scaleface

The bottom " structure " is easy to read . There should be a thermocline that is visible too , if not turn the sens up until you can see interference at a consistent depth . You dont want to fish deeper than that . Look for changes on the bottom shallower or at the thermoclne . They can be humps , depressions , points , ledges. . If you see fish and/or cover at these changes then they might be good spots. Mark them with buoys , so you will know precisely where to target . If you need to use more weight to fish them dont hesitate to do so. Keep an open mind and figure out how to get and keep your baits in the zone youre trying to cover . "Any" lures that sink can be used .

Were all pretty good casters and have to make that bridge piling cast as close as we can .LOL

I'll be catfishing with lights on and the baitfish are drawn to the lights and white bass will be hitting them . You know youre in a good spot when that happens . Theres always catfish down there .

Do you have sonar ?

For that depth the Rapala Fat Rap is a steady producer .

Only twice have I caught bass in cold water and dont know the actual temp so the water may not have been that cold after all . One Nov or Dec I got on a buzz bait bite during a heavy snow . Early one spring I caught a few on a motionless Long A Minnow .Those were rarities though . I have a hard time getting on a good top water bite in summer .

In my waters it wiill most likely win .

I've been there . Its a good learning experience . More times than not the co-angler and I were not the same type of angler . Anticipate your best cast and wait for it , Make your presentation and repeat . You can even throw a t rig and jig like that . I won a couple of small club tourneys from the stern with the boat operator burning down the bank , hogging all the good spots .

I use them quite a bit on buzzbaits because it doesnt effect their snaglessness much and a lot of bass are caught on the trailer . i rarely use them on spinnerbaits because I throw them in tight snaggy cover and feel I will catch more fish without them . I like the ones in bluebassers photo , they stay straight pretty well .

I would be drawn to the cover . Being its clear water a "fast" retrieve with something like a small baitfish looking spinnerbait would be considered . After that I would try to coax fish with soft plastics or jigs,probably going small and natural . Then I would start exploring deeper water with sinking lures trying to find shallower sections .

The water here is so murky in the spring that I usually dont know when the spawn is happening . Early bass are hungry , after the spawn bass are hungry . I just go fishing .

I go in the heat of the summer . My three biggest fish caught the past two years came on full moon nights fishing the same structure as I do during the day. Two came on crankbaits one on a T-rigged worm .

Bass "can" live in a pretty drab world where color is almost nonexistence . Maybe just maybe under these situations a color that stands out from the surroundings triggers a basses curiosity . We will never know for sure but bass fishermen through trial and error have found productive colors for clear to muddy water . My first color choice is based on water clarity and then I will expand from there .

Paddle tail swimbaits have been around for a long time . The first ones I seen I bought from a sports magazine back in the 70,s. They were made in France and had a double hook coming out of the belly. I dont remember the name , something like Vivif .I never caught a fish on them . I have caught hundreds on the Mister Twister Sassy shad . This newest genertaion of baits I just havent used a whole lot . I had a good day with the Yum Money minnow. Another day I caught several bass on brand that I dont know the name of. I bought them on clearnace at Cabelas and they have rattling eyes .

You will get bites on yellow clothes line . Youll get a lot more on 10 lb test . Of course line visibility makes a difference but its a tradeoff on how much strength you need , manageability , castability

LOL . The local fishing reports here are almost always wrong . I will have a fantastic day and a week later the fishing report comes out stating Bass fishing is poor . The two points above I adhere too.. . Long ago I was constantly looking for the right lure instead of the fish . Now I have an understanding of where , when and how to use baits , I switch much less and concentrate on getting bites I dont hesitate to go small . Little baits in the right spots get lots of bites and with numbers will come some nice ones too .

I have a 6'6'' ml casting rod . Shimano Compere . I havent used it in three years .I lost more fish with it than I landed .

Decades ago bass fishermen in clear water figured out that light line got more bites .

Yeah ,its a common practice .A minnow on a marabou jig is a crappie killer I scooped up a freshly dead shad and used it as a bass jig trailer and first cast caught a channel cat .

Hardly ever anymore . Dont really have a reason as to why why I stopped . A popular color in these parts use to be a white skirt with red blades in muddy water .. I once had a 1/4 ounce Fleck Weed Wader with a vinyl grey skirt and white Indiana blades that was a great numbers bait . Even my wife caught fish with it , so it had to be good . In a club tournament the guy I was fishing with won the tourney throwing chartreuse skirt with chartreuse blades . Im pouring my own again and plan on making some .

I've never heard of that product before . Pretty neat . I want some for my terminal tackle box .

I rarely use a trailer hook on a spinnerbait . If I want a little extra weight for casting I'll add a half a Senko type bait .

When bass stop hitting spinnerbaits go small . A little blade that is barely detectable to the fisherman trigger strikes such as on a Beetle spin . I try to mimic the vibration of a Beetle Spin with the snaglessness of a fixed arm . Beetle spins dont jump logs or bounce off snags well . .

Im a worm/crankbait guy too , but I can put a spinnerbait in crannies that I would never attempt with a crankbait .

I fish Manns a lot but if they went out of business tomorrow I would go with Zoom , Mister Twister or some other brand and not miss a beat .