WRB

Light showers to moderate rain without wind is a good time to fish. Only fools fish in a severe stormy weather. Cold rain with high gale force winds are about a bad as it gets, unless accompanied with lightning and hail, then it's horrible. Always put safety first. When you get a little older, wiser and a lot stiffer, you realize that it's not worth the risk to fish in storms. If you are out on the water, watch for the weather to change. If the wind changes direction 180 degrees without warning, take heed and head for barn quickly. WRB

Bass deeper than 40 feet in most lakes can't run up and jump because of their airbladders expanding too fast. If they do come up, some will, they can't get back down with line pressure being applied and tend to wallow around on the surface with little or no fight left in them. This has only happened to me once at Castaic. I metered a few big marks and dropped a structure spoon down, was bit set hook and the bass run straight up and jumped next to boat and stayed there while frantically reel line to catch up with the bass and simply lead the bass easily to boat. The bass was about 12 lbs and looked like a deep water rock codd with it's airbladder pushing put the stomach. During the winter cold water period I keep a 12 oz torpedo sinker tied on an outfit to lower bass back down into the depth of water they were hooked and just pull the sinker placed in the basses throat back out by lifting up the rod and retreiving the sinker...works better than fizzing IMO. WRB

Lane, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to try and answer some of the questions profesionally, without bias. Matt, the fact that this fish kill occured in Texas isn't the issue, it could of happened anywhere large bass of this magnitude were caught and that is the issue. The current tournament set up is 2 holding tanks for the fisherman to wait at before going onto the stage where the bass are weighed, displayed and photographed, the taken to 2 similar holding tanks, then bagged and released directly inot the lake at the marina site. This set up works well form tournaments where a few large bass, like 1 kicker in a limit of average 3 lb bass. Lakes like Amistad, Falcon, Clear Lake and the California delta can easily produce several limit where the bass average over 7 lbs with a kicker over 10 lbs. For big bass, the tournament organizations need to recognize thay need to handle these bass differently. The anglers should not try to hold the big bass in their small livewells for several hours, then weighin with the 4 tank system with immediate release. The big bass become over stressed when handled in this manner and that leads to delayed high motality rates. As far as accurate predictions are concerned, all the tournament organization needs to know is the lake and seasonal period to predict in advance that big bass may be caught, the exact numbers are not the issue. If you prepare in advance to handle big bass correctly and the big bass don't show up at the weighin's, the smaller bass will be handled better as a result. WRB

Bass jumping after they are hooked depends on several factors; 1. The depth they are initially hooked; 25 feet or less they usually try to shake off by making at least one jump or surface head shake. 30 feet or deeper they rarely jump. 2. Size of the lure and how they are hooked; larger lures like swimbaits that the bass has managed to engulf deeply usually keeps the bass down and fighting less agressively. Hooked anywhere near the eye socket really fires them up and they usually jump to escape the lure. 3. Big old bass not fighting hard? All the bass I have caught between 17 to 19 lbs are big and old, they jumped completely out of the water at least once. WRB

The people who predicted that 30 to 40 pound daily sacks would be common were the pro's who pre fished the tournament and they knew, so did BASS. The Falcon tournament...Elite Series.. with 110 top pro's in the country would catch a lot of big bass during pre to post spawn. BASS was not prepared and should have been. This fish kill isn't the issue, Falcon lake allows gill netting for example on the Mexican side, the issue is BASS and how they handled this tournament. Now it's up to BASS to make the needed chsanges. WRB

There should be no issue fishing any artifical lure presentation. Gut hooking bass by professional fisherman is very rare. Yes, the statement was made, however ill stated IMO. The C-rigs used in the Falcon event had big over size soft plastic that even a big bass can't swallow down it's gullet that quickly. 1. You will never achieve 100% survival rates, the goal should be to keep the rate as low as possible. A bass can engulf any lure at any time and damage their gills and that can be fatal. 2. All professional bass tournaments, where money is awarded, should have oxygenator type DO generators with DO level monitors biult in the livewells. The livewells should also have water temperature controlled circulation systems, when the surface water exceeds 75 degrees. One large livewell with a removable partican should be used, not two smaller separate units. 3. Live boats with large 1,500 gallon holding tanks should be on site at every event. Anglers can call the live boat for a pick up, the pro's call if they determine they have a big bass to pick up. Tamper proof tag the bass with the pro's number for TV weighins. 4. Make the over stressed bass or dead bass penalty severe; 2 lbs or twice the weight of the dead or dieng bass. Kill a bass over 10 lbs and you loose the days total catch weight. If a live boat is available, it should be a no brainer to call for a pick. 5. Paper tournaments should not be determined by bass length, the girth also needs to be included. Use the formula; L X L X G /1200 = weight, is as accurate as the measurement validated. Just a note; I have caught hundreds of big bass over the years, several 50+ 5 bass limits. I do not use a livewell to hold my bass while fishing. I made up a 10 foot stringer from 300 lb marlin mono leader that has 2 stainlees steel safety lock clips, a stopper to keep the clips from sliding up the mono and a 1 pound sinker on the end. Where I fish we don't have gators to eat something hanging over the side of the boat, so that is not an issue. I simply clip on a big bass and lower over the side, then put it into the live well when moving. I have 2 stringers and can keep 4 big bass in the lake water while fishing for the 5th bass. Load them up into the livewell for short few minute ride back to the marina, if I want to have the weighed. Most of the time I release a big bass right away before leaving the area caught. If the pro's at Falcon had this type of stringer, it would have saved the day for them. WRB

The issues really isn't about the fish kill at lake Falcon, it's about the preception of B.A.S.S., the top organization in the bass tournament business mishandling tournament caught fish. B.A.S.S. has several professional biologist and a large support team that knows how to handle tournament caught bass correctly and they failed. We bass fisherman all suffer from that failure because we are a targeted group by the nut case PETA types out there, well organized with political power, that want sport fishing stopped. It is nearly impossible to have 100% survival rates, 2% to 3% delayed mortality is very good and would be about 20 to 30 dead bass, which is acceptable. 50% mortality rates will kill tournament fishing and hurts the sport of bass fishing for everyone and that is what is at stake here. B.A.S.S. can't afford to repeat the mistakes made at Falcon. In regards to a fishery being harmed by harvesting bass for food, big lakes with a good bass population can easily handle sport caught fish harvest. However Mexican lakes can legally be gill netted and commerical harvest of inland waters with gill nets will collaspe a healthy fishery quickly. The fish kill is a barometer of how well the tournament was run and that is the issue, it was run poorly. WRB

I don't want to down play the deep water stress issues in regads to this specific tournament, becuase it was a factor. Not becuase of a 30 foot depth change during pre spawn to post spawn on Falcon at the time this event was held. 35 feet of depth change is considered OK without airbladder expansion issues, if that is the total depth change. What can and does happen is the bass is down 50 feet and comes up to 30 to feed, then it get caught and brought up to the surface, a total of 50 feet and that is a major depth change. During pre spawn to post spawn most of the bass will be up in 30 feet or less of water, so not a big depth change issue. However it was reported that some of the bass were in 60 feet of water and those bass difinately needed to be handle with care, fizzed immediately and should have been held over night in holding tanks to be sure they were OK. Out west our big bass go down to the thermocline in most of our reservoirs, following the post spawn period. This average around 35 feet, so the bass are free to roam up towards the surface and return deeper. I believe the Texas bass are doing the same or very similar depth changes. During the cold water period our bass often go down 60 feet or more to find warmer water and we have problems with airbladder expansion during winter tournaments, with higher mortality rates. The big issue with the Falcon deep water bass was the water temperature change exceeded 10 degrees in the bass boats livewell circulating warm surface water verses the cooler deeper water the bass were acclaimated to. Thermoshock is another killer of bass due to the extreme stress it causes them. WRB

Contact; Lane or Tom Gergely; 800/846.6524 Sure-Life, makers of Catch & Release formula, supports the tournaments held on both Amistad, Falcon and work closely with BASS. Ray Scott, the retired BASS president is reportly extremely upset with ESPN's handling of the Falcon event, contact Ray or ask Bob Lusk on this board, he and Ray are supposed to be freinds. Most of the Pro's that pre fished Falcon predicted the high numbers of big bass that would be caught during this event. This was the first BASS event held on Falcon, to the best of my knowledge. The BASS report of the numbers of dead bass were the fish that died in the holding tanks, after the weighin, before they could be released. The number does not reflect delayed motality of the fish released from the holding tanks after the weighin or any culled bass released on the water during competition. The details will be known soon. WRB

The rule is bass move up with the water. The silt will kill the basses eggs and they should hold off spawning until the water clears up to about 2 to 3 feet of visibilty. I would fish the lower third to middle of he main lake major points with jigs and worms and move back into the creek arms and target secondary points and breaks. Try casting up on the bank and working down to 15 feet or so. Any clear running water comming into the creek arms would be good, like small ravines with running water. If the shad are working the shoreline, try a smaller spinnerbait or top water buzzer. Things change quickly, so don't worry about the off color water, it will settle down fast. You should be able to meter the pre spawners, if you don't see any marks around 15 feet or so on the points, then the bass are up tight in the newly flooded brush. WRB

The numbers on this fish kill are growing by the hour as more information is floating to the surface. The facts are 138 bass died in the tanks before they could be released. The tournaments big bass, a 13+ died before it could be transported to the Share a Lunker program. The unconfirmed numbers of big bass is around 500, that is approximately a 50% delayed mortality rate. There will be a report available about 23 April, next week. Primary cause is holding too many big bass in the small livewells without controlling the DO levels and water temperatures. The 10 bass limits of the combined pro and co anglers over stressed the bass in the livewells, during the 8 hour fishing time. Post spawner's being stressed by the spawn and pre spawners that were gorging on baitfsih, placed in the livewells became over stressed and the scales from the baitfish being spit out by the pre spawners clogged the gills of the bass in the livewells and they suffocated as a result. The numbers are staggering; 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of dead big bass from the Falcon tournament. BASS knew there would be record weights and refused the 3 bass limit which is the norm for both Falcon and Amistad. TV rating outweighed common sense. WRB

Tulies go in the jargen of terms we bass fishermen use. Out west we call them tulies, down south they are tall grass or stocks, up north cattails, ect. Good question and great answer with the photo. WRB

Getting a good hook set with a jig doesn't always require a hard rod set, it can be very similar to the swimbait hook set; reel and sweep. However you must react instantly or sooner. LMB engulf a jig, then crunch down on it to kill what appears to be a crawdad to the bass. The crunchers are located in the back of the roof of the mouth. The bass vacums in the jig and the jigs hook needs to be larger enough and sharp enough the penetrate the basses soft mouth tissues when it crunches down, thereby hooking itself for a moment. If the bass detects something wrong, it blows the jig back out so fast you don't know you were bit, unless the jig hangs up into the mouth tissue. If the jigs trailer folds over the hook piont or if the weed gaurd prevents the hook point from contacting tissue, your chances of a good hook set are very low if you try to rod set. However if you reel set, you pull the jig into the mouth tissue and start the hook point to penetrate, the rod sweep puts more pressure on the tight line, pulling the sharp hook passed the barb, then the bass is hooked well. 2 to 3 cranks on the reel handle equals about 40 to 60 inches of line movement and you can't do that with rod setting, unless the rod is pionted down at the bass to start with. Rods set work well for vertical flipping and pitching on a short line, because you are close to the bass, but if you cast the jig 30 feeet or more, reel set and keep the rod low when working the jig. WRB PS; smallmouth and spots will peck at the jig to declaw it, so let them load up before hooksetting.

When using heavier lures like swimbaits, you should match the rod to the lure weight. Most of the larger swimbaits weigh over 1 oz, usually between 2 to 6 oz, so the rod should be designed to cast the heavier weight and be long enough to control the big bass around the boat. A good entry level combo is Okuma GS-C-710H heavy fast action casting rod and Induron IDx-250 series reel, approx. $200. Berkley Big Game 20lb green mono is a good line for most swimbait presentations, unless the water is ultra clear. Soft plastic swimbaits like Matt lures tend to fill the basses mouth and the bass can hold onto the lure without getting hooked. Trap hooks help to find soft tissue when the bass tries to split out the mouth full of soft plastic. This is why it is important to let the rod load up, reel set and then sweep the rod back. This gives the bass a chance to turn with the lure, then when you give the second rod sweep, you finish hook setting when the lure has a chance hooking the basses mouth. The larger 8"+ swimbaits like Huddlestons, then a trap hook is a good idea because the bass can grab the big lure like a dog bone and you may miss hook sets without a trap hook. WRB PS; lures without trap hook hangers can be modified to add trap hooks with 46 lb sevenstrand wire leader and crimp sleeves. Keep in mind that lures modified with trap hooks, not design for them could nullify a record.

The bass are more than likely post spawn in the CA delta this time of year. Post spawners will act like that in the shallow water environments like deltas that have tidal influence. If you see the bass, they see you is the old rule of thumb and post spawners are not active feeders unitl they recover form spawning. Try to forget about the sight fish and go deeper where you can't see them or back way off and fish lures that look like an easy meal and keep the tidal tables in mind. WRB

For those lakes with a lot pads, you can fish a soft plastic jerk bait like a fluke, but you will need heavier tackle. If you plan on fishing the heavier cover use a bait caster and go with 15 lb mono and you be alright if you can get to the bass fast enough. Other wise just cast to the edges and pockets with the Texas rigged worm and you be able to catch a few. Smaller spinnerbaits like Markey's Bushmaster series is very good on some of the lakes to mentioned with shallower water. I would go with the 1/4 oz model with your spinning takle. Google Don Iovino products, Roboworms, Markey Bushmaster lure, Top Brass fishing Tackle etc for the links to those companies. Success in bass fishing is in the details, like quality tackle, not necessarily high cost. WRB

If you don't want to post the lakes you are fishing at least let us know where you are located and what type of bass the lakes have in them. 50 degree water in april would indicate you are in the northern region or higher elevation lakes. Whatever, the upcomong seasonal bass perod is pre-spawn. This means the bass will be located near the shallower water where the bank changes depth quickly. The easiest location to locate and fish during pre-spawn are the major points around the lakes you are fishing. A major point in the long underwater point that extends into the main lake, usually a creek arm or larger bay will be close to the point. The next type of point to fish are the secondary points inside the creek arm or large bay near the major point. These are the places where the pre-spawn bass tend to stage or school. When the water warms up above 60 degrees, the bass will then move back into the shallower wind protected areas inside the creek arms or bay and spawn. After spawning the post spawn bass will move back out to the same areas they were during pre=spawn. Lets focus on those 3 seasonal periods and that should get you started catching bass. The plastic worm is my choice for the lure you should master first. The presentations are; drop shot, slip shot and Texas rigged. You can use your spinning tackle for both the drop and slip shot techniques. Bait casting is a little better for Texas rigged, but the spinning tackle will work OK. Start with 6 to 8 lb test premium monofilament line for the spinning tackle. Hooks; Gamakatsu wide gap finesse/weedless hook and sizr 1/0 worm hook. Weights; 1/8 and 1/4 oz Top Brass Pro-Jo and 1/4 oz round Top Brass black drop shot and 3/16 oz brown Top Brass bullet weight. Beads; 7 mm red Top Brass faceted glass bead Weight stopper; Top Brass Peg-It 2 or Carolina Keeper. Worms; Don Iovino S8A Oxblood, S10A Blue Shad and Smallmouth Killer, 5" straight tails. Roboworms; 4 1/2" curl tails, Oxblood with red flake, Aaron's Magic with red flake. Use the wide gap weedless finesse hook for both the drop and slip shot. Use the 1/0 worm hook for the Texas rig. Fish the Texas rig down hill; cast to shallow water and bounce along the bottom into deeper water. Fish the slip shot rig parallel around the points sides and down the top ridge. Fish the drop shot straihgt down along the top ridge and sides. Start in about 3 feet and work down to 30 feet or so. PM me and I will send you shetches how to rig and fish these worms. WRB PS; while I was slowly typing this you noted you are in Oregon coastal area. All the above will work well there.

Getting back to your basic question on fighting big fish; 1. Get a good hook set. 2. Keep the fish under control. 3. Your goal is land the fish. Hook setting by "crossing the eyes" with a hard rod set is usually a mistake, unless vertically flipping or ptiching a lure into heavy cover. Reeling down and sweeping the rod agianst tight line works much better. Keep the fish in front of you, the rod loaded with line tension at all times and know exactly what the fish is doing. If the fish runs to one side, follow it to keep it in front of you. If you decide to lower the rod tip down into the water, keep the line tension tight and the rod bent. I rarely stick the rod under watert because you loose control of the fish. There is nothing you can do to prevent a big bass from jumping, if it is away from you 30 feet or so. All you cn do is get a good hook set, and the pressure on the fish and keep it under control at all times. Remember your goal is to land the fish and not loose it. You can land the fish if you can't control it. Don't give the fish any slack line or let it run around, it will find something to get into to and get away. WRB

Butch only has a small computer video cam mounted in the back seat location. We are lucky he shares his video clips. WRB

Welcome to bass fishing, frontal conditions are common during the winter to spring transitional weather. The water the bass live doesn't change temperature very fast, it take time. The frontal conditions bother the bass fisherman more than the bass. It's tough to fish in cold windy weather, dress warm and try to remember the basics. Pre-spawn bass are feeding well and located on the deeper breaks near the spawning areas. WRB

Lake Casitas was initially stocked with FLMB in 1968 as I recall and the planting included several thousand fingerlings and a few hundred 10" to 12" bass. In 1980 a 21 lb 3 oz FLMB was caught and is the current lake record. My 18 lb 11 oz bass did have a lateral line pore scale studied by biologist Larry Bothroff and he thought the bass was around 12 years old, but needed the bass to age the fish accurately. I don't know the age of the NLMB, no scale study was performed. I have never thought of measuring mouth open data and could make a measurement of the mouth perimeter of the two bass. Ray Scotts initail reaction to releasing the bass caught alive was something like; "sport fishing can't damage the bass population"and "If I thought skilled bass fisherman could harm the lakes population of bass, we wouldn't be giving the bass to church charities". Ray did implement C & R in the early 70's to his credit. I believe Ray did that more as a result of PR, instead of having photos of stringers of dead in Bassmaster magazine generating negative images. WRB PS; Bob, I have photos of both the subject bass alive, if they are of interest.

See the post "The term cruising bass" The easiest way to tell the deference between a carp and bass jumping is the color of the fish; bass are green, carp are brown or gold color and slap the water load when jumping. A bass feeding on baitfish will chase the bait out of the water and you see the bait jumping. Algea is tiny green particles, not weeds. You may have duck weed that looks like floating clover leaves. Try letting a top water lure sit for 30 seconds, then twitch it a few times and repeat, big bass feeding on the surface will return to pick off an injured critter. WRB

Thanks! The top FLMB was 28 1/2" long with 28" girth and 18 lbs 11 oz, lake Casitas, 2/81 The bottom NLMB was 27 1/4" long with a 20" girth and 12 lbs 4 oz, lake casitas, 2/71 Comparison between the two largemouth bass should be obvious why FLMB outweigh thier NLMB cousins. Both bass lived in the same lake with the same forage base. WRB note; Casitas was planted in 1968 with FLMB, the NLMB had a pore scale count of 58, the FLMB has 69 pore scales.

The bass is dead or very close to it. The units are CM, so the about 26 1/2 inches long, with a 100% girth would weigh about 15.6 lbs. Nice bass, but doubt if it's 18+, would need to be longer than the box. Where was this bass caught? WRB

Go to a pet store and buy a aquarium thermometer and tie a string to it. WRB