gobig

You know what would have a bigger impact? Stop sending all the water down stream for political reasons and stop spraying all the weeds so some yuppie on a bike path doesn't have to see them.

I believe that the moon does have an effect on fish and all wildlife for that matter. However its just one of many variables. I believe it has an effect on how bass position to structure in the water column. I know Butch Brown has strong feelings about moon rise and moon set and he has caught more DD's than just about anyone. One thing is for sure bass live by there own set of rules and nothing is absolute.

As mentioned boat control is learned and wind is just part of the game. One thing that really has helped me stay in contact with my baits in the wind is keeping the rod tip as low to the water as possible.

Baby trash fish.

#2,#3 and #4 should handle most all crankbaits.

Time of year and type of lake would have a lot of impact on my selection.

In that price range I would look at Okuma or IRod. Both are decent rods especially for the money.

I have used quite a few water proof systems over the years between water foul hunting, fishing and snowboarding. There are only two that I have really felt fit the bill. That is Gortex and Columbia's omnitec. The biggest reasons are breathability and durability. If you sweat and it can not escape you might as well wear a wet suit. I will add that I bought a shimanno rain jacket and its great for warm rainy conditions.

There is no special drought lure, use the same lures that you would normally use this time of year. The fish will use different areas that are better suited for the current water conditions. These places are usually close to the old areas. If the lake is being drawn down the fish will tend to suspend.

Give Bill Cook a call. His number should be on the CTT website. Dobbins is running his own circuit this year that is a similar format. So I am sure that's what he will promote.

70 deg water and foul hooked fish, sounds like bed fishing.

Alberto knot

You are far better off buying a hudd.

Striped bass have coexisted with these so called threatened native fish for more than 135 years and black bass for 140 years. I would say that the threat is probably not the bass but man.

Voting seems to have become ceremonial at best.

There is a such thing as immoral laws and I feel we have a duty to disobey them. We have the ability to overturn bad law through the court system in the form of jury's. The real power lies in jury nullification.

It is a cool bait as mentioned. I use a swivel on mine also. The line twist can ruin new line in one day. Especially as you start to fish it around weeds.

I am in no way trying to discredit Matt Allen in the statement I am about to make. Matt knows his stuff and he is the kind of guy I was referring to in my original post. But I disagree with the comment completely that someone may be mislead because of where the guys live, that are sharing information. Thats like saying you can't learn about crankbaits from KVD because he is from Michigan and your in California. Here is a short video of Matt Newman getting it done on Clearlake when its 35deg out. I am pretty sure Siemantel did a show on Pedro a while back in the winter where they got some giants.

"I am not trying to be the best at exercising, I play real sports." Kenny Powers

I have spent a fair amount of time dedicated to big swimbaits. The more time you put in to them the more things you will see that defy traditional bass logic. The best advise I can give you is to never stop asking yourself questions like "why wont a glide bait bait work in the winter?". One of the things that you will find is that a lot of the advise given is poor advise. There are a lot of internet anglers out there and many of the guys that do well are not open to sharing. Question everything and put it to the test. I suggest finding all the info you can from Mike Long, Bill Siemantle, Butch Brown and anyone else that is having above average success. The learning curve for throwing big baits is slower because in most cases you are eliminating at least 80% of the fish population or more. To answer the your question the reason soft baits work so well in the winter is that you can fish them much slower and deeper than hard baits. Fish have a tendency to go deep this time of year and bass theoretically move slower. One turn of the handle can take 10 seconds or longer, a single cast can take 10 min. There is a lot of truth to this and this may be the dominate winter pattern but people get stuck in this mindset. I have caught my fair share of fish on wakebaits, glidebaits and other hard baits in the winter. Oh and contrary to popular belief bass will still go a long way to take a lure in the winter.

I would bet money its clearlake. Looked like the henderson point/horseshoe area.

The only part of the article that I found off base is when to throw big baits. Big baits work year round. He is doing it wrong.

Nothing is sacred with todays technology in depthfinders. Besides if your doing your research your going to be sharing a lot of spots with others. I would be ridiculous try to fish and not hit spots others have shown me in the past. Where I see it being an issue is when it effects a current tournament.

Ill chime in as soon as I have some time.

The rat is an awsome bait. Don't get hung up on the idea that you can not fish them around mats. Its obvious that you can't fish them over mats but you can fish them on the edges and in open holes. People tend to limit themselves because they can't fish a bait from start to finish on a cast. Like any other bait its not going to work all of the time. Contrary to what some will say I have caught more rat fish in the middle of day rather than early morning or evening. Nite time is another story. I have had most of my success around trees, riprap and rising water.