Matt Fly

When fishing tournaments, its still supposed to be fun. When recreational bass fishing, I still approach it like a tournament. I don't want any bad habits coming from a pleasure trip. Team or individual, still have a game plan, backup game plan.

AH, Randy, got your email. Fish the timber in the bends in Grape creek. My uncle said two of the 13 lbers came from grape creek. Run to the back of grape, throw a firetiger excalibur suspending model. cover 2-8ft. Try tennessee shad color, clown also. Once you've located a few, drop back to the nearest deep timber 15'-20 ft, try your jig in blk/blue. Keep on backing out of the creek till you find the smaller ones shallow. I say shallow, most of the banks are deep and steep already. Concetrate in the bends. Grape has produced a money stringer every time he's there. On the deep banks that hit 15-20 ft, fish parallel to the bank on the sunny side. Most fish this last tourney were caught on DD22's. Uncle said, he was using the suspending excaliburs, get them deep and let them set 10-20 sec. give them just a twitch, slight twitch, hold on, they are trying to remove your rod. Add some suspending dots behind the front treble, keeps it from floating up, they suspend, but they loose a little depth as you wait patiently 10-20 seconds, this puts a forward dive appearence on them. Next time your out, tell me if the ducks are showing up there please. I always take a trip home and go duck and pheasant hunting above Lubbock.

Most of us are Catch and release on BASS.

I like to see the picture like Raul, seasonal patterns and what is the conditions above and below. One of the more important pieces of info, is there current from rains, dams, river, tidal influx.

We don't won't to wait as long as your sox did. LOL

Mr Allen Henry Basser, First off, You are on the 2005 sharelunker winning lake. First lake to over take Fork in the Sharelunker season with 9- 13lbers last season. First time since it started that Lake Fork didn't earn that honor. A quarter oz blk/blu or brwn/purple, camo and matching pig claw. Your water is clear unless the rains hit you this am. Your lake is producing big chunks, wouldn't down size your mono too much. Use pork trailer to slow your fall, target the big trees in the river, target the sunny side of the tree late morning on, they will be suspended and catching some sun. When the water temps drops a little more, fish where caught at 40ft last year. The majority of your fish are being caught on DD22's right now. I know that doesn't help you with the jig right now. My home town of Odessa just had there cllub tournament there last weekend. Four stringers over 23lbs, 26+ won it, with an 11.43 kicker. Good luck

New York City, Get a rope!!!!!!!!LOL

any boat with a in experienced operator that has speed "can be dangerous". just as a guy whos been on the water his whole life, you never know what has broke loose from somebodys dock or what got washed in from the rains that is floating. In 1985, on lake Michigan, I had bought a boat with down riggers for salmon fishing. Only trolling with down riggers under 10 knots in deep water with 2-4 swells. I hit a telephone pole coming over a swell that was 6-12 inches floating vertical under the water. It popped a hole thru the fiberglass so easy and water was rising fast. Too fast to gun the boat 1/2 mile from shore. My two friends had put life jackets on (quality jackets) and started to shore in 45 degree water. I took the third and last jacket after we flipped the boat over to hold air in the nose to keep her a float and tied it off to the bow to mark where she's gonna sink. I tried to stay on top of her to keep her from flipping again. The CPO (chief petty officers club) club on base that after noon had wittnessed this and called the harbor master and my buddies where rescued in about ten minutes. If it had not been witnessed, my friends would have been in bad shape. Nobodys fault, Just goes to show that speed sometimes isn't a factor.

A good early indication is when the males start cruising the shallows to make a bed, the females won't be far behind.

Has anyone noticed the carp and gar usually hit the shallows and grass before the bass spawn?

My advice also, very low light conditions or dark.

I am a firm believer that larger females will start as early 61 degrees with the last full moon in Feb. in Tex. That also depends on some good sunny days to help the water temp reach the 60's in Feb. But 65 is the magical number to start the spawn, and with the first full moon, usually sends the first big wave. The average depth of the lake and the way the lake is laid out in relation to the sun which may allow or have more protected waters, creeks, and coves to warm faster by being protected from northern winds will determine when and how long the spawn will last. As the spawn progresses down lake, post spawn takes place in the upper lake and progresses down lake behind the early spawners. I was having great success on a buzz bait 3 weeks after the initial spawn up lake. Don't remember the tree type, but the "ole" guys on Sam Rayburn said when those trees bloom, the spawn is on full tilt. Dogwood blossoms?

I never use less than 1/2 oz. There are days when a 6' leader is the only way. My rule of thumb, shorter leader to start at the begining of post spawn. As summer progresses, the leader length increses. Its not just me, just look at the fish being weighed in the summer, all you have to do is say C-rigging today? yep!! As mentioned, I was fed up with seeing a lot of sick fish. I didn't start C-rigging again until this year late. i will say my % is better, I attribute that to the 3X floating baits. After thinking about a c-rig is no different than a live bait rig, and the bait is off bottom like live bait. I can't figure anything else out. I have quality rods and reels. If ever there was a cheat rig, it would have to be a c-rig. I can take anyone, if its c-rig time, and get them bit. One bit of info, In Texas, our waters heat up in the summer, and deep fish get the bends easy, combination of how and where they are caught maybe. Alot of summer water, I go 17-25ft or where the thermocline is set up at. It rare that I gut hook a texas rigged fish. Can't remember the last one.

Will, I have rigged rods with all types of lines. Used most brand of braids. Do like power pro over all. It depends on the lake I'm fishing that day as to which. I use 20lb P-line main line and I might go as low as 10-12 pline leader or flourocarbon. Depends on the lake.

I only fished a few select tournaments this year, 5 to be exact, made two nice checks. Won't truly know the exact amount until I file my taxes. I write off more fishing tackle expenses to get my tax break. This year, I'm going to try to add the Bait Monkey as a dependant. Wait till IRS tries to figure that out. All you have to do to write some of it off is show income from fishing tournaments. The more the income, the more you can claim.

RW, Have tried some circle hooks, but went with what i thought was logic, bigger, not as easy to swallow. I learned my style from Shaw Grigsby, he used a sweeping motion of the rod across his body instead of a hook set. I will give this a try when a c-rig is called upon. Right now anything is working. We just had our first 40 degree low the last couple of nights. Maybe a low 50 at night before and not many. Fall is finally reaching north east Texas. I fished a live bait striper rig since the 70's which is the same as a c-rig, like you, I never had problems with live bait being swallowed. I wonder why live bait and plastics differ. Something to ponder over. TY.

If you fished a carolina rig all day and caught 10-20 fish, how many swallowed the hook? What kind of hooks are you using when this happens? What type of hook should we use that may prevent this? First off, anybody can c-rig, my nine year old daughters favorite is for daddy to cast it out as far as I can. She does the rest. She has been catching bass this way since she was six. Its not just her, its my buddies also, they always have dead fish or sick fish at the weigh in becuse of swallowed hooks. I on the other hand, have not been using the c-rig the last 3 years. I have thrown one with great success in the past. I feel I would double my catch rate if threw one, just don't like the gut hook. I feel I have let a few paychecks slip because of my morals and passion for bassfishing. When we caught 30-40 c-rigged bass, 10 at a minimum swallow the hook. Thats 25-33%. Thats not saying they died. Anyway to improve these numbers?

Avid, one you say bass don't taste to good, you can eat tuna, then you say you like to keep some to eat. It s the hunter/provider instinct. Where do you stand? a little wishy washy. To some, fishing isn't a sport, its a way of life. I know in the late 60/70's my dad coached football ,he didn't make alot of money, moms didn't work. Fishing wasn't a sport, it was a need, a need to put food on the table. When one goes fishing just to get away from the stress, sometimes he could care less about even getting a bite. Fishing is sport to some, pleasure to some, passion for some. Just like killing a deer. Some kill who don't eat the meat. That is for the kill, I don't call it a "sport". I am a hunter and fishermen. I will fish tournaments as a fishermen. I hunt for food, not the kill, Since graduating college 3yrs ago, my freezer has been in storage, I continue to pay my lease fees and have not hunted the last 2 seasons. Eating is for survival, how a person survives is not sport. Illegals live on the Rio Grande river on the Tex/Mexican border, They don't fish for sport, they fish to survive. Not every body has "our" tournament mentality. Some of us older people were taught about the ethics part before we knew that catch and release was a campaign. Remember your hunter/provider mentality said keep a few bass to eat, My mentality would have said, my wallet is empty, I have a fishing license, I think a mess of catfish would help on the grocery bill.

I never use live bait at any time when bass fishing. Your region and lake dictate your best approach. In Texas, primarily north and east texas, we have great populations of shad and crawdads. With that being said. Which one meets the needs of a bass in the winter time in consideration of the eggs that are developing. Shad, brim, crawdads????? Which one is going to provide the most protien??? If fishing grass mats in the winter, a jig is a good choice. Yes bass will live in the 10' zone during the winter and year around except duing the spawn. You must learn what each lake offers as its main source of food. Plastics mimic just about every food source availabe. Flukes, sluggos, banjo minnows and others mimic bait fish. plastic frogs, horny toads, hawg craws, crawfish. Tubes, brushhogs. Swim baits. Suspened fish can be targeted with spoons, flukes, CB's Spinner Baits, swimming jigs, bucktail hair jigs, Drop shot rigs. Let the fish tell you what they want. Ever catch bass and feel the bellie. Its not hard to tell when a bass has eaten crawfish. Most bass will throw a few shad up if put in a livewell. Pretty good sign on what they have been eating. Last week had a crawdad in the live well, a pretty deep reddish one. Could that be why I throw a black/brownish jib with a black and amber pig. All those things in the the tool box are tools of the trade. Some days a jig is the producer, The next was a small spinner, the next day was a rattletrap. I don't think patterning fish is that hard in the hard winter. You need to be aware of your temps daily. Water below 55 degrees really slows a fish betabolism. Below 50, fish look for the warmest water availabe to feed. I know that a fish that was "needing to feed" every day or two no longer has to. It will now feed opportunisticly. Once every 4-6 days as warmer weather dictates. I mentally know that I'm not going to get alot of bites. There are a lot of good plastic fishermen in the warm months. Some of those same fishermen couldn't tell they had a bite in the frigid waters. Bass just aren't as aggressive when their metabolism is slowed. They in-hale it slowly, you almost need to see line twitch to know. Therefore plastics often don't get used as much with success. Crawfish offer the most protien and is sought by large bass, all bass love crawdads, especially large ones. (the jig/pig) There is a mental process for the tournament angler. There is a mentlal process for the guy who seeks trophies. One is seeking numbers, the other is looking for the big bite. Big bites in our neck of the woods, #1 is the Jig. Top producer for numbers is the rattle trap. Yes, I believe I have patterned fish successfully during the winter. The pattern I follow depends on the good days of sunshine. It may go a week before my pattern sets back up, but its a pattern, just not the every day approach of a summer pattern. They all produce, some better than others on certain days. If your lake has been at 50 degrees for weeks, and you have several days of 60 temps due to sunshine, bass are more apt to chase a slow moving bait, spinners and cranks. When they get lathargic(sp) a good carolina rig that doesn't move six inches a minute maybe the trick. But can people slow down that much? Takes a patient person to fish plastics in down right cold waters. Why do shad go deep in the winter? Every wonder whiy? The only time a muddy bottom and bass get together is the winter. Bass like hard bottoms usually. North banks, coves, creeks offer protection from the cold north winds, find that stinky black mud on the northside and you'll find warm water that can be 5 degrees warmer. The mud absorbs the heat fast. 10:30 thru the afternoon is prime time for locating shallow fish. There is a difference in sandy bottom and muddy bottom. The same applys for grass, by now, the grassline is under the surface again. Bass will come up on top of the mats to warm, and a red trap produces well. The mat traps heat from the surface down to the mat. Don't know if that helps the Northern guys or not. That means more active fishing.

LBH, Congrats on a promotion. A Moderator!! ;D Brushpiles become a key for me in Cold water. The shallow coves that arent as productive during the year due to the mud content on bottom are my keys when having a bad winter. Not mild, but bad. These coves are protected from the cold winds from the north and east and the sun radiates on there shores the most during the day. I provide naked brush in fairly shallow waters for cover. The soft mudd absorbs the sun and warm quicckly. You can find 2-5 degree changes in those type of coves. That is a key to catching some of the winter bass. Find at least a 2 degree change from main lake temps after a few harsh days. I have found the last few years, the sparse, open limbs I have planted only made it easier to locate. The easiest place to target are bridges, they have had crappie fishermen plant brushpiles and the normal riprap that clogs the pilings. Brim and baitfish congregate around bridges not to mention crappie, Texas' answer to cali's trout stockings. Lots of bass come from the deep pilings in winter. Steady, non- moving bait supply.

The only way that fish is worth a million bucks is you are in a state where bass fishing dominates, the state record you broke means something. I don't know the NY state record, but if you caught a 13lber in NY for a new state record, is it worth millions? Now the world record bass would be. In Texas, I think a new state record would be worth some money. We have 2 BPS and a third one opening up in the spring of 2006. I think BPS would lease the fish or buy it for a good price. You could take the fish illegally, maybe a polygraph test to certify the correct waters. If found illegal, not only would you get fined, but no credit for the catch. And for the guy who said put it in the cooler. I am a firm believer in that people use to fish for supper before catch and release ever started. Its okay to eat what you catch. But your advise on that catch and release lake only, "is illegal". Ben, you aren't going to get paid for cheating.

I never leave home with out the parks and wildlife phone number. Have a seamstress measuring tape to measure girth and length. Pictures at different angles. Take a picture of the measurements. Know what boat marinas have certified scales. On lakes that have restrictions, email the governing board, wild life agency, how to certify a possible record. What steps are needed on a lake that said "release immediately". If you got time to be on the forum, you got time to make those emails.

Does the area show alot of pressure, like trash all over the place, Trash cans full? Is it a easy access pier, paved road, trail to walk. Public bath rooms? What do they target. Is there chicken liver tubs, shrimp boxes, and torn plastic worms, worm boxes. These are clues as to what they might be targeting. Is the water deep or just shallow. Can you plant some brush to enhance its appeal? You never know what can be caught unitl you watch other people or give it a try yourself. Most of these people may be live baiters and not bass fishermen. Are people normally catching perch, brim, then thats a good sign. Is bait fish present?

RW, Great question and great start to a new thread. With that being said, I should be able to identify my weak spots from the responses. Make a list and start working on becoming a consistent fisherman. Nice thing about this forum is all the knowledge has pretty much been covered in previous threads.

Understanding the biology side of the food chain. Starting with micro-organisms first.