A-Jay
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Everything posted by A-Jay
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Yes- all on hook sets with braid. Various brands and all on the first or close to the first trip out. A-Jay
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As a Pats fan I am still recovering from last weeks cardiac arrest of a game with the Ravens. Though I'm hoping for a New England win, the Pats season has ended right here a few times recently. I'm wondering also if the Colt's D is having Nightmares about Jonas Gray ? A-Jay
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In several of my home waters, the thermocline is king. It can really be a huge help when it comes to finding fish. Here the "best spots" are where the thermocline meets with a funneling type structure which has hard cover on or along it in at least 2 or 3 spots. It's especially reliable if the cover leads all the way to shore . And it get's even better if there a creek emptying out right at the shore. The grade / incline of the structure plays a role that can be seasonal as well. Sometimes a steeper grade or incline on this structure is good, other times a more gradual slope works. Flat has never been good. Very often bass here will suspend out in open water just above the thermocline. Then simply swim right along (over) it to meet with whatever the structure & or cover is that's holding the bait they'e looking for. Other times this cover doesn't hold the bass per se but it provides an ambush spot for when the bait comes by. That's why a funneling type deal seems to be magic. The thermocline generally sets up at similar depths each season but some years it's a little different one way or the other so it pays to know your water. Something can be very bad one year and quite awesome the next. Of course, I could never say for certain if the thermocline was the primary reason, but when I do, it makes me feel like I have a clue. One of my golden rules is to stay as far away from the "route" as possible while still being able to make a proper presentation to my target(s). This appears to less critical at night. I like that. I need all the help I can get. A-Jay
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Nice - Now you're talking ~ A-Jay
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You're welcome. You can find the original hook sizes for the baits you've listed on the Rapala site (see link) http://www.rapala.ca/products/ultra-light-minnow As for a brand, Rapala uses VMC, which are good. I also like the Mustad KVD Elite line as well as Gamakatsu. Whether you choose round bend or EWG is a personal preference, they both work well. But be sure to select a wire size that's close to the original as many of those baits are quite light. If you "Over hook" you'll risk changing the action of the bait. Good Luck A-Jay
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And what about nick names ? Some of the guys already have good ones like The Squirrel and Boom Boom but we'll need more . . . Mark The Mutant Davis Todd The Freak Faircloth Shaw the Goon Grigsby Edwin the Eliminator Evers Greg Hacksaw Hackney Mike The Worm Iaconelli Aaron The Weed Martins I bet you can tell it's snowing & real cold here ? A-Jay
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LOL - I like it - I'd watch that. Think we'll see any face painting ? A-Jay
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Ish is a big Boy - if he connects with a wild over head Hay Maker - someone's going night-night. A-Jay
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This is one way to spice things up a bit . . . . A-Jay http://www.bassmaster.com/blogs/bass-pro-shops-bassmaster-opens-blog/tempers-flare-toho#
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Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ Though not familiar with your local tackle shops, if you are interested in making a purchase on line there are quite a few options. Let us know. A-Jay
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Hello and Welcome (Officially) to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay
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We hear it all the time - Sometimes it's all about The Spot on The Spot . . . . . . A-Jay
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That Duo has been a good bait for at least of couple of us on this forum, particularly for over sized brown bass. Depending on the bait & fish in the system you're fishing, that size bait can be good. And btw my previous smallmouth PB (6-4) came on a LC pointer 128 - So throw that bait with confidence. A-Jay
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X2 Another great option. Fishing from a shallow draft craft (canoe) I do this a good majority of the time; especially at night. Local waters are deep & clear and most have very little in the way of shoreline cover to hold fish. The first & second break lines hold a good majority of the fish, early & late in the season. When fishing on or near the bottom is the deal, fishing "Up the breaks" allows for good coverage of these spots with less possibility of alarming the fish of my presence. And if & when a particular break or depth is identified to be where the best bass are striking the bait, a parallel presentation can be employed which will help keep a bait in the right place longer. This has proven to be an excellent presentation approach for jerk baits and even some topwater action in this clear water as well. We'll see how it works with big swim baits this season. A-Jay
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Yes I do. Anchoring has always been a huge part of my game plan. Very few if any trips go by where I'm not anchoring at least a couple of times a day (or night). And like you, after reading Mr. Murphy's book, I adopted the twin anchoring system. Don't always use it for It's not always needed. But fishing from a canoe, the ability to lock down my position is quite valuable. Plus the arm & shoulder workouts are a most positive fringe benefit. A-Jay
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Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay
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Author ~ Dan Ashe First let’s start with the basics. Nearly everyone has seen largemouth bass in an area that has been swept clean near the shoreline during the spring. These swept areas are bass nests or beds. Spawning takes place when the water temperature reaches 60-75o F. The male constructs the bed and courts a female to spawn, where he then releases his sperm to fertilize the eggs. Fertilized largemouth bass eggs are yellow to orange in color. The male stands guard over the eggs to protect them from predation and continually fans the water to keep water moving over the eggs to keep silt from building up on top of them, while the female leaves once spawning is complete. Largemouth bass sexual maturity is influenced by size more than age, with most bass reaching sexual maturity with the ability to spawn at around ten inches. The largemouth bass in our lakes usually attain this size at about age two. Largemouth bass beds have been reported to contain anywhere from 5,000 to 45,000 eggs with the differences in number dependent on the size and condition of the spawned female. The time it takes largemouth bass eggs to hatch is highly influenced by water temperature with hatch time at 65o F being about 2 ½ days. Life for young largemouth bass is hard with very few surviving their first year. One paper I have found cited that only two tenths of one percent of young bass made it past their first year in an Alabama lake. There are several factors that are considered important in determining survival, most notably time of spawning, temperature, predation, and available forage and habitat. Generally speaking, larger bass spawn earlier than smaller bass. This characteristic is important to young bass survival. Fish that hatch sooner have longer to feed and grow before winter sets in and thus a greater chance of over winter survival. There is some debate as to whether bass populations with a large number of big fish have a distinct advantage to maintain a more constant and stable population in terms of steady recruitment. The down side of having an earlier spawning time is that these fish are more vulnerable to extreme temperature fluctuations than those that are spawned later when the likelihood of a spring freeze is less likely. Therefore, the debate goes on. I guess it all depends on what year you want to look at. Temperature plays the most significant role in early survival of bass, where it can influence entire year classes of bass. As stated earlier temperature determines how long it takes for eggs to hatch, the longer it takes eggs to hatch the likelihood of predation of those eggs increases. In addition, once bass hatch they are not mobile, they are still on the bottom of the bed feeding off a yolk sac. Again, the longer a fish is immobile the chances of predation increases significantly. Water temperature determines how long it takes for the bass larvae to develop and become mobile. At 70o F bass are able to swim in about 10 days after hatch, at colder temperatures this time is significantly longer. Once the bass fry become free swimming they must begin to feed within days or they will die. Bass fry initially feed on zooplankton (microscopic animals) and the amount of zooplankton is dependant on phytoplankton (microscopic plants). Lakes that are turbid, acidic, etc., generally are not productive in terms of plankton production, with low fish recruitment due to inadequate forage for young fish. Bass fry are voracious feeders needing to feed several times a day. Food passes through their stomachs every few hours. Over time as the bass grow they will shift to a fish diet. It is imperative that ample forage fish be available for both the larger and younger bass. Bass will always eat one another, but if there are other prey species available the amount of cannibalism will be less. A-Jay
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Totally a personal preference deal. I think I'm sort of old school in that I look at my fishing gear as "tools" So bright colors are generally a turn off for me. Just like a bright Orange Hammer or a Green Crescent Wrench. They'd work fine, but I just would not enjoy using them. A-Jay
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Yes, that's the idea. May make more sense when one considers that we as anglers are routinely looking for "ambush points". That's probably not because the basses prey makes it easy for them. A-Jay
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It's Official ~ The Winter Season has descended on the Bass Resource Forum. A-Jay
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As a young angler, seeing those huge Momma bass on the bed was almost more than I could stand. I just had to try and catch her. Sometimes I did but more often than not, I got a ton of flipping & pitching practice. Those days have long past & I’ve decided that it’s not for me. Since I do not stop fishing during the pre, spawn, & post spawn periods, I do catch fish that are full of eggs but I do not target them on the nest any more. I usually focus my efforts out off the bank looking for staging fish either waiting to go up shallow or may have finished and are post spawn. As for the effects on a fishery & the ethics of the practice, the debate will rage on probably forever. A-Jay
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On any given day, almost any of the suggestions given so far work. I've never thought of a Texas rigged worm as a "Reaction" bait, so I don't routinely fish it like one. However, one could look at it from the stand point of the Predator & Prey relationship. Most anything a bass eats is probably trying really hard to avoid that scenario. So doing anything that would draw attention to itself is undesirable and could lead to it's demise. Rather than hopping & popping the bait, there is a time & place where sneaking the bait along every so gingerly works well. Try to move it while imagining that your actually attempting to toss your bait out there and get it back without getting bit. Sounds kind of backwards I know but the bait is in the bass's world, and she knows it's there; without the extra action. You'll find yourself fishing spots slower and more thoroughly while at the same time affording your bait the time it needs to work it's magic. On a side note - this is not a bad approach for a jig either. A-Jay
