Needemp

I think Boyd Duckets explanation was more applicable than Hortons. Like Paul Roberts said, all those T released fish from the year prior moved for the winter. But what Boyd said was key. He said that for whatever reason Beeswax Creek turned on before any other creek in that lake. I think Russ Lane proved that on day 3. When he left Beeswax, he found areas where they turned on. But the first 2 days, they were inactive around most of Lay Lake.

Man, 6 weeks of not fishing drove me crazy. Didn't care what the temperature was going to be, I was going fishing! The bite was good. I got my biggest smallie ever- 4 pounds. Had 5 bass at a respectable 14 pounds. Water temps from 52 to 60 degrees. Which was funny because every lake we drove by was frozen solid. Thank God for power plant lakes!

Most of my productive spots have nothing to do with docks. You are looking for the right structure and cover. If there is a dock on that good structure, then of course you should fish it. But not all types of good structure have docks and not all docks have good structure. Lure choices can change everyday. Even several times a day. Take the lures you have the most confidence in.

Mile marker 8. What tourney are you fishing? I'm going to be with the St Charles Hawg Hunters.

Is there milfoil in the Gravois? It wouldn't still be around in March, would it?

I have a tournament down there on that weekend. Which area of the lake will you be on?

In clearer water, I use spinnerbaits and never a Chatterbait. In dark water, I use bigger blades on my spinnerbaits, but sometimes I throw a Chatterbait. But if I am fishing a place that has been pounded with a spinnerbait, I will throw a Chatterbait to change it up. Smaller bodies of waters get pounded by bank-beaters armed with spinnerbaits.

I love the Pointers and RC's. Bass Pro has $10 sales on the RC's a few times a year so I stock up then. Also, Cabelas will often have LC's at a clearance price. They are not usually the colors you want, but you can customize them. I got 3 different sizes of pointers a couple of weeks ago for $24. I am gonna put some chartreuse on 'em. Lucky Craft is a very good lure. But they shouldn't be the only brand you have. I use them most of the time. But there are times when a LC will not do what I need it to do. For instance, if I am fishing open water and it is 2- 3' visibility and the bass are feeding on schools of shad, a slow-retrieved Shad Rap No7 is a far better choice for me. Also, the last few times out, I have found the Strike King series 5 came through nasty cover better than the RC's. Also, the deepest diving LC crankbait does not go as deep as the DD22's. Just some thoughts for ya.

I thought the article was awesome! I gained quite a bit of insight about Japanese bass fishing because of his record catch. I think it should be the world record even if it is by 1 oz. A bass loses weight due to stress after it is caught. The only way that you can get an accurate weight on a bass would be to weigh it when you catch it. George Perry's bass was dead (if memory serves me correctly) when it was weighed in. How much weight did it lose? Good question, but that can not figure into the equation. Otherwise there is doubt and second guessing. Also, I can not remember which one of the SoCal trio boys (Winn, Weakley or Dickerson) said that they caught a bass that weighed over the current record right when it was caught. By the time the officials got around to weighing the fish, it had lost a lot of its weight. Therefore, the only way to establish order is to let the official weight be conclusive. And if it is by one ounce, so be it. Therefore I do not agree with the reasoning of "two ounces". There are already too many variables that effect the weight. Let it be what it is. It's a world record in my mind!

Dropped Grandma in the drink! That's horrible. I think I'm going to hell for laughing at that!

If it is cold, heavy stained like 3 to 6" visibility, then the first thing I do is realize that fishing is going to be real tough. You might not get any bites or you might only get 1 or 2 or maybe 3 bites. So you have to be more focused because they are usually soft bites. I fish the back waters of a river system that is 5 minutes from home. It has flooded frequently the past few years and when it does it muddies up. So I deal with your situation quite often. This is what I do. I first go to high percentage areas and I look for active fish on a reaction bite. I use crankbaits mostly. Every once in awhile I find the bass active and I catch a few. But the window does not stay open very long in those conditions. Could be an hour or two usually at the most. So when I have spent enough time (but not a lot) to determine that the bass aren't active, then I focus on a pattern that pays off for me more than anything else. I then take the frame of mind most fish will be uncatchable. The only active ones will be holding to cover real tight. I use a variety of bulky, slow falling lures. I use 1/4oz or less jig with a PB Chigger Craw or Rage Tail, a PB Beast, or fat Senko type bait. Color doesn't matter much for me. This is a point-blank situation. You are dropping it right on their noses so color doesn't matter to me. I catch them on brown, black and green color jigs. So I take these baits and I flip them to cover. If you are fishing pads, but you know where some rocks or even wood cover is at in those pads (especially if the sun is out) and near deep water , then you softly put your bait as close to that cover as you can without hitting the cover. If there is a catchable bass on or near that cover, he can be caught. That slow falling, bulky bait drops right in his kitchen. If it is a good spot and you don't get bit, keep tossing to that cover. Sometimes a bass is there but he is not feeding. If you throw 10 casts to that spot, that 10th one might aggravate him enough to bite. You hear the big boys talking about that all the time. Like I said before, the fishing is usually tough for me during those conditions. I have gone all day without a bite. I have some days where I only get one bite. But I have had plenty of days where I had a 5 bass limit of 15 to 20#s. The few fish you catch are usually big. Remember to realize you will not catch a lot of bass and you may only get one bite. Having that mindset should help you focus for a tough bite. You don't want to miss the only bite you might get. Especially if it is a 4 or 5 pounder. Then start off looking for active open fish. Once you determine it's not happening then go for the slow bite on rocks and wood. Look for that cover on areas of high percentage structure such as a flat right next to deep water or a point or ditch. Sometimes the fish will be shallow and sometimes 4 to 6 feet deep. Place your slow falling, bulky bait precisely on the cover. Make repeated casts to especially the best pieces of cover. And remember to stay warm and totally focused. Even if your not catching anything, remember you are still fishing

7.6 caught out of Waterloo, IL in the Spring. Caught her on a LC RC DD 2.5 deflecting off of rip rap. It is my current avatar picture

A double digit at LOZ. She was a big prego female. She made a mad dash under a dock and with my boat position, I could not avoid her running my line into a dock cable. 20# fluoro sliced as if it were thread. But redemption is mine. From living on a lake till I was 17, I know bass often return to the same place to spawn... and I will be waiting!!!

Another tip that might help you. There is no need that I see to use red hooks on any deep diving crank. Red is the first color to disappear. That doesn't mean that red becomes invisible when it reaches that depth (like some line companies try to tell people), it means red turns to a shade of gray. So in clear water, on a high sun day, that depth might be 30'. But most lakes I fish, I never have more than 4' of visibility, usually 1 to 2'. So depending on how much light is penetrating the water depends on when red disappears. So therefore I do not see a reason to use red hooks on deep divers, although I still do.

The Gammies are very sharp and the new Mustad hooks I like as much as the Gammies (the point is elongated like the Gammies). They are perfect right out of the box. Trust me, if you start using all newer, quality, sharp hooks, you will notice a lot more initial hook-ups. I used the same hooks for the life of a bait until I was 30. I used to miss a lot of hits, and the ones I would hook up would jump and spit my lure out. I'm glad to say that my hook-up to land ratio increased exponentially. Side note- I have found that the hook goes bad before the red wears off. I rarely have the red come off a hook because I usually replace it after a few fish or snags. By then it is too dull for my likings. But sometimes I get a hook that stays sharp for quite a few fish. By then, a lot of the red is gone but there is still enough red that in the right light, the red is still visible. But usually by the time the red wears off, don't worry, you will soon find an almost microscopic bend on the tip of one of one of the trebles, or a slightly dull hook. Either way, it's time to replace it. Don't take a chance on losing a big fish. PS I use brand new hooks when I go serious fishing. But I take the old hooks and resharpen them and use them on old lures, or when I am fishing from shore. Hope this helps and happy hookin'

Hey Catt, good topic. You say to return to a spot a dozen times. How do you personally do this? Would it be a matter of leaving the spot and going to just one other spot, then returning and repeating this over and over? Also, how much time would you spend at the spot on each return? 5 minutes or so? Thanks for the tips.

Touchy subject. Some people on this forum think if you like red hooks you are a victim of hook manufacturers marketing plot to manipulate you out of your money. Kinda makes me chuckle. Look, if you use cbs often, then you will be replacing hooks frequently. Therefore you will be buying after-market hooks. Don't let anyone here tell you it is stupid to buy red hooks. If they do, you can stop reading and just ignore their advice. If a red hook gives you confidence, then buy red. My personal experience is that with one red hook on the front, my catch ratio after the hook-up went up dramatically. Could be a coincidence, but I don't think so. My theory is that one red hook will not help you all of the time, but it will not ever hurt you. If it gets you 1 extra fish out of 20, then it is worth it. Besides, it won't cost you an extra penny to use red. To answer your question about the 2 red hooks, with my opinion, I don't do it. The purpose of the one red hook is to appeal to the bass's predatory nature. He attacks the red hook because it's blood. If he attacks the red hook up front, you increase your hook-up ratio. If the fish comes off the front hook, he still may get hooked by the back hook. I have caught several bass that the front hook wasn't in his mouth, but the back hook was stuck in the side of his face. That is my experience. Also, red hooks don't always come into play. If the cb is digging on the bottom, I doubt that a bass sees the red hook. Also, a lot of cb bites can be reaction bites and I don't think color of a hook or even the cb itself comes into play. He just reacts. It's the feeding strike where the red hook could come into play. Hope this helps.

Awesome!!!

Yeah, no doubt! It would be lights out for me at that temp. BRRRR

We went fishing yesterday in the midwest. It was below freezing the first couple hours and a little windy. Needless to say, that probably contributed to my mistake decision. I caught a bass about 2.5 to 3 pounds on a crankbait. I got the fish in the boat and the front hook was in his mouth and the back hook was in the side of his head. The crank was stretched tight and I knew it was going to be a mess getting it out. I hate when a bass gets hurt like that. So I knew I was going to have to find a way to remove these hooks without hurting the fish anymore. So, with good intentions, I figured I would put the fish back in the water to let him breathe (I don't like to have bass out of the water for long). So without thinking it through, I put the fish in the water with the crank still in his face. Well with one good run (a better run than at any point during the initial fight I might add), she busted the line at the knot. Doh! An idiot moment if I ever had one, but my intentions were good I guess. How about you guys? Any good stories about stupid things you have done?

I definitely agree with Paul more than Chris on this. The guy is an established Elite holding the BASS record for a 4 day tourney (which on the last day he used a deep diving crankbait). Outside of this forum, I have never heard of Chris (and pretty sure I never will.) Paul is on the record as a better fisherman and that alone is enough for me. But I read the rebuttals to Mr Elias and a lot of them aren't exactly accurate. Either way, it is interesting because I never read most of that stuff from Paul Elias and now I have.

If you have the money, buy good stuff and check it for knicks all the time. Mono is a more stretchy line, softer and usually thicker in diameter than fluoro. It is easier suseptible to abrasions. Fluoro sinks faster, is more abrasion resistant and after its first initial stretch, it doesn't stretch as much as mono. Fluoro has its place and mono has its. Then there is braid... I love Suffix mono and Seaguar Fluorocarbon. They are the best I have found out of the ones I have tried.

We fished this lake for the first time this weekend. We did fairly well (by our standards). We had all keepers, the best 5 going at 13#s. But it was all structure fishing. I have one fishing partner for over there, but our schedules may not always line up and he is also a big baby if it gets to cold (nobody knows I'm talking about you Joe ). Just kidding, anyway if anyone is interested, PM me. I usually fish every other weekend both Saturday and Sunday.

I have only used the VMC Suresets, and although I like the concept of them, they are not sharp enough to use for me. But I do not know how the Suresets compare to the Barbarions.

Not true, fluoro stretches as much as nylon. I have seen a study a while back about the fluoro stretching. The study said that fluoro stretched as much as mono on its initial stretch. But that mono, when stretched, bounced back and therefore could stretch again. But the fluoro, once stretched, did not bounce back nearly as much as mono, and eventually fluoro lost its stretch all together. I have never tried it myself and I haven't heard of any other studies that refute that. Have you Raul?