RoLo

I've done countless chart surveys throughout the years, but always begin with a search for shallow water. Simply put, I begin at the "beginning" and the beginning is the ‘egg’. Without photosynthesis an egg cannot hatch which underlines the necessity of shallow water. For this reason, my chart surveys all begin with a search for spawning grounds (reproduction flats). This applies equally to the Atlantic Ocean where depths are measured in fathoms, but 'shallow' and 'deep' are relative terms, so what may be 'deep' in freshwater may be 'shallow' in saltwater. Most fishermen target primary points, but what is a point and why is it good? Take a pencil, draw the outline of a lake, now draw the 6 ft depth line inside your shoreline. Be sure your 6-ft contour line includes several primary points. Now study the lake you've just drawn and you'll see that every point you formed created a shoal area. In fact, it's impossible to form a noteworthy point or extended ridge without creating a shelf area. It's this increased shelf area that increases the value of a point, and not the point per se. Among the five Great Lakes, Lake Superior has the most sterile water and the greatest basin area. In Lake Superior there are 50 to 100-mile stretches that have no viable pike populations. How could that be? Simply because those stretches lack suitable breeding marshes (pike distribute eggs on dead vegetation). Last year Lois and I vacationed at Lake Superior in quest of northern pike and had very good action. Since it's relevant to this discussion, I should mention that I've never hired a fishing guide in my life, which holds me accountable for our successes and failures. Had I begun the chart survey in deep water, it could easily have spoiled our vacation. Big pike are deep water fish, whereas largemouth bass fill the shallowest niche of all freshwater gamefish. This only bolsters the importance of shallow water for largemouth bass, which spawn at a mean depth of 30 inches. When pike fishing in Canada, you'll notice that when you venture too far back into a backwater slough, you'll stumble into largemouth bass. A largemouth bass can live happily ever after without any deep water. This is evidenced by innumerable double-digit bass yielded by Florida ponds with a maximum depth under 6 feet. The lake zone between the shoreline and 8-foot depth line provides bedding flats, nursery grounds and the lion's share of aquatic vegetation and aquatic forage. On the other hand, bass living in a pit pond with no shelf area at all, are bound to lean pickings and a low standard of living. When you begin chart analysis by isolating the broadest food shelves, your search for hotspots will be confined to lake sections providing the best reproductive dynamics and population density. Only now, would I feel justified in looking for drop-offs into deep water and indentations (inside turns) in the contour lines. Needless to say, the best drop-offs are those with the most abrupt depth change and those with the greatest magnitude (difference between crest and basin). In short, I use a 'top-down' approach, and I'm sticking to it Roger

Just installed a 5000-gallon tank, the gas truck is coming tomorrow

Party's over, Elvis has left the building

My experience dovetails with Heron's experience. Back in the 50s a rash of plastic replicas flooded the market which were highly detailed 'dead-ringers' of crayfish, shiners, crickets, salamanders, hellgrammites and more. Like a kid in a candy shop, I fell hook, line & sinker, but truthfully I don't remember catching much of anything on them. Yeah they had the look, but were made of tough plastic and lacked realistic action. Sure enough, they all disappeared one-by-one. The Yum Crawbug has been the most lifelike crayfish replication for the past 20 years, but is it popular? The Zoom Pro Chunk, looks like a flat, steamrollered banner, but it far outsells the Yum Crawbug, which I believe TW no longer carries. All that said, I'd be the first sucker to pay more for any lure that boosted my confidence. But based on past experience, superficial realism doesn't have much influence on my confidence. If your lure enters the strike window of an active bass and it moves like a living creature, it's going down the hatch. PS: On the other hand, if your lake is teeming with those chartreuse & white creatures, you know, the ones with the silver flappers and the tentacles in the rear: then by all means 'match the hatch and tie on a spinnerbait Roger

The chances are high on Kissimmee Now it's a burgundy & white Triton Roger

In-Fisherman is the quintessential angling encyclopedia, but even they give scant recognition to the "origin" of natural lakes (overt glacial bias). As you well know, In-Fisherman classifies natural lakes based on "age": Young = Oligo | Middle-age = Meso | Old = Eutro | Very old = Early cornfield LOL The glacier never reached Florida, but the state is strewn with lakes of all ages due to lake origins unrelated to the Ice Age. For example, a natural lake of 'seabed' origin is generally overlooked, but when Florida was underwater, Lake Okeechobee was a depression in the ocean floor. The Florida FWC classifies every waterbody according to trophic state, and the classifications run the gamut from early oligotrophic to late eutrophic, lake ages unrelated to the ice age. In addition, Florida has many deep natural lakes with sharp drop-offs reminiscent of a highland reservoir. Most of these waterbodies are of karst origin (i.e. sinkhole), a couple of examples are Crooked Lake and Eagle Lake (minutes from my home). From Canada to Florida, the presence of tree stumps almost invariably indicates a 'manmade impoundment'. Roger

Glad you came out of the woodwork kid, nice hearing from you again Roger

I'll have to look when I get home Roger

Lake Wales, FL: $2.20 Roger

Technically speaking, Manmade Lake, Impoundment & Reservoir may be used interchangeably The major difference between natural lakes and manmade lakes is 'vegetation'. Generally speaking, natural lakes are richer in vegetation, whereas many (but not all) impoundments offer sparse or no vegetation. There are 3 reasons why many reservoirs lack healthy plant growth: > Pool Level Fluctuation (many reservoirs experience wide & frequent swings in pool level, which kills aquatic plants) > Riverine Flow (many plants are unhappy in constant current. Some plants such as eelgrass will do fine) > Poor Soil (in reservoirs lacking a natural stream, the water must be pumped-in even though the native soil may be inferior. Pumping is a slow process, for example, it took 2 yrs to pump-fill Round Valley Res in NJ, which offered nothing for vegetation. In reservoirs that lack plant life (not all do), bass fishing is a deeper game than you'll find in a natural lake. In a natural lake with lush vegetation, a trophy bass might live out its life without ever going deeper than 6 feet For that matter, many natural lakes have a basin depth that doesn't exceed 6 feet. In lakes that lack vegetation (Natural or Manmade), bass must use deep water for cover and shade, which would otherwise be provided by littoral vegetation. Roger

1940s to 1960s I was fortunate to grow up in an era when you could learn from the angling pioneers in ‘real time’. As a kid, I remember discovering a goldmine called “Lucas on Bass Fishing” authored by Jason Lucas. Jason’s insight was far ahead of his time, and most of what he professed during the 40s and 50s, still holds true today. I was still trying to digest Jason’s book, when I found a diamond-in-the-rough called “Spoonplugging” written by Elwood “Buck” Perry. More than the father of structure fishing, Buck Perry repeatedly demonstrated the critical importance of depth control and speed control by trolling his own self-devised “Spoonplugs” that run at predefined depths. When you inspect a Spoonplug in your hand, it kind of debunks the ‘match the hatch’ theory, because Buck centered his focus on 'precise delivery' (depth - speed - action). 1960s to Date Fish are cold-blooded, instinct-driven creatures that lack the power to reason. Humans are warm-blooded creatures with the power to reason, but our instincts are seriously underdeveloped. When man pits intelligence against instinct, the odds are high that he’ll end-up outsmarting himself. In the final analysis, no man has ever solved all the mysteries of our sport, and even the greatest mentors who contributed the most, had their fair share of misconceptions. During the late 60s, I well recall when Al and Ron Lindner began writing highly technical articles for “Fishing Facts” magazine. Their in-depth, scientific approach was not every fishermen's cup-of-tea, but the Lindner brothers catapulted Fishing Facts magazine to new heights. Then in 1975, Al & Ron Lindner launched their own “In-Fisherman” magazine. To this day, I still have the red & white publications they called “Study Reports”, where each study report was an encyclopedia equal in scope to a yard-high stack of garden-variety magazines. The In-Fisherman staff went headlong into radio tracking, which disclosed many unexpected results. Telemetry studies reinforced some tenets and degraded some tenets proposed by James Henshall, Jason Lucas, Elwood Perry and Homer Circle. As it happened, Uncle Homer was the only pioneer who lived long enough to witness radio-tracking findings. To be sure, largemouth bass move from lounging quarters to feeding grounds, but only move as far as necessary, and always welcome the opportunity to bundle both events at the same location. As a result, radio-tracking studies have shown that daily movements, on balance, are shorter than previously believed. As in all facets of fishing though, there are always exceptions that prove the rule. The biggest telemetric surprise was learning that largemouth bass strongly resist depth change, that their movements tend to be horizontal. In most radio-tracking studies, there is one or more renegades that will undergo a long, inexplicable migration, sometimes crossing the entire lake. Even during these extended migrations though, the movement was essentially lateral with no significant depth change. This is likely due to the bass's swim bladder, which makes a bass work harder when changing water depth. In any case, wide changes in depth are mostly a seasonal event that take place over time. According to diving excursions conducted by In-Fisherman, the greatest depth changes were normally seen during a cold-front, but the movement tended to be vertical rather than horizontal (not what most anglers visualize). During warm, stable weather periods, bass tend to rise gradually in the water column, higher along standing timber or higher in a weedbed. Inversely, bass tend to move down to the bottom during a cold-front. Although bass depth is changed, water depth may remain the same (again, not what most anglers visualize). Needless to say, bass in deep water are not as susceptible to cold-fronts occurring in the troposphere, and may even be unaware of its presence. During cold-fronts, the In-Fisherman staff additionally noticed that some bass assume a very reclusive position, with their nose on the bottom and their tail angling upward. Roger

The bass that fans out the nest is the Buck. The bass that rearranges the furniture is the Cow

What's a Rage Craw? Roger

“Craw” just describes the shape of a plastic trailer. I believe the best season to use any plastic trailer hinges mainly on its speed and depth, rather than its shape. A skirted jig and plastic craw make a great bottom lure, and since bass spend most of their time on or close to bottom, the jig-&-craw is a year-round lure. East Texas? Hmmm, that sounds more like a Rage Lobster to me Roger

(Inserted as per Catt's request): When Bill Dance was asked, "Which is more important, Structure or Cover?", Bill replied 'structure'. This in no way diminishes the importance of cover, but it underscores the hierarchy of 'structure' For every holding site pinpointed on my charts, there are often 2 or more satellite waypoints. Only ONE waypoint however will be founded on bottom contour (structure), a fixed location I call a 'static waypoint' for my own edification. In sharp contrast, plant density, weedline configurations and even plant species are in constant transition. For instance, our favorite weed pocket or weed finger from last year, may be a little different, extremely different or completely absent this year (Mother Nature doing her job). Changeable waypoints based on plant mergers, dense tufts, weed alleys and weed points I refer to as 'dynamic waypoints'. Although the structural nucleus remains essentially fixed, the dynamic waypoints tend to waltz around the static waypoints. Here's the nice thing about differentiating between the two (between static & dynamic waypoints). If your DNR (fish & game commission) kills the vegetation down to the ground, or if your lake undergoes a severe and prolonged drawdown, you are still in business. All your static waypoints (structure numbers) will serve as jump-off points for establishing your new dynamic waypoints (cover numbers). Roger

Jeff nailed it! Roger

The colors available depend on the model & length. I like the Roboworm 7" Straight Tail in Midnight Roger

I have no brand loyalty at all > Gambler > Deps > Strike King > Lucky Craft > Rapala > Berkley > Zoom > Dirty Jigs > Jackall > Live Target > Roboworm > Yamamoto > Outkast > Spro ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Roger

There's a wide variety of hooks available for Texas-rigging soft-plastics. I personally find the Z-shank keepers the most convenient for T-rigging, and since we're dealing with Florida-strain bass, I prefer heavy wire hooks to standard wire. Gamakatsu EWG Superline (sku: 74) The size of the hook should hinge on the bulk of the T-rigged plastic, which will normally range between 3/0 & 5/0 Roger

During the 1980s, it was a tight race between Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas & Gander Mountain, but that's been changed by the Internet. Gander Mountain was the last tackle store to get online, a foolish move that cost them tremendous market share. Cabelas never expanded their inventory to include anglers below the Mason-Dixon line. Ever since I moved to the south in 1992, it’s a VERY rare day that I need anything from Cabelas. In the south, it was a footrace between Tackle Warehouse and Bass Pro Shops, but in my opinion, Tackle Warehouse took BPS under the bleachers. Roger

When Bill Dance was asked, "Which is more important: Structure or Cover?", Bill said 'Structure', and for good reason. For every holding site I generally end up with 2 or more waypoints. Only ONE waypoint however will be founded on bottom contour (structure), a fixed location I refer to as a 'static waypoint' for my own edification. In sharp contrast, plant coverage, weedline configurations and plant specie junctions are in constant transition. For instance, the weed pocket or plant merger that was a waypoint last year, may be a little different, extremely different or completely absent this year (Mother Nature doing her job). Changeable waypoints based on weed fingers, weed alleys and plant mergers, I refer to as 'dynamic waypoints'. Although the structural nucleus will remain essentially fixed, the dynamic waypoints tend to waltz around the static waypoints. Here's the nice thing about differentiating between the two (between static & dynamic). If the DNR (fish & game commission) kills the vegetation down to the ground, or if the lake undergoes a severe and prolonged drawdown, you are still in business. All your static waypoints (structure numbers) will serve as jump-off points for establishing your new dynamic waypoints (cover numbers). Roger

The mother of a 17-year old girl was growing increasingly concerned that her daughter might have a baby out of wedlock. Her mother took it upon herself to purchase a box of condoms. Then one evening while her daughter was primping for a date, her mother handed her daughter the box of condoms. Her daughter laughed out loud and said: "Mom, don't worry so much...I'm going steady with Kimberly". Roger

You're very fortunate in seeing a cougar. I lived several years on the ridge-line that male cougars travel in search of a mate, but never seen a live cougar (only a roadkill). In fact, the only cougar crossing signs in central Florida are posted right outside Walden Shores on FL-60 (I'm sure you've seen them many times). Roger

I'm assuming that you’re asking about the 'worst fishing conditions' and not the most hazardous fishing conditions. Among the worst fishing conditions that come to mind is cold muddy water, particularly when the air temperature is lower than the water temperature. In this situation you’re dealing with a double-whammy: you're dealing with bass burdened by a narrow sight window coupled by bass with slow reaction times. Furthermore, when air temps are lower than water temps, there's little hope for an uptrend in temperature or bass disposition. Roger

Lou, I wasn't aware of the aerial confrontation between bald eagle's. When those big raptors first appeared in my side vision, my first thought was a private plane in a death spiral (absolutely incredible sight) Yes, the Big-K is a broad sprawling fish factory and fortunately hundreds of acres are virtually inaccessible. In spite of relentless tournament pressure, the good old days is now Roger