basswest1

Yes, in most situations, in winter, bass do move deeper. They will be in main lake structure..........where points meet channels, bluff banks, and other deep water. One of the best winter structure and cover for bass is vertical cover and structure. Bluff walls, trees, and other vertical structure gives bass an opportunity to go from shallow to deep without useing much energy. Energy conservation is very critical in winter..........they dont want to move around alot. There are some situations where bass are shallow even in the coldest monthsd. Like when the water is muddy........now if you have a choice in this situation steer clear of cold, muddy water.......it is probably the worst situation you can encounter..........but if you had to fish this situation.....most of the fish will move directly into cover on the shore. another situation where bass remain shallow is when you have a day or two of extraordinarily warm sunny days in winter.......at which time bass often come shallow to warm themselves.......and they become increasingly active.

Normally in winter, early spring and late fall.........the best times to fish is around noon.........the fishing only gets better as the day gets warmer..............the opposite may be true for the warmer months (unless you know where to catch midday fish).

Yep......i live in Nor Cal and am familiar with your style lake.........First of all........the weather should be your starting point when trying to figure out what to use.........id say since its been getting colder and its been raining for the last few weeks that fish arent going to be so active..........usually stable weather improves fishing but im not sure that that would be the case right now........i feel that these fish are going to slow down quite a bit...........however.....the Smallmouth and the spots might be more active than the largemouth. Personally i would go down the bank and fish a suspending jerkbait. The water temp is just clear enough for this presentation. I would use either a Rapala X-Rap or a Lucky Craft pointer. Try fishing it different ways......fast, slow, erratic,.......you are trying to pick up on the more active fish. Cast parrallel to the rock banks. If this fails to produce...........try a jig. This is going to be your go to bait.........get a 1/4oz-3/8oz football head jig......match the jig to the color of the rocks or.........go with a brown and purple skirt........and use a big jumbo pork frog.......you want a slow fall. Fish the jig super slow........crawling it over every rock.....and pay attention to every little bump. If it gets sunny for you that day...........then you should really move faster............theres nothing like a good warm day amongst a series of cold dard days.......the bass are likely to move up on those bluff banks and they will probably be fairly easy to catch.

I would definintly choose a Senko or french fry type bait..............because they have little action to them and you can fish them super slow and still be affective....................I love to use Senkos on a C-rig...........its one of my best producing plastics for this style fishing. With these lures you can still tap into that baitfish look...........and the low action.....high profile of the bait is perfect for winter situations.

No, bass will bite any time of the year..................they always have to eat. Though they still eat during the coldest months........they dont eat as much. Bass are cold blooded animals......which means that their blood is or is close to the temperature of the water. So when it gets really cold the bass' metabolism slows down.......so they take longer to digest even the smallest amount of food. Also, since the bass doesnt have that much energy they are less apt to chase or strike at a fast moving lure. So at this time of year its important to really slow down and place the lure right infront of them. Lures like jigs, suspending jerkbaits, spinnerbaits with big colorado blades, and others which can stay in the strike zone longer are key lures. Remember..........baitfish are at their biggest at this time of year and bass would want to catch a big meal instead of a small one so think bigger......yet slower.

No.......you dont need a $100 reel to get started...........I would suggest in getting a cheaper Shimano spinning reel........even the cheaper Shimano products are very high quality............when i was little the only reels i would buy would be the $25-$30 Shimano reels..........Then to get started with a rod i would pick a 6'6" Medium-Medium Heavy action rod. There are a wide variety of affordable, high quality rods to choose from........i wouldnt buy anything less tan a nice graphite rod.........even for a beginner. As for lures to use.............I would make a slow transition.........as a salmon/trout fisherman you probably didnt use many plastic worms........but you probably used spinners and small crankbaits. In that case i would start out with using spinnerbaits or crankbaits....buy the clothspin style spinnerbaits and inline baits. Then when you gain confidence in your ability to catch fish with these move on to another style bait. But if you insist on starting out on plastics..............I would recomend using soft jerkbaits such as fluke style baits, slug-o style baits or other plastics which immatate an injured baitfish. The lure company called Zoom makes a Super Fluke which is my lure of choice. With these lures you want a Wide Gap style hook.........Like the style which is made by Gamakatsu. You want to rig in Texas style without weight..........go to your local tackle shop and ask for a demonstration on how to texas rig. You want to use about 10lb test monofilamant. These baits are good for clearer water not muddy water. What you want to do is after you cast these baits out you let them drop to about a foot or more under the water......then you make sharp erratic jerks towards the water or to the side with youre rod tip. After each jerk reel in the slack.......but do not move the lure with the reel....just the rod tip............you will find that the lure will move very erratically darting up down, sidways, and so on. This technique is a visual technique........most of the time you can see the fish hit the lure........or come up to inspect it and refuse the offer. The reason i preffer to teach people this technique as their first one is that i belive that learning to impart the correct combination of actions into a lure to make a fish bite is the best way to learn the feeding habbits of the bass. by being able to see what actions make bass bite.........you will grow a sixth sense which will help you find bass and be able to predict the correct technique to catch fish. Dont take everyones advice and forgett your own on the water experience.......it is important to formulate your own confidence baits..........and as a angler for another species you have a feel for the way fish feed and their behavior.........do not believe that the bass is so different from a trout or a catfish or a redfish.............they have many differences yes.......however they are not as different as most people belive............i once fished for everything.......until i found my real passion......bass fishing.......but i did not throw away all my knowledge from my past experiences with other fish........i used them to enhance my bass fishing abilities. Good luck.

I just wanted to drop in and wish everyone a merry christmas! We should all be thankful to have such a wonderful sport like bass fishing. I do not know of any other sport in which its participants are so down to earth, and good hearted as the bass fishing community. I am extremely proud to call myself a bassfisherman. I am amazed at how the bass fishing community as a whole is committed to improving the environment, and our communities. The American Dream lives in each and every one of us. God Bless.............and for christ sake......get a line in the water.

Well..................as always everything im about to tell you comes from my experiences.......my tried and true confidence techniques and equipment. Equipment: As far as my equipment for flipping and pitchin goes..............i pretty much use two different rod and reel combos. The first one is my flippin gear............i use a Shimano Crucial 7'6" MH flippin stick with a high speed reel..........mine is a left handed Shimano Curado Super Free. I use the left handed model even though im right handed because its more efficient.......I dont have to switch hands after the cast...........Most people who flip use a H to X-Heavy model.........but i like the MH model because i can give a more natural presentation............and i have a high hook up rate with the no stretch braids i use for flippin heavy cover. The second rod and reel set up is my all time favorite rod for pitchin...........its a Shimano Crucial 6'10" X-H with the same reel..........I love this rod for jigs, and pitchin tubes, creature baits...........and even heavy spinnerbaits. I can be extremely accurate with this rod. This is the rod i use most of the time............especially around wood, docks, and bridge pilings. As far as line goes..........i use different lines for different situations.........my line type and size is dictated by water clarity, depth, cover being fished and the lures that i was using. When i am fishing clear water i like to use florocarbon lines.......their low stretch, low visibility, high abrassion resistance is perfect for pitching into heavy cover like fallen trees, rocky cover, docks. As for floro size i use 17lb in low cover, and 20 to 25lb in higher cover. In stained to muddy water or in really thick cover i like to use braided lines..........usually i dont go any stronger than 35lb test because ive never ever broke off a fish on that size braid (except when fishing frogs).

Yep.......there is more damage than i first saw..............however it is all to the wood in the transom.....its all dryrot........no fiberglass damage. I still bought the boat because it was still so d**n cheap and everything works..........ive mapped out how i want to replace the transom by myself and its going to cost around 500 dollars...plus alot of time...........but you know what.....$500 dolars is a very small price to pay to have a sturdy bass boat in the end. Im going to relace ALL the wood in the transom with brand new marine grade plywood. I am really excited to work on this boat............it is going to be a fun but hard project. Im happy with my purchase because it was a boat which was taken care of however because of its age the wood is in need of replacing. The Engine, Trailer and Trolling motor alone are worth more than what i payed for the boat..........and since there is no leaks or cracks in the fiberglass all i need to do is redo the transom...................which i think is going to be a great project. Thanks for the info fellas.

Prepare yourself for one more of my book-long reply...............heres a bunch of information about jigs..........however my choice in rods, reels, jigs, line and so on is based on my confidence in those things......you should use this information as a starting point......then through YOUR on the water experiences find your own confidence baits, rods, lines...........ect. Jigs are extremely simple looking.........they consist of a leadhead, rubber or hair skirt, a hook, and in some cases a rattle. Though it is a simple looking bait............it is one of the most versitile baits...you can shake it, jump it, swim it, pitch it, flip it, through it in heavy cover or no cover at all. You can fish it on bright sunny days, dark ones, in all seasons, in clear, stained or muddy water and so on...........The key to fishing jigs effectivelly is recognizing the subtle differences in each bait, and knowing when to take advantage of each subtle difference. Head + Line Tie: The head of a jig is a very important part of a jig. The shape of the jighead is a part that you must consider when picking out a bait for a specific condition. A big round or football shaped head is a great choice for fishing rock or gravel banks, and also in woody cover........a round or football head style will actually give the bait a better action when crawled along clean bottoms. On the other end of the spectrum a head which is very streamline with less resistance will go through cover better. These baits are best used for throwing into thicker cover like vegetation, brush............The angle of the line tie is very important also. A line tie at a 90 degree angle is best used for clean bottoms, due to the fact that it gets stuck in thick cover. A line tie that comes straight off the nose will be best suited for thick cover and pitching situations. I like a line tie placement in between at about 40 degrees for most situations.....other than the extremes at both ends such as thick cover or clean bottoms. Hook: Now the style hook that is on a jig is highly overlooked. Hook diameter is very important. If you are going to be flipping a jig in heavy cover with heavy equipment you are going to need a hook that can pull a big bass out of thick vegetation without straightening out. On the other hand if you are using a finesse technique with light line it is really hard to pull a thick wire hook through a bass' mouth without breaking the line, in those situations you are going to need a light wire hook to be able to pull the hook through the bass' mouth easily without putting undue stress on the line. Skirt: I like rubber skirts better in most conditions, however...sometimes when the water gets really cold or their are smallmouth in the lake hair is best because hair has more action than rubber in cold water, and smallmouth really like hair jigs sometimes. I like to modify each skirt by cutting them to about 1/4 of an inch below the hook. Weedguard: Simple rule: The heavier the cover the stronger the weedguard. It is important to trim a weedguard right out of the package. Take the weedguard and trim about 1,8 of an inch off of it. Trim paralel to the hook. Colors: If i am fishing clear to stained water in most conditions i will match the color of my jig to the color of the bottom or water. If the bottoms a greenish brown then i will be throwing a green pumpkin. If the water is a emerald green then an effective color could be watermelon. In muddy water i want a bait with a big silouet which means i will use a dark color which shows up well under the situation. Sometimes the rule might be broken under special situations.......like in spring in texas......the crawdads tend to be red so naturally red shades might be better. Spotted bass and smallmouth sometimes like chartruse so sometimes a jig with 3-4 strips of chartruse tend to be best. Tackle: The tackle you fish a jig on can be equally important, though everyone fishes them different with different preferences. These are my preferences and why i like them. Rods: My favorite rod is my 6'10" Heavy-X-Fast Action Shimano Crucial casting rod. I love casting and pitching with this rod. It is easier to be more accurate with it than my 7 footers. I like the Heavy power on it because i can pull bass out of really heavy stuff, and i like the fast action because i can really drive that hook through the fish in an instant...........and its super sensitive, which is a real big part of jig fishing.........you need to know what your bait is doing at all times. If you are doin some really heavy cover flippin techniques then naturally you are going to need a flippin stick. I have a 7 and a half foot MH Shimano Crucial flippin stick. Most people prefer a Heavy action flippin stick but i like to use braided lines alot in heavy cover and because braids dont have stretch i like to use the softer action rod so i dont overpower the fish and pull a pair of jaws instead of a whole bass out of heavy cover. Reel: I always use a fast speed real with jigs so i can pull them out of cover really fast. I use a 6.2:1 Shimano Crucial SF. Line: Line is also a very important factor................In a perfect world i would use Florocarbon lines for all but the thickest cover situations because florocarbon has all the qualities im looking in a jig line its more durable than mono, it has less stretch which makes it much more sensitive, and it is invisible to the fish.........but since most of us cant afford florocarbon line all the time (i rhyme on my days off....redneck rapper) I use alot of Trilene XT because it is very abrasion resistant and it is also pretty invisible to fish.........and it doesnt have too much stretch as far as monofilament goes. When I am going into deep deep cover and flipping usually use braid............personally I like Fireline in smoke because i have confidence in it and because it has low stretch, it cuts through vegetation and has very high abrasion resistance. As far as what pound test i use...........I use nothing less than 12# and nothing more than 35#. I use lighter lines for deep water fishing and when I dont have very much cover to worry about, and when I want a faster fall..........because a jig will fall faster on 12# rather than 20#. Usually when pitching to docks and around wood and vegetation I like 17-25# mono or florocarbon. In deep vegetation im going to use the heavier lines in either florocarbon or braid. I could use braid in more than 35# but i dont feel i need to.......ive never broken a bass off with 35# test so why would I want more? The best advice i could give is for you to use what you have confidence in. Always pay attention to what a jig is doing and pay attention to the little details. Theres more so if you have any more specific questions i can answer them.

Well think about it.........do the ponds have everything needed to sustain schooling baitfish such as shad? Shad and similar forage feed on phytoplankton(algae). They also require specific amounts of oxygen and a specific PH range. Most real small ponds do not have the right conditions for schooling baitfish like shad.

Im going to be a first time boat owner soon. I am getting a bass boat with a 75horse Suzuki on the back and I wanted to know what would be the best thing to do to it to clean it up. It works and all but I just want to change the things that should be changed and all. What would be regular maintnance that I would need to do on it?

Im looking at buying a 1989 TideCraft Bass Boat. The boat is a 16ft Fiberglass model. It comes fully loaded with a 1989 75horse Suzuki, which when i took it for a test drive it started up every time and drove like a dream. It comes with a brand new Motorguide 65lb thrust foot controll, 2 hummingbird fishfinders, two livewells, the trailer, and everything else...........and it all works flawlessly from when I drove it. The hull has absolutely no noticable damage........no cracks and very very very little dents.........which is amazing for the age. The only real dent i saw was next to the trolling mottor near the carpet which doesnt effect anything. The only real problem with the boat.......which i thought was big at first untill i inspected it and then i saw it was not that big of a problem..........was the transom............The actual metal plate which the motor rests on is loose. The plate actually moves about half an inch. I thought that this plate was actually holding the motor on, however the motor is actually holded on by 4 heavy duty bolts which go throught the back of the boat to the supports inside. These bolts are extremely sturdy and do not move at all. The reason the plate moves is because the holes which the bolts that hold the plate on have opened up through years of driving down a long bumpy road, so there is more play than their originally was. ALSO because this plate has been loose the metal trim (which in this model holds the top and lower layer of fiberglass together) around the back has puled back with it.......only about 4inches. When i took the boat on the lake we only needed to turn on the bilge pump once to pump out some of the water which made its way through the crack in between the trim..........there was only like 3/4 of a gallon though. I am going to improve the situation by taking a piece of heavy duty aluminum and have a metal shop angle it so it fits over the back of the boat so the plates bolts can go through that. By doing this the plate and the 4inches of trim that is loose will be pulled into place. SO.............i know i wrote alot about what was wrong with it........it is really small though........its just hard to describe in a small amount of words. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE BOAT IS WORTH? CONSIDER THAT I AM GOING TO IMPROVE THE SMALL PROBLEM ON THE BACK.

I did pretty much the same thing last year for a school project. I ended up writing a letter to one of the most important people in the world of bass fishing (I will not disclose the persons name). Now we are good friends. This is the great thing about our sport. Compared to other sports like football or nascar the athelets of our sport are much more accessable to the fans. You may think that these people wont give you the time of day, that they have better things to do, but really these guys want to help you out. In a way its almost their jobs to help you out. The more publicity they get and the more people (young or old) they get interested in the sport the better it is for their careers. My advice: Do your homework. Go onto the internet and go to several pro's actual internet site. Find an address. It doesnt have to say : Home address, because it wont. Usually it is an address where you can send an order form or something for a product that they sell. For example Mike Iaconelli sells his book: Fishing on the Edge, on his internet site. The address that is given there where you are to send your check is more than likely a PO Box or personal home address which he checks when he can. These guys usually run their businesses out of their home. Point is: There is a good chance you can reach them personally through these addresses. After you get addresses of a couple of pros, maybe 5, send them a really nice sincere letter, where you open by telling them how thankful you are that they are helping the sport grow, or maybe congradulating them on their recent or past achievments. Then get into business. Remember, just do your research.

Ablefisher- You are half right. The actual front preceding the high blue skys is low pressure. However when I say a cold front is high pressure I am refering to the blue bird skys after the stormy or cloudy leading edge. These clear skies are known for there high pressure. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Barometric pressure is a pain in the bass. I get so confused sometimes. The last thing that I need when I am in a turnament is to get preocupied with barametric pressure. However it does matter. To better understand why bass act like they do because of barametric pressure it is best to understand what BP does to a bass. BP effects a bass' swim bladder. The swim bladder is an organ in a bass which helps the bass maintain equilibrium in the water so the bass doesnt have to keep moving its fins and expending energy to stay at a certain depth. The the BP is high it pushes on the SB and the fish sinks or uses alot of energy trying to stay at a depth. This is why high pressure cold fronts often result in inactive bass which are wedged in cover or are on the bottom. When the BP is low the bass becomes more boyant. They dont like the extreme on either end, but preffer it stable.

One of the most important tools to have to break down a new lake is a map. once I have maps from a couple different companies I try to find areas which fit the seasonal needs of the bass (depending on species of bass.....spotted, smallmouth. LM). For example in spring I will look for protected bays with shallow flats and preferably a sandy bottom. In fall I look for secondary points leading into feeder creeks where shad will move into. After I find a likely spot I look at each individual map and see if any of them show something that the next doesnt in the same are.. For example one map might show an old roadbed while another does not. I will look for very subtle changes in the bottom of the lake. If I really wanted to get technical I would call local tackle shops and marinas to find out when they are generating water or what the water level is at. Next I actually go to the spot that I chose. Usually the spot is as big as a major bay, tributary arm, main lake channel, or slop bay. I begin working my way from the mouth of the bay, creek or channel with a fast moving technique such as a C-Rig, crankbait, or spinnerbait and try to find the most active fish. When I find a good concentration of fish I then note when, where, how and why they bit and try to replicate the pattern. Next I will slow down and use more thourogh techniques and try to catch the inactive fish. Really all I am doing is breaking down one likely area of the lake and finding what the fish are doing in that one spot. I dont tend to worry about the whole lake. For example it is true that bass do not spawn at the same time at a certain part of the lake. Some people will go all the way to the end of the lake to a place they have not studied thouroghly and fish for spawning bass. However some times it is safer to stay with the post spawn bass at the other end. I do this because I know where the fish were and if factors change I have a good idea where they were. For example...... if fish are off the beds they havent gone to the other side of the lake....theyre still there. They are just down a little deeper or in cover. I also feel that looking at the characteristics of the lake are important. For example in California there are deep clear canyon resivoirs such as shasta and oroville. In these lakes there is no vegetation, little timber but there is an abundance of rocks. They are extremely deep where bass are caught up to 100' deep. When fish are that deep weather isnt as much a factor as a shallow southern lake such as Okeechobee. Also unless the dam fell apart the dam wont generate enough water to creat current which doesnt dissapate all the way up to the top end. Also fish tend to stay deeper in these resiviors, staying on bluff banks. Sorry that I wrote a book on the subject, there is much more factors, however dont make it hard. When you work too hard you tend to think about what the bass should be doing and not about what they are doing. Just fish.

I often fish lakes, ponds and other impoundments that lack open water forage such as shad, pond smelt ect. During the fall different things happen at different parts of the country. For example...A lake I fished recently in Connecticut which one of the main foods is bluegill, still had vegetation such as lilly pads various submerged vegetation. The bluegills however were totally gone from the shoreline. The lake was very clear and was 30ft at its deepest with weeds to about 15'. The fish were suspended over the 15' weedlines. They were actually on the surface. On calm days you could see the bluegill's backs just poking out of the water. Rarely would you see them strike the surface. You would just see their backs, there would be hundreds of them. I would just cast a grub, tube with a slow fall and work under the school. Down south however, like in florida where I am right now, the bluegill will stay in heavy vegetation in the shallows. During bright days I will find a nice patch of HEALTHY vegetation with a channel edge swinging close to it. What would even make it better is a stump or brushpile placed right on the weed edge. Earlier in the fall bluegills will be shallower. later on in the season they will pull off onto deeper outside edges.

Once you have found out a pattern, modify it. Look for the cover you were catching them on but look for that cover near deep water, channel bends, main or secondary points. If you are catching bass on small patches of millfoil look for a patch of millfoil on some kind of drop, creek bend or other subtle structure changes. It is true that big bass are found near deeper water, so look for the cover that works but make it work better, by modifying the pattern.

As with everything in bass fishing there are alot of factors to work in when reading structure. Is there current present? If yes it will, in most cases, position fish in eddys or any current breaks, behind the structure. They will be waiting there to ambush prey that are carried by the current. If it is real sunny in summer or the post spawn bass tend to prefer the shade. Not because it hurts their eyes, but sometimes it gets really hot and it helps them ambush prey. The reason I say summer and post spawn is because in those times of the year bass tend to position themselves in the shade more. They will look for shade all year but the shade is important in these times. In the spring the bass may prefer sunnier sides of cover because they are bedding and they need sun to incubate the eggs. In the winter bass will seek out the sun and sun themselves. Look for the shadiest parts of cover. It isnt all that complicated. Fish the moment. Think about what the bass are feeling, what would give them an edge to capture prey.

Raul, how old are you? Just curious.

Like others have said, its a totally different presentaion. Sometimes it is the really key technique. I catch more fish swimming a jig along docks in sunny, protected coves in the prespawn than with spinnerbaits but I have more luck with spinnerbaits in other times of the year. Its a finesse version of the spinnerbait. Try it when fish are active but they dont want a spinnerbait. Just play around a little bit. Find what works for you.

There is a good chance that bass are close when there are baitfish around. Topwaters may work good. I would pick a popper or a stickbait like a zara spook or LC sammy. Personaly as a soft jerbait fan I would choose a Zoom Fluke in a color pattern similar to the baitfish. Preditor fish such as bass key in on baitfish that are moving erratically or are injured. This is why I like soft stickbaits. You can move that bait in very erratic ways. Also you can move faster and try to throw a crank or spinnbait. Also senko type baits are great too. Drop them right through the middle of the school.

There are many things that brueses or sorres could be. For example, in the spring many fish have the bottom half of their tails worn to a gnarly looking sore. This comes from the fish actually fanning the bed. The sores you see are most likely some kind of parasite or even another type of fish like a Lamprey which attatches itself to a fish and actually feeds off of it.

Other topwaters should work well too. Try using a popper in a bluegill or sunfish color. Try different retrieves. Real slow, real arratic and fast or dead drift. Try small shallow diving crankbaits like Strike King's Model 1.