Chris

Also it is hard to hang a bait on it and baitfish love it.

This is going to sound strange but...put down a couple plastic lawn chairs. You know the kind that you can adjust the foot and head rest. It has the plastic tubing most people use them to sun tan on. #1 reason it will not rot #2 it will not scum up #3 you can set it on the side and position it in weird irregular shapes #4 If you set it on the side it is hard to see with a depth finder.

This is out of a Bassmaster book I dug out. The date was not listed so I don't know how current it is. I know from my own catches and what I have seen brought into the bait shop I owned it is pretty close. Up north you might want to slide down a month or two. I think March is a high point because most of the water around the United States is in or around spawning mode by then.

What they are trying to tell you is that a stump that has lost it's branches will not hold bass as much as a stump 10 ft away with irregularities to it. Irregular features in general no matter if its the location or just something different maybe a different kind of stump or position will always draw more fish then something plain. If it is the only stump on a point they will still use it regardless. Your taking a general statement and applying it as a fact for every situation which isn't true. Your trying to read into it to much. :

Here are some numbers BassMaster Lunker Club: Plastic Worms 141 catches 27.0% Jigs 70 13.4% Spinnerbaits 60 11.5% Lizards 54 10.4% Crankbaits 38 7.3% Time of year lunkers were caught: Jan 13.2% Feb 13.2% March 20.2% Aprl 17.3% May 8.8% June 7.4% July 4.4% Aug 4.8% Sept 3.3% Oct 2.6% Nov 2.2% Lures or bait used Plastic worms 23.7% Live Shiners 13.7% jig/pig 11.2% spinnerbaits 10.1%

When I fished ponds, rivers and lakes in Florida where you don't really have any hard bottoms or rocks and drop offs of any sort. Your focus for trophy hunting was the weeds emergent and submerged. Some days they would be deep in the stuff other days they would be on the edge. When the average depth of a body of water is less than 8 ft deep the bass are kinda limited to where they can go to feel safe. They find safety and seclusion in the thickest part of a weed patch. In Florida if you can find two or more forms of vegetation in a given area that has some depth you struck gold. In the deeper underwater weeds anything green and growing or where two kinds of weeds grow together and start to intermix that's your high percentage area. If you can find a place where the weeds grow the thickest it should hold a better fish because it is producing more oxygen. Now you head up north to where you have good water clarity, hard bottom, rocks, roadbeds, humps, deep water, food fish that live deep like perch, walleye, and trout... things change fish move deep. If a Florida lake had the same elements those fish would move deep also but the main food fish is shad and shiners and in most cases the lake lacks that deep structure for them to use outside of what someone put there or any deep weeds. I don't think it is a factor really that the fish is smarter but like others have said your fishing for the smallest percentage of the fish population. I have caught trophy fish on a wide verity of lures but two things that where the same with all of them. I put the bait where they live and I made the bait look and act real. If you fall short on either factor you also lower your percentage that you will catch a trophy. It isn't brain surgery but it does take a little more thought than telling yourself you want to catch a trophy this year. I would agree that plastics are a bait style that would catch a trophy with more constancy than lets say a crankbait. You need to ask yourself why? I have caught big fish on both but why would one outshine the other? It is because you are forced to fish a worm slow, and it can be fished in any cover and at any depth. It is fished on the bottom for the most part and it can be perceived as many different forms of forage to a bass. It is a eye contact bait that has fluid motion with No Warning Signs That It's Fake if worked right. You have other lures in your box that can look real but it takes more skill to make it look that way. A worm is different anyone can make it look real because of the fluid motion built in.

I'm going to tell you something some of the gals that your starting to see more of these days because of the female tournament circuit have been beating the guys on the various bass tournaments around the country for several years now. Some of them are very knowledgeable and know how to catch fish. Jimmy Houston's wife for example has racked up a few trophies in her time just to name one off the top of my head. I think its great for the sport and I am glad someone has started something just for them.

About 28 or more from small ponds to large lakes to rivers. I am not counting the lakes and rivers outside my state that I fish a bunch thoughout the year.

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Who is better? The guy who catches the most small bass or the guy that catches the most big bass. Seriously I am curious what you guys think This is whacked the more I read this. You got guys that camp out on the same areas on the same lakes with the hope that they nail the same bass they caught the year before. Some guys that catch "the most trophy bass" have been catching the same group of fish time after time year after year. One day or two weeks in the year they catch them at the right time and everything works. If I go fishing tournament on water I have never seen before against guys who have fished it for 20+ years and still locate a limit and a kicker and win am I less of a fishermen that has the time to fish just for trophy fish? I would say the guy who can go from state to state and lake to lake and duplicate his "trophy ways" has a leg up on the guy who fishes the same group of fish he found on a hump out in 50 ft of water.

The guy that catches the most big bass.

In a tournament the one who wins. Just a general topic the one who catches the most fish or the most big fish consistently with no luck involved.

Will it hold fish...sure would it be effective in a lake that already has great cover maybe. If you place it in the right place it could be very effective and will draw out some fish from some shore cover. I wouldn't think it would be a hog hangout but panfish might take to it.

Chris first I would like to personally thank u for all the help ur giving. Would u be kind enough to tell me what blade sizes u use for 3/8oz spinnerbaits in case of: 1.tandem 2.double willow 3.double colorado 4.single colorado Also what is ur wire diameter preference for 3/8 oz and what angle and length of wire u use for each case above? *Single Colo I like a short arm much like a the bait made by Zoro. The arm looks like the wire used for a buzzbait turned backwards. I like this style and length because it gives off the most thump. For a single colo on a long shaft I want it long enough so that when I compress the arm it clears the hook. If I get a spinnerbait that the arm is hitting the hook then I trim it. In my opinion if the arm is in the way of the hook you might miss fish also if I want to add weight to my bait all I need to do is use a rubber core weight and crimp it on. Wire diameter I like the old piano wire or .032 wire. This is much like the wire used for the old Classic Hank Parker spinnerbait by Manns. I also like a spinnerbait with either a 5/0 hook or a hook that extends a little farther back then most hooks. I like the larger hook because if I stick a pork chunk on the hook I still have enough bite to stick a fish. The longer hook that extends back works great because of where the hook is positioned I don't need a trailer hook. With a lot of my spinnerbaits I use half sizes a bunch. Colorado single I use a 4 1/2 size, double Colorado I use #6 colo, #3 Indiana, or 4 1/2 and a #3. Double willow 4 1/2 and a 3 1/2, 3 1/2 and a 2 1/2. Indiana I use a #7 and #3 colo. Wide willow like what's on a terminators #5 and #3 colo. Another weird combo I stick a #3 colo on the back and a 2 1/2 willow infront, Sometimes I use a #7 willow on a 1/2 oz bait to make it look like a big bait or a #5 with a #3 1/2 willow (3/8 oz) if I a shaking the bait to make a lot of noise from the blades smacking together.

I just hope tha OLN picks up some of these shows. Schooled by Denny was and is a great show it might be that Denny wanted to spend more time fishing who knows ESPN is not on my "Good List" they kinda ticked me off.

Same if there is a difference I don't see it. Spots and smallmouth are tough little guys and there is a difference there. I think a lot depends on where you catch them and time of the year like fall northern fish fight like mad you take a summer Florida bass and they don't fight as much. Also figure in the kind of tackle you use. If I walk out to a Florida lake with a flipping stick and 65 lb braid slinging a shiner the fight will be short compared to a fish caught on a medium cranking rod on 10 lb line. That stick Marsh for example or farm 13 for that matter you take the same cranking rod when it first opened up and you might see some straightened hooks.

Mudbugs are like other insects in the since that they move rather slow when it gets cold. If they didn't dig themselves in a hole they would not make it because they couldn't get away from a bass even if they wanted to. (no they are not a bug or a fish) They hibernate in a hole in the mud and crawl out when it is warm enough. Simi hard mud, clay bottom areas or in creeks or undercut banks they will dig right into the sides of them.

The main things I look at is how close in the week is the full moon. 2 days before and after I better be fishing. I look at the barometric pressure because this helps me figure out the mood of the fish. To be more specific the mood of the shallow bite. I look at how dirty the water is this helps me figure out if I should fish deep structure if its a clear lake or shallow stuff. I look at if the water level is at normal pool or if the water is dirtier than normal. I check the weather channel to see if the days leading up to when I go fishing was windy. I look at which direction the wind has been blowing for the past few days. I then check out the season I am fishing and where they should be then try to figure out if they are there. If I get to what looks like prime areas and nobody is home then I try to figure out what made them move and to where.

Wood takes longer to decay when it is underwater. Sometimes you can find the stump and look around and find the tree top close by. Sometimes when you find a treetop blown over and the roots are visible there is a pit or depression that bass will call home. Old stumps that water has washed the dirt out from under the roots give a place that is hard to get to and can hold a good bass. Many stumps if they are placed right will hold bass year after year. The key stumps will always be the ones closest to a drop or creek channel. If your fishing a large group of stumps fish the ones on the outside edge or cherry pick the big stumps they usually hold a bigger fish.

For myself If given a choice I go night fishing on a full moon. On a new moon I fish during the daylight hours. I do it because it ups the odds to stick a big fish. Moon phase also effects spawning time and you can guess with good accuracy when the fish should start bedding. Active fish inactive fish changes from hour to hour and the time frame that a bass is truly active is short. Most guys wouldn't know the difference they figure that they caught fish therefore they must be active which isn't true. Tide changes effects fish activity greatly because there is serge of water and the bass puts on their feed bag. I think in lakes bass become more active because bass are able to see better when it is full moon. If you like to flip and your pitching to targets no moon would be your friend. I say this because a bass will be tight to cover and ambush anything that gets close. If your a crankbait fishermen or topwater then full moon would be your friend because the bass is willing to chase it down. Maybe it is just in the head but I find Peters statement to be true for me.

Illini Bass Club is currently seeking new members. Club is located in Danville Illinois the page link is on my home page on my profile

I use that color as a whole or just a stripe on all the baits I use.

Sometimes even if you are fishing a lake that has a lot of depth most of the fish might be hanging at a curtain depth. In some cases just suspending at that depth. The deep deep water might not have the oxygen levels to keep the bass happy and the shallow stuff might be to hot to have enough oxygen to keep bass happy so they suspend. When you fish lakes that are like this it is hard to get on fish unless you hit that zone. The best thing to do is start on the top and work your way down until you find the depth they are hanging at or HIT THE WINDY BANKS. Wind changes everything because it mixes the oxygen levels and changes the depth that bass will hang at.

I am glad I am wrong because I spent a good amount of time looking for the wrong bait lol ;D

Flex spinnerbait