RoLo

It's not only temperature-driven, but hinges on a combination of events. All the same, water temperature can be used as a rough gauge of current season. Unless you're interested in bed-fishing, the period immediately prior to the active spawn offers the best bass fishing of the year. Following are water temperatures during the pre-spawn, which are purely coincidental and not causitive: Early Pre-Spawn Lower 50s (but varying) Both cow and buck bass are emerging from their winter torpor, and would best be described as irritable and spooky, but catchable. Mid Pre-Spawn Upper 50s (but varying) Both cow and buck bass are noticeably active and more aggressive. Bass are highly mobile during the middle pre-spawn, and trade freely back-and-forth between shallow and deeper water. Late Pre-Spawn Temperatures that sandwich 60 degrees Both buck and cow bass are less mobile and more aggressive...it's Party Time! Weather permitting, bass during the late pre-spawn will now adhere to the spawning flats in 1 to 3 ft of water (deeper in clear water). The late pre-spawn is a very brief period, but since all bass do not spawn at once there's usually a generous overlap of sub-seasons providing the angler with a few weeks of late pre-spawn activity. The one bugbear during this time of year are the frequent cold-fronts that quickly dampen the activity on the shallow bedding flats. Roger

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west (that tells it all). Although there's a difference in timing, there is no difference in sunlight exposure between the east and west sides of a lake. Any difference in sunlight exposure between the eastern and western shores would be due to elevated objects such as manmade structures, ridges and trees. If you wish to keep your lure in shaded water as much as possible, you would focus on the eastern shore in the morning and the western shore in the evening. Yes, the northwest corner heats up first because the sun's arc favors the southern sky and also because the northwest corner is protected from artic fronts packing winds out of the northwest quadrant. Be that as it may, the "Northwest Phenomenon" is over-baked. It merely alludes to the "first" lake section to heat up, but every section of the lake ultimately reaches optimal temperatures. If you're on a lake during the time of year when the weeded flats in the "southeast corner" are in their spring peak, the "northwest corner" will probably be past its peak (most of this has nothing to do with map reading). Roger

That sounds like a conspiracy to me, I'd be VEEERY careful Roger

I own and use both style reels, but just like Catt, I prefer the feel of a round reel. It probably goes back to my days on the ocean, when I spent thousands of hours clinging to a Penn Squidder and Penn GTi Roger

I'll buy that

In Florida, the spawning season will often last 5 months (Mid-Dec to mid-May). Since it lasts nearly half-the-year, the spawning season hosts a broad range of water temperatures. But as CJ stated, the spawn apparently hinges on 'photoperiod', similar to the vegetable kingdom. Perhaps a cold-blooded animal is halfway to a vegetable Roger

To transfer Navionics maps from GPS to PC and vice versa I use "NavPlanner" software and a card reader. I also use Garmin cartography and for uploading & downloading (waypoints & routes) I use MapSource software. Although the accuracy of both chart-makers is similar, I was very surprised to learn that Garmin maps are FAR more comprehensive and user-friendly than Navionics :-/ Roger

The lighter the rod and the lighter the reel, the greater the sensitivity of the outfit. However, the reel may be too light if it results in a very low bearing-count or when it's too light for the rod-class (line capacity is rarely an issue). Also very important is "balance". The balance-point of the outfit should fall between the reel stem and the forward tang. When an outfit is unbalanced, higher gripping tension is needed to overcome the torquing. Increased tension tends to dampen sensitivity, and over the course of a day can tire the rod hand. Roger

Med Hvy Power - Fast-Action Tip Roger

Well, if you're serious about an improvement in hook-up ratio, my best advice would be to switch from a Hollow Frog to a Solid Toad (cane toad, stanley ribbit, sizmic toad, ~ ~). Hollow frogs with a decent hook-up ratio include the Boze ZZ Walker & Spro Bronzeye Frog Jr. (the swamp donkey sux!) Roger

I'll typically load-up both 3-place rod holders with six spinning outfits. Each rod is pre-rigged with a different lure to cover all bases from the water surface to the lake bottom. The choice of lures is not static, but stays in constant motion depending on the time-of-year and the most productive lures during our last outing. Roger

Brian, I can't begin to tell you how common that is. This might be a good time to pass along a little statistical info regarding "trophy" weight. Like all animals, the weight of big bass tends to hit sticking points along the way, known as "weight-plateaus". These glass ceilings can be quickly disclosed by investigating the many beer and magazine sponsored citation programs, as well as professional and local tournaments, etc. Analyze the weights of all the listed entries and you'll promptly see that 10 lbs may be less like a weight plateau and more like pie-in-the-sky. In the world of humans, "10" is a nice round number, but bass attain "trophy-class" when they reach 9 lbs, a powerful glass ceiling. Once you've boated a 9-lb trophy bass, your next logical target would be 12 pounds, or "record-class" (the next ceiling). Weights between 9 and 12 are essentially random, like the proverbial monkey and a dartboard. In any case, do yourself a big favor and get that replica mount you always wanted as soon as you boat a 9-lb bass. Waiting for a 10 lber could mean boating three 9-lb bass and still looking at the same empty space on the den wall :-/ Roger

Agreed The key purpose of the shaky worm is for finessing negative bass (winter season, spawning season, post frontal, etc). In that context, I usually impart one or two short, sharp twitches to kick-start the worm tail, then let the worm rest in place about 5 seconds (a "true" 5 seconds is deceptively looong). Jiggling a worm in place offers very poor coverage, so I'll intersperse the twitching with slow dragging to change the lure's scenery. Oddly, we don't get many strikes during the drag phase, and practically no strikes at all during the fall. With the shaky worm, most of our pickups occur during the pause, usually right after a twitch. Roger

In my opinion, way too much emphasis is placed on the jig, when in fact, the shaky worm itself is the main man. Place a sinking worm on the best shaky jig and the jig falls over during the pause and your shaky presentation will be mediocre at best. Place a high-floating worm on "any" jig and you're in business. Roger

I can appreciate where you're coming from, and we've all been there. Worse than "dumb", no bass ever had an original thought in its life, and that's where the angler has the advantage. You speak of "muddy" water and April in Massachusetts probably means "cold" water. Muddy & cold is one of the worst combination in angling (slow-moving bass / narrow sight-window). I think you're lure choice is right on the money, but getting skunked under those conditions is no surprise. Show me a fisherman who never gets skunked, and I'll show you a fisherman who needs to get out more often Roger

Thanks RW, and as usual you are 'highly observant', which makes the difference between a good forum and a great forum Roger

As every fishermen knows, bass react to instinct, while anglers have the power of reasoning. That puts man at a distinct advantage to bass, or does it? As soon as we attempt to "out-think" an animal that cannot think, we run a high risk of outsmarting ourselves (we all do it). I have a very vivid imagination but I cannot imagine any bass that would actually mistake a plastic craw for a live crayfish, I have too much respect for their natural instincts. To my mind, that's not only wishful thinking, but it's totally unimportant. Bass eat literally "thousands upon thousands" of different species and subspecies of food items. Each and every new morsel had a first time, when it was seized without any recognition. The bass's survival is further protected by an exceedingly brief memory span that keeps them highly instinctual and free-spirited. It might be more realistic and more helpful to view bass as "instinctively" motivated by action, size & shape, without any need for identification or past experience. Case in point, I've found that the Paca Craw is an exceptionally productive lure. Now take a GOOD look at it and tell me that it fools bass into thinking it's the crustacean we call a crayfish. In retrospect I've learned that those silly wing-like flaps (not even remotely similar to crab mandibles) replicate the action of a double-tail grub (another non-food item). When bass are feeding on the bottom, I keep the plastic craw on the bottom, but when they're feeding higher up in the water column, I keep the paca craw (double-tail grub) moving higher in the water column. Due to it's strong vibration underway, I often fish the paca craw like a "weedless" rat-l-trap (I'm not thinking about craws or shad). Bottom Line: There's no time of year when I would not fish a plastic craw-like lure. In my opinion, "depth", "speed", and "action" far outweigh the importance of 'taxonomical replication'. Most bass don't even know what that means Roger

Fishing Strengths?? Hmmm.... Oh yeah, one time I tail-roped a 110-lb bluefin tuna, then hauled that slob football over the gunwale by myself.

I'm an independent voter and don't vote party. That said, based on the sheer number of winning lures, I have no choice but to give the nod to "ZOOM". In addition, I commonly use soft-plastics manufactured by Gambler, Strike King, Yum, Culprit, Wave Worm, Yamamoto & NetBait. Roger

I store my soft-plastic lures in their original plastic bags as long as possible (they last indefinitely). In the field however, instead of fumbling around with plastic bags, I fill the compartments of my Plano tacklebox with "loose" soft-plastic lures. I don't mix colors of the same lure, because some plastic dyes will bleed over time. My "Prep Checklist" reminds me to refill each lure compartment before every outing. I also keep backup stash in the bottom of the tacklebox, key lures and colors in their original plastic bags. Roger

For years I've used the venerable #11 Pork Rind, which of course is the original "Jig & Pig" (typically black or purple). For smallmouth bass I used to use the U2 and E2 pork strips (discontinued) on a 1/8oz hair jig. As Raul pointed out, the briny solution expedites corrosion, and the clever folks at Uncle Josh only made matters worse with their "metal" lids. Pretty soon you need a water pump pliers to open the jar. Forget to remove a pork strip from the jig and 'Voila', it turns to beef jerky. The early soft-plastics were called "rubber", and they lost their action in cold water. That in fact was the reason for the popularity of pork rind. However, today's soft plastics remain supple even in cold water (gambler, roboworm, strike king 3x, et al.) I wouldn't say that today's soft-plastics are as good or better than pork rind, but they're close enough so that now I no longer monkey with pork rind. Uncle Josh is smart;, they see the handwriting on the wall and acquired Sizmic, a soft-plastic company, and Kalin's mogambo grub. Roger

If you're looking for a 10-lb brownie, my vote would be for a live minnow, unless you feel like that's cheating (it's really not). An old 10-lb brownie will usually be completely carnivorous (weaned of insects) and will be largely nocturnal (sulk during the day). Trout have exquisite eyesight, so if you go the artificial route, choose a plug with the most realistic action (e.g. balsawood). Roger

Muddy, 'Latitude' just refers to the "lure weight" range and "line weight" range that a given blank can handle. You'll notice that some of the most expensive high-modulus rods actually suffer from narrow latitude. Whenever someone is looking for an "all-purpose" blank, they're actually looking for maximum latitude. I own a couple HMGs (ultra-light) and there great blanks, but Fenwick makes many models. To evaluate the latitude of any rod I normally compare the casting weight range to the L&T benchmark: 1/8oz to 1oz Roger

A "jig" is just a weighted hook. I really can't suggest a specific jig without knowing the cover, water depth and exactly what trailer you intend to use, if any. Roger

Hmmm, that sounds more like a secret than a suggestion Did I hear Sizmic Toad? Roger