BigSkyBasser

Do any of you Lake Mead regulars have a good Topo or contour map of Lake Mead? I spoke with Steven at the Bass Pro Shops there and he has them but cannot ship them to me for any price. I'd love one of these for my research and would compensate you for it,

I'm going tomorrow for the first time since ice over. Granted I'm in the Northwest, but I'll be fishing a smaller natural lake for big largemouth so the results should be translative. I'll post pics and patterns tomorrow evening. Tight lines!

You'll catch more bullets than bass out of Stockton lol

I thought about doing that, but it sounded like too much work so I made this thread instead. Maybe if this gets big enough we'll start keeping track of mutual answers and opinions for a winner.

I have friends and family from that area. You could fish a different lake every day of the year and not leave that hundred mile radius.

This was on my list before hearing your manifest to this world class bassery! I'm planning on taking a fishing trip to Texas in a couple years. Would you recommend anything else on the border like Caddo lake?

There are many articles on the internet written specifically about locations centered around fishing and how the appeal to the heart of a sportsman. I'm interested in hearing what your favorites cities and towns in the U.S. are for fishing (can be regardings more than just bass) and why you like them so much. To start, I'd say mine would be Kalispell, MT. I live two and half hours south of here and between the two Cities we have about 60 different fishable rivers and lakes for trophy smallmouth exceeding 6 pounds on the Flathead river, and largemouth push 8 pounds caught every year in the flathead chain. These are fishable through the ice but do best in spring and fall, and overview the scenic mission mountains.

I do this but on the other side of the season, right before melt off. It's when the water is at it's absolute lowest and has been for a while. This also usually lines up perfectly with some of the best pre-spawn fishing I've ever stumbled across so it's kind of a double win!

Will do! I love fishing with Roboworms but would not likely have these colors. I've also heard that Oxblood is a really good color for tubes and finesse baits. I'll be stocked up good on soft plastics!

Now I'm still learning the geography and terms of the lake locations. When you say "Middle Point" are you referring to part of the Virgin Basin known as the Middle Point Isle? I've heard this place is held winning bags of bass for FLW and WON Bass competitions alike. And I really appreciate all the advice, most of which doesn't apply to me. I'm fishing as a non-boater so my concern is less of tearing off a lower end while making a dangerous run, but rather getting back boated. I'm really serious about my approach to making it to the 3rd day this year. And I'm a very strong finesse fisherman, which I feel like will put me in a good spot to haul a larger bag than power fishing would get you for this time of year on this lake.

Montana and Idaho have some huge bass. My PB is a nearly 6 lb smallie. I have not fished much in Washington so my experience has less weight to it but I've never caught anything in Washington lakes over 2 pounds. I've fished Moses Lake, Banks Reservoir, and Lake Washington. They have large bass there, they just seem to be less common than in surrounding states in the Northwest.

The dates are a bummer! Ill be getting y for the B.A.S.S. Regional on Lake Mead. Still sounds like a great set of trips, good luck to everyone! There's always 2017

To my understanding yes but there are exceptions. Water can inhibit an object's ability to create vibrations at the intensity they would in air due to increased resistance.

Yeah, sometimes I think about how the lure I'm using produces sounds, and how the decibels travel through certain aspects of the water I'm fishing. I haven't studied acoustics.......or physics at all for that matter in several years but still find it quite intriguing and still do a little self prompted research here and there. I remember doing a paper on the difference between sound frequency measurements between Water and Air and their standard reference intensities........it was way beyond what we were studying and my science teacher was fairly impressed.

Challenging for me:Fishing and catching fish with rigs that's weren't designed to be fished where we live. Exciting and fun: Catching a slab of a smallmouth and getting a picture of it for temporary bragging rights (my yearly bests don't usually top the group for long!)

I was mistaken. After a double take it appears to be only a medium......maybe I can find a different application for this with my bass fishing. I know Doug Stange uses steelhead rods for small mouth fishing on the bluffs of the Mississippi.

My friend who lives in Seattle just gifted me a brand new Lamiglass X-11 steelhead rod for Christmas. The problem being I don't fish for Salmon/Steelhead here. But the rod is an 8'6" MH casting rod that feels like it would whip swimbaits a country mile. Has anyone else used these rods similarly?

Drop Shot Its far from my favorite technique but it catches fish year long, and you can fish nearly any bait with it. Not a lot of people try it, but 4" senkos rigged wacky on a drop shot is the best set up of all time for pressured bass.

Ill bet you'll find fish up shallow who want some big meals. If the fish haven't transitioned to winter feeding Id be throwing things like jigs and swimbaits and working them along weed edges. If the fish are being tough, that's when you whip out the spoons and blade baits to counter winter, and cold water conditions. Are you guys mainly power or finesse fisherman?

Rods: I'm getting into custom built rods. I'm wrapping guides on a 7'2" M RainShadow Immortal Spinning rod and a 7' MH MHX High modulus casting blank Reels: I'm going to upgrade my Pflueger president to a Patriarch or Supreme. And Rig my new MHX with a Shimano Citica. Line: I've been looking at using straight flouro on drop shot and finesse spinning. The P Line Halo is some sweet stuff. Baits: We don't use 'Bama rigs and chatterbaits up here much. I'm gonna see if I can stir up the tournament scene with some

I think whether this happens or not, that it only impacts fishing for bass under certain conditions. There's days where you can be pounding the S**T out of them in a single spot and not miss a bite. But for pressured fish in tough or stressful conditions, I reckon there's several factors that apply to them keying in on previously caught or distressed companions I bet they pick up more than anything on when a fish first gets hooked and frenzies, the vibrations he sends out and the water he displaces is the biggest warning sign that bass would key in on if really alert and skittish.

This time of year, most bass are looking for bigger meals. I'd slowly work a 1/4 oz football jig with a fat craw trailer or something like that through the deepest crease you can find. Look for outside bends in the tail of rapids. This is a classic ambush spot and often big bass will blow something up if you cast upriver and work it back to these spots. Spoons and blade baits will likely produce the most fish. If you watch In-Fisherman lately, you'll see Doug Stange in the Fall and winter throwing mainly a Johnson's splitter spoon, and a swim jig with a Berkley chigger craw trailer. He kills em!

I noticed that while observing recent pictures haha. I reckon a lot of boaters are going to ruin their lower ends with all the hemps and points so low.

The guys I fish with that are into punching all swear by the Shimano Chronarch. The handle really well with the G. Loomis E6X Flip/Punch Rod 7'5" Hvy and 17lb P Line Halo. I've seen them haul some pigs out of the slop with this exact set up. http://www.***.com/G_Loomis_E6X_Flip_Punch_Casting_Rods/descpage-E6FP.html

Depends heavily on the circumstance When I'm tournament fishing I'll take big fish with a small fight all day long. But when it's just for fun, we all know we love a good bend in the rod with the drag singing!