Nitrofreak

Are you saying you would be willing to make a trip to Anna? Or do you have another body of water in mind?

Just about any natural color Strike King product on the T-rig for me.

I might be up for either. Zoff, I still have not had a chance to get my trolling motor replaced but I would be happy to fish with you, I would however like to be able to get mine repaired before we go so that we could offer more non-boaters a seat, I will say that Anna is going to be much like SML this time of year with all the pleasure boaters and jet ski's, especially on the weekends, I would suggest the same as Sam, if we wait until school starts again it will be a lot more fun and a good bit safer for all. Either lake is ok, I am about 3 hrs to you and about 1:45 to Anna. For all who are interested in Zoff's idea how far from Anna is everyone?

Did you go over and look at where he was fishing when he moved off? There may have been some stumps, grass or maybe some cover he was fishing, that could have opened a couple of doors for you and given you some insite on what they are doing. When it's nasty hot as you stated, I like looking for some feeder creeks that will cool the water and give it some much needed o2, even deeper water will have the disolved o2 used up and make the fish move when the water gets really warm, unless there is a good current flow in the area, grassy areas that are still green will offer a lot of cover and enough o2 to make the fish happy.

Most of the colors are natural colors I will use, I don't vary to far from center on those. when I do go to get baits I have 3 different tackle boxes, one for night fishing, one for normal every day fishing and one for stained water fishing or dark water. The night and stained water fishing are very small in comparison to the every day tackle box, so when I go, it's not for much, I know what I am going for, if for some reason they are discontinued I look for something simular, I will only buy one bag instead of multiple until I give them a try, if they work I will buy in bulk, as far as crank baits etc..., I usually read the reviews or post on here, posting here will get the reviews you are looking for in your specific area of the country as well.

X2, it won't be there too long.

I doubt he gets the 100 grand either for using Mustad hooks, WOW what a heart breaker !!!

If there are lots of little fish there will be a big fish or two around but others won't be far away, I will normally look under the groups of small fish to find them, at times its hard to see them if there are a ton of little ones. I will move out away from the bank first before I move any other direction to see if they are a little deeper, then move up or down the shoreline.

X2 If you have a feeder creek then I would head toward the shallows where the feeder creek is and fish all the cover and structure I could find, the newer, cooler, more oxygenated water will turn on the bite, if the water is stained then I would be tossing a spinner or something a little loud and flashy to attract some attention. Good luck and be safe !!!

We have a few quarries around here that are gin clear, I have 30lb Spider wire stealth on with no leaders at all, it changes nothing here on these waters, top water baits are the same with no difference also, I catch just as many fish as other people do and these waters are pressured as well. I do not know if color, where red vs. green makes a difference or not, I have never tried the red, but green does not seem to effect the bite.

One word... BUDWEISER !!

LMAO !!!!!! Something tells me you ain't the one doing the slapping LOL !!

This is why structure is so important, especially in the summer, at least until the water temps reach the high 80's low 90's and o2 levels drop off. What I normally will try is a fluke on a drop shot when I am not using a worm, or I will use two flukes, one on a 12" tag the other 10 to 14", if I want them deeper on the double fluke I use a 16th to a 1/4 oz keel weighted #3 or #4 hook, depending on how deep I want them, instead of the drop shot set up. Nice job by the way !!!! Good luck and be safe !!!

When fishing deep or deeper than you are used to, keep in mind you will need to know a little bit about structure and how it relates to the fish you are fishing for, it will take some time so be patient and don't give up. You will find more quality fish with the baits already listed in the above posts, personally, in deeper cover I like medium to deep Strike King crank baits, spinners, and swimming jigs, if there is structure such as a drop off with a ledge I like a 3/4 to 1 oz jig slowly pulled off of the drop off and let it fall to the ledge, I use the jig head with all kinds of creature baits, my favorite is the Smookin Rooster and the Biffle bug. Find yourself some of the longest points you can find and fish the deeper parts of the points, there is usually some interesting cover and structure at these locations. If you have a rocky/gravel type structure the spoon is one of my favorites, the shad feed on the alage that cling to the boulders and gravel and bouncing a spoon off of areas such as these can yeild some good fishing all year long. Good luck and be safe !!!

I have 2 daughters, one started at a very young age, the first thing I did was to let them know what they can expect so nothing comes as a surprise, my oldest daughter caught her first fish on a camping trip in June of 1990 she was 3 at the time the fish was a 1.72 sun fish, her hands were too little to remove the hook, but she held the fish for a pic and released it, her second fish that day was a 8.66 lb carp, which she never touched LOL. My youngest daughter did not catch the bug until she was a teenager, her first fish was a 27 inch 5.22 lb Striper, she too held the fish only to release it, but still held the fish, not too bad for their first time of ever holding a fish. The way I tought them both was to be behind them and have my hands on theirs as they learned, no matter what you do, they will always have that moment of insecurity, the best you can do is just be there for them, coach them as they learn, I always let them do the work but my hands were on theirs until they relaxed and they could fight the fish on their own. My opinion is to let your children do all they can for themselves, with a senko the hook will all but set itself, if your worried about the rod getting away then teather the rod with some fishing line to your belt loop. Good luck and be safe !!!

All very good advice for sure but I would like to add a few other things, the T-rig is the one that will yeild some really good fish, if you are familure enough with the lake you need to find some shallow grassy areas, like the back of Contrary Creek, go all the way back and go under the bridge and turn right, and go all the way back to the last boat slips there on your left, if you are there early enough, top water action is amazing this time of year for both LMB and Striper, but is also short lived, they should be actively feeding on the herring that are in there, after the top water bite stops get the T-rig out with a creature bait, the two I like the most there are the Rage, smookin rooster and a Rage craw, especially around the areas where the lilly pads are spaced apart close to the boat slips I just mentioned. Good luck and be safe !!!

Congrats !!! 32 years is a long time im not too far behind you with 36 lol, I wish you nothing but the best in your new retirement era, enjoy living the part time dream career on Big O in your Big O and keep us posted with how that part time job is working for ya !!!

X2 The only time I would use a spoon at night is on a full moon in less than 15' of water other than that the above statement is on the money.

Hellovah nice job Sam !!! Congrats to Rett , Very nice job on landing a great looking fish !!! Keep fishing and showing us all how you are doing, can't wait for the next one !!!

Awesome and congrats !!!!! Thanx for sharing and enjoyed the story too !!!

lmao !!! I thought something along the same lines too, Hey congrats Bassn Blvd and thanx for sharing !!!!

Really nice job on the feedback you have given !!!! The reason you are most likely to miss a strike on the fall is going to be due to yourself not staying in contact with the bait, in short too much slack in the line as it falls, you want your rod tip to follow the bait all the way down so as the jig sinks your rod tip should be doing the same. The reason the hops work is due to the natural action of the craw you are attempting to immatate, the craw will use its tail to escape danger and as it does that the movement is like a sudden burst of energy that will propel the craw through the water, hence the hopping motion or popping action we tend to give the jig, this is usually a good technique to use on sandy or smoother bottoms at least for me, it works on any kind of structure or cover but most people I know use a swimming jig if they are consistantly popping the jig. I find the more the jig is in bottom contact the better the results will be, if I actually lift the jig it's usually no more than just a couple of inches at the most, as far as the head design is concerned, for me personally, I like the arkey style jig around cover , the bullet head jig in heavy grass, the football head where it's rocky, the only time I actually will pop a jig as you described would be to pull it out from around grass or weed lines into some more open water areas at the edge of those weed and grass lines. The reason why a bass will take the bait on the fall is because that is when the bait is at its most vulnerable state. Good luck and be safe !!!

I like throwing a double rigged salt and pepper fluke and just let it fall through the bait ball.

ha ha !! probably still would have lost his hand !!! lol.

Really nice job man !!! Thanx for sharing !!! Looks like your a pretty good way's from shore too, doing a little deep structure fishing ?