RoLo

Actually, I started out with baitcasting gear, but then switched to spinning gear which I now use about 85% of the time. When using live-bait though, especially for heavy fish, I prefer the revolving drum to a spring-operated spinning bail. Strange but true, I only use "casting gear" when there is no casting involved (bait fishing, trolling, drifting, float fishing, etc.) Whenever serial casts are involved (i.e. artificial lures), I'll be holding a spinning outfit 100% of the time (including pitching). Roger

My favorite Big Bass bait? That's easy: 7-inch Notemigonus crysoleucas in natural gold : Roger

Chart analysis is very deadly, but it's a comprehensive subject that often marches to different drummers on different lakes. To avoid feeling overwhelmed though, just take it one step at a time. The first and most important question: "Is the lake Natural or Manmade?" (Roughly speaking a "topo" map suggests a manmade reservoir, while a "hydro" map [hydrographic] alludes to a natural lake) Whether you're fishing a natural lake or manmade impoundment will generally make an enormous difference in the "depth" you'll be working, and the "cover" you'll be fishing. For example, in a clear manmade impoundment (reservoir) you might be fishing wood and rock in 8 to 14 ft of water. In a dingy natural lake just a few miles down the road from the reservoir, you might be working lush weed beds in 2 to 6 ft of water. Here's a tip that I believe can be helpful on any lake type, USA. Rather than start with your nose pressed to the chart, step back from the chart and take in the big picture. Take note of whether the lake consists mostly of Shallow water or mostly of Deep water, then give "priority to poverty". That is to say, if the lake consists predominantly of shallow water (eutrophic saucer) it's usually best to put the emphasis on the deepest water available...especially where depth change is rapid (lots of luck). If the lake consists predominantly of deep water and drop-offs (manmade or natural oligotrophic) it's generally wise to place the emphasis on the broad shallow reproductive flats (especially where depth change is rapid). Of course these are just jump-off points, after which you'll need to break out the magnifying glass and press your nose to the chart. Roger

In essence, the Carolina-rig is simply a "Remote-Sinker Rig". The idea is to take the sinker out of the equation, so the trailer may settle naturally without being hurried by an attached weight. If you peg the bullet sinker of your T-rig about 2-feet ahead of the hook and you've now got a C-rig Roger

I've mentioned the Ugly Otter a number of times on the forum, but have no experience with the Little Otter (too small). Most anglers seem fixated on the Sweet Beaver, but my vote goes for the Gambler Ugly Otter (more vibration). It measures 4 1/2" overall, so I just T-rig the ugly otter, unweighted on a 5/0 heavy-wire #74 Gamee (no jig, no skirt, no sinker). I don't bother slitting the paddletail or lobed-feet anymore, because I feel that there's more thump if you leave them intact. I like "watermelon red" for the contrasting hues, but honestly never found color to make a noticeable difference. Fish the ugly otter as you'd fish any crayfish-simulating, bottom-hopper (soft 8" pulls). Arched Rods, Roger

If the bass was not distinctly slender or distinctly obese, call it a 6-pound bass and you'll be remarkably close! By the way, 22" (6 lb) is a very stubborn weight-plateau for LMB. Roger

For many years, my favorite buzzbait has been the "Lunker City" buzzbait, I believe it was also the first buzzbait introduced. But then a few years back I read about a buzzbait claiming to stay on top during the slowest forward speeds...it was the "Cavitron" Since that time and for the last several years the Cavitron has been the only hard buzzbait I use (1/4oz Red Blade / Black Skirt). Megastrike bought out Cavitron in 2005, but the quality has not suffered (happily, they didn't milk it down). The Cavitron is loud at low speeds, the blade holes make a sporadic bubble trail (for what it's worth) and it uses a Gamakatsu hook Frankly, I've become partial to "soft" buzzbaits of late, but whenever I throw a hard buzzbait it's always a Cavitron. Here's To RW & Cavitron Roger

For years I've listened to ole salts who proclaimed that stripers hit a live eel harder than any other bait. As a kid I believed that this was pure nonsense, that food is food. However, after striper fishing with live eels one day, I learned that the evidence was more than anecdotal, that stripers do indeed wallop live eelsHARD! But that only begged the question, why? Well, today I know a little more than I did back then. While spiny-finned fish may be the most dangerous and uncomfortable to swallow, prey that is Slender, Tubular and Muscular is the most difficult for predators to swallow. Try holding onto to an eel without a dry rag in your hand, and you'll quickly understand what I mean. An eel that is carelessly or lightly engulfed by the predator is sure to escape. An eel is capable of writhing around in the predator's stomach, making a complete U-turn and literally swimming back out of the mouth. Predators instinctively know this, and make a special effort to get the eel quickly past the gullet and into their stomach. In addition, they probably clamp their esophagus shut to block the escape route. For this same reason, I believe that largemouth bass pass-up the majority of live snakes and oversize plastic worms. Differently put, the plastic worm is my very favorite lure for largemouth bass, regardless, once the worm exceeds a given critical length, I believe its success rate falls off dramatically. Can A Worm Be Too Long? We've all heard excerpts of bass seizing ducks, whole beer cans, musky lures and 18 plastic worms. Although no one refutes the validity of these incidents, they are merely exceptions that prove the rule. In year 2000, my wife & I were fishing Lake Walk-In-Water, Florida. We watched as a live snake swam directly toward a promising looking bed of lily pads (snake ~13 long). The slender snake undulated seductively through the pads, pausing invitingly for a moment, and my heart was in my throat as I fully expected a topwater explosion. Much to our disappointment the snake made it safely to the bank without incident. Less than 60 seconds later I pitched a 7-1/2 black shad culprit worm over the snakes path, and dragged it across the pads exactly where the snake had just passed. A big bass immediately blew-up on the plastic fake! Although the girth of the live snake was similar to the artificial worm, the bass apparently judged the lure as something he could easily engulf at once, unlike the much longer snake. For the scientific minded, the bass weighed 5 lb, 12 oz and it refused a 13 long snake (based on my best guess) but accepted a 7.5" snake. Are Bass Wild About Snakes? When I lived in Georgia, I constructed a tiny backyard pond that I stocked with bass we caught in local farm ponds. Our shallow pond was only about 20-ft wide by 30-ft long, but it allowed me to observe everything that was going on. We had a 10-acre tract and whenever I found a small live snake in my backyard, I'd toss it into the pond and watch the action. Surprisingly, the snake generally made it to the opposing shore unmolested. On a few occasions however, the snake would be slurped-up off the surface, but in every case it reappeared moments later, obviously regurgitated. Although I have no explanation as to why, I can attest first-hand to this behavior. For the record, the Hannon snake is not a new lure that needs more time to catch on. Doug's original "Swimmin Worm" was first marketed in 1986 by Burke. Roger

If the minnows are small, it might be crappies underneath. Roger

During a major cold front, air temperatures are significantly colder than water temperatures. The result is a lowering of water temperature at the surface of the lake, which is the warmest, lightest and most vulnerable water. Surface water that's been chilled by air temperatures falls like rain through the epilimnion, until reaching water of similar density in the metalimnion (thermocline). There is absolutely no evidence that bass swim laterally to deeper water during a cold front, but telemetry and diving studies have both shown that bass will sink to the bottom within their resident water column. You can take it from there. Roger

During the late 50s, I was fishing some pit mines from shore with my childhood friend, Victor. Back then my favorite lure was the Johnson Silver Minnow (right before the "rubber" worm caught fire). Though I had enough lures for both of us, Victor kept complaining all day long, "Oh, I wish we had some Sonics". After I bought my first Sonic, I began to understand how Victor felt. It was pure dynamite, and caught bass of all sizes (this was Jersey though, so anything over 3 lbs was big). Roger

The Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap is a cheap, unspectacular-looking lure, but it's been bass slaying since its predacessor, the Heddon Sonic. I'm not sure why the trap is such a great year-round lure, but it might be a combination of things, for instance: 1. It produces a "tight vibration" that's unique to a lipless plug 2. Unlike plugs with a diving lip, the speed can be varied without a significant change in depth (almost like a countdown). Depending on the season and current fish mood, just about any retrieve that comes to mind may be productive. Okay, this is one retrieve that I'd NEVER use with a rat-l-trap.................................................................... :-/ Roger

Thank you CJ, I see you've shortened your handle which is okay, as long as you're still wack'n em This has gotten to be an interesting thread. As Matt said, you could write a book on this stuff, so I'll be as brief as possible. I must confess, even on a brand new lake that I've never seen in my life, I will only fish a couple dozen hotspots that I selected at home. Though I might spend two weeks on that lake, I will generally ignore about 85% of the water. 1. The first step is always the same, acquire the best contour map that money can buy (GPS software or hardcopy). If a satisfactory contour map is unavailable, I will flatly refuse to vacation on that lake, because life is too short to be wasted on blind fishing. A guide is another alternative, but I have never hired a guide because it wouldn't make sense for me to pay another man to do what I love the most..."locating fish" (anyone can winch a fish to the boat). 2. The "Chart Survey" is the second step. At home and in my leisure time, I'll scrutinize the entire lake chart until I know it as well as the furniture in my own home. Each "trial site" is given an appropriate waypoint name, something that sets it apart. A trial site is essentially an outstanding compression point (contour line convergence) adjacent to a sizable flat. In the process, every major flat (spawning grounds) is also named. 3. The third step I refer to as the "Field Survey" is done onsite. Generally the entire first day of my vacation is spent confirming the "Chart Survey" conducted at home. Mainly, I'm looking to confirm the presence of vegetation, and to identify the plant species and status of the bed. Sadly, this step will eliminate some of the most promising "trial sites" that were selected at home. With regard to largemouth bass & pike, any trial site that lacks vegetation will be patently rejected for lack of cover. This would not apply however to smallmouth bass and walleyes, which do not relate directly to weeds. 4. When a trial site contains satisfactory cover, it becomes a named "holding site" (i.e. waypoint). I don't have to catch a fish to know it's a holding site. If it's the best bottom-break in the area and there's cover on the crest, it IS a holding site. Step number 4 is to obtain accurate coordinates for the holding site, which is often renamed at this point, based on new information gleaned onsite. 5. With my chores complete, it's now time to fish. The route of waypoints will be run like a schoolboy's paper route. My wife generally boats the first fish, because I'm usually still engrossed in jotting down details about the lake. But that's the way I like it, because I enjoy the technical garbage, but my wife (the smart one), enjoys catching fish. Does it work? And how...I'll only cite the most recent example. Last year (my last vacation), I choose a lake that I've never heard of before for northern pike (Pakashkan Lake, Ontario). I mail-ordered two different contour maps, and poured over the maps for about 3 or 4 months (sometimes I'll spend a full year). The goal was a pike over 40" and it was achieved on the 2nd day of our trip, actually my first fishing day. I might add, it was the only 40"+ pike taken at the lodge. During our 6-day stay, I never once stopped the boat to fish a spot that I didn't select at home (Florida, nearly 2,000 miles to the south). Roger

Catt makes a good point. Fishing over shipwrecks in the ocean is where you learn the art of anchoring, otherwise you're flat out of the game. In saltwater, both the wind and tide affect the speed & direction of the drift. A strong wind and weak tide usually means a wind drift but a moderate wind during a strong tide usually means a tide drift (it's generally some weird angle twixt the two). I can't tell you how many times I've seen boats anchor-up to chum, and watch their chum-slick drift "away" from the hotspot To nail a hotspot, I generally use the technique below. 1. Obtain "Accurate Coordinates" of the bottom-break (That's where it all begins) Wait for net lag to relax (signal thrust), and don't push "Save" until the ledge of the drop-off is displayed on the sonar screen. 2. Each time you return, get on the numbers and look for the bottom break to appear on the depth sounder (e.g. 4 to 10-ft drop-off) now place a marker buoy smack on top of the transducer signal (be that the bow, stern or anywhere in between). 3. Place the transmission in neutral, and pour a cup of coffer (beer works too) As the boat drifts naturally away from the buoy, it will establish an "Accurate Drift-Line" w/o guesswork (wind & tide combined) 4. When you've drifted about 50 ft from the buoy, run a perfectly straight path directly over the buoy (to one side of the prop) and continue past the buoy a distance equal to about 4 water depths. The drift-line will determine whether you'll be anchoring in the channel or on the shelf (usually a big difference in anchor scope). 5. Drop anchor, then motor slowly but directly toward the buoy while feeding loose anchor rode. Be sure the anchor gets a good foothold, so you don't drag anchor later on. 6. "Kill the engine" a few yards from the bouy, then pay anchor rode until the the boat drifts right alongside the bouy, now tie it off on a cleat. If all went well, you'll be able to retreive the buoy before you begin to fish. Granted, fishing for freshwater bass has made me pretty lazy, but that's the way to anchor over a hotspot, even in whitecaps. Roger

Interesting Thread. In my opinion, the Pop-R is the "best" and the "worst" topwater lure. It's the best because it's the loudest, but that's also why it's the worst. Differently put, "timing" is very critical with the Pop-R. In my experience, if there's no noticeable topwater bite, bass can be very aloof toward the Pop-R :-/ Roger

Over sustained periods of time, bass have a low tolerance for high salinity and high acidity (unlike chain pickerel). The same is not true for red drum, who are highly tolerant fish, so it's more like red drum in bass territory. Roger

In Hot Water, Bass Go Deep and Turn Off .......I don't think so. Never forget, we humans are warm blooded animals and our bodies must maintain 98.6 deg F, otherwise we suffer extreme discomfort. This has absolutely nothing to do with cold-blooded animals like fish. The body temperature of a fish is a free agent, as a result fish are comfortable in all water temperatures. In cold-water they move slower, but not because they're uncomfortable, but because their metabolism is reduced. The lethargy produced by cold-water is no more painful than sleepiness. On the flipside, cold-blooded animals are not uncomfortable during the dog days of summer either. On the contrary, during July and August (even in Florida) fish metabolism is in high-gear, a time when fish move faster and eat more than any other time of year. The worst thing against us in summer is that solar energy has all of nature popping and food is highly plentiful. Super-heated water can cause a secondary problem, but it has nothing to do with thermal discomfort. In marginal bodies of water, midsummer may cause oxygen-stress for bass, because hot water holds less oxygen than cold water. All the same, a bass suffering from oxygen-stress is not about to sink into the depths as that could be fatal. During the summer months, the water below the thermocline is completely devoid of oxygen. Instead, an oxygen-stressed bass will head toward shore and gravitate to live vegetation, a reliable source of dissolved oxygen. Roger

The In-Fisherman staff examined the entrails of many northern pike and found that "yellow perch" dominated their stomach contents. Subsequently they performed a natural bait comparison using live yellow perch (spiny-finned fish) versus redfin shiners (soft-finned fish). They were surprised to learn that when pike were exposed simultaneously to both prey fish, the yellow perch were virtually ignored! Moral Of Story: A rush to judgment would almost certainly confuse Availability with Preference. Irrespective of the stomach contents, I will always opt for soft-finned prey such as shiners, chub and shad. There are many accounts that refer erroneously to "protein" as being the best source of energy and weight-gain. That is only a well-parroted myth (monkey-hear, monkey-say). Every animal contains protein, it's what separates an animal (mayfly) from a vegetable (hydrilla). Vegetables consist cheifly of carbohydrates, but ironically, protein and carbohydrates both deliver an equal amount of energy, which is measured in calories (unit of heat). The key calorie store is Fats and Oils, which provide the most energy and weight gain. One gram of protein contains 4 calories and one gram of carbohydrates contains 4 calories however 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories, which is more than one gram of protein and one gram of carbohydrates combined! Roger

Thanx Mattm I haven't been on the forum for a while, so I'm not in tune with the goings on. From all appearances, the lake for the Annual BR Trip has not yet been decided. If that isn't true, please disregard this message. On the other hand, if you're still in the market for a lake, I have a couple suggestions, for better or for worse. Assuming that it's still in the decision phase, it might be a good idea to begin by voting on the region of the country. For example, it would probably be most democratic for members to choose a lake at the hub of membership density. That can quickly be divulged by an open poll that casts a vote as to "region", e.g. Northeast, Pacific Coast, etc. For numbers of trophy-bass, the best season of the year is typically the late pre-spawn, which varies of course depending on geographic latitude (but not that much). The late pre-spawn is a very brief period, but fortunately all bass don't spawn at once, so the overlap in spawning stages usually buys us a pre-spawn period that lasts about a month. On the downside, if you nail the pre-spawn period it generally means water temperature in the high 50s, maybe low 60s. The prespawn is characterized by a little slower fishing, a little snottier wind and yes, a few cold fronts (argghh). I believe that all those things should be common knowledge in advance of any outing. Anyway, listed below according to region is a rough draft of America's top bass waters and the month that tends to center on the respective pre-spawn season: NORTHEAST REGION Lake Champlain, VT or NY MAY 587 miles of shoreline large & smallmouth bass St Lawrence River (1,000 Islands) MAY Bass season opens late in month, mandatory C&R till then SOUTHEAST REGION Santee Cooper Lake Marion, SC APRIL Held former 4-day BASS stringer record (lasted only one year) Guntersville Lake, AL APRIL Lying twixt Huntsville & Birmingham, G lake is highly-pressured Lake Varner GA MARCH Electric motors only FLORIDA Lake Tohopekaliga, FL MARCH Activity better in April Lake Istokpoga, FL MARCH Water level should be up (had lots of rain) Stick Marsh, FL No accommodations on lake To & fro podunk PACIFIC COAST California Delta MARCH S of Sacramento, twixt Stockton & Antioch Clear Lake, CA L MAR/E APR Holds current B.A.S.S. 4-day record Roger

Without fail, everytime I've been able to catch 50 or more bass a day, they were never fish with bragging rights...can you say "runt". The hottest fishing I have ever encountered was in a small neglected farm pond in Georgia. The owner (nectarine orchardist) gave us permission to shore fish his pond anytime we wished. Well, if you gave an 8-yr old girl a closed-face zebco and a plastic worm, she wouldn't be able to move the worm more than a couple feet without getting a strike. It was almost impossible to cast the lure out and get it back without a bass. I must admit, we had a barrel of fun but isn't it odd how quickly you tire of catching stunted runts. As it happened, we never made a trip back to Wayne's pond. BTW: the pond lord went about 13", "easily" over a pound ;D Roger

That describes my wife as well. Whenever I place a tackle order, I always order the same amount for my wife. Then a few days later, the UPS truck honks and I'm signing for something else that Lois ordered from BPS. Hey, but how can you beat that, on the one hand I've got a genuinely enthused fishing partner, and on the other hand, I can continue my extravagant spending habits without feelings of guilt Roger

Suspension that averages 64% above bottom is quite "lofty" for largemouth bass. IMO, one of the main reasons why suspended bass are so difficult to catch, is because in many cases they are not bass at all. For example, a tight school of adult crappies can generate some very intriguing arcs and blips. Roger

WOW...that's an impressive collection of bass 4-Bizz :o Kool drumming too (sound like Ludwigs) 8-) Roger

The next bass I catch on a matching jig-&-trailer will be one of my first. Whenever I'm given the opportunity, I always use a dark color and light color on the same lure. Your lure may pass through a range of different lighting conditions, during the same retrieve. Roger

> Favorite Football Jig Spalding :