502largemouth

If its a small pond you are going to someone already told you earlier the waters will warm faster of course. I will offer this up. The pic under my name was a bass I just caught a week or so ago at a small golf course pond I fish. Right now they are hitting jigs somewhat but I am catching every one of them on a rattle trap. I throw it out, let it hit bottom, ****** it off the bottom with a medium strength pull and then retrieve it slowly bumping the botom most the way back. Now the spot I found to fish in is devoid of stuff to snag yourself on except the occasional leaf or twig that happens to enter the area from current so that may be a factor in whether or not you can do the same kind of cast and retrieve. Cyas, D

I think if I am not mistaken, that here in Ky last year, the water was waaaaaaaaaaaay up at the begining of the spawn and sometime during the spawn went back down. To me that would mean exposing some of the nests and ruining a good portion of the hatch. Im no marine biologist but that makes sense to me. But in answer to the question posed, no I would not and I do not think that removing a male always negatively affects the guarding of the fry. Just last year at a small pond, we saw a large group of fry and my buddy Jude ran his spinner bait right into the heart of them and got bit by a decent sized male that was guarding them. He threw it back in and we watched it swim right back over to where the fry were, which tells me they are fully capable of going back and guarding the fry after being caught. I am sure that every situation isnt going to be like that one but, what if........ And I do not eat bass unless its a striper. If I wanna fish for something to eat I am gonna nail me some crappie. mmmmm I wont mess with carp or cats....yuck, the dumpsters of the lake IMO. To each his own tho. Cyas, D

I gotta ask a few things after this past weekends foray into fishing hell. I posted before the weekend about me and my friend heading to Nolin. That didnt happen, its a good drive and he didnt get finished wiring his new electronics the night before so we had to do it once it got light out saturday morning. That ended up causing us to have to leave at around 11 am. Instead of going to Nolin we went to a much smaller impound called Guist Creek Lake which is much closer than Nolin is to us. Ok, we got skunked big time, not even a bite. Now I will say that the wind was blowing us around like a kite on the end of a kids string and the water for the most part was in the mid 40s. We did however find a few spots in the shallows with water in the mid 50s. Not a bite one though. Bear with me here cuz this really irks me and I have to get it out. So my buddy Dave told us when we got back, "I told you man, the fish just dont bite on the bigger lakes when the water is this cold". I think thats total horse crap. He and his dad live by the "the bite just wasnt on today" mentality. I think that the bite is always on, just sometimes its tougher than others. I also think Jude and I just didnt do what we needed to do to catch em saturday. I did a lot of head scratchin but I know we just didnt do the right things. My question(s): Am I right about the bite always being on, its just the angler not being able to find them and catch them? Will they bite no matter how cold the water? Why wouldnt they have been in the mid 50 degree water? This is their home, wouldnt they know the water was that warm in spots? And lastly, he swears up and down that pros dont have to fish this early in the year in water this cold.......to which Jude responded, didnt you just watch the classic? Correct me if I am wrong but isnt there a ton of tourneys during the winter that arent amateur tourneys, all winter long in fact? Cyas, D

picture of my all time biggest largemouth sent. Cyas, D

I think the two hardest techniques to get down are skipping and walking the dog. Anyone got any detailed tips on those two techniques? I would loooooooooove to have some help with these two. They are currently the two I have the most trouble with. Coming in a close third is just knowing some different techniques for a jerkbait, suspending and floating. Cyas, D oh yea, sorry if I hijacked your thread a bit memo, just thought it would be dumb to make a second thread about what is generally the same subject. And also, thanks for your service brother.

Ok, so yesterday, my buddy had a blowout that didnt result in an immediate flat, while hauling his boat. The entire width of the tread literally peeled off his trailer tire. It went flat while we were fishing and when I went to get the truck to get the boat out of the water, the tire WAS flat at that point. We changed it out, put the spare on and went home. It was after dark when we got home so this morning he calls me and tells me that the spare that we put on started doing the same thing. I think his tires are dry rotted. Can anybody tell me with certainty that I am right here and if so, whats an easy way to tell if your tires on your trailer are dry rotted? Scares me, if it blew I dont know, could we have flipped his boat on the freeway? Cyas, D

Hey Mike, would you mind at a later date if I email you with some questions from my buddy Jude and I about these units.....he just got one and we took it out yesterday and it was well.....confusing at best for us, hard to tell what we were looking at. Also, it was kinda hard to see the side imaging even on full screen, dont know if maybe we should go with the grey scale or stay with the blueish/black scale. Which is easier to read on a sunny day? We would have to kneel down or stoop over to read the imaging and well, you obviously cant fish while doing that. Thanks for any help. Cyas, D

Yea, I was gonna say something about that earlier too.....buzzbaits are almost my goto bait on pretty much any lake I have been on in Ky. I have seen my friend Chris catchin bass on a buzz in 43 degree water, partly cloudy, sun peeking in and out. I will most times hit that buzz right out of the starting gate, then move on to other faster motion baits till its solidified in my mind that they dont want motion, then I will move off to slower stuff, jigs and plastics ad the like, or slowrolling a spinnerbait over wood and killing it as soon as it comes over top good branches. Caught a ton like that. And yes, its close to mammoth cave, kinda, north of the mammoth cave state park. Cyas, D

cool, cool.....thanks for all the suggestions. I was kinda wondering about the jerkbaits, wasnt sure, was gonna wait and see water temp and all. And for the feller who asked where Nolin is in central Ky.....its south of etown in between Munfordsville and Leitchfield. Hope that helps. Cyas, D

Oh yea, I figured on definately gettin some use outta my blk/slvr buzz baits if its cloudy, hell I may even bust out the sammy or the ole spook. I always hear to throw spinnerbaits when its windy, figured I would give that a go on some windblown points and whatnot. I just so wanna do some med/deep crankin with my new rod/reel. Just got a 08 Clunn model at BPS and put it on a 7 1/2 foot BPS crankin stick med act/ex fast. I wanna use it, I wanna use it.....lol. Cyas, D thanks for the help bro

oh yea, almost forgot, its supposed to be in the mid seventies BUT it is supposed to be cloudy to the best of my knowledge with some wind maybe. Cyas, D

Ok, heres the low down: I will be going to Nolin Lake this saturday. Those who dont know where it is, its basically in central Kentucky. We have had a stretch now for a couple days in the 50s and 60s. It will be almost 70 tomorrow and it is supposed to be in the mid 70s Saturday. Nolin is usually stained to clear if I am thinking right. Just wonderin at this time of year with temps being what they are this weekend in this area, what any of you guys might think to do? Its a decent size lake, not a monster by any means but good size, lots of good cover and structure. The levels are about 3 feet over its winter pool so I would think a lot of the cover and structure thats usually submerged will be showing. Its not a super grassy lake. I dont know everything there is to know about the lake but I am tryin to give as much pertinant info as I can. Any help would be mucho appreciado. oh yea, and he just got one of the hummingbirds with sideimaging, so we will be probably messing with it a lot trying to learn as much as we can about it and with it......im pretty psyched about that. They look super cool to use. Cyas, D

Well, it makes sense I guess, from a conservation minded point of view but it still does nothing for the heartattack I suffered thinking about having to endure a time of absolutely no fishing no matter the weather....lol. Cyas, D

You know, I have to mention another one, he would have to be in my top ten and he's relatively unknown, Mickey Thomas. Ever since I read the BASS article about him and that young boy he met at a gas station on the way home from a tourney. What he did with and for that kid and the kids at his school I was speechless.....my girlfriend cried when she read the article. The guy carried mentally handicapped children to the local lake to fish, this guy is the poster boy for what BASS and the whole sport IS and should be. Cyas, D

Probably a tie between Timmy Horton and Mike Iaconelli. I always say that my dreamlist of pros to fish with is as follows: from the least to the most(5-1) 5. Rick Clunn 4.KVD 3. Timmy Horton 2. Mike Iaconelli and my pro I would most like to fish with for a day(not really a pro, I know) is Mark Zona. I couldnt imagine a more fun person to fish with for a day. Cyas, D

I remember a few fishing trips when I was really young with my grandparents. They had a lot at Nolin Lake we would stay at and we had to use cane poles with worms....lol. But....that didnt do it......... I remember going catfishing almost every night the summer of my 17th year with my buddy Scott. If we were awake, we were fishing. But.....that didnt do it........ What did do it was the first time I went fishing with my friend Jude...I was 34 years old. I had never fished with artificials, never fished for bass. I had a Zebco BossHawg catfish rig and a old side button baitcaster on a old 6 foot really floppy fiberglass pole. I tied on a texas rig after he showed me how and we went fishing after dark at Beaver Lake. We hit the lake at about 1030 or so. It took little more than an hour for me to catch a small bass maybe 1lb probably less. This was my first bass and later Jude and I laughed until we almost cried thinking about the fact that I caught my first bass on a huge catfish rig. Dont know why but it is funny now to think about using that rig to bass fish. Anyways, that night we fished from 1030pm to about 10am, we were almost out of trolling motor battery, fishing out of a canoe. We got onshore charged up the batteries for a couple hours and went right back out until about 6pm that evening when we had to come off the lake due to falling asleep in the canoe. That moment when I sat outside the tent, talking to Jude and waiting for the batteries to recharge was when I probably could safely say I was "hooked". I could not wait to get back out on the water even though I could barely hold my eyes open. Its as bad as crack......lol. CYas D

Bass Season?!?!? Is there really such a thing? Why? I am almost hyperventilating thinking about that.......a whole stretch of time that I could not fish no matter the weather......pull the plug, it aint worth it....lol. Cyas, D

Me personally??? I would use the slower one as a crankin reel. The two faster ones would probably be used as a soft plastic reel with heavier line for flippin into messes and getting out quick with the faster reel and/or a good buzzbait reel.....lol. Thats just me though and I am by far not a tourney pro. ;D Cyas, D

Shady, this is just the way it is.....I agree with you but it seems that anyone who isnt the quiet, reserved, alterboy on the lake during a tourney is considered a loud mouth and bad for the sport. I will never understand it, Ike and Charlie Moore together in just their combined four pinky toes do more for fishing than any 100 peopl who complain about them. Be positive, if more young people get involved in the sport how can it be a bad thing? I am 37 and the father of three and I would have no problem telling anyone in the world at the top of my lungs that theres my boy/girl, if they were in Ikes position and acted same as him. I would be so proud. Just my 2 Cyas, D

Thanks man, I will check it out, may be somewhere to go see it all, maybe I will just go to a buddy's house.....lol. Cyas, D

Just a question, does anyone know if there is somewhere on the net where it might be watched? I just got layed off and so did my girlfriend, we are on a pretty tight budget right now and I dont have that channel on my cable package. Its everything we can do to keep internet access to job hunt and deal with our unemployment stuff. Cyas, D

I gotta say that tangled trebles on the perfect cast is a big one for me, frustrates me to no end. My biggest tho, is trash at ANY impoundment, in the water or on the shoreline. When I take my kids out bank fishing, we always take a couple grocery bags or a small garbage bag and you should have seen their faces the first time I told them we had to clean the place up before we left, other peoples garbage included. Then that look changed to an "oh I seeeeee", when I explained, if it continues to lie here cluttering up the place, how long do you think it might take for the owner of the land to decide to not let people fish here anymore, not to mention that I am quite certain bass dont like swimmming in it any more than you or I would like walking in it. Cyas, D

Here is my only problem I have with a net, the dagone things always end up swirled around the trebles on my cranks and rattletraps, which is pretty much my favorite things to use. It occupies a lot of time getting the net strands out of the hooks, time that I could be using to catch fish, so this year I think I am gonna try to work on lipping them fast or using that tool they mentioned earlier in the thread. Cyas, D

I cant even type much of anything now, I am totally blown out by all this. I agree with the sentiment if someone doubts this is the place to come to, they need to stick to a bobber for bluegill....lol. I know I dont post much, thats cuz I am sooooooooo busy reading this stuff and taking it all in. Its as bad as trying to become a physicist sometimes I do believe. Cyas, D(the bassninja.....or at least an aspiring one)

its funny to hear someone saying they frown on using Zebcos for this but I have heard from MANY different anglers in and around my area lakes saying that it is the easiest reel in the world to get good skips with. I dont know this from experience of course, I am assuming that many people cant be all that wrong, especially considering that a good Zebco 33 will cast across Lake Erie if you had a heavy enough sinker and a helluva arm....lol. I really should work on this but I feel my basics are far from being completed enough to move on to advanced techniques like this(at least I consider it advanced after trying it a couple of times with a baitcaster followed by several minutes of expletives I cant repeat here.... ;D ) Luck to ya bro. Cyas, D