Team9nine

And makes for an interesting AOY shake-up. Christie closes the gap on Palaniuk, and they both distance themselves from the rest of the pack, likely lead by Wheeler in 3rd. KVDs and Ashley's chances just took a major blow.

Yeah, probably not a lot of guys eager to take a 150 mile round trip beating to Ti and back - lol...or just not that many anglers in the area willing to pay to watch after back to back NY events

He was one of about 32-33 guys that had no marshal today to report in on BassTrakk...

I actually like H'birds 200/83 setting for deeper open water. Does a nice job painting fish arches. Straight 200 will get you better resolution though. Tough sometimes trying to pick out fish in a weedbed with sonar. Even higher frequencies like 455 kHz and narrow beams like DI often perform better in those instances.

Spikes, a.k.a. maggots. Order them online and have them shipped to you.

That's because it probably isn't true Line twist in spinning reels largely occurs when the number of loops that came off the spool doesn't equal the number of twists put back on the spool by bail rotation. How exactly you close the bail arm has nothing to do with that equation. It does have a lot to do, like the above two posters just mentioned, with loose line and trapping loops...but that's a different issue.

Be sure and punch the hook point all the way through the plastic, then back it off if needed. Depending on actual hook configuration, you might even try Tex-posing hook point. Beyond that, I like to just load up the rod with the reel first to start putting pressure on the fish and then pull hard into the fish once I know he's there. They rarely drop it, so you have some time. If you're trying to fish right in the weeds, then a different rig might be required. Also, consider switching over to a Brewer Spider Slider head for weeds, fished the same way.

Hard to say for certain. I'd suggest going to YTube and visiting each of their sites, as they have a lot of preview material from the DVDs there, and see which ones seem to fit best with what you are trying to learn. Search "Bruce Samson" and "The Technological Angler" on YT to find their respective pages and videos.

@IndianaFinesse summed it up. Ned likes to bite off a short piece of many of his plastics, but 4" is usually considered the limit. The more unfortunate part that started all the confusion was the coining of the term "Ned rig," which Ned was opposed to, at least initially. The actual term first defined by Ned was "Midwest Finesse," which was a more generalized system of fishing involving a lightweight mushroom head jig, and a variety of small soft plastics, all designed to be fished shallow, and largely away from heavy cover, in our flatland reservoirs. It is an offshoot of jig-worming adapted to the waters of the Midwest and Heartland. Intetestingly, this bunching is much worse with a TRD than most any other plastic...another reason to use half a ZinkerZ instead -lol. On the TRD bunching, if you simply pinch the head above the keeper tight and then pull the tail section of the bait good, it will snap back into place easier than trying to unbunch the extra snagged material. Other plastics - whatever you want to try. A small finesse worm is a must in my book. Beyond that, the ShadZ is a big favorite in some areas. In the spring or in murkier water, a Zoom 4" lizard or a tiny brush hog are little used killers. Don't limit yourself too much - remember, it's a style of fishing more than a specific bait.

I don't think you're missing anything, and side with you in this argument. Closing the bail mechanically, rather than by hand, should have no effect on line twist. It is likely tougher on the gears, and also more likely to trap those tiny loops of loose line that are the beginnings of an eventual wind knot, but not line twisting. Things like lures spinning, either on the cast or in the water upon retrieve, reeling against your drag, etc. are the primary culprits behind line twist.

You might check out "Dr. Sonar" and "The Technological Angler" (Doc Samson and Jason Halfen). I believe both sell DVDs and have lots of info on their respective websites. Jason is a 'Bird' guy and Doc has started expanding that way.

It's variable and will depend upon the rating used by a particular manufacturer (there is no standard). Understand that when considering absolute line strength, braid is the worst of the many types of available line in regards to knot strength. Knot strength commonly ranges from 40-60% of actual line strength. Manufacturers have to take this into consideration when rating their line (braid). They don't know which knot you'll tie, and how well you'll tie it. They thus tend to rate their braided line at around half actual strength to adjust for this, but again, no standard, so some will rate a little higher, some lower. Given the variability around knot types, I wouldn't be overly concerned as to ratings as a whole. Instead, its better to pick a brand and then get comfortable with the variations you see within a particular line so you don't end up surprised or disappointed.

Cool ?If I read it right, sounds like I was pretty darn close in my assessment. Learn something new every day...

I think MKK identified the overall structures and how to reference them, and J Francho just gave an example of a similar creature with the same features and nomenclature, corroborating MKK's assessment. I could easily be wrong, but I'm guessing Florida F&W won't have a clue, or at least won't have anything beyond what MKK posted. I think we'll also find out it actually serves no direct purpose, otherwise it would have likely already been named and described in literature somewhere. I'm thinking it's just a feature formed by the underlying structures, and nothing special or unique to bass, but be certain to let us know.

12' and less, often less than 8'. Beyond that, any depth within that range, not just on the bottom.

Palomar, for sure...

Pretty much nailed it. There are some lakes where there is plenty of oxygen below the thermocline to support a cold water fishery, especially in high mountain areas or in northern latitudes. These are frequently referred to as "two-story" lakes. Lakes with heavy current generation also tend to stay more mixed and may not form a thermocline. But for everywhere else, fish below the thermocline where there is minimal if any O2 are the exception.

I don't use the thermocline as much to "find fish" as I do to eliminate water - basically discounting anything underneath. A thermocline is just a form of "breakline," so look for where it intersects the bottom, preferably on or near structure or cover ("breaks") to locate active bass. With some other species of fish that roam more such as white bass, crappie, walleye, etc., using the thermocline as a "false bottom" can sometimes produce, especially trolling.

This was an older post from another forum that used to have some pretty heavy hitters on board. I believe by "pulses" that might be referencing ping speed, as you can go to Lowrance's website and read articles that state ping speed and scroll rate are tied together, at least on many older models. At one point it had been stated that Lowrance used the two terms interchangeably. I think anything higher than an HDS model now allows for separately controlling these two parameters though.

Shouldn't have, as far as I can tell. Nylon based lines usually don't permanently deform, or do so only minimally, and after your next cast, any built up tension should have been gone. Can't say I've ever experienced the same thing as what you're describing. Any chance you bumped some setting or spool control while winching the fish in?

If you've "adopted" these units like it sounds, I'd default everything back to factory settings because there is no telling what the previous owner might have done. Much better to start with a fresh palette in this case. Run them on auto for a bit to become familiar with them before doing a bunch of tweaking. Also, don't think you'll want 83kHz alone for most fishing. Either 200 or combined 200/83, but that's tweaking and can come later. Default freshwater will likely start you on 200.

This is the more debatable topic of the two. Theoretically, it shouldn't happen because sonar frequencies (200khZ, 455 khZ, 800 khZ) are well above the hearing range of bass. However, Doug Hannon believed that fish can hear the harmonics of sonar waves (not the "sound"). "Plausible" - yes; "Can" - maybe EDIT: Tracked down this opinion on the subject from Ralph Manns, whom I have great respect for: Although the fish can't sense/hear the very high frequency sounds of the pulses themselves, they can sense the low frequency pulses (the clicks, if you will). Even if the unit doesn't make an audible click, it vibrates and sends out a signal detectable by a fish's lateral line at between 50 and 150 (or so) pulses a second (depending upon the scroll speed.) Every fish these guys/gals haul to the boat is given a chance to learn and associate the sound with danger. The sound may be meaningless as it goes over an inexperience fish. But, during the trauma of being hauled to boatside and netted or lipped the noise and the unpleasant experience are easily associated. Bass are programmed by instinct and habit to avoid such unpleasantness. The use of a radically different scroll speed may make the sound/pulses different enough so that even experienced bass don't know they are a threat. If you must keep a sonar on, I do so when fishing waters/shorelines I haven't previously learned with a sonar, try running the unit either at max or minimum scroll speed rather than the manufacturers automatic settings. This one is actually less debatable, as there is some pretty decent evidence via diving and tagging studies that it occurs.

Lots of things are plausible, but some are more (or less) likely than others. There are few absolutes in fishing. Stand or sit in one place long enough and your shadow will become something that attracts fish

Not unreasonable, but it also shouldn't be expected. Every lake is going to be different. Bass have to be able to associate the sound with something negative relative to their well being. On most of the lakes I fish, that's probably hard for them to do. When you consider all the unusual sounds coming from dozens (if not hundreds) of boats on the water at a given time, why should they pay special focus on just sonar noise? Lots of non-anglers have sonar on their boats running at the same time, and there is likely no way a fish could discern a difference or make that association. On the other hand, a smaller body of water with little recreational traffic but heavier angling pressure might eventually learn that association, along with a lot of other cues like the sound of a lure hitting the water on a cast, or the sound or pressure waves from a trolling motor. The biggest pressure waves come from the boat itself, and I believe it was Tom (wrb) go on another thread mentioned seeing bass react to a boat passing several hundred yards away.

The two best "processes" for eliminating water I've come across in all my years and studies come from Rick Clunn and Buck Perry. Rick's stuff was captured in several sources including Bassmaster and In-Fisherman, among many. The I-F articles done by Paul Prorok, the same person who wrote Bill Murphy's book, are the best. Buck wrote "Spoonplugging," but also has many other articles and material available. Can't go wrong with either system, IMHO. Both will create a permanent foundation of understanding to build upon, something so many seem to lack in this modern era of instant gratification for success.