Paul Roberts

Check very shallow -backs of protected coves.

Does this count? Since I'm entirely a small water angler now, this is all I need. Has rod holders, anchor with winch, and will have color sonar w/GPS on it this year 8-).

Was observing my ponds today when I came upon this female bass heat-soaking in a little over a foot of water. What was interesting was that she had cataracts, yet was in great body condition. (Fish do get cataracts). What's interesting is that bass are supposed to be primarily visual feeders. But they can adapt to poor visibility conditions. Now this pond is quite clear (~3-4 feet clarity), but this bass has adapted to it's presumably virtually sightless condition, and is apparently doing quite well. I've seen this before, and even caught a large bass (21.5") that was blind in one eye, and in great condition. I also once spotted a large 22+" small stream brown trout that had two cataracts like the bass in this picture. It too was in fine condition, but made no attempt to hide itself under cover like any other large small stream brown would do. This bass, unlike all the other heat-soakers today, allowed me to stalk right over top of her and take this photo. She's lucky there are no big catfish in this particular pond.

I wouldn't think you are too cold there at this time. If you have a good warming day I'd definitely check out very shallow cover.

Lotsa good comments here -really good. You are in mostly uncharted waters I think though. I'll throw in 2cents: My first thought is: Go someplace else -especially if this is not a normal situation for those bass. I've seen extended muddy conditions in normally clearer waters and watched the bass (smallies) get skinny! Tells me they weren't coping too well. Tight to cover seems to be true with both bass and trout. In many trout streams muddy conditions are common and I literally go to flippin' brush and wood. But, snowmelt which brings plummeting water temps and silt just kills the fishing -the worst conditions on a trout stream. It's tougher to affect stillwater though so this plummeting temps probably isn't much of a factor in bass fishing. You're dealing with relatively stable cold temps -less of an issue I think. I think the suspended near vertical cover is interesting -if you have it. I'd probably use two things (and save the time of having tie on other lures): a black CO bladed single-spin with a slow straight (non erratic) retrieve -something they can find and catch. And a black jig-n-pig and flip right inside of whatever you got. It should fall slowly. So...let us know what new ground you break! Or, play it safe like everyone else and find different water.

LOL. For years I wanted an officer to harass the trout snaggers on the lake-run trout streams I fished. Now there you are on a lake for cris-sake. Send him to NY and turn him loose -on a stream. You have to admit though...rippin' a jerkbait WOULD look a lot like how a snagger works a weighted treble. Never heard of it done on a lake though. I think he needs to get out and actually fish more.

Nice post. Great smile! Looks like that spot was pretty well trampled. Must've been a big-n in there too, huh? Also, there's something really great about nail polish and mud boots ;D .

Google BigIndianaBass.com for some scientific treatment of the issue. This might lead you to research that's been done. You can also try Google Scholar. Also...try contacting your state fisheries dept. Your biologists are versed in C&R as management tool. A real live interview would be great.

I never gave the issue much thought, until someone on this board mentioned that Perry's fish was caught outside the floridanus' range!!! This would make Perry's Georgia fish a northern strain bass. The largest northern LM I'm aware of (correct me if I'm wrong) was a 15.5lb caught in a MA pond. Northern strain bass aren't even in the race.

Very nice!

Yeah, agree with Catt that weather trends are a clue to activity. I was thinking spring and rising temps (reaching 55-60) -there does seem to be a progression with general temp (the number) as spring progresses. I assumed this is what ice was talking about. Early season like this I expect aggressive fish when the water's warming and have to slow down when it's cooling (cold front). Summer's different though. Dark skies are a blessing then.

Ahhh, egg sacks -ovaries -now that makes more sense. Not just the "eggs".

I haven't killed many bass so I don't know, but spring spawning fish develop eggs in fall. I've killed a lot of trout and have found it's common for them to contain eggs after the spawn -that then get resorbed. There is also a growing issue in some waters near urban areas where male bass develop eggs on their testes. This has been linked to reproductive hormones from birth control pills usage, as well as other chemicals that act as hormone mimics. Have to say, "big as your thumb" doesn't sound like eggs.

It's comparable. IF's Master Angler recognizes regional differences where, oddly, BassMaster's Lunker Club doesn't (DD or nuttin'); simply excludes much of the bassin' world. What's not comparable is the difference in dealing with a 6lb bass and a 12lb bass -that's a potentially very diff thing tackle-wise.

ice, The way I look at it, it's "how much speed are they willing to chase?" Speeds good for covering water, but it's also important to what the fish perceive as catchable for their given state of activity. You have to play around to discern that. But, there seems to be, as water warms, a certain speed requirement to attract/trigger strikes. While bass can chase in cold water to some degree (if motivated by easy prey) when water warms they seem to NEED speed more often than not. Above 55 is where I start to really see it. I often speed test small bass (easy to find bc there are lots of 'em) to see if they need speed. Too often I'll be fishing "my own way" and find I'm impaling small bass when I reel up to cast again. This is a BIG CLUE , and, although I my continue my way for a time (to be sure), increasing speed turns out to be the ticket. As to lures, I have my favorites but all the above are fine. But I think speed and the willingness of bass to make a capture (your pauses and accelerations) is what's important. Disclaimer: These comments are the thoughts and ideas of one Paul Roberts and may have no connection with reality outside of Paul Roberts limited intellectual capacity and time spent on Earth. ;D

Thanks George.

Thanks, Chris. I recently bought an Olympus 1030. It's not the sharpest (lens is small) but I chose it bc I'm in a float tube a lot -it's fully waterproof and has a very wide lens, that allows me to shoot in very tight quarters. And with my long arms I can almost make it look like someone else took the shot LOL. Here are a few shots. I practiced pleasing angles at home with a wood carving of a bass I'd made a while back.

Thanks guys. It has two. The first is the transducer and power together. The second is the one in question; it has 4 pins and a bar separating the two. I have been to the Lowrance site and found nothing helpful pertaining to my particular unit. Will poke around the site some more.

Done. That was painless.

-Jerk -jig or creature -grub/shad (sometimes put a clip-on above it) -SB slow-rolled -slow-rise shad-type crankbait (weight it if you have to) -lipless -floating Rapala (water in lower 50s) btw Welcome!

I've got a Lowrance compact color unit. It has two cabling connectors in back: One for the transducer, one for ....?? I don't recognize the connector type. Is it NMEA? The manual says nothing.

I've been on and off hunting archery and fishing sites over the last few years and have to say this site is the best run site I've seen. Makes it a nice place to talk fishing. No wonder it grows and grows.

Great! Good job on following up on this. Tyrius, notice it says: "Paul Roberts wrote on Yesterday at 10:58pm:" Obviously an oversight. Just don't want to be mis-quoted.

OK...first, a note to the Moderators. I've been able to post links before and hope that continues so that we can all share good info. This site I'm posting these links from is not a discussion forum so it shouldn't be competition, just a wealth of info to bring to bear on subjects. I haven't reviewed this stuff very closely as I'm not a tourney angler and T's just don't affect me on my small waters. From what I remember delayed mortality is highest in SM (esp deep caught and warmer water caught), and with LM in high water temps. From Brian Waldman's (T9) site: http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2008/01/index.html Water Weigh-Ins: Ouch! http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2007/05/index.html See: Tourney Impacts... http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:lncSn8XKSUkJ:www2.tntech.edu/fish/PDF/Blackbass.pdf+melissa+kaintz+smallmouth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2007/06/reservoir_hydro.html ...From now through September, every 8-10 hr tourney will kill between 20-30% of the bass weighed in via delayed mortality. Depending upon all the other combined factors discussed, this may or may not make a difference on some waters. ... http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/used-to-be.html ... It has been documented in numerous studies that smallmouth are more prone to both initial kill as well as delayed mortality under tournament conditions when compared to largemouth bass. So there is a documented basis from which to make this argument about protecting the smallie resource. Delayed mortality is another issue. Science tells us that once the fish reach the postspawn phase, and then on through the 75-80 degree summer water temps, keeping bass in a tourney livewell, no matter how well maintained is going to kill some fish due to delayed mortality. I don't care how many swam off after you dumped them back into the river, several won't make it. Out of sight, out of mind seems to be the justification of most bassers, but the push for smaller limits is merited, at least through the summer months based on the facts. ... http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2007/07/index.html ... - Out of 175 bass tournaments on Center Hill Lake, initial bass mortality ranged from 0-16% with an average of 3%. The majority of the bass weighed at Center Hill in tournaments were spotted bass. - Out of 379 tournaments at Percy Priest, initial bass mortality ranged from 0-23%. The majority of the tournament bass weighed were largemouth. - Average delayed mortality through the summer tournaments of smallmouth bass on Dale Hollow was 27%. Released smallmouth tend to get the heck away from their release point fairly quickly, with most being many miles away by the 5th day. There seems to be a big issue with the way people still treat fish in their livewells and this might be the reason for the delayed rates, along with summer water temps. ... http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2008/04/page/2/ See: Severity of Barotrauma Influences the Physiological Status, Postrelease Behavior, and Fate of Tournament Caught Smallmouth Bass - Gravel & Cooke

Tyrius, I didn't write that. That's not quoting me. Oddly, I can't find that text in the thread!