WTnPuddleJumper

I did the same thing at a Pickwick Tournament last week. We pulled up on a shallow point, and probably caught about 30 14" or less on cranks and one knockers. I knew we probably should have left earlier but catching is the name of the game. We later moved to our deep spots and filled the livewell with a 15# sack. I knew the bigger fish were deeper all along but it was too much fun catching them dinks. I have in the past "camped out" on certain areas and the fish bite got bigger as the day got longer. Other times they stayed the same size all day long. I think somedays you luck up and find the big uns and other days you don't.

The next time you plan to go fish a certain lake or river, and if you have some free time and a computer a few days before going, try this on for size. Instead of waiting until you get on the water to start waypointing ideal fishing spots such as humps, islands, ledges, etc. start targeting them at home. I like to use google earth to get nice satellite photos of the river. This will show you everything above the water such as boat docks, islands etc. You can also use the history feature which shows the river photographed at different times of the year (sometimes) which will show the pool at different levels. Then once you find a interesting spot, open a new tab and go to the navionics site and click at the top for the chart viewer. There you can familiarize yourself with the contours of the bottom with depth charts. Once you have the both of them you can go back and forth to learn the lay of the water. Take notes and you can even make copies off of the navionics site. Once you find enough info you can then go to your chart in your boat and waypoint all of the interesting spots you found. Then when its time to hit the lake all you have to do is drive to the waypoint and fish!!!! Hope this helps, It does for me! https://www.navionics.com/usa/

at 44 degrees I would imagine the fish would still be on the deep trend. Im really not familiar with the temp patterns in the region you reside (being our avg water temp in TN is in the high 60's-low 70's) but I would I would think that the temps would be on the rise from now on out. I guess I would target objects (rocks. logs, etc) that would warm the water a little when sunlight is present. Keep an eye out for baitfish schooling and maybe you can develop a pattern that will put some fish in the box. I wouldn't rule out the deep bite either. This, to say the least, has been one of the stranger years I have ever had trying to locate fish. Guess we can blame it on el nino!

High water is Cryptonite for a bunch of us. Has the water just risen to these high levels recently, or has the water been high for some time now? What has the water temp been for the last couple of weeks? I fished a tournament at Pickwick this past Sunday right after a cold front with rain and a north wind. I caught about 30 un keepers in 5 foot or less. Caught 8 keepers in 20 feet. The river was higher than normal but not radically high (like it is now). Some of those deep fish were full of eggs. They should have been on beds but I guess they moved off.

I would use braid all the way to the bait. A chatterbait is a good "off road" bait but will get hung occasionally. With 65# you can usually bend the hook out with a strong tug. with that floro you would lose too many baits

a Chatterbait is very versatile, you can straight trieve it back or pitch it up next to a bush/tree and let it fall slowly thru the branches. Just don't expect a huge hit on a chatterbait. Sometimes all you will feel is the bait quit vibrating, big bass will push it towards you making slack in your line. Make sure you set the hook hard because most of the time the hook is pointed up and you stick em in the roof of their mouth. Using a quality 50-65# test braided line will magnify the vibration of the bait as well as magnify the sensevity . Best mentality when chunking a chatterbait is to compare it to a jig bite. Hope this helps P.s. the original chatterbaits are the cheapest and vibrate the best.

Going to Gibson County Thursday, you up for some swamp donkeys? Best leave that yo momma fishing line at home, bring some big boy line!!

I have never bought in to the fluorocarbon craze. I have been using 17# green BassProShops excel for years and it is as strong as I need it to be. Not to mention its $10 for 1100 yds. I use it on every rod except for my topwater, jig, and chatterbait rods, which gets the power pro 65#

All I can say about that statement is I have GOT to fish with these guys!!!!

Bet ya caught her on dental floss with a paper clip bent for a hook.

I understand the match the hatch to a degree. But I could see where some fish would see that the hatch would be the perfect size meal. Where some of the other fish would rather dine on the hatches momma!!!! A old man I know said it best " Shut up and Fish"

I know one way you hold the rod in one hand and the bait in the other and moreorless pulling the bait out of your hand with the motion of your rod. The other way is wrist casting where like a spinner bait would semi circle the rod sling shotting it. regardless of what you call any cast, if you cast your lure and it lands where you want it and then you reel it in with a bass on the end, then you are doing your job well!!!!

If I fish the TN river I will take 3 rods for Carolina rig set ups. Big Hook Big Plastic Smaller Hook Smaller Plastic, etc. I will take 10 -12 rods with me but don't deck em all at once (wouldn't have any moving room). Same way with tackle. We all have too much tackle. I fished a tournament sunday and never even got into my tackle compartment. I don't blame MLF or Bass or FLW because I have too much stuff. I have just been adding to the arsenal little by little for thirty years. I usually don't let the pros influence me much anyhow because most of the toys they are sporting were given to them. You and I actually are paying for their freebies!!!

GET THE NET!!!

Just purchased a Lowrance gen 3 hds 9 unit. It did not come with a structure scan transducer. I am replacing a gen2 hds 7 with the structure scan box. my question is if I can use the old structure scan transducer with the new gen 3 unit. will it plug right in or will I need a adaptor, or is it even compatible?

Most were chunking plastics, I know that 2 of the 3 overs were caught on plastics, I caught about 20 dinks on a baby brush hog c rigged.

Keep saving your money, find you a good sturdy 15 or 16 X 48 boat. Weldbilt makes a great one ( I have one) they are in alexander ark. If you are serious about fishing and are in it for the long haul, don't waste your money on a little rig that you will probably replace in the near future.

Just go out there and do what you do best-----FISH!!! its not you against the other boats, its you vs the fish. Start off with a game plan and then have a couple of plan b's in the bag when plan a goes south (which it will) this past weekend I fished a tournament with the intention of being successful with bream colored cranks, so I had them on about 5 rods in various depth ranges and that is how I started my day. About a hour into it, with no bites, I switched to a Carolina rig and put the rest of the rods back in the box for the rest of the day. Ended up catching around 20. But never got on a good one. It happens. But the most important thing of all is make sure you are having fun, and the rest will fall into place.

I truly thought after the cold front hit that the bass would have had lock jaw. But it seemed to be just the opposite. I wish more of the over slot bass would have come out to play, but all in all a great day on the water!!!

Ask FLW pro Mark Rose about a Gut Feeling. His little feeling won him a big a$$ check. I believe in the last hour of the final day he ran 20 minutes to a place (on a gut feeling) to fish for 5 minutes( that's right--5 minutes) before he had to leave for weigh in. The last cast gifted him with a bruiser that put him on the top of the leaderboard.

it could be a spot, the jaw isn't past the eye, spots fight twice their size, and their coloration varies from lake to lake. The good thing is you enjoyed catching him, which is the name of the game.

mild here in west tn water temps been in mid 50s most of the 2017 winter. Some lakes are on fire and others having a real stingie bite. either the fish are confused or I am confused, but I will keep on fishing regardless

In some of the clubs around my area the boater gets to fish his water for half the time, the non-boater the other half. I even think the non boater can even run the trolling motor during his turn. Of course the non boater is expected to pick up part of the expenses. You might mention that type of format at your next meeting and see what happens. I know it sucks when someone fronts the boat on you, but the only real way to solve that problem is to buy a boat. (which for some is easier said than done)

fishing one of our many river runs in my neck of the woods, I was bank fishing one day with a spinnerbait throwing around cypress trees and knees. I hung a quality 3 lb largemouth to realize my braid was riding a top a cypress knee which eventually cut a trench in the wood during the fight. I tried to wrestle the fish over the knee but the the fish slid right up the side of the knee and then my line broke. So there I am standing on the bank with a quality fish hanging off of this knee (I didn't want the fish to die) So I tied on another spinnerbait and tried to flip it over to the knee to hopefully pull the fish off of the knee. 1st attempt my bait went past the knee so as I was reeling back in another good bass hit the bait and I reeled him in. After a few more attempts I pitched it right in his mouth, hooking him with a 2nd spinner bait. After a few jerks the fish was freed and I got my spinnerbait back.

I will give Texas their props, Their Game & Fish has done a great job in focusing on growing and managing Big Bass lakes and making it affordable for out of state guests to fish those lakes. Most other states gouge the non residents with license fees where Texas does not. I used to fish Fork twice a year and always felt welcomed by the local businesses. The only thing Texas could use pointers on is their BBQ.