Paul Roberts

Looks like nice water. Love those tannic fish.

Sounds like a nice morning, despite the traffic. There are cool water algae too -waiting on sunshine.

Is that a red eye? Or is it just the pic?

What knot for the leader?

They're actually really easy to sharpen. The flats are so large that a small mill file or diamond file sits on them nicely. Ahhh! That issue solved. Thanks.

Very nice! Where were they? How deep? Is that 6-8 a ~post-spawner? How were you fishing?

I have a sharpening protocol that conserves hooks and works very well. For most lures I use any small fine-toothed flat file, kept on a retractor. (For tiny hooks as in trout flies, I use a grooved diamond sharpener.) I was originally taught to do the 3 swipe point. But I found that this will go through hooks in a hurry if you are catching a lot of fish, or just fish that bait a lot. I now use a single swipe of the file. All I want is the point to stick into my thumbnail. After that dulls, I swipe another side. I take off as little metal as I can to get a sticky point. I test all point as CWB said. Corrosion is not an issue if you allow your lures to dry before packing them up. I just let the boxes sit open overnight after a day of fishing. Then again, I live in super low humidity here in CO. Can't speak for Georgia though.

Ditto.

I have one big problem with that idea (besides the exorbitant price): How do you re-sharpen them???

I have "the store" -a couple large tackle boxes, and many smaller ones from which I dip from, into plastic boxes of various sizes. I keep these boxes as to lure type and/or presentation method. I'm anal about how they are maintained. If I get sloppy I end up paying for it. I fish two ways now: from shore, and from a float tube. I have duplicate boxes for each lure type/presentation method I might be using. These stay ready to rock an roll so I can grab and go. Time is precious. If I didn't duplicate, I'd forget something useful when I switched! Things change seasonally and with the waters I decide to fish on a given outing. I dip into the store to cover the bases I need for that outing.

Very nice! I've had that too -bass under the thin line of slop right at shore. More common than many realize I think. Way to go...makes me want to move south.

Bass can see much better out of the water than most people seem to realize. And it doesn't take much to put off educated bass. Being "put off" can be really subtle, it doesn't mean that they bolt. I will cast to fish that have seen me, and in many waters and times, it works just fine. But if they've been shallow a while, are fished to, or it's under high vis conditions, I'll go into stealth mode and it really does work like a charm -like night and day. Jaded fish become biters. Back when I fished for huge lake run brown trout I found them to be the same way -worse in fact. I was so paranoid that if I spotted a good brown, I'd just about automatically assume it saw me, mark the hold, and sneak back after 10 minutes. The challenge with bass is that, being in still water, they cruise and it's easy to lose track of them. Thus the frustration lots of people feel chasing "cruisers". You'll see more "cruiser" posts coming -'tis the season.

If one were to keep bass, Bamajoker has it right. In most waters, very few of those small ones will ever become lunkers, if they survive at all. Culling can be good thing, if quality size is what you are after. But if catch and kill pressure is very high, esp in small waters, it could be detrimental to future fishing. Each water's different though; Some are baby bass factories, others run more in boom and bust cycles. Sounds to me like Bamajoker's being thoughtful about the future of his water.

Sounds like a good bit of fishing. Sure feels good to be around liquid water again. Nice to have a bunch of waters to jump around to. Hey, I have mud boots just like those! But...my shorts and top are different. ;D Oh yeah...about the bat. Just so you know... I worked at a veterinary research hospital for a while, and occasionally some well meaning person would bring a found bat in. They were immediately euthanized. It turns out that the incidence of rabies is uniquely high for bats, found where they shouldn't be. That said, I've done the exact same thing, put them where they are safest, then washed up really well. I do not know how long the virus can live out of an animal, probably not long. But you might want to quaratine that glove for a while.

Amazing what relieving a little pressure will do. Glad to hear you are enjoying your time.

That's a big pickeral alright. Very nice. I loved them, on light tackle -they sure can zip if you let them.

I would be willing to try one, if it is indeed more snag resistant. But at $15 a pop, I'll pass on that experiment. Now, if they put a titanium wire guard in front of that hook, I would be even more tempted.

Break ratings are not accurate, they are a marketing tool (which I have a hard time separating in my mind from BS). When purchasing a line go by diameter first, as this affects presentation the most, and then consider other properties you might want (abrasion resistance, suppleness, density (FC), ...).

My shadow does seem to have the Ash effect on the bass lol. When the sun is low my shadow can spread almost across some of those ponds. Yeah, it was a neat image, really cool sky; glad I bothered to take it.

Sounds like classic responses to frontal conditions. The one thing you didn't mention were the sky conditions, which makes me think you might not be aware of them. In short: Clouds help a lot, for several reasons. Warming temps can increase activity too, esp in early season, but this often comes with bright sun, which can make presentation more challenging. Non-warming conditions tend to knock the smile off of fisherman, but more rarely bother the fish. It takes severe temps to affect water much, after has collected some heat. The wild card is often prey activity and/or availability. Hunting/feeding opportunities for bass can vary greatly across weather patterns, daily, and hourly, and certainly across different water bodies. For a longer explanation of some of what I think goes on with bass and weather patterns see my thread: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1250965728/8 And my post in this thread: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1269001818/8 If you search there's a lot of discussion and articles on this site about such things.

Jigs are so versatile and varied that all lines could be applicable. Sensitivity is key so use the thinnest lines you can get away with for the weight of the jig (and hook size). Remember that FC's sink, braid's float, and CoP's float until they soak in some water then become neutral to slightly negatively buoyant. I use: -FC for depths ~>6ft -Braid w/ either a FC or abrasion resistant CoP leader. I do not use straight nylon/CoP much -for subsurface lures anyway. Don't worry too much about brands. There are so many good ones now, and I'll let others here sell you on what they like. I'm still using Trilene XT and still think it's a marvel. But I'm old school and know there are better formulas out there now. Pick a diameter and go to town. For skirted bass jigs I'd suggest going with .012 up, depending on amount of cover you have to deal with.

I can see that -the confidence thing. It's not excess ego, or obstinance as much as a refusal to be swayed by poor judgment -i.e. superstition. I am really good at IGNORING the little doubting voice that's based in nothing worth considering -like the color of my underwear, or lure for that matter.

Hmmmmm... I can understand it somewhat. I'm a fly-tier and would ONLY fish flies I not only tied, but designed. It's a pure satisfaction thing, and requires some real obstinance too LOL. But with store bought lures? No. I'm not THAT obstinate. ;D I did once fish with a young kid who owned ONE lure, a cheap crankbait so badly out of tune it spun circles as he burned it. And he crushed 'em! I still only own perfectly tuned crankbaits. Welcome, by the way.

;D Welcome to the real world! Sometimes it hurts when our bubble's are burst. I don't have time to rattle on here...but...I will say that the fishing media can really skew expectations. If it makes you feel any better, and it should, those are darn nice northern bass. Sure 5 and better bass are caught throughout the north, but they are much more rare than many anglers realize -except to those with calibrated scales. Congrats on your catches. Those are darn nice bass.

Different weed species have different needs. Two things that affect weed populations and distribution within a water body are light and temperature. A cloudy year, or one with off-colored water can kill off some species and encourage others. Some species are more northern and do better further south during cooler summers, and vice-versa. It can be very different year to year. During winter warm water species simply die back, while some cold species (like coontail) can do well under the ice. Snow on the ice can block light and kill or discourage plants. Wind affects shallow plants by breaking or even uprooting them. If it happens to be a calm autumn, weedbed structure may not be destroyed, even though the plants are dead. Low water levels can alter species composition and structure too. I appreciate drought years bc they can kill neavy shoreline weedgrowth leaving corridors for bass to hunt in and ease of presenting different lures. All these variables, and plenty of others, sure keep things interesting. As to your specific question: Those dead weeds will eventually decompose and break up. New veges will come up, but may end up patchier (depending on species) bc of light blocked by last years intact growth. But a strong wind could open things back up. It remains to be seen what will actually happen.