Chris

Cold water is thick and warm water is thin. The mud mixes better with the warm water and stays on top of the cooler water. You can find out where the muddy water ends with a temp gage or with one of those color selectors. When the color changes big time on the gage thats where it changes clarity. Ph meter can be used also.

I would say that it would depend on what is the prominent forage in the body of water. If the lake don't have crawfish or shad then as far as live bait goes they would hit bluegills. If the bass lives in open water they would feed on shad. If the bass lives shallow around docks or weeds they are more likely to see bluegills and feed on them. If they live around rocks crawfish might be the most prominent forage. If a crawfish falls from the sky and drops next to a dock or in weeds or swim its way out to deeper water will a bass pass it up? heck no! In dirty water I don't think a bass knows the difference between a shad or bluegill or even a crawfish. I think a bass knows it has an opportunity to feed on something that is easy to catch. If its around the size what they are feeding on or acts like it hurt or easy to catch they hit it. I don't think that a bass knows what he is feeding on unless he has been feeding on the same thing for a period of time. Like crawfish in the spring for example. When the water temp is about 50 degrees the crawfish crawl out of the mud. All of a sudden there is high populations of crawfish that a month earlier was not there. Bass change their feeding mood to feeding on crawfish because its there. If the crawfish populations get eaten up they might change to shad.

LOL I started out with a large post then I started thinking naw I better keep it simple. What I had originally was In spring, summer, fall, and winter which bait would they hit most in each season.

You know I think everyone needs a tune up and this forum helps take care of that me included. ;D

If a largemouth bass had an option between a shad, bluegill, or crawfish which do you think it would hit first?

If you want to play the money game here is the top 10 1) Denny Brauer $1,889,176.71 2) Rick Clunn $1,627,544.53 3) Larry Nixon $1,579,658.58 4) KVD $1,450,108.33 5) Jay Yelas $1,312,607.00 6) Shaw Grigsby $1,259,855.23 7) Gary Klein $1,239,343.97 8 ) Ron Shuffield $1,047,521.00 9) Roland Martin $1,038,067.16 10) George Cochran $1,018,121.30 AOY From 1971-2005 Roland Martin 9 Bill Dance 2 Larry Nixon 2 Hank Parker 1 Denny Brauer 1 Gary Klein 2 Mark Davis 3 KVD 3 Jay Yelas 1 Jimmy Houston 2 I just thought this was interesting

I wonder who is next to get the boot this week.

Welcome to the forum. ;D

This is a topic that many people touch on from time to time but I am going to show you just how important it really can be. This will put more fish in the boat. I have noticed more and more that people don't pay much attention to how quiet their bait hits the water. (Mainly the guys who are stuck hearing my jokes all day in a tournament). Some anglers take pride of the way they can put a bait where they want it but when it hits the water they might as well be throwing a rock. A bait that is placed in the right spot with a soft entry will not spook a fish as much and get you more bites. If you are fishing a spinnerbait a roll cast will give you the soft entry that you need. If your fishing a lone stump its better to cast beyond the object and bring it to it than smacking the surface right above the object. Pitching and flipping can be key at times but is useless when the bait slaps the water. Quiet is always best. I fished a team tournament not long ago and the guy I was thrown with fished a jig same as me all day. We threw our jig in the same spots. He never hooked up or even had a bite all day. The guy couldn't understand why I could fish the same used water and catch a fish where he couldn't. I told him the he was just warming them up for me. The difference was that when I pitched to a spot I hardly made a ripple and when he did the bait smacked the water from trying to force a pitch. This is something to think about when you consider how many people fish the same fish all day and only a few catch them even if your fishing used water. It makes that much of a difference so shhhhhhh be quiet.

I was thinking of a devils horse. I have taken a rapala and broke the lip off and caught fish on it and I also sometimes use a shallow rogue that has produced but jerkbaits are not high on my list to use at night. I am not saying they will not work because they do its just not my top choice.

Explain rip bait? If its like a topwater bait with a prop blade or blades then yes I have used them and caught several fish on them. I like them because you can make a lot of noise without moving the bait much.

I would think it was last years hatch.

instead of hooking the bait like a minnow would swim texas rig it so that it runs on its side. Run the hook in the head then out an eye and then back into ints side. This way it has less plastic to run though to get into the fish and the bait will work more like something hurt. Another good rig is to rig the bait wacky style.

You stopped the bait and the fish lost interest. The bait you where using was not scared of the bass and or it didn't look injured. The bass was not triggered into biting.

I'll tell you how bad I am. My wife and I rented a cottage that had an indoor pool inside of it and I spent several hours watching lures and tuning them. My wife said "man we spend all this money to have a vacation away from the kids and I still can't keep you away from fishing."

Use a jig! A jig is a big fish bait and will go anywhere.

I like to use 1/4oz spinnerbaits, smaller crankbaits, tubes, jighead worm 4 inchs long, dropshot can be killer, small jigs, anything crawfish looking, topwater pop r, small spooks, tiny torpedo, I tend to down size some around here because the smallmouth run small but if the smallmouth are good size you can use the same bait size as you would for largemouths.

Glenn thats sounds like my speech

If they are really busting the top then I use a spitting image topwater bait. I also like to target the shad and use a drop bait like a fluke or tube or worm. In this situation I let it fall to the bottom and work them on the bottom like a injured shad. Sometimes I use a spinnerbait and count it down so that its under the school and work that zone also.

Nope these fish where post spawn for the last 3 weeks the air temp was in the 80's most of the female bass that where caught where caught off the bed (not on beds)with bloody tails. During this tournament we had a cold front that dropped the air temp and the surface temp also. A week ago the water temp was 74 degree.

UB_Mike naw im going to be nice : On this site you have fishermen and fisherwomen of all levels that in many cases have logged in more than their share of time on the water. You have the opportunity to get learn from people from your neck of the woods and everywhere else. Nobody fishes the same and you get different solutions to problems that you may not have thought of. For me I enjoy the fact that I can help someone or learn something new.

I think at the end they should have the pro's vote who should be the greatest angler and see if they pick the same people as the public.

I just fished a tournament that might help. Water temp was 61 degrees with a major cold front and winds 20mph. The fish where post spawn with heavy stained water. I fished tight to the shore grass with a jig. Most of the fish where tight to cover and I had to make perfect pitches in the thick stuff. Fish where deep in the weeds and in any good clump of grass. Early morning fish where not busting the surface so I skipped topwater. My first fish was caught 6:30 am second 7:30 am on a 1/2 oz jig deep in the salad. 7:45 lost a keeper on a jig. 1pm caught my 3rd keeper on a spinnerbait running it on the outside edge of the weeds. At 1:45 caught my 4th keeper on a spinnerbait on the outside edge. End of the tournament 12lb 6oz took first place and big bass with a 4.78 which was the second fish I caught at 7:30. The tournament was last Sunday.

In clear water I like to use a senko rigged wacky style or a jerkbait. With the senko I pitch it right in the middle of the bass fry and let it sink to the bottom then hop it. I also try to locate the closest cover next to the fry and fish that also. Sometimes the female bass will be hanging on the cover trying to recoup also check out the first drop off. With the jerkbait try to make it look like a predator fish trying to get an easy meal and suspend it right next to the fry.

They might be suspended off that drop off.