Chris

You are also dealing with a group of individuals. What is good for one bass isn't good for another. Different fish react differently and it takes different things to get those fish to respond to the bait. This goes well beyond a defined pattern. You can have a group of fish relating to cover or structure but it will take different presentations to get them to bite within the same school. You might end up catching fish on a verity of different lures worked in different ways to maximize the amount of fish caught in a small area like a brush pile. Fishing pressure also throws a wrench into the works because conditions changed and forced the bass to reposition and change their feeding habits to survive. Lets say you have a brush pile and you have been catching the fish on a dropshot rig. The next thing you know the bite stops. Those fish that you where catching stopped relating to the bottom because of fishing pressure and have relocated to suspend above the brush pile. The next guy stops to fish the same brush pile and hammers them on a jerkbait or crankbait. I do understand that it would be nice to know what list of lures would work under a set of conditions. You have a problem what one fishermen would define as clear water to another fishermen is stained water to another fishermen they would say it was murky. They base their judgment on how clear the water is by what they fish the most. If one guy fishes mostly tap water anything that has some color to it in their eyes is stained to murky. If the guy fishes mostly mud then anything that has 3 ft visibility is clear water. If I am fishing in 3 ft visibility water and I am catching fish in 1ft of water tight to shore I would say I was fishing in clear water. I would also choose clear water lures but if I move out 5 ft I would choose lure colors for darker water. I would also choose lures that work in less visibility water over clear water lures while fishing 5ft out from the shore. Sometimes lakes get almost a stack effect where the top layer is clear then 5ft down is mud or in some cases the reverse. The top layer will be mud the bottom layer considerably clear. It would be the blind leading the blind and neither one would know the correct answer from lack of information as to what the conditions truly are. I wish that it was as simple as you take the conditions and what the fish should be doing so this select lures at this depth will work. I know for myself as an accomplished tournament fishermen there are very few rules that dictate what I will do from sun up to sun set. I go by instinct and it is close to impossible to teach that. You either got it or you don't. Then you have the mental side of fishing. The guys that say I will never win, I will never be as good, I will never learn that bait, Oh the conditions stink I will never catch anything. The fact is your right because you already beat yourself. When you plant doubt in your mind, doubt in judgment, or abilities you let the gates wide open for defeat. 90% of fishing is mental if you care to believe it or not that is up to you. :

This would depend on how the lure was used. If you take a worm for example and cast it out and work the bottom with it you would not have a reaction strike from a bass but more of a feeding response. You take the same lure and pitch it into cover and force the fish to react to it or strike without thought. Same with a jig you can cast the jig and work bottom cover with it and get more of a feeding response or pitch it into cover a force the fish to react and strike the lure without thought. A spinnerbait you can do the same thing cast and reel it to get a feeding response or strike out of curiosity or you can throw the lure into its face and force the fish to bite it or react to it. A change in direction speed or sound can force a fish to strike. A crankbait the same thing you can cast and reel it past the fish for a feeding response or you can deflect the lure off of something to force the fish to react to it. You can also force feed the fish and make them bite by how you cast the bait in shallow water. Most of the lures you have listed depending on how the lure was used would depend on how the bass responded to them. Also the level of activity can change by the presence of a lure or how it was used. A neutral bass can become excited if you gear your presentation to the instinct of the bass. A bass that is in a negative mood can change their mood with the presence of bait or change in environment like wind. Bass that are positioned in ambush areas can be excited by a lure that acts real or acts like it is injured. The way a lure is presented does change how the lure is reacted to it and you can force a bass to feed even if it don't want to. On the low end of your chart you have weightless soft plastics on the bottom. You take a Mr. Wiggleys shad imitation and swim the bait by quivering the rod as you pull it and then spook it or let it drop and the reaction you get from a bass changes. The same with a Cream worm, or floating worm if fished in the same way or wacky rigged or any soft jerkbait. If I fish a spinnerbait with two blades on it and I fish it by jerking it and shaking it while reeling it I produce more sound and an erratic presentation that can force a fish to react. Same with a jerkbait that you just cast and swim compared to jerking the bait and making it dance. I catch many fish early in the year and in the winter burning a rattletrap or crankbait in cold water. So your dealing with fish that even if you think you got them pegged you still can catch them doing things that break the rules. I have also caught a bunch of fish using topwater in the middle of winter.

The largest bass will take up the best available cover that is next to a feeding area that has an escape route to deep water with ample amounts of a food source with the right structure to sustain them. You tell them that and they will be to mystified to have an answer or want to argue ;D

You take a metal rod and dip the rod into a cup of hot plastic and each time you dip it let it cool for a second then dip it again. Each time you dip the rod the tube gets bigger as the plastic builds up.

The bass are relating to bait. It throws a lot of people for a loop even a bunch of crankbait fishermen because they tend to like to keep the crankbait on the bottom to make contact. The fish are not feeding down they are feeding up where the schools of bait is. You might get lucky and stumble onto an ambush point or a bottle neck that funnels the bait but most of the time it is just hunt and peck. The problem with the match your hatch idea is that if your lure is just like the thousands of little bait fish what is going to help the fish pick out your lure from the bunch. Bass pick out the weak and injured and with a plentiful supply of bait if your lure acts like the rest they are less inclined to move to strike. Even if you use a live minnow your bait still doesn't act like a free and uninjured baitfish. The bait will swim slower because it is hauling a bobber, hook and line. It also will not make a mad dash out of the way of the bass which gives the bass a huge sign saying easy target. It is the Bass's nature to pick out the weak and injured at first opportunity. This is what you need to exploit.

Remember that large bass KVD caught on a shakey head jig and a 3x finesse worm? I think it was a Bush shoot out or something like that. He wasn't going warp speed then.

1. Trim the top of the weed guard at a 45 degree angle. 2. Thin the weed guard out in the front if it is thin cover or in the back for thick cover. 3. Trim your pork chunk. You want to cut the front of the chunk at the hook hole and make it look like a wedge.(trim on the fatty side) 4. Trim your skirt so that it is about a 1/4" past the hook. 5. Make sure that the weed guard isn't painted together.

I sorta agree with what you saying but then again I dont.. there are some what you called "masters" of certain lures who have proven they can use them very effectively while even other pros cant. One example would be David Fritts with Crankbaits. And these guys are just as good. Mark Davis-won a classic cranking a fat free shad and a deep flat A Rick Clunn-built a crankbait just to win a classic (now made by Poe's) Davy Hite-almost won 1996 classic by cranking George Cochran-shallow water crankbait fishermen classic winner David Fritz-1993 classic with a Poe crankbait that he added weight to and sanded the bill. Paul Elias-1982 Bass masters classic with a deep little N Takahiro Omori-2004 classic won on a crankbait Of that list how many do you think is known today as a master crankbait fishermen? 4 maybe? What is more important is that they also throw other lures even David Fritz. David is also a heck of a Carolina rig fishermen and a great spinnerbait fishermen. You would be surprised how many other lure those "masters" throw. David is a structure fishermen and isn't much of a shallow water fishermen because he has poor eyesight. He has a problem hitting a visual target with accuracy. His words not mine.

When I was growing up in Florida my main lures was soft jerk baits, jerkbaits, worms, rattletraps, topwater, spinnerbaits, swim baits. For 15 years you couldn't get me to use any other lures because I was highly successful with what I was using. When I fished other places in other states I picked up a few more lures because they worked better for the situation. The conditions changed and so did the water and structure/cover that I was fishing. When I moved and started fishing deep clear water my finesse techniques expanded. The majority of the water I fish now is stained to murky so my power fishing techniques expanded. Crankbaits, jigs, flipping tubes, spinnerbaits, buzz baits, are what I use mostly. When I get stuck fishing clear water my I still have my old techniques to fall back on. I do understand that sometimes you get to a point where what you are using works for where you are fishing. I also understand that you get to a point where you narrow your choices and pick a select few that tend to work best. If you gotta learn a strength then you need to learn the right one that works for the area. If all I knew was jigs and I went to Florida I would have less success than if I knew plastics. If I fished Illinois and all I knew was worms I would have less success then if I knew jigs or tubes. I understand whatcha saying this just makes good conversation

Lets illustrate this a little: If you took all the guys on this forum to a lake and told them that there was a stump sitting in 15ft of water that was loaded with fish then split everyone up by fishing strength. You then take them out as a group and let them fish the stump. Spinnerbait: They might use a 1/2 oz or 1 oz single willow blade spinnerbait and cast it out then bump the stump then kill it to let it fall to the bottom then jerk it to start the blades then reel it in. Jig: They might use a 1/2 oz jig and drop the jig next to the stump bringing it over the stump. They might try to swim it to the stump bumping the stump then swim it back. They might just leave the jig next to the stump and shake the jig and hop it a few times. Crankbait: They might crank it to the stump bumping the stump at the top of the stump. They might let the bait dig the bottom and then ram the stump and then pause the bait before reeling it in. Worm: They might fish the worm close to the stump and inch it through the area. They might use it as a drop bait and hop it a few times. They might swim the bait through the area. Senko: They might use a swimming senko and swim it to the stump then kill it. They might use it like a jerk bait and walk the dog above it. Fat Ika: They might walk the dog to the stump and then kill it. They might use it like a worm and hop and shake the lure through the area. They might use it like a tube and use it like a drop bait. But what happens when your style of fishing isn't producing? You move on. The fish are still there and are still catchable but because you are unable to use the other lures in you box you will never know it because you moved on. The one guy that has the strength that fits the conditions hooks up with fish and the other guys who fished the stump are left shaking their heads. They chalk it up to well that was his strength.

Lets take this a step further: If you have a group of tournament fishermen that only fish one lure that is their strength and they fish a verity of different lakes and rivers with different kinds of clarity and cover and depths can one strength win all the tournaments? It is a little different if you fish the same kinds of conditions and water because one style of fishing can hold up in many kinds of water. It also changes things the longer the tournaments is. In many cases if the tournament is short there isn't much of a need to change your lures because the conditions or patterns hold up during a short tournament. But if the tournament is two days or longer things change. Within the group of tournament guys I fish against you have a few that only throw spinnerbaits, some that only throw crankbaits, some that only throw jigs, some that only throw plastics. They will live or die by one lure or a group of the same style of lures. During the year we fish many different kinds of water. When it is a jig day the guys that jigs are their strength tend to do well, when it is a spinnerbait day the guys that spinnerbaits are their strength tend to do well, and so on. No one style or family of lures can win all the tournaments. Why because each body of water has a set of conditions that one style of fishing will excel and others will not be the best lure for the set of conditions. If you have a predominate lure that some guys are winning most of the tournaments with then you need to look at the conditions that each body of water has and figure out what the common denominator was that made that one lure excel over the others. In most cases it is the clarity of the water, cover, depth or the combination of the three. Some guys will use the same family of lures in different ways to achieve the same effect as if they where using another lure all together. A jig can be fished on the bottom like a worm or it can be swim it like a crankbait to give and example. Some guys use a paddle tail worm as a spinnerbait or a floating worm as a topwater bait. Some guys will use a spinnerbait as a buzzbait or a jig. Some guys will use a lure in the same family of lures to fill the nitch needed within the conditions they are faced with. They do this to overcome a lack of confidence or knowledge in the other lures in their box that would be just as effective or in some cases more effective. They have grown their knowledge base to figure out a lure within the family of lure styles that fills the need.

(This is going to be interesting) I have read this statement often "fish your strength" or "no pro can be masters of everything" or "not everyone fishes every single kind of bait." Sound familiar? Here is the prediction. The next generation of tournament fishermen that go down the pipe that are highly successful will be as proficient with one lure as with the rest of the lures in their box. The reason why I can make such a bold statement is because of the amount of education that is available today is more accessible than years ago. If you have a young tournament angler who takes the time to learn each bait there wouldn't be a strength. Today they call it versatility because they still have the mind set that nobody can learn it all or that nobody can be proficient with more then one or two techniques. The more that you understand each lure and the more you take the time on the water to use each lure the easier it is to be proficient with it. If you give up on the lure or loose the drive for knowledge to understand the lure then you kinda get stuck and get discouraged. (This is the part that might sound like I got a big head and I don't mean it that way) I am just as proficient with a crankbait as a jig, finesse lure, worm, spinnerbait, topwater and everything else in between. I literally use my entire box when I fish. When I get on to something then I narrow it down. Am I good with a crankbait you bet but I can also hold my own with a spinnerbait, jig, topwater, plastics, jigging spoon, you name it. I took the time to learn the rest of my box. If you narrow yourself down to just a handful of lures I feel that you are missing out and you will not reach your full potential. To tell you the truth the hardest lure to learn is a crankbait. It was for me anyway and what made it hard was depth control. It was hard for me to learn to make a cast and reel my lure down to hit a single stump that was sitting in deep water. It took time the same with any other lure. I think the idea of a "master" is kinda far fetched because you are always learning, proficient is more accurate. Confidence in a lure comes from catching fish. Proficiency comes from learning how to maximize the lures potential. The more you expand your knowledge of other lures the more your going to be able to catch fish when conditions change or when you faced with new water. You begin to learn that each lure is a tool and it is just a matter of figuring out the right tool for the job. Learning the limitations of each lure is the key to figuring out which lure works where. That comes from using them.

States I have fished: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Oregon, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, California, Louisiana, New York, New Mexico, Arkansas, Arizona, I am sure I am forgetting one or two. Trophy: Florida, California, Texas, Georgia, Alabama are top on my list.

In super clear water I don't use a rattle in stained to muddy water I do use a rattle. I tend to shake the jig as I reel it in dirtier water to set off the rattle. It does work in muddy water go with a black jig with a chartreuse twin tail grub.

Clear cold water, heavy stained flats, areas with heavy spinnerbait pressure, early spring, fall through winter, is when I swim a jig. I usually count it down and reel. When I fish flats I jerk it, shake it, hop it, stop and go, bring it to the top and let it break the surface, it just depends.

Use a jig

I use a swim chunk for my 1/4 oz jigs and a twin tail grub for both 1/4 and larger. A single tail grub works good also. How large of a trailer is up to you and how much you want to extend the bait. I just use the regular zoom sizes mostly.

A) Make sure your magnets are set on zero if the reel has a pin system set it as free as you can. Bring your lure down so that it is even with the reel. C) Hold the reel so that your palm is down. E) Hold the lure so that you don't hook yourself. F) Dip the rod down to a 8 o'clock position. G) Lift your wrist and rod to put the rod at a 11 o'clock position while letting go of your lure. You want to keep your elbow tucked at your side move your wrist not your elbow. H) Let the line peel off the reel while lightly feathering it with your thumb. I) Strip off about 3 extra feet of line so that your lure falls straight and engage your reel.

Shallow standing timber Rod- 6'6"( a short rod helps with accurate casts) Lure- shallow diver 5 ft Line- 14lb line (you want the bait to dive the deepest) Color- stained to muddy: yellow black back /bright orange/red crawfish Clear to lightly stained: white gray or black back/ natural crawfish Specific Lure-wood Objective- How to 4 wheel drive timber Technique: For me a shallow running crankbait is the work horse of my tackle box. When I fish standing timber I fish it aggressively. I literally ram my lures hard into the wood. I make my cast beyond the standing wood and aim for it as I reel it in. I want my lure to react to the wood and change directions as it glances off of it. After I make contact with the wood I pause the lure for a brief second and continue my retrieve. If the standing timber isn't real thick I use a coffin bill crankbait to make the bait really deflect off of the wood. If the wood is a more like a jungle then a square bill is better. If I find that the fish are hanging tight to the tree or if I find that they are hanging on the deep side of the tree I tend to use a round bill more because it will hug the tree as it continues around to the deep side. Make sure that you check the line often.

Points can be a great place to find bass. Here are some tips Rod- 6'6"/7' medium/heavy Lure- Medium diver 6-8 ft Line- 10lb line (you want the bait to dive the deepest) Color- stained to muddy: yellow black back /bright orange/red crawfish Clear to lightly stained: white gray or black back/ natural crawfish Specific Lure-Clear water tight wiggle, stained-muddy wide wiggle Objective- effectively fish a point Technique: The first thing your going to need to do is visualize the point in your mind. You know that on either side of the point there is deeper water. You know that a point is a highway to deep water. Fish can position themselves anywhere on the point. There is usually one part of the point that the fish will position themselves to feed you just need to figure out where as you fish it. I tend to try to find points that are steeper than other points because it will set it apart most of them. Points that have irregular features on it like a cover, a secondary point, one side is deeper than the other tends to hold more fish then a plain Jane point. If you where in a boat looking down the point you want to make your first cast much like you would with a laydown tree. You want to hit the right side of the point bringing your lure parallel with the point. Make sure you are positioned correctly with your rod in front tip down pointing to the lure. <-This is important because you are in the best position to set the hook and you know exactly what your bait is doing and know if the lure isn't running correctly in case a minor adjustment needs to be made. You also are able to detect strikes better in my opinion. Make a few casts and then try the other side of the point. You just want a steady retrieve make your cast close to the side edge and work your way out each cast until you loose contact with the point. You want to bottom bounce the bait on point with no weeds and you want to just tick the top of the weeds if weeds are present. After you have covered both sides reposition your boat to cover the end of the point. You might need to change baits to deeper runner because this should be the deepest part of the point and sometimes bass will hang out there. Then switch sides and fish the end again. Next position your boat to make casts across the point. If the point is large enough position your boat to bring your bait from deep water on the end of the point crank the bait as if it was trying to climb up the point. Notice I didn't say Hey "Make a cast then cast to the other side then jump to the next point." Sometimes fish want the bait to come from a certain direction before they strike. You can do the same thing with shore cover also by changing your approach the bass have a different look at your bait and sometimes a different angle makes all the difference.

Most of my rods except my flipping stick are medium heavy. I use it instead of a medium rod for two reasons. First if I am throwing a spinnerbait most of the day and I find a spot that a crankbait is a better choice I can just grab it and not need to become accustomed to a new action rod. If most of my rods are basically the same I already know how the rod will react. The second reason is that I throw a bunch of larger crankbaits shallow and deep. With a med/heavy rod my rod is already rated for the heavy lure and line. What is important for you is to use what is comfortable to you. I know some guys that use a medium light action rod for crankbaits. That is what works for them and they love it. I have a Lews cranking stick (E-Glass) that I use that is med/heavy. I bought a David Fritts signature rod that was a medium rod and didn't like the rod..it didn't fit me. I even changed the gear ratio on the reel because a 4.3 to 1 reel doesn't fit my style of fishing and it is hard for me to switch gears from a 6.3 to 1. I was having a hard time catching up to my fish and was loosing fish. There is a ton of guys that love them.

Flats: Flats are nothing more than flat areas that can be shallow or deep. I am going to focus on shallow flats. Shallow grass flats: Rod- 6'6"/7" medium/heavy Lure- 1/4 oz rattletrap/ wood crankbait Line- 14lb line (sometimes your lure gets clogged up and you need it to get your lure back) Color- stained to muddy: wood-yellow black back(Trap)firetiger Clear to lightly stained:wood- white gray or black back (Trap)chrome blue back, shad Specific Lure- wood (easier to keep out of grass) Rattletrap (can be ripped free from the grass and trigger reaction strikes) Objective- Cover a large area while searching for active fish Technique: Flats are used by bass as feeding areas. Flats give shallow sanctuary for small shad and gives a bass a large hunting ground. For the most part you are fishing for active fish that want to eat. Rattletrap-What I am looking to do is make fan casts with my bait to cover a large area effectively. You want to keep a faster pace with a rattletrap to keep it out of the grass for the most part. You want to just skim the surface of the grass. If you bait feels like it has a weed on it while reeling snap the rod to rip the lure free. Sometimes this will force a fish to react to the bait thinking that it is trying to get away. If the flat is 4ft deep or less a 1/4 oz is best because you are able to control the bait. In 4ft or more it is better off to use a 1/2 oz. When you get the hang of it you can also use the 1/2 oz for shallower water. When you fan cast you are picking out zones much like the rock. If you where fishing the bank You want to start off with a 9 o'clock cast then a 10 o'clock cast and so on. Shallow wood crankbait- I like to use a wood crankbait around weeds because it tends not to get snagged up as bad and it will float up off of the grass. What I want to so is the same thing as the trap work the lure just above the grass. You want to either speed reel the bait or fish it stop and go. If you find that you are hanging on every cast try lifting the rod tip up to make the lure run a little shallower or switch to something shallower like a 1 minus. Some days because of how the grass has grown your going to be picking weeds a bunch don't get discouraged some days are like that.

Rip Rap Rip Rap, dam, pea gravel, from time to time is loaded with bass. If the rock stages out to deeper water fish will live there year round. Most of the time algae will form on the rocks and attract shad, bluegills, and crawfish and bass soon follow. With a crankbait it can get a little tricky because of all the sharp rocks but worth it. Like with the laydown trees you want to parallel the rocks. You want to break it down into zones this will help you break down what depth the fish are using and will help you cover everything. Don't be surprised to catch bass real tight to the bank in inches of water. Shallow rock bank: Rod- 6'6" medium/heavy Lure- Medium diver 6-8 ft Line- 14lb line (sharp rocks can scrape up line bad so beef it up) Color- stained to muddy: yellow black back /bright orange/red crawfish Clear to lightly stained: white gray or black back/ natural crawfish Specific Lure- Plastic (rocks are hard on wood baits) Objective- keep in contact with the rocks Technique: With this technique it is kinda like the laydowns you want to make your cast parallel to the rock bank. I start off with a cast tight to the bank with my rod pointing to my lure with my rod down you want to have a retrieve that is just fast enough to touch the rocks or bottom. When the lure makes contact with the rock the contact gives the lure an erratic action. Your next cast you want to make it about 2ft out from you previous cast. The reason why you want to use a deeper bait is because the lip will act as a guard to your hooks and help deflect the bait to keep it from hanging up. As you work your way out deeper you still want to reel just fast enough to make contact. Each pass just 2ft out deeper than the cast before. When you get far enough out that you loose contact with the rock move up the shore a cast distance and start the process over. Make sure that you check the line every now and then for any bad rough spots or nicks in the line, if you find one make sure to retie. When you get confident working your crankbait through the rocks try to speed it up a tad. What you doing is making your crankbait deflect off of the rocks more which causes a reflex reaction strike.

I realize that sometimes I tend to jump to advanced cranking that I leave behind some that just want to learn and be successful at it or just catch their first fish. So lets start from square one To begin with this style of fishing will catch fish year round and there isn't a better way to catch fish most all conditions. This is one of the few ways to fish for bass that even if the fish isn't feeding you can force it to eat. You can force a fish to react to your lure and bite without it thinking about it. This style of fishing works well for keepers and big fish. (Shallow water and cover) Tackle: 6'6" med/heavy rod, baitcasting reel, 12lb line Lure: shallow running crankbait with square bill 3-5ft running depth Color: stained to muddy: yellow black back Clear to lightly stained: shad white gray or black back Specific lure: Bandit crankbait cost $3.99 Objective: catch those pesky shallow bass! Technique: The first thing you want to do is tune your bait. First make a cast and pay attention to which way the lure is running. If the lure is running to the right with a pair of pliers bend the line tie eye left slightly. Make another cast and see if the bait is running straight if the bait is running left slightly bend the eye right. When you get the bait running straight when you make a cast and point the rod center your body while reeling it the lure should run center. You should have your rod pointed at your lure. 90% of the fish I catch is because of the cast. It is very important when you are fishing around docks, logs, etc., that you can place the lure where you need it and not in the trees. When I am casting to a log I want to cast my lure as close to the bank and close to the log as I can. What I want to do is parallel the log as I reel the bait in. With my rod pointed in the direction of my lure but slightly pointed to the water I start my retrieve. I want to reel my bait at a medium pace. You are going to feel that bait thump and bounce off of any limbs as you reel. If you feel the bait kinda hang up stop reeling and let it float up off of the hang up and reel. Most of the time the bait will just bounce off the limb without and trouble. Make two or three casts to each side of the tree make sure that you run your lure in the same direction as the limbs are growing it helps prevent hang ups. Each time that bait hits a limb or the trunk of the tree it gives that bait a bunch or action. It is changing directions speeding up and acting like a shad. You want to make sure that you are positioned at a 90 degree angle to the tree so that you can run that lure perfectly down the side of the trunk. If you have a tree that part of it is out of the water and the rest is under water you want to run the lure right down the middle of the tree. When you are fishing docks you want to put the lure as close to the dock as you can so that when you reel the bait it is running close to the pilings if not hitting each one along the way. When you are fishing objects I use just a steady retrieve nothing special. I want to make my cast beyond the object or as close to the bank as I can in the case of a tree. If I am fishing a shallow flat I try to make my lure look alive. I usually fish it stop and go and change my speed. I want my bait to look like a shad trying to get away. If I am trying to parallel the bank I try to run my lure 2-3 ft out from the shore line. My next cast I might go out another 2 ft. I try to feel the bottom with my lure unless there is a bunch of weeds then I try to keep the bait up.

Good deal Russ