Matt Fly

What a beautiful night. we went out last night and got started an hour before dark. 5-10 mph s winds, mostly gentle breeze, full moon, slight cloud cover at times. Fished till 4am and called it a day/night. 4 fish, not what I expected.

Don't really care if Kobe wins or not, he's going down as one of the best to play ever. Don't know if i want Phil Jackson to get his tenth title and tie the record. That would tie him with Red Auerbach.

My Dad always wanted the dark of the moon on his big Cat trips. According to his success rate, the big dog walks in the dark of the moon and I can't argue with success. Dad thought that bright nights helped rough fish knock baits off the line before the big girls had a chance to eat. As for tides, how do they tie into lakes and resorvoirs with no major tributaries tied in? No rise or fall of tides. What about cloud covered days when the moon can't make an appearance. Lunar charts are written years in advance and don't take into account for weather. I fish when I can.

THe next world record as mentioned can come from as far away as Japan or South Africa. I always thought Mexico, Cuba, and Cali was the front runners for the next record. To get to that wieght in Texas, we need 10 years of mild winters and cooperation from mother nature, plenty of rains to make another run. Fish have to be able to live that long and have enough days out of the year to grow that big, and Texas vast majority of lakes will drop below 50 degrees in the winter, something that the socal lakes never does. If your bass has the genetics, and is given a 365 days growing season with plenty of easy forage, then the potential is there. The only lake that I fished in Cali that got that close was Lake Moreno out in the desert. And that lake produced teens up to 19 lbs. Who ever mentioned a new fishery is the closest guess I'd buy into. And right now, Falcon, Amistad, and Choke Canyon are like new lakes in Texas. For 10 years or more, these lakes were below 50% capacity for some, and others upto 70 ft low. When the rains came in late 2004, they filled. Over ten years of new shoreline growth was now new cover for those old lakes. Hence, mother nature gave them an over night face lift so to speak. Those lakes didn't produce those types of stringers, the results are there from the years past, good stringers yes, but the whole 200 boat field was not weighing in 20lbs sacks like the recent years. Texas is top notch in bassin, but not in the record race yet. Let us break 20 first, then we can add Texas in the mix. I believe the climate that permits a bass to grow 24/7 365 days year is best suited to eclipse the world record.

Too some extent, I disagree on the amount of pressure some of those So Cal lakes receives, specially the San Diego area lakes. Pressure on Texas lakes can be 24/7, meaning you can fish at night as well 7 days a week. I certainly don't know current regulations on what they are allowing lakes to do these days, but sure don't see them becoming less stricter since leaving cali. I say that because the vast majority of So Cal lakes only allow you to be on the water at sun up and off the water before sunset, no night fishing at all. The park gates won't open before sun up, so you'll always get the tail end of the morning top water and rarely get the evening top water because you are required to be off the water 30 minutes prior to sunset. Also, some of those great lakes only open to water skiing on certain days. They used to alternate days for fishing and skiing, and that wasn't for a few years, it was basically that way for 15yrs I was stationed there. I say that, because the majority of lakes that produced Cali's biggest bass fall under that type of management. Most of the smaller lakes have motor restrictions and capacity limitations that have produced some of the states biggest bass. Some lakes even restrict speeds down to putt putt, ie...no boats on plane ever. That intense pressure appears when bass are on the beds. The regulations set by the city of San Diego itself limits pressure on those lakes with red tape itself. Imagine fishing your home lakes on odd days and skiing on even days. To me, pressure is 24/7, not just on certain days throughout the year. Miramar closed for years, don't remember the reason, but as of now, its open for 10 months of the year, 5mph speedlimit, and only open Sat-Tues. just a typical So Cal lake. Sunup till sundown.

the bass BUS-ters

Raul, is there any cactus or wild flowers that blooms in Mexico that might indicate bass are on the beds? In Texas, we have lots of stock tanks or ponds, and you'll find lots of willows in those areas as well. Willows always seem to find the waters edge.

Don't need electronics to tell me that the bass are on beds when the dogwoods are in bloom in east Tx. You don't need to watch the weather, or be near the water, worry if its too early in Feb or March, don't need water temp reports, just look out your window when travelling about and you'll know when to go look for bedders. If you can identify a lobloly pine tree from sight in the water, you will know that mature pines will not have sparse branches close to the bottom, and what arms or branches are there will be further up in the water column. If you didn't know that a cypress grows roots that bend up, called knees by some, that the larger the cypress, the further out those knees will be from the tree. You might have just pitched to the base off the tree and never hit its outer root system. Lots of things electronics don't tell ya.

Jack, for those of us who bass fished before good topos or graphs came about, reading the surrounding areas dry ground was important to get a feel for what the lake should look like underneath. Learning that larger trunked trees normally means depth, such as creek channels, river channels, and sharp drop offs. Also knowing what type a tree it is can tell you what kind of canopy is under the water. Above timber rots, there still lots of timber under water. Identifing the types of trees in your areas that grow on knolls and rolling flats can help find those subtle humps on the flats. We know as we move south, south west, we see more mesquite, ,salt cedar, and cedar as some common types of brush and pecan trees along river bottoms and such. Same with plants and soils they like to grow in. Love good post like this.

I thought Matt and Muddy were working together on this post. Matt's the setup man and Muddy delivers one of his famous punchlines. lol Figured Muddy would say something about why bass school, why should they be dumb. ;D

If bass are boiling up on your bait, but no takers, that would tell me they are interested, but something is a miss. Normally, its subtle adjustments to the bait, whether its color change, downsizing the bait, the retrieve speed, rate of fall in the water, faster, or slower, its just minor tweaking needed.

Last time I was in Ark. the lakes were up 18 ft on most. We went to the backs of the creeks and found the bait and set up shop in the flooded grass.

How will Chevy and Ranger sponsor dollars gonna effect the FLW as a whole? Both are in ch 11.

Just rumors floating around since Cabela's and the FLW just signed big deal. Note that Walmart has been scaling back on fishing stock. If they lost Walmart, thats deep pockets, deeper than Cabelas.

I like to use the phrase, "conditioned to". I think when you combine certain characteristics and traits from other strains combined with high pressured fishing areas equates to conditioned fish.

Gotta look at this from the buyers perspective. Theres not much of a market for 50,000 dollar boats in todays economy. And there are alot of high end boats for sale where as there is more of market for cheaper boats. This and Walmart leaving the FLW is sure to impact the FLW future for awhile.

The most important factor is to always key on the shaded side.

We like to give pro anglers an excuse for being in a slump. You always hear theres more to fishing than catching when times are tough for whatever reason, thats only part of the package you sell to sponsors. Its called marketability, something JR leads the Nascar Nation in. Juniors team has been through alot. The pressure alone from being the son of a Legend, leaving DEI and part of his team behind, and coming into a shop who has Cup Champs Jeff and Jimmy are no easy tasks to follow either. The bottom line, Tony jr is not the one selling sponsorships, its Junior who the fans go to see.

As you can see, those bass were on top of hump at 22 ft. Those bass in that school were 7lb + class bass and were hitting C rigs. Use your electronics to take the guessing game out of it. No reason to fish a hump that doesn't show you any promise or signs of fish present.

I have always found the transition period to be tougher for the big girls. I key in on the brim, perch and bluegill for bigger girls. Big girls know they'll be on the beds and are easy prey. Big post spawners are lazy. Bass know their food chains, they know what the easiest meals are and where to find them at different times of the year. I think the majority of larger bass feed at night and move off to deeper water and suspend during the day. Electronics will pinpoint better fish. Find large concentrations of blue gill beds and look towards deep water for the larger bass. A good graph is a must.

You can bag on Jr's racing skills all you want. He's good enough to be one of the leading sellers of sponsor merchandise every year. He may not be earning a check by turning laps, but what he brings to the table every year in sells makes him top earner. Jr nation is strong.

My favorite bite has and will always be the visible ones. Long cast, in clear water to a limb, money cast as I call them, and you see the fish slam it, something about seeing that flash of color, or that spinner bait get attacked or topwaters busted. I love seeing fish come from a distance to hit a bait. As for a bottom bite, nothing like having a jig sucked in, just barely seeing the line twitch, reeling down and ripping some lips.

Congrats, details please.

Congrats on the win. Look forward to hearing about your next outing.

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue in supporting it. Thomas Payne Proud member of the US Armed Services, USN-Retired. Ya'll continue to do us proud. Thanks for your dedication to country.