Gatorbassman

I haven't been able to find a good underwater topo map on line. Except for Mytopo.com. I have found the no mater where you live or fish. You can find a good fishing map by calling or visiting a tackle shop in that area. These maps are usualy hard to beat.

Although I have a boat. I tend to find myself walking the bank on a bad day. It is what I did for 12 years and I still love it.

As I tell my 3 year old son. A long long long way. About 200 miles in three directions.

Welcome, you will learn alot here.

I go with the wind. Wind creates current and current kicks up the bait fish and disorients them. At my home lake we have alot of islands with shallow water between them and the lake shore. We call them Blowthroughs. When the wind is blowing across these areas the top-water bite is great and several 5+lb bass are not uncommon.

Quack

I fish shallow in the spring and deeper breaks and break points the rest of the year.

I fished out of one years ago. It was OK if you were fishing by yourself. If you bring a partner along you need a second one to put your tackle in. I would recomend looking for a used 10 to 12 foot jon boat. You can find them for cheeper and they are great.

I make my own worms because the lakes I fish are known for large bass and I can't find a 14 inch worm I like. Yes, you can catch a bass on a 14 inch worm. I have never caught one under 4lbs on one though.

I wasn't trying to sound that way. I was just shocked by what I was reading. I didn't want some of the newer fishermen to get confused. Let me give a little history about my fishing and then maybe I can shed a little light on this issue. I am 30 years old and I am lucky enough to have a job that allows me to fish 3 to 5 days a week and about 50 weeks out of the year. I have been guiding small lakes for trophy bass seven years now so you won't see me pulling a 20ft bass boat with my truck. I guide in a 14ft jon boat. I am currently working on a book about bass fishing small ponds and lakes less than 1000 acres. Now according to a good friend of mine who is a fisheries biologist and an expert on bass behavior, bass are "territorial" only during the spawning period. If they were territorial the rest of the time we would be using lures that look more like something that is threatening to a bass and less like something it wants to eat. After the spawning period a bass has the need to school up in groups of 3 to as many as 50 fish or more. They will school in deeper water with other fish that are close to there size and move up when they need to feed. This is called their feeding migration. When they reach their desired feeding depth or area they will scatter to feed. The shallower they feed the more they tend to scatter. Giving the impression that they are alone. So a school of 20 bass could be feeding in an area as small as your kitchen table or as large as an acre. The way that bassmaster is describing bedding sounds like an ambush point. This is place that a bass chooses to ambush his prey. Allot of times it is a small open area next to whatever thick cover or shade it is hiding in. Many times, especially in grass and around laydowns, this open area is an old bed that was made during the spawn. This may give the impression that the bass is on the bed. Once again I am sorry if I came accross a little harsh on bassmaster.

I have fished from the bank for years and I came to the decided that there is no perfect lure retriever. If I don't want to loose it I won't fish with it. I tell you what. I sure got good with plastic worms.

All year, you have got to be kidding. Bedding means: The clearing of debris on the bottom of the lake for the purpose of spawning. Bass spawn in the spring when water temps are ideal to do so. About 60 to 70 degrees. After they are finished spawning they leave the bed and go into their post spawn activity of periodic feeding. The clearing that they make sometimes will stay that way year round and can be a great place for a bass to ambush its prey if there is cover close by. The fact that you see a fish on one of these clearings does not mean it is bedding. As for the original question. A male will move up to find and clear a bedding location. This will take him 1-3 days. When the weather and water temp is ideal the female will move up and find a male that suits her. The spawning will take 24-48 hrs. The female will hang around for a while and then move off to rest or if she still has eggs she will go and find another male with a suitable bed. The eggs hatch and the male will be left to fight off all the things that are trying to eat the fry. He will stay with them for about a 5 days and then leave.

Your question is very dependent on a long list of variables. The short list is; water temp. water clarity light penetration oxygen content water ph level season fish activity water current Some would say the moon phase There are thousands and thousands of books and articles written trying to explain and solve the mysteries of this list. The way I go about it is to fish and keep records of every day I am on the water. The best place to fish is where the fish are. Take time to learn how to find them and the catching part gets easier.

Very well said.

Whatever water my line is in at the time. I have no favorates. As long as there is fish there I am happy.

Here are a couple of links that tell a little about Mike's early histroy. http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/pro_bass_fishing_career.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/michael_Iaconelli.html This used to be the link but they took it off his web sight. www.mikeiaconelli.com/biography.htm It should be in his new book coming out in May.

Bingo

Easy, fast tying, and strong. The palomar and inproved clinch are great.

You got it Dex. That is beautiful. It just makes me want to _____. :'( :-X Clooney, The only way I can describe it is smooth. No whips, jerks or slashes, just one smooth motion. Once you get that down you can move on to more aggressive ways to get that new wonder bait thing out there. Just remember you aren't going to be a pro at it over night. It was just a few years ago that I swore off all baitcasters. Now I can't get by without one in my hand.

On some of my lakes in Georgia it is wide open. I caught between 30 and 40 Friday and 15 the day before. But the large females had not moved up in numbers yet. I will hopefully be sharing a picture or two of some nice ones this week.

To answer your first Question. Almost everything you need to know about bass fishing. A bunch of great knowledgeable guys that are more than willing to answer any of your questions. No there is no CHAT Room thank the Lord. If there was one, none of us would ever get anything done.

I just got Gerald Swindle's on the frot of the Bassmaster Tour Program. His picture is on the front. I also got Mark Davis, Shaw Grigsby, Davy Hite, Denny Brauer, George Cochran, Gido and Dion Hibdon, Rick Clunn, Mike Iaconelli, Kelly Jordan, Roland Martin, Takahiro Omori, Kevin VanDam, Jay Yelas, Zell Rowland, and Larry Nixon.

I don't have any time to find it rite now but give me a few days and I will send you a message. The bass are bedding hard this week and I will not be around my computer. I know you understand.

How are you putting the hook in the Fluke? I put the hook all the way through the fluke then I skin the point back into the fluke be careful to keep the Fluke straight. Make sure you are hooking the fluke rite side up. I mean after the hook is put through the nose of the bait it should enter the Fluke between the two flaps and come out the flat top part.

Ike is my inspiration. It was just a few years ago he was winning Federation Tournaments out of a 12ft jon boat. I am fishing them from a 14ft one. Go to his web site and read his story and see the pictures of his boat. It's pretty neat.