RHuff

Rapala BX Waking Minnow or a solid black buzzbait. I've caught more fish, any time of the day on black more than anything. Always use a trailer hook in case it is a short strike.

Thanks for the kind words on the pic. That lake is Plum Orchard, a 200 acre small lake in southern West Virginia. Now you know why it's called "Almost Heaven" West Virginia.

I should have included a picture. Here is a picture to give you an idea of what the Pads look like.

My local lake has a bunch of grass beds and most of the lake is covered with Lily Pads in the shallows and along the banks for about 30 yards out. I had a lot of success last year throwing spinnerbaits and crank baits parallel to the Lily edges during the night and day and throwing a buzzbait through the lanes of the Lillies at dark and at early morning. I have fished a frog slowly over the tops but have never seemed to have much luck. In fact I don't think I've ever gotten a bite doing so. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get more bites in 2016?

I immediately thought of squarebill in this situation.

Randy Howell will be doing a live webinar tonight at 7pm from the Livingston website on their new sound technology integrated into their crankbaits. Anyone fished these yet? They apparently produce an automated baitfish sound while traveling underwater.

I've always tried to match the particular color lure to the conditions for the day, such as a black or dark profile on a cloudy day or at night vs a more natural color or lighter color on sunny days. More so, dark in muddy water and light in clearer water. I've had moderate success doing so in the past few years. I fish in southern West Virginia in mountain lakes. All are man made and most have good numbers of bass, bluegills, perch, crappie, catfish, trout. When trying to imitate a baitfish, mostly all you hear on TV or in magazines is SHAD. Bass love Shad. Most of your choices in baits nowadays is different variations of shad colors. This leads to me to the question. Do shad even exist in my waters? I read where they die at 42-45 degrees. Most of our waters get colder than that in the winter on a yearly basis. If there aren't shad numbers, if any, in my waters would a bass know what a shad even is? Is it instinct that the Bass already knows? I know for a fact the three biggest natural baits where I live is baby bluegill, baby bass, and crawfish. Should I stick to these three colors as my primary choice because it's natural for my area or should I go with some variations of shad to go for maybe a reaction strike?

May have been put in with the intention of scaring away any swimmers if their is a dock or a pier close by.

If the boat is really in as good of shape as it appears and your reeady with the money I say jump on it.

Won't get up on plain, rougher ride, worse gas milage..

Don't go into debt if you don't really need to. I've been wanting a bass boat (I fish from an 8ft Bass Raider) for several years, but don't have the financial means to do so. Be thankful you have one and its paid for.

I was fishing in a pair of flip flops dumb I know for smallmouths in the Greenbrier River in West Virginia in water about up to my waste. I felt something wrap around my foot like a piece of seaweed and when I looked down a brown snake was wrapped around my leg. It turned out to be a water snake but I had just seen a copperhead a guy had killed an hour before in some rocks on the shore. I went from Point A to Point B in about 2.4 seconds and let out a scream. I even started splashing. When I jumped the current from the river washed my sandal away so I had to walk about half a mile back to camp with only one sandal. My father stood about 50 yards away bent over in laughter.

The absolute single funniest video I've ever seen in my life. That sound he makes cannot be made up. Then watching him shiver after from being freaked out is hilarious. Then he thought it was out of the boat and it wasn't and he jumped again when he saw it. If I were the cameraman I would have dropped the camera from laughing so hard.

Just looked up Honey Hole on youtube. Now I'll never get anything done at work lol

1 Bill Dance Outdoors 2 The Bass Dr 3 Major League Lessons 4 Major League Fishing I cannot watch Johnny Johnson. His laugh is beyond annoying. I tried to watch it one night while my wife was working in the background and she threatened to unplug the tv.

I've caught a ton of Florida Largemouth on a Culprit Black Shad ribbon tail Texas rigged.

I'm gonna try to stick to dealers if possible.... Or buy second hand from someone I know. Not gonna use craigslist or ebay if I can help it.

I'm not stuck on buying new. If the right deal came along i'd be open to listen. Just didn't think I could find anything decent in that price range.

I've played the golf course there a hundred times. Never got to fish it though. Well known as a bass lake. Has a beautiful marina.

How fast will one of these little 3 or 4 HP babies run a 14 ft jon boat?

That buying a Tracker or other means of an aluminum bass boat just isn't in the cards for a few years due to a low budget. So, I'm ready to concentrate on plan B. Been browsing a few Jon boats online and it appears it is possible to put together a nice little Jon Boat package with motor and trailer for around $2,000. This could buy time until I am able to put back the money on a nicer bass boat down the road. What is the life expectancy for a riveted jon boat? Was looking at a couple of models from tracker. Would fish two people. I don't want to finance anything I want to own it from day 1. Also, you can't buy anything new for this cheap. I see the Tracker Topper 1542W is listed at $1,249 with shipping to my local dealer. Harbor Freight sales little boat trailers for $400. I already have a 2 year old minn kota 55lb thrust trolling motor and battery. You could even add a small 3 or 4 HP tiller motor for under $1,000. Thoughts? I would want to install a casting deck in the front and possibly move my trolling motor to the bow from the transom. Most of the waters I fish are under a couple of hundred acres. I mainly want something big enough to be able to stand up in from time to time to stretch my legs. My dad and I currently fish out of an 8 ft pelican bass raider and while it is a great little boat it is just hard to fish out of for longer than 3 or 4 hours without returning to the dock for a break. Could this be a viable plan B option for someone like me on a tight budget?

This little booger has been tearing it up for me lately.....

Personally, all of the G3 boats at my local dealers have astronomical prices... I'm talking $18,000-$22,000 for a 17 foot aluminum. If I were gonna spend that much on an aluminum I'd get a Ranger RT 178. The same boat from Tracker would run you about $6,000 or $7,000 less.

Try a bigger bait? Maybe something with a little more profile? I am in the same boat I can catch bass all day but nothing never seems to have any size to it. I want a 3 or 4 pounder get tired of my catches constantly be 1 to 2 lbs...

On Saturday, I took the Pelican Bass Raider out to a local small lake (Plum Orchard in Fayette Co, WV) to fish the electric only section. When I pulled in around noon I was the only one there! Had the whole lake to myself which was awesome. I caught 4 LM bass total that evening until dark. The weather forecast was for mid 70s and sunny. I was counting on clear water and fishing shallow as bass should be in the fall pattern. The water should be right around the 60 degree mark give or take a couple of degrees more or less. I do not have a depth finder or any type of electronic on this boat so it was just me and my gut feelings (Which I love). Sure enough, I get to the lake and the water had that deep green murkiness to it. I'd visibility was around 5 to 6 feet, not sure why hasn't been a lot of rain lately. The temp forecast was way off. It was lucky to reach 60 degrees all day and was overcast, which 10-12 mph wind blowing constantly. First one came about 3:30pm off a Livetarget Lipless Golden Shiner Crankbait in Silver Blue color. I was slow rolling it right along the bottom of a little inlet. The strike occured about 20 yards off the bank perpendicular from the bank. My guess it happened in 12-15 feet of water. Fish two came about 50 yards from fish one about 10 minutes later. It hit a bomber medium diving crankbait in the same depth of water on a similar cast. The primary cover around both of these fish appeared to be grass. Fish three came about 5pm in the evening on a chartreuse double willow spinnerbait with gold blades. It was off of a point that appeared to be a pretty steep drop off near fallen timber and overhangs. The bass hit the spinnerbait almost as soon as it hit the water. The strike occurred around 5-10 yards off the bank. Fish four came right at dark on a wiggle wart crankbait in a crawfish pattern. I was fishing this at the dam in 5-10 feet of water bouncing it off the riprap rocks that boarder the water at the dam. This was my largest bass of the day. Four bass on four lures on in three different kinds of structure. I went in to the day thinking clear/sunny/warm and shallow and all of the fish came on different baits in different scenerios. I'm stumped........