bigbill

I found the maori Fishing Charts; www.outdoorlife.com/article/Fishing/AUGUST-MAORI-CHART-21009326 I went by these dates and times for over two years and caught some awesome bass. I'm fishing from shore too. BTW; I have seen many deer on the move during these dates too. I'm thinking the moon also affects the land animals too.

I use BPS rods when there on sale. I'm cheap with rods and reels. I need good line over quality rods and reels. My tackle room is full of $5 to $15 rods and with reels from 3 bearings to 10 ball bearings. I do use excaliber silver thread line and cabelas bass pro line too (coploymere). I use the lesser ball bearings with spinnerbaits because the reels are looser to crank. I find the more ball bearings the tighter the reels are. If you making 1,000 casts it matters. I use the tighter reels on my livebaits/crankbaits till they loosen up then they go on my spinnerbaits.

I use a carolina rig with a 20" leader and two brass weights. I use a cone 1/8oz and a ball 1/8oz so they can make noise when i wiggle the rod tip. I rig the senko in the center for more action. I have had good success with both the senkos and the bass pro shops stick o worms too.

Have you tried the rattle bobbers yet? We used them with very small chartruece jigs for crappies they work awesome. I haven't tried them with bass worms or larger jigs yet. Sight, Sound, Smell and Vibration matters. Trust me when we have it all covered it works. With the rattle bobber just wiggle the rod tip just a little to call the fish.

I go to have fun and use mainly lures most of the time. I'm happy when i'm bass fishing and i'm also looking for that record breaker if it happens thats great if not i'm enjoying myself with the hunt anyway. Tip; When the bite is on and it slows down just upsize the size of your bait and see what happens. As evening approaches and we get less and less light and the bite slows down change to a brighter color lure.

How can you turn down when the maori charts says excellent, good or good early fishing? I can't I gots to go!!!!!!!!!! Nothing stops me. They say the gravitational pull of the moon turns on the fish. Again this is when the guys at infisherman say the record breaking fish can be caught. I'm just happy to catch a few fish at this time and if a large one shows up thats a plus. I have hit some bass feeding frenzys a few times and can't explain it yet to this day. Were talking from shore in one spot catching 19 bass on stop. Or nailing bass after bass for an hour and a half and i'm talking good size bass too. Fishing with my son catching doubles after doubles just before the rain hits about 2 hours before. Could it be the front along with a moon phase causing this frenzy? I would surely like to know whats going on at this time. I have caught about 30 to 50lbs of bass (LMB), large smallies, crappies the size of 5 gallon bucket lids and large sunnies too during these frenzy's.

I have been fishing by the maori charts which is the moon phases for many years. Then Field & stream discontinued posting them. I caught many bass by following those charts. When i caught my 10lb bass it said the fishing was "Good Early" so i went before dawn. I would eat, sleep and fish by those charts. I wish i could find them again somehwere so i could use them again. It sure made a difference in shore fishing for sure. They do say to fish 3 or 4 days before and after the moon phases. I know the Infisherman guys did a show about fishing for record breaking size fish by fishing by the full moon. www.in-fisherman.com/reference/solunar/IFD_solunar0708.jpg www.fishersnet.com/lunar.html If anyone finds the Maori Fishing charts please tell me. I followed the days and times exactly to the moon phases and did awesome fishing from shore. While its not a 100% given it did give me an edge following it. I really like the early am times when no one else is on the water or shore fishing its just me and the animals and the fish too. But being stealthy is the key to success too we need to be very quiet. Those big bass are right up against the shoreline. Thanks for the refresh everytime i stop following this i continue to be in a slump.

I fish the same places every year because of the easy access with the car close by.(disabled) I can't fish for too long. So I do more gunning and running from place to place. If the fish aren't bitting i move to the next spot. I fish from shore only. I'm around my 8th year of bass fishing and noticed how bad its been getting. Most of my places are fished really heavy. Even the pickerel i catch have been hooked many times too. I'm a firm believer that throwing the same baits every year the fish learn our baits. So every year or so I have to change my lures and patterns to continue to catch fish. But each year its getting worse and worse. Either i been in a bad slump or there are no fish left to catch. I'm not seeing the topwater breaks anymore either. I'm hoping the weather pattern has something to do with it(heavy rains). I slacked off this spring but i'm slowly getting into it now. I guess its time to relax and go out and practice my lures and presentations and just have fun. I haven't used livebait in many years but maybe some pan fishing is in order. The other day I was out and caught two 16" pickerel and even that felt great to catch something. Now that there is a steady heatwave here the PH will improve and the fish will be hitting. There's no topwater bug action at all too its that bad here. I guess the rain we been having even slowed down the hatches too. Bill Dance says when the fishing is off at your favorite places find another new spot. I say change our tactics and continue to fish till you figure it out. I don't give up that easy. In the summers heat its time to go plastics too. Hows the fishing in your area? BB

I've been told by many old timers to hit the rivers during the hot summers and fish the lakes and ponds during the spring and fall. But do i listen? Nope I go out at the wee hours of the mornings thats when the bass are on the night shift feeding.

You got lucky your at the right place for learing!!!! After all we never stop learing. I would read the seasonal articles here and read everything listed here too sooner or later you'll use all the knowledge you read here. If you not sure about something just ask someone here will answer you. To me this is the best bass fishing forum on the planet. My tip; I print out some of the stuff to keep it on my night stand and i read before i go to bed or even when i can't sleep. I like it within hands reach. Once you read and understand it its time to go out and try it. Nothing can beat time spent on the water fishing. I have a lot of fishing "how to" video's too which i watch all winter too. There is a lot to learn if your serious about bass fishing. In the beginning of my bass fishing I would take a handful of lures and just go fishing. I would try to practice my presentations when the fish would interupt me, i hate when that happens(just kidding) there really letting us know we got it right. On slow days I had a habit of rushing thru my lures with no success after using every lure in my tacklebox I would calm down and try each one again using all different presentations till i got a strike. My point is don't rush... I try to learn a different lure and pattern every year, sometimes i learn two new things and add that to my arsenal of baits. The fish will teach you!!!!!

I got into bass fishing with trout fishing equipment. Yup i was using a 5' med action rod with a cheap zebco spinning reel(very cheap, like flea market cheap) about 7 years ago. I knew after a while i needed heavier stuff for sure. Now my very first rod purchase was a Black Beauty 6' rod. I caught so many decent sized fish the foam handle finally cracked from bending or flexing. This rod took a beating in a little over 2 years. I only used one rod at this time. My point is when were first starting out we kind of weed or way thru tackle till we find something we like that holds up and works. What was your first bass rod?

Top water action is the best!!!!! My lures are as follows; 1. BPS topnocker 2. Bomber FAT A in redapplecraw size 05 (slow topwater they float) 3. Rebel crawfish lure in chatruse (slow topwater they float) 4. Panther martin size 06 with orange/red trailer(slow reeled) 5. Mepps inline spinners silver blade /brown trailer size 2 or 3(slow reeled) 6. Topedo's 2" size just rip and pause and repeat it exactly. 7. Joes Flies Bass size 1/4oz Using inlines I keep my rod straight up and reel slow just enough to keep my bait on the surface. In rivers i let my inlines go over rocks into the pools were the fish are. But in rivers here the Rebel crawfish crank is the best lure because there are crawfish shells all over the shore.(plentiful)

I've noticed that with heavy rain the bass can shut down tighter than a frogs butt. Using my old Combo C Lector checking the waters PH during this I found out thats the cause of it. The heavy rain can stirr things up and shut down the fishing. Now each place can be different too. I'm still trying to figure out what causes the feeding frenzy just before and during the light rain sometimes. The bass fishing is just unbelieveable at this time catching fish after fish. I know its the pressure thats doing it but how can i nail it down to when its happening so i can fish it more often. Sometimes it can happen hours before the front hits.(rain) Example; Fishing from shore I caught 19 bass in one spot no matter were i casted i caught bass. Another time i caught 40 to 50lbs of bass back to back non stop action. The action is better than watching the pro's on TV.

Never so far.... But i have seen guys fishing asleep at the controls so the bass swallows the tube baits or plastics to the point there guts are ripped out. My thoughts; One more question is how many bass do you take home each year? What size bass do you take? I take home 2 to 3 bass a year that are 2 to 3lbs to feed my abandon cats fresh fish. The US goverment did a survey(god only knows how much it cost us) on what size bass we can take so the bass population eco system isn't affected. They said to eat the smaller bass and leave the larger ones that spawn. My thoughts on this is the 5 & 6lb bass aren't supplying the bass population that much. Its the big gals 8lbs + up to 12lbs that most of us never see thats doing it. Trust me we have more big bass than we think across our great country.

They looked like sunfish and i caught a few of them that day inbetween the bass. Weird? One day there i caught a large silver fish that had baby sized teeth I thought it was a large salmon and found out later it was. I couldn't reach it and didn't have a net from shore so i let it unhook itself. I'll keep fishing there till i get pics of the pink/white sunfish. I've only caught them on one day in 5 years during a warm rain storm.(misty/drizzle)

I was fishing a bass bite frenzy one day in the warm rain. I caught 19 bass but also some large pink & white type sunfish. Has anyone ever seen these before? I was using a joesfly inline bass size spinner 1/4oz firetiger in the rain.

Fishing for large bass in small places isn't hard to do you just need to be very stealthy and fish at dawn or in the evenings. I prefer dawn just before first light the place is calmed down and very quiet except for the occasional surface burst(bass). You need to be very very stealthy at this time too the bigger bas are very spooky too. The big bass are right against the shore at this time ambushing bait. Walk softly too. As it gets lighter they go deeper into there heavy cover for the day.(sometimes) I have seen the larger bass show up during a frenzy with the smaller bass but they won't strike. Now if the smaller bass are striking and it slows down go to a larger sized bait. Then if nothing happens just change colors of the same bait. I'm fishing from shore most of the time and i walk softly and don't step on any rocks while walking too. Becareful with your tackle too. It has to be very quiet like your not there to sneak up on the bigger fish, there smart because they got that big..... ;D I was watching a large bass tearing up the lilly's and threw my BPS topnocker out there past it and brought it right by the fish about 6' away from it so i didn't spook it. I landed a 6lb1oz bass and while it was in my hands i watched the lilly's still being torn up with another big bass. My point is be quiet when you land a larger bass too there just maybe another one nearby..... I think we have more large bass than people think, there just not being caught. Baits; Rebel BIG CLAW crawfish lure Green/chartruese BPS Topnocker #25 green Bomber FAT A "05" in crabapple red Manns baby 1 in crawdad brown Mepps #3 silver blade/brown skirt inline spinner Mepps #4 silver blade/brown skirt inline spinner Joes Fly's Bass series all the colors. Don't forget the YUM or Baitmate scent too. Ever try a spinnerbait topwater? Just let the blade smack the topwater right and left on the surface. I hold the rod straight up.

A buddy of mine uses the towel that you add to the dryer to soften the clothes he hangs it on the rear of his hat. I use a good cigar when it gets really bad...

I switched to Excaliber Silver Thread Co-Polymere line a few years ago. I have tried Cabelas Pro-Line (co-polymere) line and its pretty much the same quality as excaliber silver thread. I mainly use the green colored line, it seems to disappear in the water too. On my carolina rigged rod i use a cajun red line leader (mono). I like the co-polymere lines because of less stretch which means quicker hook sets.

I always liked my rods at 5' or 5'6". I switched to using 6' and 6'6" rods lately and noticed my back hurts right away after making many casts with the larger rods. I like the longer rods for making long casts from shore. In the tight areas the 5' rods rule. I purchased some new old stock metal eye 5' rods for $5 and they work great.

Lets call it ignorant people; Me and my son are fishing a small body of water with no one around us. One guy shows up and pushes his way inbetween us and says i'll make one cast, then he leaves. Boy i was glad my older brother wasn't there, he could press a 175lb bar bell set with one arm. I'm sure words would of been said. I fish every morning with two other retired guys. Me and one guy are very stealthy, were serious about catching fish. The other guy comes late all the time and talks very loud spooking the fish all the time. Me and the other guy get there before day break so we fish before he gets there. I try to fish other places but the loud guy always shows up. My buddy is out in his dads new boat in longiland sound fishing. A guy speeds up and shuts his boat down and fishes while his boat hits my buddy's boat. My buddy moves and the guy follows him and does the samething again. My buddy pulls out his 45acp and says he'll put rounds below the waterline and the guy left. One time were circling a school of weakfish on the surface trolling in a big circle picking them off. When a guy fly's up and shuts down in the middle of the school of fish driving them down. I feel your pain too i have been there.

Just before day light just as the sky lights up in the east, i like to use a BPS topnocker color #25 or a Rebel BIG Claw crawfish the biggest one they offer (BIG claw). A few shots of baitmate on the topnocker and make the longest cast i can to scent the water to get there juices flowing. After a few casts if nothing happens then go to my rebel BIG Claw and cast it out and close the bail and yank it to get the lure down and reel it very slow. The BIG Claw even floats good to so it can be used as a topwater bait too. These are my favorite two baits for early mornings. If your fishing from shore be very very stealthy too, don't step on any rocks and walk softly. Put your tacklebox down softly too. Also wear dark colored clothes too if you can see the fish they can see you too. We have to be very stealthy like were not there that means very quiet.

I was fishing near a guy who always hollers out "I got another one" no matter what kind of fish he catches. I got on the bass bite with him nearby one night and drove him nuts I said i got another one many times. He just was quiet the whole time. Most of the time i'm quiet but if i'm using my heavy topwater setup i just say to myself, "fish you bit the wrong lure" and land it and release it of course.

Excaliber Silver Thread coploymere (no stretch or rubber band effect)

I used panther martin's and mepps for many years now. Another good one is the strike king inline too if you can find them. If you on a good bite and it slows down change colors and sometiomes size matters too. The bite will continue.