RoLo

When you live in Lake Wales, Florida, you're surrounded by bass waters: Lake Pierce: 8/10 Mile (1½ minutes) Lake Marion: 4 Miles (6 minutes) Lake Hatchineha: 7½ Miles (10 minutes) Lake Walk-In-Water 18½ Miles (22 minutes) Lake Kissimmee 19 Miles (23 minutes) Crooked Lake 21 Miles (26 minutes) Lake Toho 24 Miles (31 minutes) I don't fish Toho that much...it's just so darn far away : Roger

"KISS" That closing is a little too chummy for me ;D Roger

Short Answer> Wind direction has no universal effect on fishing conditions. The key word though is universal, because wind direction does have an effect on angling, but two adjacent micro-environments can be affected in opposite ways. That is to say, wind direction is responsible for many conditions such as windward, leeward, with the tide, against the tide, and so on. All that said, wind direction shares no common thread among all locations. What "Wind Direction" Does Tells Us Although wind direction has no universal affect on fishing conditions, it does provide us with an interesting news bite. The current wind direction divulges the direction of the nearest High and Low cells with fair accuracy. Errors will naturally be encountered if a front stalls (occluded front) or if it's squeezed to the north or south. High cells and Low cells tend to alternate in occurrence, one behind the other. In the northern zone of Prevailing Westerlies (30N to 60N), high cells rotate clockwise, low cells rotate counterclockwise, and both Highs & Lows move west to east across the country. Due to the interaction of the earth's rotation (coriolis effect) and surface friction, the wind direction at ground level is about 45 degrees left (CCW) of the wind direction aloft. Based on all that's mentioned above, here's how you can determine the direction to the core of the nearest High and Low cells. Assume a stance that positions your back square to the wind direction, so the wind strikes your back perpendicularly. Now rotate your stance 45 degrees clockwise, then lift both arms so they form one line with your shoulders. Your right hand is now pointed toward the eye of the High, and your left hand is pointing toward the eye of the Low. Roger

Paul, thanks for a highly informative report and excellent photos! We rarely get to see pix from Colorado. That's a fertile looking drop back and those bass are plump...what are you feeding them? By the way, your Fish Cat is the Cat's Meow, everything an angler needs within easy reach 8-) Roger

Welcome Aboard 8-) Roger

Though you're asking for a "topo" map, that may not necessarily be what you're looking for. Every square foot of the United States has been charted on quadrangulars comprised of several topographical maps. However, not all topo maps display water depths, but may only display topographical elevations, especially where manmade reservoirs are involved. In that case, you'd have to calculate the water depths by subtracting the contour elevation from the shoreline elevation. However, a "hydrographic" map (hydro map) will always display the depth-lines of the lake, even recent manmade reservoirs. To my knowledge, Garmin does not offer bathymetry for Lay Lake, Alabama. On the other hand, hydro map hardcopies for any major lake are generally available from chart makers like Kingfisher, CartoCraft, etc. Roger

It's estimated that bass miss about one out of every three topwater targets they seize (with no angler in the equation). That being the case, if you get a hookup on two out of three topwater strikes, you're batting "1000". To maximize hookups, use "braided line" and at least a "4/0 hook" With the Stanley Ribbit Floater, I use the Horny Toad Hook which is 5/0. Lastly, waste a little time before setting the hook. This is the most important point, but is also the most difficult to do. I've been doing this for 50 years and still have a strong tendency to react to primal instinct. Although most anglers recommend waiting until you feel the weight of the fish, I've never found that to be necessary. Instead, I give the bass a slack line for about one full-second (that's a long time), then cross-his-eyes. When retrieving frogs and toads I hold the rod around the 1 o'clock position (gradually lowered as lure approaches boat). During a blowup, my first move is to the lower the rod-tip to the water, which takes all pressure off the lure and also kills the clock. Roger

e.g. "Ande Tournament" Roger

In New Jersey during the 1970s, I did a lot of so-called standup fishing. Very short rods called strokers were used to beat yellowfin tuna and large sharks without a fighting chair. Fish weighing several hundred pounds were routinely whooped toe-to-toe using rods about 5½ ft long. Contrary to what some believe, the shorter the rod the greater the power on the fisherman's end (like low gear in a car). With each upward pump of the rod, the fish is horsed closer and closer toward the boat, but the "reel" is needed merely for taking up slack line. Roger

It "seems" as though Fireline casts farther than PowerPro, but that may be illusory (what I want to believe). Although Fireline braid is a tad stiffer than PowerPro (more strands), it's not as stiff as Sufix which I also tried. Roger

True, but if that cat hopes to take down the deer, he'll have to get even closer than that ;D In New Jersey, the bow-&-arrow season for deer is in October. During that time of year, buck deer are in the rut and are very single-minded and clumsy. During the rutting season, I've had bucks pass my stand that I could almost touch. If the cat in that picture is downwind of the deer, it would instinctively be aware of its advantage, and close the gap as much as possible before the pounce. It's not entirely unthinkable that this image is real, because cats can slink with deceptive speed. If indeed it is a hoax, someone did a "seamless" job of splicing Roger

I've had a love affair with PowerPro braid that lasted a couple of years. Then I purchased a bulk spool of 30-lb test that experienced unfounded breakage. This past spring, my wife and I were both breaking-off all our largest bass on that same line. Subsequently, I found on the net where PowerPro themselves admitted to having quality control issues. PowerPro is replacing those bad spools free of charge, but after embarrassing themselves and me in the process, they couldn't pay me to use their line again. My new crush is Berkley Fireline Tracer braid...go for it 8-) Roger

It's my belief that regardless of manufacturer claims, the more strands incorporated into the braid, the rounder the line (hence radial). As previously mentioned, rounder line is less prone to burrowing, offers maximal casting distance (less friction) and better handling overall. Flechero, I think you're on the right track with Berkley Fireline braid (not fused). I recently switched from PowerPro braid to Fireline braid and the latter is just slightly stiffer (due to increased strands), but seems to become limper with use. I would suggest Fireline "Tracer" braid, which is the same radial line with alternating bands of Hi-vis and Lo-vis line (every 30 inches). Roger

Most of the lakes in central Florida are quite shallow, so I'm in no particular hurry for the fluke to sink. I fish the fluke without a weight, where the weight of the hook serves as the sinker (unweighted but not weightless). On most T-rigged plastics I use an Owner Round-bend hook but with the fluke, the weight of the hook is most important. The Gamakatsu 4/0 Superline hook weighs 21 grains, and offers the sink rate and darting action I prefer with a 5" super fluke. All colors and patterns seem to work equally well, so "bubblegum" is all I use, which is highly visible to the angler. Roger

Buzzbait backup? I carry a 12-ga shotgun loaded with a rifled slug Roger

The word "structure has been convoluted over time, so it was intentionally omitted herein. I own a GPS unit and depth sounder, so I see little need for locator lures. In the real world, I'd have to spend most or all of the first day visually inspecting the terrain and sounding the trial sites I selected on the home computer using the GPS contour map. Taking it afield, I'd now have two major onsite tasks before me: 1) Confirm the quality of each drop-off selected at home, regarding the steepness of the slope and its magnitude (depth range between crest and base). That means that each trial site will generate two waypoints. Although humans have many names for bottom contour, to a bass it's just a Rapid Change in Depth. That is, spots that we may dub a ridge, sunken island, lump, hump, channel, bank, bar, reef, hole, ditch, ad nauseam. 2) Evaluate the quality of the cover, which is something that cannot be performed at home, but must be performed onsite. The weeds, wood and rocks need to be evaluated, both submergent and emergent. At the same time, breaklines of any kind will be sought (soft and hard) using both the naked eye and depth sounder. What may seem like a lot of work to another fisherman, happens to be my favorite facet of fishing. Assuming I were ready to fish, I'd probably begin in the shallows where the best cover was found. Bass are passive most of the time, so working the shallows would encounter aggressive bass (strike while the iron is hot). With winds between 5 and 10 mph (mild ripple) I'd probably start on top with something like a Stanley Ribbit floater. In this light breeze, I would not position the boat upwind, but place it within casting distance for both boatmates, then use the electric motor thereafter. Unless I encountered a topwater bite, I wouldn't spend more than 10 to 20 minutes on the surface. While working the top, I'd be anxious to move to a subsurface lure. Though it may only be inches below the surface, my confidence level tends to rise the closer my lure is to the bottom. More time would be spent in midwater than that spent on top, but the vast majority of time (all the rest) would be spent combing the bottom with soft plastics, especially the mighty "Plastic Worm". Needless to say, the whole time attempting to stay within the spot on the spot. If there's a mild breeze running parallel to the breakline, that might allow me to drift fish. More often the case, it'll be necessary to anchor-up to hold the boat position over pinpointed features, particularly as the wind picks up later in the day. Roger

To my best recollection, my first bass was caught around 1949 on a surface lure with fore-and-aft spinners. My best guess would be a "Creek Chub Injured Minnow". During that era, both wooden and plastic lures were available. Mine was clearly plastic, and a sloppy cast into the boat's oar caused it to split cleanly in halves > Roger

I'm far from a fluoro-fan, but "Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon" gets the nod. Roger

Super Catch! Based not on formulas but founded on all that I've experienced, combined with the mean statistics from several sources. The mean weight of a 24.5" bass of average girth is 8-1/2 lbs. If she were sloppy fat, she'd weigh more, but your bass has a nice physique. I'll take an 8-1/2 pounder any day of the year Roger

The zoom finesse worm is nothing more than a short zoom trick worm. Since it is used for finesse fishing, it's generally fished with a 1/16 or 1/8oz weight. It may be T-rigged with a separate hook and sinker, or may be rigged on a T-rig jig with equal effectiveness. (Ever try the strike king 3x finesse worm? It's far more buoyant and the tail stands provocatively upright). Roger

Mike, you're the Roadtrip Coordinator which commands my respect and I salute your initiative. On the other hand, I respectfully suggest that you use that same initiative to encourage members to attend the roadtrip instead of painting a picture of submission. The name of this renowned website is Bass Resource, which respectfully includes largemouth, smallmouth, spotted and shoal bass. Do yourselves a great big favor and direct your attention to the unique smallmouth bass potential provided by Pickwick Lake. Does anyone here have any idea of the world-class potential of Pickwick Lake? With the exception of Roadwarrior, the answer is apparently, No. If I were attending this roadtrip, every bigmouth bass that I caught would be purely by accident (bycatch), as all my time would be devoted to bronzebacks. Granted, Lake Erie and the Columbia River may produce more trophy-class bronzebacks, but debatably the two best waters for world-class smallmouth bass are Dale Hollow Res, TN and Pickwick Lake, AL. For all our members who never tied into a smallmouth bass, this trip provides a golden opportunity you'll never forget. The enormous pair of smallmouth bass displayed in Roadwarrior's avatar were taken from the same water that spills over the Pickwick Dam. For those of you unfamiliar with smallmouth bass, Roadwarrior summed it pretty well in the following quip (I wonder if Kent remembers posting this): . Roger

Soft Jerkbait: Zoom Super Fluke (lunker city slug-go) Hard Jerkbait: Lucky Craft Pointer (smithwick rattlin' rogue) Roger

I use a W-rigged stick worm far more than a T-rigged stick worm. Problem is, my favorite wacky worm has been a very rocky ride! Beginning with my first stick worm, and ending with the one I use today: Yamamoto Senko (fell apart after every bass) Yum Dinger (Held up better, but my wife was outfishing me with a Tiki Stick) Wave Worm Tiki Stick Gambler Ace (Still like them, but the two largest vendors stopped carrying them) Strike King Ocho (Believe I found a keeper...thanx to KVD) Roger

In a river that's only a yard or so deep, dropbaits like the senko offer very little area coverage and have little vertical space to do their thing. In a shallow stream, I would favor horizontal deliveries using lures that negotiate current. Experiment to find out which jig weight allows the lure to tumble naturally in the current, along the bottom, then attach a soft-plastic trailer such as a four-inch plastic grub. Needless to say, there won't be much activity until you find a bass holding site. If that doesn't work, it's off to the Potomac River ;D Roger

Nice northern chunks! Dirk, I know how you must feel. My wife fishes with me about 90% of the time, but most of my best fish were taken in her absence, in that 10% slot Roger