J Francho

Color? I keep it simple and stick to black, motor oil, watermelon, and maybe black with an accent color like flake or a chartreuse tail.

6. Your buddy clearly knows nothing about preparation and tackle organization. He probably can't even cast for squirrels. You are better off without him.

I'll try to answer these as best as I can. 1. No need to grab another rod, since that bass is already hooked on the bait I was throwing. 2. Don't bother fishing for squirrels, they fight poorly, and taste gamely. 3. You want to chase biting bass, not boiling bass. The difference is subtle. 4. That is called chumming. Highly effective and expensive big fish technique. 5. Wife? What is that? Seriously, if it pays for dinner then I suppose it can't be that bad. Order wine. ;D

I just backed out of oil earlier this year. When it drops again, I might be interested again. It was a tough decision, but a smart one. Prices are unnaturally inflated and cannot last.

It is fun Paul! No one but you, you're freezing hands, and the fish - I love winter steelheading You make some great points, especially with regard to fly line that I hadn't considered. I wonder also if the barb doesn't help keep the bait in position on the hook when using weedless plastics. I'm still not going barbless, though. Anyway, good chatting here with you. I'll try to take some macros of the old bait hooks and compare them to modern tackle. At the very least, they might be cool to see up close.

You really have to get a scale. Looks like barely 2-2.5. Looks hungry, too. Nice job.

No. They are following typical summer patterns. Its August 22, and here its 90°F. Yes, there were lows in the 40s the past week, but they aren't get ready for winter. Hope the advice in my other post helps.

Who said anything about fly fishing? Blech! ;D I use an 9'6" spinning rod, 11' center pin, and 8'6" casting rig for trout and salmon. When I'm swinging spoons, I sometimes use a 3/4 oz. bait with a #2 to 1/0 hook. Its the rod. About the heaviest line I use is 17# for pre run Chinook. Otherwise its 4-8# mono or equivalent diameter braid. Anyway, I have some vintage, handmade live bait hooks. The barb is COMPLETELY different than what is seen today on most modern hooks. I'll try to get a picture, but suffice it to say that the barbs were a lot bigger.

I fish diagonally, in smaller depth increments until I find a depth pattern - if one exists. Wind, weeds, and shape of the structure determine uphill or down. Then I fish parallel. If I fish from shore where there is access to deeper water, I choose areas where I can fish diagonally or parallel. Wading might be required.

The original question was about whether the bass moved. They move all the time, weather or no weather. Catching them is another story. It's slowed down a bit, but I have been catching them all week, and a friend in a club tx. reports quantities, along with some 4's and 5's, today. Maybe you're not fishing where the fish are. Unless its a case of the fish moving somewhere inaccessible, you should be able to at least locate some fish and maybe catch them. Since each lake is different, its hard to be specific. Most of my fish have been coming off deeper weed edges off flats adjacent to main lake points. I cue in on those points that have a strong secondary point. Most fish have come from water 8-14' deep.

I have a Prowler Big game, and it fishes very comfortably. Standing is not an issue, as it has a stable, 34" beam. It isn't the fastest hull in the world, but I bought it to fish from, not race. If you get a SOT, get the rudder option. I would not live without it.

It depends on where I'm fishing, how deep, clarity, and what bait, not unlike largemouth fishing. There are just too many options to list them all, but in general terms, I like a med/moderate BC for dragging big tubes, but I also use a MH/fast spinning rig for hopping or swimming them or lighter/smaller tubes. Drop shot in deep water requires a med/x-fast spinning gear. I use a shorter, 6' med/fast casting rod for slashbaits and topwaters, since I am not too tall. Basically, I don't have a "smallie rod" but just match the gear to conditions. For spinnerbaits, I use the same rod I'd use for largemouth. Same for things like jigs. About the only exception to this is when I rarely float 'n fly. For that I use a 9'6" med/moderate spinning rod meant for steelhead. Living on the Lake Ontario requires some for thought to line choice, as the zebes will eat up you braid.

Anytime there is instability in the weather, the bass' activity level and/or location could change. Electronics, knowledge of the lake's structure and cover, should help to clue you in to their location.

Try flat sided shallow cranks or lipless cranks.

They are hollow to allow the bait to collapse on the strike, providing a natural feel to the fish and give the hook more gap to bite. They look rigged fine, but that second looks a little distorted. Make sure you rig them perfectly straight, with not stretch in the bait either. I "exercise" the plastic by pushing the hook point through back a few times. Then I just bury about 1/8" of the point back into the bait. For these types of baits, I use Owner Twist Lock kooks, both weighted and not. Good luck.

Barbless trout fishing is so successful because you are already using gear that is meant to absorb most of the stress a hooked fish imparts on the line and terminal tackle. That absorptive quality comes with a compromise to sensitivity. If you are going to go barbless with bass, then you need to reassess your current gear, and probably move down a notch in taper speed on most of your rigs. I personally cannot imagine going barbless on a 3/4 grass jig on 65# braid and a 7-6 XH/X-Fast stick. The barb on that bait does hold the hook in the fish, not the other way around. Doug Hannon has written and spoken about this at length, and I'm pretty sure that he is speaking of lighter baits and more specifically crankbaits. In those situations, I can see barbless fishing working well, since I use a moderate taper casting stick for cranks, which absorbs most of the bass's movement. I'm not going to start bending the barbs down on any of my hooks though.

Flip? As in use a flip cast? Sure, you can but generally you cast to spots from a distance. Its a finesse technique, which doesn't preclude flipping, but I generally use a flip for targets in close. If your on them, and they don't notice you, go ahead and get the bait to the spot with whatever cast you want to use. Its what you do after the cast that catches the fish.

I've been using Gammy wacky jigheads as well as the Zappu heads. Both work well, the Gammy twitches a little better, but the notch in the head picks up grass. Speaking of grass, going down to a 3/32 weight head will let the bait rest on top of the weeds. You can even twitch it right there. I've use all kinds of plastics for this, including Senkos, Berkley Shaky Worms, Finesse Worms, other hand pours, Trick worms, etc. Its such a good tech, especially on spawn and immediately post spawn fish that are logy, that I'm not really sure if it really matters what worm you use. Its yet another lite line technique I've picked up in the past few years that turns tough days into fun days.

Almost all my night fishing is steady, especially if there isn't a moon to help them visually locate the bait.

Dude, glue the dividers. Yep. Clear silicone is easily removed if you want to change the layout. For tiny hooks, you can put a small glob of silicone in the tray, and when it dries just stick the hook points in the silicone. makes it very easy to get at them.

I can only add a few things here. Although DS is most often associated with light finesse tackle, I have caught fish using anything from 4# FC and a specialized "DS spinning rod" to 65# braid, a heavy weight, and a flipping stick. There are two key attributes that make up a DS rig. First, the weight is on the bottom. Second, the hook is in direct connection with the rod tip, unlike a Carolina or Texas rig. The purpose of the rig is to hold ANY soft plastic bait in the strike zone longer to entice a strike, even if you are not fishing vertically. It can also be used when drifting, to keep the bait just above nasty cover, such as zebra mussels in the Great Lakes. You can also do a vertical version of "poofing" by dropping the weight repeatedly to the bottom, kicking up bottom debris like a C-rig. Use a hook that is appropriate to the bait and cover you are fishing. I like lite wire Owner Downshot Offset hooks for weedless, and Owner Mosquito hooks for nose hooking. I've even used 7/0 jerkbait hooks when using the magnum flipping rig for "cannonballing" pads with big flukes. Use line that's appropriat for cover. Braid for weeds, FC rocks. Mono works well too, but not as well for deep presentations. FC shines for this since it sinks, and allows you to use the smallest possible weight. Speaking of weight, bigger is not better. Use the smallest possible - just enough to get the bait down, and hold it in place. I like pencil weights for current and round weights everywhere else. The point of the specialized clip on weights is not to clear out your wallet, but to make the rig QUICKLY adjustable. Many times a 6" adjustment in the length of the drop line has meant the difference between fish on or skunked. I also like tungsten due to its smaller profile, which allows it to get down even faster than other alternative weights, like steel or tin (I'm in NY - not much lead to be found). Finally, experiment. Floating type, "shaky head" type baits don't sing, and therefore just shake. Salty baits sink (some pretty quickly, too) and allow you to work the tip. Shake soft and slow, twitch like you are on your first date. The fish will tell you what they want.

All good stuff. Let add that my current season's best, a 5-8 spinnerbait fish was a totally uneventful landing. I wasn't even sure it was a season's best until I weighed it. There have been plenty of 3's and 4's that have been hairy battles, though.

If your desire is to fish competitively, find a club that needs non boaters. I can't help but to notice it is an "off shore" tournament. What does this mean? What species? I think there are missing details in the original question that need to be cleared up before continuing the livewell/basket/stringer/shiskabob debate.

I noticed a down slide, but I don't think its exclusively due to gobies. The lake is changing and so is the forage base, so things are in flux. I'm catching good numbers and even better size class this summer. I don't know if there will 100 fish days like there were in the early 90s, but it isn't all that bad. Many of the fish I've caught have gobies (and big gobies at that) in their craw. That should be a big clue as to how to fish for them. Big tubes have worked consistently for me lately, though other baits catch them as well.

Good luck with this event!