PersicoTrotaVA

I was fishing a spot that is fished pretty hard. I was the only one there this day. A boat comes into the cove. I landed 2 bass and pike while they made their way in. The guys were hesitant at first and I said don't be scared you aren't bothering me. They never came in, just a bunch of snide comments about the fish are over here, you should cast over here, clearly out of my casting range. I told them that if I really wanted to get in a boat and fish I could do it, and outfish both of them. They laughed and started to continue to say that fish were over where they were. I caught a nice 3 lber in front of them and said over here seems to be working just fine, you guys have a great day. Then I left and went to a different spot on a different lake. When I am in the boat I have a rod tied with a 2 oz punching weight. I will put dents in a boat if some moron decides to crowd me or cut me off and doesn't get the picture when I verbally warn them.

YES! I lived in SD for 7 years, rain is scarce so when it does rain the fish sorta go thru a feeding frenzy.

This, literally word for word!

Very nice bait! I really want to get into making my own baits, wish I had the time to do it. That one looks very nice!

I catch a lot of fish on grubs in the spring when the frogs spawn and tadpoles are plentiful. I usually swim them on a shaky head.

I like the Alberto because the braid encapsulates the leader and the knot ends up being really small if done properly.

I support one local shop that I have been supporting since I was a kid. The owners have changed and the new guy is starting to carry more stuff and is priced a little more competitively with DSG and BPS. I'll buy a crankbait or some plastics there every once in while. They have great sales on Zoom sometimes. I also bought my sunglasses there. They carry Costas and for the money it's something I would rather hold in my hand and wear before purchasing. I don't shop at BPS anymore. I got sick of wandering around looking for someone to help me. TW pretty much takes care of everything I need and the free shipping and free t shirt pretty much takes any other online retailer out for my purchasing needs.

How much money do you want to spend? The St Croix Mojo Bass Spinnerbait rod is a good choice. 7ft MH/F Casting rod. I really like it and I am sure the higher end models that St Croix makes are even better.

A split shot about 18" to 24" up from the bait. You don't want a slip sinker. You want something that stays put.

That is an awesome looking bait! I also noticed that smaller baits caught bigger fish for me this year. I caught my PB this year on a 1.0 KVD squarebill. I also caught a lot on 4.8in jackall flick shakes on a 1/6th owner wacky jighead that were in the 4 to 5 lb range.

It is hard to argue that Biwa has monsters in it. I really think that Socal can really have one in a lot of the different reservoirs. It would have to be a really good year with plenty of rain but I think that there are some 20lb+ fish, especially in San Diego county.

I have the same questions but I think I am going to have to PM him. I can't really navigate his site too well. It is a little overwhelming.

A "fishfinder" will help to a certain degree. I used the depth reading and temp reading more than actually finding fish when I finally got one. I pretty much know the lakes I fish by now so I don't really use it much anymore. Before I got a depthfinder I would always have a jig or a pegged texas rig tied on to feel around. You can draw a map of a lake doing this and mark key spots.

Same here. It was messed up though. I was at a camp ground for a good friend of mine's bachelor party weekend. His cousin from Italy came to visit and didn't know how to cast. All I did was cast it in for him and handed him the pole. Game warden was in a boat around a point hiding behind a tree. He came up and asked me for my fishing license and I told him I wasn't fishing. He said he saw me casting in so technically I was fishing. So I got that 280 dollar ticket, only I wasn't fishing. I always have a license now. When I visit another state, the first thing I do is get a fishing license. The money goes to keeping our fisheries in good condition and it is a lot less inexpensive than if you get caught without one.

Yes it does matter. Here is a good example: I was fishing with a green pumpkin rage blade swim jig and a black back chartreuse KVD squarebill. As we moved into a certain section of the lake I noticed that red was reflecting off the water. I immediately switched up to a red shad wacky rigged senko. 3 casts later I land a 3 lber. Move up the shore and 4 or 5 casts later I land a 2 lber. I continued down the shoreline just slaying them while my brother at the front of the boat was swearing up a storm because he couldn't get a hit on anything. I said switch to anything with red in it. He didn't and didn't get a bite for the rest of the day. I had a good day hehe.

Black, black, black, and black again.

Winter in Socal? That's a great joke hehe. Seriously though, drop shots and swimbaits. As cliche as that sounds, they work.

Pretty much any worm by Zoom. I also do weightless tex-posed with a nail weight in the tail of a Yum Dinger or Senko.

I have been keeping freshwater fish since I was 15, I am now 34. I have done a lot of research and observation of our aquatic friends. Bass seem to be very individual fish. When they are smaller, probably mostly in the first 2 years of their lives, they are more of a "schooling" fish. This is due to the fact that they are smaller and feel more comfortable in numbers and chasing food is easier in a group. This is really any fish that has a mass spawn. As fish get older, they tend to start becoming more individualistic. This is where the survival of the fittest usually comes into play. I'd say around 3 to 4 years of age, fish start to leave the "school" and start to find their seasonal homes. There are forces at work, events, like the spawn, which concentrate fish in certain areas but for the most part they spread out, they want their pectoral room. I like to think of the spawn like a concert, or sports event. You have a lot of individual people that come together in one area for a period of time and once that event passes they disperse back to their homes. These events could also be weather fronts, temperature changes, daylight changes, moon phases, air pressure change, just to name a few. Bass are a lot like we are. We commute to work everyday with people we don't know, but they are feet away from us in their cars. Eventually we part from the "school" to get to work, run errands, get food or head home. I like to akin this to the migration of bass from the deep to the shallows and back to the deep again. They run along their own interstates with rest stops, just like us. There are those of us that don't mind cold weather, some of us that can't stand it and vice versa. There are some of us that are cautious and finicky and then there are some of us that are brash and bold and go for it, no matter what. For the most part though we are kinda the same. In the summer you will find us at the beach, in the winter time you will find us near a fire or some place trying to stay warm. Sometimes you will catch us at the restaurant eating, sometimes we are just hanging out at home. Sometimes we go to concerts and sports events, sometimes we stay home. Sometimes we are out in the yard, or sometimes we are at the park. Do you get where I am going with this? This is why I love bass fishing. There are no set rules other than the spawn. The fish make up the rules every minute of every hour of every day and neglect to tell us what the updates are. You may find fish roaming in dark, muddy water and fish could hold tight to cover in gin clear water...you never know until you get out on the water. I can go on and on about this subject. Fish behavior is one of my favorite topics of research. I suggest looking up G.U.S.P.(General Universal Seasonal Patterns) and studying the spawn times in one's area, if they are having trouble finding fish. BTW Tom, I love your posts! I take everything you say to heart because I know I can learn a lot from the experienced angler you are. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Ike is right for the most part. There are levels of clarity and fish can be anywhere in between holding tight to cover in dark muddy water to swimming freely in gin clear water. Unfortunately bass don't see like we do and we don't see like bass do. You can use Ike's rules as a general guideline but each day, heck even each hour, can be different on the water.

Food: PB&J Sandwiches or Nutella & Jam Sandwiches...a lot of them Drinks: Coffee, Red Bull, Water...sometimes the occasional Dogfish Head 90 minute I also smoke cigarettes(I know. I know) so that kinda suppresses the appetite. I usually eat to take a break from fishing and regroup, recoup and rehook hehe.

Thanks for sharing. These are about to be my 3 best investments as well.

Don't walk up right on the bank. Stay about 10 feet back and cast. Also cast up, parallel to the bank, towards the way you are going to walk. It's cold and the fish are lethagic. You won't see them being very active. Use slow presentations with little action. Jigs, wacky worms, suspending jerkbaits. Also set the hook a little harder, being that it's cold, their mouths are a little tougher to penetrate.

Revenge Baits makes the best bluegill color IMHO. TW carries them.

KVD squarebill crankbaits;1/16 oz owner wacky jighead with zoom finesse worms, jackall flick shakes, senkos, yum dingers; 3/8 oz jigs with rage tail chunks, paca chunks, wacky rigged yum dingers or blackwater t floater worms; swimmin caffeine shad rigged on owner weighted cps hooks...that's what worked for me. There were a few more but that was the bulk of what I caught most of my fish on in 2014.