RoLo

The 60-fathom line. Roger

I frequently hear mention of "natural colors", but in actuality any color that our optic nerve can perceive is a color produced by Mother Nature. As a result, ALL colors are "natural colors" there are no exceptions. Very often, the natural colors that Nature chooses for her creatures are deliberately gaudy and intense, to serve as a warning flag to predators. For instance, many of Earth's most toxic insects, plants, reptiles and amphibians are vividly colored by design. Among the many examples are the poisonous Monarch Butterfly, colored orange & black, Coral Snakes with vivid bands of red, yellow & black, and poisonous frogs and salamanders (called lizards by fishermen) which typically sport color schemes that include fluorescent chartreuse, loud reds and bright yellows. In most cases the predator that ingests a toxic animal will not die, but will become violently ill or at the least, it will leave a bad taste in its mouth. In the future, that animal is likely to fall into line, and demonstrate a reluctance to seize forage with intense showy colors. The Plot Thickens Mother Nature has intentionally and cleverly created imposters. Several non-toxic organisms exhibit the same color scheme displayed by some toxic creature. The Monarch Butterfly dines exclusively on a poisonous larval plant that will kill most caterpillars. When they transform to butterflies, their toxin-laden bodies are conspicuously advertised with a showy Orange and Black pattern (trick or treat). Monarch butterflies are judiciously avoided by birds, reptiles and amphibians. However, Big Mama has also concocted the Viceroy, another butterfly with a gaudy black & orange color scheme. Like most butterflies, the viceroy is unable to consume poisonous milkweed and therefore causes no harm to its captor. All the same, the viceroy is avoided by a high-percentage of predators that practice safety first. Enter The Fisherman The angler is faced with a huge dilemma because all the most visible colors have already been chosen by Mother Nature to serve as toxicity warnings! Chartreuse for example, wasn't discovered in a laboratory, but was concocted by Mother Nature during the beginning of time. Chartreuse is the most visible color under the broadest range of lighting conditions. Unhappily, chartreuse is commonly used as a warning flag! All that said, "lure visibility" is paramount to the angler, because a bass cannot sieze a lure that it does not see, or a lure that is sees too late to bother chasing. Furthermore, only a certain percentage of any species is conditioned to avoid gaudy color patterns. Last but not least, when rising water temperatures work their magic on the metabolism of a cold-blooded organism, reflex will often supercede design. Roger

I believe that color definitely does matter, because it can directly enhance or degrade the bass's ability to see the lure. In my opinion at least, once the bass sees the lure, the importance of color falls through the cracks. To put it differently, certain colors will always be more visible to bass under certain lighting conditions. It might be presumptuous to think that those are the colors that bass prefer, because lighting conditions can change from hour-to-hour, creating the illusion that thier color preference has changed. Roger

Sad but true, 15 plus has been exceeded many years ago :-[ Roger

I've caught fish in the ocean that weighed more than I do, using conventional tackle (baitcasting), and the only task assigned to the left arm (weak arm) was to wind in the slack line that was gained by the strong arm. Little fish can be cranked with the reel, but whenever power is needed to fight a big fish, it's a matter of pumping the fish with the ROD (right-hand), and winding in the slack line with the weak arm, during each downstroke of the rod. Roger

As always, great job Russ! Most of all, thanks for your steadfast enthusiasm and ambition Roger

Since I am right-handed, I only use left-handed casting reels. If a casting reel is not available in a left-hand version, I strike it off my list of candidates. With a left-hand reel, the right-handed angler is able to cast the lure and fight the fish with his dominant arm. Left-handed reels should really be called "right-handed" reels (I have no idea why they're not). Roger

AccuWeather (I like this one for the "Wind Gusts", under "More Details") http://wwwa.accuweather.com/forecast.asp?zipcode=33853&partner=townnews WeatherBug http://weather.weatherbug.com/FL/Lake-Wales-weather.html?zcode=z5579 Roger

Over time, I gravitated to a 3/8 oz jig which I fished almost exclusively, but now I do just the opposite, and straddle 3/8 oz. For largemouth bass, about the only two sizes I use and recommend are 1/4 oz and 1/2 oz. For me, the 1/4 oz jig is the workhorse, and in Florida I use it about 85% of the time. In deep water (scarce in Florida) &/or during a snotty wind, the 1/2 oz jig may be needed. Can't answer that one, because I never swim a jig, but use them strictly for bottom prospecting. Roger

Senile1 is correct, I've used the sizmic pop-n toad and like it a lot. They can be made to pop or spit just as effectively as the chug bug, but at a fraction of the price. Best of all, they're weedless and can be pitched anywhere. They don't leave us many reasons to hate them Roger

My least favorite is probably the C-rig, which I avoid like the plague. About 30 years ago I fished carolina-rigs to death, probably before they had a name. I used them in the ocean for striped bass with 1 and 2 oz egg sinkers. I'd imagine I'm just plain sick of rigging all those swivels and leaders, though they certainly have their place. Roger

Take US-29 (Roosevelt Hwy) to Palmetto, GA; to Rt-54 North (Cascade Palmetto Hwy); to a right onto Ono Rd for about 1 mile where the lake will appear on the left side. I left Georgia in 1998, so can't vouch for the status of Butner Lake today. It was a private, pay-to-fish pond that was very liberally fertilized (characteristic green color). Cab-over bluegills were commonplace in March and the lake-record bluegill was over 3 pounds. I've seen several bluegills myself that I'm sure were well over 2 lbs. LAKE REGULATIONS (assuming nothing has changed): 1. Open only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. 2. Open from daylight to dark 3. $7 per person, per day 4. No boats allowed 5. 2 rod maximum per person - No minnows allowed - No alcohol allowed Roger

"Contrarian Psychology", the surest way to stay a leg-up on the crowd. Roger

Remarkable, and a good read. Roger

FiveBass, like you I also lean to the "lightest" reel without actually sacrificing necessary bearings. For the money, I don't know of any spinning reel better than the Shimano Stradic (I own several). The 10-lb class Stradic weighs 9.7 oz (incredibly light for the guts). It retrieves 33" per revolution (faster the better) and costs $120 at BPS which can undoubtedly be beaten on e-bay. Roger

Fisherman tend to use color to explain their successes and tend to blame the weather for their failures. Take away those two variables, and we'd be intellectually bankrupt Roger

So not to skew your poll, I withheld my vote. I'm essentially a finesse fisherman, who doesn't throw many crankbaits and veeeery few spinnerbaits. However, I don't spend a lot of time in any one spot unless it's remains productive. As a result, I "run-and-gun" between the spots where I "finesse fish" Roger

Most public waters were private waters long before they were acquired by the state or province. I don't believe it should matter whether the waters are 'public' or 'private', but I do take issue with certain managment practices. I know of Pay-Ponds in Georgia that are heavily fertilized on a regular basis. Like hunting deer over a food plot (which I vehemently oppose), if you fish Butner Pond, Georgia about 3 or 4 times, you're almost guaranteed to break your all-time heaviest bluegill. This I consider an UNFAIR advantage. Roger

Raul, you must really love that Bait Monkey, we can tell by the expensive toys you buy him 8-) 8-) Roger

In coldwater, straight-tail worms seem to work better than ribbontail worms. Maybe because bass aren't interested in tail-action or maybe because the ribbontail has poor action at very low speeds. Another benefit of straight-tail worms is when casting around emergent vegetation. A ribbontail worm can wrap around a bulrush like it was glued to the stalk, leaving you no choice but to bring the boat into the bulrush bed > Roger

I feel no compelling reason to leave the hook-point exposed, and always imbed the point in plastic. I use PowerPro braid so the point of a premium hook pierces plastic like greased lightning. Roger

Interesting information Jim, thanks. Roger

Before you're able to form any game plan, the first and most important step is to obtain the best "contour map" available (smallest depth increments). A lake chart without depth lines is an empty plate. Roger

Maybe I missed the point, but I didn't see mention of matching the hatch. Most lakes contain several dozen species of fish, insects, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Living in the atmosphere, how would I know which hatch to match? Roger