RoLo

Lately we've been averaging about twice a week. Good point. I've gotten around the "selfish" obstacle by getting the little lady involved in fishing 8-) As for the Bait Monkey, a fishing wife is the best bandage for the conscience, but it doubles the expense > Since the day we were married (1964), every one of our vacations has been a fishing vacation, without exception. It's all Lois ever wants to do...well, almost all ;D Roger

I'm not surprised by the presence of largemouth bass on the western hump, because the contour lines in the area tend to be somewhat less compressed. The greater the compression (convergence) between the 5 & 25-foot contour lines, the harder the bottom and the steeper the slope. I think you might be pleasantly surprised by the northern point, we'll call it "Polaris" Roger

I believe that the popularity of fluorocarbon line has been bolstered in large part by Kevin VanDam. Like everyone else, I pay very close attention to everything that KVD says, because the man is uniquely talented. However, KVD is a businessman first, and two of his largest sponsors are XPS fluoro and KVD Line Conditioner (for fluoro). Separating objectivity from subjectivity means walking the tightrope between solid information and profit motive (have a lollypop). Though most of us weren't aware of it, we came very close to breaking away from both fluoro mono & polyethylene braid. Japan concocted a revolutionary new line material called "Zylon" that is exponentially stronger than fluorocarbon, and even stronger than polyethylene braid (Dyneema). Unfortunately, it was subsequently learned that Zylon is rapidly degraded by ultraviolet rays in sunlight. In any event, Zylon is used today in the best bulletproof vests, replacing kevlar, because the outer jacket prevents UV deterioration. Of interest to anglers, line manufacturers are presently working on ways to hybridize Zylon with polypropylene for use in fishing lines. Keep your fingers crossed, because this will be the biggest fishing line breakthrough since 1939 when "nylon" was introduced. Nylon is still the most utilized line material, being used in nylon mono, copolymer mono & copolymer cofilament. By the way, DuPont was not the sole inventor of nylon, which was a joint effort between the United States and Britian. The "NY" in nylon stands for New York, and the "LON" stands for London. Roger

Thank you for your kind words :-[

My sentiments precisely, to which I might add, especially bass over 6 pounds My "Dust Collectors" change every year, but among this year's neglected lures: > Plastic Lizards > Spinnerbaits > Senkos > Tube Lures (except for smallmouth bass) Roger

;D I study all that stuff too, and it's been taken directly from my own writings.

Actually I didn't forget about the little Guadulpe bass, because they are not classified as a "major" species of black bass As I noted above, there are 4 "major" species of black bass: largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass & shoal bass. In addition, there are also 3 "minor" species: Suwannee bass, Redeye bass and Guadalupe bass (a total of 7 black bass). Due to their tiny size and highly restricted range, the three minor basses are unpopular and not classified as game fish. The world record weight of the all three minor basses is under 4 pounds. For comparison sake, the world-record bluegill sunfish weighed 4 lbs, 12 ozs. As an aside, "Chipola bass" and "Flint River bass" are local monikers designating the river source of Shoal bass, one of the four major bass. Until fairly recently, shoal bass were also referred to as "redeye bass", but have since been confirmed as two separate species. Roger

In years gone by, Eagle Claw and Mustad pretty much cornered the fishhook market. Today however, premium hook-makers like Gamakatsu, Owner and Daiichi all produce hooks that are superior to Eagle Claw. The hook is the last thing on the end of your line, and the last place you'd want to scrimp. Roger

"Unweighted" is the only way I'll fish the zoom fluke Rig the fluke on a 4/0 Gamakatsu Superline hook, and if you're in heavy cover be sure to bury the hook-point in plastic. An unweighted fluke can be fished numerous ways, but I prefer to keep the fluke between the surface and two feet deep. This is done by waiting about 3 seconds after splashdown, then imparting a short double-twitch. A single twitch is okay, but a double-twitch exhibits a side-to-side darting action like a live fish. Simply repeat the double-twitch and 3-second pause to keep the fluke in the subsurface strike zone. Roger

I'd adhere to the two main points along the the eastern shore, which straddle the lake's basin (kind of a no-brainer). The crowded contour lines virtually guarantee a hard bottom (minimal erosion). Roger

When living in Georgia I experienced firsthand the prolific nature of spotted bass. When targeting spotted bass, I'd fish Lake Lanier, but when I targeted largemouth bass we often fished West Point Lake. Nevertheless, West Point reached the point where nearly all the bass we caught near the main river channel were spotted bass > Roger

I've pretty much gone full circle, and now my goal is to limit my lure arsenal to the "Necessary-Nine", "Top-Ten" or perhaps the "Dandy-Dozen" ;D Roger

Way to go, Catt Roger

I agree with the consensus that suspended bass are typically but not always passive fish, and probably not worth your time. (If bass depth and bottom depth are the same, technically they're not suspended) IMO, a healthy mindset is to call that electronic tool a "depth sounder" instead of "fish finder", because a 'high' percentage of good structure holds bass but only a 'low' percentage of suspended bass are biters Roger

Now that's my idea of a REAL fishing trip! A man after my own heart Roger

Exactly Ryan

There are four major species of freshwater black bass: Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass & Shoal Bass. None of the four black basses are "black", and none are true "bass", but all are members of the sunfish family. Needless to say, the Where, When & How is going to vary for each of the four black bass (shoal bass are the strongest fighters). Roger

Although I know the importance of those three words, I always appreciate the reminder. Thanx Avid Roger

I live just 20 mins from Lake Kissimmee, and can tell you that the Big-K is the model ecosystem where big bass abound, but it is not an easy lake to fish. During the fall, I tend to focus on boat trails just outside the main river channel (on the south end), "Jack's Slough" on the eastern shore and the "Brahma Narrows" (the pass between Brahma Is and the mainland). Roger

Spend one day in heavy cover with ultra-light tackle and you'll immediately appreciate that equation. Roger

Even in gin clear, I tie all my lures direct to braided line. Under certain lighting conditions the glare of "fat" fluorocarbon is no less imposing than "fine" braid. Among the myriad of variables that alter our fishing success, the presence or absence of a leader is small potatoes. If the sight of braided line can spook a bass, imagine how bass must feel about the sinker, fiber weedguard, rattlebox & hook! The more visible the line, the easier for bass to home-in on the lure Roger

Matt, point well-made. Even to a casual observer, it's clear that you take great pride in your work. In my view, Mattlures are the most realistic swimbaits on the market. Roger

Strike King's highest floating minnow is the "Zulu" made of 3x plastic, AKA: Cyberflexxx & ElazTech. To each his own of course, but I never fish the Zulu like a fluke. Instead, I rig the Zulu on a short-shank hook and fish it "unweighted" like a floating rapala. It can be hooked in the usual manner or sideways through the flanks (bury the hook-point). The Zulu makes a terrific weedless twitchbait, and can be tossed into the salad where the rapala dare not go. Roger

Ah, Roger. I knew you were a sharp guy. You just diagnosed my illness from 2000 miles away. ;D ;D Now, about the long-term prognosis; is there any hope for a cure? Ghoti, I'm afraid the long-term prognosis is not too encouraging. Mainly because most victims of this affliction do not want to be cured ;D Speaking only for myself, it seems that my best success is with lures that resemble nothing in particular. When you think about it, the more closely a lure resembles a preexisting creature, the greater the danger of it appearing unnatural (especially at close range and at slow speeds). On the other hand, lures that resemble nothing in particular cannot be identified as counterfeit, as they simply exploit the predator's opportunistic nature. Good examples of stuff we normally don't see in the lake are slug-goes, gitzits and senkos. Bill Dance was once asked what a spinnerbait is supposed to be, and Bill replied, "I dunno...maybe a Toy Airboat?" ;D ;D Roger

A lot of ground was covered in that post, the least of which was T-rigging, Texposing & Texskinning. By all means, feel free to Texpose your soft-plastics with braided line, but the point made is that it's totally unnecessary. "Texposing" is intended for Boing-Boing lines such as nylon, fluorocarbon and combinations thereof, better known as copolymer. Braided polyethylene is in a class of its own. Roger