KU_Bassmaster.

Do those number's include short fish though. I don't think they do?? The total number of fish caught should go way up, and also if you read RW post he is not just talking about bass. I think when he says "200 lbs." I think he is talking about stripers. I have been pitching docks the last week and on average I would catch 3 fish an hour and about 1 of every 5 of those would reach the limit (15 inches). 2.5 cast per minute = 150 cast every hour 50:1 for all Bass 250:1 for "keeper" Bass I think these numbers also reflect what type of bait you are using. My numbers reflect using a YUM Beaver tail and jig-n-pigs. If I was to throw a 4 inch plastic worm I think I could have caught a whole lot more, but MAYBE 1 out of 15 would be of legal length.

My #1 pre-spwan bait this year was the fluke. Boy I miss the prespawn and the spawn. ENJOY!!!

First of all you can't think of them as "FISH FINDERS". They are depth finders, structure finders, and bait finders. I have a portable one that I use on my two man bass boat for pond fishing. I mounted the transducer on my trolling motor. They have kits for it and it has worked like a charm. In my opinion it has been a very good investment.

Learning to adapt to the situation. Until 4 years ago, I would go out to anybody of water, at any time of year and beat the bank with a 4-6 inch plastic worm T-Rigged. Maybe you would see me throwing a Popper or a jitterbug. One day I realized that I must be missing something. I wouldn't hear all these great things about jigs, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits if they weren't true. So I finally dug through some Bassmaster magazines did a little reading to get a little info on when and how to use these different baits. Then time on the water and learning from every outing has help me become a pretty versitile angler in my mind, but I am still a work in progress. Developing patterens has also been another big thing. I have started to pay attention where I catch every bass and then try to look for places that duplicate it. When you can develop a sucessful pattern, fishing can ALL MOST become too easy..........lol. This summer I am really going to concentrate and hopefully master the art of reading maps and electronics.

Comes on around 9:00 am on Sat. in the central time zone, but there are a bunch of other shows before that that start around 6:30 am. I used to watch them all religously during the winter, but if it ain't raining then I am fishing.

I try to be a little realistic. I don't think there is a world record swimming around anywhere in Kanas or Missouri where I normally fish. Next spring when I go back to Texas though......... 5:20 every morning............. well first I will go for 5:15.

This is a wierd one: I set my alarm clock according to the biggest fish I think I can catch the next morning of fishing. For example, on my trip down to Lake Fork earlier this year I wanted to catch a 10 lber. ...... so I set the alarm for 5:10. It worked. I caught the 10.5 lber in the picture. It's worked a couple of other times too.

I traveled about 2 hours to a little lake that only allows electric motors so I took my two man bass boat. Got to the lake, put the boat in, got my rods, and my ..................... :otackle box ..................... whoops left it at home in the garage. Not wanting to waste a trip, a trolled around trees looking for something I could use, found a spinnerbait and a crankbait that were hung up and made a okay day out of it. Actually boated a few so it wasn't all that bad of a trip.

Yes, spinning tackle and 8 lbs. test.

I've heard you can tell by eye color. Females have dark brown eyes and males have light brown eyes.

Classic Patterns DVD's. There is a show on OLN called Classic Patterns and I believe they are only previews to the DVD's. KVD has done at least two that I know of. They are very very informative and show the ways a pro goes about tackling a new lake and shows how they try to establish a pattern. Gerald Swindle, Mike Ike, Edwin Evers and Skeet Reese are a few others that come to mind. You can buy the whole package, which is a little pricey, or you can buy them separately.

http://bassresource.com/cgi-bin/bass_fish/YaBB.pl?board=gen_bass;action=display;num=1111458633 I actually tried this last week on two my dad caught (he waits FOREVER to set the hook). One time it did work, one time it didn't. The one time it did though, it just popped out pretty easily.

Black 10 icnh plastic worms work well for me. Stick with dark colors like black, dark blue, junebug, etc. I basically like big bulky dark baits in muddy water. Brush Hogs come to mind.

Your in for a real treat. I always like top waters just as the sun is rising. At about 8:00 I switch to a shallow running crankbait or spinnerbait.

I like in order: 1. Classic Patterns 2. Schooled by Denny Brauer 3. Bassmaster University 4. Strike King's Pro Team Journal 5. FLW Tour show

I absolutely LOVE the whole YUM product line. It's about all I carry except for Flukes and tubes. And yes I also think the Dingers are just as good as senkos plus I think the Dingers have a better color selection.

I don't see I problem with it as long as the water you are taking them from has a sufficient supply of keeper size bass.

Learning how to use different baits. Three years ago I really decided to become a better fisherman to prepare myself for a club or a Pro-AM tour once I get out of colllege. Before I would go out day in and day out and rig up a 7 inch plastic worm, T-rigged or you might ocassionly see me with a popper or jitterbug early and late. If I didn't get a bite then the fish just weren't there ............... I thought. I have learned how to use spinnerbaits sufficiently and I would say that I have become pretty darn good with a crankbait. I have also expanded my soft plastic horizon too. I have a streak going form March 20, 2004 to present that I haven't been skunked since then.......hopefully I didn't jinx myself ;D ........... I am going out tommorow and if I get skunked I am blaming it on this post .

If you want to see a few HUGE exagerations look at the "Bass Fishing Pictures" on this site under Tackle Box. I think Glenn said a while back though that he posted them and just put what they submitted. BTW- Basssmaster Mag rejected my picture under my name ?????????

Largemouth Bass - An In-Fisherman Handbook of Strategies by In-Fisherman Staff I read this book about 4 years ago when I really started getting serious about bass fishing. It covers the basics of everything from bass biology, locating bass, patterns, boats, rods, reels, and all types of baits.

Cranking through heavy cover can pay off big time. My fish I caught in the picture was caught in some pretty nasty stuff.

I can't stand the things. Just my opinion. My family rented one a couple of years ago down at Table Rock. It wasn't really all that comfortable for the family and it was a pain to fish from the back in. Never thought of the wind factor, but that just gives me one more reason to dislike them. This is just my opinion..... I don't like things that try to be two things at once like El Caminos (truck or car), Conversion Motorcyles (car or motorcyle). I have a family friend that also has a Skeeter Fish-n-Ski that is very disatisfied with it. His take is you make compromises on both ends (fishing vs. family/sport boat) and in the end you have something that satisfies no one. You have a bass boat that really doesn't satisfy your bass fishing needs and you have a family boat that really isn't all that roomy and doesn't satisfy your family needs.

Switch to something that you can slow down. He is probably chasing your bait off a bed and once he sees that it is no threat, he goes about his business. Sounds like a male bass chasing everything off his bed. I like to use tubes, crawtubes, jigs, basically anything fairly bulky and in a bright color so it is easy to see.

I'm not married, but a guy I fished with one time told me that if his wife gives him crap about fishing all the time, he tells her that it's better than him being in a bar all night. ;D He says that has been very effective ;D ;D

My dog gets pretty ticked when he sees the trailer in the drive way and he doesn't get to go. When he does get to go though, he is good for about half the trip and then he starts getting pretty antsy because I always throw a stick for him for about an hour before we go...................I swear he would swim himself to death. Here's kind of a funny story about him: A few weeks ao I was bed fishing and my dog was with me. I spotted around a 4-5 lber. that was very catchable, but stubborn. I was working on him for about 45 min. and I could tell he was just about to take a swipe at it. Just then I hear a spash and see my dog swiming towards the bank right over the bed. Needless to say the bass was gone and I was pretty ticked, but then I saw what my dog was doing I couldn't help to smile. He had spotted a frog on the bank and he was chasing. Boy did I have a good laugh. He never caught it, but it was sure fun watching him try.