basspro48

I have found that on most canals there is at least one shallow area, most of the time it's in the very back or end of the canal. Usually these spots are bass magnets, since shallow water is very scarce. Most of the time you can just throw a white or bubblegum trickworm up on the flat and get bit pretty quick, but if you want to catch a monster you have to remember that most of the big bass spawn early compared to the smaller ones; I once witnessed a guy catch a 13lber. on a red senko in a shallow canal that wasn't more than 10ft. across.

Gary Yamamoto makes a weedguardn that you put in front of your weight, it slides on just like a bullet weight. I have never used it but it looks like a pretty good idea. http://***/cgi-bin/order/70-20 If that doesn't work you could try a belly weight like Chris said, or if you're using tubes you can use theose mustad hooks that have a weight you insert into the tube.

Believe me when I saw that thing I was like "No Freakin' way man!!!! :o" Now it was estimated at 9-3 but I think it was around 8-13. If I had a picture I would post it.

fly castin fer smallies is the most fun I've ever had fishin fer anything. My uncle once landed a 9lb. smallie on a 4-weight outfit :o . Talk about a scare.

I break this down into 3 parts: outer edge: This is the first spot I try, back your boat at least 25-30 feet away from the cover and fan cast around the outer edges of it with fast moving baits like spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and topwaters. Sometimes even swimming a jig can work. Mid-edge: This is the trickiest part, because the mid-edge is normally too thick for baits with exposed hooks but to thin for big bulky 3/4 and 1oz. baits. I normally pitch 5/16 or 1/2oz. jigs with a trimmed skirt, this is important as you want a slim profile. I then follow that up with a small straight tail worm like a texas-rigged trick-worm or slim senko. Also try a topwater frog worked frantically over the vegetation. Meat: I call this part meat because it is the meat of the cover, the thickest nastiest part. This is where the big guns come out. For this I use a custom-made 8ft. Heavy action flipping stick with 65lb. Stren Super braid and weights from 1/2oz. to 1 1/2oz. I start out by throwing a topwater frog and working it with slow twitches, then I switch to flipping a YUM garret-mega tube with a 3/4oz. weight depending on the thickness of the cover. And if that doesn't work I go to my secret weapon , a t-rigged sweet beaver or smallie beaver. Sometimes under extreme conditions you need a very small compact bait, I suggest a ZOOM speed craw or Berkley Power craw, a really good one that has won many tournaments on Okeechobee is the Gambler Cricket.

Winter-about 3 times a week spring-about 5 days a week summer-EVERY DAY!!! Fall-about 3-days a week I try to get out every day but sometimes in the winter and spring its just to cold at night to sneak onto the local farm ponds.

Great lookin' rods guys , hey reelmech, I was browsing through your custom rods web-site and I was wondering about the marbling on the rods, do you just do whatever the customer asks or is there a list of designs to choose from?

I am looking for info on how to approach companies when looking for a sponsorship. I am mostly targeting smaller tackle companies and local tackle shops. But my question is how should I approach them, should I send them a resume, talk to them personally? Any info is greatly appreciated.

They also might have been reporting the catch, like in the classic when they show where and when they caught their fish. I saw KVD press the same buttons every-time he caught a fish in the classic.

I love Bassmaster magazine, its chunked full of bassy info, I know that I have improved my bass fishing more in 2 years than I have in my whole life just from reading Bassmaster magazine.

My beat-up dirty BPS hat with my lucky rusted hat-hook attached to the bill, this hat has been with me through some great moments. I never go fishing, or for that matter anywhere, without it I even wear it to school

I agree, I go fishing whenever I can. You can't learn about how to catch fish during a windless sunny day with a rising barometer if you don't go when those conditions are present. Since I plan on fishing higher level tournaments when I turn 18 I need to learn how to catch'em no matter what the conditions.

Welcome back

I normally experiment with combinations of different components to find something that truly will catch fish.

I think its from a combination of feeding and cold water, because almost every bass I catch in the winter has blood-red lips but I never catch'em like that in any other season.

I experience the same exact problem in a lake up in New Jersey I fish once a year. I catch most of the smaller bass with a super-fluke worked extremely fast right in front of their faces. But I stick most of the bigger ones by burning a 1/2oz. homemade spinnerbait with small willowleaf blades right in front of'em. Also try using small shallow-diving cranks like the Norman Little N or the Lucky Craft RC series, and when things get really slow I just toss out a 5inch senko in a bright color and just twitch it.

completely agree, less face more fish

My 2 best winter producers are small jigs and tubes. Get some small 1/4 to 3/8oz. jigs in natural craw colors and pair them with small crawfish trailers, cast them around riprap, deep cover, and laydowns. I prefer 3-4 inch tubes in natural craw and green colors, Texas-rig'em with a wide gap hook and a 1/32 to 1/16oz. bullet weight. Throw them around any cover or structure and work them with smooth slow hops and twitches. good luck.

You also have to look at the bank, if there is an irrugularity like a roadbed or the bank runs out there is probably a long point in that area. For bottom contour I use a carolina rig or a jig dragged across the bottom.

Thay all look really good, but you might also want to try flaring out a few of the strands of bucktail. Example, trim most of the skirt down but a leave a good amout of strands sticking way out behind it and try to make some of the strands on the side stick out. It sounds stupid but it has made all the difference on some of the jigs I have made.

7-3 LM 3-4 SM I caught the LM in my lake using a 1/2oz. white Lunker Lure buzzbait. The SM was caught on a pumpkin/orange GYCB grub on a 1/4oz. jighead while wading in the upper James River.

[move]Welcome Back[/move] Many of us have missed your presence here.

#1: Remeber that the ice is not thick enough to go planking. #2: DO NOT try to shoot catfish with a 12ga. Remington 1100 auto and slugs while standing up in a leaky 12ft. jonboat. #3: Make more money #4: spend more money ;D

Don't worry man, we all have days like that and your best bet would be to keep trying. Some days they bite some days they don't, its a fact.

lookin' good rattlinrogue