RoLo

There is nothing about the actions of Weakley that I would categorize as honest. There was at least one eye-witness who kept shouting that the bass was foul-hooked! Then, only after much deliberation did Weakley decide to come clean, he had no choice. Thank Goodness that an eye-witness was present or it would be a whole other yarn. Roger

Thanks Raul, I appreciate the information. Roger

I enjoy reading threads like this one, probably because Misery Loves Company. It serves as good psychological therapy that helps to ease my strong feelings of guilt. But then again, we anglers are made of tough stuff, we just suck it up and before you know it, were back online again courting the Bait Monkey. Yesterday's total bill came to over $600 (2 baitcasting rods and reels), Honest Engine Roger

I gotta tell you KU, that bass looked 21 lbs even after your photoshop editing

YOU TOO! I also shrink my bass so everyone will believe I really caught them. And also because I don't want everyone fishing in my favorite lake. Yah that's it, that's the reason I shrink my bass (Those are a couple of 8 pounders in the avatar) Roger

The minnow part was only a joke. I live on lake Weohyakapka, a water that is literally world-famous for its bass fishing with live-minnows. The next minnow I dunk in Lake Weohyakapka will be my first. Not to hijack this thread, but is Lake Baccarac presently considered the best Mexican water? Better than El Salto, Huites & Guerrero? Roger

Don't forget, I'm still waiting for that invite to Lake El Salto. Like I told you, I'll provide all the minnows and sunscreen. Roger

That is essentially true, but with serious reservations. The most productive week of my life with smallmouth bass (Lake Huron, Ontario in July) took place during the most stable weather conditions you could ever imagine. The barometer remained relatively stable for our entire 10-day vacation. There wasn't a drop of rain, not even one cumulo nimbus formed, and every day was just another disgustingly beautiful day. The smallie fishing got hotter and hotter as the week passed on. The lodge owner was ecstatic, and told my wife & I that frankly, he's never seen smallies like that before. I've also noticed on countless occasions, that largemouth bass grow increasingly aggressive after back-to-back bluebird days (warming water increases their metabolism). Bigmouth bass tend to rise higher up in the weedbed and grow increasingly aggressive with several consecutive days of stable weather (spinnerbait time). After a cold-front moves through, they're sent to the bottom where the cycle starts all over again. Roger

A resounding 'no'. In all but one case (Dale Hollow Res), it was during fair, sunny, bluebird weather and typically with minimal wind (weather to die for). Roger

;D You're a bright fellow.

Granted, there is usually a good bite during the so-called "Magic Hours", (first hour and last hour of light). Biologists will tell you that the eyesight of gamefish adjusts more rapidly to light change than the vision of prey fish (Nature's gift to predators). Accordingly, gamefish (e.g. bass) will exploit their visionary advantage during twilight periods (dawn, dusk & overcast days). The problem is, the magic hours are separated by about 12 hours, and bass eat more frequently than that, especially in water over 70 degrees. I share the exact same experience that Roadwarrior described. The overwhelming majority of bigmouth I've caught over 6lb and smallmouth over 4lb have fallen during mid-day (10am to 4pm). Oddly enough, that's the same time-of-day when ultraviolet rays are most intense. Is there something to that? Roger

Amen!

You want a good laugh? Scan this thread and you will see mention of every color in the rainbow, and another dozen colors never seen in a rainbow. It should be abundantly clear by now that bass do not have favorite colors, that only "fishermen" have favorite colors. In real-time, the best color is the most visible color for current conditions, whatever color that may be. Unhappily, the best colors to use are constantly changing with current lighting conditions, and sometimes during the same retrieve as the lure passes through sun and shade. I like and I agree with the paragraph written by Avid: Fantasy is fun, but reality is so much more fulfilling Roger

Watermelon/Cream Laminate (901) Black w/Chartreuse Tail (543) Roger

Not at all, but you're one fish closer. Only the bass or lack of bass can tell you if you're own personal assessment is on track. As I noted above, the more bass taken in the "same scenario", the stronger the pattern. It's just like the stock market, the fundamentals of a company may suggest a great investment, but if the price keeps heading down, your decision to buy was the wrong decision. An angler may be wrong, but bass are always right, so the wise angler is a trend follower. Roger

Bottom Line on Top Line: All Lures Work -- All Lures Don't Work You're having a bad day, you haven't caught a bass in 3 hours and find yourself changing lures like a crazed lunatic. Suddenly you catch a bass on a Bingo-Bongo in watermelon roadkill. Just as suddenly, you stop changing lures and stick with the same lure for the rest of the day. The next time you go fishing you start out with a Bingo-Bongo in watermelon roadkill. Sure enough, it has the bass flying and most of your day is spent fishing the winning lure. During the doldrums you give other lures half a chance but soon revert back to the Bingo-Bongo. A year later it occurs to you that the Bingo-Bongo in watermelon roadkill has boated more bass than all your other lures combined!!! What may never occur to you is that 65% of your fishing time was spent with your "go-to" lure. Since it only caught about 55% of your bass, in reality the Bingo-Bongo was an "under-acheiver". In most cases, the angler has more to do with the success of a lure than he may realize. Roger

Again, the color red disappears, yes, but not the object. If a red object happens to be transparent like fishing line, then in 4' of water the red color may be gone but the fishing line will still be visible. If the red object is an opaque lure, then in deep water the red may disappear but not the object. In subdued light (deep water - murky water - twilight) red objects turn to a non-descript black (deep charcoal), but certainly do not disappear. On the contrary, depending on lighting conditions, a black object is often more visible to a fish than a red object. In fact, in very deep water and at night, black is the "most" visible color. By now I'm sure, everyone knows that. We don't use black lures at night because bass are turned on by the color "black". We use black lures at night because they are the most visible against the lighted sky above. There is no mystery at all to any of this. All colors disappear eventually, but red disappears first. Colors disappear in the exact order of the color spectrum that we see in a every rainbow: Red - Orange - Yellow - Green - Blue - Indigo - Violet Again, that's why the sky is blue, because it's penetrates the entire atmosphere and reaches our eyes after all the other colors have been filtered out. Roger

First, you have to catch a bass (ah hah!). Then you must observe the natural features that the bass may have been relating to. For instance, he was in windblown water and was next to a stump that had hydrilla on one side. The more bass you catch in that same scenario, the stronger the pattern. Now, if you limit your search to windward shores where wood meets hydrilla, you have eliminated the majority of the lake and narrowed down your search. So, regardless of where you "think" the bass should be, only the bass can tell you the pattern-of-the-day. Enter the Monkey Wrench: On any given day there are generally multiple patterns Roger

The approach that you described is perfectly normal, but you might want to rearrange your sequence. On average, the most aggressive bass typically lie in shallower water. For this reason, it's usually best to fish the shallow water first, making casts that parallel the shoreline. Then gradually increase your cast angle off the shore, by fancasting into deeper and deeper water. A complete answer to your question would naturally fill a book, so I can only scratch the surface. It's often said that a spinnerbait can be fished in any depth water, but a spinnerbait is a far cry from being the "best bait" in every water depth. For covering the bottom of the lake, you'd be much better off using something like a T-rigged worm with a bullet sinker. Incidentally, not having a boat is not a huge disadvantage. I own three boats, but some of my most memorable outings took place when I was hoofing the bank Roger

In my experience anyway, Rats and Frogs don't really come into their own until your water temperature (not air temperature) is in the mid-70s or higher. At 68 deg I'd probably T-rig a Creature (ugly otter, sweet beaver, ~~), Crawbug, Tube, etc in combination with a heavy bullet sinker, whatever it takes to punch through the mat. Jig it slowly up-and-down a few times, then rip it back and punch another hole in the salad & so on. It's like cherry-picking, because you've got to hit them on the head, so to speak. Roger

http://www.navionics.com/HotMapsPremium_06.asp?RegionID=2 Roger

Welcome aboard The short answer to your question is No...the long answer is also No There are several hundred rules-of-thumb, so you'd really have to be much more specific. I used to think that nuclear fission was complicated, but that was before I got involved in fishing Roger

I have also found that to be true Paparock, in fact, practically all my smallmouth bass lures sport at least some chartreuse color (largemouth lures too, when available). Among other lure manufacturers, Mepps has studied the underwater visibility of colors. Many years ago it was found that chartreuse was the "only" color to be easily seen in both clear water and muddy water (rather unique). No matter how enticing the lure may be, if the fish fails to see the lure, there will be no strike. I don't believe that fish are turned on by the color chartreuse, I believe that chartreuse lures may be more productive because they're more visible than most other colors [ BTW: Orange is another highly visible color, but unlike chartreuse, it is grossly overlooked by anglers ] Roger

You will hear varying opinions as to the water temperature range of bedding bass (~55 to 75 deg). Moreover, you will personally witness bass on the bed during a wide range of water temperatures. My theory is this: Water temperature is a coincidental event used by fisherman to determine the spawning season of bass. I believe that bedding activity is dictated by "photoperiod" (length-of-day), a far more stable phenomenon than water temperature. There are many spring-fed lakes in central Florida that maintain a year-round water temperature of 72 degrees. Regardless, once every year the bass move up to the bedding grounds during the traditional spawning season. Are you beginning to see my point? Roger

I never use a swivel with hard baits. If a swivel is going to cause a major improvement in lure action, the manufacturer will supply a split-ring or swivel (they want their lures to work and to sell). Whether spinning or casting I always try to avoid the use of extra hardware, which is an added expense, an extra weed-trap and an eyesore. There are times nevertheless, when a plain swivel without a snap is very useful. In freshwater, I use a Rosco Size-12 Black Barrel-Swivel (20-lb x 3/8). Though I try to avoid the use of a swivel, 3 cases come to mind when they're very useful: 1. Carolina Rig 2. Live Bait Rig 3. Trolling (Sampo ball-bearing swivel) Roger