jiggerpole

I have one from last summer that still haunts me. When she saw the boat she went for a deep water tree top, pulling so hard I thought my rod would break and like a dummy I thumbed the spool to try and turn her. It didn't work as planned. For sure, a double digit bass. I would have loved to at least touch her.

Every year I sponsor an annual kids fishing day for my Church. Last year I had to work unexpected and they still had it without my presence thanks to plenty of help from the dads and moms. Simmons Sporting Goods has always donated to the cause and brought a few smiles to the kids. Also another event that is always worth while is Cast For Kids.

To me it's 5lb. 6lb. and up.

I bet it would really surprise most fisherman at how lousy they are at catching big bass. I have some underwater lights around my pier and I can watch the bass strike my lures or just ignore them because they can tell it's fake. It is amazing to me, how many times a bigger bass will hit my lure and recognize it is fake and spit it out before I can even set the hook. They are so fast that sometimes you don't even feel the strike. I am almost to the point where I believe most of the bigger bass are caught by pure accident. I cant stress SHARP HOOKS enough.

Why Not More Bass = In most cases more bass equals smaller bass due to over population and less forage. Less Bass = more big bass due to more forage. It is a balance act. Find areas with the "most forage year around" conditions and you should find the most big bass. That means water that is the most fertile for that lake or river. Fertility is the key to holding large numbers of forage and forage is what makes bass fat. Forage will migrate and change patterns within the year. Understand bait, and you will increase your odds of catching big bass. That is my humble opinion.

Sounds Normal !

I go to the BPS in Leeds Alabama and I have not had any problems with bad attitudes, pestering, or the likes. All is good here! I even met and talk to a few pro's about fishing. They all took time out to speak to me and was very pleasant. I invited one to go fish with me and he seemed interested, only his schedule is very busy. Perhaps one day we can make that happen. If not, it's all good. Being a Classic winner puts allot of extras into the fire.

One thing you can check into, especially if it's a private pond, is to contact a fisheries biologist and explain what the deal is with this lake and if the property owner is in agreement you may be able to hire the use of the shock barge for an hourly rate. Here it is about $350.00 and hour. You can take out a tremendous ammount of fish with this meathod in an hour. Just a thought. And you would have a professionals input on the matter. Good Luck.

It could be a blue/green algae bloom. Sometimes it will even have a foam on top of the water that has a white milky look to it. Looks sort of like motor oil on top of the water floating. The wind will blow it to a corner somewhere and it usually wont last long. Not a bad thing. Or it could be an additive (Water Dye) which is not harmful to the fish. It darkens the water to restrict sunlight. This retards weed growth. If it was put into a lake after abundant weeds were present it could cause the weeds to dye that were already there and in turn deplete oxygen levels. If enough oxygen is depleted it could cause a fish kill.

What I love about the jig is you can flip it, pitch it, cast it, skip it, swim it, hop it, pop it, crawl it, jiggle it, Fish it shallow, deep or in between, fast or slow. I personally like a black/blue or green pumpkin and even sometimes white in a 3/8 oz. In deeper water I would go to a 1/2 oz. or if I was (forgot punching it through thick matts) Oh yeah, I don't even have any other colors. On bright sunny blue bird days when the bass have their nose touching some type of cover and the strike zone is the size of a dime. Then the jig is my choice of lures. "I like Jigs!"

Yes, they will provide oxygen and keep a slight current that will keep a lake from having a thermacline. Paddle wheels and air pumps are also used in ponds. for this same purpose.

You did the right thing. There's no telling what effect this guys influence may have had on others with his actions. Disregarding the right thing to do is never a good thing. Maybe he will have a change of attitude and by telling others what happened to him in this case could change a mind for someone else down the road.

I would think almost any light would attract bugs, baitfish and bass. It seems that the 25 - watt florescent bulbs a few feet above the surface work the best around my dad's pier. I believe some piers will do better than others due to the location. He has one pier on the edge of a channel point and one in shallow water with only brush tops to hold the fish. (The channel point pier is where the best fishing is.) You can also try some green florescent submerged lights. They work great.

Darter

You can tie a plastic bottle in the top. Lid facing down.

I'm glad you posted that video. I have been observing bass in a 45 acre and 120 acre lake for years that has threadfin shad stocked in it. The bass feed the best on the shad when it's the hottest part of the day. Between 12 - 4.00. I believe that all the shad are balled up at this time of day in the creek channel and the bass are just waiting for them to get close to an ambush point for the attack! The war doesn't last very long most of the time but trying to catch these bass at that time is not that easy. They can really tell the difference between your lure and the shad. You almost have to get a reaction strike from a feeding bass. Most lures just don't fool them consistantly.

Red's brand name worms was a local business that closed up shop a few years ago. I use to fish them allot.

It's very possible that someone could have put any type of fish in a pond. People do this sort of thing all the time not knowing that they could be in violation of the law and or causing problems within the pond that they would not be aware of. I once caught an oscar out of one of our ponds.

Welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome guys! Fun to watch.

The Fish bite so well...Does this mean they're HUNGRY/lacking forage? (Compitition for food may be high enough that it brings out the most aggressive fish first, which are usually the ones that get caught first. Sometimes the bigger fish will let the others go on the feeding frenzy and pick off the injured baitfish that linger around.) Easy pickings!) They sure don't look it...the fish r healthy and look to be eating well...Could be just the lack of pressure? ( Lack of pressure will make for a better day fishing anytime.) But then again...the smallmouth population DROPPED...did the largemouth start eating smallmouth years ago? (I don’t think that predation of Smallmouth is the answer.) I am not that familiar with the Smallmouth. I’m from the south and I don’t see that many. You could be looking at Spotted bass in these lakes rather than Largemouth and if that is the case then Spotted bass are notorious for out competing other bass in a lake and creating a stunted growth situation. Plus a 5 pound Spot would be huge. If it is all Largemouth then you may have allot of food in the lakes to get them to that 3 lb. Mark but then be lacking the next level of food source in the food chain to get them to bump over to the 5 plus mark. If they are all the coming from the same cookie cutter then harvesting those bass may be the answer.) 2. Lack of forage was one of the biggest thoughts...BUT why are the fish in fairly good size range and only growning a couple ounces a year? (Lack of the right size forage.) But then again why is there NO HAWGS...the amount of time i've put on this water, I'd have to have stuck a 5-6lber if they're in there...Largest I've weighed was 4-14 off of a bed...I've had fish I thought were barely over 5 but no scale...But not many, 2-4fish total... ( The true Hawgs are always going to be the minority even in well managed lakes.) 3. My Brother's main/biggest theory is this: too many bass. Sounds funny to a bass fisherman but he believes the population is TOO high...Too many fish competing for not enough forage to provide substantial growth for all the others. If this is the case what could I do? ( Harvesting some bass is the only good answer. Have a fish fry.) I have a 3rd and 4th pond (small 30acres, n 15 acres) that are shallow, very vegetated ponds with lots of bass but much smaller in general. Could I release fish from my livewell and throw them in the smaller ponds? (Putting more bass into an already bass starving lake will just make for more starving bass. It could also introduce viruses or who knows what to your smaller lake. This is not a good ideal and I would advise against it) (probably not legal even tho they're private). Is this a feasable idea: TOO MANY bass? (Yes, but without actually seeing the lake and taking samples there is no way of knowing for sure what the best plan of attack would be.) It seems to make sense cuz the fishing's amazing number's wise and we do notice a small yearly average size growth so is it nothing to worry about? ( Depends on what you and the landowners want from the lake??? Catching big numbers of avaerage size bass that put up a good fight sounds like a good problem to have. If you want bigger bass then that is a different game.) IS there a way @ all to help the bass grow larger and to make this a lunker-holding body(ies) of water? (Yes, with allot of work and or money, and with a whole lot of patience it can happen.) A local biologist taking a good look at your lakes would be the best thing, to get you going in the right direction. Good Luck.

One thing I know for sure is that every lake can be different. Even if they are only a short distance from each other. Maybe even just the other side of a road, This applies to small ponds as well. In a very large reservoir it can have different timing from one end to the other or even from one side to the other. Many things come into play when it comes to water temp; Deep water takes longer to warm than shallow. Clear longer than stained. The west bank vs, east bank. It basically comes down to water temperature and stability of the weather. Bass will spawn around 62 degree's and it become successful. Many variables can cause a nest to become un-successful. Females can spawn almost all their eggs out at once or they can only spit out what they feel is the right amount. Females will often hit several nest sites and will nest with multiple males. Some males are good at picking the right spot and guarding a nest site while others aren't. So large females especially will have a tendency to spawn with multiples or spawn - move out to a ledge then move back in when the moon is right - spawn again. She can do this several times throughout the spring-early summer. So you may find that bass in the same lake will spawn as soon as the water temperature gets right to as late as July. Bass generally look for hard bottom areas to spawn. Hope this will help some.

nice_Bass, Now that is funny. I like your equation example. You know, when it comes down to it, all fish are easy to find. You just look in the water. A true and funny story. The little boy wanted to catch a bass. So he ask his grandpa how to fish for them. Grandpa replied they live in the tree tops, The little boy had almost all his lures hanging in the tree outside his house and not a single bass. Grandpa didn't say which tree top?

I'm sorry, but I beg to differ. It's not cheating. "It really depends on the fishing pressure," regardless of whether it be a small pond or large lake. I know that some ponds or small lakes can be manipulated to make things easier as with high fence hunting. I don't consider either of those scenarios hunting or fishing or sportsman like. I'm not saying it can't be fun. It just shouldn't count towards fair chase. But fishing in a small pond or large lake can be just as equally a challenge and considered fair chase in my opinion. The biggest fish and the biggest deer I have ever taken have both been on public lands or lakes. Some of the best hunting and fishing can be found in these places. You may have to look a bit harder to find the right spots, but they are there. Allot of small confined places simply cannot produce mature healthy fish without some help. "Nothing wrong with that". We should all be good stewards and learn what is best for generations to come. Any lake or piece of land has what is called a carry capacity. Under natural conditions this can be undesirable at best. To improve the conditions or environment in which wildlife lives is not cheating. The fish or animal if pressured still has an mountain of obstacles to overcome in order to become a trophy and can be bragged on, if that be the case. The critter deserves credit. This argument has been around for ages. Live bait vs. Artificial - Length limits on poles - Bank Fishing vs. Boat Fishing - Jiggerpole Fishing - Dynamite vs. Electricity - You get the picture!!!! Bragging I think is where the most problems come into play. Brag on the fish or animal that overcome enormous obstacles to get where they are. And if you know more than I do at fishing or hunting then teach me?

Google earth ! You can litterally see stuff that could be of interest and then go locate it later. Ditches, channels, deep water near shallow, sometimes structure or cover and who knows what else you may see from a satilite view. Worth a shot?