Chris

For me it depends. Sometimes bait fish is the #1 element I look for other times the best cover or structure in a given area. If I am fishing feeding areas I try to look for activity and bait fish is part of it. If the lake is dead then cover and structure is my first option. If bait fish is in a given area most of the time your dealing with active fish. Some lakes the way the wind blows and the areas that are blown into can point you to active fish same as current. If bait fish isn't in the area I am fishing and the cover or structure just looks fishy then I fish it I don't write it off for lack of bait fish.

yep that just about covers it

Dropshot on a slip cork. You would have the same effect as if you where right above them. <- I got a laugh out of this lol but it is true if you can see them they can see you. I would say if they where stacked up you had a cold front.

I would head to any thick shore cover or rock and flip. Why because the cover might hold heat and the high sun should position the fish there even in winter. Plain B crank the same areas but keying in on the edge of the cover or in it.

(from a post I did on Fall/Winter fishing) Countdown baits: You know those PITA (Pain in the butt) bass that suspended out in deep water? Well, this is a way to get them to bite. Not always but it does work. Mark the fish on the graph and count down your bait to their depth. This is not a dead on accurate way to hit the depth but if you work at it the bait will be close enough in the zone to tempt a strike. This is when I break out the countdown Rapalas. I cast the bait beyond where I had them marked and count it down to the zone. As the bait falls strip out line other wise it will swim to you under the tension of the line. After you count it down to the zone start reeling at a slow pace and about every 10 ft of line recovery count it back down 2 ft. Another way to work the bait is to cast it beyond the marked fish and engage your reel then raise your rod to a 11 o'clock position and count without reeling. Let the bait fall with tension on the line then start reeling when it counts to the depth you need. Watch for your line to tick (Its a bass). The third way is to cast it to the bass let it fall and raise your rod then follow your lure with your rod as you reel. Your bait will jig up and down much like a spoon.

They look great You can take a razor and trim up around the head to make it look clean if you wanted to. There is a jig that I made for many years that I use for crappie and the larger size for smallmouth that you might want to try. You use a tube jighead and tie some Flashabou on the shank on the tube jighead and use some head cement to tack it. Make sure the that it extends out enough so that if you jig it the Flashabou will move like a bucktail. Now you take a piece of Mylar tubing and take out the insert. Now you fit it over the tube head trying not to get it caught on the line tie and feed it until it overlaps the Flashabou and still gives the Flashabou enough length to still swim if it was jigged. Now head cement the tubing to the jighead and flare out the tail end. Now stick on some eyes and fish. The jig looks just like a minnow with a scale pattern. Use the holographic style mylar tubing and you can airbrush or marker the back color and make use you trim up the nose and tack it to the jig to make it look clean. The jig kinda looks like a cross between a tube and a real minnow if you get to looking at it when its done.

Bill Norman had a jerkbait that was being pushed by Rick Clunn that did that. You shot water in it to weight it.

Deep cranks, drop shot, darter head, jerkbait's, T rig(unless its creature)lipless crankbaits, and depending on the spinnerbait blade style I wouldn't throw in that kind of water. The muddier the water the more you need to use baits that have vibration, displaces water, or rams something like bottom or cover. Slow down to give the fish time to locate the bait. Single Colo bladed spinnerbaits with chart or black skirt would be my #1 choice. If you have a short arm spinnerbait even better because it throws off more vibration. You got to fish the bait tight to the cover or in it. A jig and trailer with a rattle works in real dirty water because you can put the bait in their face. (same with a creature bait) With a jig under real muddy water you need a rattle. Try dark colors with some orange or chartreuse in it with your jig. Pitch it into a spot and just shake and rattle it for awhile before you move it any to give the bass time to find it. Crankbaits you want to throw larger than normal because of water displacement and wide wobble cranks. Just fish them with a straight retrieve bouncing it off of cover. You want to hit anything you can with it on a medium retrieve not fast. Fish shallow real shallow because the bass will be there on anything that is cover related. If you got a channel or tree line the fish might move up or just stay and suspend higher in the water column but they will always be tight almost nose to the cover.

Why do bass painted lures work? Bass will eat another bass if available in a heartbeat. A 5 lb and up bass can and will eat a 2 lb schooler or last years yearlings without thinking twice. In Florida it takes 10 years to produce a 10 lb bass. It takes less time if conditions are right. Northern waters a bass might take 15 to 20 years to reach the same weight or may never have the potential to reach it because of genetics. I caught a trophy fish in Illinois 2 or 3 years ago that was pushing ten. I cannot begin to count how many I have caught down south 10 or over. If the fish I caught in Illinois took 15-20 years to reach his weight how many more years will that fish live? (they don't live forever) You still have what...13-18 years of that fish's offspring still in that lake if the fish was taken that has the potential to be a trophy. How many young bass do you think that trophy eats in a year? Think about that now multiply that by 20 years. Here is a little side note: This is from the site thats says wish i was in Cali (signonsandiego.com) Dickerson's bass, a potential International Game Fish Association line-class, world-record catch on 20-pound line, measured 281/2 inches long and sported a 263/4-inch girth. And there isn't a fish around right now that has more history than this bass, once possibly the eighth-heaviest bass in the world, but certainly now fourth on the big-bass chart. Mine on my wall is 28 1/2 inches long and has a girth of 26 inches. I caught it on 14lb line if I certified it umm.. it would be world line class record. Should I have turned it loose? or not fished for it? It was a pre spawn fish. I am not telling you to toot my horn and I don't mean it that way but you need to see both sides of the coin.

That's something else... sometimes because of water drainage or algae bloom the top layer might be hard to see through and under that layer could be clean clear water. Sometimes its a change in water temp that causes the particles to suspend or maybe the wind has been stacking in a particular cove.

Clear... If I am sitting in 5ft of water and if there is a coke can on the bottom and if I can make out it is a coke can and can read the word coke its is clear. If I can just make out that it is a can then it is stained water. If I can not see the can at all then its is heavy stained to muddy.

In some lakes that are covered with grass carp that eat most of the grass in a area. Where do the bass move to and how does it change where you fish?

I don't mind fishing in the rain its lightning that I don't like. There is a pond I fish all the time from shore that I still use many of the same lures in that I use in a boat. Top on my list on rainy days is a spinnerbait. Go with chartreuse or black color single blade. (To be honest most lures will work but I start with a spinnerbait)

Welcome to the forum There is a club links page right on this site that might have something near you. http://bassresource.com/bassfish/bass_fishing_clubs.html

1)Roadkill- is a color I picked up on last year that has been productive for me. 2)Margarita- is another odd color that I started using last year that is a great color. 3)baby diaper color- this is a weird color I have used for the past 3 years Roadwarrior likes it too. Its a yellow rootbeer color.

[move]Merry Christmas![/move]

Is this a trick question :-/? You can bet your I like to catch spawning fish! Is it cheap fishing? No sometimes they are very hard to catch. In lakes that are not clear it is very hard to locate spawning fish so it does take a little skill. Is it going to hurt the population? No because it is not like the bass lay just one egg. Trophy fish that are taken (I do hope that it is a one time trophy) already passed on the big fish genetics to the bass population. Even without people fishing a lake sometimes because of mother nature bass don't have a successful spawn. Also some lakes don't have adequate spawning areas. If you take a good look at the posts on this board most guys will agree that prespawn is the prime time to catch the big fish. This means it is harder to catch a spawn fish than a prespawn fish. So if you want to band anything then band from ice out till summer.<~sound foolish? Do you see my point? I catch way more trophy fish in prespawn than spawn. I am one of your better bed fishermen so it is not for lack of talent. It is easier to locate schools of big fish in prespawn because they are staging in more predictable places. This topic comes up all the time and I do understand why but you need to realize when is the prime time to stick a hog. It isn't the spawn. You can spend all day on one bed and never get a bite. Also bass can spawn in weird places that are hard to get to or are impossable to find. So it is not easy fishing or cheap in my opinion. Most guys do turn loose their catch anyways. I do anyways

I would say no. What I would do is go check out a pawn shop and see if they have a cheap used reel you might get more for your money. If your new at bass fishing I would get a spinning reel and spinning rod because you can use it for any species of fish. For worms I would think that dropshot is big in your area so 4"-6" worms might be the norm. Most guys use a straight tail worm. If your rigging it texas style then 6"-8" colors redshad, redbug, blue blue flake, greenpumkin, junebug, or watermelon color is what I use. Clear/stain: redshad, redbug, watermelon, blue blue flake, greenpumkin, junebug Heavy stain/Muddy:blue blue flake, Black/blue, black/chart *if this is something your going to be doing alot get the best reel you can afford you would be better off in the long run.

did it smell or fight? You might have snagged a dead fish :-/it just stopped moving. i just caught that umm plain it might be just an old fish.

Off topic replies have been moved to [link=http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1135360523]This Thread[/link]

http://www.epinions.com/boat-Marine_Electronics-All-Pinpoint Maybe? or http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html/103-2769151-6395008?_encoding=UTF8&node=3398351&no=3397331&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER

It doesn't bother me when he head grabs a fish because sometimes that is the only safe way to handle a hooked fish with hooks flying. What I do have a problem with is when he or any other fishermen just rips the hooks out of the fish.

Well if you know where it lives then throw a drop bait. If its in open water a fluke would be a better option. I try to always have a back up plain either a tube, fluke, jig, or an senko. Make sure you let the bait fall all the way to the bottom if the strike is by cover. More times then not the fish will reposition it self back in the cover. Sometimes if they miss the bait and the hooks you can make another cast and just let it sit for awhile then move it slow. The drop bait idea is a higher % that they will hit again.

And if you have any specific questions that are not covered feel free to ask.

If you lived mid state I would have turned you onto my club Illini Bass Club