Keithscatch

Looking at this lake I see allot of points and points happen to be a fav of mine and some have deep water nearby. I would hit each point that I have marked on the image. T-rig, drop shot, deep cranks, spinnerbaits, even topwater could produce on these points. I would also hit the deep transition on the dam with a drop shot or weighted fluke on the rip rap on the dam. (Provided there is rip rap on the dam)

Jasone, Funny you should say that. I actually tried a DVD that I knew was bad. But it would crack as I was trying to cut it. So I used the plastic case that holds CD. Haha. Thanks for the kind words everyone. As soon as I catch a fish on it I will post it up. I can't wait to catch a fish on it.

Neighborhood pond all the way. But make sure all the bigger bass are removed and keep some of the smallr fish or you will have a bunch of runts in there. But perhaps since it is in a neighborhood most of the fish that manage to live long enough to reach 7lbs are removed the instant they are caught. Thus allowing all the fish to be smaller. So it is a double edged sword. If people would just simply C&R their big bass we all wouldn't have to be asking these things...

Ok I am not a pro and I am not trying to sell these. I fancy myself as an artist so sometimes I get a wild hair and do something like this. Here is a tutorial of how I made this crankbait. I am sure I did something wrong as like I said this is not how I make a living. Here it is enjoy: First picture is of the supplies I used to make this crankbait. Second picture is the block of wood after I drew the image I liked on it I then began the process of widdling away what is not the crankbait The next picture is of the bait all cut to shape and sanded down to the final shape. This next picture is showing the final belly weight that was expoxied into the lure. I did mess up on this as I used too heavy of a weight. Bait suspends now instead of floats But what I did was take a egg shaped weight and bought a small cotter pin in 1/8 wire. Put the cotter pin through the weigh from the bottom and bend the wire out and clip off the tags. Then drill the hole for the egg sinker and put in to make sure it is flush with the bait then epoxy it in. What sticks out is the head of the cotter pin which becomes the part your hook attaches to. Also, you are looking at a sealed wood bait using plastic dissolved in Lacquer Thinner. To do this melt 10-13 small 3 ounce sized plastic white cups from SoLo into a jar big enough to dunk your crank in. Once all cups are dissolved dip the crank in and let dry. Do this 5 times or more to get a solid coverage on your bait. Learned all this from Tackle underground. Using the glitter shown in the supplies picture I glued it on using the elmers glue. I would put some glue on a paper plate then with my finger I would rub it onto the lure where I wanted that particular color. Then I would add glitter to it and dust it off. Then redo it again as needed. To make the stripes I would use a the glitter glue and blob it onto the plate and dip a pencil into it and apply it to the bait. I also made the eyes by using the hole punch, red paper and a blacj sharpie and epoxy. I glued the red eye in place using elmer glue. I then made the black circle using a black sharpie. I then put a drop or two of epoxy on the eye. I would turn it upside down in order to make it form a bubble. When it dried I made the other one. This is with the bill all epoxied in. I didn't have an extra bill laying around so I dug around and found a hard plastic case that held CD's. It has a roll cover so to speak so I drew the coffin bill design I wanted on it and with my exacto knife I slowly scored the plastic until I was able to break it out. Then I epoxied it into the bait with the Loctite 5 minute epoxy. I then used the same Epoxy to create the clear coat on the bait. I used 5 minute epoxy and painted it on using a brush. I painted 2 coats on and it was fairly heavy. Here is the final lure with the hooks on and all sealed. Bait runs perfect except for not floating. ..DOH! oh well, when I cast it out I will just have to retrieve it as soon as it lands. It will sink slowly. But that might be a good thing too. Now after all that work I hope to catch a fish on it. It is pretty big as far as crankbaits go. But I figured a big bass would love to eat it. From nose of the body to the tail is 3 1/4 inches long. From Bill to tail is just under 4 1/2 inches long. Not sure how deep it dives as the pond I tried it in is murky and it dug the bottom. But when it didn't it ran in nice and straight with a nice wobble to it.

PM Sent LBH. Thanks and cool idea.

Mike apparently you at least figured them out. You and your friend definitely know more about this then I do. I tried allot of things and only got 3 bites. Landed one and the others got off. They were so small it was hardly worth the effort. I sure didn't see anyone around me catch those numbers. I fished Lowrey also. I stayed close to the ramp on the left hand side. I was in a White Skeeter. I didn't notice a Ganoe. Or however you spell it. But I never tried the grass either. My graph pooped out on me when I got there which really set me back. I only had my flasher so I was sort of handicapped. I left around 11:30am. I wanted to beat the rush out of that lake. I have driven down dried creek beds better then the dirt road they provide us with haha. I guess the fish are there just have to find them. But still after that many years I would have thought they would be jumping in the boat. Oh well, you definitely got the knack for those types of lakes more then I do. Good job on your catch today. BTW, how did the fish look that you caught? Skinny or about normal?

This is a cut throat business if you show your idea to a lure manufacturer and they like it they will produce it themselves. Simply telling them your idea means they will go and do it before you. I know. I told a lure rep my idea for a bait with a harder more dense head so that it wouldn't tear up by the hook. I told this guy this at a lure tackle show here in Jacksonville. I even told him my idea was to name them Hard Heads. Well one year later I see Mann's came out with Hard Nose lures. Couldn't believe it. So keep your ideas to yourself or those who you share them too might just do something about them and of course leave you out.. I have no idea on how you can turn your idea into a business other then making them yourself and selling them on line.

I do miss Texas allot actually. I personally think it is better fishing there at least compared to north Florida. I will be moving to Central Florida next month so in a while ask me this question again ;D Might have a different answer. No really, I think it is easier to catch fish in Texas lakes like Fork then it is here. The lakes I fish seem to force you to beat banks where the grass is and neglect the open water behind you. Now the lake I fished today and another lake on the same military ground is one of the few exceptions as they are deep lakes. Very rare here indeed. Most lakes are much shallower then those lakes. Also not much hydrilla here either which is weird. Only a couple lakes in the upper portion of Florida have it at all. Anyway, here is the story from today. I went out with high expectations as all of you have indicated you would have too. I went to drop shot fishing right away. Right away I started getting nibbles but no connections. I was fishing in 14 feet of water. I hooked a fish on a Huddleston craw bug called a Huddlebug. Awesome looking crawfish. Anyway, that fish was so small that when he jumped he threw the bait. Later on I switched to a Devils Tongue 4" finesse worm and caught another Super Dink. "Florida Special" this fish however looked ill. It was say 10" long and looked as if it hasn't had a decent meal his whole short life. Had that concaved stomach thing going. I kept fishing without another bite. I saw another fisherman come around me and we started chatting. He has fished this lake before it closed and said they used to do ok. He caught 6 fish and he said all of them where skin and bones. Nothing with meat on them all were 10" long too. Who would have thought after 5 years of closure that this lake would produce super dinks and hardly any at that. Seems like their food base is horrible lacking. I only fished till 11:30 and left. Just not worth hanging around in that place. Plus they force you to leave at 1:30pm anyway. Needless to say I was sorely dissapointed. :'(

Ok this lake was opened today for half a day of fishing from 7:30am-1:30pm. Will be open only 2 days per week from now on as it is on a military base. Perhaps some military guys fished the lake during this hiatus but no one else. 60 boats showed up to fish this lake. There is also a smaller 250 acre lake that was opened. I counted about 25 boats on the larger lake so I assume the smaller lake got most of the traffic. Results later I just wanted to know what everyone else would think is a reasonable guess as to how the fishing should be based on this info. Weather today was HOt Hot Hot. no wind very still and partly cloudy. Water temp was 89 degrees.

Interesting thoughts. Matt, no not Squaw Creek although I know where that lake is as I used to live in Dallas. I never got to fish that lake. But great guess. This one was closed on 9/11 also. Not a power plant lake though.

What would your expectations be? What should the results be in your opinion? Say the lake is fairly clear medium depth of around 25 feet about 1,250 acres and has a good population of Bass in it. If this lake was in your state and you fished it after that long of a layoff how would you think you would do? Oh and the state was not managing this lake during the 5 year layoff. No stocking, nothing.

This is interesting to say the least. I have often wondered about holding bass in livewells all day. Some people just use the recirc water option and don't realize that all they are doing is recirculating the water that is already in the livewell. We need to pump new water in and old water out all the time. Some leave their livewell off thinking it makes too much noise and well forget that their livewell is off. (Mike Iconelli can explain that to you) I would also like to see a filter system installed on new boats. Something like we use in an aquarium. Something with Charcoal and floss as a filter. The reason? To remove the ammonia that builds up from a fish that is stressed and being held in a tank. A filter pump system would remove that and make the livewell a heck of allot more condusive to keeping fish that way. That is probably not the major problem though is certainly a major contributor. Others have mentioned the long weigh ins that to me is probably the majority of the problem. BASS used to be the worst offender of this back in the day when Ray Scott used to MC these events. I used to scream at the TV to put those fish in water and stop telling stories while holding them out of the water. Geez. Those fish never had a chance after that. Ray would ask them to hold the fish and then tell us your story son. So we would get to listen to pro anger tell us how he got into fishing, how he entered the tournament as a pro and then he told us how he caught his fish all the while the fish are turning blue in his hands (An analogy folks. I know fish don't turn blue) Thankfully they are not as bad about that now as they once were. But, making a circus out of an event is a joke. Leaving fish in a livewell on recirc for a hour and a half waiting for those fish to be yanked out and held out of water for a few minutes while being weighed is a concern. However, if our livewells had a filter system on it then leaving fish in a livewell for a couple hours wouldn't hurt them at all. Except for like Jim said if they had the LMBV virus. But not all lakes have that problem. So for them this sytem would work. Cut down on the time to weigh in fish, hold them out of the water for less time, add filters to the livewell and to me that would solve allot of the problems here.

Thank you all for puting this on and being a blessing. God bless Mrs Lovins with peace and health. Kevin thank you sir for utilizing this board to distribute things that will bring smiles and many memories to yound people. LBH, your willingness to facilitate this is a Godsend my friend.

Colored or muddy water is productive at night. You just have to remember to use larger then avergae baits and baits that vibrate a great deal. If you can fish from a boat I would cast a Black Spinnerbait with a single colorado blade with a big bulky trailer on it. SOmetimes a Jumbo Pork frog is a good choice. Adds scent also. A Chatterbait is another good option as long as it is black and blue. If you worm fish throw a big creature type bait. A Bacon Rind has worked well for me (Gambler product) or a 10" Power worm. Fish slow and use a screw in weight with rattles in it. Gambler makes those. I use them at night and like the fact that I don't have to poke rattles in my plastics anymore. Just slow down and fish thouroughly. Throw to the same area a couple of times. When retrieving the SB or Chatterbait reel it in slow and never pause it. Just a slow steady retrieve so the fish can home in on it. Bass can hunt with our without their eyes. I have caught blind bass with either no eyes or badly torn up eyes. They use their latteral lines and can locate food just find. Bring bug spray and post your results.

If you plan on fishig this lake allot I would definitely scout the lake and learn the structure that is normally underwater that is out of water now. Maybe even planting a brushpile here and there is a good idea for later But I agree with fishing deep. If the current is new to the lake the fish are not going to be biting well. If it is has been going on for a while though then the fish will learn to use the current to ambush prey. Keep that in mind when looking for areas. Perhaps if their is a funnel area like between two land masses that is narrower then anywwhere else? Points are good to fish if their is current present from the dropping water. Main thing is make sure you learn spots so when they fill the lake back up again you will have some spots to go to.

Here is a great tutorial on how to make scale patterns on hard baits. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5195

Hey that plastic dissolving tip is pretty neat. Is this step done before or after the paint job? I am unclear on that part.

Wow 85% ethanol. That can't be good.

Check this article out and pay attention if this might be a problem for your boat: http://www.boatus.com/news/e10_0706.htm

Yeah, I still think of a what it could have been. But my problem was using a crappy rod (Shakespeare Ugly Stick) I didn't know any better back in 1996 apparently. Lost a double digit probbaly a teen bass at Lake Fork in some trees. I couldn't lift up on the fish thanks to the whippy make a donut rod called the Ugly Stick. Has no backbone whatesoever so the fish swam me into a brush pile and sawed me off. Strongest fish I have ever had on so far.

Wow, Wow, Wow. Unbelievable. Just stunned & offended by this post and the logic being spewed here. The insinuation that tournament anglers are spreading viruses and parasites is ludicris. To target only that small group of fisherman demonstrates an underlining agenda here that goes deeper then keeping bass. So I did a quick check of the Arkansas record books to see if your logic that apparently can't be refuted is indeed working. Look what I found: Bass, Largemouth 16lb 4oz Mallard Lake 03/02/76 Focus in on the date of this catch. 1976. That is 30 years ago folks. HELLO!!!! Maybe I am not as sharp as some but I wouldn't call that a Success or working. Why hasn't any trophy sized bass been caught bigger then this since 1976? Well this might be a clue: *Many fishermen here in the south keep all they catch. Well, not only is that illegal it is also moronic and devoid of wisdom. But this sums up the problem coupled with this other response: *We have 7 fish cleaning stations around the south side of the lake, and all are well used, usually stopped up with carcasses too large for the grinder. Trash cans overflow daily. Hundreds of bass a day cycle through the stations on a typical Fri-Sun fishing period weather permitting. Well there you have it. I couldn't have said it better myself. Hundreds of bass carcasses line trash cans all over Arkansas lakes every weekend. Hhhmmm, I wonder what would have happened if some of those bass carcasses were let go before they became a carcass and were allowed to grow up? Perhaps Arkansas would have bigger bass today? But that is just speculation. I am sure the aformentioned logic of keeping all you catch is working though somewhere BTW, the reason states like California and Texas and Florida have produced quite a few fish of this size and bigger since 1976 is due mostly in part to C&R. You see if we harvest the 10lbers then we have a harder time growing 11lbers. If we harvest the 11lbers we have a harder time growing 12lbers, if we harvest the 12lbers we have a harder time growing 13lbers etc.etc.etc. The higher up this ladder we want to reach the tougher it gets when slightly smaller fish are being removed. In essence we have to start over again year after year after year. For those in Florida, this is why I made the other post about keeping or releasing your bass. This is why I not only do my part to help the trophy status of bass in my state but I also help others by encouraging them and educating them on why it is important to let BIG bass go. No it is not beneficial to the lake. Sorry guys. That point will never be agreed upon by me. Say what you will but removing large bass out of a lake will hurt the trophy fishery. So if developing a trophy fishery is important then release big bass. If it isn't then do what some here have said and keep every single bass you catch and take it home and eat it.

Never broke a flippin rod yet. Broke a couple other lighter rods though. I am happy with the BP rod I use for flippin. It holds up nicely and was on sale when I bought it for $99. I thik it was regularily $150 or so? Can't remember it was a few years ago. Getting fish out of a huge bail of hydrilla. Man you are on your own with that. I would cut my line before I broke my rod or fouled up my motor to get to it.

Range - While widely distributed outside Florida, the spotted bass is restricted to streams of the panhandle from the Perdido River to the Apalachicola River. Abundance is limited in this area, but the fish primarily occurs in and west of the Choctawhatchee River. None east of the Panhandle area.

Seen it both ways George. I have also seen other smaller birds maybe Twin Tail Swallows? (Just a guess as I am not a bird person) chasing Bald Eagles all over the place. I guess those smaller quicker birds can run off those big predator birds pretty easy. I have seen them chase Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles, Ospreys and just about everything else that gets to close to their nests.

You know some of the responses don't surprise me. Saying that DNR knows what is best because they allow you to keep the bigger fish sort of bothers me. I have spoke with Parks and wildlife biologists about this before and the ONLY reason they allow harvest of bass over say 20" is not to help the lake by balancing it out but because people want to keep them and they ALLOW people to keep them because they basically have to. If they didn't allow this then allot of people unfortunetly would stop fishing and revenue would go down. So please do not confuse letting people keep certain size bass with it being the smart thing to do. Because it is not. If anyone says keeping large bass is good for the lake or environment then they are misinformed. Smaller fish are the ones, if any are to be removed, should be removed. Removing bigger mature fish from any body of water hurts the population of trophy sized fish period. Catch and release on all bass also is not bad. Why do people continue to believe and propagate these falsities??? Beats me. Have you ever fished in a C&R only lake? We have one here in S.Florida that is as good a fishing lake as there is anywhere. It is called the Stick Marsh/Farm Pond 13. You might have heard about it or seen some of the huge bass George Welcome and his Son and their clients are catching in there? You might also hear about how many fish they catch sometimes? When is the last time those kinds of numbers have been caught at other lakes that are not C&R only? If this friend of yours ever wants to go fishing with you tell him that he has to release any bass he catches while fishing with you. If you own a boat this is easy. I do this and if anyone wishes to fish with me they understand that regardless of how big the fish is, it goes back. Catch, Photo and release. Nothing better then that folks. Peace.