Chuck D

Depends on when you are coming here. Early summer fishes a lot different than late summer. Boat traffic is a real factor here from May - Sept and the fish get conditioned to eat at night which means you have a great early topwater bite, it slows way down during the day, and then gets going again in the evening and on through the night. There is o vegetation in the lake so plan to fish docks or open water which is tough due to boat traffic. Lower end is clear and full of millions of spotted bass so you can get tons of bites there but you likely won't catch a giant. Uplake is more "river like" and holds largemouth more and also is typically more stained color wise. So depending on the boat you have, does it have a trolling motor, can it get in tight spots, etc that will determine where you can fish. Uplake around the Duke Power State park is fairly calm water and has a lot of shoreline cover that if you are staying N of the Hwy 150 bridge would be a good place to explore. Downlake, I'd get in to Davidson Creek and find some really long cuts/pockets and go find calm water to fish and stay out of the boat traffic. Not knowing when you are coming specifically I'd say the top 3 daytime summer baits you need to bring are a 3/8 or 1/2 oz jig that you can skip under boat docks, a solid body soft plastic swim bait that can also be fished weedless and put up under the docks like a reaction innovations skinny dipper, and a shakey head with a 7" straight tail worm. Best colors are green pumpkin and watermelon. Use chartreuse dye to "tip" your baits as the spotted bass like that. Night time baits are chatterbait, colorado blade spinner bait, big worms with ribbon tails, and topwater (spooks, sammy, gunfish, pop-r, etc). I use a local tackle maker here; True South Custom Lures run by John Martin. I have no affiliation to his business but recommend him regularly as he makes top quality baits which we all want at great prices but he makes baits specific to Lake Norman and Lake Wylie that you may want to talk with him about. http://www.truesouthlures.com/ Check him out, he'll get you the right stuff and you'll have a more productive trip

Biggest one of the year is this weekend on the lake and the pre spawn bite is coming along (finally) after a miserable Winter. They are giving away a boat again this year. Should be a good turnout. Good luck to those going for the win!

Yep, I live on the Catawba chain and get over to the Yadkin as well. High Rock, Badin, Tuckertown, Tillery are all great fisheries and all are having a great 2013 with nice bags of fish being weighed in tournaments.

It's a situational lure and it works. The massive deflection angles that they generate will cause reaction strikes when fish are neutral and you are in their strike zone quite often but cranking conditions still need to be favorable; depth, sky conditions, water color, season, temp, etc. and most importantly they have got to bounce off of something to do the job that you are asking it to do; deflect wildly and look 100% spooked.

TX rigged worm with a pegged bullet weight. That's caught more bass in more farm ponds than any other bait ever made. I'd opt for a dark color 8" straight tail worm with a 5/0 EWG and a 3/16oz bullet weight pegged with a bobber stopper on 12# floro and a 7' MH baitcaster and if they lived there, I'd wear them out with that rig.

Mike Folkstead out in CA. He's the worlds best finesse fisherman in the opinion of many me included. I'd just sit down and take notes and get him a sandwich while I got totally schooled on deep-clear water fishing and the thousands of drop shot variations he has in his head.

Yep, dark colors when it's warm and the water is dirty/colored. They silhouette better and the fish can see them more. With regard to displacing water with baits like cranks, spinner baits, topwater, chatter baits, lipless cranks, etc try those for a reaction strike but if it's still and slick water, soft plastics will be your best bet. Never underestimate the power of a TX rigged with a pegged sinker 8" straight tail or ribbon tail worm in black or dark purple in those conditions.

Yep, I listen to tunes now and then or a ball game but through a head set if I do it but I usually don't as I'm replaying a lot of my recent days/weeks in my head and sorting myself out which is part of what I love fishing; time to decompress and slow my mind down. I prefer to be quiet when on the water as I fish really clear water and heavily pressured lakes so stealth matters (at least to me) but sound doesn't distract me when I'm fishing so I can enjoy some tunes now and then. If I do, it's usually fishing for a reaction bite like cranking, spinner bait fishing, topwater, etc as when I'm fishing the bottom I close my eyes quite often to focus more on my "feel" and keep in tune with what my bait is doing.

Time of day, light conditions, and wind conditions dictate a lot of what to throw as well as what time of year it is. Yes, you can throw blades in clear water very successfully if the forage is shad or you can get a SB set up to mimic a blue gill. The key I have found is that you need a little wind in clear water to disguise the bait some as the fish can see it and it's not natural so they won't hit it if it's slack/still water much of the time in which case I'll go to soft plastics or possibly small swim baits. If the water is warmer and you choose a blade consider "burning" it back to you or reeling it ultra fast and stalling it now and then to "flare" the skirt. This does not give the fish much of a look and forces them to make a go/no go decision on biting it quickly and you are appealing to a predator so often times that reaction strike will come when something goes ripping by them even if they are in a neutral mood (See KVD on why he dominates in tough conditions and can literally make fish bite that otherwise would not). I've found that downsizing bait size & line size/diameter in clear water works well for me here on my home lake which is typically very clear and is VERY heavily pressured. The other key ingredients to me in clear water are 1) Long casts for stealth purposes, and 2) Florocarbon line or as a leader for line sensitive fish (and ours absolutely are here barring pre spawn when they'll bite anything), 3) fishing the shade or an "edge" like a grass line, a dock, a shady undercut of a bank, etc. Bass are predators and they like to hide and ambush prey so your clear water bait needs to be in the strike zone first in order to get bit. Don't be afraid to crash your baits in to the cover either and force them to react; this works great with blades in clear water. Slack water, high blue bird skies, and crystal clear water you'd find me fishing soft plastics nearly all of the time other than Fall when I won't put a topwater bait down. I prefer drop shots, shakey heads, and nail weighted senkos in natural colors like green pumpkin, watermelon black flake, purple/brown combos, etc and I'll usually keep the bait on the bottom in still water and very close to the cover to entice one to come & get it.

Structure is what's under water like points, humps, drop offs, etc. Cover is what bass like to live around like wood, rocks, brush, vegetation, etc. Consider starting on a long point that the wind is blowing on if it's blowing meaning pushing food up on to and start with topwater and as the sun gets higher in the sky if the topwater bite is not happening or dies then start fishing the cover that you see along the shoreline like laydown logs, stumps, rocks, and weedlines/edges. Largemouth Bass are ambush predators. Think like they do, where would you hide to get your meal without having to swim a long way to do it or chase it down? That's what Large mouth do and they live in the shallowest part of the lake almost always so long as there is food around like bluegills, etc they don't leave. Smallmouth are more aggressive and likely to travel farther so that topwater approach may get you bit all day if they are feeding or you may have slow down and fish the bottom with a jig or a worm but fish for small mouth on points, they are an open water fish more often than not. If you have a weedline and I bet you do as most Northern lakes do then fish the inside and outside edges of that as all species of bass like "edges". I'd start right in the middle on that big point below the park office on your map and work my way back up to the right on your map past the ramp in to the shallows and see what the fish tell you.

Here on this site in the "Fishing Articles" there are some great things to read about re: fish movement, migration, patterns, conditions, seasonal effects on fish, forage, etc. Consider becoming a part of a bass club and make some new friends too. Much fishing knowledge is considered "tribal" in that it's passed down and is in relatively closely guarded communities which hurts new anglers but it's the way that it is. You fish one of the top lakes in the world for bass, there is a TON of information written about lake G online too. Poke around online for fishing reports on your local lakes and start putting the puzzle together by what is being caught, weights, quantities, types of patterns emerging, etc. You'll quickly see what's going on if you spend a little time reading and listening to what's happening in your area.

Not knowing the lake if you put me out there this time of year I'd ask the following questions before I made a single cast and then make a plan... What species of fish live there? Largemouth typically live shallow. Spots live mid depth to deeper. Smallies live deep in most cases unless feeding up in the shallows. What's the water temp? That will determine the spawn cycle most likely (pre, current/spawning, or post) What's the forage there, what do they eat? Certain forage lives in different areas of a lake (Crawfish live in rocks, shad live in open water, bluegill live on the bank in the warmer months, etc) What's the water clarity? Dirty = fish shallow and close to cover. Clear water means put some space between you and the fish usually and that's often done by fishing a little deeper in many lakes/reservoirs. Is there vegetation emerging or on the surface? Get those points understood and it'll be a lot easier to look at that map and make sense out of it. Now if it's a really small body of water and you don't know the answers to these then consider starting on long tapering point early with topwater, spinnerbait, worm, or whatever you like to fish with and work your way in to the back of a cut and see where you run in to the fish. Fish migration is not complicated. Bass will live in the same places during Winter and Summer on most lakes. Spring and Fall they move to spawn and feed which means they move shallow. The points on that map are your road map to use to locate the fish. Winter and Summer will probably have them offshore suspending and looking for schools of bait to eat. Summer may find them near all of that vegetation if it's not too thick for them to move around in/under. Spring pre spawn they'll be on the point and secondary points. Spawn they'll be in protected coves/cuts and looking for a hard bottom. Post spawn they'll be back on the points/secondary points to recover (females) while the males guard fry and then follow the same migration back to their Summer homes. Fall, they'll move up on points and try to "herd" their forage in to smaller places like the backs of cuts where they spawned, up against rocky shorelines, etc so they can eat early and often.

Don't go with a pre conceived notion ever if you can avoid it. Let the fish tell you what's up that day. Best advice I've seen here so far is get a good rain suit as being wet sucks in my book. I always approach each trip the same, fish for aggressive fish first if you can and then slow down accordingly if they are not chasing. They've fooled me and many millions of others for a looooooong time by thinking we know what they want and will do on any given day. Keep an open mind and a dry body and you'll have a good day I bet.

Have several Spro's and really like them but I'll say the new Strike King KVD frog is pretty awesome. Good hooks, deep keel so it 'walks the dog' easier than any other I've used and is durable. It's in the rotation big time now along with the Spro models. Colors are nice too. I'm a fan of the black and the green pumpkin colors specifically for my water.

Nice! Yep, that sweetens the deal significantly. Love the battery comment you made too; that was on my mind big time; battery life is key when on the water all day.

Had one (7'6" flipping stick) for a little under 2 weeks and returned it. Wasn't a fan.

Short of going out and finding out for yourself which is fun but can be costly and leave you confused, I'd get to know some local anglers and ask around unless you are fishing private land or bodies of water, someone locally can tell you what's going on with the particular bodies of water you fish. Re: pitch and flip only with a bait caster? Not at all. Rods are made in different "powers" or strengths/actions for different techniques and line diameters. You can use a bait caster for anything you can use a spinning rod for if you want to but you have to match the setup (rod/reel/line/lure weight) to what you are doing which is why it can get confusing quickly. The "all purpose" bait caster that 99% of anglers today start with and keep using is a 6'6" M/H casting setup with a 6.4:1 reel as it can do it all and is the "SUV" of bass fishing meaning it can work on nearly anything without getting too specific like heavy jigs or ultra light drop shots where that rod would be too weak in one case and way too strong in another. Think of bait casters as "power fishing" gear that is suited for heavier line (12# and up) and used commonly for moving baits or the heavier style of baits (categorically over 3/8 of an ounce all of they way up to 4oz). Think of spinning setups as "finesse" more often for baits that require lighter line (10# and under). Fish size has nothing to do with the kind of rods people use. Guys in CA catch 10# fish regularly with 6lb line out of 50' of water drop shotting and I catch hundreds of sub 2# fish here on Norman with an 8' flipping stick because there are a ton of fish in that class here on this lake. This is why the following question will help guide you the most... Where do you live and what fisheries are you going to be pursuing bass on most regularly and from what; boat or land?

Nice, that looks great. Movement didn't make me dizzy which is what I was worried about particularly top water fishing with it mounted on my hat, shoulder, or something. Thanks for the info. Will be checking that make/model out for sure.

Sure, you are on the right track. The first thing to understand at your level is that there are tons of rods/reels/lines to choose from for different applications/techniques, etc and you don't need to try them all at once. I call that "trying to boil the ocean" vs heat it up one cup at a time which is how I recommend you approach bass fishing; in smaller consumable portions. The spinning setup you have will work fine for many techniques. My guess is that it came with a spare spool? If not, try to get one and spool it up with 10# braid and you just created 2 rigs out of one. Your primary spool can be or is likely loaded up with mono or copolymer line which is great for several different applications like crank bait fishing, topwater, inline spinner fishing, or other "moving" baits. All thing equal, most spinning rods don't do well with line bigger than 8# unless you have a really big spool which I doubt that is so keep that in mind the bigger the line the thicker it is and it will want to jump off the spool and that's no fun to fight all day so match your line to your setup and you'll be happy happy happy. That other spool if you put mono backing on it, then braid as your main line, then a floro leader would be ideal for bottom bouncing techniques like TX rigging soft plastics, shakey head fishing, drop shot fishing, and so on. Then you can cut the leader off and just tie your topwaters directly to braid to fish things like Pop-R's, Gunfish, Rico's, or other med/light topwater plugs that are phenomenal fish catchers and proven. So you have versatility there and that's key. If you want to get more strength and power fish more then a baitcasting setup comes to mind and I'd start with a 6'6" Medium Heavy rod and a 6.4:1 gear ratio reel. Consider a left hand reel if you have your spinning rod set up left handed or vice versa if you have it set up right handed. You'll be more efficient if you learn that way. As far as buying a setup, I like your approach; get the best you can. For that reason consider a second hand rod and reel from another angler who may be upgrading, thinning out their tackle closet, etc. There's tons of options and you can buy some really nice 2nd hand stuff here, on eBay, other bass fishing sites, etc so shop carefully, ask tons of questions, and really understand where you are fishing, the kind of water (heavy cover, open water, shallow, deep, clear, dirty, etc) and then begin to build your arsenal around where you fish the most so you don't end up with a bunch of gear that is not suitable for the places you fish most. When you start venturing out that's another story but again, don't boil the ocean.... Ask lots of questions.

RW is right. It's a sales job and being a good stick is a plus but not a requirement. Lots of pros out there that have sponsors who can sell the crap out of stuff and could not compete as an angler as their only source of their livelihood if they had to but that's OK. The people writing the checks are not looking for them to post high tx results as much as they are to move product. They are manufacturers reps in as many ways as the direct sales force for a company. Think about how you help em move product as you approach the subject and being professional and polished in all regards won't ever hurt you either.

You have the potential to fish with your "eyes" in an entirely different way than most normal sighted people do. Visual distractions are a very real thing in all bottom bouncing applications and why so many people fail to detect bites; they are not paying attention... Feel is of the utmost importance and knowing what your bait is doing in any subsurface technique is one if not the main key to being very good at it. I personally fish with my eyes closed often while trying to dial in a certain feel as my bait touches structure/cover. There are certain things like football head jigs, drop shots (unless I am watching my graphs for visual fish strikes too), shakey head fishing, and even as you mentioned open water senko fishing (which I do with a nail weight as that helps get the bait down deeper faster and also provides some "weight" to the line which creates better feel so that I can "see" with my hands) that can be of a real advantage to you. Leave boat position and fish location to your boater and you focus on execution. You'd be a phenomenal tournament partner to fish the depths while the other angler ran search baits around locating fish and you could clean up the tougher and often bigger fish who need to be coaxed often. Rods and line type are going to be critical to you as they are to me as I fish heavily pressured waters and detecting the slightest "tick" or "bump" is critical so I use very sensitive rods and florocarbon line or braid to floro exclusively while I keep constant tension on my line for the best transmission to my hands. I personally am a Dobyns rod fan and Sunline floro fan for those reasons among others but there are lots of great rods/line to choose from. Those 2 work best for me. That all said; try some of these as new techniques to learn and develop "feel" on: Drop shotting (casting and dragging as well as vertical drop shotting; think outside the box on ways to use this bait as it's deadly) Shakey head fishing (use different jig head weights to develop certain feel variations for water depths, cover types, structure, etc) Nail weighting senkos (keeps more tension on your line "tightlining" which will help you detect bits on the fall. Gets as many if not more bites because you can feel them! Football head jigs (dragging across structure) Biffle Head variations (senkos, flukes, creature baits, etc can all be used on this and it's a great bottom search bait) Jika Rigs (same as above and can be as versatile as a drop shot but with heavier tackle) Deep/heavy swim baits (1oz heads with 4-6" soft plastic bodies for bottom reaction strikes) Cranking structure (deep cranking points, humps, drops, shell beds, etc) Most people are very poor at this and don't take the time to really learn what their crank bait is telling them as it "dredges" the bottom vs just chunking and winding and hoping for a bite. Good crank bait fisherman can feel fish "pushing" their bait or swimming with it long before the rod loads up. You actually have a distinct advantage in that your sense of "feel" is probably exponentially better than the average angler because your brain has adapted and that's a very real advantage in fishing. Keep experimenting and keep fishing!!!!

Anyone using these to create your own video library of your catches? Thinking about trying one out for topwater stuff since I enjoy that so much and it's that time of year but I don't know much about them? Do you have any you've used? Like? Dislike? Let me hear from you on this. Thanks!

I'm assuming you are targeting bass so this has to do with the greenfish. Summer fish will primarily be in one of three places there I've found. Under boat docks, these fish are 'resident' fish and live there year round. Skip a senko back up up under there and let it soak if it's slow or a swim bait if they'll chase a little. Offshore grass; have to hunt for this but it can be the motherload if/when you find it. Topwater over it, frogs through it, swim jigs in it, etc Offshore structure; humps/points. Football head jig, Carolina Rig, Dart Heads, Shakey Heads, Drop Shot will get you bit all day there. Deep cranking has been more of a miss for me than a hit due to lack of current. There are tons of fish and good ones in there. Don't miss the early topwater bite too. Spooks and Spook Jr.s in "bone" are great there and the stripers like em too. Have fun.

Call your local motor brand dealer and get the specs from them. They are made to match the motor and the load you put in the boat. Should be pretty easy to solve with a phone call.

If you fish subsurface then use sinking braid with a floro leader. The braid will last you a very long time and you'll get the benefit of floro in front of your bait for visibility without the "slinky" effect that straight floro wound on to a spinning reel arbor produces. Downsize your braid in to the 10# class as it's super strong and use the appropriate floro leader. I like sunline sniper FC as my floro and spider wire floro-braid sinks very nicely and has proven to be good stuff. Wind knots are just part of braid fishing so manage your line, coat it with a line conditioner like KVD line conditioner and it will handle even more smoothly.