RHuff

It is on auto sensativity setting..

Thank you for your input guys. I was just drifting when I took that photo. The water just hit 60 degrees for the first time this year due to the cold nights we've been having. Also, it's great to know that clearvu shows fish also, as I was definitively wrong in that regard. I'm still learning as I go! Will turning down the sensitivity eliminate seeing that?

My theory is if it's green its a GO if its brown its probably down.

This is my first year with my Garmin so I am still learning how to read it. I know that traditional shows fish due to their air bladders where clearvu only shows structure, correct? Also, it was in open water with a pretty clear bottom as far as cover goes. It wasn't near lilly pads or stumps or anything like that. I was hoping some of the more experienced guys could maybe translate what they see so that I can take that and learn from it.

Found these on my Garmin up a cove about 2/3 down from the mouth towards the back in 19 feet of water. Are these suspended bass?

I know the DNR recently shocked and took LM bass from R.D. Bailey Lake and released them in Summersville lake to "supplement" the numbers. Also, they tested Plum Orchard and found that LM bass there are stunted in growth so they are working at stocking Plum with golden shiners as a food source.

I fish my local tournament schedule out of a 17 ft Triton Aluminum w/50 HP Mercury. Some guys have a fully loaded Ranger. One guy has a Skeeter. One has a john boat with a tiller motor. Some tournaments the guy with the Ranger wins. Sometimes the guy with the Skeeter wins. Sometimes I beat them both. The guy with the Ranger may have a better boat, but I can beat his butt because I know how to use my tools better than he does. Be confident in what you have and know how to use it to your advantage. The boat doesn't really matter except to race out of the gate at take off and to rush between spots. Yes, the bigger the boat the more room you have for storage and standing room. At the same time it's harder to tow, costs more to maintain, and uses up more fuel. If your lucky enough to go buy one and can afford to do so then go for it. Most people can't. The point is I want to fish out of whatever I'm comfortable with in order to catch the best fish I can catch. I'd love to have a big fully loaded rigged out Ranger, but I don't want to finance $70,000 either. I bought my Triton from the seller straight up. I was lucky enough to do that. I own my boat and I am proud of it because I got it on my own. Try not to get caught up in the hoopla of the bells and whistles. They are nice but not always needed. The bottom line is you better catch fish, the right fish to win. It's all that really matters.

The water had dropped to 68 degrees. I got to fish for around 3 hrs before dark. I flipped jigs around laydowns, overhangs, and boat slips. Not a bite. Switched to running a spinnerbait over flats. Not a bite. Tied on a buzzbait right at dark and never got a bite. It was tough!

Last week was sunny with temps in the 80s. Water temp was around 77 degrees. Since then we've had a serious drop in temp with the cold front and hurricane. It's been in the 50s and breezy the last few days with nights getting into the 30s. Today it's been overcast and rainy with the temp 55-60. I'm gonna hit the lake in a couple of hours. I expect the water to have dropped to around 70 degrees. I'm gonna predict the conditions to be 70 degree water, slightly stained, overcast with an occasional breeze. What would you throw? What areas of the lake would you fish?

Last week was sunny with temps in the 80s. Water temp was around 77 degrees. Since then we've had a serious drop in temp with the cold front and hurricane. It's been in the 50s and breezy the last few days with nights getting into the 30s. Today it's been overcast and rainy with the temp 55-60. I'm gonna hit the lake in a couple of hours. I expect to the water to have dropped to around 70 degrees. I'm gonna predict the conditions to be 70 degree water, slightly stained, overcast with an occasional breeze. What would you throw? What areas of the lake would you fish?

I fish lilly pads in WV a lot and have found to have much better success when flipping a jig and trailer in as opposed to just a texas rigged plastic. I only throw a texas rig weedless if the grass or whatever is just so thick that it is impossible to get a jig in. You may want to consider giving a punch rig a try with a skirt around a texas rig. I think the extra bulkiness of the skirt helps the bass see the bait falling through the stem pads. Let me know how it goes. Good luck.

high and cloudy water screams shallow and tight to cover for me during the peak day time. i’d be flipping/pitching jigs with craw trailers into any flooded cover I could find.

I throw a spinner-bait with a paddle tail trailer or craw trailer 110% of the time. It just gives the bait that much more action in my opinion.

BioSpawn Vile Craw in Black/Red Flake in the spring, Rage Bug in California Craw for the summer, and BioSpawn Vile Craw in Alabama Craw during the fall.

I use copoly in place of mono. It just seem like it holds knots better and I like the way it feels. I have actually gotten to where I mainly use P-Line Fouroclear 15lb for topwater and cranks/jerks/spinnerbaits and I always use 50lb Sufix braid on my flipping/jig rod/reel.

New Reel out from Lew's in 8:3:1 ratio with a flipping switch. 20lb drag. Been looking at this thing hard for my flipping rod. Anyone have an experience with this reel yet?

My 17' aluminum with a 50HP runs right around 30mph. Yes a faster boat would be nice. Living to see the next day and being able to fish the next tournament is a little bit nicer.

I was having the same trouble at the beginning of the year. I made two changes that really helped me land a few good fish and earned me several top 5 finishes this year during my club season. 1) If you match your trailer to your jig skirt, try contrasting the colors. For example, if your throwing a green pumpkin or an orange/brown jig, then match it with a black trailer. If your throwing a black jig, then put a green pumpkin trailer on. The contrasting colors seems to look a little more realistic underwater to bass, especially in clearer water. If you already contrast your colors, then try matching them up. Some days it seems they like them contrasting and some days they like them matched. You'll know what's right or wrong for that day. 2) I was getting hook sets but as I was bringing in the fish I was losing them, telling me that I was NOT getting a good hook up, or at least as good as I thought I was. I switched from a right handed reel to a left handed reel on my jig rod. Most of my bites were coming as soon as the bait hit the water and occurring as I changed the rod from my right to my left hand. I'll man up and admit it too - I wasn't strong enough with my left hand to control the heavy rod on the hook set and to pull the fish through the cover. Switching to a left handed reel allowed me to keep the rod in my right hand the entire duration of the cast, including making much stronger and quicker hook sets and a lot better pressure on the fish during the fight. The combination of the two changes were trial and error and adopting them really helped me land fish that I was missing earlier in the year.

Woah! Fantastic News!

I own a 2007 Triton VT-17 with a 50 HP 2-Stroke Mercury. I run fresh 2-stroke oil and high test gas in it year round with Seafoam as an additive to both the fuel and oil tank. Near the end of the season I run as much as the gas out of the tank as I can. At the end of each season before storing it for the winter in my father in law's insulated garage I pull the fuel filter and clean it out, pull the spark plugs and check them, lube the prop and wheel bearings, change the lower unit oil, and add stabil marine 360 to the remaining little bit of fuel that is left in the tank to stabilize it over the winter. At the beginning of the season all I do is add fresh fuel to the tank and a fresh dose of Seafoam. The motor starts right up with a small cloud of smoke and clears up after idling a couple of minutes. Between all of the seafoam, oil, stabil, and lower unit lube I may spend $50 a year on maintenance. The MOST important thing is to RUN your motor during the year. Letting it sit is the worst thing you can do. Keeping Seafoam in it year round is a must, IMHO.

Craws: Biospawn Vile Craw, Rage Bug, D-Bombs Worms: Culprit or Powerbait

There was a question posted a few months ago regarding catching bigger bass and the conscience of answers seemed to be that if your getting bit then stay on that particular bait but to catch bigger bass you need to either upsize your lure or move to deeper water.

I have caught solid fish after dark this year on a chatterbait. Usually, a buzzbait is my go to but I haven’t had much luck on topwater at all so far. Let me ask you guys this? Have you still found success flipping jigs after dark into heavy cover just like you would during the day? Seems to me if a bass is roaming and looking for a juicy bite after dark he would crush a jig in the shallows.

It makes me want to win that much more..

Willow gives off a more realistic flash and colorado gives off a stronger vibration. I kinda developed this through trial and error. White/silver skirt double willow silver blades with a white swimbait trailer for day For muddy or stained water any chartruese/gold willow blades with black chunk trailer for day Dark/black skirt colorado blades with a dark chunk craw trailer for night. This system has produced quality bass for me over the years.