BassMaster_1

Next show he does make him wear a yankee hat and a Derek Jeter jersey........ GO YANKESS!!

Well said! Now there is nothing wrong with keeping, im strictly catch and release. I dont have the energy to clean a fish, I would much rather go get one already cleaned at the store. I once read that to keep a healthy population you need to remove 20bass/acre. Keep your fish, but do it smart... Stay within your local limits, please eat what you catch, and release those big healthy spawners! Its a tough situation because you dont know how honest that person is, thats why you probably some people get ticked off. They think here i am C&R and this guy is pulling everything out. Its just a tough thing to regulate and monitor. Its a topic that will forever spark conflict...

Throw something they haven't seen, wacky worms ect. Might want to try downsizeing your baits. Dark colors in the murkey waters. I stay far away from the live bait.... thats not fishing to me.

I just wanted to start a topic, Im sure everyone has experienced this out on the water. Passing a spot that you would never thing of a bass being there, just for the hell of it taking a shot and wham there she is..... Lets here some stories... For me over the past year or so I have been really working on my skipping. A buddy and I were fishing some private water we fish often and we are fishing the shore line. We come up on a spot that a low lieing tree about a few inches off the water. The trees span over the water is probably 4'x4', surrounded by weeds except for under the tree. So seeing the cast as a challenge with the few inches of clearance, I take a shot at it. Perfect skip, get it all the way up to the bank. Start working the jig down then wham, my line shoots under the weeds and I horse a 3lber out. Release the fish and admireing his little, I tell my buddy to take a shot at it... wham another 3ler. For *** and giggles I take another shot, and pull another fish out in the 1.5lb range. He goes back in for another around the same size. Just though it was kind of amazing, and makes you think about how many other spots that you have left untouched.

Im gonna jump in on this and throw my 2 cents in. I have read many articals in bassmaster, about the WR and all the most recent ones since "The Fish". Weakley did the right thing about coming clean about the foul hook, he said that he didn't want it a 50/50 split if it should be the record or not. Then the certified scale... you know there is claims that Perry's wasn't "certified" and what about a witness... they dont even know anything about Perry's boat buddy. Its all hearsay, untill someone catches, kills, picks, pokes through the fish, everyone and the mother witnesses it. There will always be doubt. The record will fall, all records do. But the media and all of us have hyped the WR up so much that we have almost made it unbeatable. There is always something wrong, this person did this and he didn't do that. Alright, enought about all that hows the fishing been for you?

Im just wondering how everyone has done so far this year. Im from upstate Ny so fishing is starting to wind down. So my questions are location, biggest and what you got it on? Thanks Anthony

Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for what to throw at them? I dont fish much in the fall for bass, let alone for smallmouth. Weather will be in the 50's, rain likely. But thanks for the help guys.

I have 2 log books, One for home and one for the boat. I just scribble stuff down on the boat log, to remember. Then do a more detailed report in my home log. My home log i have broke down in different lakes i have fished, so its a bit bulky to lug around. I think they help alot when you go back to a lake you dont fish often.

Hamlin New York, 5 minuts from Lake Ontario

Scumfrog for surface veggies, t-rigged or something weedless for submerged veggies

It sure did, up at 5:00 back at 12:00, then back out after dinner..... everyday

Hey congrats!!! Fished with my father and 2 year old nephew on sunday. He got his first fish with little help from papa. My father was as excited has he was, you should of seen his face.

Hey happy B-DAY!!! Speaking of keepers, im getting married in 11 days. Im future wife knows how important fishing is to me, she knows its something i need to do for my well being. She knows saturday morning not to make plans because i wont be around. She hasn't given me $300 in one shot, but has spend a good about of money on gear for me. We just used up almost all our vacation time before the wedding so i could rent a cottage for a week. So we have to wait till next year for more vacation time for the honeymoon. We still are doing a long weekend after the wedding, i have to give back you know?

Ok continuing from the question on secondary points. We were talking about cover and structure. Please list types of cover and types of structure, because i didn't know that the 2 were different.

OK i gotta jump in here. I fished a great point last week. Weedline was broke because of the point, which formed 2 breaklines both sides of the point. I Found more largemouths higher towards the shore and closer to the weedline. Smalliest were either on the middle of the point or the deeper side of the weedline. Strong north breeze came in late afternoon and continued till dark. That point was the best at that time. Produced about 8 fish, 2 smallies 19 and 18 inches. The breeze pushed bait all over that point and it really heated up, so i suggest looking for wind swept, main lake points, with some type of cover.

You will only get those bone jarring hits with a bait thats moveing, a worm isn't gonna do it for you because they just pick it up and swim with it. Spinnerbait, traps and cranks will get you those hits. You said you dont fish much, you need to feel more strikes. Then you will be able to tell the difference. Biggest bass i got 24inch 6.5lbs (Private lake in New York) I had on twice. First time was ripping a spinnerbait by a dock and he hit like a train. Huge wake and splash at first i thought it was a northern, but got him to the boat and lost him. Few days later got him off the same dock with a worm. Thought he was a sunfish nibbleing before I set the hook. So fast moveing bait are your ticket. AND FISH MORE!!

Just do a search on the internet for peacock bass. They get them in to 20lb range in south america. Watch the fishing shows on TV, you might catch them when they are down there fishing. I watched Ike break 2 rods back to back on peacocks. Its insane, the top water bite is like jaws smashing something on the surface. I looked into a trip there, better start saving!!!

Great, I will take all this to mind when i get out there. I will let you all know how i do. It has been 2 years since i have been to a cottage. I can't wait for that first morning, up early, slight fog on the glass flat lake. Seems like im the only up awake on the lake. AHHHHH can't wait

Raul, You take everything i know about bass fishing and scramble it up in my head. How do you approach a new lake, when so many variables come into play?

Makes sense, But what makes one spot better than the other? The lake is almost identical all the way around. Im gonna kinda play dumb because i want to hear what you guys would do.

"Make a mental note or throw out a marker bouy of where that breakline is. Use that break line as if it were the shore." When you said to use that first break as the shore, should i move out deeper and cast to that break line? What do you suggest I throw?

I got a cottage next week at a lake that I have only fished a few times, with little luck. Here is the stats on the lake. It is a natural lake, max depth is 66'. No real structure other than a weed line that circles all the way around the lake and Docks. I have heard that the water temp has been kinda high lately. The best way i can describe it, is its like a oval shaped soup bowl, but there are a few points. The lake has both largemouth and smallmouth. What do you guys suggest in helping me find some fish. What patterns, lures should i use? Thanks for the help!!

If they are short strikeing try to add a trailer hook/Grub trailer on your buzz baits, works for me. Also get some bait spray sometimes they might be picking up a scent off your baits and stops them from hitting it. If the fish are not real aggresive slow your retreve down a bit. Any of these or a combination could work, you just have to keep at it.

When ever i have to re-tie, the line that i cut off i always stick in my pocket. I dont know how many times i have gone out somewhere and have found line in my pockets. Other then that if i see something floating while im out i grab it and toss it when i get back to shore. Figure if more and more people do that then it wont be as big of a problem.

Im from Rochester,NY. Bassin_Nutt how is the down south? Im done till next spring.