Paul Roberts

Neat observation. My guess is that it's genetic variation, esp since the two can be found in the same waters. For it to be two "strains" they'd have to be reproductively isolated. That couldn't really happen in the same pond. But there could be a tendency toward sharper teeth in some lakes and not in others. I could see sharper teeth being advantageous for piscivorous popns. Doubt anyone's looked into the genetics behind it, but then you never know -there's a lot of obscure research out there.

Yes, it can work very well. I've used it on open coverless ponds and caught some very nice fish that way. Be esp attentive when you turn a corner; it seems the change of direction can trigger strikes.

The two are different IME. Bass will often hold plastics, esp the soft (boiled) ones I often use -long enough that I've gone barbless for much of my T-rigged plastics. Enough with the esophagus or deep tongue hooked fish already. I feel the take, reel down to the edge of taut, and sock 'em. Sometimes I don't feel the take an just see line twitch, or skate. Set and they are there. Not so with jigs. Jigs are different. Bass rarely hold onto them. This means better detection (rod angle and attention), a crisp strong rod tip (no wimpy tip rods), and an instantaneous reaction. I also have done a lot of light tackle jigging, and this also requires detection and instantaneous reaction. I used to fish for crappies a lot and found the whole body hook-set was just too slow. I found just wrist movement (instantly standing the rod up) was MUCH faster and doubled or more my hookup rate. Now these were tiny light hooks (which also work for bass), not the big irons found on "bass jigs", so power isn't needed. I also did a lot of steam smallie fishing, again with light jigs, and found wrist setting better there too. Takes were often more difficult to detect in moving water and at times, when I was really grooved in, I would set when I expected a fish, not felt one. Similarly, in nymphing with fly tackle, or UL spinning, by the time you've seen the flash, it's over. In bass fishing, braid has changed things quite a bit from mono, which I don't use anymore -except for CB's. If I'm on top of the take I can often wrist set with braid, more of a sharp pop! than a full body swing. On long casts though, deep fish, or many jig strikes I'm not exactly on top of, I swing long to move precious line. The risk with largemouths is that some are big, and you can hit bone. Wimpy sets can cost you those fish. J Franco has a cool photo of just such a fish he was lucky to get in the boat -hook point stuck in the maxillary of a 6lber.

Dunno. Few ponds are "balanced" in terms of size classes. One pond I used to fish gave up mostly smalls. But it also gave up a 4, 5, 6, and 7lber that summer. It may have to do with actual fish sizes present or the way you spend your time fishing it. When you mention catching bluegills and tiny bass all day it sounds like you are targeting things with small mouths. Lures that will most likely attract mature bass aren't going to catch bluegills. Also your mention of bluegills and catfish suggest you are fishing bait. Lures tend to be, generally speaking, more effective for mature largemouths. But overpopulations can happen, mostly when there aren't enough larger predators around. Here are a couple photos I took years ago illustrating such a scenario: This bass was 10 1/2 inches long and was one of over 100 I caught on the particular day. It was the largest I caught that day. Notice its large head and emaciated body. Too many mouths of the same size competing for too little food. That very winter heavy snows capped off that shallow pond and caused an enormous winterkill. Thousands of bass were found dead following spring ice-out. Almost all were 7 to 9inches. There were only about a half dozen that ran 2 to 4lbs -the only ones able to jump the bottleneck and start eating the little bass. About three or so years later (I'd have to check my journal to know exactly) I fished it again and found a very different story. The fishing was excellent for decent chunks running about 2lbs a piece. More food to go around.

Look up iceintheveins here on BR.

That descibes bass behavior pretty well.

My wife and I were driving back from my son's school camping trip in S Colorado, having left a couple of days early, when we heard the news. The skies were black and rain torrential in places as we drove and listened as the reports came in. We wanted to turn right around and go back and get him. He's in competent hands, but we can't wait to see him. Our thoughts are with you folks, and will be for some time.

Wow. Those are some serious PA bass. How late in the season does this fishing hold?

Good thread. The reel that prompted my post is a 1980’s ABU XLT. I picked it up in the early to mid 1990's at a garage sale for 5$, and I got the kiddy pole it was attached too as well . I have 30lb braid on it and use .014 to .017 leaders. I now have to crank it down hard, and the drag slips at 8lbs on a calibrated scale. Another is an early '80's Shimano Bantam Mag I bought new. It's been a great reel and still is, being my dedicated shallow to mid CB reel for some time now. It's been stored between fishing sessions, like all my reels, with drag backed off. The drag is still functional, but I having to crank it down pretty tight now. Granted I use "heavy" line in it -Trilene XT 10lb, which is akin to most 14lb lines at .014 diam. Haven’t weighed the drag, but, I don’t have too. I’d like to reach adequate drag power BEFORE I have to dent my thumb trying to tighten it. I suspect the drag washers have needed replacing for some time now. Guess it’s time to get to it. Not sure I can find the entire replacement stack for these reels. Will look around. At very least I’d like to add some Carbontex washers to the stack, first to add some power, and secondly, bc where I’m headed the only bass are Florida strain (lake record is apparently 7kg) and the mangrove snappers apparently, don’t give you a second’s chance. Maybe I'll get another 20 or 30 years out of them. Thanks all for the good advice all around.

Sight fishing, and fish watching period, is really fun. I’ve learned so much from it. Each fish, and set of conditions, is different. But there are some patterns. -The first line of defense is the startle reflex. If you are calm and fluid, and patient, you may not trip that wire. Fish, and other critters, can get used to your presence, eventually filtering out the startle reflex -called "stimulus extinction". -Lighting and visibility conditions affect things, with bright sun making fish edgier, spookier, and making it MUCH easier for them to see, esp details. -Each fish is an individual and some are simply more cautious than others. Deciding on what to do when you spot a fish is the tricky part. I suppose the thing you DON’T want to do the majority of the time is freak out and make quick movements. I also have a habit, from years of hunting, of averting my eyes, looking obliquely at critters –not staring. With fish this isn’t such an issue, they don’t understand the stare, but they can pick up on the movements you make in getting into a stare posture, quickly bending down toward them to duck glare or concentrate your vision. If you’ve ever shot video of your friends hunting or fishing, it can be a big surprise to them how they ACTUALLY look when reacting to something of great interest, like a sighted bass. Often they’ll wiggle all over or just make subtle adjustments that alarm critters. This is sometimes why people who aren’t trying to sight fish catch them, by ignoring the fish until it ignores them, then casting. It’s a tack I use in both fishing and hunting. Although fish do get jaded toward fishing, more cautious in scrutinizing baits, I often wonder how much is due to their perceptions of our presence. It certainly can matter a lot. Another option is to spot a fish, mark it, and return in 1 to 10 minutes depending on the circumstances. Bass are not often stationary so you often have to cast immediately. Careful motions, casting to one-side and ahead, or “tower casting” way high above and beyond sometimes works. Sometimes dropping it right on them works, although if it’s bright and clear and/or the fish is aware of me or even mildly startled, I’ll almost always cast out and retrieve to the fish. Fun stuff.

This was my thought too. You'll want to ID the thermocline depth every time you go out. More if you have wind. Those big hooks could just be pike, or holdover trout. Stitch your *** off in the right habitat.

One can start with their state fisheries folks. They are usually pretty willing to help. They love to talk shop like just about everyone.

Good thread. If anyone has questions about drag power, or drag care, it's likely in this thread. Thanks all.

"Depends, of course!" I hate that... Depends on WHAT?!! Conditions -water, sky, pressure, etc... Here are some ideas: If the water's off-colored I may pitch a bulky jig or roll a slow SB really tight to, or under, cover. If it's clear water, where dense mats of vegetation develop, punching is a possibility. In more open clear water, a jigworm on light-ish line can often tempt those spooky, jaded, scrutinizers bright sun seems to create. In the clear water ponds I fish most, I usually have a M spinning rig rigged with a jigworm ( I think they call em shaky now -whether shaken or not) for when the sun pops out and the breezes die. Cloud rolls over and/or wind ripples the surface, I go back to the bigger noisier stuff. Another option in clear water is to go with a light, reflective, or translucent hard jerk, CB, or SB, and fish them fast and erratic. Yes, as MCS says, a stick worm can do it too. Lotsa options. It just ... depends.

Only members of a club can enter a record? Isn't the biggest verified bass the record? Or is it that the clubs hold the only certified scales?

But then you crank and go nowhere. Pumping just makes fish freak and pull harder. I guess I want to winch them. My old drags are just too far below the lines break strength. I tighten just short of pliers now on a couple reels.

Is there a way to increase drag pressure on a casting reel? I was about to switch out some drag washers (Carbontex) but really what I'm after is more drag power. I've assumed my drags are old and just need new washers. Suggestions?

Good point. And an interesting one too, in that it asks for a better definition of "critical thinking skills". Then, how is such a thing used in tournament fishing? Are we talking about different kinds of intelligence required? As to the highlighted sentence, this may have more to do with experience? How would such a person fare in "The Elites"? Which always made me wonder whether many pros aren't just regular guys who fish a lot but have gone ahead and made the sacrifices of fishing costly tournament schedules. (Pardon my ignorance bc I really don't know how rigorous qualifications are for the various tournaments schedules. {EDIT: Although after reading Dinky's response above, maybe its is rigorous. So I guess I would ask, do the "Elites" have to qualify from the ground up every year? Or is there some kind of "glass ceiling?"} )

Ouch! Nice photo too.

Sounds like cottonwood or willow seeds -white cottony stuff floating on the water? Yeah, it is a pain. I don't know what to do except avoid it. Pray for a good breeze, or pick a different water til it blows over.

That makes sense. I've seen bass make short depth order changes of 8-10ft, Such fish were probably acclimated to some intermediate depth and were actually positively buoyant (buoyed up) and having to "fin" to hold place in the shallows where I first observed them. If they are truly neutrally buoyant they do not need to do much finning to hold position and will fin to turn, rotate, and move. You can observe this if you are thinking about it when you see one.

How much of a depth change? How deep can you see? Do you have an accurate depth?

Here here!

I edited my post above to be more clear about what I've seen, and that the study mentioned pertained more to the OP than to the river question. jhoffman, your DNR might have the answer.

Could be either, or both. I've fished smallmouth "runs" where lake fish enter tributaries, on several systems. This has always been in spring, about spawning time, but I don't remember seeing any on beds. {EDIT: Both could be possible, even likely, too, that there are both river residents and some lake-run activity. I only have observed this in spring, but these were all small tribs, not "rivers".} I remember reading one study in which biologists were trying to determine the best management practices to protect what was considered a separate subpopulaiton of smallmouth in a large [EDIT: lake} system. What they found was that, although many were resident, a relatively small number of spawners traveled a long way from the main system to spawn there too, which lead to a new discussion about whether the target group was genetically unique and required separate management practice.