RoLo

Our most productive big-bass lures seem to rotate every year. This year, jigs were soundly trounced by the Kalin Mogambo (6" smoke grub) and the 1/2oz Johnson spoon w/ Fat Albert trailer. Also high in the running was the Berkley Hollow Belly Swimbait (Tennessee shad). Roger

"Marabou" breathes similar to bucktail hair and is a very provocative material. However, marabou struts its stuff during pauses, and is better suited to jigs rather than spinnerbaits. Though I personally prefer "silicone" skirts to all else, there are those who still prefer latex skirts (rubber skirts). Roger

Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon. Roger

The next "largemouth bass" I catch that's more than 40 ft deep, will be my first. There's a critical distinction between "water depth" and "bass depth". Though I've caught bass in water over 40 ft deep, the bass were not on the bottom. Roger

"Green Sunfish" is correct Roger

Dave nailed it. Some things in life I just refuse to do, and pegging a sinker is one of them (actually it's unpegging I loathe). Instead of pegging the sinker, I'll switch to a jig of the same weight. Roger

The sense of smell is very highly developed in deer and dogs, but is highly unsophisticated in humans beings and fish without barbels. What a pheasant may smell like to a Springer Spaniel bears no resemblance to what it smells like to a human being (if anything). By the same token, it might be presumptuous to think that a scented lure smells the same to fish as it does to us. Roger

My favorite pike lure changes with the season. Since your asking in July, I'd recommend working the outer cabbage-line (generally 8 to 18 ft of water). Cast a Johnson Spoon (1-1/8oz x 3¾) with Fat Albert Twin Tail trailer or troll your favorite in-line spinner. Realistically, unless your fishing the northernmost latitudes, gator pike are conspicuously absent in summer. During the summertime, horse pike seek coldwater pockets in 20 to 40 ft of water, unrelated to vegetation. On the other hand, middling size pike are very cooperative in summer. Roger

Same here. Roger

That's very interesting Dwight, particularly catching those lunker pike in 60 ft of water! No fish comes to mind, where the immatures and adults behave like two different species. Although the axehandles are warmwater tolerant, biologists fall just a tad short of classifying adult pike as "coldwater" species; colder than muskies and on par with lake trout. Several years back, the Minnesota DNR seined a horse pike from deep cold water alongside kokanee salmon. The DNR reported that the pike had pink flesh, indicating that kokanee salmon constituted their staple diet. Roger

Worming is my favorite method ("Topwater" is the most exciting, but not nearly as productive). Finesse fishing gives me a feeling of achievement, like I had something to do with the catch. Cranking a handle does not give me the same feeling of achievement, but makes me feel like a pawn. I'm sure my wife is tired of hearing me ask a hooked crankbait bass the same ole question, "What made you do that anyway?" Roger

I never have far to go, so I socket my rods directly into the rod-holder of the boat, which are generally pre-rigged. Been doing this for many years with only one caveat: Do not drive under low-hanging trees Roger

My favorite worm changes with each calendar period, and also changes from year-to-year. Overall, the best producer in 2009 has been a Gambler Big Stick (7" - watermelon candy) Our best action-tail worm has been the Strike King Anaconda (7" - green pumpkin) Roger

+1 See? That's what I told you, Aaron! Rate of fall is one of the triggers of the reaction strike Many anglers think a silent approach when fishing grass is the proper approach; by that I mean they want the lure to fall quietly through the grass and come through the grass cleanly. My approach is to be noisy, that is I want my lure to cause a disturbance by moving grass as it falls and when its coming though the grass. I would've thought that was a foregone conclusion :-? When fishing in the weeds, you'll often see the stalks swaying, right before your lure is struck. If it's alright for bass to move the weeds, I guess it's okay for us too. Any angler familiar with the sound of bass feeding on the surface, knows that it sometimes sounds like a piano dropped from a low-flying plane. Bass are very familiar with this noise, which is attractive to other competitively feeding bass. When fishing a surface lure, the only reason we wait for the ripples to disappear is to give a curious bass time to close-in on the sound of the splashdown. It's estimated that about one-third of all surface attacks are misses, so bass instinctively know that the odds are good that a wounded minnow may be close at hand. As Catt stated, "my approach is to be noisy". You'll probably scare your boat-mate before any bass ;D Roger

The town lawyer was posing for a photo, while hoisting a large catfish. The cameraman commented, "Gosh, the resemblance is uncanny". The lawyer was clearly offended and snapped back, "Do you see barbels on my chin?" The cameraman replied, "Nope...but I do see two bottom-feeders".

Excellent read Tom! The more knowledge I pile on, the more "simplified" angling becomes. If I were forbidden to study my sport, I'd drop it like a hot potato. Research & experimentation is my favorite part of fishing...catching is an anticlimax. Roger

You really like that Anaconda don't you? Me too Mat-punching aside, you might try this with the Anaconda. T-rig the anaconda or thread it onto your favorite jig (really doesn't matter). After it makes bottom contact, crank the reel two or three turns, then allow the worm to glide back to the bottom...repeat~ At no time does the rod move, and if you mend the slack as it glides, you'll remain in contact with the lure (limbo line). Bottom contact is signaled by a sudden droop in the line or the when the line stops approaching the boat. Roger

Bizz, I thoroughly enjoyed your photo gallery. That scenery is awesome and those trout are gorgeous! (give me a minute to dig up my wet Light Cahills and dry Royal Coachmen) Roger

I'm not sure that the statement: "shorter rod = better accuracy" is left to opinion, I believe it's mechanics. The fulcrum of every cast is the tiptop guide. The greater the distance between the tiptop guide and the angler's hand the more magnified his casting error. For instance, a 4-ft rod that's held 1/4" offline, will be 3/4" offline with a 12-ft rod. Quite naturally, we all become proficient with the rods we use day-in and day-out. But all things being equal, and based on physics, the shorter rod is inherently more accurate. Roger

Not to mention the T-rigged wacky worm

The Anaconda is a great lure, but not a good choice for weed-punching. Long worms tend to wrap around stalks. To generate minimal resistance, favor short, streamlined trailers with few or no appendages. My all-time favorite weed-probe is the Gambler 5" Flapp'n Tail Worm, which consists of pretty tough plastic. Also good is the 4" Rage Craw but a plastic craw generates more resistance than a short worm. Use the lightest weight possible, which will normally be between 1/2 and 1-1/2 oz depending on weed density. A 5/0 hook or at least 4/0 should be used. Target the heaviest cover available (shade is valuable on a sunny day), but favor matted vegetation that adjoins an open pocket. To make certain that I'm really on the bottom, I lift-and-drop my rod-tip in a slow, yo-yo fashion. As often as not, the lure will suddenly break through the false bottom and enter a second freefall, and sometimes even a third freefall before truly reaching bottom. Roger

I think you might have a couple things working here. For as long as I can remember, "ribbontail" worms perform their best during the summertime. Apparently the straight-worm takes a breather while bass are at peak metabolic rate. The other thing is "Culprit", no doubt about it. Though I've had many favorite ribbontail worm brands, (currently SK Anaconda), I believe that I've caught more bass on the culprit worm than any other brand (but others are rapidly catching up). Roger

You're right about the Johnson spoon, the hook is big & strong but as dull as a butterknife. I use braided line and have no problem hooking-up with the lure right out of the box. But if you're using anything but braid, by all means "triangulate" the point with a hook file then add a zoom fat albert twin-tail grub Roger

That's why a square house at the north pole, with windows on all walls will never allow for one to see the sun rise or the sun set by looking out those windows. Well, you will get to see a sunrise and sunset, but only once a year, six months apart Roger

In my view, it would be a costly misconception to believe that bass in all lakes live the same lifestyle. Almost without exception, the lifestyle that forces bass to shuttle between lounge and foodshelf is that imposed by a manmade reservoir where bass are forced to adapt. In "natural lakes" the living is easy, where bass are highly residential to say the least. More than one telemetry study has clearly demonstrated the stay-at-home behavior of largemouth bass in natural lakes. Weed-beds are their home in a natural lake, where you may find bass all day long and year-round. To be sure, when bass are inactive they are exponentially more difficult to catch, but they're still there nonetheless. Given adequate dissolved oxygen, bass tend to cling to the best weed beds year-round, regardless of water temperature. Tracking studies on "natural lakes" have additionally shown that even during cold-fronts, bass did not move laterally but burrowed down in the heaviest cover within the same water column. Roger