paul.

way to get on 'em man. off to a good start. i've heard good things about that lake.

such an awesome fish. wish we had 'em around here. great catch man.

great rw. knew it would just be a matter of time. sounds like y'all got on 'em pretty good.

another beautiful striper. obviously part of your workout plan is lifting heavy fish. ;D

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1298937858 SPEEDBEAD. beat me to it. ;D

as those of you who live around the mid south area know, we've had some real nasty weather over the past few days. since it's been warm and water temps have been in the 50's, i've tried to do some fishing between monsoons. and i have learned something very cool about one of my best swimbaits. with the deluge we've had, one of my favorite ponds has gone from 2 feet low to overflowing. visibility has gone from feet to inches. i've tried one of my favorite stained water baits, a big colorado blade spinnerbait, with only one 2 pounder to show for it. and then, for some reason, i started thinking swimbait. i had been saving my mattlures gill for the spawn, but i just couldn't resist the urge to try it. i'm sure glad i did. everything was working against the matt gill. high winds causing some serious waves, poor clarity, and a vicious cold front setting in. but it apparently didn't matter. i fished the gill parallel to the bank waking it slightly below the surface just as i had the spinnerbait. in ponds i always try to put the bait between where i think the fish are and the bank to set up a funnel attack scenario. and it worked. several nice fish clobbered the gill today including a fat one that tried to take the rod out of my hands right in front of a small point in only about a foot of water. this was an eye opening experience for me to be sure. i tried to process why the matt was so successful when the big colorado bladed spinner was not, and i can only come up with one answer. the spinnerbait is loud and vulgar. it screams "BITE ME, BITE ME!" the mattlures gill couldn't be any more different. it whispers. softly. seductively. persistently. with every wag of its tail it says (insert barry white or luther vandross music here ) "come on baby, you know you want me. let's do this." and then the magic happens. at least that's my take on it. ;D whether i'm right or not, i don't know. but some nice bass have been all over this bait in conditions that are definitely less than desirable for a swimbait. yes, the matt gill is a deadly bed fishing bait. but it's so much more. don't wait until the spawn. throw those mattlures bluegills right now. you might just catch your lunker before she even goes to bed.

lol. i know you were. just a poor attempt at humor on my part. ;D

who? me and Chris? well i guess it can be kinda hard to tell us apart. but to avoid future confusion, just try to remember that he's the ugly one and i'm the fat one.

took 'em to the woodshed again i see. that's great Matt and Steve. but i know there's gotta be some Big O BSing going on here. there's no way the fish actually bit that butt ugly red color you're using, right? RIGHT? : :-X

glad you're having fun. light tackle is always a blast.

great fish man. lunker for sure right there. real cool.

that's just great dwight. another huge one. congrats. and glad you still have all your limbs attached after fishing with the gators.

we only managed 23 on this cold front day, but they are getting a little bigger. enjoy the pix, but please pay no attention to any baits you happen to see - especially the ones in the mouths of these fish. this is intentional misdirection on our part. high action plastics will NOT catch fish in water below 50* and this is NOT one of the greatest colors ever designed. :

another great day with chris today. 41 bass. they bit a variety of stuff today, but most of the fish came on jigs and senkos. can't think of many things cooler than a day of hook setting with a great friend. now bring on the bigguns. we're ready.

sorry for your misfortune. could have been a lot worse though. sounds like you came out ok considering what could have happened. glad you're alright.

great chunky fish there. super.

bassasaurus rex!!! :o

y'all did great!!! 2 very nice ones.

you're on fire man!!! fantastic.

right on to what's been said so far. however, assuming i read your initial post correctly, you are looking to be able to catch bedding fish in a tournament scenario. i'm not sure i'd bank on this strategy if i was fishing a tournament and the clock is ticking unless i already had 5 in the box and was just looking to upgrade. if you are still trying to get your limit, your chances are probably better targeting pre-spawn fish. you have to catch spawning fish on their terms and their timetable. sometimes that's a matter of seconds. more likely though, it's considerably longer, particularly when we're talking females. the one tip that i would offer here is that when you are bed fishing, you are not trying to coax, entice, or tempt the fish into biting. you are trying to aggravate it into biting. do not be afraid to get aggressive with your tactics. one thing i've found that will QUICKLY get bedding fish fired up is to sneak the lure in behind them and when their back is turned, pop the rod and whack them in the tail with the bait. done properly, this will usually prompt the fish to instantly whirl around and see what's up. twitch or pop the bait in their face again instantly when they spin around on it, and many times they will eat it on the spot. they don't have time to think about it or study it. it's almost like a reaction strike kind of deal. even if they don't eat it, they will usually go from neutral to red hot very quickly after you've done this a few times and it greatly reduces the time it takes them to bite. now many times you have to do this with the male before the female will get even remotely interested. i can't think of a single big female that i've ever caught without first getting the male involved in the game. but the above trick will get him involved much quicker, thus saving you time in a tournament. flipping flooded bushes in the spring on ky. lake is a surefire way to catch a nice sack. it is bed fishing without actually bed fishing since the fish are in the bushes to spawn.

that is a great write-up. thanks for taking the time to post it.

makes me furious. rich players and even richer owners at odds about money and increased risk of getting hurt in an 18 game season. meanwhile soldiers, cops, firemen, and other people who actually do something meaningful and run the same if not more risk of injury sometimes live paycheck to paycheck. i love my football as much as anyone, but if all these millionaires can't get together and avoid a lockout, it will sicken me. rant over.

you're on 'em bud! that would be a great bag any day of the year, but especially when conditions are tough. way to smoke 'em.

lol. please don't hold it against me J. ;D

water temp was 42-43. air temp somewhere in the 40's too i think. been a while, i don't remember now. ;D