Brent Bartman

Harvesting 5 15" Fish in a lake where out of 1000 fished sampled 500 were greater than 12" none greater than 17" will absolute increase your chances of catching a 4lb plus bas . Bass cant grow to 10 lbs if the food chain doesnt support it. Slot limits are great for fisheries. But the regulations are written by people whose sole purpose to ensure a healthy population of fish and make each eco system the way it should be. so if by following the states regulation you think it is hurting the bass population you are mistaken.

So my over the past 4-6 months my goals have been focused on learning how to better locate bass using electronics. Basically being using a Chart of a lake I havent fished before or only practiced fished Find the areas where i think they will be and get out there and search using my electronics to find fish SO I upgraded to the Elite 5HDI with chartplotting and Sonar/DSI And I think i set my self backwards. Before I would hit the lake with my Lowarance 4 Color sonar and used my knowledge of where the fish should be that time of year and turned on bottom track and turned sensitivity way down and power fished a searchbait/Junk Fished for bass. This was fine for the spring and fall. But for summer and winter it has hurt me deeply not being able to locate the fish in deep water. 6 months ago I upgraded to Elite 5x and using the maps/Sonar/DSI to find the points/humps/structure then find the bait and then find fish and then target the bass I had found. and I can honestly say I keep finding my self junk fishing with out using my electronics. I cant seem to find fish using electronics. I would be better off using a flasher. I have watched all the videos and read all the articles and cant seem to get away from junk fishing to find fish. I feel to become a better tournament angler i need to be able to locate bass and target them around the lake using all availble resources not just as I pound banks hoping for a keeper. Any Suggestions. I have watched all the videos and read alot of articles and am lost in this department .

depending on how far you are willing to travel lake taliquin in tallahassee is known for producing some monsters. awesome fishery fished it about 5 or 6 years ago and did well. One trip on a boat and about 2 days from the bank at the campground i was staying at. That time of year the fish will probably be all done spawning and getting ready for some summer haunts. Im from central florida and that is me using some guessing. Im sure there are people on here that regularly fish that lake.

One thing that has not been talked about is over population. Catch and realease didnt allow George Perry to catch a 22Lber in Georgia calmost 90 years ago. People netted, trapped, Gaffed for food and didnt care about letting their dinner swim away. Lakes 75 years ago probably experieced NO CATCH AND RELEASE.And they did with out a stocking program that most lakes have today. I feel like almost every lake fished is over populated. I think that they lakes are being stocked at a rate that exceeds that lakes ability to maintain quality fish. After reading biology reports for local lakes it seems like numbers increase and size declines over the years. I think bass over 15 Inchs should be harvested to the bag limit to promote an ecosystem that is not overcrowed. I think that why large lakes do so well is they have an extremly high harvest rate due to the higher pressure. with the exceptions of larger waters greater than say approx 2500 acres most lakes show signs of overrpopulation. Rarely do i seem to find the football 4 pounders like you will in huge ecosystems like say guntersville or clarkshill in these smaller waters. http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/overpopulated-bass.html Here is a chart to determine if a fish is underwight for its length. and looking back through my fishing records most fish I have caught in resevoirs and lakes 750-5000 Acres are underweight. Fish i have caught in large ECOSYSTEMS seem to be a bit better. All the research I have done shows that harvesting fish is better for the enviroment that it hurts. so... CALL ME A BASS KILLER. NOT ONLY DO I SIGHT FISH BEDDING BASS I HARVEST THEM IN THE 15-20" RANGE . AND ANY 10LB PLUS IS GOING ON ICE TO SOON BE HUNG ON MY DRYWALL

I will agree with that. I dont think every rod has to be super sensitive provided it has a purpose. I love my St croix Mojo Bass spinnerbait rod as a T Rig plastics rod because its indestructible. its super tough it has a good amount of backbone and its senisitive enough. and only 99 bucks. My GL2 Isnt that sesnsitive. not that tough and i feel scared to set the hook on it. something about it feels cheap.Plus it was $215. I have a 40 dollar Lightining rod IM6 that I enjoy fishing over my GL2

I think he meant they are the same as the NRX as in NRX and GLX night and day from the GL2 at least I hope he did. If not then.....

I agree I use right handed reels and when I pitch and flip my right hand is on the crank with the left hand Palming the reel before my bait is mod arc. And I'm ready to click before it even starts. But in reality it doesn't matter too me. I don't bull whip crack my pitch and flip hook sets. I let them take it I reel into them and lean on em and boom fish on. When I rush it I bust there mouths open and miss the fish especially with big 3/40z plus jigs and sinkers

I will say I was worried about the GLX 893 not having enough back bone but I was wrong and the big guides pass heavy flouro and braid like a dream. I even tried using a long leader (12ft) and with my abu MGX could pitch a 3/8oz jig about 25-30yds with decent accuracy

Buzz bait covers more water and I find if they are hittih topwater they don't care of its dead or moving . I do a lot of spinner bait waking near docks and submerged timber so I like a blade bait around wood

I'm gonna fish wind blown points with a Texas rigged 10" worm or 3/4oz football jig for a big kicker fish and go for broke on one big fish

Google 6 rod bass system I feel like that's the minimum I used to be skeptic on needing more than 2 rods. But evety technique has specific rods and despite what most think they do work and will put more fish in the boat. I mean I could build a house with a hammer and cross cut saw but a few power tools and specialized hand tools would make quick work out of it

I already had a GL2 and wasn't blown away. These rods have started a new addiction

Yeah sure my needs and wants are different but the feel of a $600+ combo is awesome. I don't disagree . the bass don't know what you paid for your rod. But the goal is to feel him before he feels you and besides I buy my rods used in mint condition for pretty cheap. I just pick up 7 rods in mint condition that included NRX,GLX,IMX, micro magic, veritas, shimano crucial, abu vendetta for 900 bucks . Some of the rods still had plastic on them.

I have a veritas and a veracity, and the veracity is a heck of a rod the veritas is great but it is heavy for there action. My MH veritas has more back bone than some of my heavy flipping rods

I have all the variations of the strike king square bills in my box. I like the 1's but I normally throw a 1.5 or 2.5 because I can launch them a mile.

So I just picked up a 2 news rods one being the FPR 893c GLX AND THE JWR 803c NRX GREEN. And they are great. But I think I am more impressed with the GLX THAN THE NRX I have heard a few other say the same. However I am partial to a 7'5'' rod over a shorter rod. But the GLX seems lighter due to a better balance and easier on the hand. Anyone else have similar opinions

The PQ IS a decent reel for 50 bucks not for the normal 100 sticker tho. go for the jm

Yum money craw or warrior baits has a version of it. The kick in these legs is unbeatable. Best jig trailer I have found

I do the opposite of this I hang a drop shot weight from my hook so the tube falls strait down with the legs flaring out and when I stop it or twitch it the legs fall flat.

I dont think the worm balling up is why you miss fish. if you set the hook in open water hard you will slide your worm down into a ball in the bend of the hook. I think the fish is missed because the barb wasn't through his mouth or he never had all the hook all the way in his mouth. Every fish i catch on a texas rigged worm the worm is either 2 feet above the hook with the line through the head and mid section or S-curved around the shank. I will fish fat bodied worms on a 3/0 or 4/0 hook with no issues, I think if your worm is balled up you set the hook prematurely or set him on a slack line. Remember just because your line seem tight above the water doesn't mean you dont have a big arc under the water, especially fishing mono or flouro far away from the boat. Thats why i like fishing a rod with alot of back bone but a really soft tip.I can load up on him, feel him arc my rod so i know my line is tight before I move that fish 15 feet through the water by his jaws I personally think i miss more fish with a pegged worm becuase it has no where to go. Fish are lost Texas rigged because you didnt keep pressure on him. you keep solid pressure on that fish and you use a strong hook set to drive the hook and that fish is coming home to papa

3/0 light wire on trick worm with a 1/8 weight 4/0 regular wire soze for a 7" ribbon tail

It's a great way for docks and boat ramps. Cast into land and get a silent drag into the water. If the bass are there your getting bit

I'm fishing bluff walls or steep banks I will cast onto the bank or against the bluff wall and drag it to where the fish should be maybe a bit last to cover the entire water column very fast.

I think this a small hook problem combined with a soft hook set. I like big hooks for t rigging I like offset owners in 3/0 -6/0 and when my bait balls up there is still room for the fish. I lay into aT rigged bait to bust the hook through. I l lay into my fish. I reel into him load my rod and extend my arms with my rod at 2 o'clock and set my hook as fast as I can to 10 o'clock and reel him as fast as I can. And if it was in his mouth he is hooked If I'm using anything bigger than 3/8 oz weight I slow my hook set to prevent from busting his mouth open Don't be afraid to load him up on your rod. you will feel him before he feels you. Bass don't like to spit a lure it seems. If you go to bass pro when they demo lures with no hooks in the tank they want to hold on it . I have seem they fight the fish off the lure to get them to spit it. My 2 cents

Yeah that's what I have heard . I can't wait