RHuff

Here is a photo of what I'm seeing. Since this are arches on the traditional sonar and only dots here and there on the clearvu, does that mean they are suspended fish?

Nm

The best walk the dog bait that I have thrown hands down is the Castaic Boyd Duckett BD Topwater. For some reason it just works really well in my area. The translucent profile seems to really work well on clear mornings and in sunny conditions. I have caught more fish on it than any other two topwaters I own combined. I also nearly caught my PB on it last year. A 6-7lb (giant for around here). It smoked it on the edge of a little pad field during the evening. Fought him a good 4 or 5 minutes to try to wear him out and when i got him up to the boat and reached down to try to net him dumb me let the rod tip drop and he broke off at the boat.

No silly questions man. Trust me I have asked my share as we all have. These are REALLY good people on this board always willing to help out a fellow fisherman.

I see the arches on the screen and i had the fish id on and it would beep but I turned it off because the constant beeping distracted me. So the arches could be fish or just could be air bubbles or whatnot in the water?

I have lillies that grow from the bank all the way out over the middle into 8-12 ft of water.

I just need to spend time out on the water with it. I’m still new to the electronics game. Knowing now that clearvu only scans the contour and such helps though

As Ace Ventura would say: REEAAALLLLYYYYYYY?? so what I’m seeing on the traditional could be fish OR lillies or both?

I'm referring to down scan. When I put up the traditional sonar screen vs the clearview side by side I can see the arches on the traditional and there isn't really anything on the screen in the clearview. When looking at the traditional downscan sonar I am having trouble figuring out which marks on the screen represents lilly pads that are growing up near the services vs scattered suspended fish.

First few times out using my new Garmin EchoMap Chirp and I'm really having a hard time distinguishing between the heads of the lilly pads that are coming up towards the surface and suspended fish. It all looks the same to me on the screen. I know the fish will look like arches most of the time but does anyone have any tips on how to tell the difference? I'm okay with seeing weeds and stumps so far, and balls of baitfish. But this really has me puzzled. Also, these images are showing up on the sonar screen but not really appearing on the clearvu at all. Is this a clue? Still learning with this thing as I go.

Plum was at 61 at the Dam and 58 on the upper end on Saturday. I fished all afternoon and into the evening and couldn't get bit to save my life. All of the bass were out suspended over the middle. It's like they have came up from the winter but haven't yet gone into full prespawn mode yet to come shallow. I did catch one little dink bass right on the bank in the back of pocket that hit a swim jig. He came out of a tiny laydown and hit it like a bullet.

It seems like a pretty good setup to host the tournament with access to two different lakes and a river (3 bodies of water total) and then to have the Weigh-In, Expo, and Take-Off all three within walking distance from each other.

I think the toads run a little truer with a single hook but I agree too that the double hook helps in the hook up ratio. It's pick your poison - Do you want the bait to run truer and lose the better hook up or do you want to bog it down a little with a double hook and have better success when setting the hook? Personally, I go with the single hook because nothing matters if there is no strike.

I've had two jerkbaits crack as well but it was a result of how hard a bass hit it

I have had better luck using a EWG Hook as opposed to a heavy duty flipping hook. I think that sort of hook is only really needed like you said when throwing the heaviest of rigs in the heaviest of grass. I'd say 80% of the time a regular size 4 EWG worm hook is all that is needed.

A trend I have caught in the replies that I have never thought of before is soft plastics in clearer water and jigs in dirtier water.

Which presentation do you prefer when flipping each of the following types of cover? Also, which hook do you prefer when flipping a soft plastic: EWG or Straight Shanked Flipping Hook? Laydown: Soft Plastic EWG Stumps: Jig Weeds: Soft Plastic EWG Mats: Soft Plastics Flipping Lilly Pads: Soft Plastics Flipping

Was he on the Jacksonville end?

Bass just want an easy meal that they don’t have to work hard to get, whether its a shad, bluegill, craw, insect, or even another bass..

You can also stuff 3 or 4 bbs inside of the frog’s body to help make it rattle

X2 on the BioSpawn. One of the best kept secrets out there. It’s definately become my go to flipping bait and also makes a heck of a trailer.

I mainly throw BioSpawn Vilecraws for most of my flipping around grass, wood, and loose lilly pad fields. I flip Missle D-Bombs in the thickest of vegetation because it slips through a little better. Mainly throw a watermelon red, alabama craw, and black. I try to keep my colors simple.

I’m curious as to what it was that happened when fishing one night that kept you from going back, unless its something that you cannot talk about...

Went today like I planned. Launched around 2:30 and stayed until 7 and there were about 14 or 15 boats on the water plus a few yakkers. Suprisingly the water was up to 51 at the dam and 48 on the upper end. I tried jerkbaits, jigs, swimjigs, squarebills, and shaky heads. Not a bite. The other folks I talked to didn’t have much luck either. Bass were locked down tight. You can tell when the water hits about 55-60 degrees the bite will be on. Hopefully next weekend will be when it starts..

I’m surprised its that cool.. Hopefully the 83 degree day on Thursday and the rain we’ve had has warmed it up some..