5bass

Just like LBH said,watch any part of your line that you can see.I try to watch my line closer to the fish rather than at the end of my rod.But sometimes you cant see in the water so you just have to watch what you can.

I am a regular senko user.The last time I fished,the bass were suspended up under the deeper docks in the shade.I threw about 4 different colors of Yamamoto senkos and the fish would start to get a look and then the bait would fall too fast right past them and I was getting no strikes. I then put on a X brand senko,same color as the Yamamoto's and began to catch fish.The rate of fall on the X brand I switched to was a good bit slower than the original senkos and that was the key to catching those fish that were suspended.My partner only had original senkos and he never caught a fish.I gave him one of the brand X baits and he started to catch them too. Sometimes the senkos will outfish all others.....key word being "sometimes". Buy what you want,the fish will tell you whether they like it or not.It's good to have other options available.

LBH,there was a thread on this a while back,lots of good info in that one if you can find it.

FLYROD, I said my buddy drinks all the beer,not me.I quit drinking a few blue moons ago.I'll pass an on the water breath-a-lyzer any day of the week.Plus,the guy I'm speaking of is a long time close friend,not my tournament partner.....he drinks too much. Just because I dont drink anymore doesnt mean he cant drink when we go fishin'.I'm a responsible enough adult to keep us both out of trouble.Thanks for the tips.

I'm all for throwing out buoys to get familiar with structure.....it was how I learned to fish deep.I've had as many as 12 buoys around a point or ledge before just to be able to back away from it and look and study it.In some cases,on lakes I only fish a few times a year,I'll throw out my buoys,back away and take a picture of it.I mark my GPS #'s on the picture and pull them out when I reach the structure.It's alot of work but it will pay off. And like shadmaster said,I always fish a ledge parallel first to find the correct depth.

DD,you may need to fish a little deeper to get the bigger bite this time of year.I know it's hard to leave fish shallow to find fish deep.....you just have to ask yourself what's more important.

Hey,I'm in the 420 club too.

I've been fishing alot lately with my buddy who drinks about a case of beer on each outing......by the middle of the trip,he's constantly throwing his lures up in trees (usually about 30' up and way too far to reach) or throwing his bait up against peoples boats that are hanging in their docks and more times than not,the people are on the dock when this happens.Last time we fished at night together,he broke off way up in a tree and it took him 25 minutes to re-rig,cussing the whole time.Then about 30 minutes later,he sets the hook hard on a bream and the hook comes back and gets stuck in his shoulder,barb and all.We finally decide to leave.....I blast out of there and his favorite fishing hat blows off,never to be seen again. And he usually falls out of the boat at least once every year,it hasnt happened yet this year,so it's coming!He's actually a pretty good fisherman.....too bad he cant leave the brew alone.And after watching him,I'm glad I dont drink anymore.

HH,you said it brother!Water in the mid 80's.... ...fishin is sloooooow! Once mid September hits and we have a few cool nights,the temps are going to drop and the action will be picking up in a big way.I'm really looking forward to it.

A point is the most obvious structure to find,it doesnt matter how long,how wide,how deep or how shallow.....a point is a point. A secondary point will be the second point into a creek channel or large cove.Usually where a creek comes in there is the initial point where the creek runs into the main body,the secondary point will be the next one you come to. Some points are better than others.At certain times during the year a shallow point will be better than a deep point and at other times,it's just the opposite.Points give the fish a place to hang out near deep water and also a place to feed that is not so deep.If a school of baitfish happen to roam across the point,the bass dont have far to swim to feed and the shallower water on a point means there is less water for prey to swim.It's much easier for a bass to get a meal in 5 ft of water than 20 ft. Certain points will hold fish at all times during the year.....most of these will be on the main lake and run right into the channel.If you can locate these points,you should be able to be on fish 90% of the time.

I bought a 60 bag lot of 3X lizards and zeros for $11 bucks shipped off eBay back in the spring. I love eBay!

Definitely DO NOT FORGET to take some ZOOM super flukes.A ZOOM horny toad may do well near or over the algae.Pond bass typically see lots of frogs.

Most of my trips are fairly short,around 4hrs at a time and are mainly to get a few bites and just try to get in touch with what the fish are doing,basically a practice period.Sometimes it takes longer than 3-4hrs to establish and nail down a solid pattern,therefore,if I dont get on the pattern right away,I'm simply trying to get bit,fishing at warp speed. I always use 5-7 different baits.I always take a medium crank,a deep crank,a carolina rig,a texas rig,a jig,some type of topwater and a spinnerbait.I can usually get bit on one of them but very seldom switch colors. I'm stuck in a rut of thinking the baits I have tied on are what they should be hitting and this may be hurting my chances of getting on a pattern sooner or finding that "magic" bait that they will kill all day long.It's just real hard to switch 'em up when those certain baits have been good producers in the past. I guess if I didnt fish tournaments my thinking would be different and with the short outings,time is critical.

Let's say you head out,your various rods rigged up with a crankbait,a carolina rig,a jig,a spinnerbait and a buzzbait.You feel like the fish "should" be hittin' a crankbait for example,the one you had rigged from your last trip is still rigged up.You start to throw it and after a little while,you have had no bites.Do you switch to a totally different bait or do you just change colors of the crank? Seems lately that I am switching to different baits alot more than just switching colors on the same bait I'm throwing,probably because it's easie to grab something different on another rod,rather than dig thru the storage for a different crank and re-tie it. The crankbait was just for example,it can actually be a question about any bait.Anybody else do this?Or had a problem with this type thing?Seems I'm stuck using the same 'ol,same 'ol all the time.

1. The only time I pitch a drop shot rig is during the spawn and right up onto the bed.Otherwise,I dont drop shot to fish the bait horizontally along the bottom,there are better rigs/baits for that.I fish the drop shot vertically over top of schools of fish that are close to the bottom.If they are suspended more than 5 feet off the bottom I wont drop shot them.Like I said,there are better baits for horizontal fishing.Drop shots get more action fished vertically when the bite is tough.You want to just leave it in the strike zone as long as you can.VERTICALLY. 2. The purpose of the lighter line is so that the fish have a harder time seeing it.They will see 20lb a whole lot faster than 8lb.....I always use 8. 3. Use whatever you want,the fish will tell you what they want,just switch until you get bit.On heavily pressured water,most times smaller is better. 4. In real deep water I will use a 1oz. every time.I want the bait to get down quickly and most of all,stay in the strike zone.The heavier weight lets you shake the bait without moving the whole rig around.

Spill it LBH....

David Fritts. I'd like to see how he locates and fishes deep structure,boat positioning on the structure and presentation.

Oh yeah,I agree 100%.....promoting lures while fishing in a heavily stocked,unpressured,oversized pond is definitely a way to sell lures and that's what Bill's show is all about.He does it well. As far as actually putting all the fishing skills together at once,on an unfamiliar body of water and locating his own fish,it would take him a solid week to tape a 30 min show. I like Bill Dance,don't get me wrong,I just think he's a little over-rated.

I voted Clunn also. If Clunn had a TV show,I could guarantee you would learn more from 1 of Clunn's shows than 10 of Roland's shows.If you'll notice,everytime Roland tapes a show outside the state of Florida,he's got the best guide he can afford in the boat with him.He really should try to locate the fish on his own once in a while. And if Bill Dance would get off those private,heavily stocked ponds,he might have a little trouble locating and catching fish also.Anybody can load the boat where Dance is fishin'.....but a bass is a bass I guess.What's really funny about Dance's show is when he's got his big fat Procraft on one of those really small lakes trying to look like he's fishing a huge lake.And you never see any jet-skiers or other boats anywhere!Just where is this secret magic lake Bill?

I would guess plastic worm or possibly a senko.I'm having the same problem where I fish.The plastic worms go down real quick these days. I'm usually fishing 15-20' of water and in brushpiles when it happens.Detecting strikes in brushpiles is difficult sometimes.You fishin' brush?

This time of year I would be fishing all the deeper brush I could find with some kind of plastic bait.Day or night.

My schedule is 5:30am to 2:00pm.....fishing at night now,twice a week I come home at 2pm,sleep until about 8pm,head to the lake around 9pm and fish until its time to go in at 5:30am. The other days I fish from about 5pm to 9pm,just long enough to keep in touch with the fish. Not a bad schedule,it could be worse.

Fish the banks where the wind is hitting or any points that have wind blowing across them.The wind will push any baitfish in the area in that direction.Wind is a good thing.Sure,it's tough to control the boat sometimes but the bass aren't as spooky when the surface is broken up by the wind.Use crankbaits and spinnerbaits,baits you can feel at all times whether the wind is blowing or not.

a couple of topwater baits a few crankbaits some senkos berkley power worms zoom finesse worms hooks and weights for your plastics and at least 3 spinnerbaits ...if you dont get bit with any of those listed,go home.

Thats a great idea really,the only drawback would be that all of their past accomplishments that everyone is raving and arguing about would be thrown out the window in a matter of speaking with a one-on-one tournament like that.Now if it ends in a tie....a fish-off is the obvious answer. And if a fish-off was to take place,I want to be Clunn's on-boat observer all 3 days.