Chris

Stickling it could be that you spooked the fish and the reaction you got was that it took off. Trust me it works. Maybe not all the time every time but more times then you might think. Try some off colored water.

Here is what I do. I look and I mean really look at the lake. You want to look for the best cover or structure in the lake. You need to find areas inside of areas or cover inside of the cover. This is what I mean. Deep or shallow figure out what is the prime cover or structure. In shallow water it could be weedline or stump row maybe a rock bank. Try to figure out what part of it is different and offers the best of the best cover. It could be that one stump is bigger or sits away from the others or sits in deeper water or next to a drop off. That one difference will draw a bigger fish to it. In deep water it could be an irregular feature, a small knob that jets out off of a point or one part will be deeper or offer some sort of cover. You try to locate prime spots within the spot. On laydowns or even standing timber the largest branch or the heart of the trunk will hold the biggest fish. In standing timber it might be the largest tree or the one sitting in deeper water or closest to the dropoff. Sometimes its where two forms of cover come together. You might be fishing cat tails then on one side there might be pads. You might be fishing buck bushes and then right next one group of them is some deeper water or some sort of weeds. When two forms of cover or structure come together this by itself will hold a bigger fish.

I guess I'll post it here too. ???If the ice doesn't get to thick where it reaches the bottom and if the area has baitfish in it year round then they wouldn't have a reason to move. If the oxygen levels go down and the baitfish move the bass will move with them. It might be an area that goes in cycles. When it warms up and baitfish move in so does the bass. When oxygen levels go down and the bait fish move the bass might follow the bait to the main lake. If you have a mild winter the fish might stay there year round.

About maybe 15 miles from my house is a lake thats stocked every year with rainbow trout. (I live in Illinois)It also has bass, bluegills, crappie, perch, spots, smallmouth, and channel catfish. This lake has a 3 fish limit of 14 inches. Max depth of 50 ft. It has plenty of cover, flats, points, grass, and humps in it. It is also clear water. I have fished this lake hard for the past three years and I can count on one hand how many fish I have caught 5lbs or bigger in this lake. About a year and a half maybe two years ago In early spring I caught a bass that was 9 1/2 lbs on a spinnerbait. The fish had a crappie tail hanging out of its stomach. To my knowledge this is the biggest bass that has ever been caught in that lake.(It was released)I have talked to others who trout fish and they have told me stories of bass taking their trout when they where hooked. So its a good bet that these bass are eating the stocked trout. This lake is stocked every year with 20,000 trout. This lake will never produce a record bass even though a northern bass has a longer life span than a Florida strain. The genetics and the environment are not there to grow a 20+ fish. In Florida it takes a Florida strain bass to reach 9 to 10 lbs about 10 years that 9 1/2 lb fish I caught might have been 20 years old. Any native bass in California might take 20 years to reach 10 lbs. A Florida bass is different. The genetics are different. It has a faster growth rate and the genetics to grow big quickly. Thats why this is such a debate. Let me also add that even if you stock a lake with Florida bass it has to have the genetics and environment to grow big. Not all Florida bass are able to grow over 10 lbs. If you take a bass who has the genetics to grow big it passes that gene to its off spring. So even if the lake was stocked in the 30's or 70's the genetics are still there in the lake and thats a gene pool that California never had naturally.

I guess the only thing I do as far as any reference guides or log books is I do mark on my tournament schedule what should be working where. I also mark on them areas that past tournaments where won and on what. I just take it as a guideline and a starting point because conditions change. We might have high water or low water or a bad winter that might cause a shad kill or the bait could be running small or areas that where productive for whatever reason are not anymore. It is a good starting point.

In the summer I hop and work it fast in colder water I slow it down. Most of the time they hit it on the fall.

Tuck it under your coat and run like heck. Or just Call a Game Warden and explain to them that you might have just caught a new record fish in a catch and release pond and wanted to verify it before releasing it.

Yeah it has worked for me I have burned a rattletrap, crankbait, spinnerbait and had caught fish. I also have worked other lures at normal speeds in winter and caught fish too like a soft jerkbait, spook, and a buzzbait

If you have any pockets, coves or old feeder creeks that come into the river I would fish them. If you go far enough back in a creek the higher river water will not effect them and might be cleaner water.

I think it was a fools mistake to have sold Florida bass to any of the other states to begin with. The high protein diet of trout or in the case of Florida tolopia isn't the only factor that grows bass big. Its the genetics, water quality, food source, and tropical temperatures. But the MAIN factor is genetics. Other bass species do not have the genetics to grow as a Florida stain does. Florida bass are their own species. It would be like catching a redfish in the St Johns river and having a new record because it was caught in a body of water where it didn't belong. The fish was in fresh water and is the biggest ever caught but it still didn't belong there. The same would be true for a Florida stain bass the name should say it all. Its a Florida stain bass that was transplanted. Should it count as a new record if it breaks the old record? Yes because its Florida's stupid mistake for selling the bass to other states. They missed out on keeping a possible record in Florida.

I have a creek down the road from me that is loaded with spots and smallmouths and some bass that are a cross of both. I think they call them mean mouths? Anyhow Most of the smallmouth can be caught along the shore rocks and lumber. The spots are always in the channel and around the bridges. I have caught them on smaller crankbaits and with a slider worms. I just bounce from one deep hole to the next and 90% of the bass I catch when doing that will be spots.

Suwannee bass lol good one! Yeah I like those redeyes too.

If I had to fish it I would slow roll a single bladed spinnerbait with a white pork trailer down the laydowns or on the points. I would also try a crankbait just reel steady until you hit bottom then reel just fast enough to stay in contact with the bottom or any laydowns. A jig would be the other option. Even if you have fast tapering points the fish might suspend off the end. The mussle beds would hold fish if there is any other structure around it like a stump or something. Later in the year that mussle bed would be a great feeding flat.

Crankbait Spinnerbait jig

I would spend the day tunning my crankbaits waiting for warmer water and weather. Thats what I did last Saturday when I was freezing my butt off.

Figure out what kinds of lakes you will be fishing the most and how clear the water is and how weedy. You can get by with a rattletrap style bait for 4 ft or less. Then get a bandit 200 series and 1/4 oz spinnerbait. Those three baits will take care of most of your shallow water stuff. Total cost under 10 bucks.

Try a drop shot or use a belly weight instead of a worm weight the bait will not dig into the algae as much. Also a soft jerkbait might be the ticket or weightless senko.

black colo bladed spinnerbait or buzzbait or maybe a jig or crankbait if you can crash it into something.

Everyone is going to have their own idea of what the fish should be doing and what would work and none of them are wrong. The key is that you need to figure out where they are. You can spend hours fishing the right baits and turn up nothing if your not fishing in the right areas. Think about it this way. All winter the bass have been in a deep spot in the lake trying to wait for spring. (they stack up )Spring gets here and now they find routes to the shallow water.(they move up the points or up from the deeper breaks) Along the way they stop and hang out on stuff (they stage) maybe because a front comes through or the temp is colder shallow water and they feel warmer in the deeper stuff. When the temp finally gets warm enough that the baitfish move up then the bass move up with them. Cold front moves though and maybe pushes the bait deep. Fish move with the bait or becomes inactive and stays shallow. You can spend hours trying to figure out which bait is the bait your not using that you should. Thats not the answer. What is the answer is what bait will work the best at the depth the fish are in. If its a point, mouth of a cove, shallow break, sand bank, channel bank whatever you need to find the right tool for the job that fits the depth your fish are at and the structure. To do that you need to figure out at what stage the bass are in and at what depth. If they are following up a point then you need to figure out where on the point they are at. Options could be in the deeper stuff carolina rig works, crankbait is another good choice. If they have moved up shallower than a jerkbait would work or a spinnerbait. If they are still in their wintering hole in 20 ft deep then a jigging spoon or heavy spinnerbait would work. My point is that you need to figure out where they are and what tool will work at that depth.

I was fishing a zara spook and the darn thing spotted it and made a rush to it and grabbed it. Then the stupid thing started to fly off with it. I got mad and snapped my rod and the thing dropped in midflight and hit the water.

When I was younger I would shinner fish with small silver short shank hooks. I hooked a fish in the top lip and couldn't get the hook out so I cut the line and tossed it back. I caught the same fish 4 times that day because it had 4 little silver hooks in it at the end of the day.

I use a heavy jig, tube, saltcraw, gamblers crawfish or I take a rake and make holes in the stuff and come back later to fish the holes.

Depending on what the jig is made of would depend on what kind of action the jig will have. Hair jigs for example work well in rivers, streams and in cold water. Most are made from deer hair and can match the colors of crawfish. They tend to have more action even when remaining still from current moving the hair great for clear water. Tinsel jigs are made with flashabou or holographic materials that make the jig reflect light and work well in stained water. Rubber jigs are the standby and some jigs have a combo of each.

sucker, carp, channel catfish, drum, trout, crappie, perch, redfish, stingray, gator, shark, seagulls, beaver, herin, snakes, frogs, eel, ladyfish, crabs, shinners, muskie, pike, gar, mudfish, rock bass, striped bass, chum salmon, stealhead, bluegill, fishing rod, lures, shoe, beer can, soft shell turtle, snapping turtle, flathead,walleye, butter cat, saltwater cat, pufferfish, bullhead minnow, and a bunch more I can't think of off the top of my head.

gosh that sounds like my Mom lol