Chris

Welcome ;D

If I need to buy a new bass insider subscription to get great information. Then why the heck do I have a BASS membership? Why isn't the Bass Times or my Bassmaster magazine have the great information? I thought that was why I became a member and that was what I was paying for. Now they are saying that there is more advanced stuff in a bass insider subscription? I thought they gave the same sales pitch for Bass Times, Ultimate Bass Fishing Library, and Bassmaster University.

I caught them last night flipping a tube shallow. 7 bass 1 flathead. lol Greenpumpkin and 3 other colors they shouldn't hit at night in dirty water.

I fish them now until winter.

In super clear water I use something that looks like a baitfish in baitfish colors. In simi clear to stained water I use white or charteuse/white skirts. In dark or muddy water I use black or chartreuse, black/bright orange. Blades are up to you. In clear water I use willow blades and indianna blades alot. In stained water I use colo and Indi blades. In muddy I use colorado single blade or a indi. In clear water to stained water colored blades work. I never use silver blades always gold. <~this is just me and how I fish not saying there is anything wrong with silver blades.

Change to a lighter wire hook. It takes less preasure to stick the fish and creates a smaller hole so its harder for the fish to throw it. Also change to a straight shank worm hook not the off set hooks. This hook gives you a better angle to stick the fish at a vertical position and don't use the screw in weight because the hook has a hard time sticking a fish with that much stretch. The distance between the hook and weight isn't much and if your weight is not breaking free from the worm its hard to stick the fish.

I always love fishing something different something new. I get so tired of companies coming out with their version of the same old lure. If your going to make a lizard make it different than the ones I already have for example. If its a senko style bait make one that looks like a baitfish or with more salt or something different. Maybe bigger or shaped different. I wish companies would look to the future and grow instead of beating the same drum as other companies. The fact that a company makes something different is why people buy them.

The other part of this deal is if you dig though the pages instead of just the top few you will find tons of posts on the same questions. Do some digging because last winter we touched on alot of great topics.

Well I am fishing against the fish not them and I would give them a run for their money. I am not saying I would win but I might.

When you first take off you want your motor trimmed down all the way. When you get you boat on plane then you want to trim the motor up.

Clunn career earnings 2.5 million Martin career earnings 1.5 million

Clunn 102 top 10's 17 wins classics 4 qualified for 28 classics and 6 Flw championships age 58 pro 32 years Martin 94 top 10's 19 wins age 65 pro 35 years

When I crappie fish sometimes I use a style of balsa float thats long and thin. If a fish sniffs my bait I know it and sometimes with crappie they will grab the bait and just sit there and with this style I know they hit my bait.

When you throw a boat wake on riprap it forces the fish around it to move and become active it also changes the clarity of the water and will move any fish suspended out away for the rock to the rock. Any bait fish become dissorianted and the bass put their feed bag on. This also give the bass an artificial current. The same deal for the deeper planted structure your basically pushing the bait and bass back into the cover where they are easier to catch.

Plain B run circles around the planted structure to drive the fish back into it and then fish it.

I guess what I would look at is who lead the field when they where in their prime and who is still winning tournaments today.

When you use a fixed bobber when you cast it the thing kinda sling shots out there. This isn't that bad when your fishing shallow or not making a long cast. The slip bobber's are better when you are fishing deep because the bobber falls down to your splitshot and you are only casting the distance between your splitshot and your hook not the total depth of however deep you set your bobber stop. Style of bobber is really up to you.

I would take my boat and buzz the riprap 2 or 3 times then about 20 minutes later fish it. On the areas that have the brush piles I would troll around with my depth finder and find the fish or those bluegills. The bass may not be holding to the brush pile but around it or up on the points. I would also look around for suspended fish.

no

Winter- jig, crankbait Fall- jig, crankbait, spinnerbait, jerkbait, buzzbait Spring- senko, rattletrap, spinnerbait, crankbait, spook, lizard, tube, jerkbait Summer-jerkbait, crankbait, tube, jig, spinnerbait, senko, buzzbait, frog

If you are fishing in clear water I would think that the fish would be doing one of two things either roaming or taking up positions to feed. In stained to muddy water I would say they are mostly taking up positions to feed.

The monthly contest for May was held at Paris Lake on the 15th. 23 members fished the tournament and brought 15 keepers to the scales that weighed an impressive 46.26 lbs...averaging better than 3 lbs per keeper. And here's proof that some fish DO weigh the exact same, digital scales or not: a tie for big bass at 4.78 lbs shared by Chris and Jim (and partners). In 3rd place was Chad and Kent with 5.54 lbs; 2nd was Mike and Jim , and in 1st was Chris and Dave with 12.77. The guys that won 2nd camped out in the coves flipping cover. What I found was that the fish where tight to cover so I had to fish quiet and slow. When they took off in the morning I just dropped the trolling motor and started fishing. I started at the ramp and worked my way around the lake. At 6:30 am I caught my first keeper on a jig. I was lifting the jig out of a spot that had weeds and a bush next to a dock when a bass smacked it just before I got it out of the water for another pitch. The topwater bite wasn't there and the shad was not up so I knew I needed to fish in the thickest stuff I could find. After I caught my first fish I knew that places where two forms of cover met was the ticket. At 7:30 or there abouts I caught my second keeper on that Island which was my kicker fish. It was caught on a jig in the thickest part of the weeds that was next to a drop. This spot had two forms of weeds meeting together and the drop made it even more of a sweetspot. I left the island and went to the other side of the flat that runs between the island and the bank and hooked my 3rd keeper on a patch of wood in the mouth of a cove. This was a piece of isolated wood that was right next to a patch of weeds. This fish I lost on a jig. This was at about 9am and after that I had a hard time fishing my jig because of wind. Later in the afternoon I refished the areas that I caught my keepers with a spinnerbait. When you out there fishing and there is little wind Its always a good bet to slow down and use a jig or worm but when the wind blows for me moving baits like a crankbait or spinnerbait work better. On two of my areas where I caught fish in the we caught two more keeper on a spinnerbait. The fish repositioned to the outside edge of the weeds. I did try out the coves and never got a bite. Let me also add that it was 40-50 degree air temps through most of the day.

You get to the lake and you find yourself in the middle of a bad cold front. Air temps drop and your freezing you backside off. Its early spring and the fish should be spawning but because of the bad cold front they might be off the nest. The shore cover is thick with weeds and some scattered wood. This lake does have docks but few that are worth fishing. This lake also has one small island that one side has a deep drop and the other side is a shallow flat. This lake also has several small coves filled with weeds and scattered wood. The deepest part of this lake is about 10 ft deep and is shaped like a goldfish bowl with the exception of the island there is no real sharp depth change. The whole lake is a sand box so the bass could spawn anywhere. This is a real lake with real conditions and winds pushing 20mph in the afternoon. What would you do? Hint: In the afternoon I caught 2 keepers on the outside edge of the weeds with a spinnerbait. This was a bonus not the main pattern. A) Start off with a topwater bite and then change when the winds pick up Fish the outside weedline thinking the fish might move off the bank because of the cold front C) Fan cast the flat with a rattletrap and try to reproduce Takahiro Omori's pattern D) Flip places where two forms of cover meet fishing tight to cover in the main lake area E) Camp out in the coves away from the cold north wind

Ok here is the deal. In this case the deep channel fish never bit. That one fish was the only bass I caught out there. It was a key fish but no friends. The standing timber I caught fish on a crankbait and a spinnerbait the fish where suspended but hard to catch. The shallow side of the cove held fish and I did catch a limit off that side but just keepers. What I did was I made the adjustment and changed gears and fished rock. Rock in early spring holds heat and around the rock the water temp will be warmer this draws bait and bass. I culled my smaller limit by tageting the rocky areas. Now this year we fished the same lake and I never caught a fish in and around that cove. I ended up switching coves and targeting beaver huts and docks. I came in fourth place and the winning pattern was flipping beaver huts with a black and blue jigs. Big fish was over 6lbs. Same time of the year and about the same water temp. So keep an open mind because what they should be doing may not be what they are doing. Thats why I said there is no real right answer. ;D

oops :-X