scaleface

Bluegill are great .I use a short rapala fillet knife and cut right through the rib cage , just like on the instructions .Bluegill Euros sound wonderful .

I carved those two out of cedar with an exacto knife, then sanded them smooth .I'm sure there are much faster and easier ways to do it .

I bought a cloth from a lure making company . Dont remember the name of it , and just spray painted over it . I used model paint and a cheap propellant air brush .

Sammy ?

I used Plexiglass. I wanted deep divers so I made them way to complicated. Square bills will be much simpler .

The Rogers Big Jim . Its so underrated they went out of business . I've had tremendous success with it the past four years in both quantity and quality .

I have caught both largemouth and small mouth with shad sides while fishing for channel cat. It happens occasionally .

I made several crankbaits with very little expense. It is time consuming though .You can use any wood , some plexiglass , model paint and some screw eyes .

Dozens of times . it's not uncommon and always a thrill. Will never get tired of it .

I cant tell you the size but I use big Eagle Claw Flipping hook's that I picked up several years ago . The only time I use them is when I am fishing on top of slimy , slop and need to throw a weightless worm , fluke... .It adds enough weight that I can easily cast it with baitcasting gear . One of the best big fish tactics I found .

Lipstick ?

Back in my early years I caught a bass Carolina rigging a Bill Plummers Super Frog . I wanted the frog to look like it was trying to flee a predator and that was the best idea I could think of . I didnt even know what a carolina rig was .

Doug Hannon said he dipped worms in gasoline and still caught fish . But , even though fish are still caught , I " speculate " that over the long run , less fish would be caught .

One year I think I lost every big bass I hooked . I had to rethink my rod actions and not horse them in . Unless I'm texas rigging or fishing jigs I have switched to softer action rods but not to soft .

I use it , I dont like too , but sometimes it is necessary . I dont spray it on my palms .Faster moving lures dont concern me , soft plastics , one could always add some scent .

I won some fishing lures . Even though I have been bass fishing for decades , I dont hop on the hot band wagon and instead fish with what I have accumulated . When the discussion here is about new baits or tactics , I dont even know what they are . Chatterbaits have been pouplar for ten years now , but I never have bought one . Well, a Zman bait chatterbait was included so now I get to see what the decade long fuss is about . Also got some Zman Pop Shads which are very interesting and Zman Palmetto bugs which I will texas rig . Thanks again bass resource , its always exciting to get a package in the mail .

I prefer 7 foot med action graphite for the simple reason that my combos perform multiple task . When fishing from a small boat I carry 4 rods and that crankbait rod is often put to use doing something else .

Theres been times when the sonar would show a lot of clutter off the bottom , sometimes in a wide band . I'm speculating this would be the water mixing and bottom debris suspended ? Am I wrong or correct ?

Are you absolutely positive the fish you are seeing are bass ? 16 days of fishing and only 2 dink bass doesnt seem right , even in the clearest , heavily pressured waters .

Good info everyone . So I'm guessing that the lake I was referring to was in the process of turning over .

Then that would mean southern lakes would never turnover .

Cuz you cant connect em .

Its definately under the slot .

I dont think the intent of the O P was going to the pond and fish awhile . Now a hike and a fishing trip for me is more about enjoying time outdoors than bass fishing .You see in my photo some morels I harvested . iI'll set up a camp , collect and cache firewood , cut a path ... I'm lucky to know a few places to hike to . I just got off the phone with my brother and we were discussing building a foot bridge to make it easier to hike to one fishing hole . Its all good .

I live in Northern Missouri .Theres a 200 acre lake that I fish often . It has a maximum depth of 30 foot All summer I could plainly see the thermocline on the sonar . Early in the summer it was unusually shallow with the top of it at around ten foot , by late summer the top of the band was around 17 foot with a surface temperature in the 80's and 90's. Last week I visited the lake for the first time in more than a month . I could see no visible thermocline on the sonar and the surface temp was 72 . I concluded that the lake had turned and posted it here. Another member thought it was too early for my location and he is probably correct . Heres my questions . Can one tell if a lake has turned over if the themocline is no longer visible ? Could the thermocline itself have dropped deeper and was now not visible because of the relatively shallow lake ? What should the surface temp be for the lake to turn ?