nwgabassmaster

Well, I would think that you would need to narrow down which fishing demographic that you are going to reach out to. Certainly, you will not have enough time to cover every species in both fresh and salt water that all anglers could persue. That would take a long time, especially in covering everything that an angler would need to know for each species. Once that is done, I would do what the fish are relating to during that season. If you are fishing spawning crappies, show the folks how to fish for the spawning crappies on that specific body of water, and include specific locations, lures, depths, etc. If you are able to do that, and do so in a fun and informative way, then you will be well on your way. Best of luck in this!

Yes, I would want ANY guide that I hire to fish. You are paying for his knowledge of the lake that he is fishing. You came to him, he did not come to you. Therefore, it's his right to fish when he wants to fish. Also, if the guides do like they do on Lake Weiss, especially for crappies and stripers, you WANT them to fish, cause they will usually give you their catch, so that you have the fillets. They might keep a few of the fillets for themselve, for a meal. However, I do fully expect for the guide to fish. If he's not fishing, then, I worry about the area that he has taken me to.

Normally, that time is when I start throwing my T-rigged soft plastics, the big C-rigs, or the deep diving crankbaits. That is, during the summer time. During the spring and fall, I will throw almost anything. During winter, I will throw a Rat-L-Trap, or perhaps a suspending jerkbait that I fish really slowly.

I use a split-shot that is just big enough to get to the cover that I am wanting to fish. I go about 6-12 inches above that, and that is where my hook is placed, which is a Gamakatsu Finesse EWG hook.

Also, check out www.lurecraft.com

It all depends on what the fish have been doing before the front hits. If they have been sitting around the thermocline, and are still in summer patterns, then, I would fish both days, but I would fish close to the cover. If the fish have been shallow, due to cool water and the fall transistion, I would look a little deeper, but still tight to cover. Remember, humans feel the effect of cold fronts and warm fronts a lot sooner than bass do.

Zoom Finesse Worm, which is 6 inches long. I use a 2/0 EWG hook, and a 3/16 oz. weight. It is a straight tail worm, which will not catch all the weeds that a jig will. I use 3 colors, most of the time. Pumpkin, chartreuse pumpkin, and icicle. If you are only catching small bass, and you know that there are larger bass, you might want to step up to 7 in. finesse worm, or perhaps a GYCB Kut-tail.

Barring this year, in the past 7 years, I averaged 200 days on the water. This year, however, I have only been fishing about 50 times. In the 4 year prior to that, it would be between 50-100 times/year. At the end of this year, I should have around 75-80 trips on the water.

Yankee, you are dead on the head, my friend. If you have a place that has more dying weeds than living, then there will not a stronge presence of any type of fish, as fish will look for stronger areas of stabilized O2. Dying weeds take up oxygen that is in the water, thus, pushing away the fish. Therefore, it is not a good idea to fish these areas. The only time that you would be able to fish them is if the weeds have just started dying, and there are more living weeds than dead, or if all the weeds are completely dead, with none in the transistion of dying. Then, you will be able to catch a few bass from them

I have to disagree, BP. We had just had the remnants of a hurricane that game through in August, I believe. It was well before Hurrican Katrina, and the water in the Coosa River section of Lake Weiss, which is in Georgia, was the color of chocolate milk. The temps were well into the upper 80's. The ONLY thing that I was able to catch my fish off of was a Zoom Finesse Worm, in Icicle. I had it T-rigged, using a 3/16 oz. bullet weight, with a 2/0 EWG Gamakatsu hook. I fished it around rocks that were adjacent to weeds, on a shallow flat that was only 2 ft. deep. I caught 8 bass that day, and I tried everything else in my tackle box. Personally, I like to use natural colors after a rain. Pumpkinseeds, pumpkin, etc. Things like that. I want something that is going to resemble a worm, or even perhaps a shad. Just depends on where I am fishing.

Dustin, I am guessing that is your name. LOL Anyways, YES!, you can walk-the-dog with Senkos, however, it's a very fast presentation. I would only use it with extremely gin clear water, or when the bass are busting on top. The times thatI have done it, though, have just been fishing it like a soft jerkbait. That is, just twitching it, and having it come up and "flick" the top of the water, or having it come completely outta the water. That is when I have had the bass nail it! If you aren't willing to give in to the price of the Senko, try out the Wicked Worms from Wicked Bass. I have tested the lures, they are fatter than the Senko, they don't have the salt content that the Senko has, which translates to a faster fall and more durability, but they DO have the same wiggling action as the Senko. And they don't cost nearly the same as the Senko! Definately worth a shot!

Roadwarrior is right on. For most of the plastics that I use, a 2/0 Gammy EWG is what I use. However, those are on lures that are 5-7" For lizards that are bigger, say around 9-12" long, go with a 6/0 EWG. I like both Gamakatsu and Mustads, so, you just have to check them out and experiment with them.

The Wal-Mart in Trion, where I live, has topo maps of lakes within a 100 mile radius. That includes a lot of the lakes in N. Ga., NE Al., and even a few in SC/NC and Tenn. Check there first. After that, I would check with the local library, but I wouldn't be suprised if they could not help you. Other than that, try a Google Search for the lake that you are interested in, and see what you can come up with.

I have fished jigs for several years now, and although I have had decent success using the "spider jig", I would not trade it over a regular bass jig any day. I have more confidence in a regular jig. However, I find that the spider jigs do really well in winter, when fishing deep water cover, such as brushpiles, etc. It gets down there quicker, and it seems to catch more fish during that time of the year.

Actually, I can see why he would want a Senko-type lure that does float, because I have used Senkos as topwater baits, and I have had great success doing this. So, just because the way you use the Senko is traditional does not mean that his line of thinking was not rational. If a lot more people would think outside the box, when using lures, they would be suprised just how versatile lures can be. Ah, and by the way, I did use a Senko, from GYCB, and it was watermelon/cream.

Anytime you can get to go fishing, take the opportunity. However, with the conditions that you spoke of, I would not waste my time on a small body of water after a front, or even after a series of storms rolling through. The reason that I say this is because if you get a large amount of rain, there will be a huge influx of oxygen, which is not a bad nor a good thing. Also, the pH of the water will change, and for some reason, causes the fish to bite less. Give it a couple of days, and fish it after the water has the chance to get back to normal. As for the cooler temps, unless the rain is cold, then, the water will only cool a few degrees, and might not be enough for the bass to realize that the water is cooling down. Humans feel the change in the air a lot faster than the fish feel it in the water. If you do go fishing, I would say to stay deeper than shallower, and fish slow.

Depends on the size of the shiner that you are going to use. If you plan on using the small crappie shiners, then, you can get away with a medium action rod. If you plan to use the jumbo shiners, which can go 10-12 inches in length, then, I would go no lighter than a heavy flipping stick. The bigger the shiner, the greater the chance for that bass of a lifetime. I would use braided line, on both setups, and a good 3/0 hook.

Without knowing the specifics of what kind of cover that you have available in the body of what that you are talking about, there are three different lures that I would recommend. You mention the depth. So, my first mention would be a medium running crankbait. Take note of what forage is in there, such as sunfish and other bluegills, or if there are shad or shiners. Match the crank to the colors of the forage. If there are crawdads, match the colors to the crawdads. Next, and this is a big IF..........if the water is relatively clear, say, 4-5 ft. deep, I would go with a suspending jerkbait. I would jerk, jerk, pause. I would pause between the jerks, and make the long pause as long as I needed, and I would work with the lengths of the pauses to suit what the bass are wanting. Lastly, if you are looking to see just how many bass are in there, I would use a drop shot and either use a reaper tailed lure, or either a finesse worm. The clarity of the water would dictate which colored worms I would use. In clear water, go with natural colors. In slightly stained water, I would step it up to dark or bright colors. As for the cranks and the jerkbaits, you may have to experiment with models that have rattles, and those that do not.

Glenn, I have a few that I would DEFINETLY do that too. There is one that I would put a tag on that says, "If you have touched her, say goodbye to any part of your body that came into contact with her, cause in less than 5 mins, it will fall off." ;D Man, I'm wicked mean!

Yeah, it would be cool, but I do not think that it would be a great idea, unless you are trained by a certified tagger. A lot of folks tag their fish with the best intentions, but, they end up injuring the fish, or even killing the fish. So, that's why I just leave the tagging to the professionals.

The first time, I would have done what you did. The next time, I do believe that I would start "catfishing" with a 3-4 oz. weight. And, when I make the first cast, and it almost hits one of them, just look at them and say "There are catfish right beside you, and I will catch them no matter what." Then, if they don't move, repeat the action of casting to them, gradually getting closer to hitting them. If they don't get the hint, then having a 4 ounce piece of lead hitting them in the head should give them a great hint. I did this to a jet-skier on my home lake, and he was like "WTH, what was that for". I looked at him with the calmest voice, and said, "I thought that I saw an ***, err, bass around your jet ski." ;D

Depends on when you are fishing them, where you are fishing them, and how fast you are fishing them. Most of the time, I fish them in the early mornings and late evenings, around visible shorline cover. This rule only changes right after the spawn, and when fish move shallow in the fall. I will, depending on the mood of the fish, fish them all day long. I firmly believe that color is important. If the water is clear, you might be using a buzzbait that is too bright for the conditions. Most of the buzzbaits that I use are white/silver or greenish in color, especially in clear/lightly stained water. Anything with more water color than that, I move up to a white/chartreuse or all chartreuse buzzbait.

That fish is around 3.5 lbs.

GIT-R-DONE! By God, BAIT MONKEY, GIT-R-DONE! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I will be the first to totally disagree with everyone on here. There have been more times than I care to admit where the lure has been torn, and the fact that it was torn impeded the hook being fully set, which resulted in a lost fish. Most notably, the heads of tubes are notorious for becoming torn or "soft" and will slide down the hook when the hook is set. So, if you are too relaxed to change the plastic when the lure gets torn, then that's your thing. I am going to change the plastic upon the first time the lure fouls. Whether it be after 1 fish, or 20 fish. Save the lures, repair them if you want to, or do like I do, use them other ways. Some worms that I save, I use as trailers on spinnerbaits, or trailers on jigs.