5bass

I have been wacky riggin using a 7'MH All Star with a Pinnacle Matrix spinning reel and 10 lb. Berkley Vanish Transition......and as of late,I have been using the Gamakatsu circle hooks (red),although I have missed a few,the hookup % is really high.I feel like the ones that I have missed were just running with one end of the worm in their mouth.I think the smaller compact circle hook sort of hides itself and in turn may draw more strikes. I was very hesitant to try the circle hooks wacky rigged but my partner was having great success so I tried it.Now I use it on a regular basis.And another thing,the circle hooks all but hook themselves and almost always hook up right in the corner of the mouth.

60 degrees = ZOOM super fluke

I had a mechanic from the local Ranger dealer tell me that it is broken down like this: 115 hp = 11.5 gallons per hour wide open 150 hp = 15 gallons per hour wide open 175 hp = 17.5 gallons per hour wide open 200 hp = 20 gallons per hour wide open 225 hp = 22.5 gallons per hour wide open and so on......and from what I can tell,these figures seem fairly close.

Sounds like you may need to back off the bank a little bit. ;D

Looks like mac has been doing his homework.....I agree with all that he has said.His numbers are more realistic.

I would think that on certain waters such as farm ponds with little or no pressure the ratio would be lower.On heavily pressured lakes,the fish see 100X more baits,have more places to roam and hide and the ratio goes way up.It really all depends on what type of lake/pond/river you fish.It's like the Bill Dance effect.He fishes private stocked lakes and ponds all the time.He catches a whole pile of fish.

If the bass are holding at anymore than 30'......go home. If you can locate some bass on points,a Carolina Rig or a crankbait (matched to water depth) should get you bit.If the water temp is in the mid 70's or so,by all means,use a topwater bait.The fish most likely wont be too deep (20+) if the water is still relatively cool. Be sure to take a Norman DD22,that crankbait is hard to beat for deep water situations.

Wasnt it hard for you to grab it when your co-angler had one on?

Hey man,Bass Club Digest is a great mag.....I'll be sending you a club profile real soon.

Okay then,since we dont know exactly which is the real reason the bass head for shade,can we all agree that in the hot summer sun whether their eyes are hurtin' or not.......they end up in the shade or deep water? Two different arguments.....same result.

In my home lake the shad are the main forage of all the gamefish in it.I generally wont fish places that dont have a decent supply of shad.Over the years I have found that I catch better quality fish when there are shad in the area. Whenever scouting for a night tournament,I will ride around during the day to find the biggest and most abundant schools of shad.I know that when the shad come up to feed at night,the bass wont be far away.It usually works out pretty well when I do that. Where I am,the shad spawned out a few weeks ago and during the shad spawn,the bass were running the shad clean out of the water and up on the bank.We saw that happen quite a few times right at dark.

1. I use suspending crankbaits alot after the spawn and I really slow it down. 2. Carolina rig with about a 3 ft leader and a 4" french fry type bait. 3. Finesse worm with a Pro Spider Slider head can be deadly on postspawn fish.

Brad,I have read numerous articles that have stated that since bass dont have eyelids,the sun really irritates them.That's why they seek shade and deeper water where the sunlight penetration is minimal. I know others here have heard that....

I had this same problem on my Gambler when I first got it.My left arm would be hurtin' after a long ride down the lake at full throttle.The boat pulled HARD right and it got worse as my speed increased. There is a little fin just above your prop,I had to adjust mine a couple of times to get it right but now I can take my hands off the wheel and run straight as an arrow.

DEEP! Sunlight hurts their eyes.

I would keep switching colors until I got a bite.If you have been doing that already,maybe the fish just arent that tight to cover and not looking for a jig or worm.Try some reaction baits. Obviously when you dont get bit you need to do something different.Are you sure that there is a good supply of fish up shallow?If they are in post spawn,they wont be on the bank.They'll be anywhere from 5-15 feet of water.....but as I was saying,if they aint bitin',you got to make 'em bite.Get out the reaction baits.Or try some finesse worms worked real slow in just a little deeper water.Keep switchin' until you get bit. One thing that I throw alot when the bite is tough is a Zoom 4 3/4" finesse worm on a Slider Pro Spider head or the Snagless Pro Slider head.That combo has saved the day for me quite a few times.

I forgot about the weights being zeroed.my mistake. I should have posted this: That is definitely a good fish to take to the weigh-in.....especially at an Elite 50 event.That fish can carry him thru a tournament in which the weights are not zeroed half way thru like an E-50. How's that?

That is definitely a good fish to take to the weigh-in.....especially at an Elite 50 event.That fish can carry him thru the tournament if you know what I mean.

whats the water color now? has the water risen alot? what is the current water temp? are you fishing a lake or river?

My partner and I always do the "drive around and pick up discarded Xmas trees" just after the holiday.We both pitch in and buy a skid full of cinderblocks and round up some solid copper wire. We drill holes through the bases of the trees and run the copper wire through the trees and around the block.We use 2 trees per block,laying the block on it's side and insert the trees,standing up.We will connect the trees about midways up ensuring that they stand up straight. Another thing we do is to get some hardwood trees and some 5 gallon buckets.Then we mix some cement and stand the hard wood trees/branches in the bucket and fill it halfway with cement. We always sink the piles deep enough so they cant be seen.And we will drop some piles near the ends of points,in the main channel of feeder creeks and in deep water near spawning flats.And if you can find some real obvious humps,they need some piles too.

On the cover of Bassmaster Magazine a few years back,a dude is holding two 5 lb+ smallmouth-both attached to a chartreuse DD22.....imagine the fight that was!

I like watching the shows that cover the tournaments.BASS and the FLW......those are the most informative to me because I fish tournaments also and you can pick up a pile of knowledge from watching those if you pay attention. I will also watch In-Fisherman whenever I can,those guys can flat out catch whatever kind of fish they want,whenever they want to and they do a great job of explaining it to the audience. Roland Martin's show is basically a 30 minute commercial about his sponsors which bores me to death.And Bill Dance fishes his little stocked lakes and private ponds.....anybody can catch bass from where Dance fishes.His show is no big deal but you do get to see some good quality bass.

Florida?

Hey Nick,be sure to get a big tank and the most important part,get the best filtration kit you can afford.Bass have a slime coat and they will dirty up your tank to where you cant see in within a few days.I learned this the hard way.I put a few suckers and catfish in to help rid the scum from the glass but the bass being bass.....they ate all the suckers and cats in about 5 minutes! Good filtration is a must!I had a 55 gallon tank and 3 largemouth and 1 smallie in there between 8 and 12" long.I fed them silver sided minnows,dumped a dozen in at a time and within seconds,all the minnows were gone!It was pretty cool while it lasted.

Anything under about 90 psi per cylinder means that the motor is tired.And as someone mentioned above,all the cylinders must be within 5-10 psi of each other. I would watch them do it. People lie. Gauges don't.