BASS fisherman

According to most who you ask, the answer is usually no. But according to the December issue of "In-Fisherman" that I got yesterday, they dropped one of those Aquaview underwater cameras down through a whole in the ice, and near a bed of coontail. Supposedly they saw bass hanging out in the coontail, in shallow water. Maybe I read it wrong, and maybe the magizine is totally wrong, but I think alot of what we believe about LM bass is sort of sketchy, and is only the beggining of a very long revolution so to speak on what we think we know about bass. Just my opinion.

Today I recieved Mr. Lorson's response to my previous inquiry.: Hi Andy, Growth rates are determined when we sample a water for bass with night electrofishing. Scales samples are collected from fish in this sample and we determine the age and growth rate from the scales. An increase in the number of larger bass in Big Bass regulation lakes generally requires at least 6 years to be noticed. Of the six in the Big Bass program from Westmoreland County, From your second email, here are the years that Big Bass regs (or Conservation regs prior to Big Bass) were implemented: Bridgeport Dam- 1995; Keystone Lake- 1995; Lower Twin Lake- 2000; Upper Twin Lake- 1996; Mammoth Dam- 2000; and Northmoreland Lake- 1994. We welcome interested anglers out on our surveys primarily to observe. The only problem for night electrofishing is our shift runs from about 9pm to 2am. Our tentative field schedule is usually prepared by April 1. So, if you contact me next March or April I will be able to provide it to you. Sincerely, Rick Lorson, Area Fisheries Manager PA Fish and Boat Commission 236 Lake Road Somerset, PA 15501-1644 So now I am building my base of information towards trying to convince the state to implement better regulations so that the bass population in Pa has a better chance at thriving. It is understandable that Pa has northern strain largemouth bass, and the maximum and annual growth is on average much less than their southern cousins. The Pa state record largemouth bass weighed 11 pounds and some odd ounces. Within the past five years, I know of one LM bass that was weighed at 13 pounds and some odd ounces. Whether that 13pound bass was huge due to optimum conditions, or some sort of mutated genetics, remain to be seen. It is my belief that northern strain bass in Pa can indeed grow to massive size, but only with optimum conditions, such as possibly reversing the Big Bass regulation so that anglers can only take bass under 15". As well as changing the limit of those smaller fish to app. 2-3 per angler, per day. Doing so in my belief (I could be wrong here) will allow the bigger bass in said body of water to maximize their size by not competeing with the smaller bass for all available forage. But the different lakes that would be regulated in such a way would most likely have to be watched, with a close eye kept on the bass untill officials can be sure that the larger bass are indeed thriving. I also believe that the state simply does not have the money to undertake such a massive task. Which will most likely fall on the shoulders of trained volunteers. Which only speaking for myself, I would be more than happy to participate in. Hopefully if I can convince the Pa DFG to change the theoretics of the Big Bass program, with positive results in maximizing the growth cycles of northern strain largemouth, other states would soon follow with success. This will undoubtedly be a long arduous process, but will be of benifit to future Pa bass anglers.

I don't like Yahoo too much anymore. Their service is to inconsistent. But what can you expect for free?

Troutfisher, Did you recently change to Beta mail? I did and relized I wasn't getting the notifications, so I switched back to the old mail. It took a week or so to get back to normal for me.

I am hopeing to get some better rain gear. And maybe a few things for the boat.

Mine are working again. Thanks to Glenn, or whoever fixed the problem.

I have not been getting any either. But I also have Yahoo. Anyone else?

I think it sounds so outrageous that it must be true.

the 3X worms float very well. I also prefer a lightwire hook with those worms. Ditto

16 hours whew thats a shift there. Thanks for the reminder about falling back. I forgot too.

I agree, but I'd also try the untraditional stuff if the traditional stuff doesn't work.

Glad to hear he's doing well, and again congrats.

To each his own. I don't think they are necassary. I very rarely loose lures anymore. I try everything under the sun before I give up, which I can honestly say I don't remember the last time I snagged a lure and lost it. I always get them back. Now when I get the boat I'm getting, I may get one. At the moment I don't fish alot of deep cover where I'd snag on a tree.

Hey Wayne, great fish. I am probably way off, but if I had to guess, I'd say close to 7. That bass looks huge. Good job!

I got this idea today to try and catch fish with a dill pickle on a hook. Then when you get someone who doubts you, you can say I'll bet you $$ that I can catch a bass on a dill pickle. Easy money to be had if you can do it. Long night last night. Last time I fished the little pond I fish, jigs were all the bass wanted as well. But in the summer I was catching them on all sorts of stuff. Thick weeds though, so no cranks or trebled lures. Just senkos, ribbontail worms, jigs, and spoons. I caught 17 bass in 3-4 hours. Biggest being 3lbs or so.

Ewww, that's just nasty! Funny, but nasty.

Welcome to the forum!! Check out the article section up above in the green bar. Or click on this link, read the article, and then on the bottom of the page will be more article links about sponsers. https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass_sponsorships.html

definatly ;D

Bass are opportunistic feeders. If your using a snake like lure, I wouldn't doubt it for a second that you'd catch some bass on it. There are lots of floating worms. Mann's Jelly worm, Zoom trick worm, and Strike King 3X products also float.

Sounds like a blast. Do you know if anyone else fishes the pond? If not, I bet you could throw in anything with a hook in it, and catch a couple bass. I fish a pond like that once in a while. Lots of fun.

I have yet to see what your looking for, but this site has a fishing log that you can use to record your catches. https://www.bassresource.com/fish/fishing_log.html

I asked LBH about this very topic. I had 12 replies out of 200 views on an old topic. He said that is about average. I also asked if the guests viewing of a question will register as a view. It does not.

Bingo Bango!! I wa thinking of that, and then forgot it. Very good tip!

Have you ever seen a bait fish ball? Do bass act like that? NO

What I like to do is when I have new cranks to try out, I'll sharpen the hooks if needed. When I know the crank is a fish catcher, Ill replace the hooks with some good ones.