senile1

Welcome to the forum, Mike.

I like a lot of the combinations already mentioned. I tend to use one big Colorado blade and sometimes two depending on what is working. I also use chartreuse or a white/chartreuse combination on the skirt color in sizes from 3/8s to 3/4s depending on the conditions. Once we reach the heart of winter and water temperatures are 33 - 38 degrees I don't have much luck with spinnerbaits. With water temperatures in the 40s the spinnerbait is still a viable option.

That's a nice bass!

Beautiful hawg, Goose! And those "smaller" fish aren't too bad either. And you are so right about those water temperatures in the 30s. The drop in activity level from the 40s down to the 30s is very abrupt.

Welcome to the community, Bailey.

Welcome to the forums, Gail.

Welcome to the community, Connor.

Welcome to BR.

Welcome to the community.

Welcome from KC.

I tend to use the rifle approach. Keep in mind that lakes can change over time and the characteristics of particular locations change. Ten or 15 years down the road, a prime location now make have lost what made it such a good location. Silt fills in drop-offs, breaks rot or wash away, etc.

Firstly, you didn't indicate in your original post that this thread was only about America (the United States in particular, I assume, since we aren't the only country on the North and South American continents). Secondly, it can be a good thing for us to listen to the point of view of people from around the world. Carry on.

Hello, Kansas City area bassers: I just read in the KC Star this morning that KVD will be doing a seminar at the Kansas City Boat and Sportshow on January 20th, at 4:00 and 7:00 pm. The show runs January 19 - 22 at Bartle Hall. The paper doesn't have it on their website yet but I found it on the Sportshow link below. I hope to see you there. http://www.kansascitysportshow.com/

There is some good stuff here. I would like to explore some examples other than craws. Bluebasser stated above that he can't buy a bite on Rapala lipless baits. If you've been around here enough you know that BB is no slouch at catching bass. He seems to always figure out a pattern and put some fish in the boat. This is a good example of a quality angler who has a particular bait that just doesn't work for him. I think we all have a bait or two that just doesn't do the trick for us but we see them work for others. As individuals, maybe we catch on to different baits at different rates so we use these the most. The baits that take us longer to catch on to maybe don't get enough time on the end of our line for us to break through that barrier where we figure them out enough to develop some confidence in them. Raul is another good example of a good angler with a particular bait that just does nothing for him. These are two good examples of what I am talking about.

Give those craws a nice effort and let us know how they work for you. I agree there is a lot of hype for Rage Tail baits, and in quite a few cases there is good reason. I'm not saying you think this, but I hope that the assumption isn't that most people who use them and like them do so because of the hype. Being one who is put off by joining the bandwagon just to be on it, I waited quite some time before I ever tried them. I was very pleasantly surprised when I did. It is normal that different people will find different baits that work best for them based on confidence, the subtle differences in how each of us moves a particular bait, one's zodiac sign, etc. Occasionally a bait comes along that seems to work for most people. Maybe we should see some more challenges on here to use other baits that anglers feel are the cat's meow. I won't be offended. If someone challenges me to use a bait and I discover that it helps me catch more and bigger fish, it will be worth it.

lol, I'm the OP . . . just used them as an example.

I agree with you about there being no magic to any lure. The point of this thread wasn't to rave about Rage Tail craws. In the Rage Tail thread that I referenced there are those who said they didn't catch much of anything on Rage Craws but they did on other Craws. That was just an example thread that made me think about this. We could be talking about any class of lures but what is it that makes one work for one person and not another. It could be a Stanley spinnerbait opposed to War Eagle, or a Strike King Crankbait versus Rapala. I knew the membership here would provide some interesting answers to this quesiton. .

I haven't used all of the Rage Tail baits but the craw is a must have for me, whether t-rigging or trailing it on a jig. Different strokes for different folks.

I was reading the Rage Tail Challenge thread started by RW in the Fishing Tackle section and I noticed that many people swear by Rage Tail Craws (that group includes me) while other's can't catch anything on them. It always intrigues me why one lure works for one person while another person can't buy a bite with it. I suspect it relates to the subtle differences in the way each of us works a particular bait and one person's set of movements works better with one lure over another. That would seem to explain why one angler kills with the Rage Craw while another kills with a Paca Craw for example. This can apply to plastic craws as in the referenced thread, crankbaits, lipless cranks, spinnerbaits, worms, and any other bait you can think of. It seems that everybody has one particular lure in a class of lures that works best for them. I suppose it could also relate to the possibility that a particular lure is more appealing to bass in a particular geographical area. So what are your thoughts on this? Why is it that two anglers can have such different results from the same lure?

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Mike, and thanks for all the great advice you provide.

Right back at you, Glenn! Merry Christmas to you, Keri, and your family. I hope all at Bass Resource will have a Merry Christmas. If circumstances are such that some of you in our membership are looking at a tough time this holiday season, my best thoughts and wishes go out to you.

Welcome to the community, Steve.

The subject of barometric pressure arises occasionally here, and the explanation for air pressure effects on water pressure, as provided by waskeyc, has been discussed as well. I think the empirical evidence would seem to indicate that there is something more than just barometric pressure that affects a bass behavior after the passage of a cold front. Many have stated that when a strong front passes the upper layer of water becomes unstable and since a bass is cold blooded this instability affects the fish in a negative way and it tries to escape to a more stable environment. What is involved in this instability is anybody's guess - temperature, pressure, light, turbulence, water clarity, all of these things, or maybe none of the above. It would seem that just a few feet of depth adjustment would allow a bass to escape the changes that we are aware of, so why would bass curtail their feeding and activity to such a degree if that is the only adjustment needed? However, we know that this does occur and the question remains as to why. I don't think anyone really knows the answer. As to Sam's suggestions, I believe advice from professional anglers can definitely help us to improve our capability of catching bass when they have lockjaw. However, some professionals still repeat and do things that conflict with science. I wouldn't expect them to provide a better scientific explanation of why bass behave the way they do. We know that bass behave this way and we know we have to adjust our tactics but we don't necessarily have to know why to catch them, though it would probably help. I would look to marine biologists to find the best scientific answers, but if you want to improve your angling abilities then look to the professionals. Regarding Homer Circle, I find him entertaining. As stated, he has participated in some studies but I wouldn't use everything he says as a basis for scientific arguments. That doesn't take anything away from his knowledge of how to catch fish however.

Welcome to the community.

Welcome to the community, Neil.