KenDammit28

I might be weird, but am I the only one who finds great enjoyment and solitude while fishing during a light rain or drizzle? Its so relaxing and calming to feel...I can't totally describe it...(I naturally love the sound and smell of rain, especially in the summer) but I just feel so content when I'm fishing those conditions. The sound of the drops hitting my waterproof jacket, the quietness from most everyone else being inside and all the little creatures taking cover to stay dry, I just feel so in tune to the water I'm fishing during that time. It might not be my most "favorite" for production(although it does produce fairly well and regularly for me), but it is on the top of the list of sentimental favorites along with the good ole "crack a dawn" and dusk on a beautiful lake.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1156268153/16#16 good post about coloring of largemouth

as far as I'm concerned, that "camo clothing" stuff is a gigantic myth. I've bank fished in bright orange shorts, orange shirts, red, all kinds of things that don't blend into a single thing and have had MANY, MANY fish bite my lure right in front of me. I've had lots of conversations while bankfishing, had dogs bark right next to me, dropped things, so on and so forth and still caught fish in my immediate area. I think that we over-estimate how much bass care. A LOUD bang or sound, I think would spook bass, but they hear a lot of weird sounds almost constantly. Ever listened to stuff under water? Its a whole different world and what we perceive as "noisy" can sound like pretty much nothing to them.

when the water starts to cool back down it CAN be good for topwater, but as a general pattern type of thing, my experience is that the fish start moving around more as they are not as pressured by the hot days and high temperatures in the water. So yeah, topwaters will work, but it won't be much different than any other day of fishing..you'll still have to switch up presentations for the most part. I like spinnerbaits, topwater, and working soft plastics faster than usual

I've never seen a rod..what do they look like? How big do they grow? Where are they generally located? I never heard of rods in Kentucky...do they put up a good fight? I might have to call a guide somewhere that rods are located and go fishin for some!

needs some better form of communication as far as actual challenges go. It seems like only a select few actually get challenged and the rest are left waiting for the person above them to name a challenge. If nothing else can be done then I think that it needs to be made EXTREMELY CLEAR that you are supposed to challenge the person that signs up after you and that you do that by sending them a private message. I forgot to add that I think that people who sign up must actually WANT to challenge someone, not just wait for a challenge themselves. It defeats the purpose of the whole concept if everyone is not doing their part.

what good is a 20 dollar bill thats ripped in half? You shoulda smacked your friend for ripping it in two!

believe me, if I could see a 15 dollar lure, you better bet I'm goin swimmin for it. The only time I wouldn't is if it was sewer water...nothing is worth getting a turd in the ear.

i was answering burley about how to lose a 15 dollar lure

pulled and broke it, I guess?

You never know..that "dying" fish may just make it, too. In every situation except a private pond that YOU own or are given free reign on....throw it back.

Mother Natures natural order, i guess. If an old timer says it.and its repeated by many other old timers..then I'm inclined to believe its true. I've read things on the internet about people predicting rain by how many cows are laying down and are hardly ever wrong. The rest of that little snippet talked about how if the 4 cows out of 20 are laying down, then its a 20% chance of rain. If 30 cows out of 100 laid down, then it'd be a 30% chance. It doesn't matter which ones lay down, so long as a certain number are laying.

I don't think its an instantaneous process but I also don't think that it takes a very long time..maybe something like a day or a day and a half to 2 days. If a bass moves from one type of area to another, then it HAS to blend in or it will either be so visible it won't be able to catch a meal or some predator from above could pick it off. Anyway, the pigment in the skin works off of sunlight so my thought would be that it only takes a little while for the pigment to be "activated", if you will. Theres not much info around on how QUICK they change colors..so thats my best guess at it.

"We've all heard that cows will lie down before an incoming storm, but there is a science to cow pasture predictions you might not be aware of. According to farmer and weather forecaster Gertrude Nimbus of Philadelphia, PA, cows not only lie down before storms but they lie down in specified numbers. If four out of 20 cows are lying down, after doing some quick math" Cows also lie down to chew their cud...not just because it may rain.

not the greatest lake in the world, by any means. Its way over-fished due to the absolute lack of management. Its not very big..70 acres, I believe. Average depth is around....7 ft, I'd say. I got to play in the lake bottom as a kid when they drained the old lake and were fixing things up to create the new lake. The little jut of red you see that goes out into the middle of the water is the old dam.....all that to the top side was dug out and flooded with the new lake along with the red cove. Being that I played in it, thats how I know where the roadbed goes and also know where all the trees actually are, although 85% of them are useless now. You could fish the red parts and MAY get lucky and get a bluegill to bite....the uncolored parts are mainly catfishing spots(absolutely no cover or structure of any kind in those areas. The blue you can have SOME success in those area's on a good day..but theres still not many fish that hang around those areas. The green...for anyone who is smart enough to realize they can get a boat back there to the whole area...well its good fishing.

thats my private pond...theres a bigger pond just to the left(you can JUST see the edge in the picture..its about 2-4 acres that I'm trying to get permission to fish)

Don't you know..if you've found it..its impossible that anyone else is fishing that same area.

there was a site..I can't remember the name of it now..that sold maps for most lakes in different areas of the country. I know this isn't much help, lol....but its out there.

Yeah, I was trying to make it simple and was in a hurry :-[

what Raul is saying is actually true, though. The amount of light able to penetrate to the fish will determine the darkness of its coloring. Scientifically speaking. Each scale on a largemouth bass contains dark pigments that expand in high light and contract in low light. Think of it as the reverse action of your pupil. More light, our pupils get smaller, less light, they get bigger. The twist in the whole thing is that the amount of light that hits a bass' eye also has an affect on its color as does the color or general brightness of the bottom the fish is currently over and/or whats surrounding it. Its a very complex thing that causes fish to be colored the way they are..and we have to remember that they're not only trying to camoflauge themselves to prey, they're also trying to protect themselves from predators overhead. IN the case of muddy water, the light gets scattered all over, so bass are usually a pretty blank pattern, kind of in a state of "confusion" if you will. Fish also change color when fighting over their "territory" and when they are spawning. Surprisingly, the dominant fish will become silvery, even though it'd seem more probable that they'd become the more prominant colored fish. Anyway, the order in which the pigment is effected is light penetration, immediate surroundings, and then the general area. Even on a bright sunny day, you can catch fish out of shade that have very little markings..even if you pulled it out of some green, green grass. You can also catch fish that are in direct sunlight on a light bottom that are very lightly marked. A fish on the edge of a weedline(where they can actually be reached by light) will be the most brightly colored fish.

I like to dream of the simpler times in life, heh

nope, not true...See LBH's explanation. Moral of the story. FISH WHEN YOU CAN FISH, AND FISH AS MUCH AS YOU CAN FISH! Don't worry about what hour it is, or what phase the moon is in, or how the dogs wagging its tail on this day or that one.... You're never gonna learn to become a complete fisherman until you can catch fish anytime, anywhere. Waiting for the "best time" and "the best place" will leave you dry on the dock. The only way to truly KNOW when the best time to catch a fish is...get out there and fish all the time. You'll be surprised at whats learned. I've sat in the middle of 90 degree midday sun and caught bass on almost every cast..with a bluebird sky and no wind nonetheless..and fished "perfect conditions" and not gotten so much as a bite from a bug.

Kiss it. If it flips you a fin, then its a male(although it could be a female thats already spoken for or one thats offended by your not-so-hot looks). If it smiles and gives a tail wag..you've caught a female.

in most every water it is illegal to let aquarium fish be released in to native waters..regardless of what type of fish is being released. Many foreign diseases are introduced this way. So, you have three choices...eat the fish, let the fish die in the water from whatever cause, or throw the fish out and let it die on land in some fashion....LEGALLY. Not to mention that what russ said about the laws against keeping gamefish in captivity and how you're more than likely taking a fish from an open water, natural environment and basically putting it in a cage. I firmly believe in the laws of nature and all that but there IS a point where it becomes overkill. Without a massive tank like you may see at Bass Pro Shops or at fishing seminars(which are still pretty stressful to fish, nowhere to "hide"), I don't see the real usefulness of it.

they die and are not able to live full, normal lives....thats how they do in captivity. Bad idea, in my opinion