Paul Roberts

tyrius is right on. Bassnajr makes a good point too. Also, fish can be just plain spooky with high light and esp a flat surface. Every cast can clear the area of fish. I see it on every such day in my ponds. Esp in shallow water, dark conditions give tremendous advantages. There are times though when bright conditions have there advantages too.

Looks familiar. I used to wade fish the Susky near Barton, with spinning and fly-tackle. Great river. I've been hearing about the flooding this year. Seen some big floods a while back too. The big rivers drain a lot of land!

Thanks Susky. Interesting. I felt the above bass was pretty much blind, and I got to observe her a number of times in different situations. Her vision was definitely very much compromised, but she was in beautiful condition. How she fed exactly I would love to know.

Update. I had conversed with Ralph Manns about this fish and he suggested this bass had a nematode worm that sometimes infects fish. He doubted this fish was entirely blind, esp with such fine body condition. I believe I might have seen her again late last fall, come to a jerkbait. I am not certain, but I thought I saw the clouded eyes on that fish. She moved for the jerk, aborted, and did not come again. Hope I catch her this year; I'd love to inspect her in hand.

Here's a related thread, that might be of interest: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1240362308/0

Those are not unhealthy bass I see there -just thin. You need to aggressively thin the herd if you want more weight on those frames. Don't be squeamish, and you don't have to eat them. Check regs though.

Trematodes are something different. They create tiny black spots, each very round and consistent in size and shape, sometimes lots of them, on fish. The "black spot/patches" thing is something else -the spots are large and appear to look like pigment

I use both, but pork is a GoTo for me. I pre-soften them and there is nothing with that kind of action. That said, I have no proof or even belief that it will outfish plastic. But I love it and ain't giving it up. To keep them from drying out on a dry day I put the jig-n-pig in a zip-lock sandwich baggie and hang it on the keeper as usual. It won't dry out all day. Then I put the pig back in the jar. The more you use them, the softer they get.

Use the right weight (lipless) diving depth (crank) plug. With the cranks, pull the cranks down gently, with the rod -not with the reel. When you get close, slow down; You should be able to tick and bump them without wedging. With lipless, you just have to know the depth and where the plug is in the water column. Holding the rod higher can help, but not if you are crashing.

WTG Deb! A great day of fishing, the win, and big bass. What's left?? Congrats.

With an actual measurement, and the photo showing body condition, we can good guess. It should have weighed in the 6lb range, probably mid to upper. It probably did not hit 7lbs. Very nice--make that BIG--northern LM. Congrats!

They can be aggressive predators. But, they are omnivorous, have a shorter strike window than bass, and their mouths aren't very large, so they're generally tougher to catch -or less consistently so on artificials

Go to the fitness area and try some 2 and 5lb weights (in a plastic shopping bag). I bought a 2 and two 5's at a flea market for cheap, and can check my scale at 2, 5, 7 and 10lbs with them. This way I can keep my scale on target -they do drift.

Fishing catches by themselves don't offer a lot of info. It's also about the lake, the year, the season, the week (weather trend), the day. Much more background would be needed to make much sense of a day's catches. Get to know your lake and keep records. your knowledge and ability to assess given scenarios will increase.

Nice bass! But...considering all the threads lately on calibrated scales, and not trying to be a...party pooper -a 17incher of good body condition (like the one in your pic) should weigh around 2-3/4lbs. I've seen some pics of 17 and even 16 inchers that break 4lbs. They look like bluegills in bass colors ;D. Again, a very nice bass. Congrats.

Jerkbait. Jig, and two others on a crank that day. Plastic worm.

21.5" (northern bass), was thin. Buddy caught it the following year in the same place same month with a similar lure, and he said it was very fat.

Thanks AJ. I remember reading about the toothpick deal. but forgot about it. Will try that.

Bruises do turn black and this is common and lasts a week or so. But the black blotch phenomenon is something else. I believe it's seasonal too. Do check bigindianabass.com -Brian's been following it,

Piggers! Hey Dwight, my wife's from Erie -a while back now.

I'll give you the quick-n-dirty: In the north there is some strong evidence that doing so affects bass production. In the south this has not been shown to be the case. But even in the north, the trend is toward teh relaxation of such regs. Some states (with the cash and incentive) are moving toward specific water management as they home in on causal factors. It's a balance of offering opportunity vs protecting future opportunity.

Setterdog, rynobass, Theres One, Are you the same poster?? Those posts sound oddly similar.

One of my housemates in college mounted a decent 8pter he shot. He did a darn good job -except for the lips. When they dried they had the expression your dog gets when it's about to throw up. He hung it over the dining room table, and it would kinda make your stomach queasy lookin' at it while you ate your breakfast.

It's a known thing, but the cause is not. Search bigindianabass.com for some discussion.

;D Some people are so good they can estimate the weights of fish they haven't even seen! I think that one takes the cake.