Paul Roberts

Fun pic!

Oddly, so far I haven't found bass around Elodea either. Sure looks good though. One more to add: Sago Pondweed -what I call "Threadleaf"- pretty common here, impossible to fish through (fouls everytime) and... doesn't attract bass. So I simply can avoid it.

Oh my, those are pretty smallies.

Show 'nuff! Hangin' in here too.

Appreciate the details, Shimmy. I have my "fishing clothes". I get them from Good Will and am very picky about them -material, color, pattern. My wife always gets a pained expression when I leave the house. I too find my swimjig bite drops away as temps fall into low 50s. The bass are just not willing to come up much then it seems. Your candor about owing some credit to fishery quality is helpful putting big catches in perspective, and says a lot about you. You certainly earned those fish in terms of knowledge, skills, perseverance, and knowing how and where to spend your precious time. But the fish have to be there in the first place. Lots of waters simply can't grow big bass. And there are a lot of anglers who just can't put big fish -that are probably 10 yrs old- back in the water. Do the math: How many decades do we anglers have to burn anyway? I like a clean lure too. But... I try not to freak out about stuff -get superstitious. In fact, I try to go the other way, just to... relax. Always interesting to me how the "impossible odds" we anglers/hunters often have to deal with manifest themselves. Here's one that I've come to make use of: Couldn't stand having my knot tags too long. I'd trim them pretty close. But I came to leaving them long now which acts as a gunk deflector. That short tag hooks into vegetation and collects slimy algae. Now I'm happy to leave a longer tag, run cleaner lures, and the fish don't seem to notice. Over that one... almost. Wire? I don't have pike here. Phew! Dodged that one. I use pork. I'm not over that one yet. That said, an online buddy, who catches a heck of a lot of bass, uses plastic. He is particularly picky about his trailers though. And... I do have this memory to call on: When rubber-skirted jigs first hit the planet in the 80s, I used them without any trailer at all, and caught plenty of bass on them. I recently bought up a bunch of pork though, so I guess I'll worry about it sometime in the more distant future.

Doesn't look like Chara, which has whorls of leaves. The pic above shows single or paired leaves. Dunno what it is. Chara is a bear to fish over. The biggest problem is it likes clear water, and often carpets the bottom in "swimming pool" type waters. Which means I'm going to light tackle. With Chara present, I go up to 8 or even 10lb, just to keep those bass from burying in the stuff. I call it "steel wool" for good reason.

Search "aquatic plants" or "macrophytes" with "identification". You should get many university sites. There's a LOT out there.

Hey, Hookset, hope all's well. Yeah, you are even more right than you realize; You should see my archery bows.

Yup! I also use a Zebco Cardinal 4 (the green/white one) on occasion too. And... that crankbait is an 80's "Big-O". It's still a GREAT plug. Ouch! STL? Must be south. We have plenty of brilliant blue, "mile-high" skies here in Colorado. Just about every morning starts that way with clouds forming about every afternoon. I guess I get both almost every day. Been a "strange" year this one. We had 100degF days in June ("summer" came early), then 70F August ("fall" came early), and now 80F October with "fall" extending into November. Been interesting though, as the fish have responded as one would predict -if you ignored the calendar. Thanks for comments on the images. GoPro's are a pain, but the results are fun. I've gone from a written/illustrated journal format (40years now!), to photography-backed computer journaling, to video journaling. I'm in the thick of editing this last adventure this weekend. Fun stuff.

WTG, Hootie. Pretty lake. It sure is a wonderful time of year.

Whoa.

Small, shallow, with lotsa cover. Fish where you have been doing well, but likely a bit deeper. Watch to see what happens to weeds. Do they die back? Are there beds that remain green? Presentation: Slow your horizontal retrieves, or go vertical.

The site I use to post photos is down. They'll be back; I hope. TnRiver46, I'm in Northern Colorado.

Big smallies are sure beautiful fish. Very nice, A-Jay. Yeah, I can fish in the snow too. Just nice to have em chasing, whomping baits, and jumping. My largies continued to put on a show. Won't be long now though.

I heard a weather/climate report the other day from a NOAA researcher (NOAA HQ is here) and he said it's a La Nina year, which has always brought snow about mid-November. It's a weak one though, so we'll see what comes. Not sure which I'm rooting for.

Unseasonably (record) warm temperatures have kept my ponds in the mid-50s. Should be down around 50 now -essentially winter- and I'd be tossing down-sized jigs, jerks with long pauses, and bladebaits. But, at 55-57F, the bass are chasing. I'll take it, although it's a little weird that I'm still watering the gardens here. Two GoPro's are a bit of a pain, and look silly, but allow me to fish and take photos, including action shots. Ever had this happen? The plug wedged between the jaws -no hooks needed! I've had this happen a couple times before.

Oh my! So... what's in that stomach?? Any idea?

Well... I got a reprieve. Water temps should be around 50 or below now -essentially winter here. But record high temps have kept my small waters in the mid 50s. Yesterday, the jerkbait and crankbait bite was just as it should be -when in the mid-50s. I'll take it, although it's a little weird that I'm still watering our gardens here.

"Matching the hatch" is a mighty tall order, esp as visibility conditions increase. It's a matter of context (circumstances that incite feeding), conditions (visibility mostly), and luck (proximity). It's often more effective doing what we usually do -take advantage of bass' eclectic aggressiveness in feeding, and conducive conditions. Which is why I like J Francho's response. The OPer's success speaks to this as well. I'm a long time fly-fisher and "matching the hatch" is rarely what people think there too. I know anglers who work really hard at fashioning highly accurate imitations of specific insect stages, with great success. Then there are others that pick a generalized pattern appropriate in size and shade, and fish them with great effect. Often, what fish see and what anglers think the fish see, don't jive. Sometimes what works does so not bc of anatomical details but bc of details (search image patterns) that aren't intuitive. Thus... I'm not a "Live Target" fan, at least for the reasons that might seem "obvious". Quality baits, no doubt. But in most circumstances, not all that much different than other wobbling chunks of plastic and metal out there.

Always hate top give up the buzzbaits in fall, and I'm limited for space. Thanks all.

When do you guys put the topwaters away in fall? Can you affix a surface temperature to it?

Not really -unless of course you're alarming the ones you can see, which can be easy to do. Instead, the ones you can see are simply revealing how the others are reacting to your presentations too. You just can't see it. Much of the time, it's actually the rare fish, or maybe better -the set of conditions and circumstances- that cause fish to commit to a lure.

IME, what you're seeing is normal. Lures aren't food.

Some years, when my ponds have had heavy hatch years of bass fry, UL and 1+" jig/grub combos have worked (Sassy Shad, Twister), as have streamer flies with fly tackle. But my fish were never as big -up to 4lbs. Are you certain the bigger fish are targeting the fry? It can be difficult for larger bass to keep tiny fish from escaping through the gills. In the UW video I've been doing, the fry (1 to 2") are targeted by bass up to about 13". Bigger bass are after the younger bass that are targeting the fry. Maybe go ahead and try live-lining, just to be sure. Or, with prey that small, a stomach pump would work well. I often use them for trout, just upping tube size for bigger trout/prey. Also, keep in mind a few things: Sight-fishing, or fishing to busting fish, can be esp frustrating bc lures rarely look like actual food, esp with repeated exposure. And, some bass are simply "immune to angling". Such fish may be most vulnerable under reduced visibility. Maybe wait for a dark overcast day. I'd stick with lures that give few negative cues: swim jigs, soft jerks, and... here's one few people seem to know about: the Lit'l Fishie now sold by Creme. It's a tiny to small swimbait that I found bass and walleye have a really difficult time learning. Great lure.

I've wondered that too. But no, it's not that; They can hunt effectively at night. And I've had it happen in clear water. And slowing down doesn't seem to help. I'm going with Tom's (WRB's) answer -until further notice. However, in my waters at least, it's not as simple as "putting on the feedbag" for the bass. They have to catch that prey -bluegills here where I fish- and success is less common than many of us probably realize. Most bass, in most waters, rarely, if ever, get to eat their fill. It may be different in waters, and periods, with tons of prey available -like with good shad popns perhaps. Instead, it looks more like this: periods when bass are hunting -actively looking for opportunities. During warmer seasons, they spend more time "with their eyes open". As temps cool -esp below upper 50sF- they may simply spend less time actively hunting. That's my present understanding. What to do about it? Move! The same exact thing is not likely happening everywhere. It's easy to get dejected and paint the whole lake that way.