Chris

Yeah the bank has rock and I figured he was fishing kentucky lake and up on the lake side dam that whole bank is nothing but riprap. I usually catfish under the dam *I also catch fish year round in shallow rock sun does help. One year we had a mild winter and the lakes didn't freeze up and I caught fish on crankbaits up tight to the bank. The fish either grabbed it on top or after the first few cranks. The second pattern that worked was fipping a 1/8 oz jig with a big pork trailer tight to the bank and if the rock had 3-5 water close to it held bigger groups of fish. Third pattern was fishing points down to 10ft using a fatfree shad.

Well before this post LBH sent me an email asking me what he should do to catch fish. I told him each year right as soon as the ice is off of this pond I fish I always catch my first fish on a red rattletrap. Water temp cold enough to have half the lake still frozen and I still catch my fish shallow right tight or out 5 ft parallel the bank. As the water warms up this pattern still holds in this pond get you a day in the 50's or water in the 50's you can still catch them speed reeling the same bait. This is in Illinois and your south so why wouldn't it work there.

Welcome to the forum!

crankbait fishing the dam bouncing it off of the rock in about 3ft or less yeah it was close

Top water, rattletrap, spinnerbait, it depends on the mood of the fish I won a spawning tournament pitching a jig in dirty water last year. I didn't have a clue where the beds where I just took my time and fished methodically.

;D oh well I tried

Cover is a place to hide structure is a place they use as reference or a place they relate to. Ambush point is a place they use to feed. A deep stump a bass might be next to it, above it, and they might use it to ambush something and will use it to relate to but has no place to hide unless the roots are washed out and only is viewed by a bass the same as a rock pile. Shallow cover be it weeds, dock, brush pile, bass use to hide in. You take the same stumps on a point and it becomes an irregular feature and still is not cover. It still has no place to hide and can still be used as a ambush point.

that would be structure

I have difficulty referring to pilings and stumps as structure. If it is on the shore I would call it cover if it was in 40 ft of water structure.

Hey Zel welcome to the forum

I am not a fan of owner hooks. The problem that you are having is because the hook is rolling into the bait and not presenting enough bite to impale the fish. You can A) use a larger wide gap owner hook and split the skirt and skin hook the tip of the hook put the hook inside of the tube with the point sticking out and skin hooking the tip.(when a fish grabs it the hook springs free) C) use a Gama ewg hook

Stable conditions (weather/water), water temp, moon phase, are what effect when they spawn or not. If you have stable conditions and the right temp then all you need to do is wait on the moon. If all the conditions are right and then bad weather hits in the process that will push them off the bed. Those three ingredients is what I look for.

I broke my wrist one time and was in a thumb spike cast for a long time and had to learn to fish with my other hand. Now I can pitch a jig with either hand.

check your plug where the motor plugs into the console you might have knocked the wires loose also take the prop off and check to see if you picked up any fishing line.

you need to look up lurecraft.com what most guys use is a oil base scent.

nematognathi <zoology> An order of fishes having barbels on the jaws. It includes the catfishes, or siluroids. See Siluroid. Origin: NL. See nemato-, and Gnathic. siluroid <zoology> Belonging to the Siluroidei, or Nematognathi, an order of fishes including numerous species, among which are the American catfishes and numerous allied fresh water species of the Old World, as the sheatfish (Silurus glanis) of Europe. A siluroid fish. Origin: Silurus. How do fish produce sounds? Fishes produce a variety of sounds using different mechanisms and for different reasons. Sounds are produced as warnings to predators or competitors, to attract mates, or as a fright response. These intentionally produced sounds are generally referred to as vocalizations. More than 800 species of fishes are known vocalize. Other sounds are produced unintentionally such as those made as a by-product of feeding or swimming. The three main ways fishes produce sound are by rubbing together skeletal components (stridulation); using muscles on or near their swim bladder known as sonic muscles (drumming); and by quickly changing speed and direction (hydrodynamics) while swimming. The sounds that fishes produce range in frequency from about 50 to 8,000 Hz. Sounds made by drumming are lower in frequency, varying from 50 to almost 500 Hz, with higher frequency harmonics often present to about 1.6 kHz. Sounds made by stridulation are usually concentrated at the higher end of the spectrum, from approximately 1,000 to 8,000 Hz. Hydrodynamic sounds produced by fishes are below 500Hz (and usually below 100Hz) and are nonharmonic. Stridulation occurs when a fish rubs skeletal parts together to produce sound (similar to the method used by crickets to make sound). These sounds can be generated by pharyngeal teeth, jaw teeth, fin spines, or other skeletal components. Stridulatory sounds can be classified into two general categories, those which are independent of the swim bladder and those in which the swim bladder plays a part in determining the quality of the sound by amplification. Sounds that are produced independent of the swim bladder usually have frequencies that are greater than 1,000Hz. Sounds produced where the swim bladder is involved generally have frequencies less than 1,000 Hz. In either case, stridulation sounds may be produced intentionally or unintentionally. Some fish, such as the sand seatrout (Cynoscion arenarius), produce sound by using muscles on or near their swim bladder (also called gas bladder). Image courtesy of Grant Gilmore, Estuarine, Coastal and Ocean Science, Inc. Some fish such as the sea catfish (Galeichthys/Arius felis) have specialized pectoral fin spines that make a stridulatory squeaking sound. The base of the pectoral fin spine is modified in these catfish. A part of the base, known as the dorsal process, looks like a ridged potato chip. Sound is created when the dorsal process is rubbed against the pectoral girdle. This type of sound production is commonly observed by anglers who catch the sea catfish. These catfish stridulation sounds range in frequency from 100 - 8,000 Hz, although most sounds are within 1,000 - 4,000 Hz.

This is incorrect a catfish makes that noise by moving it's fins and is not part of the drum family.

CHANNEL CATFISH (Ictalurus punctatus) Common Names - spotted cat, blue channel cat, river catfish Description - Channel catfish closely resemble blue catfish. Both have deeply forked tails. However, channels have a rounded anal fin with 24-29 rays and scattered black spots along their back and sides. They have a small, narrow head. The back is blue-gray with light blue to silvery-gray sides and a white belly. Larger channels lose the black spots and also take on a blue-black coloration on the back which shades to white on the belly. Males also become very dark during spawning season and develop a thickened pad on their head. Subspecies - There are no recognized subspecies. However, on rare occasions, they hybridize with blue and flathead catfish. Aquaculturists recognize numerous hatchery stocks and create a variety of hybrids to improve their culture characteristics. Freshwater Drum Aplodinotus grunniens Length: up to about 14 inches, although it may become quite large in rivers Weight: 5-15 pounds, world record is 54 1/2 pounds Coloring: Gray or silvery in turbid waters, bronze-colored in clearer waters. The head is somewhat darker than the rest of the body; the ventral portion of the fish is white. The pectoral and pelvic fins are white, but the rest of the fins are dusky. Common Names: sheepshead, croaker, thunder pumper, lake drum, grunt, bubbler, grinder Found in Lakes: all Great Lakes The freshwater drum is the only member of its family that lives entirely in freshwater habitats, and it has the largest native range of any sport fish in the region. Drum are an important commercial crop on the Mississippi River but constitute only a small portion of the commercial perch catch in Lake Michigan. The drum earned part of its Latin name, "grunniens" (meaning "grunting"), by its odd grunting noises, which are produced by a special set of muscles located in the body cavity that vibrates against the swim bladder. The purpose of the noise is unknown, but only mature males develop the structure (by the time they reach three years of age), suggesting that it is most likely related to spawning. Drums also may croak like bullfrogs when removed from the water, and scientists still don't know if the croaking noise is generated in the same way. Identification of this fish is fairly easy. Drum have two dorsal fins that are joined by a narrow membrane. The anterior fin is spiny, and the posterior fin has soft rays. The are the only fish found in Wisconsin with a lateral line that extends through the caudal fin.

crankbait fishing the dam bouncing it off of the rock in about 3ft or less

they look great

Well not really.. when the bass are on beds there is a hand full of lures that will work. If the bass are chasing TOPWATER works great even on bed fish. if the bass are feeding up on shad any topwater that makes a lot of noise and sounds like something injured or trying to get away and draws attention to it. It works even better in stained water. In super clear water little finesse worms work great but you can not overlook a topwater bite in the afternoon particularly if you can find areas with some shade. If you see shad on top and bass chasing a super spook Jr. at times can be the way to go. Bandit has a spook that sprays water that will draw fish up to the top quick. It kinda sounds like a wounded baitfish or a shad being chased. Also early in the year the bass are not as spooky and you can get away with a lot. Sometimes the noise will tweak the curiosity of a bass. Also if the bass just made the nest or is fired up by the bluegills they will slam a topwater bait quick. Now the blind casting a worm...I do that a lot also lol particularly on fish in transition or when I can't see beds. Sometimes you will have bass that are not on beds but are looking for a place to bed that will cruise around. If you can stop them and get their attention they are catchable. One ways I find them is to blind cast in the areas close to a spawning area. I try to fan cast the area and really take my time to cover it. I have done the same thing with a dropshot before you just got to lead the fish and get their attention.

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Is Bass fishing instinct or science.... it's a little of both. If you understand the biology of bass then you are a leg up on most guys. The science part fits in also if you take the time to understand some of it. The science of light penetration and the law of color for example is worth learning. Ph can be thrown into the mix because this also determines oxygen levels along with temp. Moon phase does effect when I catch larger bass and does effect when fish move to spawn. It effects the activity level of the bass and when they are more opt to feed at night. Barometric pressure for shallow fish effects the activity level and what portion of the water they would be feeding. How you put all the pieces together is science, but the biology of how conditions effect a bass is the study of living things (biology). The one thing that you must always remember is that bass are grouped as individuals and they will sometimes make their own rules. Example: 40 degree air temp warm water discharge lake, 73 degree water temp, went through a rock bank flipping a jig and a worm got 3 bites, put the boat on the bank at 3pm and threw topwater and loaded the boat fishing tight. What was the science behind that? The sun was hazy and the fish where tight and every other boat flipped that same rock. We caught fish the rest of the day throwing that topwater bait. My point is don't put to much thought into it because if you break the rules sometimes it pays off you got to pay attention to the conditions in my case it turned into a 20+ fish day.

Turn your wrist palm down and use two hands.

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