was resting my elbows on the arms of my chair while working. Just that little bit of constant pressure in one area over time was enough to cause the tendonitis that is tennis elbow. Doc prescribed me this bandage thing to stabilize the tendon in my arm and prevent it from moving (you've seen plenty of people with that strap thing just below their elbow), icing it and to take OTC ibuprofen to reduce inflammation. It took awhile, removed the arms of my work chair so i couldn't rest my elbows on anything, but it finally cleared up. But the first thing was to figure out what I was doing that was causing that strain to begin with so it wouldn't come back once it cleared up. The big thing is just to figure out what exactly in your motion is causing that low level repetitive stress, something in how you cast, how you twist your wrist that puts strain on your fingers, how you are cupping the reel when casting, how you hold the handles when reeling, that is probably causing it. Because no amount of treating the symptoms is going to stop it until you figure out what you are doing that is causing it. Taping might help stabilize the joint, but its only going to do so much. If you can isolate the cause, then maybe you can alter how you cast to relieve the stress without resorting to anything else. I would also consider learning how to cast both left and right handed and keep a couple lefty bait casters spooled up to relive my right hand from having to do all the work, or consider different fishing techniques that don't require bait casting constantly just to switch things up. I know when I start getting a little tired in my right arm I might throw a worm rigged on a spinning reel for awhile just to give my arm and hand a break. I get some knotting in my shoulder blade muscles that can really cramp me up if i am not careful fishing all day, so that's my fishing "achilles heel." Just my two cents, and I am no Doc either. But that is what I think when I read your post.

I have had some success going up the hot water arm on hot days throwing deep cranks when the majority of boats seemed to be up the cold water arm doing their thing. I just like getting away from the crowd. Mind you, with all the changes in discharge and them shutting down partially, I'm certainly not up on how it is now. Last time I was there was last summer.

Catch of the Day. Local pond, baby brush hog in green. Flipped it next to moss and a little scrub bush at the edge of the water about 3 feet in front of me and pulled this out.

I just picture that bass with a little thought balloon over its head-- ".... tastes just like chicken....."