Chris

It might be a pond that is to small to hold a big bass. carp are goldfish and can grow big in small water catfish are in the same boat in respect that they can grow big in small water. bass and bluegill grow big if the pond has room to grow and when you have high populations the fish don't grow big.

Bass in clear water are sight feeders bass in lakes that are always muddy are not sight feeders and rely on their other senses to feed. if you take a clear water bass that is a sight feeder and dump it in a muddy lake it will take a few days for it to adjust and will become less of a sight feeder and use more of its senses. Bass that are blind isn't much different than the bass in muddy water. Muddy water fish in bodies of water that are always muddy are easier to catch than clear water bass because the muddy water hides mistakes. These bass are also less spooky and you can fish closer to them. if your fishing a lake that is normally clear and then becomes muddy those fish are going to be spooky and are going to take time for it to adjust to the water but after they do they become easier to catch.

If i sit there and tune a bait by tweaking the pull point and i just have a crap bait last resort is to shave the lip. When your doing this you are shaving the side of the lip not the front. sometimes the molded figure 8 on the lip is off or there is to much plastic on one side than the other because the lip wasn't set straight. If the bait is running right shave the right side left shave the left side. make sure you do this in real small amounts and check it how its running each time you shave it some. Sometimes the weight isn't set right and the bait will not center itself which will also put the bait off tune. You fix it by adding weight in the center of the belly and center of the bait. You can use suspend dots or that tungsten sticky weight stuff and it will fix it. Golf shops use sticky lead like suspend strips to balance golf clubs so if you can't find suspend dots try there. If you want a bait to dive deeper you can add weight right under the lip this makes the bait point nose down when it floats on the surface and the lure will dive more like a fat free shad or a DT lure. You can also shave the front of the lip to a knife edge point which will cut the water and help it dive deeper. Another thing i do when i want the lure to dive deeper is to use a worm weight threaded above the lip this helps battle line floatation. Also where you weight the bait changes the action of the lure. Sometimes when i have a lure that is hard to cast because it is light i add a larger treble hook on the back to be able to cast it better. I also change the front splitring to an oval ring. I also sometimes remove the splitring to change the action of the lure particularly with jerkbaits. Where you set the knot changes the action of the lure.

what are some things you do to tweak a crankbait to get the most out of it?

If I am fishing deep fish i look for the thermocline and find structure that is sitting at that depth. I do this because they are going to be the most active. Depending on what kind of cover is sitting on that structure depends on what i would use. I don't want to be donating lures for the cause so i choose accordingly.

You take away the 411 calls then lets see who the big dawgs are.

change it up avid reel reel reel pause reel reel pause reel jerk pause ect.

It was the bait monkey talking to you that told you to buy that stuff to keep him happy. Ask Raul I have a core selection of lures and colors that i stick to and lures that i use in niche situations. My niche lures do something that my core lures don't do and have their place.

When in doubt set the hook if it fights back 10 to one its a fish.

If I sit down and talk about a lure or presentation or product I can go into great detail as to why it works how it works and why I use it. I have a great deal of knowledge about lures and equipment with a background of tournament wins or top finishes to back up that I know what I am talking about. I am able to communicate techniques in a easy to understand language and also understand the science behind fishing and why fish bite. When I start talking about fishing people want to hear what i have to say because they learn something new. I have a large base of fishermen that I speak to and teach how to fish. I write articles that are published in print and websites which highlight techniques and tips. when I say product xyz is a good product people who know my background take a look at the product. Why because I don't promote garbage. I have built a strong reputation and following because I take the time to teach people how to fish and give good information in the process. I don't just say buy this lure its my sponsor I use this lure believe in the product and company and can explain why it helps me catch fish. The network that you build or following and how many people want to hear what you have to say or the amount of people that trust what you have to say exposes the product and company to potential sales. Smaller companies are in a bad position and getting worse because of companies like BPS. It is like the lure business equivalent to walmart. BPS imports a product line and controls what it sells and has a network engine that cuts out outside lure makers. It picks winners and losers and highlights generic lures as its own label with a group of pros who say fish this I do. There is a big niche there because of BPS and large tournaments. If you control what is promoted, control what you sell, buy it for nothing, create shows, you drive what people buy and you cut out competitors. That is what BPS does and opens up a door for smaller companies who want to get their product in websites and distributors hands. That is where you the tournament guy comes in. If you can get products in stores and or drive people to the company website or distributor to buy the product then you stand a good chance to get picked up. A small company is fighting against an system like bps or other import companies and if you hold the key to putting products in stores or bring in customers that want lure xyz you have something to offer a potential sponsor.

If you have sharp hooks you don't need to set it hard just sweep the rod. I use mono 90% of the time with any crankbaits except traps and fluorocarbon if i need the lure to get deeper. With braid it doesn't have stretch and if your using a graphite rod the rod doesn't have the give that a fiberglass rod would. between the stretch of the line and the flex of the rod it makes a lure harder to throw it absorbs the shock of a fight or hook set. (which creates smaller holes in the fish from the hooks) When you use 30 lb line it is like setting the hook using twine or rope compared to what I use which is 10 lb mono with stretch. Your using 30 lb rope with no stretch and ripping the hooks out. If the bass slapped at the lure and you hooked the fish outside of the mouth play the fish out and grab the fish or net it don't boat flip the fish not with a crankbait anyways.

swim a jig or chatterbait or use a soft jerkbait and when the water heats up flip a tube and when the weeds are real bad throw a frog. all of these work well in weedy places.

if your boat flipping them then don't if they come unbuttoned at the boat then play the fish out more.

the fish are carrying the tube off the bed and not trying to eat it so they don't have it deep in the mouth.

A scent trail would be left if water soluble particles washed off the bait and mixed with the water. If the scent was designed to stick to the bait and not able to wash off then you don't get a scent trail just a stinky bait. Think of it like this you have a bass that has been dead and baking in the sun for awhile. the stink from the bass would mix with the water. now different situation a bass is dead on shore and stinks bad from baking in the sun. now dip it in vasoline and let it float in the water. You just coated the fish and the result is that the coating is going to take awhile to wash off before the stink shines through. with some scents the water proof coating prevents or retards the amino's from washing off the binding agent. if the scent is unable to wash off and mix with water then the amino's become more of a taste cue and as a result makes the fish think it is food by its amino profile.

rebel has a screw line tie and a set screw for the bill, bandit has a raised eye,

why not make your own company?

a "sweet spot" is a area somewhere in the bed that the fish are going to protect more so than the rest of the bed and each bed bass is different.

I wouldn't use vasoline mix it with either with lard or crisco

I would say no for the most part you still need to have the skill of the fishermen to be able to work the bait in such a way that the bass will bite it and have the knowledge of where to put the bait. You are still dealing with a fake lure that you are trying to trick the bass into thinking it is real scent puts you that much closer.

top one is a yozuri, middle manns, bottom looks like a bandit repaint

When I am casting a lizard I use a free sliding weight sometimes with a bead with a offset hook. If I am pitching a lizard I use a Florida rig weight with a straight shank flipping hook. Colors I always kept simple. In clear water I used pumpkin seed, watermelon, greenpumpkin, in stained water I fish a lot of junebug, redbug, tequila, redshad muddy water black/blue, black chartreuse, black blue flake, black neon......ok maybe not so simple

best bang for a low budget buck bps xps mono line

This is what i use if it works for you too than great I use a 7' fiberglass medium/heavy action rod for traps. I choose this style because I feel that the limp rod makes it harder to throw a bait. I change my hooks on this style bait to tripple grip hooks. I do this because I feel that the fish tend to stay on the hook more because of the way the hook angle bends in. (it is also more weedless than a round bend treble) I use braid because I get a better hook set on long distance casts. It also makes up for the limp rod and the braid cuts through weeds better than mono.

all the bass in a given body of water do not spawn at the same time. If conditions are poor they will wait till conditions change. Depending on how far in the process they where spawning that group of fish may build another nest.