Peter E.

and I thought ordinary tabbies were bad enough...

Spinning: Pinnacle Bait casting: Arrius (spelling?)

Polamar for anything with no built in action (cb). And short Rapala knot other wise. I also burn the end of the knot, keeps it from ever slipping.

What ever you choose stay away from an Abu-Garcia Cardinal, Love Ambassaduer hate Cardinal! Bent the shaft on a new one this July on a mess of Spanish! I want the Pflueger myself.

The bait monkey has struck him hard says I, yes the wonders of the bait monkey are beyond compare... bad monkey!

Very cool I laughed my you know what off at jig bass 1! That was funny!

Just a personal thought but iam firm in the beleif that the color red is great for triggering a feeding reaction especailly if the fish are schooling. I ussually look for lures with red eyes.

Ya'll are on the right road I need some good gloves too, fished yesterday had good warm gloves but had no sensetivity. I will definately want to know what works.

They all look asain to me.

Thanks CrazedL.I.Fisherman, I hope it did kind of shed some new light on the situation. Like you said alot of people know the properties of a bait that they use, say how to work it, but the trick is that alot of guys don't know when to throw it. Alot of begining anglers love to throw top water lure because of two things, they are able to keep eye contact on the lure at all times, and lets face it it's probably the most fun way to catch fish. But as these same anglers get more adept at other presentations they forget to throw these lures, and never really learn WHEN to use them to their best advantage. Flats anglers sometimes throw top water exclusively and to be honest bass anglers could do the same and have good results also. We just don't do it.

You know I caught on about that size in Payne Lake in Hale county Alabama. They like Rapalas there.

LBH is right on the money! Bass change color due to first the pigments in the skin of these fish are very sensative to ultra violet light and will cahnge very rapidly. The scales themselves refract light differently depending on the color of the suroundings. One more adaptation that has made fish like these the top of the food chain in many enviroments in fresh water. The lMB is one of the most remarkable fish in North America due to its ability to adapt to nearly any situation it is faced with. They are truly amazing animals. With good light their patterns show up well, with light enviroments and stained water the bass will be light in color, like Raul's fish. And with clear water it wil appear more like Syfer's. LBH is spot on when he said that these fish can change color in a matter of minutes! As a matter of fact the most dominate predator fish all share this characteristic. I love biology!

I have done that in the creek that runs behind my house. I was amazed by that also, hey Raul what lure is that? it looks sharp!

Oh but look as the flock doth grow! ;D Welcome aboard!

Thanks Guys! I really appreciate it! Ya'll have been great. I am looking at AUH, so are any of you small mouth gurus in the Huntsville, Alabama area? Ya'll really sent out some great info on how to locate the fish in the basic cover areas. Ya'll gave some awsome advice. Look at this is this: Tackle: Lighter line or at least Flourocarbon, spinning tackle is great because it allows you to use a finnesse presentation, and lenghty casts even with light lures. I would gather that a Pluguer Trion would be a good bait caster. Fast tip, with some good length to optimize the use the rod. I would gather that since you are using light lines and these fish relate heavily to structure, the length of the rod will help to move these fish out of cover fast! Lures: I heard alot about the finnesse approach, I would gues that is due to the clear water and smaller fish. Crawfish are main prey this tells me to match the hatch with tubes and jigs. I would also bet that crawfish cranks would have good appeal. Boat: Depends on where you fish! Oh and my cousin owns a rent all in Huntsville so I would have storage and job ! Above all else use the current to carry your lures into the ambush points of the fish (kenucky Red 101). The biggest thing that will take some getting used to is fishing deep cover, all the lakes around me are dish pan! So any advice there would be helpful! Oh and thanks!

Well of course I left bass boat out of the list! I'm in college, that rules out the bass boat.

Well as far as the choice of tackle keep in mind the conditions you are faced with. If the water is good and clear these presentations are great. One of the best times to throw a top water presentation is with clear water and when blue gill are suspending. Even when it is in the middle of the day as long as you got a little haze or over cast its good. Here are some rules for selecting top water action: Zara spook walk the dog retreive: These seem to trigger larger than normal fish and is a good all around action. Devils horse prop bait: These baits produce the best on days with a little wind or ripple on the water. Hula Popper popper action: These baits are great for the still calm when fish seem to be unwilling to bite. Keep in mind that your retreive and cadence in how you reel can be a huge determining factor to the number of fish you catch. Try a few casts with a steady regular cadence, and then start to alter it. The fish will tell you the best one. Try to use baits that are a bit bigger that what you expect to need. The water will distort the location of the bait in the eyes of the bass. Like a straw in a glass of water. When a bass misses KEEP THE RETREIVE THE SAME if it triggered the fish once it can and often will trgger it a second time. Keep in mind that with top water action and sound are the main attractions and triggers. The things that attract the attention of a fish are: Size, Sound, Sight. Large size will attract the attention of a fish, loud sound will attract the attention of a fish and so will bright colors. These attractant factors taken to the extreme can spook fish though. Size, action, speed are good triggers. Small size, irregular action, and Speed will often trigger a fish into biting. Take this case in point for example: If a bass say, follows a popper out but turns short of striking try a diver like a Rapala, the popper may have attracted the bass but the diving action could be what triggers.

Well Fellow Anglers, I am looking forward to attending college in North Alabama, after transfering with my associates in Biology. One of the main challenges I will have in this is a new quarry, Small Mouth! I have heard quite alot about these fish and looking forward to pursueing them. As ya'll know I am a fanatical LMB fisherman who also goes after Kentucky Reds and Spots, in streams, creeks, and small rivers. I would love to know how to addapt my presentation to these fish. I would also love for ya'll to give be a vote on a water craft. I have my eye on a 12' Featherlite Angler by Heritage. Oh and tackle as far as rods and reels tips too. I'm just looking for some general info on Smallie fishing, how it differs from LMB and spots.

Ahmen!

Catt, this young angler is honored to hear you say that. Ya'll laid the foundations, so how could we fail. I know that I am very greatful for all the older more experienced men on this site. I know that it has been a great help to me and every other young angler. Not many older anglers will fish with us or share tips and stories, here we are greeted as equals and it brings out the best in us. I can't say how much the boys on the sight have helped me. I wish I had found this site when I was about TroutFishers age!

Roger, if your going to tell the joke tell it right >. JK Peter

;D FIN-S-R, I am in total agreement. I think you hit completely on the head. Saying this watch when another *** swims into that lazy monsters territory... He doesn't stay long, to me that is aggression. Agression is not nessecarily just alot of movement and eating. Cows eat all the time and they are pretty docile to me.

Boy do I know that! I have a black Explorer and I live in Bama! But as a child and even later into m colllege carreer I had been told that white light contained all of the other colors of the visible spectrum, and when it is shone through a prizm it will break up the visible spectrum and make it so that we might be able to see all of the colors that exist in the visible spectrum. Most assurredly white reflects and black absorbs. That is because the color white does this not the white light itself. The color white reflects the light back at you and green stuff reflects green light and red stuff red light. And so on and so forth. I most certainly agree that things that are the color black abzorb the most light and it causes then to heat up. White light is light that has not been filtered. I am sorry it did look like I was refering to the color white, but I meant unfiltered light. And because of this I believe that because of this fact I like white and black, they are great colors no matter the water clarity or the light factors. Thanks for bringing that up, I didn't reread it. Peter

White Mike 1018, that is the best post on color that I have ever read you did us all a great service and went a long way in thinking of just what colors we use. I think that everyone has brough up some great points on the colors they use and their ideas behind them. I had heard that red is the first color to disapear in the water... FIN-S-R, Please excuse me if I am wrong but wouldn't white be the most visible color? White light conains every color in the visible spectrum. The colors we see are as a result to the object only reflecting a particular color. That being said I do beleive that black is a very visisble color, not because of the idea that it contains evry color but is instead sillohetted against the water no matter how dark it is. Hence it is the best color for night fishing. My rule for fishing had been to use extremes in colors like blacks and whites, and chartrueses for dark water. And more subdued colors for clear water. Color is awful cotraversal, personally I t hink it all has more to do with confidence than color. The color you pitch the most will catch the most, its just in the water more.

When RW says that during this time of the year the fish are relating to the bait and not the structure hes not kidding. The best bet is to talk to locals and get a chart of the lake and look for shoals and bluffs where the stripers will be able to drive the school against it. Then also just kind of look for areas of current. If there is a dam near by check there first. Oh Check out the know thy shad things by matt fly. The shad lead you to the stripes.