scaleface

I usually dont even know when the bass are spawning . The water is too dirty to see beds . In the spring , I simply fish shallow cover than fret over spawning bass.

I set the hook as soon as I detect a strike . I seem to get better as the day goes on . I have many a "Doh" moments early , when I realize I just missed a fish .

I picked Tyler Rivet .

Patrick Walters Summerville, SC - B Drew Benton Panama City, FL - C Kelley Jaye Dadeville, AL - D Jeff Gustafson Keewatin, NT - E Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA

Rogers Big Jim Rapala Fat Raps Storm Wiggle Warts Rapala Crankin Raps Rebel Deep Wee R's Bomber Model A's' Norman Deep Little N's Berkely Dredgers Strike King Red Eye Shads

9lb 4 oz

No , but I dont need to . I've been fishing it since the 70's and know it pretty well . I'm glad its not mapped .

Its an old lake . Electric motor only .

Hunnewell lake in northeast Missouri .

Navionics its completely blank .

The public 200 acre lake I fish a lot isnt even shown .

I fish a 200 acre lake that I cant find a map for . Its elec motor only .

Then it would not take long to chart the lake with the depth finder.

I dont throw them a lot . When I do its usually a Yum Swurm in vegetation .

Heres an antedote on how difficult it is , for me anyways , to identify species of fish with a depth finder . I saw a lot of bassy looking arches on this point . I fished it with cranks and plastic worms with no luck . I tied on a jigging spoon and started ripping it off the bottom . After a little while I hooked into one and reeled in a huge gizzard shad that was snagged in the belly . This thing was around 15 inches long . So I'm guessing all those text-book arches were big shad .

Thats a big question and there is not a short answer . I'm not an expert by any means but heres a quick run down on how I often find bass using my electronics . First thing I look for is the thermocline . This time of year there wont be one where I fish , there might be where you are . If you dont know what a thermocline is , do a search . If there is a thermocline that is the maximum depth i will fish . Now there are a lot of different species of fish in the lake and I dont know what a bass looks like on a sonar . I look for a depth zone that appears to have a lot of baitfish . If I find a depth that seems to have a lot of baitfish then I go to the points or other structure and see if the baitfish are the same depth there . If they are I fish it . It just simplifies things for me and makes it faster .

Get a mold and pour your own lures or sinkers .

I say dont eat and use that money to buy more sticko's .

Anything 3/16th ounce or over . I/8 ounce use your spinning outfit . I rarely fish with lures that light so use baitcasting almost 100 percent of the time .

I was night fishing two summers ago and saw lightning in the distance . So I headed in and put my stuff up . The storm stalled several miles away and dropped five inches of rain on Clarence Missouri . I sat on the tail gate of my truck and watched the lightning show for over an hour . It was impressive . The sky was spider webbed with lightning from the storm too over my head .

If your jerk bait is picking up crud on every cast but another angler is doing well with one then try one that runs shallower and hold your rod tip high . What kind of jerk bait are you using ?

A two legged salamander ?

Check your guides for cracks . Take a q-tip and twirl it in the guides and see if it snags .

Turtles have to eat too .

Ha! I've done that too .