scaleface

I've been fishing the same patterns for decades . Those are seasonal patterns. Some patterns I only get on one time and can never repeat it.

I have never given ph a thought. I know they use to have ph meters but I never fooled with them. I did have a light and temperature probe that I used a bit. If there was a thermocline the light and temp would plummet at that depth .

Its a bet . Just kidding. Every depth finder I owned showed thermoclines , brush , fish... Not in great detail but they did. Even my old flasher unit would .

I didnt know Missouri did that. Pretty cool. Nice display you made .

Looks like most fish are caught above the band that shows up on the fish finder and not inside it , which is what I have experienced . Just wanted to make sure I wasnt missing out . I'm not to old to read , learn and experiment.

I went in the spring and there was no thermocline that I can remember. I was fishing what was the shore line before the water rose .

I fish for carp often. I chum the area with a can of whole kernel corn. I chum a large area and then concentrate a lot of it where I am fishing. I then put two or three pieces of corn on an octupuss hook carolina rigged with a 1 ounce sinker. I place my rods {7.5 foot flipping sticks with 15 lb test big Game] in good rod holders that are poked deep into the ground. Then tighten the line up to where there is no slack. Pop open a beer and turn on the baseball game. When a carp sucks it in it feels the resistance and they will usually bolt , hooking themselves in the process. You will think that the rod is going to be pulled in the water but I havent lost one "yet" . Its a lot of fun .

So , was the thermocline showing up at 18 to 22 foot. And you only fished in that zone ?

The only time I got into smallmouths on a reservoir real good was at Bull Shoals while it was in flood stage . Caught fish for five consecutive days at 30 to 35 foot .

The thermocline llocally is usually 15 to 20 feet. They are not deep , clear lakes like in the Ozarks of southern Missouri. These lakes are shallower and murkier . On the lake I fish most it has been unusally shallow this year with the top of the line at around 13 foot .

He already has a depth finder. It wont do any good if it is not used.

The Rick clunn baits at Wal Mart are pretty good. I dont remember who makes them. At five foot the Rapala Fat Rap is one of my all time favorites but they are not a Square bill.

It looks like the fish are above the upper layer of the thermocline which has been mu experience .

The first thing I do when I hit the lake is find the thermocline with the depth finder. I never fish deeper because I have never had any luck deeper. Matter of fact I usually dont even fish to the thermocline. Say it is at 15 foot , I will usually fish to around thirteen feet simply because that is where my success has come from. The question is do you guys catch fish in the thrermocline very often ? When I say in , I mean where it shows up on the depth finder .

The fish in my avatar were caught with a cane pole .

Glad to see so many other thrifty anglers .

Those are cool. I never seen a humpy with the screw in the head and I dont recall seeing that shad bait. I would have to make a few cast with them .

Points .

I didnt know they still published bass times. If its the same format as it use to be it is a good one . Bassmaster , I subscribed to it for decades and let it expire this year. They adopted the Maxum magazine format and I wasnt reading them cover to cover like I use to. It got to the point where I would go through the first twenty pages and not get to an article and just lay it down and never finish it .

Go to fishing articles at the top of the page . The first choice in the pop downs is fishing for beginners . Read those . All us guys will just confuse you because we all have different suggestions .

Its just like day time fishing. You try to match the lure to the conditions. I havent fished as much as some others on his forum at night but go 1 to 5 times a year for about 35 years. I almost always try to get on a buzzbait bite simply because I think its the funnest. Buzzbaits on shallow flats have put a lot of big fish in the boat. Spinnerbaits are a go to lure also , if buzzers are not working. Out deeper on the flats I use spinnerbaits , crankbaits and worms.. Lilly pads : Spinnerbaits , buzzbaits and worms . Riprap dams the same four baits . I went last week and caught one of the longest bass I ever had but it was real skinny. Wouldnt surprise me if it was an 8 lber earlier this year . I caught it shallow on a main lake point with a shallow diving crank .

I have one of those with the lead piece sticking out of the bottom. I whittled it down to where it suspends .

Try to eliminate water. You have a fish finder , that should show you the thermocline in the summer. Water deeper than that , eliminated.

I'd like a completely silent crankbait , not even hooks and split rings rattling .

A top water that will back up when twitched . I actually have a prototype carved , I need to add some hardware and try it. Might be impossible to do , kind of like a perpetual motion machine is impossible .