Paul Roberts

"... I'm afraid I'm spending too much time in shallows and not targeting areas that hold bigger fish. " Bingo! It may not be "the shallows" exactly that are the problem. But changing locations, esp deeper, may help. "...I admittedly throw jigs and plastics 90% of the time. That may be part of my problem. " Definitely NOT the problem.

Very cool, Raul. Neat how altitude works. Another variable for fishers to puzzle over. I'm at 2600M (8500ft) in Colorado. No bass up here. My bass are 40min and 3500ft below. They start to spawn in late April.

I'm going to guess that you are simply not keeping enough tension on the leader as you make your wraps.

Thanks all.

Sounds like carp spawning to me, and the timing is right. They spawn in groups, a group of males following a female. The females will also breach, coming clean out at times. Spawning carp can make quite a commotion. I have however seen bass chasing bluegills close to shore and making something of a ruckus. But not moving nearly as much water as the carp do, the carp being so much larger. Male bass defending fry can also move water at this time of year but, again, they are much smaller fish than carp.

What if you picked one location in the lake at a time? For instance, do the BGs follow the bass in the N end? And again for the S end? Raul, wow, you are pretty far S there in Leon. What months do your bass spawn?

Ditto the can't really know in a photo but at least it is held close to his body. I'd say, not over 3.

It happens. Hope you enjoyed your day though.

Where you live, do you find that the bluegill spawn signals the end of the bass spawn? How about folks in the far south? Same deal where you live?

Wow! Yes, that is a beautiful fish.

I too leave the males guarding beds alone.

Some pieces to the puzzle: If you see bedded males, and you know it's still early or mid spawn, some females will be very close by. That first breakline, or even break, could be the inside weedline, or simply a nearby weed clump, stick, or rock. Where are MOST of the females? That depends on where in the spawn season your water is. Spawn season duration is often related to water body size. Also, Individual males are "on beds", or defending territories, for over a month. Single temperatures are not reliable as they fluctuate. They will however tell you how active (and apt to move in, or out) females are likely to be.

If I say anything at all it's: "There's one".

Absolutely, based on season, weekly trends, and hourly conditions and circumstances. Results vary from clockwork to flying by the seat of my pants.

Wish my waters could boast those class percentages! Obviously, however they are talking about fish large enough to be susceptible to electro-shocking gear. Really young fish make up the vast majority of a given population. Still, my waters are currently probably at ~25% > 15", 1-3%>18". In general, sizes go up as we head south. So I guess I should say, 78% of my (adult) fish measure over 12", and 21% are over 15".

Varies, water to water and year to year. Search "Proportional Stock Density" (PSD). Also, here's a description of how it's applied to a specific fishery: http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2011/01/cpues-psds-and-west-boggs-lake.html

Right on. Exactly the way it should be done -as a matter of course. Knowing what's out there and what's being used is good info. People used to complain such stuff was all "secrets" lol. What gets us all are the disingenuous ham-fisted attempts at simply pushing products. Viewers are right to be offended. Hey, nice smile there J. I can't even look at it without sunglasses.

I've found the FG pretty easy to tie, once I got the hang of it. Keep everything under tension, esp the leader main-line, and everything lays down nice and it's quick to tie. I also use a CA glue to lock down the half-hitches. It's incredibly strong. The leader knot is no longer the weak link as it was with the double Uni's I'd used previously. The reason I switched was the bulk created by other knots getting caught, or damaged, in the rod guides. The FG is practically microscopic and stronger than anything else. Props to whoever came up with it.

Papajoe have you tried the FG Knot? I went to it last year and... wow, what a great knot.

Awesome! Always nice to take some fish home too. I think that's a pure green sunfish, in spawning colors. They begin spawning about the time of the largemouth peak spawn.

Nice! Fish, scenery, and narrative. I hear you... It is awfully satisfying to get a good solid run or two under your belt that let you know you're not completely clueless, or maybe worse -not simply playing a lottery. Hey, you did pretty well by day's end. I think the smallies would've rather have been on fire too. But, as you said they really don't have the choice. And, so, neither do we. I don't think I'd really want it another way. Nowadays it's too easy to find things more predictably gratifying.

Yes -in many ways. As I understand it, genes are best seen as the raw material that generates everything from our hard-wired autonomic actions to the raw predispositions that need outside environmental actions to activate. This latter is known as "epigenetics" and is the vortex where much of the science is getting sucked into these days. I'm pretty much self-taught; Raised in a time when I had 'wild' space to play in. The world is urbanizing, and the environments our kids are playing in is changing.

Ditto. And what RW said. I've tried a tube as a trailer, just to alter fall rate and add bulk. But it didn't add much to either presentation type. Tubes fish best when they glide and corkscrew on the fall. For skirted jigs I like a trailer that has some action.

It is also possible that the color(s) had nothing to do with it. Lotsa potential variables.

Casting gear has some real advantages. The primary one for me has been how well casting gear handles lures that "pull back" such as spinnerbaits, large cranks, and heavy lures. Spinning reels that can handle that much torque are the larger and more expensive ones, and still don't do it as well as casting gear. Casting gear can actually be lighter for this kind of fishing to get the same durability and "fishability". I don't "prefer" one over the other. Both have their pros and cons. I use both, usually on every trip.