Paul Roberts

I don't think you can go too big with largemouths (within reason).

Love it.

Those are some fine NE bass there. Yeah, September can be a continuation of summer here too. I don't have the fish sizes here you have though. Congrats. That's some good fishing.

Depends. Movement can put me onto feeding activity, and the focus of the action. But I don't chase everything! Eventually you begin to recognize the stuff worth moving for. Sometimes I'll look for it first. Many of my waters have a lot of milfoil. Bluegills like to be up top of it feeding. Bass groups aren't spread all over so I'll look for them. Signs can be subtle if you aren't used to it. Bass move more water than sunfish so I look for the right size wakes. And I listen and watch for surges (bass chasing 'gills). This can get pretty boisterous sometimes though, and I've seen such carnage from across a pond or bay and made a run to it. It definitely pays to fish with your eyes and ears open.

Good stuff above. There are no rules. If I'm catching, I may stay put. If I know there are fish at the spot, I may spend some time there trying to figure them out. If I find myself spending more time re-tying than keeping a lure in the water I oughta stop that.

Ummmm... maybe a tad late, but ABS is lighter and cheaper. And it looks better, being black. Man, do I cringe when I think of my one-piece rods in a car with other people -other than my best fishing buds. In the past I bought a few two-piecers just for that fear.

Depends on how much I'm fishing. If a lot, I'm downright anal, and well prepared. If not, I forget stuff, and am outta touch.

Dark water, dense shady cover. I get some like that too.

I like action, at any water temp. What becomes important is speed -horizontal or vertical (rof).

I find BC better for lure types that require some torque: SBs and deep CBs in particular are a lot of work for spinning reels. I also like BC for winching fish out of cover. I prefer spinning for lighter applications. I'm equally at home with either for many applications. I also prefer spinning rigs for shore fishing in tight, brushy places, and when exploring new waters where I might find myself in tight places. Ever been surprised by a branch on your backcast with a BCer? Line twist is no issue if you backreel.

Hey I just noticed something. You've got 1800+ posts per dot. I got only 500 posts per dot. Is that bc yours, or mine, are... blabbier? Maybe there just isn't room for all your dots.

That's why the osprey's love those goldfish.

'Cuz of all your blabbin!

Remember, you are not feeding fish as much as triggering them, much of the time. Play with speed, and triggering (locations and lure action). Lures look stupid most of the time, esp in clear water, more so with edified fish (and it doesn't take much to edify them). They must make a mistake and, on small waters esp, you cannot rely on feeding binges to help you out (very often).

From the image it looks great. Clear water can be tough, esp on bright days, and esp up shallow. Things to try: Location: -Fish the shallows early and late, although you've said you've done this. Being fall, sun angle is lower now so this will be become less an issue, or at least extend "early" and "late". Otherwise pray for clouds. A nice chop or riffles from a breeze can be a great help (prime buzzbait/SB window too). -Fish deeper. Key is going to be hitting some of those structural pieces we are seeing in the image, and on your sonar. -Regardless of where you fish, "ambush points" are key. Places where bass know they can make a kill. Identify these spots. Broken cover can help bass surprise prey. Shorelines can offer spots where prey can be chased into and trapped against. You mentioned catching fish at the shoreline. Once an interested bass knows which direction the prey is going to go, it increases the chance of a strike greatly. Presentation: Lure action is critical for triggering bites. Off-the-shelf (right out of the store) stuff may not be effective, esp if fish are educated and water is clear. Boiling plastics makes them move better. I love pork trailers, but they must be pre-softened. Certain rigs (wacky for instance, and drop-shot) can offer better triggering. Tough to beat the original Senko and its built in action, fished any which way. With horizontally retrieved baits, employing starts, stops, pauses, accelerations, striking cover, ripping off weeds, etc... can mean the difference between your lures being struck or ignored. You say you can see fish, I assume good bass. Are they ignoring your plastics? Looking and turning away? There are two general presentation options in clear water: -Fish translucent plastics and amorphous jigs with stealth employing triggering action. Often more than subtle vibrations and twitches can put fish off. Falling baits are a great attractor, as are killed baits. Twitches following are a strong trigger. -Topwater should work -don't give up on them. Zara (the little Zara Puppy can be great in clear water), little (and slow) buzzbaits, bulged tandem SB's, waking plugs, twitched and jerked #13 Rapala's, ... -Don't let them get a good look at the bait -try fishing fast and erratic. Try this: Burn a lipless crankbait. Cast and reel as fast as you can. Throw in some occasional pauses, just a stop for a split second, then burn again. Yo-yoing a single-spin SB: CAst sink, sweep it up, let fall, sweep it up, let fall. Pauses on bottom can help set up the strike.

You may have some catch up reading to do. Have you bass fished for very long? Not to assume too much, but there are likely some basics being missed here. That said, clear water and open water are tough in general. Some questions: -Is there any cover (vegetation, wood, rock) in the pond. -18ft is pretty deep for a 2 acre pond. How much of the 2 acres are over 10ft? Is it steep-sided? Are there any shallow flat areas?

I ended up buying a good quality bag from REI, one that has a front pocket with small compartments and pockets for small items, and a large bag. I'm often out all day and carry a bunch of stuff incl lunch, water, and raingear. It's been in use for several years now and I have no complaints. I had some cheaper "fishing" bags and got rid of each in turn.

Yes, I did. And I've searched my email to no avail. But since you brought it up I looked again, this time just opening up emails. And I found a conversation with Poor Boys Baits referring to their waiting on 5/0 hooks. That might be them. Heads aren't in their catalog anymore, but... maybe it was them. I've emailed em. Thanks for the prompting. These are heads worth having where I fish.

Yeah, these are similar to Mango's, but were a lot cheaper. Wish I could remember where I got them from.

Thanks, guys.

I bought some of these 0-degree flippin jig heads a little while back and didn't bookmark em! Anyone recognize them?

I've found a popper to really help call fish in the really dense stuff. Make a lot of noise and fish it slow so fish can home in on it.

Here's a trip report I did a while back that addresses "brilliant blue": http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/69731-brilliant-blue/ It was archived so hyphens and quotation marks are missing, making it a bit tougher to read. Quote marks refer to inches -as in, 15". Hope it gives you some things to think about.

You'll want to reduce much of that vegetation for several reasons. Probably a nutrient issue. Do visit out the Pond Boss site.

Ah! I know this problem all too well. You are going to have to decide how deep you need to go to be satisfied. Oftentimes a bag of worms with hooks and weights in there, and a topwater or two, is a recipe for bliss. Me, I bought my way out of it , by being redundant. I try for as little switching stuff from one bag or box to another as I can. I keep a boat bag, and a shore pack, each redundant with the other. For my fly-fishing I keep a full-sized and fully stocked vest, and a hike-in satchel. No pulling stuff from one to put in the other. That’s asking to forget something. In each I’ve put together a number of “rigging boxes” for terminal tackle, and “technique boxes” for lures set up and labeled for GoTo techniques. I keep them ready to fly by re-stocking after each trip, if needed. Yep, there is maintenance involved -better done after a trip than trying to pick up the pieces before a trip. I then keep “seasonal boxes” that are more apt to be adjusted, fiddled with, prior to a trip. It helps to know where I’m headed and how that water changes through the seasons. I know I’ve been outdoors too little when I arrive with spring gear (light) and see that summer (heavy) has already descended. If it's new water, I make educated guesses and make it a recon trip. If it's worth re-visiting, I'll be better prepared next time.