Mottfia

I remember back when I frst took on fishing without my dad. My partner and I got skunked more times than not. A few years back ,we were thrilled to find a few 8 inches in the back of a creek or one keeper in a days time . Now adays we don't hardly get skunked . Everything trip so far has yielded a fish of some sort ( some I'm not too proud of ) but odds are that our day is coming where we will be wondering if we should have brought some crickets instead. But thats what makes it such a challenge. Got to love it

The frog has the same effect as a jig. its a bigger bait so its makes smaller fish think twice about it. but its so natural acting that anything could fire on it at anytime. When fishing a frog, you shouldn't expect many bites but the few that you do get will be worth it.

Hey Guys, I'm curious about something. When I was out at lake Wilson I saw alot of guys way off the bank fishing for Smallies. So I'm wondering how do yall guys do it? Please give me as much details about it as you can. I'm a shallow water fisherman that is looking to jump into that open water world. Thanks guys

I believe that if you have some visibity then color matters. No visibility means that I want a louder bait more than anything else. I'm not sure about the colors that work best in certain conditions. I normally try to fish my confidence bait colors before anything else. You know those colors... white, white/char., and black. If that doesn't work then I will try some off the wall color that I don't think a fish has seen before. I'm a firm believer that a fish will destroy a buzzbait even on a bad day. But in some conditions where there is alot of fishing pressure, you might find that the fish are shy to a certain color.

My approach is probably way over simplified but I think it could be helpful for you. When fishing crankbaits I try to stay shallower than 20ft. I look hardest for structure in the 6-12ft area. I use a deep little N (10-12ft diver) in a shad pattern for most of my cranking but have no problem throwing those tank sized crankbaits. They are dynomite for big fish. I usually throw as shallow as I can and work it back to deeper waters. The bait digs into the bottom pretty good and acts wild. I reel pretty slow just to hold contact with bottom and feel the wobble . Any deep diver can do for this but I've grown a liking for the DLN. You can use a crankbait to catch fish in nearly any condition and situation ( heavy cover and super deep water would be the expections but you know that ;D). Paul Elias is known for saying that if you fish points all day then you will consisently good. I can;t think of a better place for a crankbait. Buddy I don't think it will take long before you fall in love with this lure. They are fire!!

haha I feel ya, Big O. They should be banned! Seriously though, the jig is still deadly in summer. Over the summer, my partner and I fish tournaments heavily. He is a hardcore worm fisherman while I'm a jig man. So I get to see the two side by side throughout the summer months. From what I see, they compare the same as they would any other time of year. His worm regular catches more fish than me but my bites are more times than not much bigger than his. I'll be honest, I'm not the best jig fisherman in the world and do pretty good on them so I'd love to see a die hard jig fisherman at work. Normally in summer you have to really work the lure alot more. Some people I know use the EXTREMELY slow style of fishing while others hard hop it fast. I do my best when the fish are suspended in the tops of laydowns and I can yo yo the lure over and over again. Thats just an example of how effective and versitile this lure is in summer.

Hey David, If its a river system then I think you'll have a great time. If its anything like the Alabama river then the fish are in a transitional period and they are EVERYWHERE! They can be caught shallow and deep. The best advice I could say is to focus on the outside of the river bends. You can usually find ledges that will create eddies in these places. These eddies are loaded with bass, especially spots . The inside of those turns will normally hold some type of buckbrush or laydown. They are usually good places to look for largemouth. If I was to pick two lures to use, I'd use a shad colored crankbait (10-12ft diver) and a worm. I adjust the weight for the current so you can still feel it but the color doesn't matter much. Most days I like red shad and motoroil but thats just me. I hope that helps. Good luck Bud

its sad but my favorite time to fish is in the dead of the summer in that 100+ degrees. I fish the Alabama River so I'm not worried about too much outside of the current. A steady barometer is nice but current beats all. Its extremely hard fishing but once you figure them out you are in for one great summer of loading the boat with huge Spots. Plus there isn't much fishing pressure that time of year. 8-)

I've seen something like that a few times on my section of the river (selma area). I have always assumed that something had taken a bite at the fish or they have some disease but nothing to the scale of which you have. I'll ask around and see what I come up with and get back to you in a few days.

Guys that lake is wild. We caught everything under the sun when the crankbait bite was on. We caught some solid largemouth and spots along with a 4 pound hawg and lost what I think was a 5 pound spot. but more importantly!!! I caught my first smallmouth!!! She weights every bit of 14 oz but I still went crazy. Those fish are amazing to watch jump. My buddy and I caught 5 small smallies by the end of the trip and watched a few guys caught some Huge slabs. We were loving it. Thanks for the help everyone. Yall helped make it one great trip.

Yea cloud cover will cause the bass to roam more and take them off of their primary holding areas. but it doesn't kill the jig bite. Its all a matter of you dropping that lure in his strike zone. If you do that then you'll get a strike. If not then you don't. Sounds simply but its true. Its just that some days the fish have a larger strike zone for other lures. but like I said if you put it on his nose, he'll react to it.

Hey buddy, What type of lake is it? water clarity? depth ranges?

Thanks everyone. alarcher you're right about this site. This place is full of great fisherman and people. I'll be sure to bring a camera to show yall my first smallmouth. Once again thank you.

Hey guys, I'm going to Lake Wilson in about a month to make my first attempt at smallmouth fishing. The lake is in Alabama and its a 15 mile long river system. Any advice how I should approach it ? I want to catch a few of the smaller fish first to get the feel of it and then aim for a bigger one. Any lures, tips, tricks, areas, or anything under that sun that yall would like to put in would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Mike we caught a few bass that looked like they had been cleaning a bed and we saw a few beds but never both. Its probably because we tried to focus on dirtier water. I felt like we'd have a better chance away from that gin water. One of our guys heard Jann talking about auburn was going to sight fish. Apparently they did it good enough. lol My partner caught a couple of real nice stripes at the end of our practice day. Pete I've told you before and I'll tell you again. If me you and Swindle were at the same college, things would be alot different. but you may get lucky and get the swindler down there next semester. Yall could have a tough team. We need to work on a third team up here. We don't have the experience as of yet in that third spot so we've got a ways to go to hit the top.

Pete you missed a good one. Tough conditions dominated out there. You'd never believe who Troy was against GSU of all teams. lol I expect to see you at the next tournament at Wilson so start getting ready for that. Cobb it was great to meet you and your team and it was a pleasure to compete against yall. Yall have a good team, which out a doubt. I saw something about yall are putting on an invitational at some time. Can we get some information about that?

We're gonna try to do the same and get out there Thursday night. I'll be looking for ya. Have you heard about who yall are paired against. Jann said they were gonna draw this weekend but no news as of yet.

yea man, I'm gonna be there. I think Pete is sending a team but he's gonan be busy. right man? I'm feeling pretty good about lake Weiss. We may not get to prefish but we're gonna be working to our strengths. How about yall, GSU?

Ha always. I would say let's wait about a month longer but thats never stopped us before. I have two more weeks of tournaments before I can say I'm free but I could sure use a strong Spot on the other end of my line. The tournament went alright. it was a small thing. small lake, small fish, small lures, small total weight. But it was for the school so it didn't bother me. We finished 3rd if that means anything.

Its pretty good. Love the articles and interviews! I think our teams are looking good for the tournament. We've got a game plan ready to go. Auburn spoke good about you. They said you are full of ideas.

Hey Pete, Hope to see you there. remember to check the cyprus trees in the middle of the river with a pink eyes hollapopper. lol

I can also agree that all of those are great colors. I'd like to add Black and red to that. Especially if your river is loaded with crawfish. We discovered this combination color to be so effective after a 4 12 lb bass threw up a crawfish that was that color. Like Ike says, "Let the fish tell you what to do."

Thanks Glenn. Thats a huge help!! ;D

Hey guys, I'm trying to learn how to study maps to help to prepare for tournaments. Can anyone give me a play by play for what to look for on maps for a year round cycle?

I've also heard that area is tough but not impossible I'm sure. You should definately focus on places with current. The fish in these areas have to feed more actively to gain energy because they are always fighting the current. I'm partial to fishing lures that attract agressive bass. Spinnerbaits and crankbaits are good for these fish. I'm from the south and things are sure to be different up there but I've fished the Alabama River all my life and a bass is a bass. Hope this helps.