Goose52

I have good records but my data collection system is not that sophisticated ;D For lengths, when fishing from the bank, I wear a lanyard that has nailclippers (for line cutting) and a little 3ft tape measure. Everything that comes out of the water gets measured. This was something I started just to get an idea of the average size of the fish in these lakes and I just kept doing. If I'm in my canoe, I have a "bump board" that I put the fish on the get the length. For weights, at the beginning of the season, I was only weighing fish 18" or longer. Then, as the season when on and I was noticing how many skinny fish I was catching, I decided to start weighing all fish 14" or longer so I could start running averages. So, I have an electronic scale with me all the time - either on the bank or in the boat. For capturing data - this sounds kinda cheap but works really good. I cut up cardboard boxes (like cereal boxes) into 3"x5" cards. They are of course blank on the inside surface and are stiff enough to write on with no backing. From the bank, I just carry a blank card and write down info as I catch fish. From the canoe, I make the card up before I leave and create sections for the rods I know I will have with me (see example below). These cards will show water temp, catch, baits, etc. The data captured is recorded in an Excel spreadsheet. I have a number of worksheets (page/tabs) in the file. One for data on my rods/reels, local lake data, catch by year, and a page that automatically calculates average weights. The catch by year worksheet has columns for: Date, Place, QTY, Catch, Rod / Reel, Bait, Line, Water Temp, & Notes Below is an example of one of my "tote cards." Not very tidy is it! It was originally set up with 6 sections for the 6 rods that I took in the canoe that day. As I started fishing, you can see that I had to make some quick adjustments - especially for the rod that I was using for cranks (lower right corner. You can see that I caught 8 fish on a wiggle wart and two fish on a Norman Deep Little N. Overall, the card shows that I caught 10 fish on cranks, 3 fish on a 7.5" Yum ribbontail worm, and 5 fish on a Zoom Fat Albert 5" grub. It was the first time I fished that lake in the canoe so I recorded the maximum depth that I observed (11 feet - the smallest/shallowest of the 11 lakes that I fish). BTW - this card was for the outing when I went over 1000 fish - in the top left corner you can see that my 999th fish was a respectable 1 1/2pounder, but my 1,000th fish was an 11" dink ! Phew - that's the short explanation of my data system !

I have good records but my data collection system is not that sophisticated ;D For lengths, when fishing from the bank, I wear a lanyard that has nailclippers (for line cutting) and a little 3ft tape measure. Everything that comes out of the water gets measured. This was something I started just to get an idea of the average size of the fish in these lakes and I just kept doing. If I'm in my canoe, I have a "bump board" that I put the fish on the get the length. For weights, at the beginning of the season, I was only weighing fish 18" or longer. Then, as the season when on and I was noticing how many skinny fish I was catching, I decided to start weighing all fish 14" or longer so I could start running averages. So, I have an electronic scale with me all the time - either on the bank or in the boat. For capturing data - this sounds kinda cheap but works really good. I cut up cardboard boxes (like cereal boxes) into 3"x5" cards. They are of course blank on the inside surface and are stiff enough to write on with no backing. From the bank, I just carry a blank card and write down info as I catch fish. From the canoe, I make the card up before I leave and create sections for the rods I know I will have with me (see example below). These cards will show water temp, catch, baits, etc. The data captured is recorded in an Excel spreadsheet. I have a number of worksheets (page/tabs) in the file. One for data on my rods/reels, local lake data, catch by year, and a page that automatically calculates average weights. The catch by year worksheet has columns for: Date, Place, QTY, Catch, Rod / Reel, Bait, Line, Water Temp, & Notes Below is an example of one of my "tote cards." Not very tidy is it! It was originally set up with 6 sections for the 6 rods that I took in the canoe that day. As I started fishing, you can see that I had to make some quick adjustments - especially for the rod that I was using for cranks (lower right corner. You can see that I caught 8 fish on a wiggle wart and two fish on a Norman Deep Little N. Overall, the card shows that I caught 10 fish on cranks, 3 fish on a 7.5" Yum ribbontail worm, and 5 fish on a Zoom Fat Albert 5" grub. It was the first time I fished that lake in the canoe so I recorded the maximum depth that I observed (11 feet - the smallest/shallowest of the 11 lakes that I fish). BTW - this card was for the outing when I went over 1000 fish - in the top left corner you can see that my 999th fish was a respectable 1 1/2pounder, but my 1,000th fish was an 11" dink ! Phew - that's the short explanation of my data system !

Pull down the "Fishing Articles" menu and click on "Fish and Lake Management." Also, visit one of the board sponsors - www.pondboss.com.

Pull down the "Fishing Articles" menu and click on "Fish and Lake Management." Also, visit one of the board sponsors - www.pondboss.com.

Pull down the "Fishing Articles" menu and click on "Fish and Lake Management." Also, visit one of the board sponsors - www.pondboss.com.

Another 75 pounds would be a challenge. I'm up on the Cumberland plateau and it's a bit colder up here than middle or west Tennessee. Water temps are dropping fast. I fished for almost 2 hours this afternoon and only got one 15" (1.34lb) fish. I'd have to catch 55 more of those to get 75 pounds !

Another 75 pounds would be a challenge. I'm up on the Cumberland plateau and it's a bit colder up here than middle or west Tennessee. Water temps are dropping fast. I fished for almost 2 hours this afternoon and only got one 15" (1.34lb) fish. I'd have to catch 55 more of those to get 75 pounds !

Another 75 pounds would be a challenge. I'm up on the Cumberland plateau and it's a bit colder up here than middle or west Tennessee. Water temps are dropping fast. I fished for almost 2 hours this afternoon and only got one 15" (1.34lb) fish. I'd have to catch 55 more of those to get 75 pounds !

I wish it was a ton - that would be an average of almost 2lbs per fish ! I do keep pretty good records, and I have the lengths of all the fish that I've caught. I also have data on average weights of LMB 14" and longer. I had to guess at average weights of fish under 14". Keep in mind that this is not a real healthy fishery and the bass in the 11 lakes that I fish tend to be skinny - my PB that I caught last year was a respectable 26"...but only 7.75lbs - big head and skinny body. Here's the numbers: 20" - 4.73lb (I only caught one 20" fish and it was a plump 4.73!) 19" - 3.04lb 18" - 2.77lb 17" - 2.26lb 16" - 1.85lb 15" - 1.50lb 14" - 1.34lb 13" - 1.10lb * 12" - 0.90lb * 11" - 0.70lb * 10" - 0.60lb * <9" - 0.40lb * * = estimate So, given those averages, I only caught a less than stellar 925 pounds of bass this year ... :

I wish it was a ton - that would be an average of almost 2lbs per fish ! I do keep pretty good records, and I have the lengths of all the fish that I've caught. I also have data on average weights of LMB 14" and longer. I had to guess at average weights of fish under 14". Keep in mind that this is not a real healthy fishery and the bass in the 11 lakes that I fish tend to be skinny - my PB that I caught last year was a respectable 26"...but only 7.75lbs - big head and skinny body. Here's the numbers: 20" - 4.73lb (I only caught one 20" fish and it was a plump 4.73!) 19" - 3.04lb 18" - 2.77lb 17" - 2.26lb 16" - 1.85lb 15" - 1.50lb 14" - 1.34lb 13" - 1.10lb * 12" - 0.90lb * 11" - 0.70lb * 10" - 0.60lb * <9" - 0.40lb * * = estimate So, given those averages, I only caught a less than stellar 925 pounds of bass this year ... :

I wish it was a ton - that would be an average of almost 2lbs per fish ! I do keep pretty good records, and I have the lengths of all the fish that I've caught. I also have data on average weights of LMB 14" and longer. I had to guess at average weights of fish under 14". Keep in mind that this is not a real healthy fishery and the bass in the 11 lakes that I fish tend to be skinny - my PB that I caught last year was a respectable 26"...but only 7.75lbs - big head and skinny body. Here's the numbers: 20" - 4.73lb (I only caught one 20" fish and it was a plump 4.73!) 19" - 3.04lb 18" - 2.77lb 17" - 2.26lb 16" - 1.85lb 15" - 1.50lb 14" - 1.34lb 13" - 1.10lb * 12" - 0.90lb * 11" - 0.70lb * 10" - 0.60lb * <9" - 0.40lb * * = estimate So, given those averages, I only caught a less than stellar 925 pounds of bass this year ... :

You bet - I'm headed to WalMart today to grab some more

Thanks guys...it's been fun! And there's still more catching that can be done this season here in TN - the water isn't hard yet !

Thanks guys...it's been fun! And there's still more catching that can be done this season here in TN - the water isn't hard yet !

Thanks guys...it's been fun! And there's still more catching that can be done this season here in TN - the water isn't hard yet !

Yep, the grubs are obviously my confidence bait Including "other species" I caught 791 fish on grubs this year. BTW - I don't fish them on a jighead as most folks do - I fish them weightless and weedless on a 1/0 EWG.

Yep, the grubs are obviously my confidence bait Including "other species" I caught 791 fish on grubs this year. BTW - I don't fish them on a jighead as most folks do - I fish them weightless and weedless on a 1/0 EWG.

Yep, the grubs are obviously my confidence bait Including "other species" I caught 791 fish on grubs this year. BTW - I don't fish them on a jighead as most folks do - I fish them weightless and weedless on a 1/0 EWG.

Thanks! On the baits, the lowly 5" grub was, by far, the biggest producer - you catch dinks on them, but I also caught bass up to 3 pounds on them. I fished the grubs on the fall, dragging them back, swimming them back, and as a topwater. Anytime I thought the fish were in 5 feet of water or less, I would always start with the grub. If no action, or if I thought the fish were deeper, I went with Plan B. I also love the lipless cranks to cover a lot of water, fast. Here's the totals: 761 5" single-tail grubs (Zoom, Gander Mountain) 120 lipless cranks (SK RES and Yo-Zuri Rattl'N Vibe) 90 plastic worms - 4" to 10.5" (Zoom, BPS, Culprit) 34 crankbaits (Bomber, Norman, Luhr Jensen, Storm, Berkley) 30 buzzbaits (Strike King) 7 spinnerbaits (H&H and Walmart!) 7 misc topwater (Jitterbug, Tiny Torpedo) Now that I know my 11 lakes much better, the mix-up will change for next season and I hope to get in more topwater action (what a rush) and cranking. BUT, when conditions are right, I'm still gonna start with the lowly grub... ;D

Thanks! On the baits, the lowly 5" grub was, by far, the biggest producer - you catch dinks on them, but I also caught bass up to 3 pounds on them. I fished the grubs on the fall, dragging them back, swimming them back, and as a topwater. Anytime I thought the fish were in 5 feet of water or less, I would always start with the grub. If no action, or if I thought the fish were deeper, I went with Plan B. I also love the lipless cranks to cover a lot of water, fast. Here's the totals: 761 5" single-tail grubs (Zoom, Gander Mountain) 120 lipless cranks (SK RES and Yo-Zuri Rattl'N Vibe) 90 plastic worms - 4" to 10.5" (Zoom, BPS, Culprit) 34 crankbaits (Bomber, Norman, Luhr Jensen, Storm, Berkley) 30 buzzbaits (Strike King) 7 spinnerbaits (H&H and Walmart!) 7 misc topwater (Jitterbug, Tiny Torpedo) Now that I know my 11 lakes much better, the mix-up will change for next season and I hope to get in more topwater action (what a rush) and cranking. BUT, when conditions are right, I'm still gonna start with the lowly grub... ;D

Thanks! On the baits, the lowly 5" grub was, by far, the biggest producer - you catch dinks on them, but I also caught bass up to 3 pounds on them. I fished the grubs on the fall, dragging them back, swimming them back, and as a topwater. Anytime I thought the fish were in 5 feet of water or less, I would always start with the grub. If no action, or if I thought the fish were deeper, I went with Plan B. I also love the lipless cranks to cover a lot of water, fast. Here's the totals: 761 5" single-tail grubs (Zoom, Gander Mountain) 120 lipless cranks (SK RES and Yo-Zuri Rattl'N Vibe) 90 plastic worms - 4" to 10.5" (Zoom, BPS, Culprit) 34 crankbaits (Bomber, Norman, Luhr Jensen, Storm, Berkley) 30 buzzbaits (Strike King) 7 spinnerbaits (H&H and Walmart!) 7 misc topwater (Jitterbug, Tiny Torpedo) Now that I know my 11 lakes much better, the mix-up will change for next season and I hope to get in more topwater action (what a rush) and cranking. BUT, when conditions are right, I'm still gonna start with the lowly grub... ;D

Are those spinnerbaits, or in-line spinners?

Good advice indeed ! Last winter, I was out fishing in below-freezing air temps, and water temps in the 30s, fighting problems like all of the rod guides icing up. Not gonna do that this year ;D However, I'm still gonna be out there up until I DO get rod guide ice-up...

Raul - if you don't buy something this weekend, you might have to consider changing your: "Join me into the Dark Side !" tagline to something a bit tamer like "I have enough tackle"..... ;D

I registered on this board one year ago today. I haven't posted as much as many folks do, just tried to absorb the posts and articles. The 2010 fishing season was my first full season of fishing since I was a teenager. Work and life events prevented anything other than just occasional fishing in fresh and salt water from the late 1960s until this year. I retired in 2009 and am now able to fish nearly every day. My thanks to Glen, the Mods, article authors, and to the board members for the information that I have tried to absorb and translate to practical use. My knowledge of things like analysis of structure and cover, then bait selection and utilization, and all of the other technical details of bass angling I mostly attribute to this board. The results? I set a goal of catching 1,000 bass this year. As of today, I've caught 1049 largemouth bass this season (plus another 105 miscellaneous fish like trout, crappie, brim, perch, etc.). Now, that 1049 bass number includes everything from 6" dinks on up to a 4.73lb LMB and includes about 75 bass over 2 pounds. There are not a lot of large bass in my local lakes and the 4.73 fish was as big as anything caught in the local bass club's tournaments this year. So, not bad results for the year. Last year, I lucked onto a 7.75lb LMB (my PB), so there are some bigger fish in the lakes. A future goal is to beat that 7.75lb number. Although not a bass, my biggest angling success of the year was landing a 37.1 pound grass carp on a 7'm BC rod w/10lb test line - a great 35 minute fish fight (I already reported that catch in a post in the Other Species forum.) Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for all the knowledge sharing and camaraderie that we have on this board. We are all fortunate that so many experienced anglers choose to share their knowledge in this fine venue. Now, if folks would just quit bashing my use of BPS reels and rods, life would be good! (I did go over to the dark side and bought a couple of Loomis GLX rods this year...but I'm still using my trusty BPS PQs and Carbonlite BC reels!) ;D I can't wait for next season !