RoLo

If you have a Navionics compatible GPS unit, the map card for your local area will provide the best contour maps available. The cartography is computer interactive and offers free upgrades To my knowledge, the Navionics online freebie is just an empty shell without coordinates. How would you establish waypoints without coordinates? Roger

The best thing about 'every' winter in Florida, it constitutes the 'Pre-Spawn' season that ushers in the Hippos Roger

About 3 years back, our best big bass lure was the 6" Berkley Hollow-Belly Swimbait. The 6" size was perfect for Florida but has since been discontinued. Nevertheless, I'm sure the 5" hollow-belly is a more appropriate size for northern-strain bass. Lois & I don't count fish, but I do record every bass over 7 pounds. That year, the Hollow-Belly accounted for several bass between 5 & 7 lbs, one over 8 lb and one weighing 9-10. At that time (about 3 years ago) I submitted a post on 'flank rigging'. The Hollow-Belly is screwed onto an Owner Sled Head (1/4 oz w/ 4/0 hook), and the hook is rigged edgewise in the paddletail minnow, instead of through the depth of the fuselage. This provides a little different action but more importantly it provides more hook gap for setting the hook (the hook is not Texposed but completely buried in plastic) Though the best delivery for northern-strain bass may be different, the best delivery in Florida (the only delivery I use) is a Slow and Steady retrieve. Crank the lure just fast enough to produce a perceptible throb and maintain that speed. It's a big fish delivery that relies on a feeding hit rather than an impulse strike. If you're looking for fast and furious action, it's probably best to remove the swimbait ;-) With a 1/4 oz head the Hollow-Belly runs a few inches beneath the surface like a spinnerbait. Some bass wallop the swimbait so hard, the water surface looks like a broken pane of glass. Though I'm still very fond of the Berkley Hollow-Belly, I've since replaced it with the Gambler 5" Big EZ using the same delivery. Cast placement is just as important as the retrieve, and in natural lakes it's best to keep the swimbait working in the salad, targeting pockets & alleys in the weedline. Roger

Your luck is exceeded by your honesty Roger

Thank you sir. But which one, I suffer from PCSD or Photo Compulsive-Switching Disorder Roger

IN THEORY, a search bait or locator bait is a far-casting, fast-moving lure used to locate bass (the buzzword is 'coverage') IN THEORY, after bass are located, a 'finesse' lure is used to mop-up the school (sounds pretty easy right?) As often as not, the so-called search bait will be the only lure to induce a strike, where switching to a finesse lure would sound the death knell. As often as not, we locate bass using finesse lures, not locator lures. As for mopping up the school, I haven't done that since I sold my saltwater rig Roger

A syndrome known as LMO or 'Lure Marketing Overexposure'. Actually, I doubt that the percentage is anywhere near 50% Roger

"What's your definition of a 'Fun fish'?" A fish with a good sense of humor

Baitfish appear as wispy clouds, panfish are often stacked like Pringles, while game fish are usually more laterally distributed. In any case, nothing is carved in stone, for instance, bass in reservoirs often form towering schools during the winter. I've spent lots of time peering into electronics over both freshwater and saltwater, but still cannot identify fish species based on markings alone. I've been in the boats of friends who spent their day chasing fish markings hither & yon, which can become an obsession with a low return. My best advice is to use your scanner/sonar to analyze contour & cover, and you'll likely encounter game fish that never marked on your depth sounder, more especially in shallow water. Roger

Ditto Florida

I respectfully disagree. Humans have the luxury of selecting their next meal, but a bass's next meal depends on opportunity, not choice. If you disembowel every bass you catch and examine its stomach contents, you would learn a great deal about forage 'Availability', but learn little or nothing about forage 'Preference'. Given a choice, bass would rather swallow a soft-finned fish than swallow a spiny-rayed fish. In spite of their preference for soft-finned shad & shiners, bass are opportunist predators that eagerly seize bluegills whenever they dominate the forage base. Preference and availability are also confused with smallmouth bass. Although the smallies in your livewell may be are coughing up round gobies, it would be foolhardy to think that smallies prefer round gobies over emerald shiners. In collaboration with the DNR, the In-Fisherman staff examined the stomach contents of northern pike. In the final analysis, 'yellow perch' comprised the highest percentage, followed by suckers, chubs & lastly by shiners. Ironically, an angling study on the same waterbody found that the success rate with live bait was in an order that was virtually opposite to stomach contents. Shiners were clearly the most successful live bait, while yellow perch brought up the rear. "What Are The Bass Eating?" I don't know their scientific names, but I can describe a few: § Those loud elongated creatures that buzz nonstop across the water surface (they're in every lake) § Those multi-legged chartreuse things that look a lot like zoom brush hogs § Bass are also wild about those flashy yellow & white creatures that look like spinnerbaits (our lakes are filthy with them) Roger

PAIR OF 25-lb STRIPED BASS I'm not sure they're my favorite pair, but they were a special pair because I boated them on Father's Day Roger

Luck can save the day but it lacks the repeatibility of skill. Let's say an angler is fishing for a trophy pickerel, but winds up catching a trophy bass. Whether he's thrilled or disappointed depends on his luck/skill orientation Roger

Precisely

The tables have turned...This time Little Suzie can't wake up Phil Roger

The bass in my avatar fell for a Gambler Big EZ (Addendum: my avatar keeps changing ) Tackle Warehouse http://www.***.com/Gambler_Big_EZ_/descpage-BIGEZ.html

There's some measure of Skill and Luck in every outing, but the serious angler strives to factor-out as much Luck as possible. Roger

My wife, as it happens, also grew up in Hillside, NJ. Out of curiosity, I had Lois partake in this little quiz (btw: Lois is the "Lo" in RoLo). You guessed it, the test pegged Lois to Jersey City, NJ - Newark, NJ - Yonkers, NY (PERFECT). Thanx Slonezp, I never realized the uncanny precision of dialect. Roger

A few years back, I remember 'Crestliner' informing me that smallmouth bass were more aggressive than I suspected, and the accomplishments of Dwight Hottle on Lake Erie echo that same notion. Back in the 60s, Billy Westmoreland and Charlie Brewer touted finesse deliveries using 4-lb line and 1/16 oz lures. Very recently however, I read an article stating that smallmouth bass sieze baits as big as largemouth bass of equal weight. That flies in the face of Mother Nature's master plan, who gave bronzebacks an oral cavity 2/3 the size of mossbacks. Be that as it may, I now buy into the notion that the difference in bait size between smallmouth & largemouth bass is much closer than I once suspected. Roger

Limiting a fisherman to 1 or 2 techniques gives me great pause. Fishing doesn't begin & end with Senkos, it begins & ends with 'Location'. On balance, presentation is far more subject to change than location. Fish the wrong technique in the right places, and you'll have bass in the well. Fish the right technique in the wrong places, and you'll be an unhappy camper. Roger

Sheer numbers => 'Jig & Curly-Tail Grub' (it began with Mister Twister grubs at Bass Islands, Lake Erie) Another favorite=> 'Lindy Fuzz-E-Grub' (when nothing else is working, tip it with a live worm segment) A gentleman in Pennsylvania lands bronze cows using 'Jerkbaits' Roger

Welcome aboard, Dave When I joined in 2005, I was so immersed in debate & forum I never even noticed the Introductions board Roger

I was born & raised in Hillside, NJ The quiz specified Jersey City, NJ & Newark, NJ, which blows my mind! > Jersey City, NJ 6.5 mi from Hillside > Newark, NJ 3.0 mi from Hillside MAN, that's sticking a landing!! Roger

The townspeople were reportedly shocked and unhappy. Well, I can understand their being 'unhappy', but being without ELECTRIC, how could they be shocked?

We didn't watch the 'Fresh Prince' all that much, but I enjoyed James Avery more than Will Smith, James was excellent. Roger