Randall

Thanks Fourbizz. I had a real good year and lots of things went my way except for the drought closing down Varner at the end of the year. Its going to be hard to top it in 2008.

Here is my post. want a fifteen pounder in '07. I saw a couple on Lake Varner last year during the spawn that I am guessing were around 15lbs and there was a 15lb floater found this past summer so I know they are in the lake. I lost a 15lb 8oz fish a couple years ago only to have a bank fishermen catch it the next day and the only way to get the picture out of my mind of that fish throwing the hook is to catch another one just as big. Here is my fish 15lbs 12oz.

Well, I dont know how I missed this one. Good stuff here. Everything that has already been said by Catt, RoLo, LBH, Fourbizz, Matt Fly, and most others here I have experienced and agree with. One thing to add is since its multiple reasons on when and why fish spawn when they do you can't take one thing like temp and figure out when it will start or when prespawn will start although if you fish a lake enough you will have a good idea of when they are likley to happen. Winter temps here in GA also have an effect on gestation period. For example if its been a cold winter, since bass are cold blooded ,the eggs take longer to develop and even if the temps hit the right temps for prespawn , spawn, etc and the photo period and time of year is right those fish still will not spawn until the eggs are ready. If its been a very warm winter the eggs develop faster and even if the water temps fall way below the usual prespawn and spawn temps come late winter or early spring the fish will still go into a prespawn stage. The key is putting all of this info together as well as the current lake conditions and knowing where and how to fish for the most and biggest fish. I also make a note during the winter of where the coolest water is in the lake so I have a clue as to where the last spawning and prespawn fish will be found. In many years this cooler water is in the deeper areas of the lake and in other years its the areas with the shallowest water in the lake depending on the weather. I have also seen the quick warming shallow water areas that LBH is talking about and that's where I usually find the first prespawn fish but not always. These first ones are usually grouped by size and I can sit my boat on a migration route into shallow water and let the fish come to me without ever moving the boat at times. Last year I fished two small spots on one shallow creek channel going into the shallowest water in the lake for a month catching waves of these feeding prespawn fish. I never left the spots which were within 50 yards of each other until the day was over. I went there every morning and fished there all day. The fish just came in waves and you couldn't catch all the fish coming through into the shallows. It might turn off for fifteen to thirty minutes before the next wave came through. One day I never moved the boat for five hours and we never made a cast anywhere else except in one twenty foot by twenty foot spot. We had five that went around thirty-five pounds out of around fifty fish It was nice as a guide to fish for almost a whole month and fish two areas about 100 feet long each and never have to find any more spots to fish or worry about beating the same fish until they wouldn't bite. You got fresh active moving feeding fish that hadn't seen a bait all day long. In this area fish will not spawn because of the bottom makeup and after the last wave of feeders comes and the fish start to leave to build beds and spawn I have to go find more prespawners in another area or find some spawners but its fun while it lasts. I don't think fish move shallow to recon a spawning site until they are ready to spawn. They move to feed and then move back out and suspend since the deeper water offers safety and the shallow water offers more food and ambush areas. I say this just based on where I have caught a few fish at different times and have seen the same fish caught in a prespawn area that wasn't near the area I found it spawning in later. And from just watching fish in clear water during prespawn and spawn. Its just a guess though and it don't really mater as long as I can find and catch them. ;)I don't care why they are there just that they are there and that they will bite. On lake Varner the toughest time to catch a big female is during the spawn unless you are really good at fishing beds or really good at swimbait fishing. Our best bite for the biggest fish is usually when the water is 48-55 after that it's tough to catch the big ones. There are a bunch of reasons for this. One is that there is a lot of big forage in the form of big gizzard shad shallow with the bass and the bigger bass just need one big shad a day to feed on since the water is still cool and they aren't digesting very fast. This is where a big swimbait comes in but its a tough bite. There is also a lot of fishing pressure and moving fish which means the fish don't school as tight or in big numbers as they did when the water was cooler. I have also seen the fish spawning shallow in deep timber over deep water and fish suspended just under the surface in deep open water during the spring. Most of the time I have seen this it is during a very fast warming period where the water makes a big jump from cold to warm temps in a couple of days time. I saw this last year during very erratic unstable weather during the spring. I could guess that the water warms so fast the fish just make a verticle move instead of having time to adjust and make a horizonal move shallow or that the deeper water is more stable but I am happy with just knowing to check for it when I see conditions that I can relate to that happend in the past. Good topic, posts and lots of things I could go on with but its past my bedtime.

Originally posted by: Hawg Bass Assassin on 6/18/2007 8:08:35 PM Went down to the creek Friday night after work and pulled this nice 1 out. She went 10 lb 1 oz 25" long (Insert photo from HBA's avatar here which can also be found in this post on bassresource http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1196437785/0#0 ) Then went back down to the creek Saturday morning & pulled this 1. She went 9 lb 8 oz & around 24" long---- Hawg Bass Assassin (Insert photo from link below here) Back to top I cut and pasted this off another fishing site. Notice the date on the post. The fish in his avatar and his previous post with the fish lying on the real green grass from his previous posts (see link below)on Bassresource are the same fish. He posted both photos together on the other website and said he caught them on back to back days which are listed as days in June with two different weights. He posted the same fish on the other website but the stories don't match with what is posted here. Here on Bass Resource one was caught in fall http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1197747892/0#0 When was it caught? Maybe June? But who knows?Looks like a lie on both sites to me. I was on to him from many posts back when he posted the same fish twice and the others looked like the same fish twice.

I noticed the tree right off when I first saw the post a few days back. I can't believe it took this long for someone else to notice. Then I noticed a few other fishy things and had to be skeptical and dig a little. I am going to wait and see how long it takes the detectives to find the other fishy things. HBA Weather warm or cold has very little to do with trees. Its mostly photo period and we are way past any chance of green leaves even if its 80 degrees. Nice fish though.

Grinding a crankbait into the bottom that dives much deeper than the bottom is the most overlooked mistake in throwing crankbaits. Some people even do it on purpose and think it produces more strikes. If you are throwing a crankbait that dives to 16 feet at a speed that allows it to dive to 16 feet into 10 feet of water it will not have as much wiggle action or deflection as a 10 foot diver 10 feet of water that barely touches the bottom. It simply kills all of the action even if it stirs up the bottom. The very best crankbait fishermen can hit a stump in 15 feet of water that sticks up a couple of feet off the bottom with out the bait ever hitting the bottom at all before it hits the stump. This gives the bait the very best action and deflection to trigger a bite from a fish holding on a stump, brushpile or other object under the water.

I love reels with flipping switches but it is always the first thing to break on my reels. They usually last six months to a year with almost everyday use unless you do something that breaks it. I just learned to fix them myself and keep a couple of extra parts around so I have the part when it breaks. They allow you to start the retrieve or hookset faster or easier since the reel is engaged once you let off the thumbbar.

I don't add weight often but if you need to add weight you can stick some lead nail weights or smaller mojo type weights in the bait and glue the holeback shut. One of the big fish that Doghouse caught in the photos came after a jig bite shut off in the winter in cold water. So, before he moved to another spot he let the bluegill fall all the way to the bottom and was fishing it like a jig real slow in 16 feet of water letting it just sit on the bottom. Before he even knew he had a bite the fish had swam off with the bait and almost swallowed it. It works great as a jig in the winter and I have also caught fish by pitching it to stumps like a jig.

It"s a much better topwater fished real slow.

Thats a big fish lake. Its a shame its private . Its got trout and a few big fish kinda like a California lake. I have seen a couple of fat teen size fish that came out of that lake.

Its the best bluegill bait made . I have fished them in GA where we have plenty of big fish and in the mountains of Western NC where the fish on the average are much smaller. As long as you have bass and panfish they will work. I have won several tournaments fishing them and my biggest bass weighing 15lbs 12oz was caught on one last year. I fish them by swimming them and by using them like a jig on the bottom. I consider them very affordable for a quality made swimbait.

Good to hear. How did the action of the rod behave? Was it more F, or hopefully a bit more moderate? It's a fast but still has enough flex in the tip to be an ok small swimbait rod. I went back to Bass Pro today and played with a few more rods trying to decide what I want. I am leaning toward more of a fast action with a bend in the top 1/3 for my swimbaits now getting away from heavy moderate rods that had a bend farther down. I have that inshore rod that I have lost zero fish on and it has a fast action so I think I am going to go more in that direction now until I lose some fish. ;D I think a couple of the more moderate rods I was using was giving to the really big fish to much allowing them to shake their head more on top and causing me to lose a couple of teen size fish that I should have caught. I am thinking about the Extreme for the KM and Mattlures and using braid more often insted of the fluro to bring the fish in faster.

I don't clean it. Straight to the garbage with it.

Chris, That should be fine for smaller swimbaits. I borrowed one today to try out since I knew they were on sale on line and threw an eight inch triple trout (over two ounces) on it with no problem. I am thinking about getting a couple for the same reason you are. Its just hard to put a seven and one-half to eight foot rod in my boat without it getting in the way sometimes when there are three people in there. The butt section going in the handle saves some extra space. It's in no way the best rod for the job but it will work in limited space. I also have a seven foot inshore rod I use for the bigger baits that works on saving space but forces me to make much shorter casts than I would like to.

I just brush it on straight out of the package. If you get it on too thick it will run and bunch up in one spot but I never have had a problem as long as I spread it out thin as I can with a good brush with lots of small fibers in it.

I use a Dremel tool with sanding attachments, devcon 2 ton with the long drying time and white nail polish. Sand paper might be better than the dremel tool since if you mess up with the dremel tool it can do some damage. I use a dremel alot making baits and doing bait mods and I still mess some baits up but it is so much faster than hand sanding. If you want to add glitter get the smallest finest glitter you can find for the best results and mix it into the epoxy as you mix it then paint it on.

First you need to sand back the lower lip on the Pop-R to more of the shape like the lures you want it to imitate. All are a little different but my best modified Pop-R and the only one that has ever caught a ten pounder is the one in the photo so if you can get the lip looking like this one it will work. Its the one I try to copy everytime I start doing mods on POP-Rs. The lure in the photo is a Super Pop-R which is longer and slimmer than the Regular Pop-R. It needs nothing but the lip sanded down and face painted white. Then a little Devcon 2-ton epoxy brushed back over the face of the Pop-R to seal it back so it doesn't leak around the line tie or have the paint come off. The reason for painting the face white is so the fish sees a flash of white everytime you pull it and the face goes under. Red that comes on the lure face doesn't make a good flash. You should also replace the rear hook with one tied with chicken feathers, the smallest flashabou or both. These have better action in the water both when moving the bait and most important at rest You can get both feathers and the flashabou in a fly fishing store and learn to tie your own rear hooks pretty easily. On a regular Pop-R you also need to sand down the sides of the bait flat so the bait is slimmer and lighter. The slimmer lighter bait comes through the water with less resistance (slimmer and floats higher) and looks more like a bait fish shape. The idea bait is sanded down as thin as you can get it without the bait breaking. I also like to find the lightest hooks I can find that are still strong enough to hold the fish to make the bait lighter to float higher. Other things you can do is add glitter into the clear coat to make more flash and help break up the solid outline of the bait. (Works like camo on the surface) And find one that is clear under the paint and sand everything off in the process then clear coat it to make a clear bait for bright sunny days when the fish usually sees a painted bait to well.

I have been trying to get in touch with him for more than a month. No response.

Time of year is real important in where you go. Some lakes topwater bites peak at different times and if it were me here is where I would go and when I would go if I were going with a guide. If you want to topwater fish in late spring /early summer I would call Ryan Coleman at Lanier Spots (www.lanierspots.com) and tell him you just want topwater fish and ask him when the best time is to go just for topwater. Lanier is probably the best topwater lake in the country when the time is right and Ryan is a great guide. Since I was recomended my best topwater fishing is during mid Summer often in the middle of the day (keep in mind it's usually HOT) on two different lakes just South of Atlanta. One lake is a numbers lake (lots of one and two pounders) and the other is good for big topwater fish in the four to seven pound range but usually fewer bites. In the fall I would go to Guntersville and I would suggest Troy Jens for a guide as well and that seems to be when the topwater bite is best there. Also, keep in mind no matter who you go with that there is no guide that can get the conditions for a good topwater bite everyday and you need to let the guide know in advance what you are looking for in a trip but also have realistic expectations and know that sometimes to get the fish to bite you may have to do something else.

I have some giant cranks (Musky and Saltwater) that I use for big fish in a stumpfields but rarely use them anymore. Storm Kickin' Minnow (six inch)started outfishing them all in the stumps for big fish. The bill on it lets it deflect off stumps like a crank and it catches way more fish than the cranks ever did. I still use the cranks to get down better deep on fast retrieves sometimes but prefer the Kickin' Minnow on medium and slow retrieves.

Braid will cut like butter on rocks but is great in grass :-/if you need that much force to get the fish out. Braid is less sensitive when the line is slack but most sensitive when it is pullled tight :-/. I like fluro myself and consider it the best jigging line since it is the all around most sensitive and abraision resistant line but will use braid in really thick grass where the fluro will break off more. I haven't seen Brent's but that curly thing is a spring that you screw the bait onto I think. I like Gmans jigs too but he don't make 1/16 or 1/8 oz :(which is what everybody including me uses around here where I fish.

I got another one as well. Got these just a couple of days back. If you are like me and want to horse the fish in sometimes this hook is made with a Mustad Ultra Point just like on a flipping jig. Most jigheads have lighter hooks but not this one. It isn't the best grass jig since it catches some grass but it has a great 5/0 flipping hook on 1/8oz and up jigheads. I couldn't find a 5/0 anywhere on an 1/8 oz jighead until they sent me some samples to try. It has dimples in the head and they took the lead from the dimples to make a larger diameter head for better feel and to come through rocks and skip better. It has a great keeper that won't let the bait slide without the springs etc. that take up part of the hook gap and interfere with a good hookset. This may end up being my head for flipping in heavy wood cover and rocks with brushhogs where I would normaly have to use a skirted jig for the bigger hook. Its made by Git-Bit baits here in GA. They don't have a website finished yet but have a number on it to call and are just starting out but this is a good jighead and their first product.

For grass and rocks and pretty heavy line and a medium heavy rod this is the best I have found. It has a football shaped head that comes through rocks and a unique hook that helps it come through grass as well. Its made by Strike Zone Lures and is called "The perfect jighead"I believe. The keeper doesn't get in the way of the hookset like on most jigheads and the hook is big enough for brushhogs. It looks different but it works.

When the water hits 55 we start seeing beds in the South too. Most fishermen also believe the spawn is almost over when the water gets to 65 and up down here also. In clear water the fish spawn deeper as the water warms deeper. I am still catching big fish off beds in mid May when surface temps are way up in the seventies down here. Most fishermen are just looking shallow for spawners and since they don't see any in one to two feet of water they believe they are done when most are still spawning. Also, there are way too many myths and lack of knowledge among fishermen about spawning fish to have this type of conversation and get much real factual info or an agreement. From my experience everyones view is based on what they have heard, read, or seen and much of that info is misleading or just isn't true. It is my judgement based on studying and catching spawning fish everyday for three months of the year for the last five years that it may even help lakes like I fish in the South. If I came North to your state I may not fish for bedding fish the way I do now based on the fact that you may not have the same conditions for the fish that I do here. As for your question, if that female is about to drop her eggs any second or is dropping them and you put her in a livewell then she usually will still drop her eggs in the livewell so those eggs are gone. If you take that same fish to the ramp and release it then it will find its way back to its home range/area and may spawn again a little later on the same bed or another bed in that same area. If the eggs are not dropped in your livewell or in the water on the way into the boat then it may drop them on the way back to its home area in the water without putting them on a nest. This is all based on things I have personally seen from years of fishing for and watching spawning fish.

Muddy, what are you looking for in a jighead? All jigheads are different and some are better at different things. What line you use, what rod you use, what type of cover etc. all makes a difference in which jighead is best. How you like to fish it makes a big difference. Many jigheads to me are just a gimmick designed to catch fishermen instead of fish but some are well thought out and work for what they are designed for. None that I have tried yet work best for everything. Since it is something I use a lot in different situations I am in the process of trying some different ones from a few different small companies that really understand what really makes a jighead work and are unique and different from most of what is out there to use in different situations. I did this because most companies didn't make what I was looking for and it limited when I could use a jighead. Often, I had to use something different than a jighead like a skirted jig because nobody made a good BARE NAKED JIGHEAD that did what I wanted it to do. So far I have found one for all but one situation which is pitching to heavy grass like hydrilla on heavy line and I am still looking for a company or person that can make this jighead for me. I have found some that were OK but not a perfect one yet and I still have one or two to try a little more. But since I have tested a bunch and went out looking for different ones I bet I can probably give you a good example to use for what you want it to do. So, what do you want to use it for?