bigbill

I was lucky enough to get the calibration liquid with both of my Combo "C" Lectors. So far the one i've used and tested seemed ok. The brand new one i'm not sure about it yet. If we do a search for the Combo C Lector or the Color C Lector the story of Dr. Loren Hill comes up and how it took him ten years to develop it and test it. He also worked very closely with bass in the lab using different colored feeder pails. This is how he realized the bass do see different colors. Next month when i get my s/s check i'll order and test the new color selector in my favorite spot again.

I wish some people who actually used a "combo c lector" or a "color c lector" in the past and had awesome results would chime in here. I have heard from others that the color c lector has picked a weird color and they used it and it worked. Then they forget about using it again for some reason. I'm going to purchase the new color selector and try it out too.

Don't lose it yet, stay calm and regroup. I tend to calm down and start throwing stuff i usually don't use. Plus i will practice my presentations during the slow times too with different baits. This is a time to expand and learn more presentations and new baits. I always do this and a bass will interupt me when i get it right. One key thing could be the PH of the water were your fishing too.

Its overlooked and at the same time its right up there with all my hottest liures that i use. With the inline spinner if we adjust our speed they will catch fish most of the time. Inline spinners can be a given were going to land fish. I have enven dragged a panther martin in a stream over rocks slow and caught bass in the pools. Being a retired engineering tech i like to test everything and now i test lures to see if they work or not. I'm finding out that most will catch fish at onetime or another. Its just up to figure out when to use them and how to use them.

There is a reason why Kevin VanDam uses an older Combo "C" Lector. On tough days knowing what color to use can make a difference wether we go home a beaten fisherman or not. I've tested the older Combo "C" Lector and its proven its worth. I actually have two now, one is still brand new in the box. I'm not sure how good the new color selector is but it chooses the color only i believe. The older selector gives us the PH at what depth, the water temp and the combination of colors the fish can see at that time. The Hues in the water, the PH, the water condition and the sun make certain colors invisible at times for the bass. So the bass don't see all of the colors all of the time. Quote Bill Dance: If the bass could see all the colors all of the time there wouldn't be a baitfish left in the place. So the bottomline is color matters. My test of the combo c lector is as follows you be the judge; Day 1 The color was chosen by the combo c lector and it was "red". I used the bomber FAT A in redcrabapple and caught bass. I tried most of the other crankbait colors and none caught fish. I switched back to the red crank and caught fish again. Day 2 The chosen color was brown, I used the bomber FAT A in browncraw. Again i tried the other crank colors and nothing worked. I went back to the brown and caught fish again. Day 3 The chosen color was green so i used a Bomber FAT A in greencraw and caught fish. I tried the other colors with no fish caught again. I go back to the green and continued catching fish. Day 4 It chose a combinaton of colors so i tried the red and it worked, i tried the freen and it worked, then i tried the brown and it worked. This was a day when all the colors worked. This is why some colors don't work all of the time. And other day they do work. To me its lure size, lure color and our presentation. One color may land a few fish but the right color can load the boat. In the evenings as it goes from light to dusk try changing to a brighter color lure as it becomes low light. I've had the fish striking a joesfly blackgnat super striker in the light and as the bite slowed down i switched to a super striker in firetiger apache and the bite picked up again for a few more fish. Its the opposite from night to day. Again low light to bright light. At the point of dusk i use bright colored lures. At night its the larger dark colored lures. Each light dimention brings a different type of fishing. The waters condition matters too on what lure size and color plus the presentation to use. The game can change again. Its not luck in fishing its skill!!!!!!!

Color really matters sometimes and on somedays I think they would strike a bare hook when the feeding frenzy is really on. I carry all the colors with me (cranks) and i go thru a ritual of tossing different colors till one works. If i throw everything i have i go back thru them all again and slow down and try different presentations. So far with plastics, black shad, red shad, green shad/baby bass, electric blue, amber red flake and black have worked for me in the past.

I constantly use the mepps anglia #3 silver/ brown bucktail, the joesflies in super striker series in firetiger apache, the panther martin silver/yellow fly and the strike king silver black #3. Ocasionally i use the mepps XD3 in silver/silver/white tail. These have always been my go to baits when fishing is tough also. But sometimes color matters and sometimes it doesn't. I was catching bass after bass using a mepps #3 silver/gray tail and my son wanted to borrow one and all i had was the red/white brown tail to give him. We had so many doubles after that i lost count on both lures. BB

I may need a new truck because my jeep wrangler may not be able to tow it. I really got into bass fishing in the mid 90's. I would go bass fishing time to time but we mainly went after trout every spring and we would hit the lake a few times for bass. My tackle room has more stuff than the local bait shops. I was that good at bass fishing when my health got bad. I had to give up getting a bass boat back then. My bucket list is almsot complete with one thing right now left is to bass fish. My main goal is to break the state record for LMB. I've seen these fish and i know there out there. IRA's do come in handy.... :

The inline spinner has to be one of the oldest of the spinner type baits. It has been a really good fish catcher for me. The Mepps Anglia, Panther Martin and the Joesfly have been good lures. I'm thinking of retuning some inline spinners with larger blades. I did this one one of my hank parker classic spinnerbaits and it worked better at catching fish. I went up one blade size. I'm guessing the larger blade thump'd more. Now i wonder if changing the blade on an inline spinner will improve it too. With any lure i have learned about the site line in the water. Most of the time i will reel it fast enough to stay on top of the water first near the surface. If nothing happens then i adjust my speed so it goes just passed the sight line as to where i can't see it. If you can see the lure the fish can see you. But they seem to strike just under the sightline most of the time if there not hitting the topwater/subsurface area. How many of you guys/gals still use an inline spinner at times? I wonder if any of the pro's use inline spinners?

My wife suggested i get a new bass boat since i like fishing so much. I'm thinking next spring to buy one. I told her how much it may cost for all the bells and whistles. I'd be happy with a big row boat but she said "bass boat". I'm not sure what brand yet? I'm just browsing now.

Yup how late towards the fall/winter do you still fish? I was out in november with it snowing throwing a minnowbait and using a dying minnow presentation when i hooked into something really big.(jerk/pause letting it come up and swim down again) I use a HD bass rod 6'6'' and it had my rod almost in half. Even the cars going by were slowing up watching me fight this fish. It got off before i ever got to see it but it proves we can still fish late in the season before the ice is on. I guess there still looking for there last easy meal. Any thoughts on late season bass fishing? Now i have lost so many big fish i bumped up my line size. I'm using 14# test for my topwater stuff were i was using 8# test before. I hope using the heavier line isn't ruining my fishing. Lately i'm just on catching the fish i once was and i'm not sure why. Could line diameter affect your fishing?

Thats AWESOME!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!! We have nothern pike here in CT and i think there overlooked. We plan on going after them soon. BB In some of the smaller ponds/lakes I catch a 25" to 30" pickerel sometimes and what a fight it is. I don't mind taking a break catching bass to land a big pickerel. My point is i can't believe what a fight it would be with a northern.

My older brother took me fishing in the rain and i can remember it as if it was yesterday. I was 6yo then and i'm almost 60yo now. (retired since '02) Life isn't over as we retire its just another chapter in our lives. Now i have more free time to fish, to hunt and look at swimwear at the beach. Hey who has it better than us being retired???? So don't work until you die, retire early its not the end. There are so many things left to enjoy out there. If your young save for retirement NOW!!!!!!!!! I started stocking up on bass fishing stuff many years before i retired. My point is plan ahead and start saving today for the future, your future can be awesome its your choice..... 8-) My health isn't that great but i try to fish everyday and sometimes thats only 1 hour but i enjoy it just the same. I have good days and bad days but i still push it to get out there and fish. On my last day i'll still be fishing..... : I may get new knees like the 6 million dollar man soon then i'm good to go again.

I just tried putting scent on minnowbaits after i use them when i rebag them. I hope the re-freshness with the scent maybe a plus. With the cost of new bags of plastics it pays to bag them and reuse them. Tip; I also keep the plastics mainly out of my tacklebox that has cranks in it because of the salt in the plastics. My older cranks still look like new with no rust because there away from the salted plastics. When i get home i always leave my tacklebox open so the lures i used will dry out. I also do the same thing after being out in the rain too but i let the tacklebox dry for days. I also keep it closed as much as possible in the rain too. "No more Rusty hooks here". BigBill

I just got a Yellow Lab and i had him since he was very small. I take him with me and tie him to my chair when i'm fishing from shore. I'm hoping when he calms down i will have a great fishing partner. Plus a heads up protector. I'm sure he will warn me if anything is wrong. I fished this one spot lastyear and left at night. I was alone and heard some sort of strange sound in the woods. When i took the pup to this spot he looked across the water to the other side and started growling. From what i have experienced i figure its a bobcat, lynx or a mountainlion because they have been spotted in my area. Plus we have blackbears in the neighborhood too now. Taking a dog fishing could save your life think about it? I've heard some strange stuff at night while fishing. On one of the bigfoot reporting sights there is a report that nearby my area too. I have heard some strange howls at night too. I keep an open mind and i'm not sure whats out there but we ain't alone. I been face to face with mountainlions in VT too were there suppose to be extinct. A few times..... :

I just made a rig like a carolina rig with a 1oz bullet weight and i left plenty of room so the line can move with the fish not feeling the weight when it grabs the plastics. This should give me more time to set the hook. I'm trying this rig from shore hoping i can crash thru the weeds and get to the fish.

Top prop in Tri Alive "Fire Perch" This has been an awesome prop lure even with a pause they will strike it.(weedless) Remember to use a trailer hook too. Props are hot..... ;D BPS Topnocker color #25(topwater its the hottest lure there ever was too bad BPS discontinued it) Short pops will keep it almost in one spot and shallow too. Joesflies 1/4oz super striker Firetiger Apache. If possible i will run it almost on top or put it below the sight line. The inline spinners seem to be my hottest lure in the cloudy days with the light rain. (joes flies) Over cast days remember bright colors...... I also use brighter colors in the evenings as the light turns to dusk. When the bite slows down put on the same bait in a brighter color and the bite will continue for a few more fish until its dark out. If there is surface weeds i will make a few casts to clear an area of weeds so i can fish it with most baits. I also use a lot of weedless lures too like the mepps timber doodle, mister twister top prop, scum frogs and a plastic worm rigged weedless with an eagle claw weedless hook. We also have the option of using a carolina rig in the weeds too.

I fish a rocky point from shore and i tried a 3/8oz football green pumpkin jig with an FLW green trailer. On my very first cast i hooked up a bass. My point is we can work the rocky points from shore too.

Its the fall rate plus the size of the jig thats different. We need to adjust our presentation between the two different weights too. Hopping a 3/8 jig when compared to a 1/16 is way different. You need less force to move the 1/16oz jig. Remember in clear water its smaller natural colored baits fished faster and in stained water its larger sized brighter colored baits fished slower.

Rather than use a full bag of plastics I put a few like two or three in a zip loc bag. I carry an extra zip loc bag to put in the used plastics when i'm done with it. This way i'm not ruining the other new plastics with the used wet one. Then i can reuse the used plastic bait again, over and over and i'm not wasting any new plastics. Its saving me lots of $$ right now. When i end up with a few bags of used plastics i pass them on to other fisherman mostly kids and i explain how to use them.

Back in the early 70's we used a split shot rig with a creme 6" black worm. We would use a sewing needle to thread the snelled #2 hook into the worm were the lump in the body is. We would put the leader half way thru the sewing needle and pull the leader thru the worm starting at the lump in the worm. Once ots threaded we would pull the loop thru the rest of the way out of the worm. We would put the split shot were the loop is. We would anchor the boat just off the weedline and cast into the weeds. Then the waiting begins. After 3 to 5 minutes we would move it a little. Don't forget to watch the line for movement too. This is an awesome way to fish for bass. I have used it from shore with good success too. The split shot rig is a very old idea but it still works today. Back in the day the culprit worms with the colored tails were the hot setup on the split shot rig too. Warning; The only problem we ran into was the heavy weeds once the fish was hooked. We normally used 10 to 12lb test and heavier line. The bass would come up under the biggest ball of weeds you ever saw. We never lost a fish in the weeds. If you lose a fish try using a scent on the next cast. I fish senko's at first with no scent. If i get a strike and miss the hook up i use scent next and i can bet the farm i hook the fish on the next cast. I'm a firm believer in worm rattles too but i haven't tried a rattle with a slpit shot rig yet. I think the more edge we have the better.

I been using the white spinnerbait skirts with the blue or purple hue to them. They seem to be the best here in CT along with the hot chartruese skirts.

Fishing in the light rain is awesome but the heavy rain can stirr up too much bacteria and change the PH of the water for a few days. There's a pro and con to fishing in the rain. But i have seen bass catching frenzy's prefrontal, during the light rain and when the rain lets up for a while between rain storms. I think overall its the low light situation that causes the bass to feed more. The weather front also triggers something in there bodies too so they put the feed bag on. I have hit this frenzy a few times now and i have caught weird colored fish during this time too. They look like white/pink sunfish/crappies. Others that i have met fishing have caught these white/pink fish too. I have no clue as to what they are. I'm thinking its the frontal plus the moon phases that can cause this feeding frenzy I hit sometimes but not as often as i would like to see. I just can't nail it down as to when it happens. Its probably more complicated than i'm thinking it is. One time fishing from one spot from shore i caught 19 bass back to back. Another time i probably caught about 50lbs of bass, i lost count as to how many bass i caught. Another time me and my son caught doubles for an hour on mepps inline spinners. The inline spinners like mepps and joesfly's seem to be the best lures during this time with cranks second a close second. I swear the fishing is so hot a bare hook would work too. It can be non stop fishing, a bass per cast. My older brother always told me to stay going and the fish will turn on sooner or later, he was right.

Try bluegill and sunfish colored lures in the early am. I use a few different lures in the early mornings. I use a deep 10' diving rebel BIG Claw crawfish, a BPS Topnocker (topwater). I been using a norman thin "N" in bluegill too.

Here we go; I get dressed and put my shoes on the sameway everytime I get up early to fish. (3:30am) Then i'm very very very stealthy and make no noise when i'm at my fishing spot. I even got blackbears and bigfoot beat when it comes to being stealthy. Trust me i got bear and bigfoot stories too. :