Paul Roberts

I've wondered how much of this trend is real inflation (and fuel prices) or manufacturers seeing what anglers will actually pay to have the latest very high quality Japanese tackle. There are definite innovations, and quality increases in the mix there. But seeing old standard plastic plugs double in price has me wondering if this is in part what the market will bear.

Here's the length girth calculation: 10.416666666

You northerners all know the feeling! My reels are clean, new line, hooks sharp, lures doctored/modified, catalogs frayed... you know. Gosh, it was nice to finally get out to actually fish. I can see a fair number of ponds, pits, and small reservoirs from my home on a mountainside well above the plains where Colorado bass waters lie. When a thaw is imminent I check those gleaming sheets of ice through binoculars for signs of thawing. This week they began to break. The pond I chose to fish has been my "winter laboratory" this year -to try and learn something about winter bass. But we froze up relatively early this year, in early December, and we've stayed locked up. Usually there is a January or early February thaw but it didn't seem to be happening. Finally! I chose this particular pond for my winter fishing because it is so small (3.6 acres/7ft deep basins) providing a somewhat captive audience and rapid heating during warm spells. The bass are generally small –most 12-14”– but not stunted, being healthy and pretty. The two largest I’ve caught there were 17” and 18-1/2”. In the past, it had a nice amount of vegetation (Eurasian milfoil and coontail) –not too much, not too little– along with a simple but interesting layout with two basins connected by a narrows, making it fun to fish. However, upon my return to the area after a couple of years abroad, I found the pond completely devoid of vegetation; The county's war on invasive milfoil has been too heavy-handed, it appears. An angler I spoke with earlier this winter, prior to ice-up, told me he’d seen workers raking out vegetation last summer. It’s SO clean however that I suspect grass carp were put in. Another pond I fish –a big-fish factory– was similarly treated. I saw a group of grass carp there a few years ago and contacted the manager to voice my concern that it wouldn’t take many grass carp to drastically alter the vegetation. Also to say what a great fishery it is and how important vegetation is to bass. Between the lines I was saying, “Don’t fix what ain’t broke!” The result however was a complete eradication of the vegetation! I re-contacted the manager and he admitted he’d “overshot the numbers” of grass carp planted. Ach!! Today, the laboratory pond had good clarity (about 3ft visibility; ~6ft from a fish’s eye view) with some green turbidity due to the fact that much of the shoreline is inches deep in Canada goose droppings. The sky was mostly blue but some patches of high clouds came through on occasion as well as some breezes that rippled the surface knocking down light penetration -a real help in clear cover-free water. The pond is also fished regularly, it being close to a suburban residential area and despite the cold water I shared the little pond with other anglers both today and when I was here just prior to freeze-up. The only cover remaining for prey fish (bluegill, YOY bass) is along the banks: the immediate shallows that exclude mature bass due to lack of depth, overhung grasses, a few standing trees on the bank, and two small shrub-willow groves. There could be a bass magnet anywhere out there though –I’ve seen some very small objects attract bass, including such things as single tumbleweeds that blew in. In one of my ponds there was a large log that would float around and, even over the open water at pond center, it could give up bass. Then there was the 55gal drum someone had rolled into a pond that eventually lodged against a small clump of cattails; my fishing partner that day plucked a 7lber from beneath it! In my “laboratory pond” there is a small bar (created by outwash from a small drainage pipe) that is nicely situated at the mouth of a shallow cove. The bar creates a steep discrete contour dropping from 3ft into the 6ft deep basin there. It is so small –so unobvious– that no one else is likely aware of it, or would pay it any attention, yet it gives up fish nearly every time I'm there. Interesting what can constitute a key area, how small such spots can be –made especially attractive in such a cover-free pond. I started today, as I usually do, by walking the shore some to get an idea of shoreline activity. Before freeze-up, bluegills, small bass, and the mature bass hunting them, were often tight to shore; I had a heck of a time catching them because they were so spooky in the ultra-shallows and difficult to get close to, or cast to, without bolting them. They only vacated the immediate shallows when early winter water temperatures dropped into the low 40s. Today, (water temp 44F) there were very few fish at the shoreline, only a few ~3” bass. With the “swimming pool” circumstances (clear cover free water) I knew I’d be facing, I added an UL spinning rig to the light and medium spinning rigs, and the Float-n-Fly rig, I was going to carry. The UL is a 5-1/2 fter with 4lb line and I took my first bass of 2016 on it –a pretty dark heavily-marked 13”er– on a 1/16oz. 2” Twister-type grub at the little bar. The cove, being out of the sun in the SE corner and screened by a shrub-willow grove, was still frozen over and my bass’s coloration indicated that the fish had probably been cruising some in the deep shade under that ice. I fished the open water of the main basins –the mouths of the narrows in particular– switching between the UL grub, various larger jigs, a small jerk, a small bladebait, and a small lipless drawing nothing. I can sometimes pick fish up in open water away from cover but this is far less reliable than areas and objects providing good “ambush points”. And after 2 hrs and drawing a blank I headed over to what is now probably the best cover in the pond, a submerged fence, with some accumulated flotsam, stretched across the W end of the pond. I took three 12-14”ers there on the UL and little jig, each nearly tight to the fence –five feet out and no go. They were slow but dogged fighters and I had to take my time with the UL rig. Without those cover spots, it would have been a tough day, the kind in which I might question just what the heck I’m doing out there. Randomness is… bewildering and disturbing. I like to think –maybe need to believe– I know what is up and what is down. Today, I was able to touch base again and came out feeling all was in order in the world -the bass being where one would expect them. I would however like to know how many fish ignored my lures in those cover-free basins. February ice-break bass! And a pretty thing too. But, aren’t they all? Red teeth.

Yup, it feels mighty good. It's not likely to last, but I'll take it.

OK... we've had a thaw and the ice broke on my ponds. Water clarity and blue skies and virtually no cover (County's war on invasive milfoil is succeeding, unfortunately) had me adding an UL spinning rig to the day's arsenal. Glad I did. The grub it was, and a little 2"er at that.

Awesome! Congrats. Hold looks OK. Support in top photo, hanging straight in 2nd. Wouldn't do it for a long time with such a fish though. I try to be aware that I'm not tearing or over-stretching tendons in there. As we get old tissues are less forgiving; most probably this holds for fish too.

I was referring to the reflection of your eyes in the blade itself. I do a lot of la-de-da too. I've been putting eyes on lots of baits this winter. Might even make it through my whole box(es) by spring.

Nice backyard! That's a happy boy.

White perch (Morone americana) is a NE critter found in brackish water and freshwater drainages attached or once attached to the Atlantic. They form big open water schools like white bass and stripers and are aggressive and easy to catch.

Will, those look really great. I esp like the eyes painted onto the blade, although I usually add fish eyes rather than human eyes. I use the little 1/4oz baits (Gay Blade and Sonar) for winter pond fishing in water as shallow as 5ft. Blades simply work in cold water, just about anywhere.

You don't need the best graph. Just something to give you depth readings is a start and that you know just well enough to read bottom hardness changes. You'll need to spend some time fishing/getting to know those interesting away-from-shore spots -not always real deep, often relatively shallow spots away from shore and near deep water, preferably with a steep contour involved. You'll then be looking for breaks (cover, drops, substrate changes) to spend your time probing. One other thought: If in your fishing you are generally fishing too fast (chuck-n-wind) or too high in the water column -asking the fish to come to you- you may only be interesting juvenile bass. Just a thought. Are you comfortable fishing jigs?

We are on the same page, Tommy. So what do we do? We take Tom's advice and go fishing. But being what we are, we're always looking for better understanding... and are suckers for shortcuts.

Two likely reasons: You aren't where the mature fish are -too shallow (or close to the bank), or too afraid of or ill-equipped for heavy cover. -or- and this is not unlikely, there are few large bass in your waters. I fish about a dozen small waters -ponds, pits, and reservoirs. Each is different in terms of what it has to offer in terms of size. In some the fish top out at 17", others at 18" and with varying numbers. Others it's 20+". I had one pond that topped out at 19.5" and with good numbers of those, just couldn't break that. There's only one I'm currently aware of that has catchable numbers up to 23". You may need to shop around.

You can also add weight to the front treble or belly (via SuspendStrips) which not only adds casting weight but also slows the rise which can help in cold water.

Skyline 6005 (6ft); ABU Cardinal 3; 8lb (.010) mono or FC. In other words, a medium spinning rig.

Well... I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Lots of good serviceable observations out there -even compilations of them (i.e. theories). But none that sweep everything in to make it entirely simple, much as we'd like it to be so. Or at least cover all possibilities we could face out there. We ballpark stuff, refine the ballpark, then... fly by the seat of our pants. I want to add that I really like Tom's Cosmic Clock. Making sense of something so complex and making it visually accessible is no small undertaking. It doesn't answer all our questions but it does provide an insightful starting place for bass anglers.

They actually also included the day of the quarter moons, adding two days to the tally, which occupies now better than half of the lunar month. Why did they add quarters? Well... there are some moon theorist anglers that like the quarter, and it just so happens a few record catches happened to fall on the quarter day. Interestingly, and either confoundingly or tellingly, there have been moon theories proposed by a number of well-known/respected anglers that, if taken all into account, essentially cover the entire lunar month. My response from a previous thread on the mid-day subject: There is good info in that video, such as the general idea that large bass are successful predators, and there is research to suggest that aggressive individuals do grow faster and have a better chance at getting big –provided the food is there, and angling pressure and associated mortality is low. But, do big bass feed more at midday? Are more big bass caught at midday? Are big bass more vulnerable to angling at midday? Are these even the same questions? I’m not sure we can actually get at the first question or third questions by answering the second. -First, saying anything about “big bass” is a statistical nightmare –most often comprising low number data sets. Second, angling success data offers precious little control, even recognition, of the possible variables involved. Collecting angling data across the continent, (and ignoring season, weather, sky and water conditions, prey type, availability and vulnerability, angling pressure, angler habits, angler effort, etc), is a recipe for chaos. -Bass vision: There is a fair amount of research that pertains to bass behavior and lighting, and some of it doesn’t really jive with what is stated in the video. The fact that bass have color vision does not mean they cannot hunt in low light or are even less efficient –esp compared to their prey. According to some research I’ve seen bass can see much better than bluegills in low light. Many small prey fish species head for cover or shelter for the night -for good reason. Telemetry studies have shown increased crepuscular and nocturnal activity in bass in many waters. Probably depends a lot on season, prey, angling pressure. -Prey vulnerability to bass. There is research that has looked at hunting success by LM under different lighting. One in particular found that under brighter lighting bluegills were able to avoid LM and capture rates by the bass fell. During low light bass could approach closer and capture rates increased. I’ve seen this type of thing myself on ponds I fish where I purposely watch bass hunt from high banks. Under brilliant sun, bass make fewer chases and time and again I’ve seen bass enter a cove and see the bluegills stream away and into cover well out ahead of the cruising bass. It’s apparent that they can see the bass from a long ways out. Now, one could argue that these are not “big” bass. Yet they are the largest and oldest bass in these small ponds. Thus they should also conform to Hannon’s suggestion that these are the “rule followers” –the one’s that have survived. There’s a hole I see in the “rule follower” idea that assumes that there is one set of rules that bass follow, as if every year or every season would be the same. Prey abundance, prey vulnerability, cover density, and other factors can vary greatly year to year. One set of “rules” may not pan out the next season, much less the next year. Becoming “big” is not a formula that is met at all times. And being an “aggressive individual” carries tremendous risks. There is some research in brown trout too -a fish that has the ability to diverge in growth pattern from cohorts due in large part to aggressiveness in feeding- and many of these individuals burn out and die depending on what’s available to support such growth. Growing “big” is, in large part, luck. -Bass vulnerability to angling: I think it’s safe to say that, at least for northern largemouths, large bass are most vulnerable during the cold water periods. In the north, sun angle can be low enough that the prime periods tend to shift to midday. Dunno how this pans out for floridanus, and I know Hannon has written that he caught most of his big bass in summer. His experience is with Florida strain largemouth. Maybe floridanus is different? Certainly sun angle, and water temps, would be different. Roger? -Angler effort weighs in heavy. I remember all the excitement around the Texas Sharelunker program catch rate and moon phase comparison. At one point early on, a poorly done statistical investigation suggested that catches of lunker bass clustered around the full and new moons. Well, that ended up being wrong. Catches were pretty much evenly distributed against moon phases. The most solid conclusion that could be drawn turned out to be that the most significant period to catch a Sharelunker qualified bass in Texas was … on a weekend. How does angler effort vary across the day on each water body? As to time of day, how many anglers get up at 3 or 4am to be on the lake at sunrise? Also, I don’t know about you but it often takes me some time to get my act together, figure out what’s going on for the day, and then to revisit those good locations ferreted out for the day. By then, it’s not 9am anymore. Does time to get to casting change with age? Do older, and presumably more experienced, anglers tend to fish later in the day than many gung-ho younger anglers –if so, maybe it’s more a matter of energetics than it is success rate on “big” bass. I wonder how success rate on big bass would compare between night and day, if corrected for effort? Do big bass feed more at midday? How would we know?

I did this. I spent 3 spawning seasons not fishing just observing for spawn initiation, taking temperatures and tallying beds, in a series of small ponds. Because of the confounding multitude of variables (nature is not a simple place) I cannot say that the moon phases had no effect. One thing I could say though was that major spawn movements could, and did, occur directly between full and new phases. While I can say that I saw spawn movements sans moon, I also saw large movements during both full and new lunar periods -some quite impressive- for which I couldn't discount lunar influence. However, if you figure in the couple days either side of both the full and new moons you are already accounting for a third of any given month. The chances are that if there are other factors (and there are) they are likely to coincide with some moon phases. If an angler sees a big movement near a moon phase they are likely to proclaim it true. Happened to me too, once upon a time. It was when I started to see phases that did not produce a movement that I started to get suspicious of the quality of my observations, (after a number of years of just shrugging). So, I decided to really look. There aren't many good rigorous research papers on this either. But here's one, and the title is a spoiler: http://sfrc.ufl.edu/allenlab/Popular%20Articles/Rogers&Allen_BassTimes.pdf There appears to be no interest by the scientific community in the "solunar tables" assembled by J Alden Knight. The only attempt I'm aware of, by someone with research background, was done by Ralph Manns. I have tremendous respect for Ralph; He's probably brought more great observations and interpretations on bass behavior to the table than just about anyone before or since. However, he attempted to publish this work in a scientific journal and it was dinged on statistics -they being too weak to support his premise of positive solunar influence on fishing results. He did publish in In-Fisherman and you can read it there. The problem with trying to assess fishing results is that they are not consistent across anglers and days. Trying to cough up the real reasons why someone did or did not catch fish by hook and line is impossible, simply because the measure (angling) is inconsistent and fraught with so many confounding variables. In my mind (with experience in both realms), the term "scientific angling" is an oxymoron.

Ditto. Strikes often come on the fall -often the very bottom of the fall- and I hook them on the next upswing. They really are a killer cold water bait but will work other times too. They cast a mile, hook well, and cover water quickly even while keeping horizontal movement to a minimum.

I almost ordered some to try out, but chickened out since I've seen many soft hardbaits fall short.

They aren't alewife. Pretty sure they are menhaden. Bait? Landlocked menhaden?

Neither. reason has it: Menhaden / "bunker". It's a saltwater species of "shad". I don't believe they come into freshwater as adults, although the larvae grow up in estuaries. Are you finding these in bass water?

I wasn't aware of those! I could make use of that over shallow or weedy flats.

They vibrate hard and sink relatively slowly and level. I've burned them and pump/rip-n-fall them to great effect.

Flatt Shads are discontinued? Ach! Another great bait gone.