Nitrofreak

The biggest mistake he made was that he was not confident in what he was using, sounds to me like he was second guessing himself a lot. It appears the larger fish were higher in the water colum, I would have put aside the c-rig and attempted the drop shot myself, if, in fact the drop shot rig was being fished higher than the c-rig , or a crank that ran in the same depth the drop shot was being fished. Poor guy, he should be a member here, I would be willing to bet Dwight Hottle and a few others could teach him a thing or two about fishing SMB.

Yes we do, it took me 5 solid fishing years to find some of her secrets, a lot of time just to find fish to catch lol. As Sam posted, be careful out there, the boat traffic will still be heavy on the weekends, I do not know what size boat you have but the wind there can get you in trouble as well. The VGIF is over there a lot, be sure you have everything you need !!!! not just for them but yourself as well. Good luck and be safe !!!

At the campground in the back of Sturgeons?

Nice job guy's !!! Congrats and it's good to know you share time with your brother, so do we have a new member to the forum yet? lol. thanx for sharing the story, it's a good one !!!

Sounds like there is a pretty good food source there, I would try putting a jig in there with bream colors, you mentioned you caught one of those bass on a spoon, I would also try a salt and pepper or a white tube or fluke along the weed line.

Hey great looking product and congrats guy's !!! Welcome to the forum as a new sponcer and as an advertiser, I wish you guy's the best of success and long and prosperous career's, my hats off to you both for bringing another American made product to the table for us to enjoy. Good luck guy's and thanx !!!

Don't be afraid to go big !!! Get on top early if there is a good bit of cover, and go deep and slow in the afternoon, the big one's will be more lathargic in most cases, Right now I would be fishing the Anoconda on some of the points and ledges around here, the Rage lobster, Rage rigged, Smokin Rooster, Rage rigged are also some of my favorites. Good luck and be safe !!!

X2 on the experimenting and early baits, I would go with the Rage Shad since it has heavy pressure, could be something they have not seen before, if top water won't work then go to the bottom and slow way down, your drop shot may work if there is some cover in the area and or suspended, but the C-rig with a Rage lizard is what I would suggest. X10 on the jj's, don't leave home without it !!! By the way, Welcome to the forum !!!

That will do it for sure, hope that's all it was. Good luck and be safe !!!

If it is the one below the 208 bridge, Sturgeon creek is one that will give you some really good fish, Dukes creek is also a really good place to fish. If you watch when fishing Dukes creek the threadfin shad are abundunt in the back of the creek, Sturgeon creek has some really good structure and cover to fish, just out from the marina in Sturgeons creek there is a pretty good hump to fish on the right as you are heading out,, stay about 15 yards from shore, and drag a baby bass colored fluke or a 6" salt and pepper lizard around with the trolling motor on the lowest setting. That method is slow but effective, bring a bag of chips to munch on while you watch your line.

Nice fish, congrats!!! Thanx for sharing the story too !!

You don't have to be big to be strong, It's always a game of survival no matter the size, what does determine wether a fish lives or dies is it's instinct, both large and small fish have the same built into their dna, but in order for them to survive they have to have been exposed to that scenario in the past to have a better chance than other fish. If the larger fish is too old to be able to cope with the surroundings it most likely will not be the one to survive either.

There are 2 Hunters landing , are you above or below the 208 bridge?

One of the best trips anyone could hope for, it could not have happened to a better person it seems. Congrats !!!!!! Thanx for sharing 00 !!!

It would help if we had a pic to see exactly what the split looked to be. If I were to guess I would say that what you had seen is a part of the growing process, I have caught several bass as you described with a split tail in the range you are referring to, 1.5 lbs and less, or it could have been a genetic defect in the fish as well.

I dunno bout that CalebWVU, thats some pretty good advice you gave there, nice job !!! Buckeye, you really need to take Sam's advice and let us know where you are located, one could assume by your name you are from Ohio? I don't have much to add to the posts, there are already a lot of really good ways to fish a river system with the baits already suggested. The first thing I would tell you is to find a river bend, the sharper the better, if there is none in your area, look for grass lines or something that will give the fish some type of cover, also see if you may have a drop just after a shallow area where the water runs over a bunch of rocks, these areas contain a good amount of o2 and will help keep the fish active, it also gives them a great staging area to snag food as it enters deeper water from the rapids. I have found that these areas along river systems are usually best, no matter what you do be prepaired for saftey as Sam also stated, river systems will surprise you at a moments notice.

Really clear water and bright sunny day = A pearch colored hair jig for me, either on the bottom or swim it about 2 feet off the bottom in the deeper parts, since you mentioned the lake had flat structure, if that did not get a strike I would switch to creature baits, deep.

The clearer the water the more natural and brighter the color, the darker the water the darker the baits, as far as plastics go for me.

For me fishing a jig is all about SLOW bottom contact, no matter the size of the jig, it's always in contact with the bottom, if the circumstance should arise and I have to lift it, it's only a couple of inches, very quick but very small jerks will get you the action your looking for, I also use my finger under the line to make the bitsy jigs movements. The only time it's not on the bottom is when I have a swimming jig tied on, which are great around boat docks and other types of cover. Good luck and be safe !!!

Pond fishing has it's moments, There is nothing like going to a pond that no one fishes or is fished very little and catch a mess of fish, but my hat is off to the guy's and gals that are limited to fishing high pressure ponds and small lakes, they know what works and what does not work and can throw a butt whoopin on ya, I have been fotunate enough to be able to take a couple of these people on a big lake fishing trip for their first time, and let me tell ya, what they have learned from the small lakes and ponds can be applied to a tough day on the lake, they can and will throw a butt whoopin on ya too if your not on your "A" game.

Been there done that too lol !!! Anytime you get to a spot and it becomes non productive, especially after a lot of cooling rain, I am focused on the shallows that have feeder creeks, cooler water and food sources are replinished during these times and they will often enough be staged in the shallow grass and plants all around the area. Oh well, at least you learned a little something for the next time, but then again, every day is a school day on the water. Thanx for sharing, good luck and be safe !!!

Nice job !! Thats basically what you want to look for imo, if you find a school of fish, the bass that are under them are pretty much content and it's difficult to get them to react, I too search out the more singular fish, they are more apt to strike a bait than the ones found in a grouping during a front.

X2

My first factor is a frontal condition, pre frontal I would shoot for the shallows, less than 15ft, during is going to be tough, in my area they stage deep and it's hard to get them to bite anything, thats usually when I will break out the drop shot and work it right in front of them untill I make them mad enough to intise a strike, post front I am back to the shallows until after the sun is up and then I start working my way out to deeper points, if you are fishing the back of spawning areas I would be looking for steeper areas that the bait fish will use for navigation, bass will know when to move on the bait fish so you must be there in order to know when where and how to fish any given point or shoal for that matter. If I have not had a front move through in a while I would be fishing the weedline just off the main river channels or I am looking for structure in deep open waters off of a long point somewhere. Good luck and be safe !!!

I have never caught a small mouth but to the attest of a lot of people that have, it seems they are a lot more aggressive than the large mouth bass, if we take into account their enviroment, and the food source, such as river systems then I would say yes, the small mouth would most likely be the first to recover. If it is in a lake system where food is abundant then I don't think there is as much difference, but again my vote would have to be in favor of the small mouth. I fish pretty deep for most of the year, I have found in my home waters that pre, during and post cold fronts do have an effect on shallow fishing but not near as much on fish that are deep, 20ft or more.