tatertester

They will work, but, i'd be inclined to use more of a finnese worm of fluke type plastic.

I've had good success using suspending crank baits (like a Rapala husky jerk) , and fish it slow with long pauses.....Tight wiggle , slow speed.....In warmer water a wider wobble fished faster .

Number one rule : ya gotta be where the fish are!

Red is killa!

Roadwarrier, Your idea is likely the easiest way to get your feet wet....John

Largemouth bass are best located by finding some sort of cover for them. Weedbeds,lily pads, downed trees , brushpiles , rocks, boulders and boat docks ,are examples of the type cover LM bass use. Use lures to fish in and around this cover such as plastic worms, senkos , floating minnow baits, spinnerbaits, or jigs to name a few.....Smallmouth bass are more of a roamer often being found around rocky areas,and intermittent weeds and wood, and smallies like to suspend in 10-15 feet of water over deeper water .Their depth many times relates to the depth of the first breakline depth ,just out and over deeper water.Lures to use are tubes,plastic worms,grubs on a jighead, spinnerbaits and various topwater lures...Hope this helps.

The right ends of the yellow and upper red line and the bottom red line end is where I would look closely. Bass should be moving deep to shallow and back again near those rises and drops in depth.

Weightless plastics in shallow cover...Cast to the sweet spot and feel that THUNK!....Gotta love it.

My wife is not up on the latest lures, techniques, etc, and just throws a line out with a senko attached, usually just nose hooked.I on the other hand uses various methods to hone my skills and broaden my bass fishing experience......Anyway , she often out fishes me!, and, I'm getting sick of hearing, "I think I got a bite, oh it's a fish!".

Good advice so far, light line, long casts, slow retrieve....Senkos, flukes, smaller swimbaits,suspending crankbaits are all good choices.

When we catch a Northern Pike instead of a Bass , we refer to the Pike as a "snakeuth pikeuth".

Don't ya just love those OUTLIER DAYS?

These lists are very subjective to say the least!......Rating lakes is not an easy task to begin with, and many have their prejudices. There are any number of lakes that could be near the top that are not even on the list. Good conversation tho....A good question might be "which highly rated lakes have you fished that did not live up to their billing?".

69 here

Learning flipping and pitching , and using from lightweight jigs.

Thanks for all the suggestions.... Now I'm lookin at all my maps....Hmmmm!

I live in frigid Minnesota and will be moving further south ASAP.....I am thinking Kentucky, Tennessee, or possibly another area. I'm retired so fishing and everyday living are my main concerns.....Any advice would be appreciated as to just where, what lakes or areas....I've never fished these places, so I need some pointers.....I'm a country boy , so rural small town living is my preference.....Decent bass fishing needed, of course......Thanks

I think a lot has to do with how much commotion is caused when casting and when bringing the hooked fish to the boat....Be as quiet as possible and cast without big splashes.I've watched bass in a very clear lake all scatter when my floating rapala hit the waters surface , but , only to return in a few seconds later to investigate what had invaded their territory.Considering that a rapala floater is a light weight and makes only a small splash, just think how other heavier baits affect bass. I recall one day when I made a very long lobbing type cast over a weedbed of mixed weeds and pads , and fish could be seen ,actually by rippling or wakes , over the entire length of the cast.....I was amazed by that and could only figure that the fish were startled by the shadow of the line and bait while it was in the air.It was a calm and sunny day , yet still was surprising to see how fish were that attentive.

I have a small lake right by my that is one of those shallow weedy lakes. One big pad bed and the rest is assorted weeds. The south shore has a sandy bottom , the rest is somewhat dark and muck.Maximum depth 10 feet, but most of the lake is shallower...I have difficulty finding fish except in and around the pad bed...Good bass numbers and size ,just hard to find them. A current does exist on one end of the lake with a minor channel that exits in another small water.I quess I'm just not patient enuff to sift thru the weeds to find them....What to do?

So its kinda like this....Hey Bass Dude , that was a good one, I'll watch out for that wackyrigged worm coming in at 4 o'clock, and, PLEASE , no more beans, OK.

You must be doing something right so far....I would concentrate on points ,inside turns , weed beds adjacent to deeper water, and any humps or rises in deeper water...That should give you plenty to do.

I know that many consider Chiropractors to be quacks, but, I've found a good one can do wonders for a patient that suffers from back problems that relate to muscle spasms and misaligned vertebrate or hips......Mine gets me pain free with 2 or 3 treatments after I have spasms or extreme pain that make it difficult to even walk......This is not to downplay necessary surgeries or other measures done by a medical specialist or back surgeon....Pillow between your knees when sleeping can do wonders also.

I have had lower back pain for many years....I started sleeping with a pillow between my legs, and that has helped me more than anything else...If I have a flair up, a session of back stretching and lower back manipulation is very helpful.

Spoonplugs with their various depths and trolling technique surely catch bass , but, not nearly as enjoyable fishing as current methods IMO.

I still say spoonplugs prove that bass are suckers for a reaction bait.