Whopper-Stopper

It is a couple hours worth of driving but you can catch alot of bass at Sugar Ridge fish and willdlife area. They have a ton of pits with good shoreline fishing. I go there all of the time.

I am getting just plain tired of catching 1 to 2 lb bass or less all day long. I'm going to try to fish exclusively for big fish. Does anyone have tips on how to go about this? I understand that catching bigger fish means catching less fish; but I would rather catch a couple of four pounders than 10 small bass. I have been using a c-rigged 12" ribbontail worm and caught a couple of three pounders today; but that's not big enough. I realize that I will have to be using bigger baits also. Can somone tell me about the habits of big fish. I know they don't stay shallow as much as the smaller bass do. Do they stay down deep or suspend over open water? Where and when do they do this? Do they normally come shallow at night or become more active. I also understand that I have to be fishing in big fish water to catch big fish; but I've got that covered. This year in early March I Hauled in several 4 and 5 lb bass. So this is the lake that I will be fishing. In my area "big" starts at 3 lbs. I am going to try to beat my PB of 7.5 lbs, which was caught out of this same lake.

I just can't bring myself to cut into a bass. But who's to say a guy can't keep a stringer full of fish? Though only time I do keep them is when I hook one in the gills and have done all that I could do to revive him.

There is nothing more fun than hauling in a big bass on an ultralite. I caught my PB on one. 7.5 lbs on 4 lb line. You want to talk about a fight; man we were scrappin for what seemed like an hour. ;D. Lately, my new goal has been to catch a 4LB+ on a fly rod. I've already hooked into a monster this spring. He broke my 10 LB leader on the hookset. :-[

It depends on what the water is like but I usually prefer to use Black spinnerbait/buzzbait in early mornings. Then switch to soft plastics around 9:00. If that don't work I'll pull out the magic rattle trap.

In the lake that I fish they seem to hit buzzbaits more aggressively in the dark. You may want to try it. It will scare the life out of you when its quiet and peaceful and all of a sudden a 3 LBer blows up on your bait as your pulling it out of the water. ;D

If you can, fish with a topwater when it is pouring down rain. That cools down the surface temp and has worked for me many times. It seems like the topwater bite usually stops when the rain stops.

Did you get my pics? I sent them to you yesterday.

I usually try to get my tube caught on the ends of tree branches or in weeds. Then I will just shake it for awhile. If nothing hits it I'll jerk loose. The darting action of the tube often brings savage strikes when shaking it didn't work. Just make sure you use heavy line so you don't lose all of your soft plastics.

I'm glad I'm not alone with the lightning/thunderstorm phobia. Earlier this year I was out fishing when the worst line of storms came through that we've had this year. I figured I would fish until I heard the sirens going off in town and then make a mad dash to get back. Well, the sirens went off and it didn't look like it was going to storm so I kept fishing. About five minutes later I looked to the west and It looked like the sun had fell out of the sky. I packed up as much stuff as I could and sprinted 1500 yds with the leading edge of the storm on my tail. It over took me just as I found the cover of a tunnel under the RR tracks. I took shelter under there as a tornado touched down and luckily passed my hiding place without coming close enough to suck me out of the tunnel. The rocks from the railroad were getting picked up and blown with the wind so I know it was close. Ever since then, I have been really nervous about thunderstorms. I prefer to stay indoors when it is storming. Rain doesn't bother me because I can only get so wet and that's it. If I hear thunder I try to get indoors. Remember if you can hear the thunder, you are at potential risk of being struck by lightning. Don't wait until the last minute to get out. I think that if my timing had been a minute later I could have died.

5 LBS so far this year. I caught it in early March on a black colorado blade spinnerbait burned just under the surface. I think that this bass may have been more than 5# because I weighed it on a $2 yard sale scale that measures the weight with a spring :-[ I think I am going to break the 5 # mark soon. I just started fishing a new lake yesterday and caught a 4 # and went there today and caught a 4.8 #. The swimbaits are paying off.

I had that happen something similar to that happen to me while fishing for bluegill on a fly rod. I was bringing in a bluegill and a monster bass grabbed it and broke my 12 # leader like it was nothing.

Try a bigger lure to start out with. They're easier to walk. You have to get a rythmn going. Lower your rodtip and start with slow twitches to one side. Say in your head: one two one two.... I had trouble with it when I started using them. Just sit and play with it for an hour or so until you get it mastered. Good luck.

The bass are doing the same thing in a small pond that I fish. I spent a week or so using plastic worms, lizards, etc. Then, I was at walmart and heard the sporting goods section calling; so I went to the fishing stuff and saw a pack of Storm Fire Tiger Swim shad. I went to the pond and caught 3 times as what I had been catching. Just use a steady retrieve or start and stop. Figure out what works.

I hope that you guys didn't take my post the wrong way. I meant it as a joke. The right thing to do is always the best.

That's for you to decide. But I think I could do that to walmart. Walmart and I are not on very good terms. > If you don't take advantage then somebody else is going to get a sweet deal. Oh, and try to get discount on the broken rod......Okay maybe that's pushing it just a little. ;D

You fish so much that if you have to stay at home for more than an hours length of time during daylight hours, you find yourself pacing back and forth because you don't know what else to do. During the warmer months, you lose weight because you forget to eat when fishing. Your backyard goldfish pond is stocked with bluegill. There used to be bass, but they kept eating the goldfish. :-/

I hadn't ever thought of fishing that early until a couple of years ago either. I started fishing here this year in february after a slightly warmer than normal winter. A buddy of mine called me up one day while it was 40 degrees. He said You'll never believe it, but I've been out here for an hour and caught four bass. So I get an extra month of fishing this year.

Here are my favorite ways and favorite time to use them. Around here in March, when most people don't even know the bass are biting, the bigger bass come to the shallows to bulk up on food for the spawn. At first, all they'll hit are soft plastics; But once the water has warmed up some, they start chasing. So I'll cover an area by burning the spinnerbait just under the surface. You have to do a lot of casting. If I don't have one slam it that way. I'll keep working it the same way but this time I'll jerk it hard while retrieving it. If this doesn't produce, I'll move out to slightly deeper water and start my retreive slower but still close to the surface. I'll reel a few feet and then let it fall. When it gets close to the bottom, I'll jerk it really hard. I mean jerk it like you're setting the hook on a ten pound bass. Then, lower the rodtip and reel fast to pick up slack and continue with a steady retrieve. Usually, by the time you've reeled all the slack line, a bass will almost break you're arm. Okay, now I'm exagerating, but they will hit it really hard. For me, this really produces. This march, on a spinnerbait alone, I caught 37.6 pounds of bass in one weekend. It seemed like a black colorado blade spinnerbait worked the best.

I just found my new favorite "fish finder"; A swim bait. I know I should have tried one before yesterday, but wow!!! those things are the ticket for locating bedding bass. I have been fishing this lake since february of this year. I know every nook and cranny in it; but I was finding beds that I have been fishing over for a week and I didn't even know they were there. I was just casting and burning it under the surface, a bass would hit or charge at it and I would throw back with a slower retrieve and get the fish every time. I don't think these bass have ever seen a swim bait so to them it's the real thing. I had been trying to catch a 3 # of her bed all week and I brought a swim bait past her, hooked her and lost her at the bank; I casted again and got her. I am going to fill my tackle box with these.

VABasser, fish the rattletrap anywhere you can cast it; and make sure that you cover alot of water. Aint Texan 2, did you have any problems keeping the bass hooked on the rattle trap or is it just me that this happens to?

The bass have been doing that here for a week; I have seen several 5 lb+ bass. Just use a 3" crawdad or tube. If they won't hit that, leave them alone. I know it's hard to leave a 3 lb+ bass alone; but do it. Your only wasting time that you could spend catching other bass that are interested. I have done a lot of good this week with a 1\2 oz rattle trap. Be careful not to fight them to hard and loosen your drag because these bass aren't slamming into it; they are just bumping it. If you pull to hard you'll jerk loose.

We have one come to the pond every spring when they're ruttin. After a while he realizes there are no females and leaves.

This past week I've been noticing the big female bass coming into the shallows. I haven't spotted any beds yet though. I have been doing a lot of sight fishing but I can't get any of these bass to hit. They're just not thinking about food; all they want to do is sit in the sun close to the bank. I casted on a five pounder for a while until she got fed up and headed for deep water. After that, I couldn't get close enough without spooking her. Is anyone else having this problem; how do you get them to bite?