Paul Roberts

In my ponds, it's breaks just outside of spawning bays, coves, shorelines. Catt wrote: Bingo -the primary initiator and mover (outside of full and new moons).

OK. Thanks.

paul, Do you have a date for that trip? Do you know what the forage was at that time?

BassChump, I'm wondering if that bass isn't a largemouth/spotted hybrid. Anyone catch such hybrids? What do you think?

That's a big difference between north and south; The rate and intensity of season change. Neat that you're so well connected. Keep us posted on your adventures.

Cade, you're really on top of your water! Great reports. I almost feel like I'm out there with you, except my finger's aren't numb and my smile isn't nearly so big.

Awesome day! I know you don't need it, but thanks for expanding the horizons on winter bass fishing in the north. I'd read up on ice-fishing for LM and some good articles talked about first ice being a really good time (like with other species), which made me think that before first ice should provide some opportunities. You put that to ground for us. Thanks. Do you think your bass were picking off weak and dying shad? It sure appears cold enough to start knocking shad off? Were some potentially on bluegills? Or just hangin' out. Any ideas?

I'm only finding time to bass fish now. My largest were in the 19-20 inch bracket. Here are a few of them: Here's one from last year, that I caught again this year. I caught her twice last year and once this (no pic). Probably the heaviest of the year ~5lbs.

Pithy, perfect response. Wish I could do that!

From Sam: X10! There's a lot of good material out there to read. And a lot of possible variables. Although bass are similar across their range, waters are not. If you want to catch bass consistently, you've got your work cut out for you! It should be fun work though. You may need to reign in your expectations some, and not be surprised at being surprised! Not trying to be funny, or dismiss your question. But, you'll need to know your water a lot better so you can ask a more directly helpful question. Welcome, btw!

avid wrote: I do that too. Just want to explore the limits: How much of them are real, or in my head?

Thanks Matthew.

Thanks Cade.

John, I think I know exactly where that is. Was one of my favorites -except when the lifter's were in >. Has that changed much?

I'm a "rocky" lover. No, they don't fight particularly well -just not built for it. But they take lures really well and that's enough for me. J Francho lives in prime rock bass country. Port Bay (and Sodus) could be amazing (They called them "strawberry bass up there). We used to fish 1/32oz jigs in spring and on a good day cull a couple dozen over 10" for the pan. The largest I saw was 13-1/2inches. BTW: Tony didn't think it was a hybrid -he just said it looks like both a crappie and smallmouth. I don't see the crappie resemblance myself -they are much more compressed (flat). Rocky's are pretty wide little guys.

Wow. In my neck of the woods those are BIG! Beautiful fish too! Now about the Nov topwater thing...in my experience it's not "November" when you're wearing short sleeves n short pants!

Matthew, did you catch any 7-10inchers the other day -on the day you caught the big ones?

Just awesome. I bet you were alone out there. Very cool place to be. Some questions: How deep were these fish? What kind of structure / cover were they using: flats ... vertical structure? What do you think these bass were feeding on in this lake? Did you catch any really little bass: 7-10inchers?

Very nice! Would you consider this a "good" or "average" day?

Great report. Love the details. (Would love to know water temps though. With shad that water is probably not a pond. Probably still holding some heat. Water temp, at the bass, maybe upper 40s to low 50s??). Anyway, look at how those fish have packed it on. Look at that first fish. It looks like a typical fall fish in my neck of the woods: Long and lean, (from summer) but with a belly full of food. She'll catch up to the others yet. Great report. Hey, did you catch any real dinks, like 7-10 inchers, on that day? Do you catch many little ones in the summer in this lake?

Thanks, flyphisher1. FF may be the most satisfying way to fish out there. It takes a lot of practice to get the control you need, and your creativity can take you a long way. Very satisfying way to fish. But, I'd never compare it to conventional methods -it's very different. It's pretty limiting in terms of water you can cover and the speed you can do it. But, in my mind, this is not the realm of FF. Speed and options aren't all there is to fishing -in fact, I'd argue its not at the core of what really satisfies. The limitations you impose highlight what is most heady and satisfying about fishing. It's why many accomplished anglers take up FF, or accomplished hunters bowhunt, then go traditional, then primitive. FF is addicting in that, to break into a lot of water and situations, you can be posed with challenges that require great skill, ingenuity, and, to really do it up, a pretty thorough knowledge of available technology (and the money to dabble in it). In this respect, I'd say, if you really wanted to challenge conventional bass fishing with fly tackle, say in a tournament circuit setting, you've got A LOT of practice, homework, and tinkering to do. I'm not convinced it's do-able, or even comparable. Notice that the guy in the vid trailer set very limited marks for this supposed competition (in terms of conventional tackle) -2 to 4 feet of water. What's important, IMO, is the amount of satisfaction you can glean from those 2 to 4 feet of water. Here, FF has the potential to "win".

AS cool as that stuff seemed on that vid -it's pretty limited really. Sat/aerial images are not real time. I use them to get the correct oreintation for my own mapping (the hard and really the only way -and a lot of important stuff changes year to year). If it was a sunny day I can sometimes make out shallow structure. That (roughly) helpful. For most water bodies such really detailed info (shown) isn't available. WE're not quite there yet. But the potential is interesting. I'm waiting on real-time satellites, although the amount of hardware that'll end up "up there" is scary in itself. Almost makes me want to buy a cane pole (a graphite one of course).

Wow! A bass booky! Very cool. But...I have no idea about the in's and out's of that series. When I buy books sight unseen I take my lumps. It's a buy and sell sort of thing for me.

oooo boy...another hobby. My kind wonderful understanding wife...would kill me. Good post.

I think I know what he means... Back in the day, Compsognathous made great MegaMicropteroichthys bait, topwater or count down (using a 1lb stone). Trouble is Glenn, ('cept for you and a few others here) most of us were just a gleam in the eye of some proto-mammal back then. So, how do you rig that stone? I do have a rubber chicken. wavewalker, cabin fever seems to be setting in around here, please clarify. Lots of night fishers here.