bazzelite19

If a bass is exposed to sun and is up shallow especially if they are around grass they will be a dark green almost black color with a defined black longitudal line. If the water is muddy or bass are deep they will mostly look silver or light colored with minimal countershading. The sun is what causes thier pigments to expand and look darker. On the contrary they contract with lowlight. They blend into thier surroundings to survive as fry and hunt efficiently as mature adults.

Try starting off using spinnerbaits. Wal-Mart sells them for $1 and they will catch some hawgs despite the price. With a spinnerbait you can get used to feeling the blades thump which will develop your sense of feel. A crankbait is also excellent for this. If youre bank fishing go buy some strike king kvd 1.5 cranks. Spinnerbaits will come through more varieties of cover cleaner most often though. If you aren't sure about getting strikes try a topwater so youll know for sure. Once you catch some fish on a spinnerbait try a jig or texas rig. When you get a bite just start reeling fast and pull back. You dont get as much power setting on a slack line which id natural instinct to wanna do. Only when you reel the slack and stretch out then set do you gain driving power. Consider using braided line so you can feel bites and set the hook easier. Get a good braid though so it won't dig in itself as bad

It seems like bass really like to put thier nose on the bank and root around at night especially in stained water. I will literally parallel the bank right next to the water line along hardbottom spots, hitting any wood or spots that stick out a little. Usually stained water night bassin is a handful of fish mission and maybe a big one. But in clear water or stained water thats more clear( 18" vis or so) you can catch way more then you can during the day if you can fish decently well. Generally i start off with a black rage craw since it has scent and good vibration, i can fish it nice and slow. Rattles cant hurt. A slow rolled chatterbait is also a good option. Squarebills are overlooked ( and maybe a bit harder to fish) but will darn sure snag a inaccurate striking bass. Dont underestimate using lunker sauce or some bang garlic on your slow moving baits. Ive caught a 7 pounder in lake Hamilton Arkansas at night on a piece of cut bluegill, it was actually in 10 foot or so under a dock. But it had to pick up the scent because i was catfishing and not moving the bait. I also had a experience at night where i caught a 2 on a piece of hot dog. Scents can be a positive player. Most people are two lazy or grossed out to use them . but i could see huge advantages using it at night

About 10 degrees cooler from what the summer average was. Those first cooler nights in the 50s or high 40s should do it. Length of day also has a lot to do with it. Naturally the water temp will relate to the night temps more as the nights lengthen. Bites can be good in the morning in early fall but as severe fronts push in loom for that late day bite around 2 pm to dark. Any tributaries with natural creeks feeding into them and that contain natural ditches usually are best. Nutrients flush in after rains and attract plankton, bait, and bass. If you aren't catching any you may not be shallow enough.

- the lightest practical line and the heaviest practical lure will facilitate longer casts. - the dirtier the water, the shallower the fish - when Texas rigging, thread the plastic along the seems so it is straight. Especially with ribbontails- so they swim better. - when rigging a grub be sure the tail curls below the hook so it swims correctly. - use a toothpick for many things. Poke through your texas rig eye to keep your plastic up. Push one through your jig chunk crosswise above the hook so it holds it on. Use them to peg bullet weights in a pinch. Dont twist and break it off to keep from damaging line. Just snip it off flush - to remove a backlash apply pressure to the spool with your cast thumb. Turn the handle while pushing with thumb . pull line out. Repeat if it doesnt work at first. Dont try to force it out and yank on it. You'll damage ur line. Especially with fluoro. - to skip Texas rigs smash a lead weight with a hammer with a toothpick in the hole so you can skip it. -when spooling up a whiffled spool, all you have to do is stick the line in a hole and simply wind it on.. No knots - to make a rod stiffer in a pinch wrap sections of tape around the upper blank bet. Guides -to practice skipping make a short cast and wrap electric tape around the spool. No more backlashes really deep - practice using a hook hone to keep hooks sharp. - use lures in unorthodox ways.. Slow roll a jerkbaits instead of ripping it. Let a buzzbait sink by a dock then rip it hard and let it fall.. What bass actually has seen that? Carolina rig a floating rattletrap. - try using a swinghead jig over a t- rig in sparse cover areas. - to get better action with your texas rig dont peg it. -carolina rigs are still good. They can present a weightless bait deep even in windy conditions. Nothing else can do that. - stop tying full carolina rigs. Use a bobber stop instead of a swivel so you can adjust leader length. And even instantly slide it back down to be a texas rig. And then back up when you need a c rig. If you dont have a bobber stop then try a top brass peg it. - tired of buying neko weights? Try collecting some wire hangers. Cut 1/4 to 1/2 inch sections to stuff in plastics. Works great.

Lol usually these means they are actually spawning or about to spawn. I see this commonly march and April in the midwest. Their eyes turn red to attract mates i believe. Kind of like bluegills will get more vibrantly colored as they spawn. Again, for the purpose of drawing in mates. Just like a bass gets darker in the sun hanging around shallow grass and lighter in muddy water or during winter down deeper thier eyes can change color just the same. I believe that process is called pigmentation. Bass are like chameleons in many ways in that they can change color to thier surroundings to hunt and survive as fry. They have many adaptations. Just like countershading, most fish are light on bottom and darker on top. Looking from below they blend into the lighy sky. From above, the darker topside blends with the bottom.

heres some good basic tips: Most beginners want to cast out to the middle, or to open water, but i would start by parallelling or quarter casting the bank. -especially do this if the water is stained or muddy. Clear water could be the exception. - if the bank is steep (45° or more) fish right next to or close to the bank, if its flat then rolls off out deeper, fish cover on that breakline. - the golden rule in bassin is GRASS=BASS (lily pads,hydrilla, pondered, milfoil). Another cardinal rule is that ROCKS=BASS. You can have a large lake 75% full of silt and smelly muck, like one i grew up by and you will catch every single bass over any place that has some kind of gravel, sand, fossil rocks, lava rocks, chunky limestones, etc. Not to say you won't catch some bass with mud on thier bellies, but in general the stinky muck that smells if you walk on it wont hold much.

Get a 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 oz jig. Or you could get a casting practice plug which weighs 3/8 oz i believe. Get a Folgers coffee container and practice standing on a bucket like if you were in a boat. Its best to put atleast 2 out; one at a shorter range and one further so you dont get caught up in one motion. Fill them with water so youre jig is actually wet too. Once you can hit the coffee containers at will reduce the target size by using a smaller cup. Challenge yourself. Try to get 10 in a row on each target. Dont stop until you can. Im right handed mainly but practice with both. I like to grip the rod in my right hand with two fingers above the trigger, two below. I feel like you get more power that way, but whatever feels comfy. Most people like a longer 7'6 rod but a powerful 7 footer or 7-3 rod will work most often. You can't pitch well with a dead arm. When pitching, the motion from rod up to down, to back up should all be in one motion. No hitches. You may stop on the backcast with a fly rod but this isnt the same. Another key is to focus only on where you want the lure to go. Watch your lure with your perepherials but only with. When you pitch left handed my best tip would be to slow down your reel right before your lure gets to you so it isnt going to fast. That way you can launch it out more accurate. High speed reels have a tendency to want to overwork everything

Big ones can grow in chest deep creeks for sure i caught a chunky 5 two different times before off of a creek bend. Anywhere could be fair game deoending on the creek. Smallmouths love feeding in the current formed just downstream of a ruffle during low-light. Most feedinng occurs at the head of a hole. When theyre inactive fish will seek refuge in deeper pools with cover or under overhanging trees that create shade. All rivers and creeks follow a riffle, hole, run sequence. Riffles are formed because the rocks that are there couldnt wash away. Then all the silt downstream was flushed out from the high current velocity thus creating a hole. Then you have a run which eventually grows shallower up to your next riffle, or sometimes a dam. The ruffle hole run sequence makes it easy to piece together in your head what and why fish are where they are. Of course, if u cant locate much just go upstream until you hit a concrete dam, which will inhibit fish movement any further and therefore collect fish in the scour holes below

Id say look for the largest creek arm or a large one in general. Start at the back and work your way out or vice versa. Look for the third of the creek most bass are using whether its the backs, mid-creek, or the mouths. Then repeat that around the lake. Or just go up the river and flip every piece of cover. Thats how Dustin Connell won in 2k17. Whether you are shallow, deep, or in between youre always looking for baitfish, rocks, wood, anything thats different no matter the depth or structure that's around. Many bass when they actually feed will do so on barren structure contary to popular belief. Barren areas are easier to move around freely on and feast on shad for a bass. Especially in lowlight periods like early morning

The collector - cause I collect bass ya know

My best advice would be to set the hook immediately and reel as fast as you can. Dont set the hook and just hold the rod there without reeling, which will give the bass opportunity to snag up. Obviously of the fish is balled up in grass or pinned to some wood, go to the fish .. Dont horse it. Also consider this, say you make a parallel cast to a long piece of wood with short stubs and branches sticking out, you get a bite.. But you can't pull the fish away from the wood so it dives under and breaks you off. If you pitched perpendicular to the wood why then you can pull the fish out into open water instead of trying to pull the bass to you through wood and branches.

Id say that depends on water clarity. Stained/muddy water will call bass and shad up shallow more generally. In clearer water they may be deeper, like 10-30 feet. Fall is still a time that most bait/bass are scattered about until they group up more come winter. Some fish wont leave deep water if they live there and some of the larger shad dont actually leave to the creeks. Many of the creek dwelling shad are young of the year shad. Most bass in a typical lowland lake should be in that 1-8 foot zone.

You have the hardest part already covered being that you live in Texas. Obviously florida, Texas, and California are the top 3 states in the u.s. for donkey bass. Mexico has probably more catch rates per hour of lunkers then anywhere however due to all the forage down there like tilapia. Just living in texas puts you at a advantage. Everywhere and anywhere you cast at anytime has good potential. Most lunker bass have been shown to come on normal to large size plastics firstly. Plastics like a zoom ol monster or rage anaconda. Large 7" senkos also can be good. Jigs are probably just as good as plastic. Obviously 4-8 inch swimbaits are always promising slowrolled along with spinnerbaits. Topwaters like a 130 size whopper plopper or jerkbaits also take biggins as we all know. Dont always think upsize bass only eat large lures as i recall the TX record (18.18) was taken on a crappie lure. I myself have caught many large bass (some up to 8#s) on micro in-line spinnerbaits and roadrunners. Just experiment. Another solid option is to target lunkers at night. Any time of year. A 13 lber was caught after dark in january once so dont be suprised. Especially do it prespawn- fall. Obviously you want 2 foot visibility ( clearer the better) for the night bite. Most of the largest bass will feed at night. I believe a rage craw, a 1/2 oz jig, spinnerbait, and a weedless chatterbait are your best options. A topwater frog can be killer at times but dont forget a whopper plopper, large popper, or even a crankbait will snag slappers that dont strike well. Not as many people fish at night so you're at a good advantage. Just because the water is stained, say 8-18 inches isnt a dealbreaker. Just fish slower with bulkier lures. I often catch some fish rooting for craws with there nose on the bank. You can watch them rolling around in the mponlight. Big bass feel quite secure at night. Good luck!

I was pulling on some seaguar invisX and i noticed it stretched then rebounded about halfway back, but not all the way. This might change brand to brand but its an interesting note.

A hump is a submerged island or ledge that wraps around itself.

Just fish docks that have steeper angled banks and good depth nearby. Shallow patterns in the winter work best ager a good warm weather trend but the biggest thing that will keep bass shallow is stained to muddy water. One thing to remember when fishing docks is to think about where you would fish if there were no docks, and if there is docks there or you can find them then that's an added bonus.

I don't weigh anything unless its a giant and when I do I'm just careful, bass are hardy just be careful with them. Also, don't put tje hook between the gill arches do it on the one between the last arche and the full plate which can take supporting the bass' weight

When you give your baby niece a rattletrap (without hooks) for a rattle toy or hang an a-rig over her bed.

Ok ik fluorocarbon has a greater lifespan then mono from limited water/UV absorption but with that being said how long do you guys trust fluorocarbon before changing it out. I know this can depend on if your tourney fishin or fun fishin but in general how long?

Last year I fished all winter but this year ice has developed a couple inches thick so im guessing its going robbed atleast a few weeks if im lucky until I can hit the water again .

Practice in a garage, or if your lucky you can practice on the water and catch fish all winter. Put some cans up and knock them down. Or flip/pitch into a bucket or cup.

Make sure after a few fish you retie, even if the line doesnt feel fraid, the knot will most likely get weekend from hooksets. Be sure to change your line regularly. Tie the proper knot to, fluorocarbon shatters and cuts into itself without the proper knot, try a san Diego jam knot with fluoro 15 lb plus, anything less you can use a regular san diego. Uni knots also work well with fluoro.

He probably saw the lines moving more and more which means it was getting agitated.

Make sure to have a graphite rod, graphite reels are more sensitive to. Invest in fluorocarbon line, its more sensitive, and hold your combo lightly, to detect bites easier. After a cast, keep semi-slack in your line and peel line as the lure descends. Watch your line close, you'll see it jump if you get a bite. The higher you keep the rid while working your bait, the more sensitive it'll be also, but with your rod at a steep angle be sure tobhave a quick reel to reel down quick and set the hook.