Matt Fly

Good morning, What a way to wake up, brush piles where in my dreams last night, been in full production for the last two weeks. My partner and I are preparing for the late summer and fall opens on Lake Fork. First off, cinder blocks cost like a buck eighty-eight a piece. And that adds up quick if you want a few piles out. Sacrete, 80 lb bag is around 2.88 @ Home Depot. Just add water. Makes 7-8 good weights. I use the one gallon plaster buckets to make weights in, let them dry and turn them over, give'm a tap on bottom and you have nice weights and no plastic goes in the water, and their re-usable. I cut coat hangers for eyelets on the weights. Home Depot has a roll of wire, like bailing wire for 4.oo bucks and change. Different woods will deteriorate at different rates. Xmas trees will not last as long as your hardwoods, therefore, we like a mixture of brush. Willie and I have found that any green leaved tree native to Tx works, but we like Oak because of its long-givity, willows, because it weeps in the water for you, (spreads out in slow current nicely. Cedar and Xmas trees because they are tight and allow bait fish places to hide better. The fresher, the better!!!!!!!!!! I like to cut and go. Do not let the leaves dry out another words. The greener the leaves, the more shade and flow you get under the water from the leaves. We use hardwoods for the base, oak, hickory that spreads out like a "Y". We cut other branches and wire them on to differnt spots on the base as we place them out. Easy, cheap, and they will hold fish immediately. Some people tell you it will take a month to draw fish. I say not so. Have you ever seen lakes rise above pool level. Ever see anyone fishing the "newly flooded vegitation or bushes with success. A bass will gravitate to the newly brush if place in the right area. Willie and I have pulled fish off our piles within a week. Good luck, and remember, hard work pays off for those who work at it. Hookem Matt

Shad_Master, If a bass has made an attempt at your bait, but misses quite badly, he or she is trying to tell you to make a sublte change in presentation. Specially when they continue to blow up by the bait and not on the bait. The bass is already interested in it, but won't take. Small changes maybe in buzz bait size. Maybe too much noise, or too much splash. Tweek the blades in or out can take splash away or add it. Skirts is too large, maybe trimming down or thinning it. Small color change from solid white to wh/chrt. All chart. Some topwater bites only lasts 20 minutes, so adjustments can be made each cast with out removing unless changing sizes.

We have lakes in Texas that exceeds 90 degree surface temps, none of them have experienced a plankton kill. Power plant lakes get that warm in the fall. I've not heard of it yet, and I read lots of publications that would report something that is critical to our waters. I would say, you never know what a lake owner dumps into his water trying to kill grass mats in front of his docks. It happens a lot when authorities don't act on lakes becoming overgrown with aquatic mats. We do have LMBV, Golden Algae blooms, red tides, so something new wouldn't surprise me. Gonzo, What brought this question to lite. Is this happening some where? And if so, could you pass it on? Hookem Matt

Can't find where that has occurred in fresh water, not saying it hasn't, but normally, it happens to the coast line and salt water.

Was the late 60's for me, it was lucky 13's and bomber spinner baits, and in-line shyters on the Devils River. Virgin waters!!!!!!!

Too much money in hunting to let that happen. Leases, guns, ammo, out of town travel to and from. Deer corn and all the other associated items to mention. This effects too many lives and jobs.

We have petition in progress to get Squawl Creek re-opened. We say don't let terrorists dictate to us, well...... it still closed. I see you (keith) on another forum all the time, figured you knew SCreek. What, if any do you miss about Texas Keith?

Squaw Creek Kieth?

The strikezone is how far an active bass will travel to hit a bait. 1 inch or 20 yards. Not a reaction strike. If water is muddy, it doesn't matter how far you can cast horizontal. Fish can't see the bait at 45 ft or 5ft, so presentation is only deliver method, it does not constitute any strikezones. Bass dictate the zones, not casting styles. Expeirence tells us where we should put the bait on cloudy days, blue bird days, hot days and so on. I mean, would your first cast on a blue bird day be to the sunny side of the tree in the summer or the shaded side with less light penatration and cooler water? My money cast (putting the bait in the right place, ie... the strikezone) is to the shaded side of the tree.

I often say "know they bait fish intimately". If you know what forage is doing or supposed to do, you should be able to stay on bass throughout the seasonal changes. Here is a little article that might shed some light on crawdads. Most crawdad hatches in Tx occurs in the middle of June most years. And when that happens, we tie on MudBugs made by Fred Arborgast lures. http://www.davidlnelson.md/Cazadero/Crawdad.htm Hookem Matt

Fish and crawdads are gonna spawn whether or not theres a moon influence. Thus why I said the lunar charts, astro charts are for tidal fishermen and salt water fishermen, they are the ones who recieve the tidal influx. You better believe a river that runs into the ocean is observed by fishermen, current postions the bait and fish when tides come in and goes out. Those are critical times for getting active fish. Lunar charts and tides are very key. The same applies to lakes who release water or generate power, current postions active fish, but none of these areas have anything to do with tidal movements and moon phases, they are man made decisions when to generate and release water which creates current.

The bass don't care if the moon is shining, when the water temps get right, they will lay those eggs anyway. Same applies for crawdads, when conditions are right, they hatch out, even if clouds covers the moon.

The boats most use are top of the line with all the bells and whistles. so if there are better livewells being made, I'm sure every pro wants the best sponsorship boat he can buy. All the evidence has not been presented. Still investigating, so final reports not in. So speculation on all the facts is useless. Years ago, 10 fish limits came to the scales, no catch and release back then. Fish were filleted and fried. We are miles away from where we started. Miles away. God works in mysterious ways. How does he control over populated deer herds? Droughts and diease. They die off. I think its part of mother natures checks and balances. Only the strong survive. Sad, but true. You might think how does human interference apply to mother nature. We clear more land, push wildlife closer to public domain. Graze more livestock which competes with other wildlife. Put more pressure on waters by tearing up cover ( spraying to kill grass beds or tearing up cover with props), polluting waters with petroleum products and just over fishing some areas during stressfull times of the year....ie summer when oxygen levels gets depleated due to above normal heat. Lots of factors comes into play, not just FLW/BASS tourneys, but every day lake use by people from all walks of life. Plenty of blame for all of us to bear.

Ditto on everything said. Congrats to all the winners, and on here, there are no losers either. Hookem Matt

The only time I care to really observe moon tables is when the spawn is fixing to start. I think moon charts are better suited for tidal waters and salt water fishermen.

First off, 54lbs of thrust is alot for a jon boat, even decked out, it doesn't weigh more than the bass trackers that are 17 ft, and they don't come with 54 lb motors. Does your boat make the whole day trolling with out draining down? If not, check it for dead cell. Or your motor magnet is going out. If it is okay on power, them perhaps a better battery might give you more juice. Even buying the larger trolling motors, you aren't going to get much more speed, because you will be adding either 2 or 3 batteries to operate the 24-36 volt motor. Rule of thumb, the better the battery, the more it weighs.

Boats are all different. some days full tanks, some days full livewells. somedays, bigger partner. If you over trim, your RPM's will start to whine, if you have power to burn, you could induce what is called "chime walking". Which means very little of your boat is setting in the water, and the stern of the boat is getting "shaky". Boat feels unstable because its mostly just your motor in the water. I would pick calm morning, no wake to play. You will notice as you trim up after being on plane, speed increases as you trim it. Also watch Rpm's, not putting them into the red zone. You will notice that trimming up is no longer gaining any speed, but the rpm's will continue to rise and whine louder. As long as you aren't chime walking, back done until the speed starts to decrease, once the speed starts to come down, you've trimmed it out to the safer planing speed. Also, give this a read, it may explain some things for you better. http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass_boat_features.html Hookem and be safe matt

I see more spider bites at my hospital. So if the snakes, scorpions, bees, don't get ya, the spider is next in line. Then comes the fire ants, they may not kill you, but can make you sick enough if bitten enough times. We see lots of toddlers who get swarmed by fire ants. No excuse for having an toddler playing in areas without supervision and fire ants.

A golf course will shut it down if people start littering the course with fishing trash. Plus when people see others doing so, they will think they can also. How many golfers have seen the ponds being fished on a normal basis. I have never seen a lot of golf courses being fished hard, only select few, maybe thats why I always see good bass in some of them. A truth full answer would be, you'll need to check with the course manager. Public Course does not mean public fishing hole.

All those big fish caught in Cali hasn't seemed to hurt fishing, and talk about small waters, Lake Dixon is what? 70 acres. I still haven't figured out why killing a record bass would need to be done. A couple of xrays would show if any foriegn objects present. Texas didn't kill its State Record. Hookem Matt

Man laws should apply here, but if thats not exactly covered, stick with the golden rule of fishermen. Early to bed, early to rise, fish like h#ll, and make-up lies. Not really a lie when your a fishermen.

Dustin, Don't know about Kansas as being a bass state, but that "new State Record" in Texas would be worth lots of money. For all the money we have invested over the years, some more than others due to age, re-cooping some of that expense would be nice. You see possible negative actions occurring if it does happen. What about postitives. It could cause the state to become more conscientious, invest more money in stocking programs, more knowlegde available to the non-fishing types due to press. What would that bass due for your college fishing team? Our state has grown so much in the terms of popularity in bass fishing, that was done through anglers, programs, SAL program, and educating the old and new on catch and release. Not too mention some good biologists. Last thing, puttting your name in the Kansas record books is something your grandkids will see, you might inspire them also. 18.18lbs sure did open doors for Barry St.Clair who was fishing for crappie, and his name will be there in the top 50 after I'm dead and gone for years to come. Alway been my goal to get into the top 25 to make my mark stand for years.

Experience will dictate drag set. If you are in open water and no brush, trees, or heavy vegitation, you can loosen the drag some. The only time I tighten my drag down is: When I have 20lb test or better in an area that is known to have snags in. That being vegitation brushpiles, dock pilings or similar hang ups. If you caught a hawg on lighter line and had the drag tightened all the way down, you will possible break that line with out some give, or have a hook pull free. When you use braids and heavy lines, you can get away with a tight drag. 50lb braid, you should be able to horse a fish quite easily. I'll flip all day if jigs or plastic is the trick of the day. I'll flip spinner baits if neccassary.

Stick to the baits you have confidence in and use your strengths to the boaters style of fishing. Trying something you aren't confident in just to be opposite of the boater can make for long days. Unless your very versitile and confident with all approaches. good luck and hookem matt

I can feel your pain. I have lived in areas that just didn't kick out nice bass consistently. You know, for ever 1 keeper, you had to catch 100 dinks and it just got old. maybe a 5 pounder ever 200 dinks. Thats when I usually put the plugs down and go fishing for supper. Crappie, perch, cats, or just plain old carp fishing (not for supper). If your burn out, by all means, take a brake from that spot and find another. The burn out is not from fishing most likely, but hitting the same old water with the same results. Hookem matt.