Chris

I guess it would depend on where they are staging at. I have done well on crankbaits and spinnerbaits worked down points or next to drop offs. I also have done well with jerkbaits ran across points. I have caught fish suspended in deeper water on countdown rapalas. I have fished rock banks with jigs and caught prespawners. When they move up into pockets or coves I have done well with rattletraps. I have also done well if you get a warm day with topwater.(even in 40 degree water)If they are staging on mats I have done well flipping tubes. You have to keep your options open because they might bite on a variety of baits. The main thing is to figure out what they are staging on.

If you can get on the lake in the winter or early spring take some time to map out the lake. Try to find a hard bottom, drop offs, or something that will hold fish to an area maybe a depth change. Alot of times its not whats on top that holds the fish but whats under the weeds. This is when you want to pitch a tube because it will get into the holes without hanging up. When the hydrilla tops out the bottom stems don't get sunlight and will create tunnels. Sometimes they will break off and pile up on a wind blown bank. In the spring when you have the first growth rattletraps work great or a carolina rig. In the summer fish the holes. Pockets and points of grass can be productive too.

Kentucky non resident is $35 Illinois resident is $13 I think your paying the Florida strain bass tax lol

You got to scale down and slow way down and pitch tight to cover. Try to find some thick stuff because they will be in the middle of it. If you can find a floating mat that would be a good starting point. For whatever reason Florida bass really shut down in the winter. I don't think the kind of bait matters much as long as its scaled down and weedless. I do well with tubes and small creature baits rigged with a 1 oz or better weight. You just want to punch the cover and yo yo the bait and just shake it in one spot untill they bite.

There are cheaper places to get components and have a wider selection than that place. Try Janns Netcraft or Stamina.

Most fish tend to stay in a comfert zone. If the fish is used to living in 8 ft of water and the lake drops 20 ft then it will pull back with the water and if there is structure in the general area around that 8 ft depth they will hang on it or suspend. Shad would be the main factor that would pull fish out to the deeper humps or points. But if there is structure available in the area that they did live they are not going to move half way across the lake to find a lone point. The creek channels its the same thing they will pull into the channel and follow it down as the lake drops. Try to figure out where they spawned last year or likly places where they might spawn. I would then look around in the deeper water for structure that might hold them. When the water comes up the fish will stage on rocks or stumps or small drop offs and continue to move up with the water and take up new structure. The fish in the creek will just follow the creek and the fish on the points will just follow up the point.

My take on it is that Bass doesn't want to have a one person and a figurehead tournament wise or otherwise because they have many things going on now and one person can not be everywhere at the same time. Fish didn't sign a contract or had any obligation except verbal and in this day and age if you sneeze wrong your out without one. Most of the time when a larger company buys another they tend to change things around. I think it stinks but Fish Fishburne might have a lot of doors open up for him. It might be a good thing in the end.

Developing a pattern is just a learning process to figure out the lake and what mood the fish are in. You need to catch fish to find fish. I try to break it down into two parts first I figure out if they want a vertical or a horizontal presentation. Next I try to figure out what kind of cover or structure are they holding at. Then try to refine the pattern to catch more fish or bigger fish. After that duplicate the pattern in other areas or find secondary patterns.

brine shrimp or sea monkeys

skip a jig under the dock or a tube

Bandit crankbait period! Day in and day out this bait will catch fish in clear to muddy water. This is the king of the fish catching machines.

dropshot

I would be surprised if the guy gets anything from the lawsuit against the sponsors but who knows. We had a tournament on a lake one year where a guy broke his back when a boat ran by him and threw a wake that made him smack his buttseat. (to put this in a different context) Should the guy have filed a lawsuit against the club for having the tournament. The DNR for not being there to give the guy a ticket or the boat company for not making a more stable boat. I don't see this case being any different. Its the fault of the tour pro or the observer or both or none. I don't see how sponsors had anything to do with how that boat caused the injury. But like I said who knows

If your missing fish it might be your rod. I use at least a 6'6" or 7' med/heavy action rod with atleast 14 lb test line. I also use high speed reel atleast 6 to 1 gear ratio. Try a Gambler screw weight to peg the worm and leave about a half inch of worm between the weight and hook. This will prevent a fish from pulling down your worm on the hook. That Charlie Ingrim worm is about the same size as the Culprit and I would use a 4/0 or 5/0 wide gap hook. You might try cutting it down some to see if they will hit it better. You might be dealing with smaller fish that can't get a good mouth full of an 7.5" worm. When ever you feel a tap tap its usually a bream, small bass, or a fish trying to crush it . Spray it with scent they might be rejecting it. When I set up to hook a fish on a worm from bite to set is about 2 seconds. With that bigger hook if he has any of the worm in its mouth he also has hook. Fish tend to stop a worm which is the first tap you feel and suck it all the way in on the second tap you feel.(if its a bass big enough to eat the worm)

I was fishing a local lake one day and a guy from my club called my cell phone and asked me if I wanted to fish a thursday nighter open tournament. I asked where? He told me and I said I was fishing it now. So I aggreed to fish. When he showed up I told him what I had been doing and asked if he had any of the lures I had been throwing. He said yes but he wanted to throw something else. Well when we took off for the tournament I told him that the island all day never got fished so I said we will start there. The island is chuck full of wood so I pulled out my crankbait and started casting. I told the guy that I had been catching fish on a bass pattern lure. The next thing I knew I hooked up! It was bubba! A few more casts later I stuck another fish. This time I had to do the oh crap dance trying to keep it out of the trolling motor. That fish snapped my line. I then tied on an old Big O that I repainted and turnned around and caught 4 more fish. All the fish came off a very small stretch of the island. The other bait I was using was the larger bass pattern shallow Fat Free Shad. Just incase you wanted to know.

Another thing I have found is to change my location. I try to get away from the noise and boat traffic and try to find a spot that might be less effected. Some places its hard to do but when you can it helps out a lot. It could be areas that don't get hammered by a boat wake or an area that tucked away from the rest of the fishermen. (backwater areas) Deep water is another option but in dirty water it can be a lost cause. Something else is to look where everyone is fishing and fish areas that they stay away from. Some of the nothing banks when you fish them you will find cover or structure that most just pass by. Also watch what they use and where and use something different. One day i was fishing a rock bank with a buzzbait and catching fish. The next thing i knew a guy pulled infront of me throwing the same thing. I changed to a spitt'n image and continued catching fish and caught a good kicker fish right after this guy. Changing your tactics can be key or size bait. I tend to reaction fish more on weekends and for me its payed off.

I spend a lot of time between tournaments testing out new stuff. While I am give a lure a run through I am trying to figure out its potential and if it fits into my style of fishing. Sometimes you stumble onto great stuff and other times they are duds. The main thing I look for is if it catches fish and if it has enough appeal or potential to tempt bigger fish. For me its an on going process to tweak my lure selection and weed out stuff. I am always trying to find something that does a better job.

Let me add this and i am stupid for not thinking of this before. Add shad to the lake. I was watching a Jimmy Houston show and they where talking about the same problem and I was like oh yeah I forgot about that lol duh!

I fish both and feel comfortable fishing and winning in both. I took me alot of time on the water and many hours of doing more fishing than catching before I got it down. Now I am glad that I can fish both because most can't or don't like to. Last year was a shallow water bite for most of the year because of higher water conditions. The year before was lower water. Usually in higher water conditions fish are shallow. When this happends shallow water fishermen mainly jig fishermen do great. Low water cranking comes into play and deep water fishermen do well. If i was to choose one based on which is easier shallow water would be #1. If I was to choose based on a tough bite or heavy pressured lake then deep water would take top prize.

I like to use prop baits around cover. The noise draws fish out of the cover.

Its 20 degrees with highs the past few days in the 30's and the lakes are open with little to no ice because we had some warmer weather the week before. I went fishing! ;D No catching just fishing. I found out that braid is not a good choice in winter :-/ but it was fun.

Well dang it mine did weigh what i posted 4 lbs 14 oz lol scales don't lie. The one under mine yeah i kinda wonder. lol That day sucked i caught two fish back to back and that was it all day. When i hooked this one in the picture i said man that a toad and fat so i put it on the scale.

Its a regular drop shot rig that you tie a shallow running crankbait to instead of a hook and robo worm and you drop it to the bottom and drag it so that the crankbait wiggles while still staying in contact with the bottom.

How do you tackle backwater fish?

Anyone tryed to drop shot a crankbait yet?