Sam

Provider for jig heads. American Legacy for rods. Tackle Warehouse for baits. Now you tell us!!!

Pearl flukes on Virginia's upper Historic James River above Bosher's Dam are outstanding. But please keep this information to yourself.

Sorry to read about your friend. At least you have some great memories. Condolences to his family and you.

Read an article a few years ago where a study was made about the bass leaving their shallow haunts and going deep for the winter or due to weather conditions. Seems the bass will stay in their area but go into deeper water or move a quarter of a mile in either direction. But they are still close to where they call "home." Even the bass that go on their own "milk runs" during the day seem to gravitate back to their home base.

We are fortunate in Richmond, Virginia as we have BPS, Green Top and Cabela's. Green Top is less expensive than BPS. Product selections vary from store to store, with the major manufacturers' products front and center. Green Top has some baits made by locals which are excellent and inexpensive. For Zoom products, Castaways south of Richmond has an excellent selection. The best by far of any tackle shop in our geographical area.

Hank Parker's HP Classic.

Large wobble crankbaits. Carolina Rig. Check out the Fishing Articles link above for winter bass fishing. If I was in southeast Louisiana I would stay inside, have some seafood gumbo, get ready for Mardi Gras, check out the crawfish, hit some of the local restaurants, get some roast beef poboys "loaded" at Rocky and Carla's (Ladies Welcome) and Serio's and wash it down with a Barq's (Its Good). Just some suggestions to consider. Let us know if you catch anything and what you had for lunch and are planning for dinner.

I am from Louisiana. Too much to write about. Bon Apatite!

Gall, this is what the Forum is all about. Good luck and be sure to buy three of each color!!!! The Bait Monkey loves you.

Many years ago I took my friend, who fishes saltwater, to a friend's private tournament on Lake Gaston. To my horror, he threw a very long, about 10-inches, silver spoon type bait. The spoon was made for salt water. So what happened? He caught a bass a little larger than the 10-inch bait. It was a one pounder that somehow thought he could eat that large spoon type presentation. And there I was throwing a small crankbait!!!!

Tom, when I took lifeguard training a the Y one of the things we had to do was to learn to float with our clothes on. I learned how to blow up my shirt and keep air in it to help me float. And you are right: swimming in a swimsuit vs. fully clothed with shoes on are two totally different situations.

Yep. It's called for the love of the game. Not found in the pro ranks. Glad you are getting into college sports. The basketball and baseball is excellent, too. Welcome to the fun and excitement of college sports.

James, may I suggest subscribing to Bassmaster Magazine, Bass Angler Magazine, BASS Times, Bass Resource.com on Facebook, and start reading about winter fishing? We can give you only so much information. The magazines give you a lot more from the pros. I suggest at suspending jerkbait.

Quarry, you can overuse anything including your favorite baits. However, you have to have confidence in the baits you use. Therefore, you will continue to use your favorite baits in your favorite colors presented in your favorite technique. It is human nature to do this. Some guys, me included, will continue to use a bait far too long than we should have used it but we don't change to another color, bait or presentation. Why? Confidence. We have confidence in the presentation and darn it, we aren't going to change when the bite or pattern changes. As for the bass, they are sneaky animals that can be condition to a specific bait. It takes time and lots of being caught and released. But they will, sooner or later, know that a crazy looking spinnerbait or trick worm is something to avoid. Not all bass have the capability to do this but it happens. Personally, I would not be concerned about the bass becoming conditioned to your baits. There are way too many bass in your pond and since they are aggressive animals they will continue to hit your presentations. I would focus on weather conditions, water temperature, time of the year, the spawn, deeper water, the dam area and using different baits to find the pattern for the day or hour. At my double secret pond, I have clobbered them on Rat-L-Traps, crankbaits, Senkos, spinnerbaits, trick worms and jigs/pigs. No problem with the bass avoiding these presentations even if I use one for most of the day. Go figure.

Whitwolf, as you can note, you have hit a nerve with the Forum members. I like the KVD Red Eyed Shad lipless crankbaits for tournament fishing and the Rat-L-Traps for fun and pond fishing. And there are three types of lipless crankbaits: Rattles - bass are aggressive One-Knockers - normal fishing and bass activity No Rattles - pressured waters At times you may need the "thumping" sound and there are times when you don't. Some of the pros upsize the front hook while others change out to one red hook. If fishing grass, you may want to remove the rear hook to reduce picking up grass. And then you have to realize that you need to know the depth you are throwing the lipless crankbaits and use the ones that go deeper than the depth so they will hit the bottom. Of course, you can try different depths to find the fish and then stay in that depth and lipless crankbait until the bite stops. You also need a "crankbait specific" rod around seven feet and either a medium or medium heavy. Remember to swing the rod left or right to set the hook. We could go into line, reel ratios, colors and a lot more but you asked about specific lipless crankbaits and as stated, I like the 1/2 ounce KVD Red Eyed Shad lipless crankbaits.

Confidence. It boils down to confidence. The techniques you have confidence are the ones you will continue to go back to after trying new presentations. I have a friend who fishes the Carolina rig all year. Yes, he is an excellent Carolina rig fisherman and he can also throw other baits, both hard and soft. But he starts out with a Carolina rig and fishes it at least 80% of the time he is on the water. He does not go for deep diving crankbaits; jigs and pigs; shaky heads; wacky Senkos; and the like unless the Carolina rig is not producing as he expects it to perform. He will then go shallow and throw a shaky head or Senko. And he wins and places in the money most of the time.

Alan, it is critical that you prefish the body of water you are going to have the tournament. You will learn about water clarity, water temperature, baits that work and don't work, structure, cover, piers, docks, ramps, boat houses, current, creeks, coves, marinas, bridges, bait fish and everything else you can see and experience. If a tidal river, you have to do this two weeks before the tournament to get the same tides. You can speak with others; read about the body of water; look at it on Google Earth; but there is nothing to compare to being on the water the day or two before the tournament.

Welcome. Wealth of knowledge on the Forum so ask your questions. Don't disappear on us.

It does go through Sunday. Maybe you and your lovely wife can attend one of the three days. You can ask about that reel you have researched.

Hootie, wood carving is an art that fascinates me. To take a block of wood and carve it into a figure or a bass bait takes a lot of talent. I tried it once but I have a problem "seeing what it should be" and my efforts were fruitless. Post some more pics of your carvings and hopefully the guys and gals will post pics of their creations. Thanks for the thread.

I have a bunch of G. Loomis rods for tournament fishing and it is my opinion that they are very sensitive and are excellent transmitters from the line to my hand and fingers. I love my MH crankbait rod which performs as advertised. However, with that said, I also love my David Fritz Cranking Stick which is an excellent crankbait at a much lower price. Go figure?

X2, but I use it on mono, too. Do not use it on braid.

I was told many, many years ago that heat is not a rod's friend as heat can have an adverse affect on the glue and wrap holding the line guides. I store all tackle in my upstairs man cave in my home and have never thought about how cold could have a negative impact on the rod's composition. And we do have winter fishing and tournaments where the guides get frozen but no one has written about their rod's breaking due to the low temperatures. So take the advice above and don't be concerned about the cold temperatures on your rods.

Calvery, ask your questions and we will do our best to give you our input. Glad having you with us. Welcome to the Forums.

To answer your question: bass in California, Texas, Louisiana and Florida have a longer "growing season" where they grow larger. You are correct when you say you have longer winters in your area than down south. Remember, water temperatures control the bass' behaviors, eating habits and growth rates. So consider having some fun in the future and travel to Texas, Louisiana or Florida and catch some of those monster bass.