Needemp

I have not fished one yet Harshman. To tell you the truth, I am not ready. I wanted to wait till next year. I am confident in my progress, but I know that I don't stand a chance against all them locals yet. It will take a big stringer, that is for sure. I have a tournament there the weekend before. Whether I fish the Bud Light or not, I will tell you how I did. The boats take off in lots of 50. Don't worry, everybody gets 8 hours to fish. PM sent

I am waiting for my buddy Ryan to get back to me. If he can, then we are. Other than that, 5 of my friends are fishing and I think there are several others from the club. One friend is boat 8 and another is 31. Pretty good starts. Do you fish this torney?

What ever happened to that guy? I remember he claimed he was trained by two pros and his wife made him quit. He claimed he would have been great and that he makes his company millions of dollars. If I remember right, someone called him out and that is the last time I remember him. Does anybody know what happened to him?

You have received some great advice. The best thing you can do is commit to just fishing the grass. Get out there and fish it over and over and over. Even if you think the fish would be easier to catch somewhere else. Stay on the grass the whole time. That stuff holds fish all the time.

WOW

Jeez, that's quite a contrast! Have you fished that area before?

We just had a couple of guys fishing a night tournament, here in MO, that had a rattle snake fall in the boat. They got snagged on shore, went to free it and pushed off. Then they noticed this unusual sound coming from the bottom of the boat. Shined the light down and discovered their uninvited passenger in a grumpy mood. They flung it out with a paddle and went on with the tournament.

I know. I do too. But I am looking for the answers that best describe what you do most of the time. Thanks for your answers

I know this is an old post, but at Carlyle Lake, there are several very nice launching ramps and parking lots.

If you have a boat that has a gas powered engine,how do you fish? If you don't have an engine, you can still answer some of the questions.

The water was stained up the Nianguas, but no where near as muddy as the Osage. In the morning, I started off fishing the flats by deep water with no fish. Then I tried the flooded buck brush where deep water was adjacent and found them. The buck brush that received the wind and/or boat waves were the effective banks. I only had 3 areas that fit that criteria. The evening shift, I started back at the flooded brush. They were not there, so I moved to steep ledges adjacent to the flats. That is where I found them. They were staging at the bottom of the ledge getting ready to move on the flats. Because the water was so stained, they were not deep and there was no night bite. A lot of guys fished deep brushpiles with very little success. Over the last couple of weeks, the Wed and Fri tourneys have not produced like usual. The Glaize area is the only clear water area I have heard of.

I think so. He said he had fun. I'm sure he will answer for himself though.

We had a Truman Lake tourney switched to my part of LOZ, the Nianguas, due to high water. I was not going to fish the Truman one, but just had to fish the LOZ tournament. I could not find a partner. At least 15 people could not make it. This is a team tournament with individual standings for Federation and AOY. So I was forced to fish the 1st half alone. Conditions were a little tough but I got on a pattern and my team (me) was in about 4th place, maybe 3rd. Then for the night shift, Jaskoh (from this site) was able to join me. He is just getting started when it comes to bass fishing and he had never been fishing in a bass boat before, much less a tourney. He didn't get skunked, but he didn't have any keepers. But I think he had fun. He definitely is a good partner to fish with. I got on another nice pattern right before dark, but the night bite shut down for everyone. I ended up finishing 2nd as a team and 90% sure I finished 1st as an individual. The results for the individual standings aren't out yet but will be soon. One of the neat things that happened to me and Jaskoh happened in front of this 4 story condominium. I caught about 5 bass, 2 were barely short and one was 3lbs and the other was about 4.5lbs. After I caught the first bass, to my surprise a few people started cheering. Before I knew it, I had a crowd on shore and people up on there balconies watching and cheering as I caught the others. It was quite exciting. In 7 tournament I have fished, I have four top 10s and possibly two 1st places (pending results from this one). Most importantly, I have the best fishermen in the club wanting to fish with me. Not bad for a novice tourney angler;)

It has to do with barometric pressure. Certain activity with BP causes wildlife to be active, including bass. Unfortunately there are times when the cows, or wildlife are active, but you might not catch fish. That could be a result of fishing the wrong location, depth and/or maybe the presentation. It also could come from many of the other factors under water that shuts the fish down at that time. That's one of the reasons why BP guidelines are not 100%.

What kind of spoons do you like for verticallyjigging?

Sure seems like there are two sides of the fence. Those that think that bass fishing is a science, like this post refers to it, and those that think it is simple, hmmm!

CATT, your original post was "I understand that bass fishing is not an exact science. I establish what I believe to be truths & the bass prove its all lies. About the time I think I have the bass figured out the bass prove I don't. All this talk about color, rods, reels, boats, moon phases, can a bass see my line etc is just interesting information. So I simply go fishing any time I can, using the techniques I have confidence in, & I let the chips fall where they may." ----You take the side that truths don't exist ("the bass prove its all lies"), that this sport is "simple", color, rods, etc. will not help you become better but is rather just "interesting information" and that the "chips will fall where they may". I disagree totally if you want to be the best. That goes absolutely against what the 'best' actually say. In my opinion based on everything I have learned and observed, if you have that way of thinking, you won't measure up with the best. I have no doubt that you can catch bass, but based on your way of thinking, I don't think you could measure up with any of the top guys. I am not trying to cut you down, you have a lot to teach the people here. But I think your comments are detrimental to the growth of newbies. That is not what I am experiencing and that is not what is taught by the pro's. Personally, I think if you believe all those quotes you can't make it to the top. I might be wrong, but if so, those big boys are the ones misleading me.

I have been wondering this for a while and I am getting ready to look further into it. The question is does the river or creek channel on a reservoir flow on the bottom or the top of the water? For instance, you have an S-bend in the channel over 50 feet of water, does the actual current flow on the bottom or the top? And what keeps it following the original channel? Why doesn't it get lazy and just take the shortest route between two points ?

I agree Cart, and I do think that guides (or buddies) can give some good locations away. Take Little Dixie for example. I am not that experienced to walk on a lake I have never fished and figure it out. But you knew the lake and we went over it the week before. The top pro's don't have to rely on that kind of stuff. They get out their maps, go to those spots, examine it themselves and have enough success to be one of the best in the world. I don't think it is as flippant as 'letting the cards fall as they may'. They will adjust if the spinnerbait bite is off, if the crankbait bite is off, if the shallow bite is not working, etc. I think from all of their desire and experience, they can get on a lake and figure it out. Do they always have success, heck no, but they do more often than their competition. It just kind of ruffles my feathers when people try to diminish their skills, or blame it on luck. These guys are just that good. End of rant ;D PS I think these topics are good because it gives the more experienced anglers something to banter about.

I disagree that they "ABSOLUTELY DO rely" on locals. I have heard it explained by KVD, Ike and others that you don't get caught up with what the locals say, but rather take what they say with a grain of salt and hope you get a tiny morsel. It seems kind of silly to think that Rick Clunn would rely on locals when all he has to do is tap into his vast resource of knowledge and experience. They might suggest a pink crankbait tears 'em up in the spring or something like that, but that is not the kind of info that you can ABSOLUTELY rely on. I don't know exactly how guides are utilized but I can't imagine the big boys "relying" on them. I think that guides can be beneficial, but they are just another tool. For instance, I think anyone of those big boys can get on a new lake and do real well without the use of a guide.

Very True. I let the neighbors kid in my pool. Couldn't go near it without sunglasses 8-) That's hilarious They may not see colors as we do, but they can distinguish between colors. A guy named Dr. Don Mccoy of the University of KY did some experiments with bass in the labs. He found that bass could be trained to distinguish all colors between red and green, but not equally. However they had trouble telling the difference in different shades of blues and violets. Another guy from the University of Illinois trained bass to approach a target having the correct color to receive a food reward but received a shock if they approached the wrong color. The bass trained this way easily distinguished between even minor shade variances of red and green. Intense yellows could be discerned, but pale yellows and pinks appeared to be interpreted simply as "light". Dark blues, purples, browns, black and even dark shades of red and green were hard to be discerned. These are quotes from Pure Fishing's Kieth Jones, PhD, his book "Knowing Bass". It is never stated, but can be assumed that all these experiments were done in clear water. When I first learned about how bass see color, I tried to apply it to catching bass. The only real conclusion I came up with was either use the exact color of the forage I am trying to imitate (and let's face it, artificial lures just don't look or reflect exactly like the real thing) or go by the existing rule of clear water- use colors to hide your lure and dark water- use bright colors so they can see your lure.

I am back from my family trip. I agree with what some people have stated. We can have a logical debate without letting our emmotions take control. I understand a lot better now where you are coming from, CATT. I don't agree yet, but hey, I am opened-minded enough that if I see the things you are talking about, I might end up on your side of the fence.

If you don't think my argument holds water, then lets look at your reasons why you think that. 1) You don't have to desire to be on the water 200+ days. If you are that good at figuring out bass on any lake, you will know it and more than likely give a shot at Federation or something like that. In this sport, if you are that good, you can advance based on success. You just work your way up the ladder based on performance. 2) I never implied anything about money. You can't put those words in my mouth. To me it's about the glory. It's about being the best. 3) I guess believing that locals and guides are what the pros rely on brings them closer to our level in our minds. That's BS! They have an uncanny ability to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It's their gut that they use for success. On-the-water adjustments. An educated-instinct. Are they successful all the time, no. But they are successful more times than those competing against them. I do agree they get info from the Internet, but they can't rely on it for their success.

Catt, I respect you are a good fisherman. But i have to say that I am disappointed you would leave so many facts out of your argument when you are trying to prove your point(unless you are not trying to prove a point). First off, all you have is KVDs 5 keepers per tournament day. That does not count all that he has culled. It does not count the practice time put on the water. It does not count the non-keepers(which I suspect you figured in your totals). KVD's career stats do not compare well with your 2006 stats. I also noticed that you did not state any of the big bass KVD has caught, but you listed yours from this year. I fail to see the argument you are making. Also, and most people might not agree, I do not think that big bass hunters are as skilled as a tourney fisherman. It's just my opinion, but I respect the guys on tour more than any other fisherman. That does not mean that big bass hunters are not skilled. It's just a different type of fishing. I compare it to baseball. Anybody can say their buddy in the minor leagues is a better baseball player than someone that is in the major leagues, but if it were true, then they would be in the majors. The same as fisherman. A lot of fisherman are supposedly "better than those so-called pros". But if that were true, then they would be there. There are a lot of fisherman that can fish a lake or two, or even three or four in their own region very very very well. But take them and put them on a lake in a different part of the country that they have never fished and say, "you got less than a week to figure it out, go due as well in three or four days like the best of the best can". I bet it wouldn't happen. There are good "LAKE" fisherman, those that figure a couple of lakes out and that's it, and there are good "BASS" fisherman, those that can catch bass anywhere anytime. Just my opinion PS This is my last possible post till Monday night CATT, so I won't be able to post. Have a good Memorial day weekend.

To say they have bad days is very misleading. Of course they have bad days. The difference is that all their bad days in a year don't equal as many bad days as we have in a year. And they fish a lot more than us. Your statement implies that these guys have more luck than skill. Statements like "All this talk about color, rods, reels, boats, moon phases, can a bass see my line ect is JUST interesting information". Implying that it has no bearing on success. And your quote "You can't turn one of those on and it'll go find a fish..." Brother, take a look at some of these 'gods' and listen to them tell you how vital their electronics are at helping them find FISH at times. It takes a level of intelligence that is above most people. Just because we don't have the ability to analyse at their level doesn't mean we have to try to bring them down to our level. I can't say that Albert Pujols is just getting out there and swinging for the fences and "letting the chips fall where they may!" That guy works hard, has more intelligence than most, and knows what it takes. So it is with Clunn, KVD, Dance, etc. We just disagree and there is nothing wrong with that. Have a good day Catt