RoLo

Welcome aboard Talonman WOW WEE, you are loaded for bear! Best of luck Roger

Precious

No Swivel A swivel is only needed when there is full 360-deg rotation and even a Johnson Spoon wobbles back-and-forth without revolving. Roger

You raise a good point Creekcrappie, because there's a bit of contradiction in this area. In the past we were constantly told that lure action should be faster in warmer water and slower in colder water. With respect to 'forward speed' that is certainly true, but with respect to the lure's 'lateral action', the reverse is probably truer. In other words, it's better to judge the seasonal use of a plug by the WIDTH of its wobble rather than the speed of its wobble. Cool-Water A lipless crank like the Spro Aruku Shad displays fast action but a NARROW stroke. Warm-Water A billed diver like the Bomber Fat-Free Shad displays slow action but a WIDE wobble. Roger

Yes, but in spite of the vast majority of artificial lakes, we don't have to look very hard to find pro anglers skirting the bank. The inset above is clearly an artificial lake, and on that basis I pinpointed my favorite trial site. A steep drop-off into 30 ft of water that bridges the creek channel with a 7 to 10 food-shelf. Whether we call it a Shelf, Ledge, Point or Flat has absolutely no influence on its function as a holding site. In any case, I don't want to mislead readers into believing that this single example can be used for chart analysis on both natural lakes and artificial lakes. It's this faulty notion that has stigmatized 'bank-beating'. Bass need not know or care where the shoreline might be, it may be close to their lair or it may be far away. To help appreciate the vast difference between natural lakes & artificial lakes, my favorite trophy water is a natural lake with a basin depth of 9 ft. If you fish deeper than 6 ft on this lake, you're entry fee becomes charity. (BTW: In addition to golden shiners, Florida supports statewide, year-round populations of threadfin shad & gizzard shad) Roger

WRB, the statement in blue applies chiefly to bass taken out of their natural environs and forced to adapt to non-indigenous conditions. If we returned a California Florida-strain bass back to its roots in Florida, it's a solid bet that it'll gravitate back to lush vegetation in shallow water. Professional anglers beat the banks simply because bass beat the banks. every chance they get. Bass cut a living wherever the necessities of life are most easily accessible. A high-percentage of bass live and die without ever seeing a shoreline, because depth and cover are the controlling elements, not distance from shore. If ideal conditions are provided 2 miles offshore, bass will be found 2 miles offshore. If ideal conditions are satisifed 2 yards off the shoreline, bass will be found 2 yards off the shoreline. An angler should only pay attention to food-shelves, drop-offs and cover, while totally ignoring his boat's distance from shore, which is inconsequential. Roger

Todd, you came out of the gate like a whirlwind and I truly admired your enthusiasm. Whether you know it or not, you named 2 out of the initial 3 prerequisites (Species & Waterbody). Now I'm equally surprised that you feel that the Locational factor has been resolved and you're ready to embark on Presentation. Frankly, only the surface of bottom-contour analysis has been scratched, and it's far more important than lure delivery. Roger

Adopting any angling premise as etched-in-stone is setting yourself up for disappointment. With regard to 'bottom contour analysis', the first and foremost question to address: "Are we referring to a Natural Lake or Manmade Impoundment (reservoir)". We don't know whether the Chicken or the Egg came first, but we do know that Natural Lakes came before Artificial Lakes. In their native environment, a bass's biological characteristics are virtually carved in stone. From Canada to Florida, largemouth bass residing in natural lakes invariably occupy the 'shallowest' niche of any freshwater species, even shallower than adult chain pickerel. In lakes containing all the major freshwater gamefish, the depth range order will generally be the following (deepest to shallowest): => Walleyes => Adult Pike => Smallmouth Bass => Muskellunge => Immature Pike => Chain Pickerel => Largemouth Bass. As a result, Chart Analysis for largemouth bass in their native environment should always begin with Shoreline Configuration. The search for estuarine embayments and wind-sheltered reproductive bedding flats lie at the backbone of population dynamics. (Doug Hannon's "Northwest Phenomenon" is merely a subset of shoreline configuration). Roger

That makes it even more coincidental. This past Sunday I was feeding a moorhen some bits of bread from my sandwich. They resemble coots but have an orange frontal plate and frequently swim within a rod-length of the boat. Five minutes later we spooked that big gator I alluded to, which sounded like a table dropped from a low-flying plane. I said to my wife, I'll bet that gator has a bellyfull of moorhens Roger

To me at least, the hotspot on that inset is as obvious as a Bait Car. Look at the north end of the chart where the 21 & 27 ft spot-soundings are displayed. WHAT ABOUT IT? 1) It's adjacent to the 'Creek Channel' Given a choice, I'd prefer the river channel, but would happily settle for a creek channel which are often dynamite 2) It displays tight 'Compression' Compressed contour lines indicate a 'drop-off' (rapid depth change). The contour-line convergence is so tight here that it nearly forms a solid block (i.e. bluff). 3) It abuts a broad 7-10 ft 'Shelf' That 7-10 ft shelf plays more into population density than the drop-off into deep water. It's the foodshelf, spawning ground and nursery for both prey & predator alike. Any holding site with all these attributes is a rare find: (1) Adjacent to 'creek channel' (2) Steepest 'drop-off' in area (3) Adjacent to broad 'food-shelf' Side-Note The circular contour line on the outcropping to the west is a bit deceiving. Rather than a distinct upwelling, it's a reiteration of the 20 ft contour line to the east. Contour maps are processed electronically, and a wavy bottom that rolls softly upward just 12 inches will scribe a secondary ring of reiterated depth. On a high-definition chart (1-foot increments) a wavy bottom can form several benign rings of reiterated depth. In other words, if we were looking at a chart with "2-ft" increments the 20 ft ring would not appear. Unless the lake is crystal-clear, the chance of submergent vegetation in 20 feet of water is slim to nada. Nevertheless, the offshore 20 ft flat is well positioned, and if it furthermore offered woody cover or rocky cover it'd be a powerful spot during certain seasons. IMO though, the holding site I noted to the north is clearly a 'year-round' holding site. Roger

My dad was easily irritated by noise, and I suppose I'm a chip off the ole block. But I've come to realize that I'm not at all bothered by natural sounds (thunder & crickets) but do have a short fuse for unnecessary noise due to inconsideration (like a loudmouth in a fine restaurant). That said, since 2006 I've been fishing exclusively with braided line, and I have yet to hear a sound Roger

I've tried more brands of braided line than I care to admit..LOL I used PowerPro for a couple years until ending up with a faulty spool. I must say, Shimano was aboveboard and admitted that there was a bad batch in their 30-lb bulk spools and they offered me a free bulk spool (which I declined). Sufix 832 is excellent line but my current favorite is Berkley Trilene Tracer Braid. It has same round cross-section and 8-member construction as Sufix 832. Roger

Don't forget, Lake Wales is north of Frostproof, about an hour by horse & buggy. Oddly enough, we were fishing in Frostproof this Sunday (Reedy Lake). Seen the biggest alligator of my life off the Frostproof Firehouse. (also seen a doozy of an accident on U.S. 27 near the former site of Harley Davidson) Roger

Tom, one day off Sandy Hook, New Jersey I was heading home from about an hour & half offshore. About an hour from port (barely in sight of land) a myrtle warbler landed on my anchor rode, which was coiled in the bow pulpit. I read once that myrtle warblers frequently meander offshore during migration and sometimes die of exhaustion. The little fellow sat within a few feet of my wife and I, all the way back to port. When I finally docked in Atlantic Highlands, he just flitted south along the coast without ever thanking me for saving his life ;-) (he didn't know it, but that little guy made our day) Roger

That's the way to go I fill my spool entirely with Fireline braid which totally eliminates a junction knot (smooth sailing till re-spool). Roger

That's Cool. If it's not a domestic finch, I'm going to guess Myrtle Warbler.

Ah, now that sounds a whole lot better As for solving all the world's problems, that can't be done overnight, but could run into a couple of days Roger

Tom, when I lived in New Jersey, I knew several lobsterman from Shupps Landing in Atlantic Highlands. I've never met a lobsterman I didn't admire & respect, but you may be the first one! (just kidd'n of course) Roger

Kirby, you've gone to a place that's goes far deeper than angling. I wasn't aware that you're dealing with that painful situation. You know my email address my friend, I'm always open to extracirrcular discussion. If you ever see your way clear to Florida, you'll find that it's not the inferno that many mistakenly believe Roger

Yesterday, Lake Wales, Florida briefly hit 80 deg F. Although our springs are very pleasant, I'm in no particular rush. Yeah I know, with friends like me, who needs enemies Roger

Well put. This reminds me of George Costanza's line to Sienfield: "Remember Jerry, if you believe it...it is not a lie" Roger

Sounds like Loxahatchee to me Florida is south of the snowbelt, but Florida-strain bass are commensurately cold-intolerant....Big Sissies you might say. Bass fishing in winter is typically the slowest of the year, but no season is better for a boating a trophy bass. Roger

Predatory fish are all basically alike, they're all opportunists bent on surviving. In saltwater, we trolled umbrella rigs a great deal for bluefish, striped bass & weakfish (weakfish is the northern variety of spotted seatrout). I've tried all combinations of umbrella wire, tube leaders, hooks, surgical tubing & colors. I can't say for certain that I've ever noticed any difference in success between heavy-wire umbrellas & light-wire umbrellas, or between heavy tube leaders & light leaders (except that light leaders are more prone to intermingling) Things that did make a noticeable difference were the method of threading surge tubes onto the hook, adding a barrel-swivel to each umbrella arm and employing the correct style long-shank hook. Above all else, the running depth of the umbrella rig was by far the most critical element of success, certainly not the color or diameter of the leaders. I'm pretty sure I could've gotten away with drop-leaders made of Amusement Park cable, attached to an umbrella rig with spokes as thick as octopus tentacles, but that would've created too much water resistance Roger

I agree. All fishermen aren't athletes, and all athletes aren't fishermen, but the two are often coexistent. I remember when Ted Williams hoisted a tarpon over 100 lbs with one arm, where most of us would use both arms. You don't have to be athletic to go hunting either, but it sure helps. When dad & I hunted pheasants, we slogged through mucky bottomlands for hours. Many of our steps sank half-foot deep, occasionally loosing a boot which had to be yanked out of the mire. With a sustained heart rate over 140 bpm for 2 or 3 hours you're not aerobic, you're anaerobic. I've dragged 200 lb field-dressed deer for several hundred yards, which I would class as fair to middling exercise Roger

I believe anglers place too much emphasis on 'major points'. In the 1st place, major points can be pinpointed in a matter of seconds, so they're going to receive the heaviest fishing pressure. In the 2nd place, a point is no better than the accompanying gradient. In other words, I'd rather fish a ledge that adjoins a sharp slope than fish a point with a slow taper. In the 3rd place, 'inside turns' (pockets) are at least as important as 'outside turns' (points). An indentation in contour lines tends to funnel predators and prey, while the action of a point is division (wedge). Very often, the best spot on a point will be one of the inside corners at the base of the point. As Catt alluded to: 1) What was the shoreline elevation (above sea level) when the topographic map was converted to a hydrographic chart. And what is the 'current' pool level today? 2) Accurate locational assessments are tough to make without seeing the whole enchilada. For example, it's important to know where the river channel is located (assuming it's a manmade impoundment), and where the inlet and outlet (dam) is situated. In addition, bottom contour and holding sites are lake-intensive, where a mild drop-off on one lake might be considered a super grade on another lake (particularly true on natural lakes). Slope values are relative values even within the same lake, so you really need the whole picture to distinguish mediocre holding sites from the best 'year-round' holding sites. Roger