FIN-S-R

Fish it. Thinking about what the big game hunter fishcris has said, it makes sense that I often do better behind guys as far as catching what I consider big fish (5-6+). i ussually Start fishing the water they were casting from, and try to work my way around it until I can switch from fishing shallow to deep to deep to shallow. I only know of 2 teams that will fish out a spot on the 5 or 6 lakes I tourney fish on. Unless it is those guys, I dont even consider the place touched.

Man does nobody use a yo-zuri vibe? This is easily my #1, on the poll it had vibration and cranks together, but I dont fish them anywhere near the same, and consider the vibration to be more like a spinner bait than a crank. Anyway, silver green back yo-zuri vibe...cant beat them anywhere on a tough day. You can cover water, they come through cover really well, and will VIBE-rate the rod out of your hand. Won more $$ on one of these little jewels this past year than anything else.

Im gonna say i dont catch many fish on non-hard baits by feeling anymore. Maybe less than 10% of the fish I catch draggin a jig or drop shot or shakin a worm are from feel. Most of the time it is a result of watching. I figure you may get 3 seconds to set the hook by watchin, and maybe half that if your just feeling. I dont really set the hook hard anymore unless there is heavy cover involved. Watching the line makes it where you can give it a more carolina rig sweep set. You dont risk poppin a fishes mouth open or snappin florocarbon or braid with the less jerky set. I have also recently found that line watching is way more important for hard jerkbaits than even for plastics. It seems like the fish will bump the jerk but not hit it. If you can watch your line closely enough and see when this happens, you twitch the bait ever so slightly, and BAM. Or at least that the way it has worked for me. Oh and I dont night fish...figure there are other things that need tending after dark!!! ;D

46 but cooling on S. OK. Looks like no more freezing temps for a couple weeks.

Mr. Baugher, I like that little write up very much. It definately helps a person to graphically wrap their head around the issue. In addition to the info you have there, I think it is very important to stress another point when relating the "can see" issue to people. That issue would be light penetration into water. Water acts as a filter. Pure H2O contains a certain set of light absorbing properties. What we as anglers encounter is far from "pure" H2O, so the most accurate measure and presentation of the "can see" issue needs to include mention of the depths to which various wavelengths of light penetrate. The scale on this measurement would be dictated by the depth to which redish goes on the shallow side, and the depth to which blueish goes on the deeper side, with greenish being somewhere in the middle or towards the bottum. Ultimately what I have found in crunching this info is that blueish leaning to purpleish is the most visible...not necessarily the most accomodating for bass sight properties for deeper clear to semi-stained or semi-murkey water. Above depths of around 10ft in the afore mentioned water clarities, the whole range of colors is "can see". The depths below 10-12 ft create an environment whereas the violetish to greenish colors are the most "can see".

I have found a feast or famine kind of deal with winter fishing, that is to say i have never tried live bait for bass, so it could be a feast feast scenario..but I dont know. I am most interested in artificials...nothing against live bait, but i ussually dont go there except for the big blues. The onset of low pressure pre-frontal crappy weather seems to be magic, but, it seems in a high pressure post frontal condition with cold water the fish simply disappear, I cant seem to find them on the bottum on deep structure, or on shallower cover/structure combos, say 8-10 ft ranges, either. Twice I have hit it pretty big during the calm after the front with jerkbaits in 4-8ft on south facing rip rap. This tells me that the warming effects of the sun could have some effect, but it doesnt seem to be consistant. Any clues to this mystery?

I had considered this, but I figured the wife would get hacked...just kidding hunny!!!

I like this this question. Everytime it comes up I hear different stuff on the theory of what a bass can see. Truth is we will probably never know the exact truth, but we do have some "facts" from research about light penetration and photoreceptor size shape and light capturing ability. Based on the studies I have found and read in peer reviewed scientific pubs, here is what I believe is the closest thing to "the truth" science has figured out (check some of my earlier posts on this subject for the research lit. I referred to). #1 light penetration: redish doesnt penetrate to the depths as does blueish. #2 Fish eyes: The photoreceptors in a bass eye cause it to absorb greenish wavelengths most efficiently #3 Training fish: Fish have been "trained" in some experiments respond to certain colors based on feeding (ex. blue line has food on it, so they come to the blue line, or yellow line or clear line.) A multitude of colors was readily recognized by the bass as the color line associated with food. #4 the color of food: what is the predominant color of the critters fish eat- Green/Purple/white/silver/brown/orange/red/black So if you look at the forage in a given body of water and match the general core colors of that forage, you will find that you are fishing with blue/purple, green and brown for the most part, and then some white and silver/ gold, and these are all colors that line up with light penetration rules for different depths of water.

What do you do in high pressure post fontal conditions with 42 degree water to raise a strike. Do you finnesse cover, cover water, jerbait it? This weather pattern has always presented me with problems during the winter time, so share your secrets.

Not stupid question. Sunday afternoon w/ high pressure calm post frontal conditions I caught em' in 4-8 ft, a couple weeks before that with a dropping barometer and overcast stormy/ windy conditions I caught em' in 15-30ft. I mention these 2 situations because they are bassackwards of what you would expect. Having said that I guess the only real way to figure out if they are deep or shallow, is go give em' a try and try to match your tactics to the conditions, and if that doesnt work then do the opposite, if that doesnt work then do somethin in between.

Working on an Idea for a really deep diving crank, like 30+ Ft deep. The physics will give you a migraine

My Fishin' consists of about 75% practice for tourneys, 5% tourney time, and 20% fun w/ my son or friends.....I share good spots, I even share great spots, but I dont share money spots...if there is an outside chance I will ever fish against you- Ive been screwed by "friends" more than once. Friendship is one thing but gettin' paid is another....you dont screw your friends out of a paycheck. I do help my buddies w/ tourney info even if I fish against them, I just make sure my info is better. I work hard to gather it, and as someone else said, I dont want to be coppied off of on test day. now as far as techniques/ patterns/ lures/ colors/ presentations and areas...I will give it all up. 2 Reasons #1 Everyone is always looking for that special spot and "THEY" will waste time doing it #2 You will always do better in the spots you know doing what you know works than you will in a new spot doing something someone told you about even if it is true

I keep preachin bout these okie pigs. Very few target them, so it is an untapped resource...well almost untapped

swim baits and DLNs???? WHat body of water do you throw them on for big brownies? im wise to the DLN thing, but I usually dont bust out the swim baits until im kicker huntin.

6.5 on Texoma DD22 28ft H2O 8lb P-Line Floroclear 1/13/07. 6 on Murray (ok) Kinami popper 10lb Big Game 20? ft H20 7/1/06. 26 incher Murray (ok) c-rig baby b-hog stren braid w/ 12lb vanish leader 4ft H2O 8/'04...Im guessin this fish was pushin 7. You can find pics of the first two on some of my other posts.

Didnt even need to take the test to know I am a victim...the wife has been wise to my condiction for years and never misses a chance to remind me how SICK i really am

I got the gander mountain stuff on sale for 115 for the parka and bibs. I have fished in the nastiest coldest windiest stuff you can come up with for oklahoma, and am very very satisfied for the $. I would compare it to the cabelas non-insul. gore tex suit that sells for around $250. i especially like the built in glove part because its not so much neoprene as is some of the other higher dollar stuff. I have had frog toggs cabelas and BPS stuff and this gander mountain suit is far superior to frog toggs in durability and very comparable to the BPS and Cabelas suits that are much more expensive. I saw a post on this forum a little while back kind of doggin' on this gander mountain suit, but all I have to say is good about it. Its no 100MPH BPS suit, but for someone who doesnt make a living fishing in the rain, its darn good enough especially for the price right now.

CONFIRMED: DOIN' IT AGAIN THIS WEEKEND!!!! ;) ;)

Well I have noticed the same pattern with lipless cranks too. A red vibe seems to catch more smallies, while a ghost shad vibe will stick LMB. And a kinami hard bait vibration bait or LVR will do a number on LMB, while the Vibe or Sigoi tends to do a better job on SMB.

the bump board is about a quarter in. shy of 23"-its the golden rule that measures to 22"

Have you guys noticed that smallies preferentially hit certian type of cranks. Does action, say a wobble as opposed to a wiggle make a difference, or general color patterns, say a contrasting pattern as opposed to a gradual blend or solid color seem to be a preference? I notice some cranks I use tend to only stick pig smallies, and others only dinks, and still others only LMB all in the same lake on the same spot. Now in considering this, please negate the probable variation in water color, lighting conditions, and other factors that may change from day to day, and just focus on the differences or lack there of btw the SMB and LMB when crankin'. My personal observation from review of notes, is that I generally get a better pig smallie bite on those cranks that lean toward the more extreme end of the scales. For instance, a white/ green back DLN seems to produce good numbers of LMB and some medium size SMB. But when I implement the same crank with a little chart on it, it tends to stick pig smallies and fewer LMB. Same with action, the same color scheme in two different models, say a DLN as Opposed to a DT with a tighter more frantic wiggle, the DT seems to produce more smallie strikes than does the DLN which produces more LMB bites. This also seems to hold true toward the wobble end of the scale, wheras I have had good luck for chunk LMB on a DD22, and then the same color pattern Daiwa DT Titan Dragger (a really wide wobble) seems to stick more SMB. How about Jerk Baits? I have had little or no luck for big smallies on jerks, deep or shallow, slow or fast. What do you guys notice is a good rule for what I have heard is the ultimate big smallie bait?

Details to be posted after middle of feb at soonest...got tourneys, cant give away all my goodies. I will say deep cranks and rocks where the red and washita meet

Never fished during ice and snow storm before. But wont miss 1 from now on. Oh yeah, these are OKIE PIGZ

Thanks guys, I'm goin out in the moring to try and find em and stay on top of em'...bravin the ice storm we are supposed to have here... to try and figure these toads out.

It sounds like there are some of you guys on this thread who do a pretty thorough disect and explore technique on the points you cant see, so I have a scenario for you that befogles me regulary. Bluff sandstone point which flattens out upon entering the water (6-8ft deep), then regains "point" shape 20-30 yds off the bank (12-14ft deep). It carries out about 30-40 yds where it abruptly ends into the old river channel (50ft deep) in drop-off fashion. I have caught a number of "big" 4+ lbers from this point, both LMB and SMB, and I have confirmed quite a few others who have done the same thing. The issue here is consistancy. These big fish seem to "move up" on the flat and feed, and they are catchable...sometimes schooling activity. When not in schooling mode, they seem to be impossible to catch...what would you guys do?