Paul Roberts

Awesome.

This can actually be really good advice. When fish are stale, making a racket can induce a bite to start. Sometimes triggering that first bite is the problem.

You said it yourself: "The Shallows seem dead." Problem identified. Now what are you going to do different? Don't worry about the lures -'till you find active fish. Will probably be a shift in timing and/or location.

OK this isn't bass but it's the same story... Talk about the "magazine look"...when I fished for steelhead, a lot of guys would dress the part -so important to look like something they saw in a magazine: high tech waders, wading jacket, pocketed vest, fingerless gloves (cold or not), overly expensive graphite rod and the latest 'cool' looking reel. If the stuff was brand new you could bet they could read magazines better than water. (What was really something were the guys decked out the same way, but were snaggers -the guys that couldn't catch 'em so they snagged 'em!) Anyway, I just had to get goofy sometimes amidst all that self indulgent SERIOUSNESS During good conditions I used to like to take Snoopy for a float: One day a guy came over after he saw ol Snoop go down for the 10th time and said in all seriousness: "I gotta try one of those. Where'd you get it?"

Hmmmm...similar things have happened to me in shallow water too. Crestliner wrote: Very good question.

Depends on the fisherman I would like to think. But I would guess usually it's luck. One cannot depend on, within a given 8hr stretch, to catch a bass of unique size. Ask any BIG bass chaser here and they'll say fishing tournaments and fishing for BIG bass (unique specimens) are different games. Tin wrote: Ditto. If you can figure out the reasons, even predict them to a certain point, skill (knowledge) begins to play a larger role. Luck may still play an equal role: but instead of one limit or one Xlber (pick your number) you might end up 5. 8-)

You'll never have to tie a knot in the water! Cool rig!

Fun thread. Hmmmmmmm.... This is tough... Several good answers here, especially: electronics, graphite, line, quality hooks. Depends a lot on the type (esp size) of waters I fish. Lessseeee... Electronics: Flashers existed within the time frame here. I like the graphic display better now, and side-scan sure is cool and could save time, but the old Green Box could still be put to good use. Of course GPS units can be pretty useful, especially on big waters. Modern high carbon steel hook designs: This one's gonna fall of my list pretty quick. Although nice, I can sharpen the old irons. And I'd even taken to bending hooks if I needed a different shape. Graphite: I started with wood (see pic), then steel (my Dad's), glass (tubular), and upgraded over time; I still have an S-Glass steelhead rod I still like and used for plugging until I left steelie country. I remember my first graphite rod and sweating bullets sinking a chunk of my paycheck to buy that Skyline spinning rod. I still have it and use it every spring. A second Skyline casting rod followed (I sweating bullets again lol) -which I'm gonna ebay soon bc, like Matt, I just can't stand the pistol grip! I remember amazing my glass-toting friends while fighting big trout with graphite -"Oh! He's turned the other way I can feel the line ticking through his teeth! Oh...now he's rolled and the lines caught around a pectoral!..." Friends couldn't believe what they were hearing until they bought their own. But, I could catch fish without graphite (can I keep my S-Glass?). Line: I've always said that line is the single most important piece of technology; that if we can significantly reduce the diameter of line (or get rid if it all together ) that that would be the single biggest technological achievement in angling. Water is a thick gelatinous medium, and line affects our presentations and sensitivity more than most realize I think. But, I still use mono (XT) a lot and could get by there the most versatile line really. Braid and fluoro sure have their place. ANDI'm still waiting on that next BIG breakthrough: .003 diameter high density 20# -bring it on baby !! So...in my own fishing nowadays, mostly in small waters, although I want all the modern conveniences, in the end, No changes REALLY necessary. Fun thread. Pre-Glass (c. 1966) Gone Tubular (c. 1973) with homemade jigheads (split shot crimped to a goose-neck worm hook) Won Big Bass in local contest (that's what we called them) (c. 1976). Rubber worm.

FishChris wrote: ditto. But we can only control so much of that. The rest is "luck", or whatever you call it.

Curious: Who wins the big bass pool? Anyone in your tournaments win the big bass pool regularly? Are the guys that tend to bring in the most consistent catches the ones who also tend to bring in the big bass? Or are big bass catches random?

Congrats. I had that happen last year. Not a PB but worth weighing. I had hopped out of my boat to have lunch on shore and spotted this big bass. I pitched a worm to her and she took -but I did the stupid thing (too often on sighted bass on plastics >) and set as soon as I saw her white mouth flash -yanking it from her mouth! Switched to a jig, let it free-fall, felt the tap, and lipped her shortly -a heavy thick fish -well muscled. While carrying her to the boat to get my scale she twisted free of my grip -my word she was strong! And she was gone. Kudos to her -she beat me hand to hand ;D To tell you the truth, I don't care a lick. Just happy to have caught her.

Interesting question. My thoughts (guesses): -Bass without A LOT of food (or a real good hunting advantage/opportunity) begin to reduce activity in water over 80+F. -From anglers I've chatted with, bass in the far north (CN) where water temps just don't break 80, seem not to suffer this mid-summer doldrums. -In my experience bass (LM and SM) have a tendency to move away from shore in summer. This is true even in shallow waters (<10feet). There are exceptions -waters that will maintain good shoreline bass fishing through summer (lotsa shoreline cover and food). But moving away from shore is a strong tendency I see. In my shallow ponds I believe the reasons are twofold: fishing pressure and the fact that the big 'gills (that mature bass target) move away from shore to feed. In larger deeper waters, bass may expand deeper into cooler waters -likely following a food resource coupled with appropriate temperatures. Ralph Manns has mused (not proven) that this could be habitual, due to the fact that in many waters (coverless res. is my guess) fry move away from shore to graze zooplankton, and this tendency holds in many bass as they mature. -Although there are historical constraints, bass populations develop their own specific habits and can adapt to specific conditions over time. This is something to keep in the back of your mind when trying to "pigeonhole" anything biological. There is a hole, and don't expect to cram a square peg into it. But that hole can vary. So...enjoy the stability. Get to know your new waters. And then come back and tell us what you've found. 8-)

My guess is it's spring fed -maybe eroded limestone below and up comes groundwater. This is common around the St John's River waters I believe. Hannon, Glen Lau, Bob Underwood, and others, have done their underwater bass photography in those waters due to the clarity -and I'd guess the attraction of the springs in summer. Doug Hannon has a chapter in one of his books (Big Bass Magic I believe) on springs. That's my guess.

SO........How's the fishin'?? Seriously. Do the bass care on your water?

I don't know. Black is common on mouths as bruises from hook wounds. And there is a black spot phenomenon common in some waters -lots of chatter about that around the net. Yours doesn't look hook related as the mouth is clean on that side.

What about a small island -away from shore? :) ;D

Good post Tommy. Probably the entire shoreline will hold small bass, but only certain areas attract larger bass. Strikes me bass become active around structure (shoreline attached or not) when they have a hunting advantage -appropriate sky and water conditions. As to distance they travel: Telemetry shows it varies depending on particular fish' needs. They can navigate over great distances as shown in some waters by radio-tagged tournament bass quickly returning home over surprising distances. But it I think it would be safe to say that most bass are not great travelers.

Excellent advice, and succinct too . Deep is relative. The ponds I fish run 8-15 feet at the deepest with the majority much less. Yet I've noticed that a lot of the bass are found away from shorelines in summer. There are still shoreline related bass (more in some waters than others) but these are more apt to be unresponsive (at least to horizontal pres that require the fish to move for them), and generally smaller, in summer during daytime. For this reason I fish from a float tube in summer, and this year I finally put a compact sonar unit on my tube -to find more of those difficult to see away-from-shore spots.

Good post Todd. We have to devise ways of understanding nature, and the words to put around it.

YES. X2 unless at night can be shallow too Big O www.ragetail.com X3 I guess specifics will depend on...OK ready? lol... -Water temp (ditto Big O and avid): midday temps breaking 80+ may close down some daytime bass activity, except in waters with LOTS of catchable prey. You being in the south (thanks for entering your location) this may be less an issue, as S waters can produce more food than N. -How shallow are those shallows? Bass might be excluded from very shallow water and areas with denser cover where sunfishes have the advantage. You'll only know by being there, and things can change with further water level changes and weed bed changes. Keep an eye peeled. -Prey species: As an example, it's mostly sunfishes, crayfish, and yellow perch here where I fish. Green, pumpkinseed, and small to mid-size bluegills will use the shallows and bass (of appropriate size) may be close. The big 'gills though (and with them the bigger bass) seem to need more depth often the outer weedline and offshore beds. Ditto the yellow perch but they can be more open water oriented, and are more often bottom oriented. Larger crays move deeper in summer into prime craw habitat (cobbles are best, but some burrow into clay, others burrow in the weeds and algae). Smaller crays are left to lesser habitat and get picked off quickly. You can't always predict what's happening, just be aware of the players and the reasons why patterns set up can become obvious -though they may be fleeting. -Pick areas near food. A deep pocket with a good weed wall (esp ragged with turns) better if with depth changes and substrate changes (esp hard), humps, etc Such an area close to a shallow flat with prey WILL have bass. Even in a pond there will be key locations. Small ponds, or those lacking in good habitat, may only have one really good spot. Find it and play there. From there it's don't spook em and figure out how to best trigger strikes. -Stealth: Clear water, bright sun and shallows can seem close to impossible. Lures and even the line landing on the water spooks everything beneath so your every retrieve path is devoid of fish. Fish heavier deeper and/or heavier cover. Cast really high so fish do not see lure in the air. Cast well beyond your target. Keep line off the water immediately after cast lands. Use braid as it lands like cotton thread and does NOT spook fish like all other lines will. In broken cover pitch low and silent. Shut off motors early, drift into areas, and/or make long casts. Bass that don't know you're there can be much easier to dupe. Be paranoid. Best scenario: Pray for clouds, esp good dark fronts. Make use of afternoon breezes that ruffle the surface. See an area that is wind ruffled, get there. Bc I often have afternoon breezes here, as the afternoon approaches on my shallow ponds I go ahead and rig a buzzbait, and watch for the opportunity to throw it. Some particularly tough days on shallow clear waters, this is where I will make my catches.

This can actually be good. It consolidates fish making them easier to find and may make prey fish more available to them. A major tactics change would likely be the increased importance of stealth.

Dunno. Check this out: http://www.bigindianabass.typepad.com/big_indiana_bass/page/2/ Scroll down to: Intersex Fish Research Update

Good point Tom. Never thought about how they measured it, or whether the number was just flat wrong.

Thanks so much Tom. But I don't think photos are very useful. Too much potential for distortion. Now...if you want to take me fishing and show me a few DDs -now that would be useful! The CO state record LM weighted 11-4 -but was only 22.5". I've held two LM that length -they were in fine condition and weighed 6-5 and 7-0. fourbizz has said that that CO fish was trout fed.