2_Poppa

el_jewapo, GO FOR THE GUSTO. I personally would go for the BIG FISH... It's fun and perhaps more productive to go for smaller fish but, are you learning anything by catching all of the smaller fish? To put it another way... I deer hunt, I hunt for monster bucks. Huge deer. I have to let a lot of smaller bucks walk. If I don't see Mr. Monster over a period of time, I begin to get a defeatist, depressed mentality. That's when I begin to hunt for meat. That sharpens my skills,senstivity etc. Does anyone stop searching for what they are "looking" for? If you look just for the "bite" you'll get bit. I look for a particular bite... BIG FISH GO for the BIG BITE! :-*

boo, Use the owners manual with your knowledge and fishing experience... Soon you will be able to get a feel (with rod and line) and see things that are on the bottom, where a ledge becomes a "laddered drop," a hump, submerged structure that you created and placed there, etc. A buddy and me use to get trees that were already cut, tie them together, and tie large rocks on them so they would sink and stay there. We would find a ledge on a main channel or primary point, where the grass stops growing (see Rebbassers' post) and drop the trees with the rocks tied to them in deep water. We would make sure the water was anywhere from 12ft. to 30ft. deep. We made sure the structure we dropped was natural and would always sink sufficently. Next step, go over it with your sonar or fishfinder and read and perceive what it says. We would do this in several different areas of the lake. There was always one or more holding fish. We too, would drop large rocks, boulders, to make our own hump. What does that look like on your sonar? Ya won't know until you look... Experiment and be creative... The dog days of summer are coming, the fish will be there, 8) will you? Hope this helps,boo.

Hey boo, Take some time-off from fishing banks/shoreline, especially during the summer.Get yourself a couple of floating weighted markers and fish the areas "RoadWarrior" suggested. Most fishermen that I fish with(during tournaments) do not know how to utlize there sonars,graphs,monitors, fish-finders etc... What your looking for is anything/something odd or unusual from the "normal" bottom. Can you tell the difference from a soft/mud bottom to a hard/rocky bottom? If you answered no, this is where you start to begin reading deep water structure 101. Take your sonar seriously, read the book(instructions) every time you are out on the lake, before long you will begin to erase the fish off of your sonar. Most guys turn their "fish alarm" off. Not me. Why? Even if I'm not looking for fish and the alarm goes off I toss a couple of baits at the desired depth...Wham! I'm usually hooked. One last thing you must know is at what end of the boat the transducer is located...DWS 101 GUARANTEE!!! If you begin to fish Deep Water Structure as much as you hit the shore-line, you will hook-up more quality fish... If ya got the toy, read instructions so ya can fully enjoy... :-*

I love "cleaning the crumbs" off of the table in the back of the boat. If a front moves in, that places you in the drivers seat. Why? Cast parallel to the shore,15 to 20 feet out. A pig and jig, Worm, Carolina or Texas rigged. When the front seat starts the trolling motor just take some more line off your reel. This keeps the lure in the srike zone a lot longer and drives the bass crazy. Even if a front doesn't move in you are still in position for larger fish. If you see your front seat partner begins to pick up fish, observe everything he's doing. And move to the front or stand up and take some quick shots to the same structure up front. Maybe this will provoke him into conversation. If not assert yourself in a way that doesn't offend...

...consider a square- back canoe. It stores great beside the house, goes up on the car roof easy enough, and a trolling motor will get you anywhere, minimum a pair of oars. Over time you can place a gas motor on the back and use a side- mount for your trolling motor. Easy fishin' at its finest...

bassman, Where were the hooks imbedded? How did you get the hooks out? ???

Skunk, I don't know any particular name brand seats to help you, but whatever brand you get make sure that you can get them with arm rests... It really makes a world of difference. It helps also to stand at times while fishing to relieve the pressure on the lower back. If it's in your upper back and neck, rotate your head in small circles gradually moving to larger circles. Then lose weight. All the above helped me, but real relief and healing came when I began to monitor the food I was eating. I didn't digress. Junk Food + Big Belly = Poor Health/ Bad Back :-* One other item: I realized my bad back was a manifestation of a deeper problem. I just wanted to treat the surface problems. The real problem was my thought processes about my job (work), etc. I was on a down-ward spiral with emotional weight on my shoulders... I'm almost pain-free today after 28 years of back problems. I cringe at the thought of anyone having to go through back pain. SKUNK, MAN TO MAN, I'LL PRAY FOR YOU-- Sincerely.

Flatfish, It always looks worse (more painful) than it really is. Years ago, fishing three out of a 15 foot boat, a buddy of mine set the hook, while fishing a topwater lure (DARTER). I was sitting in the middle on a tackle box. The lure, which had triple treble hooks, comes flying through the air and imbeds itself in my leg. I became very religious at that moment... GOD, GOD, HELP ME... My buddies father who was running the trolling motor, very nonchalantly grabs the needle-nose pliers and pulls the hooks out of my leg. The same pliers he just used to pull the hooks out of a bass' mouth... It happened so quickly, I didn't have time to protest. I would have died from cardiac arrest on the ride to the hospital, just from the thoughts... and looking at the impaled triple treble hooks. The E.R. Doctor knew what she were doing. My buddies father said he did what he always does when it came to removing a hook. :'(

el jewapo, I fish a lake close to home that have a lot of big bass. I actually target these hawgs when I go. A four to five pounder is"run of the mill". I fish the jig and pig combo when a front moves through, but most of the time I use a custom made shallow running crankbait. I use a large shad crank with a little bit of gold. I call it my" flash and dash" bait. I have an area where weeds grow up from the shallow water 4 to 6 feet deep and meets an area of stumps. Usually I run my crank down to hit the weeds. As soon as it hits the weeds I stop it dead... 30 to 40 seconds later I twitch it just a little. This is where the bite comes. No matter what bait I use on this lake ,when I catch a fish I throw a "memory marker" because there is always a stump or some wood nearby. The next time I come back I most always hook something at the same piece of wood. Don't be hesitant to bounce your crank off of the wood... Hard... Most of my hook-ups with large fish come this way. Last Tuesday I caught a 5.5- pounder. Thursday I come back, a 4 -pounder was home at the same stump. I always toss to the front of the stump first, then to the shaded side, then the sunny side. Generally, I can tell on my first cast if Mr. Bass is home. I believe I can catch my first 10 pounder or better, off of these stumps this year. I'll keep you posted. Good Luck.

If I'm fishing the worm or any other rubber, and I keep getting hits, I'll go ahead and pierce the rubber all the way through with the hook and leave the tip of the hook exposed. If it keeps happening I'll change color of bait and completly leave the hook exposed. I may shorten the worm so the fish gets the part of the rubber with the hook in it. Last but not least I'll double hook it. When fishing tournaments as soon as I feel any resistance I cross their eyes...

Moving off of the bank and fishing deep water structure...

Downsize your lures to Roadrunners,Stump Jumpers, Mepps in-line spinners yellow/black tail. Also use Culprit worms black/silver or Manns' Augertail worms, with a light sinker. Main thing keep a low profile and fish very slow and set the hook hard. Be expecting the bite... Also go to Wal-Mart and get the Rebel Minnow and take the buck-tail hair off of the back treble hook; tie your knot and move it to the top of the eyelet. This allows you to work the Rebel just under the surface, twitch and jerk etc., let the Rebel float back to the surface. Let it sit there for awhile. Repeat...

Men, Thanks for all of your suggestions and comments. The truth is, I will be more assertive in my future requests with my partner if fish, big fish aren't to be found in the shallows or on the bank. Thought: I know of a great missionary in a foreign country purposefully doing what he thinks is right. I asked him one day how he came to the conclusion or vision for his life. His reply was simplistic but yet profound,"I surround myself with like-minded men." Thanks men, 2 Poppa

Alandis311, Hey Man, I'm with you I'm grabbin five of my best lures in three different colors, red ,silver and green. I'm cullin my stock and puttin' the big conglomerates out of biz. They (BIG COMPANIES) have got fishermen excited about every color,style, etc. under the rainbow. I've got a buddie who eats a different colored lollipop every minute and spits on a treble hook and catches fish---BIG FISH... Only problem, I can't get him to fish a tournament. As long as I know what color lollipop he is on, I know what treble hook to utilize... and catch fish... Raul, You still out there? Comment please! How many different colored crawdad crankbaits and jigs does one man need "to be in the money" and to find favor with his peers... find favor with big fish... Stop and think... Baits are like bullets, which bullet will bring home the bacon? Old school fisherman, whom I still respect to this day, stated," If you know how to deer hunt,you can find the fish..."( Harold Allen ) It's not what they want to eat. It's just about locating hungry fish! If a fish is hungry does he turn his nose up to crawdads and say I want a shad? I think not. Aren't they opportunist? When the opportunity (food) passes them by they will eat. We fishermen like to complicate ideas. I believe the fish are biting Baby Brush Hawgs in Red Sparkle! Bologna! Toss a piece of deer summer sausage over the side of the boat with a red " EWG hook". Will it catch Big Bass? How Big is your confidence, your faith...

Raul, I just got through wondering the same thing about my tackleboxes.I read your story with great interest and kept waiting for you to "open" your boxes for the reader. If you were to open one of your boxes what would we see? Is there a bait you have never fished? Is there a bait that you keep around for sentimental purpose? What is the predominate color of your tackle? Why? Why? Why? These were just some of the questions I asked myself when I realized the questions were far greater than the answers...

I've fished three tournaments with a partner since March. We have caught four keeper fish for our efforts and have never been in the money. We fish ten to fifteen feet off of the bank, every bank, every lake, every time... QUESTION? How can I compel my fishing partner to at least try to fish in deeper structured water without throwing him out of his own boat? Facts: It's his boat, with all the bells and whistles. Every fish he sees on his monitor "are baitfish or schools." States that the next tournament he is going to turn off the fish monitors because they are distractions. One last fact, we are committed to a partner tournament trail until October... I need advice on how to approach him without offending. Thanks in advance.

Many moons ago, while fishing a friends farm pond I noticed these very large bass on sandy, rocky bottoms. 8) There must have been 12 to 14 bass in a 30ft. by 30ft. area in the 8 to 12 pound range. They ignored every thing I tossed at them, live bait, artficial etc... :-X I spent the whole day trying to catch these uncooperating hawgs. Feeling frustrated but not defeated I went home with an upset stomach. :-[ Back at the house my mind worked overtime. How can I go tomorrow and catch those fish? ??? My wife offered me an "ALKA-SELTZER" for my stomach. As I was about to take it I accidently dropped it in the sink with used dish water. Wow! Look at all of those bubbles. I tied " ALKA-SELTZER" to #4 hook, I caught almost every bedding bass, then released them. Next time you you see bedding bass break the "ALKA-SELTZER" and place it in a tube jig and hold on... :-* Come 2 Poppa!

I use black,black,black, black... black spinnerbaits w/ black blades black worms: bigger is better black custom cranks black musky jitterbug

Crawfish! With a little Ta-bass-co...

The ponds I fish here in Kentucky like small stump jumpers and roadrunners, It seems to trigger strikes from smaller panfish, then the race is on for the bigger fish,which one gets to it first. I also like to fish the Mann's Augertail, in the black and silver combo, which they don't make any more... My favorite is the smallest Rebel Minnow they make. I take the tail (hair) off the back of the treble hook and tie my not high on the eyelet and twitch it about 6 inches below the surface. If your knot isn't ridin' high on the eyelet you won't get the sub-surface action. It's Hot! :-*

... from Northern Kentucky,Greater Cincinnati area. I fish the Ohio River,Bullock Pen,Cave Run,Dale Hollow,Yatesville and Kentucky Lake.