A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

In the Old Town - very little relatively speaking - half to a mile or two max. In the Lund - could be a little - could be a lot ~ really only limited by time, weather and ensuring I have enough petrol to get back to the ramp. My distance traveled is almost always directly related to success. Doing well usually means less fuel usage. So that's a Win / Win right there. A-Jay

Nice Selection Blue ~ I may have made that same order myself - at least once. A-Jay

LOL ~ Now look who's not right . . . A-Jay

When the water gets cooler or even cold - my "Jerkbait" becomes a "Pull-Bait" I catch a whole lot more fish this way. Watch this clip. A-Jay

Hello Mike and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Yolotek - The Boom camera mount. A-Jay

This should help ~ A-Jay http://www.yakangler.com/kayak-rigging/item/1219-how-to-stick-decals-to-your-kayak

They can only play the teams on their schedule - still have to win them. Every teams roster has 50 or so full grown & prideful athletes who do not want to or enjoy losing. A-Jay

Me Too . . . A-Jay

Nice Pike Tim . . . You got me on that one. A-Jay

Sometimes a man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do . . . A-Jay

Glad you're feeling better Best of Luck to you Sir. A-Jay

They have a good team this year. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Berkley Powerbait Beast ~ Fortunately I managed to secure a "career supply" in advance of this bait's mysterious banishment. A-Jay

That's the sheer Beauty of a Public forum - once you put something in print & push that magic submit button - it's out there for the whole world to see . . .and save . . and copy . . and re-send . . you get the point. A-Jay

Sure. Not much to it. The AFW product is knottable. So it's easily added to the end of whatever one is using as a mainline and then secured to either a small clip for easy bait changes or directly to the bait. When I'm in "Tooth-Ville" I use this stuff for most every presentation; including but not limited to, crankbaits, lipless baits, spinner baits, chatterbaits, swimbaits, jigs, Texas rigged plastics, and even topwater frogs. I use a uni-to uni knot for connections to mainlines, including braid, and a single uni knot for securing the bait. There has been mention here and in other threads that bass may be "shy" of this product. I have not found this to be the case and use it with the utmost confidence. And to convince myself, when I first purchased the product I used for a drop shot rig. LMB & SMB ate the presentation without hesitation. After that I felt very comfortable in it's use with moving baits. Still do. A-Jay

And it's only December First . . . . . . . . This shaping up to be a doozie of a winter already A-Jay

Good Question ~ I'll say that if your gear includes 8 lb test or lighter - It's Finesse. Anything with stronger line is Power Finesse Perhaps the Name of the approach is not the important question though - what I want to know is, if you hooked up or not and what was the bait & color ? A-Jay

"Spoonplugging" ~ first published in 1965 and written by E.L. "Buck" Perry who is widely Known as the Daddy of Structure Fishing - In this book the author covers a ton of truly solid information (without a lot of wasted motion). And although a good bit of it revolves around the Spoonplugging presentation, the vast majority of it is IMO pure Gold. At the time of it's writing, bass fishing was by today's standards in it's infancy. Anglers had little in the way of electronic assistance. Which makes this one even more impressive. It's a fairly famous writing and if you've read it previously, I'd encourage you to read it again - Slower. In Pursuit of Giant Bass ~ written by Bill Murphy in 1992. Again another fairly famous book. This one too centers it's info around a particular presentation - "Stitching" which a very slow & light weight way to present a plastic worm. But well beyond that, the book offers a ton of info that I have found extremely useful as far as helping locate bass. Perhaps more importantly, Mr. Murphy's approach helped me look at my own mental focus & modus operandi to bass fishing. This one's worth the time. Sowbelly ~ written by Monte Burke in 2005 - this one for all practical purposes is purely recreational reading. It allows the reader to relive the Obsessive quest for the world record bass during the early 2000's time frame. It focuses on the Giant California trout eating bass and some of the more famously dedicated anglers who chased them. So start a fire, pull up your favorite chair and have fun. A-Jay

Thanks & You're Welcome Hard water season is when I do most of my Light Reading as well - I'll post a short book list in a bit - there are many threads on the good bass book subject here if you'd care to search Also as for "Getting Good" with your gear - I can relate to that for sure but in front of that for me is being safe & having fun. I had to learn how not to become a victim of my own enthusiasm - seems to get easier with age, but only a little. A-Jay

I use the "Wire cutter" portion on my fishing pliers. Never tried a pocket knife. A-Jay

There are many truly outstanding books & articles on this subject. Some good ones right here in the BR article section. Over the years I’ve read quite a few. There’s a lot to know & learn about locating bass. I’ll also say that reading about it and then applying it is not that easy, at least for me anyway. There’s quite a bit of trial & error as it seems much of the bass in my local waters have not read the same publications . . . Seriously, although I try to keep it all as simple as I can, sometimes it doesn’t feel so simple. And as the wide variety of variables are added in, this simple act of bass location starts looking and feeling more & more complicated. Beyond what are semi-predictable seasonal patterns, the day to day (or even hour to hour) location has always been one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle for me. Often I feel that IF I can find them, I can usually get at least a bite or two. In today’s Information filled world, and depending on the body of water, there are often any number of “reports” available to the motivated searcher. Past tournament results, release points, stocking program schedules & actual fishing reports can help. I use none of these, mostly because that’s just not my style, plus up until this past season, it’s been largely unavailable for much of the water I frequent. And before I go further, one caveat is as a recreational angler and not a tournament angler, I don’t have competitive time constraints or a monetary motive. So although I do prefer catching over searching, I know it’s part of the process and don't feel the “Need” to rush it. “Eliminating Water” isn’t always the best of times but the reality is – It’s fishing. So besides the actual spawn – which usually makes big bass location as easy (relatively speaking) as it will be perhaps all year, my bass locating routinely revolves around 4 basic concepts. Places that offer safety, comfort and / or an escape route for the bass. Places that offer feeding opportunities for the bass. Places bass use as travel routes and / or places that they stop and hang out at along the way. And finally places where the bass’s prey / food source either live, pass through or spawn at. A spot that satisfies one of the above can be good and places that combine two or more can be better. One of the more challenging decisions I make each trip on the water may be which one to focus on. There are many different ways to break all this down, that’s my somewhat abridged version. Now I mentioned that I like to try to keep it simple. But again when considering all the variables that can & do effect even this short list – it’s easy to see why bass location can be a daunting task, especially for a novice or on really big water. Some base line knowledge of bass behavior, preferred water temps, how & where feeding habits, understanding the weather & winds and how they can & do affect the bass, their environment and their available food sources. And that’s just for starters. The advent of electronics is Very helpful but not a guarantee. This season I had a serious upgrade in my fishing platform which included DI & SI and most recently 360 imaging. Definitely helped me locate structure, cover, bait and a few bass. However without the knowledge & experience I’ve gained over the years before having this, it may not have been as helpful. In other words I’d rather have the knowledge and minimal electronics than the reverse. I see myself as a student of this stuff, even today. And if I’m lucky I get to learn something new every trip. Doesn’t always happen but I’m looking for it eagerly. Anytime & Every time I locate bass, as nice as it is to hook, fight & land a big Fatty, the most beneficial part of it will Always be if I can come to some realistic & useful conclusion as to WHY. A-Jay