Peter E.

Well said Avid, well said . Anyone as conservation minded and who looks at bass from such a rich scientific angle as LBH, should be commended ;D. LBH, keep on advancing our knowledge of one of the greatest of all fresh water game fish. Peter

As Chris stated keep that bait off the bottom! You can use a quark or even using a free lining technique. Just look for the places that you expect to catch a bass, like laydowns, soap stone walls, and so on, and keep on fishing. Peter

By the way the tags are small and tube shaped. Peter

I would first check withyour local game and fish department and see if they practice tagging on fish, and see if you could get involved. But as a matter of fact you can tag a bass. They either place the tag on the dorsal fin or the lower lip. and to my knowledge they use either plastic tags or aluminum. Your state game and fish division will be able to tell you more than anyone else. Peter Post Scriptus, They have been tagging striped bass for years.

No but tell me where I can get a hold of them! I will read or watch anything on bass fishing or bass behavior. To me the best part of fishing is to gain an understanding of the fish and their habits, take advantage of them and catch em. CATCH EM', CATCH EM' AND CATCH EM'. Peter

I would say no. To my knowledge bass wil occuppy the best and closest cover available and are not known to travel great distances unless they lack a presence of bait in the are to drive them to that length. That is simply my thought on the matter although I may be wrong, seriously doubt it, but maybe. Peter

Ghost, Alot of bass will simply move a lure or bait without eating it. They will also move a crawfish of other small egg snatcher without inhaling it. This is a survival trait. If these fish who are naturally canabalistic feed during this time there is a good chance they will eat their young. So most if not all bass will ussually not inhale a lure. The trick is that you have to use a smaller lure with a more readily exposed hook. Peter

Basspro48, That is the way of bass everywhere. They as you pointed out both male and female will protect the nest after spawning, and really this is for the male to also guard the female because they are weak and vulnerable after the spawn. After the female begins to recover and the eggs have hatched she moves to deeper water and feeds heavily to regain lost energy. The male will watch over the fry until they reach about an inch and then he to will move to deeper waters. Peter

Hey Ya'll, Thanks for all of the responces! I have been trying some of them and they are working! They have yet to take on the full results that will come in time but that will take developing a feel for the new techniques. Those replies on the different aquatic plants would have tickled a botonist. Oh and thanks for the spelling check on hyacenths. I wish that I could get my digital camera working to get ya'll a better idea of what I am dealing with but unfortunately this new technology still baffles me. The ideas ya'll put in motion are really taking off. I really appreciate the plant replies though because I have taken the time to research their ranges and growing depths and their growth and so on. This way I can get an idea of what plants the bass will relate to as the year progresses. Thanks, Peter

#3 cause i live an hour and a half from Auburn! Plus those are the Guys I think are the best. Peter

Basspro48, That is one of the best break downs I have seen on how to fish hyacents, but now I will ask anyone who thinks they can give an answer. In the creek I fish I have a problem with the natural vegetation that is a matted thick sort of moss and when I try to use a soft plastic, even t-rigged. So if my bait touches the bottom it ussually comes back clogged. Any ideas how to use the ideas you mentioned?

As to there being a better mouse trap then you may have to turn to someone else, My techniques are similar to those mentioned in the first response. Although as you put it so well it seems that the traditional "cherry picker" is among one of the most obvious ways to attack these areas and as you pointed out they have no roots. I would also like to add that unlike most plants hyacents actually remove oxygen from the water. These plants actually pull twice as much oxygen during the night time hours. So to put his in a practical sense fish will actually move out from these plants starting at about the last hour of the day. These fish usually will not actually leave the plants until dark. During the day if you have the time you can clear lanes and pockets in the hyacents. This will give you openings to fish. Peter

Wait a second ya'll, lets stop discussing lures and hook sizes and help our member to gain a better understanding about what he is doing. Lures, techiques and what not are all fine great and dandy but first let us understand the fish so that we can use the right technique, and lure. Let us look at this with a more methodical and reasoned aproach than just to say throw this or throw that. Let us first observe the conditions he is face with. First off we will start with water clarity and temperature. Remember these two factors are perhaps the most influentail factors in determining bass' strike zone day in day out. (a fish's strike zone is how far a bass will go to hit a bait) With meduim light penetration and clarity the fishes strike zone is usually at its best. Meduim being three feet of visibitlity and say partly cloudy skies. and varying degrees back and forth. Higher the sun penetration the smaller the strike zone and the clearer the water the bigger the strike zone. You get the picture. Water temps are simple with between 60 to 75 degrees being the tempreture at which the basses metabolism is at its highest. An increase or decrease in temprature will lower a bass' metabolism. Also the higher the bass' metabolism the larger the strike zone is. Now let us apply that to the In-fisherman FLP formula. F- fish: how do these factors influence the fish's will to feed. L- Location: where are the bass located in the water colum and in the pond. P- Presentation: How to present your bait so that it works best with the conditions you are faced with an that given day. You can PM me for an FLP break down of your area with more information I can usually get about as close as you can get without fishing it. Remember First you must understand the fish before you can catch it. Peter

Love em' ;D or hate 'em > these plants are becoming a fact of life in the South :. For those of us who fish this water born Kudzu , how do you go about capturing one of the world's finest game fish (the large mouth bass) in this new enviroment :-/? I want to hear your techniques to see how they differ from mine , so I will wait till I hear about some of your techniques before I mention mine. Thanks, Peter 8-)

Any truly great fisherman is an ictheologist (a scientist who specailizes on fish)at heart. The most important thing about fiahing is not to use the right lure or the right thechnique but to have a truly indepth understanding of the animal that you are fishing for. Only when you understand the animal that you are fishing for do the tackle and techniques do you any good. The Lindner brothers have taought me more about fishing through their series of movies shows and so on then anything else. Things like the FLP formula (which I quote alot) are straight up Lindner tricks of the trade. Fishing is 90% science and 10% technique. The lures just make it fun 8-). Peter

Well fivebasslimit, I would like to point out that stripers do not target bass and seldomly if ever eat bass. The thought that a striped bass will target a large mouth is simply untrue. I have done a considerable amount of research on both the lmb and the striped bass and studies have shown that striped bass in resiviors. lakes. and rivers will almost never go after bass. Stripers are schooling fish and will not, no matter their size become loners as long as they are healthy. These fish feed almost strictly on shad, and when the Alabama DNR did a study on the forage of striped bass of the eighty seven stripes that they examined the content of the stomachs only one had eaten a lmb, two smaller pan fish and the eighty four had only shad in ther stomachs. that is a a staggering ratio against the idea that stripes feed on lmb's I would also like to add that LMB's cannot match stripes for fight or size! No offense I have a passion for bass fishing, but when stripes are in the area I will target them everytime unless there is money on the line. Peter

Well, I fish about 175 to 200 days a year. Now I am starting a guide service so I will HAVE to fish even more. ;D "The gods do not deductfrom a man's alloted span the hours spent in fishing" Anceint Babylonian Proverb

Well Gentlemen (I use that word loosely) , I don't know how many of you are familiar with the history of Sam Rayburn, and as a matter of fact I have never fished it. What I would like to do is to use the history of Sam Rayburn as an example. When Sam Rayburn was first flooded or created it was a good lake with plenty of fish though small they were fish. Fishing was fast and dependable, especailly in the Black Forrest section but as the Lake aged as our freind pointed out a lake will age. The conditions he pointed out are a fact of life. The heavy wood cover of the sunken forests began to lose their appeal to bait fish and therefore bass. Wood cover is most productive in the first five years and after that as it decomposes it loses the smaller branches that provide the best cover. Well as Sam Rayburn aged the cover that alot of fishermen had come to depend on was no longer productive. In the late 70's if I am not mistaken there was severe drought and it dropped the level of Sam Rayburn dramatically. Some people thought that Sam Rayburn was doomed, but the bottom of the lake was exposed to the sunlight and it encouraged plant growth as Sam Rayburn filled back to its original level. This plant growth is what makes Sam Rayburn one of the standards that all resivoires are judged. Every lake and especailly resivoir has a life cycle and as the lake changes so should the fisherman. There are different things to do as your shallow cover becomes less productive, one thing is to down size and try finnesse fishing another is to move deeper as our fellow forum member mentioned, another is to try lures that are uncommon or unused. All of these different things can play a role in helping you catch more fish. The important thing you have to do is change as the lake changes. Let the fish talk to you. That is a skill that takes time but it is a skill that can be learned, pay attention, keep a journal, and learn from other lakes and what they go through. Good Luck and do more catching than fishing, Peter

Ditto. ;D Same here right now in Alabama. Peter

Well so long as it goes good, then it was worth it. Just give her a whirl and see how it goes. To be honest i can't think of any lure like it and that is where great things come from. From people who think outside the box. Good luck Peter

Well Tenka, From what I under stand there are some woods that have less boyancy than others. I understand that cedar is one of them it dives deeper than most woods. One place I would go would be tackleunderground.com they have forums much like this one and I think it is a great site. If I remeber right whittler suggested it yesterday to me. I would add that if you plan to hollow the lure out I would try making it a sandwich lure. Rapala makes their lures like that because they are made of balsa they can break easily, well not real easy but easier than other woods. I would hollow it out like you said but have it so that each half is hollowed out and than glue them together. Also by hollowing them out this way you reduce the amount of wood on the lure, and therefore the weight. You might even be able to put some rattles in it. I would leave the tail end solid and therefore increase the boyancy of the tail and make the lure stand up better. When you glue them I would suggest a glue called Wood-All this stuff is tough. The man I worked for this summer uses it to help make cabinets and I garuntee that the wood you glue with it breaks before that glue does. Hey these aren't bad ideas why am I telling you :-?. Well anyway I hope you can make some sense out of my ramblings and I think if you do they may help :. Like I said I am going to try the ideas myself. Tell me what you think and good luck, Peter

To find you lakes forage check with your local fisheries biologist. Some lakes have info on them on your states outdoor websites. Also one way to get a general idea is to determine your lakes fertility. This can be determined by depth and water clarity. Infertile being deep, cold, and gin clear while fertile is usually shallow and warmer, it is usually a stained color with only about 1 to 2 feet of visability. some species of fish are dependent on the fertility of a lake, such a perch and blue gill. just a thought, but the best way to determine the forage is to catch some fish on tradtional tackle and colors and clean them and examine the contents of their stomachs. Peter

Though the crawfish theory sounded good at first, I looked back and noticed that none of the fish I catch have red lips. Even in the spring when thay feed prodominately on crawfish. I beleive it has more to do with water temps. Although there are an abundance of fish and other animals that their colors change due to the nutrients the enjest. One example would be aq flamingo, who's pink color is dependent on the type of shrimp and othe crustations they eat. I beleive it may have more to do with the water temps and such although I will ask a proffessor at school about it, he is an ictheologist, and a bass fisherman. that is just my opinion, Peter

Sounds good I would make the face of that lure a little wide so that it ballances well. I would also suggest trying unpainted blanks and such that you have loaded with weight in say an aquarium or tub. Don't invest time and money in the paint and such until you have the action right. That is just my opinion. it sounds like a great Idea so send us some pictures, I want to know how it turns out. It sounds like it would be a great lure during the post spawn period. I may try that idea of a lure myself. Peter

Hey Ya'll, I was wondering what material to make my metal lips out of fo my lures. Is there a type of metal that seems to do the best and what do you think I should use to cut it out with. With scout lips how do I get the correct bend? I have some Ideas, but they are just that. I wanted some input from ya'll on how you do it. Thanks, Peter