Paul Roberts

Awesome. Hey, cool avatar btw. Misty morning pond hop.

Yes. First, what's important to look at (adding on to what's been said by others above): Depth is achieved by bill length (longer the deeper), bill angle (straighter out from body nose the deeper). Also, body shape can affect depth with narrow plugs cutting water better than fat plugs. Also, big heavy plugs will usually go deeper, and this is in part what helps some extra-deeps to get down. Further, balsa being more buoyant than most plastics tends to run shallower. You can break plugs down into rough depth potential: 0-1ft (supershallow) 2-4 (shallow) 3-6 (med) 6-9 (med deep) 8-14 (deep) 14-20+ (xtra deep) The reason there is a range not a precise number is bc line diameter, how far you cast, and how fast you retireve affects actual depth achieved. Now, the catalogs: It's not important you know the precise rating of each plug bc some might rate a plug 3-6 while another might rate a similar plug 2-5. These are close enough that both would fill the role of a med crank. Check the catalogs and look at the bills to familiarize yourself with various plugs bill style, overall size, and composition (balsa or plastic). Then check the table provided by each manufacturer in the catalog for the depth rating for each plug. Usually larger catalogs show a picture of each plug so you can see the plug and look at its rating. So when you look at any plug, box or no box, you'll have a good ballpark idea of where it fits in your tackle box. The plugs shown in your photos are Bandit 100's. A BPS catalog says Bandit 100s run 2'-5'. The 100 Squarebill it says runs 4'-6' -very slightly deeper bc of the slightly longer bill. Both would fill the role of a med crank, but, the squarebill is a bit more snag resistant due to the wider, cornered, bill. I've been able to walk round bills through cover pretty well too though. Hope this helps.

Get a catalog like BPS or Cabelas and familiarize yourself with the stats on the various configurations.

Don't be afraid of weeds. Bass use 'em and crankbaits work great in and around them: ttp://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/69619-some-more-fishing-crankin%C2%92-and-finessin%C2%92/

I do. But oddly I do not remember the catching as much as the fish itself -a 12" LM caught on a small flooded lowland impoundment in southern NY somewhere. It was some kind of magical fish and I couldn't keep my eyes off it. I remember constantly pulling up the stringer to look at my prize, when at one point I pulled up just a short piece of chain and no bass. I was shocked and sad. We figured a snapper got it. I remember two other things from that trip pretty well: the large bluegills on their beds along shore, and the guy in another boat netting a large bass and the blue plastic worm I could see in its jaw although we weren't all that close. This would ahve been in the late 60's. Then there were the first bass I ever saw, two my Dad had caught on a Jitterbug in 1966. I remember the bass pretty well lying in the kitchen, my Dad coming in after dark with them. I was mesmerized by them. I swear I can still smell them, but that can't be so. They were caught on my Dad's father's Jitterbug, and I still have it. It's caught a lot of nice ones since. This year it's my son's turn to catch with it. Can't wait to get that photo and show it to my Dad when we visit for his 80th bday this summer. My son and I are on a mission this spring.

Just like crankbaits, SBs will need tuning too. Good advice above; I'll pull it together: -Check the alignment of the wire to see that it isn’t bent. Sight from the front and make sure the wire is vertically in line with the hook point. You can do this roughly at home but may need to fine tune on the water. Some really mangled baits may run best with the wire off to one side or the other. Do this wire tuning before adding a trailer, although you may have to re-fine tune after adding a bulky trailer. -Make sure your trailer is not knocking it off balance. Many SB trailers tend to be thin and tapered at the end which reduces drag that can throw a bait off balance at speed. If you use a bulkier trailer (I like twister tails) you may need more adjustments. Some cheapo SBs just won't run very fast with bulky drag causing trailers. Make sure your trailer is threaded onto the hook dead straight. Mend or replace worn/damaged off-kilter ones. -As Triton Man offered above you can downsize the main blade a size or two, or switch from a Colorado to an Indiana or further to a willow. I actually replace the split ring on the blade swivel of my baits with a tiny snap, and bring a little bag of various blades for in the field adjustments. -Also as Triton Man also suggested you can add extra weight to the bait. I would suggest doing this using a rubber-core sinker with the rubber removed and crimping it to the hook shaft. Again, like CBs, SBs will need tuning occasionally.

Beautiful fish. Beautiful photo. Do you two know each other?

Thanks. Yeah, that's where we are too. I like those "... craw" colors too. Okeechobee Craw is a fav of mine too. What's yours look like. Got a close-up?

I don't know if baits are "regional", at least as far as the fish are concerned. No magic there, just gotta have the right type of water, prey, conditions, and circumstances in front of you and a given bait will catch them. Now confidence...that can get pretty squirrelly. I'll give him a break and suggest he probably WAS asleep in 1967. In other words, he wasn't fishing back then, or just starting. We all have to start somewhere. And information availability, and probably expendable income, wasn't what it is today.

Wow. Heatlhy fish! Looks like all have been feeding well. Guess you were right in on the carange. I once caught a pike that had a painted turtle in its gut, you could clearly see, and feel, it's outline. Are your fish spawning yet? Looks like prespawn feeding going on there. Yes?

Thanks, Paul. Yeah, I too see those visible females, holding high, either cruising or affixed to some cover piece –sometimes only a single weed strand or a stick. It appears those females have adjusted their buoyancy for the very shallows, and really cannot go back deep again –at least very quickly. They’re committed to the shallows, at least for the time being. That is a telling sign. It seems to me that the spawn is imminent when things "relax", that the depths have heated sufficiently as not to be able to chill out again very easily. This period might end up being my definition of the start of “prespawn”. A couple years ago there was a discussion here about spawn timing, in fact there’ve been a few every year (lol). … Here it is: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/81078-triggers-for-pre-spawnspawn/ Yeah, I’ve always liked that quote. Tells me he was a true naturalist. Not just a writer. It's hard to blame people nowadays for not being deeply interested in nature. We're social and now mostly urban critters, and nature moves at a snail's pace most of the time. But there are those of us that still get that fire lit, and just have to be there. I really like seeing the posts of kids catching their first. I love the looks on their faces, from thrilled to just proud. Pretty cool. It’s a darn complex puzzle nature is though.

Congrats to your son, and the proud Papa. The picture does do it justice. That is a GREAT shot. You should do something with that pic. Better than a wallmount it is. Maybe check in with A-Jay on what he did with his Lake Baccarac pics.

Congrats to both of you. Every kid should have such opportunities.

Congrats! That feels just great from here too.

Cool story. Awesome fish.

It happens. It happens to everyone. Keep on keepin' on!

Wonderful. Just wonderful. Trip, friends, catches, photos, and mementos. Nice way to cap it off.

I haven't used it in a few years and then it was sold as a "walleye" line "good on spinning tackle" -which I took to mean a softer FC. This was bolstered by Berkley then coming out with their 100% FC which was designated a "bass line" -as a more abrasion resistant FC. I did find Vanish lower in abrasion resistance in lighter lb tests so I switched to 100%. However, the best way to add abrasion resistance is to inc diameter. You did the right thing there, buying the 14lb, I think. What's interesting is these lines differ in diameter for each lb test rating. The 100% is thicker per lb test than is Vanish (the 6lb is an 8lb diam and the 8 is a 10lb diam). There may be a chunk of your abrasion resistance right there. BPS is similar to Vanish in diameter and I've liked it. Since many lines undergo the "rating game" I choose lines for given applications based on diameter, rather than rated lb test. At least it gives me a standard to work with. Hope this helps.

It burns a dull gray finish on the lead. Knocks that shiny smile off. Takes at least a day, maybe two.

Thanks, Dwight. That was fun. I don't think he was in serious danger. But he got a good workout. That's what you get hooking such a fish above such a shoot of rapids. You gotta do what you gotta do though. Congrats to the angler. He earned that victory roar.

I don't like shiny metallic weights or jig heads. So I do one of two things: -Soak weights in vinegar overnight (hooks will corrode). This helps but they get even better after being in a box with others for a while. -Paint em with nail polish. I've also gone to black hooks.

Thanks, Will. And you're welcome. Happy to share and have the chance to talk fishing. Ed, I’m moving overseas this summer, and a chunk of my plan is to get some writing done. We’ll see what comes. Yes, narrative form –story-telling– may be the pinnacle of communication. My left brain gets in the way a lot though. Jeremiah Johnson, huh. I’ll stick that one in my hat. My university advisor once quipped, “Paul may not be the best academic I’ve ever met, but he’s probably the last rabbit choker I ever expect to meet.” A “rabbit choker” is someone so adept at the ways of the woods he can pluck rabbits from their forms under the snow and strangle them. Now, I’d never done any rabbit choking, but I was so pleased with that title I didn’t really mind the part about my academics. No military time. Just a lot of field time. Oh, and enough formal education in biol/ecol/physiology to know what’s important. So… I wouldn't say it's innate exactly, as much as learned. HD Thoreau said it well (paraphrased): “There is only as much beauty available to us (in nature) as we are prepared to appreciate. And not a grain more.” You know, I watched a number of other anglers that day. I often do that, even with binocs sometimes (not to ferret out a secret lure but bc other people’s fishing is just more information to plug into my mental computer –I can’t be everywhere). And some people are more interesting to keep track of than others. A couple of older guys picked a spot and stayed put, just “fishing” –one I could see was repeatedly casting a Senko. There was another, a young guy fishing a large popper aggressively, moving quickly around the pond. These three anglers reminded me of the guy I used to see here every now and then -fishing their GoTo's. He fished a small buzzbait before or after work all through the open water season, saying, “Sometimes they bite, and sometimes they don’t.” A group of four other anglers, fishing together, jumped around to seemingly random locations around the pond, probably fishing spots they had previous experience with, but not necessarily timely experience that jived with the current conditions. A “last summer I got a nice one right here” sort of thing. I too feel that pull as many spots hold magic in the mind. But you have to get trained out of it. Inexperienced hunting dogs will do that too. Let ‘em out of the truck in a familiar spot and the fools will hightail it to the spot they got that last pheasant or grouse from –leaving the gunner behind! Eventually they get savvy, understand the partnership, and expend energy appropriately. I love the look of a mature experienced hunting dog in the field. Love that assured look; they belong, and they feel it too. What each of the anglers appeared to be doing was “fishing history” –fishing what they “knew”. There is nothing wrong with that –in fact we all do that– unless your history doesn’t include inputs that jive with current conditions, or allow you to read and interpret conditions. They are like young hunting dogs, lots of energy, and all nose and no brain, so to speak. The reason to understand bass, water, weather, land, and other critters, at a more basic biological / physiological / ecological level is bc that type of “knowing”, that information, is exportable and adaptable. I’m fishing history too. I’m certainly not randomly casting. But my history weighs the parameters in front of me that day, that hour, that moment, and I choose locations, tactics, techniques, lures, and casts that fit. There was another guy there too. I immediately labeled him as potentially “dangerous” –my term for someone who can catch fish –dangerous to the fish and may even put a dent in my catches for the day. He wore dark clothes, and moved calmly –it was hard to see him along the shoreline– and he fished methodically and patiently. His body language echoed the tempo of the season. And he had a dog with him too –a Lab –who also knew the ropes. I bet that dog can HUNT. In contrast, the others clumped right up to their spot and started flinging. They probably do that year round. I saw this guy catch a mid-sized bass from some submerged brush I often hit. I do not know what he knew, what his “history” was, how deeply he could tap into the day. And what tools were at his disposal. My guess is he does some things a bit different from me. There are many ways to catch fish. But first you have to find, or create, biters. Every day is different and there’s a lot to notice.

Just realize spincasts limitations and you should be fine. The drawbacks to spincast are primarily 2-fold: They tend to have slow line retrieve rates and thus are not suited for some techiniques. They tend to lack cranking power in terms of torque. This is an issue with spinning tackle too actually, but less so. Nothing beats a baitcasting reel for cranking torque. For heavy cover flipping, crankbait fishing (esp deeps) and for spinnerbait fishing a BC'er is requisite IME. A third issue is quality/durability, as few are made that actually stand up to the rigors of bass fishing. Another issue, not often an issue among bass fisherman is the fact that SC'ers are prone to freezing up in firgid weather due to ice up. This became a major issue for a buddy trying a high quality model out for winter steelheading. The above said, there are some good quality spincasters out there for light to med duty bass fishing and with retrieve speeds that are enough to cover all but the faster applications. My son uses an ABU 170i which is a pretty solid little reel. So far so good. I upgraded the 12lb XL it came with, with 12lb Sensation -a stronger lb/dia line. NebraskaBasser's post above on the Omega Pro is encouraging. Just realize the limitations: retrieve speed, torque, and mid-range power (lb test) applications. Oh, and buy quality, with spincast especially.

Probably makes little difference but I remove the split ring, except on the few plugs where the line tie is set too deep in the bill to get a snap into.

Pure awesomeness. Paul, that is a pretty fish. Good light and decent lens helps too. You sure do get pretty pics.