scaleface

I fished mark twain for fifteen minutes yesterday. Its high and muddy. I found bass the first place I stopped. They were hitting big shad shallow. The heat got to me and I could not fish.

Guido.

A lake this shallow bass could be everywhere. I would certainly search the flats up north with a depth finder near the drop offs. Might even troll a crankbait .

Just jump right in and test your skills against the other anglers . If you can catch bass you can compete .

I knew a buddy team that I always suspected of cheating . I knew them personally and thats the type of people they were. They won several tournaments the only year they fished and they were rookie bass fishermen . Another tournament angler I was close too thought the same thing. They quit tournament fishing after that year .

I lost seven lbers on back to back cast . I was fishing a topwater and just got to excited and tried to horse them in.

My favorite popper is an old Rebel Pop R looking bait. I dont know if it is a magnum Pop R or not but its bigger than Pop R's . Its silver with blue back and the old Rebel zig zag line pattern. I fish stained water a lot and this lure is one of my favorite summer time baits. When the sun is out and a slight chop on the water it will catch the heck out of bass that are almost keepers . I fish deep , 40 foot, standing timber with it ,

As much as I love worms , caught a megaillion fish with them , I rarely used big worms. The ones I used the most were made by Fliptail . Big old lime green ones .

Your not going to lose vibration by letting it go deeper. Yesterday I caught two on Heddon Bayou Boogie by letting it fall to the bottom about 10 foot . I wish I hadnt because I lost that irreplaceable lure. I was fishing from bank and knew better than to throw it .

Well yesterday I had to make do with what was available . I was bank fishing and had minimum tackle with me. I took a hollow body swimbait , cut a slit in the belly ,slid in a tube jig head and it worked perfectly .

I fished Bull Shoals during flood conditions and caught fish 30 foot deep. Bull Shoals is clear water though .Muddy water they should be shallow . Ill be fishing flooded muddying water this weekend and will look shallow first .

I've been using them for the first time this year. I use the blue ones the most . I like to add stripes to Scuppernong flavored jelly worms and add a chartreuse tail. It gives it a mottled look. Probably doesnt help any but I think they look cool and cant hurt .

Is it muddy ?

Make sure you get an ABC . BC wont extinguish most fires .I would avoid cheap , plastic handled disposable extinguisher. Lowes has a good extinguisher at a great price .

Do you remove the weedguard , buy them that way or make them ?

Cant answer that for you. Its cloudy and rainy here too and if I was fishing today I'd first try to catch fish shallow on buzzbaits .

I would check everything and retie often. Once I had some bass breaking off too often . I noticed a little curl on my line. One of the guides had a microscopic crack and every time line was retrieved it was shaving off a little .

I usually start catching fish 1 or two hours after complete darkness .

When I first started fishing rip rap back in the late 70's , I often used 1/4 ounce jigs and a mister twister double tail trailer. The two twisting tails caused it to fall slower and get fewer snags. Today there are dozens of choices . Dont let the lure settle . Watch it closely and get it back up as soon as it touches down. After awhile you can anticipate when it will hit bottom and raise the lure back up before it happens .

I fish jigs on 12 lb test . Thats not a problem . Could be just bad luck on that day. We have all had days like that.You migh twant to play the fish a little longer . On jumping fish ,there is always a good chance the lure will come unbuttoned .

You could drive 100 miles north and fish Hunnewell lake. Bring a battery, trolling motor , and throw cushion.The MDC furnishes 14 foot jon boats for free. No personal boats allowed . 50 fish days are the norm. Most are small but it has a fair number of large bass. Theres a 12 to 15 slot limit . The eleven inch bass here are delicious and clean . Avoid Mark Twain lake . Its my local lake and perhaps the most difficult major reservoirs i've ever fished .

I have caught a lot big bass from a pond so choked with slop that everybody avoided it . I'm talking that slimy green moss that sticks like glue and those teeny lily pad looking thing that I always called "duckweed". I take a flat Riverside Top Gun "discontinued" and a heavy flipping hook cast it out and nudge it over the top. I hit any openings and let it sink. The strikes were spectacular the battles were not. I would reel in a seven lb bass and a few pounds of uck through that stuff. The bass cant even put up a fight , it is so bogged down in snot . I'm just reeling in dead weight .

I love catfishing . Summer time on the reservoir channel catfish are easy for me to catch. Its the most reliable pattern I know of for any species fish . Big hard pulling channels . If I get "finned" I get finned . I'm not going to be a sissy about it .

One time the lake was in flood stage and muddy . I was desperate to catch anything . I located a school of white bass off a boat ramp . Fishing jigging spoons I also caught a dipnet , spinning rod and reel combo and two wrist watches . A Seiko and a Timex. The Timex was still working and I wore it for a year or so .

Trying to force bass into hitting something is poor strategy. Go with the flow .