5bass

Pump the brakes man, your initial posts just came off the wrong way. It's a big statement to come on here and say you could've made the top 10 in a Tour level event. If you truly feel that way, you really should try to get on the Tour, no kidding.

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

Nice fish Steve! It's just about Anaconda time here in Virginia.....

The Rangers had the Caps on the ropes, then they just stopped playing like they had already won the series. I dont see them coming back after that Game 6 beatdown. That was ugly. I guess when the Rangers get 'bounced' I'll pull for the Bruins if Tin will slow down the bandwagon just enough so I can jump on.

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

KVD held on for the win. What a surprise! :-? Everyone, including myself was expecting the weights to increase because of the warm weather that was coming and the impending spawn but it didnt work out that way. The females are getting closer to the beds but they are still a little bit away from locking on, maybe a couple days. I saw beds everywhere Saturday and each one had a male on it. Within 10 - 15 ft of about half of those beds you could see the female just hanging out a little deeper waiting for things to get right. The water temps ranged from 60 - 65 late in the day, once the temp settles and stabilizes at 63 or 64 over night is when you'll see the females get up on the beds and lock. Thats when the fun begins....and I'll be right there waiting.

Man, 19 hours and one fish? I'd be ready to sell my boat and any fishing related items I own. You must've forgot to throw the Carolina Rig.

LOL! The pollen on Smith Mtn right now is terrible. I fished today and spotting any fish that was more than 2 ft deep was almost impossible. Several times I had to aim my trolling motor away from what I wanted to look at and blow the water around to clear the pollen. That only works for a few minutes at a time though....the pollen comes right back.

Exactly what it says. The fish were in 8-10 FOW. It's possible that the boat and fish both were in 8-10 FOW, however, it is more important to find the depth of the fish than it is to worry about what depth of water to put your boat. That is a depth range that is used a lot, no doubt about it but right now we're seeing fish so shallow that the fins on their backs are almost out of the water. After the water temps rise and the fish go deep, if you're fishing 8-10 ft deep, you'll be over their heads by 10 or more feet.

Way to go Larry! Where was Glenn when all this was going on?

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

More will move up but finding the ones that are 'catchable' (locked on) is the key. They will find plenty of big fish. Finding big fish that are ready to bite is the challenge.

I tell you what, the fish are up shallow but the majority are not locked on yet and in some areas, they just won't bite. The bite should get better as the tournament progresses and I dont expect the weights to drop. I expect them to get better. On the roadtrip glenn asked my prediction on total winning weight for the SML Elite and I guessed 18-19 a day but I figured in that we'd have at least one or two days worth of crappy weather. It looks like the weather is going to be perfect for sight fishing all the way thru Sunday so 21 or 22 a day is definitely possible and I can honestly see someone busting a 25# bag to move up the ladder. The fish are in there, they just have to catch 'em. It's also a possibility that they will run out of 'willing' bed fish because only certain areas are 'right', right now. If the other areas get right, they're ok, if not, they may have to find another way to catch 'em because I doubt a 10 or 12 # limit of bucks will do it on Sunday.

The trance thing happened to me last weekend just like every year about this time. I was in an area where the fish had evidently just come up. They were laying around under the docks, just under the surface in groups of 5 or more and wouldn't even look at a bait. I could skip my bait under there, it would fall on one of their backs and they wouldn't even move. I've seen this in the past but there was one cove that had 5 or 6 trance bass under every dock. In that same cove I witnessed a bass about 15" long laying on a ladder step and he was kind of leaned up against the side rail of the ladder at the same time. He must've been really tired. And I thought I was lazy. ;D I tried to get a pic but got nothing but reflection. I also saw one of those hypnotized suspenders like you were talking about because I came within a foot of slamming a solid 4 pounder in the head with my trolling motor before it moved. I was cruising along pretty good and I just kept going straight at him, then right before impact, it suddenly 'woke up' and high tailed it out of the way. It was totally oblivious to my boat until I got within a foot or two. Very strange I must say. The overall 'bite' for the day was tough. Lots of fish cruising shallow but not many had eating on their minds.

IMX > Crucial although both are good rods

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

Right on and in between, you can help me gain the patience to drag a texas rig around. Robby, pm sent

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I use a 7'6" M glass rod with a 4.7:1 ratio reel spooled with 10# (most times) or 12# mono although I have been using fluorocarbon and it's been good enough for me to use again in the future. I like the stretch factor of mono with most treble hook lures. Actually, Yo Zuri Hybrid (fluorocarbon coated) is a good strong line for cranking deep and has decent stretch, which is important to me. As for colors, I keep it pretty simple with the basic shad colors because of the clear water here but I do own and throw a bunch of chartreuse baits as well. I like chartreuse when its cloudy or the water is a little discolored but on sunny days I like the shad patterns the most.

Where's Jimzee with the tournament report? Come on man, lets hear some details!

Deep cranks is just about all I throw from June thru August, no lie. I generally look for any cover on the bottom in channel swings, big deep rock formations, brushpiles, humps, points, ledges or any structure thats close to the main channel. Until you get a good handle on things, it's a good idea to drop buoys on spots you pass over with your electronics. The buoys will help you to find and stay on a spot. If you find a big hump or something, drop a couple buoys on each end of it. Once you fish the spot a couple times with buoys, you'll learn the spot and won't need them anymore. When your idling thru an area watching your graph, have a buoy ready to drop at any time. Whenever you see something you like, drop the buoy over the side, circle around and go to work. You'll need to hit these spots with the cranks from several different angles, especially if current is a factor in your lakes. If they are pulling water, I usually have the best results throwing against the current, retrieving with the current. But they will fool you sometimes so you have to hit it from all directions until you get the bites. I use LC CBD-20's, Catching Concepts deep diver (cant remember the model # but its BIG), Mann's 15 and 20+, Jackall Muscle Deep, DD22's, DT16's and BigM has made me some deep diving flat cranks that look like certified killers. I usually like to have a crank that will hit bottom or at least come within a foot of it if the fish are relating to the bottom. I want to be making contact with whatever I can, whenever I can. If they are suspended over a spot, I just mark their depth and pick a crank that will hit that depth. Sometimes on main channel points that don't have a lot of cover on them, I'll just dig a trench with my crankbait. The deflecting and stop and go and noise and mud trail will help draw strikes from fish that may be roaming in the area. In standing timber, you can just thread your crank right thru it if you just maintain a good feel and pay attention. When you hit something, let off for a second, the lure floats up and is free for you to reel again. Most strikes occur after deflecting off of something so hang on tight and pay attention. A lot of people just dont throw deep cranks for whatever reason but man you can flat load the boat with a deep crank on the right spots. Just keep trying them until you hit paydirt and dont be scared to throw them. Sure, you'll get hung up sometimes and lose a fish now and then but when you get bit in 15 to 20 ft on a deep crank, its usually a better quality fish. It's without a doubt my favorite way to catch bass. You'll need a good plug knocker so go ahead and buy one.

Thats a good'un!