Shad_Master

When casting to a particular target, say a stump or log, cast beyond the target, then pull the lure back until it is positioned right next to the target. Then let it fall straight down on slack line. Reel up the slack and watch for the strike. This overcomes the pendulum effect.

I don't know how parasite clips work, I don't know why they work - I just know they work!!! BTW, I called our local Cabellas to see if they had some in stock several months ago and the computer showed they were out. Several weeks later I went into the store to check and was told "this is a BPS exclusive" - I asked them whey they had them in the computer then???? I haven't tried the weights yet, but do fish the clips along with regular bullet weights. They are awsome - I have fished with one set up for a whole day before without ever having to reset the worm or getting hung in the grass.

Matt Fly you are right and this is probably a topic for another thread - but when you look at the guys who are not qualified for the Classic and may not be able to qualify for the Elite series next year it kinda makes you wonder. When the world's "Greatest Angler" can't fish the classic, in my world something's wrong. Is it time for a Senior Circuit like they have in golf? BTW -- I am tickled to see Skeet get it and the race was awsome.

You know lovecrankin, I'm not trying to start an argument. You asked for opinions and I gave you mine. If tournament fishing hurt the fish all that much, I really can't see that any of the state management people would even allow it. There is no percentage in them encouraging something that will harm the fish. There is a lake near here that has at least one tournament every weekend during the season and some times two or I have even seen two clubs fish tournaments at the same time on Sat and then have another one on Sun. Why does everybody fish there - 'cause it's a great fishery. Some of the tourneys are C&R, others are weigh-in. During the hottest part of the summer, the DNR may require that they have a mid-day weigh-in. But I have never heard of any drastic repurcussions for the fish. The simple answer to your last question is - 'cause they bought a license, too.

It's hard to know exactly how to tell you to cure this problem, but in addition to the advice given above, you may want to think about your line. For DD14's, 22's etc. you may be better off with a monofilament line that has a little more stretch to it. JMO!

You must be talking about fishing with a jigging spoon - I plan on giving this a try this year and will interested to see what kind of responses you get to this. I have done a little bit of watching others do this and it seems to me that one key is to have a more limber rod than for general jig fishing, but I may be wrong.

Is it good for 'em? No, probably not - but then is it good for fish to be caught in the first place? You might want to talk to someone at your DNR - you may find out that someone there has a good understanding of fish management and would be able to answer any questions you had about tourney fishing. As for the "no wake" rule - this should be the responsibility of the tournament organizers and participants should be penalized for violating lake rules (BASS does this - Iaconelli a few years ago and Guy Eaker either this year or last year). My club has a "no wake - no pass for the first 30 minute rule" -- this means that noone is allowed to pass any other competitor under power for the first 30 minutes. The club will occasionally vote to suspend the "no wake" rule depending on the rules for the lake itself.

The key to avoid snagging lures like crank baits is to use cheap ones ;) The local BPS store always has their bargain bins set up with Pflueger crank baits that usually go for $1.99 a piece - last year I was going fishing on a lake in the fall that has tons of visible and invisible brush piles. I bought two of each kind of CB (total cost about $20). I threw them puppies into the narliest stuff you can imagine and never got snagged. Did catch a few fish on 'em, but never got snagged. Now I know for a fact if I had been throwing Lucky Crafts or some other high end lures, they would have been gone right away. JMO!

This is probably one the most often discussed issues in my local bass club - I have fished as a non-boater for the last several years and have experienced more than my fair share of instances where I would catch a fish on a particular spot and, after measuring it, writing it down on my points card and picking my rod back up, I find that we are anywhere from 100 yds to a 1/4 mile (maybe exagerated) beyond that spot. I have also seen guys move off of a spot and somebody fishing behind them move in a start picking up fish. For me the question is not so much how many can I catch, but how long will they keep biting once they start. Rule of thumb (especially in a tournament): Never leave fish biting.

I have hear Rick Clunn say that fish emit some kind of enzyme of something when they are fighting the hook, this can get the bass stirred up initially and cause a "feeding frenzy" but this can also quickly die out if it keeps up. The solution is to either hold the fish in the live well until they can be released in an area away from that spot or let it settle down before hitting it again. In answer to the question, "How many fish can you bring in in one spot?" -- depends on how many fish there are in that spot.

Our club hooked up with a local dry cleaner that offered embroidery services - the shirts themselves are the kind you can buy at BPS, Cabellas or other places and the design for the club logo is then sewn into the shirt, jacket, hat, whatever. If you have somebody in the club that can desing your logo, this may be a cheaper way than hooking up with some of these high end tourny shirt makers.

I have occasionally tied on a worm as a trailer for spinner baits, not buzz baits. Can't really say that this had made much of a difference though.

The "most" success I have had with lipless CB's has been in the spring when I would crash 'em into the weeds and then yank 'em out. I usually got bit on the yank. But they do work pretty much all year round. The best thing about 'em is that you can pretty much fish 'em at all depths and speeds.

Good advice above, but another thought (especially this time of year) is to drop the jig right in the middle of the brush pile or drop it right down the tree trunk. When fish are holding tight to cover you want to get it right in there with 'em. Swimming a jig can be a very good technique, but it doesn't work in every situation. You have to have some visability in the water for the fish to see it. Try parallelling the bank, weed line or rock line. If the water is pretty dingy try brighter colors for jigs (white or chartruese) - you may be surprised.

4/0 = can't get good action -- 2/0 decreased hook up ratio -- hmmmmmmm -- 3/0???

I fished a small lake this weekend -- air temps were in the low 60's when we got there and water temps were in the mid 70's. We immediately noticed that there was a serious scum on the water with lots of bubbling action. After about an hour we began to notice big chunks of "yuk" floating in the water. However, we found lots of fish along the shore anywhere from right on the bank out to about 30-40 feet in depts of 0' to 14'. After about two hours the scum had all dissapeared and there was no more "yuck" floating around. My guess is that the lake tried to "turn over" but the water heated up enough to stop it before it was done. We caught fish, but they were very selective about where they were holding -- stacked up on one brush pile and none on another about 30 feet away at the same depth. I think you are right that the "turn over" signals the beginning of fall patterns. However, I'm not sure how soon after the fish get active again.

I don't know the exact name of it - but I have been throwing a single blade Strike King buzzer for a couple of years (both black/blue and white). This year I tried the double blade version and didn't have much luck until a couple of weeks ago. Jury is still out on this one.

It's something I don't do as much as I should, mostly because I fish shallower water most of the time. It will work in shallow water, but it is more suited for deeper water where you can fish vertically (at least in my book). I have also been at a disadvantage for awhile because the depth finders in my boat haven't been working, but I am back up now and plan to locate some spots on my local lake where I can pull out the long spinner rod and shake a few in their faces. It does work, and can be a great technique - but it is a much slower presentation and you have to be patient. Also, don't try to overpower the presentation -- subtle movements, subtle strikes and less agressive hook sets.

There is a guy that I fish with that uses swimmin a jig as his primary technique. He uses a 3/8 oz jig most of the time and Zoom chunk trailers - they make one specifically for swimmin. A couple of tournaments back he caught fish in an area where noone else did, but swimming a white jig/trailer through fairly muddy water.

I use braided line (Power Pro) for all of my jig fishing - this helps me detect the strike and also to horse them puppies out of the narly stuff. I like 20# test (diameter of 6# I believe). You might want to give it a try.

Welcome to the itchy stich club - glad things went well -- sorry about your being out of commission. Might be a good time to clean out the old tackle box and start getting things "organized". That's what I do when I can't fish.

My guess is that you are not getting the hook set - I had this problem when I first started out as well and made that one of my goals one year. You have to yank on it like they just slapped your Grandma and then follow all the other advice give above. You'll get the hang of it!! But even then you will still lose a few - that's what keeps us going back for more.

I think it has to do with the vibrations as well and for this reason I often use a ring fry type bait, which works well a lot of the time.

Maybe the confusion is over the phrase "eat more" during hot water periods - I think the bass "feed" more often, but don't really begin to "eat more" until the water starts cooling.

The University of Oklahoma has had a good program that has produced some new concepts into bass fishing (Color C-lector and some others). I don't know if they call it "Marine Biology", but it might be worth a looky-see.