gallowaypt

Great information here that I assume came with years of experience. RW, the puzzle comparison really helps me to look at the lake in sections, rather than as a whole. I guess the first thing I need to do is study the basic elements of each lake (i.e. coves, points, channels) and see how they relate to one another so that I can locate and fish these elements while on the water more easily.

You all make such good points that I'm torn! I'm getting them by this weekend, so I'll let you know what I went with. Again, thanks for all the knowledge and suggestions. One more quick question - can someone give me the rule concerning lens color? I'm hoping to be able to see fish in the creek at depths of 1-3 feet when the water is not so clear and lighting conditions are not perfect-can't beat pullin bass out of a creek you could jump across!

Would this app benefit someone trying to Fish big bodies of water from land?

Hey bassresource! I have fished from the shore of a large lake (lake ray Hubbard) a handful of times last season, albeit in the dead heat of a Texas summer, and was skunked each time. The thing is, I have no confidence in finding the fish on these big bodies of water. Being so used to fishing creeks with visible cover and small ponds with obvious grass etc, I have zero confidence when throwing into such a vast area, unaware of where the structure and cover is. I know that I need to start with a topo map of the lake to see if I can reach any points from shore, but what other pointers might y'all (I know but I just can't say you guys!) suggest for a landlocked angler on a big body of water? Oh yeah, Lake Ray Hubbard is a man made reservoir that covers some 23000 acres. Thank you all for your help and God Bless!

I just read through all the comments, and I greatly appreciate the suggestions. I have owned (past tense) 3 different pairs of 100 dollar oakleys, and thy have all met their demise in one way or another. Introducing water to the equation, now that I fish, scares me into wanting the Berkeley Sk or gander mountain options.

If they're 20 dollars and they work great, you can't beat that! Thanks Francho

If I have a 50 dollar budget for a pair, which brand can I get that isn't complete crap? This is my first pair and I have a tendency to lose shades, so nothing too fancy is necessary.

Thank you for the insightful post Tom. We did put several cedar trees in the very center that I forgot to mention. Should we add any other structural elements (if this is even possible) to help add more nursery areas? I just don't want the fish that we already have in there to die because of my lack of pond management. Thanks

Forgot to mention that the pond is shaped like a bowl and only gets deep (10 ft max) in the very middle. Sorry for thread jacking-not my intent!

Since someone brought up total bass lbs per acre of water, it made me think of my half acre pond. We put around 30 bass in it this last season after digging it deeper during a bad dry spell. There are probably about 70 lbs of bass, give or take, in the half acre pond. I have stocked the pond with around a total of 150-200 bluegill, ranging in size. There are also plenty of insects/frogs around the pond during the spring and summer. If the avg. size bass is around 2 lbs, do you think we should catch and keep a few of the smaller ones, or let them do their thing and see how it plays out over the next few seasons?

Seriously though, I've been Lurking on this forum for almost a year now, and your writing has greatly improved from what I see!

I would just slow roll them and swim them over the top of grass or lay downs. I don't use them Much because of the heavy cover and vegetation I fish. With the exposed hook, they would probably hang up more times than not.

That's an average of 32 fish per trip! I think you're being modest.

I found a Gambler floating worm at bass pro.

Weightless and sometimes with a weighted swim bait hook over the top and through grass is where I have the most luck. Either let sink to the bottom and give slight raises of the rod, or swim with different cadence twitches. They seem to hit in between twitches on the fall a lot.

I generally only use ribbon tail worms on a t-rig 1/16-3/8 ounce weights, usually. I have tried them weightless, but I feel that there are much better options like a trick worm, senko, or other style finesse worm for this application. I work them the same as any other worm- dragging, short hops, etc.

Awesome, thanks gripnrip!

What are the advantages of flat sided cranks? Times to use over other cranks?

They make good hooks. I've never had one bend, but then again i'm not hooking into monsters on a regular basis either.

Thanks for all the recommendations guys. I ended up going with the sellus

It's 2.99 for two 4 inchers and the same price for 5 3 inchers. Not a bad price at all if they produce

I'll check out that sellus for sure guys thanks. And Bass Ninja, I looked at that ethos as well and it looks good. If it performs like my m/h fast ethos I already have, I know it will be a good rod!

So I have my rod collection built up to the point that I can fish bottom baits, weightless plastics and top waters, but I'm still in the need of a rod that can handle shallow to medium cranks. I just got an Academy gift card so my limit is +or- 50. From my understanding, some good cranking rods can be had near this price point, I just need a little direction. Thanks buddies Galloway

I now watch this show every night before bed (muCh to the dismay of my wife who has to try and sleep during it)Great show Mike!

Fished weightless it has a slow, tantalizing fall that the bass around me love during tough biting periods.