RoLo

Thanks for all your kind words. In the famous words of Tom Dooley..."Come On Down" Roger

Chara and Nitella are very easily confused, even among "professionals" Muskgrass(chara) Stonewort (nitella) Straight Filaments Y-Forked Filaments Crushed branchlets emit garlic-like odor Usually lacks a distinct odor Feels gritty due to calcium carbonate Usually feels smooth to the touch Roger

Then of course there's "southern naiad" (Najas guadalupensis) http://www.wildflower.org/image_archive/320x240/JAM6151/6151_IMG04027.JPG Roger

If you're collecting it off the bottom, it's probably "Muskgrass" (Chara) or "Stonewort" (Nitella), which are high forms of algae. If it's growing near the surface, it's probably bladderwort, a carnivorous plant. Roger

I don't know what weed that is, but if it produces little yellow flowers, it may be "bladderwort" (which is actually a carnivore). As Paul suggested, it may also be chara (muskgrass). Is it growing on top or on bottom? Roger

Sitting down 8-)

Back in the late 60s, Lake of the Isles was my favorite largemouth grounds, long before BASS held their first tournament there (Larry Nixon). I used to lodge in Rockport, Ontario, and from there I motored 5 minutes to Hill Island at the mouth of Lake-of-the-Isles. Bassin was so remarkable there that I rarely needed to fight with the coontail mats in Lake-of-the-Isles, on Wellesley Island. Back then, I never saw ONE bassboat, but today they're like flies on a carcass. And so it goes :'( Roger

Yes Tony, I use a Twin-Tail Grub for a trailer I like a slow, steady roll that even an old girl with bad eyesight can home in on ;D The spoon runs a couple inches underwater all the way to the boat. The water averages 2-ft deep, so dropping into holes isn't necessary. Every time the spoon breaks the surface, just halt the retrieve to get it back on track. The J-spoon rocks lazily back-and-forth, and since it never revolves it'll never twist your line. Roger

Saturday was a slow day on the water, but the bass were more cooperative Sunday. This silly girl exploded on a Johnson spoon, a forgotten favorite that still works well today. I really like the spoon because it will often get through slop that'll shutdown a spinnerbait. I knew she was delighted to be released, because as she departed she gave my wife and I a free shower (I love when that happens) Roger 60/40 Spatterdock seems about right (60% water/40% canopy

The bottom contour in Smith Mountain Lake is remarkably uniform throughout, but I realize that this is typical for highland reservoirs. The biggest bugbear of course is the 20-ft increments between contour lines. They conceal an awful lot of valuable bottom detail, like trying to pick up needles with gloves on. Fool that I am, I noted a few coordinates that might actually prove to be holding sites during the pre-summer period. For reference sake I fabricated placeholders for the five trial sites: Grimes Mouth: N37 10.030 W79 42.702 Lynville Gut: N37 11.250 W79 45.171 In a highland reservoir like yours Scott, nothing can substitute for hands-on exploration. Though I'm sure you know all the stuff below, it does no harm to rehash a few generalities that might serve as food for thought. Smith Mountain Lake When largemouth bass are given their choice of cover, they typically choose Weeds first, Wood second and Rock last (For smallmouth bass, reverse that order). Bass living in manmade impoundments love weeds just as much as bass living in natural lakes, but are forced to adapt to available cover. If your home lake is anything like most highland reservoirs, it probably undergoes annual fluctuations of 15 ft or more. Weed growth doesn't stand much of a chance in pool level fluctuations of that extent. As a result, I'd have to assume that WOOD is the preferred cover of bass in Smith Mountain Lake, but that's just an assumption. Judging from the latitude of Smith Mountain Lake, the pre-spawn probably takes place around late April/early May but I realize that this can vary according to the hypolimnion budget (depth and temperature of lake's basin). I agree that threadfin shad are the staple diet, followed by crayfish. In highland reservoirs, salamander larvae (waterdogs) are also common fare but since they're known to carry pathogens they've fallen from favor as bait. Post-Spawn Period As everyone knows, cow bass spend most of the post-spawn recouping from the rigors of spawning, and are usually conspicuous by their absence. Fortunately their down-time usually doesn't last much longer than a week or 10 days. In sharp contrast to the cows, male bass during the post-spawn are extremely aggressive, easily caught and highly vulnerable to topwater lures. However, there is another short but distinctive seasonal period that few anglers talk about, and I believe it's the seasonal period that you're dealing with. Pre-Summer Period Where highland, hill-land and canyon impoundments prevail, the late post-spawn is often referred to as the pre-summer period, a term we rarely hear in Florida (predominantly natural eutrophic lakes). The pre-summer period marks a noticeable separation between the post-spawn and summer period. This interim period typically occurs before water temperatures are comfortable enough for bathing. In fact, water temperatures suitable for swimming usually mark the beginning of the bass's summer season. During the pre-summer period (late post-spawn), the females are back to feeding. However, on reservoirs that lack good weed growth their location is in disarray, almost as bad as the post-turnover. Actually, the pre-summer period on highland and hill-land lakes carries a double-whammy: 1) Bass tend to be scattered laterally (back creeks, creek mouths, main lake) 2) Bass tend to be scattered vertically throughout different depth levels because the lake is still unstratified (pre-thermocline). Onsite Keys Apart from bottom contour (structure) that's visible on the contour map, there are three Wild Cards to pre-summer location. The wild cards can only be pinpointed on-the-water during an onsite search, and any one of them can make a huge impact on location: > WOODY COVER Standing timber, stumps, brush, stickups, laydowns ~ ~ > WATER CURRENT Tributary streams - island thoroughfares shoreline bottlenecks > DISCOLORED WATER Dingy water over sedimentary bottoms, mudlines from rainwater or stream flow Hope this might help Scottbest of luck ;-) Roger

I checked my Navionics software, but since I live in Florida, my SD card is "Hotmaps Premium South. This card covers 9 southern states, but nothing as high as Virginia. Garmin on the other hand, does it differently. Instead of using those nasty SD cards, Garmins sells you the CD-ROM, which is far more computer friendly, and doesn't require card shuttle (unit to card reader). In any case, Garmin US Inland Lakes and Garmin US Recreational Lakes both provide a contour map for Smith Mountain Lake. On the downside though, Smith Mountain is very big and very deep, and the featured contour lines lack definition. The depth lines are 15-ft, 35-ft, 55-ft, etc. Unfortunately 20-foot increments conceal a tremendous amount of detail and are not very useful for chart analysis. One-foot increments would be ideal (Hi-Def), and even 5-foot increments would be workable, but 20-foot increments can hide a small mountain : By the way, she's a big water...which lake section are you dealing with? Roger

Thanks Ryan. I just walked in the door (spent a slow day on the water). I've got a few new waypoints I need to interpolate on the Kissimmee chart, but I'd much rather work on Scott's lake. I'll get back to ya'll. Roger

You're sure on top of this lake Scott, I think it's just a matter of time before you crack the case. This one is tough for me because the ecosystems here in Florida are so completely different, but now you've piqued my curiosity. If there's any size to your lake it may be charted on my GPS cartography, I use both Garmin and Navionics: Well, I see that Muddy and I are the only ones still online in this thread. It's after 1AM, I'm going to Kissimmee tomorrow, so I'm outta here Roger

What you described sounds like a pretty tough lake, more like smallmouth water than bigmouth water. Although the bass may be using the same route for both the pre and post spawn, the post-spawn would probably lack the staging delay. If the slump doesn't last more than say a week or 10 days, I'm wondering if it could be the normal recouping period for the cows. I realize this is asking a lot Scott, but is it possible to post a contour map of your lake? Ideally, a map that also included any stumps fields and woody cover. Roger

LOL Honesty is the highest number Roger

Let's see if I got this straight, winching a helpless bass out of his hidey-hole using a Revolving Drum is the Manly Thing to do Got It 8-) ;D Roger

Normally I'll grab whatever spinning rod is available (not pre-rigged with another lure). Given a choice I'll grab my Kistler LTX II, which is a 6' 9" medium-heavy blank. All my reels are spooled with 30-lb PowerPro. Frog misses are typically my fault rather than any fault of the rod (striking too early). Any stigma attached to spinning gear is over-baked, and if I'm not mistaken that's about all Fish Chris uses. My biggest concern isn't hooking up, it's removing the hook without hurting the bass. Roger

That's funny Bobby. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't "Guntersville", home-of-the-rat? Roger

The world record musky; 56" @ 69lbs, my PB musky was 47" @ 37 lbs. and is my longest and heaviest fresh water game fish. This musky was caught on light tackle fishing for smallies; 8 lb mono and 1/8 oz black hair jig. Spent many hours casting big musky lures and end catching this fish with my bass/walleye tackle, Lake of The Woods, Sabaskong bay. WRB The world record muskie was 63 inches and 69 pounds. I guess we are both wrong; 60" @ 67 1/2lbs, Cal Johnson is currently listed. I referenced the Lawton musky, now removed. You apparently referenced the Spray fish, also removed by the IGFA. However you look at it ; 54" musky is 50 + lbs, a trophy fish. Any photo's?? WRB Spray's record musky was stricken from IGFA records when they learned that he dispatched the fish with a handgun (common practice back then). All the same, the National Freshwater Hall of Fame still recognizes Louie Spray's record muskellunge after a protracted dispute. As it happens, the musky taken by Calvin Johnson, a sports writer, is also under suspicion. The whole musky saga is a sordid affair that casts poor dispersions on anglers and angling. I believe I've photos of all the record muskies and will post them one day when the time is right. Roger

So you're saying there IS another way? :-/ Roger

I'm not aware of any helpful website, so I'll try to muddle through it: > Thread 1½ wire through the jig eyelet, then fold the wire tightly around the hook-eye. > Twist the tag-end twice around the standing wire then bend the wire backwards and guide the tag end through the underside of the original loop (at the line-eye). > Grab the tag end in pliers then wrap the standing wire a couple times around the other hand. > Close the knot by pulling the tag end against the standing wire. Exert enough pressure to cause the wire to stretch like monofilament. (Titanium wire stretches like nylon monofilament, so a shock leader is unnecessary) Roger

Thank you Muddy I suppose I had that coming While we're at it, this offers a rough draft of the 70s: Late 70s Top 10 Finishes Roland Martin 16 Rick Clunn 12 Bill Dance 12 Early 70s Top 10 Finishes Roland Martin 30 Bill Dance 18 Ricky Green 13 (It's pretty safe to say that Roland Martin dominated the 1970s) Roger

Their nostalgia is justified, because Lake Jackson was Florida's hottest bass water between 1964 and 1974. During that time period, Lake Jackson yielded an average of 10 bass a month weighing 10 lbs or more (120 per year), and this continued over 10 consecutive years. Mind you, this was during the era of Catch-and-Keep, when anyone seen catching and then releasing a bass would be regarded as not wrapped too tight. Lake Jackson is a sinkhole lake whose levels fluctuate wildly in approximately 25-year cycles. In addition, it is simply past its prime. I suppose it's possible for Jackson to resurge, but it won't happen in my lifetime. Roger

I'm real glad to hear that 8-) In spite of its low profile, Lake Lochloosa has the potential to break the Florida state record Roger

As a rule of thumb, the only time to play with a fish is after it's in the boat. The more time the fish spends in the water, the greater its chance for freedom. Nevertheless, if it's an outstanding fish and I notice that it's only lightly hooked, I won't hesitate to back-off on the drag tension. If you want to encourage any fish to jump, just use the Bill Dance showboat maneuver by holding the rod-tip high above the water. It naturally follows that a low rod-tip position tends to discourage a leap, but that's just a "tendency". I'm not aware of any surefire method for preventing a jump from a bass that's hellbent on jumping, especially a smallmouth bass. Heaven knows, I've dunked more than one water-resistant wristwatch to no avail. After all, the bass have to win one once in a while too. Roger