Chris

I powder paint mine or touch it up with a marker I don't like shiny sinkers. Dull gray is fine too.

Welcome to the forum

Yeah I have always liked Larry Nixon, Hackattack, and Denny Brauer

Go get him a picture frame that has a bass on it and stick a photo of him and you holding up some fish.

Off topic replies have been moved to [link=http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1135113353]This Thread[/link]

"Secret Baits" or "Secret chum and scent tactics"

I had a pond that I would catch gills using paper or cotton. There was a group of fishermen who would bring a bunch of bread to fish with and after they where done they would throw the rest in the water. I would hit the pond with my paper or cotton and catch them after the left.

1. Jig 2. Spinnerbait 3. Crankbait

I think it is a little of both. I fish slow, I always have. I am more than happy sitting on a tree and pick it apart until I am sure they are not there to bite. I then come back to see if anyone has changed their mind. I am the kind of fishermen you don't want to fish behind because I don't leave many fish. There are times when you can isolate where the bass are hanging on cover or structure and you manage your time you spend on them accordantly. Buck is known for controlled depth fishing. Many of the things he said in his book and many articles there after still holds true today. As a tournament fishermen you don't have time to waste on waiting for the fish to bite. I say this because most of the time there is active fish that are easier to catch. Most tournament fishermen know this and try for a easy bite. Very few know how to fish deep or fish deep effectively because they don't understand controlled depth fishing. That was what that spoon plug was all about because it ran at a predictable depth. Today a Carolina rig replaced most deep tactics for tournament fishermen because they don't understand deep cranking for example or drop shot or deep spinner baiting. If you hand a normal fishermen a deep crankbait and say here go get 'em they don't understand what true depth that bait will run with what distance cast. Also you take the same fishermen and tell him to fish for a group of suspending fish they would have a hard time reaching the fish or understand what it would take to get to them. The problem is if your not a crankbait fishermen and not a deep water crankbait fishermen you would be lost. The same holds true with other baits under the same situation. That's why some guys fly at full speed or fish different than you do either they figured them out and don't need to waste time or they are limited to what they feel comfortable fishing. Sometimes guys panic and don't realize that they are fishing like they had to much coffee.

Yeah Beef up your crankbaits and jigs. In the winter the baitfish will be the largest this time of the year. Break the rules and grab the 12" worms and the big baits your scared to use during the year. A) the bait fish are running big the fish want a big slow meal C) everyone is throwing small so you will be giving them something different. D) the potential of getting a big bite E) dirty water fish can hear your bait F) fish it off the wall different (speed it up, dead stick it, something different) G)Scent in winter its a good thing H) rattles ( let the bait sit and just rattle it in one spot) I) fish a spinnerbait like a worm let it fall to the bottom and sweep it up and let it fall back. J) Let the spinnerbait hang in the weeds and rip it out and cause a reaction strike. (same with a trap) K) Break the rules fish shallow on any hard cover or structure. L) break the rules throw a buzzbait

At first glance I would say spot. I will say that if a bass is active and feeds a lot it will out grow its mouth. If you have a large bass with a small mouth and it is not a spot it is a young bass with a large body. If you watch any of the fishing shows that are on Ray Scotts pond most of the bass they catch are gorilla bass and are shaped the same. (They say its Florida bass but they are not that is why they clipped a fin.) They eat so much and grow so fast that they out grow their mouth. Sometimes if you catch a young bass and from poor handling mess up the fish's mouth the mouth will grow at a slower rate. If it is a mix of a spot and a largemouth then sometimes the patch of teeth on the tongue is hard to distinguish. I catch many in a river by me that is a mix like that and it also has what they call mean mouth that are a cross of a spot and smallmouth. Sometimes they are hard to figure out. If it is a farm pond and you don't have water nearby like a river or a stocked lake with spots in it I would doubt its a spot. The dark pigments on the belly area and the jaw line says its a spot but without handling the fish myself I don't know.

If your not sure then bring a few markers with you. (put your depthfinder on fast scroll) Start of where you think the channel is then when you first see a drop.. drop a marker. Then if you see the bottom line raise up then drop another marker. Now hit it from a different angle and do the same thing. Now look at the position of the 4 markers and recheck the position by making another run and when you hit a drop look over to the marker and make sure its in the right place. If it is silted in you should see that also with by the bottomline if it is thick or not. Some depthfinders have a zoom feature that will pick up a small drop also.

It depends on how clear the water is, how thick the cover is, also how spooky the fish are. In real muddy water I just position my boat so that I can put the bait where I need it without crashing into the cover. If I am fishing in real thick weeds and catching fish deep in the weeds I might run my boat into the weeds and fish around it and camp out. I will use the weeds as a anchor for my boat. In stained water if I am fishing the edge of the weeds I will position my boat into the wind and keep enough distance so that I can still reach the target without forcing a pitch. Fish the edge then work your way into the cover. If it is a bush or brush pile I will pitch into the heart first then pick it apart. I fish a lay down the same way I pick out the largest limbs or any forks and hit them first or the place where the trunk and the shore meet then work my way out to the end. If I can pattern the fish just on the ends then I fish that first then pick it apart in other areas of the tree. In clear water I always start on the end or the edge (if its weeds) or the thickest part. In clear water I try to find variety if fishing weeds is the pattern or if its wood then I find the larger trees or something sitting on a break. I try to pay attention to the angle the trunk is sitting and what trees produced and try to figure out why.

I'll be your huckleberry I'll send you 2 coupons each are $10 off anything in BPS with any purchase $50 or more. Email me a addy they are good through 31 Dec 2005.

Well if your not wanting to leave because someone else might pull up and take your fish then you might not have a solid pattern. I fish one lake that is always a race to the train bridge. The bridge does hold good fish but that tournament has never been won on the bridge. I would not spend much time on it. I would pull up and hit it in the morning and then again in the afternoon. I would spend enough time on it to cover the bottom and any suspended fish then leave. Total time spent 20 minutes. If I get some fish maybe 30 but I wouldn't bank the tournament on one spot or area unless it showed me something. Just hit the prime spots and if it turns up something slow down and fish it. If your the first one there with the first cast you usually cash in. Next hit it in the afternoon if it still didn't turn up anything leave. I would not wait them out because you might be sitting on a empty hole and get stuck with nothing. Always factor in that someone messed up your spot this keeps you from wasting a day on a unproductive spot.

If I locate fish in a large main lake cove and I start on one end and fish my way to the other end with crankbaits and catch a limit of small fish. I look over to my partner and he has 2 keepers and one is a good one and he asked "well want to try your spot." I stay because it has the potential to hold bigger fish and the cover to hold them. The cove also had the most concentration of baitfish and nobody moved onto my spot. I turned the boat around and fished worms and creature baits and placed 3rd. What I try to look at is if the area should hold fish and if it has the ingredients to hold bigger fish. That one spot that my partner caught his bigger fish had another of same size I culled out most of my limit also. I try to look for areas that have a lot to offer me and the fish. If I had not had a good fish the first run through I would have left or if I was not getting bites. Some places are run and gun. Sometimes you need to make a milk run and try to catch the fish at the right time. It is a gamble but if you figure them out to the point where you can almost call where your bites should be then you can be successful. I had one tournament where I bounced around from spot to spot and back again. The first run we had 2 keepers at the end we placed 2nd and won big fish. The fish where moving up into areas and we where there to get them. Another tournament we had a bad cold front and I knew fishing would be slow. I threw a jig and grinded it out fishing slow. I also went back through the areas again and picked off more keepers. I won 1st and tied for big fish that tournament. I don't just sit on fish if I don't need to. Each tournament is different for me if I am running around with a empty livewell then I try to figure out if it is something I am doing wrong or if it is the wrong area then adjust.

Welcome back and good luck in your tournament season. ;D

"Son, you cast it out a far as you can - lay your rod down and pour a cup of coffee - give it a jerk - drink the coffee - give it another jerk - light up a cigarette - give it a jerk - smoke the cigarette - give it another jerk -- get the picture?". This works for jigs also this time of year.

Cali cold water or hot?

I know a guy who went out about a month or two ago and stuck his fishing buddy in the ear. I mean in his ear! They went to the Doc and got it out and had stitches put in. I guess the one guy threw a crankbait then stuck a branch then flicked his wrist and planted it inside the other guys ear.

If the water is clear enough I would say a jerkbait is #1 producer until the water freezes. #2 jig in stained #3crankbait. You might need to slow it down and pause it more and longer. Snap it to get it to spook then almost lay your rod down and wait. Then when you can't stand it anymore snap it again then wait. You will pick it up one time and he is just there. It will feel like you hooked a wet sock if its cold enough.

If I am fishing a short distance away from my jig like when I flip or pitch you can sometimes see the tick or jump in your line when the bait hits the bottom. When you lift up on your rod to feel contact with your jig and it feels different or heavy set the hook. If you see the line tick and your bait is on the bottom and you didn't move it set it. With a jig they don't hit it and spit it like a worm. That is what those small ticks are that you feel when you get a strike on a worm. They are either doing that or just grabbing it to stop it then the next tick is when they got a good hold on it then they move off with it. With a jig they got it on the first tick. You got time with a jig to set the hook but you don't need it I set it asap. If you find that you are missing a lot of fish change to a lighter jig so that they get it on the first tick deep in their mouth. Also if they are spitting it then your jig is to big and they think they need to crush it to kill it before eating it. You can shorten the trailer to make it smaller or change the weight.

I fish as if it had 4 wheel drive. I throw it in places that few people would dare to go. This is why it produces big fish because not many lures can reach them like a jig.

Rip that trap or try a suspending jerkbait. If they are tight to cover then beef up your weight of your jig or worm so that you can still feel in the wind. The fish will have no problem still picking it up.

This year I caught fish on everything just call me Mr. Junk fish. Top tournament producers jig, crankbait, spinnerbait, senko, kreature bait, paddletail worm, popR, Spit'n image, frog, jerkbait, zoom sweetbeaver wannabe, sweetbeaver, trap, tube, cuttail dropshot, yep I'm the poster child for the title Mr. Junk fish.