justfishin

Evidently something is drawing those fish there in the morning when they seem to be everywhere. My guess would be food. Are there shad or some other kind of bait fish feeding on something along that rap? When the sun comes up I would suspect that whatever they are feeing on is finding cover. I would not think that the bass are not going too far away if it is a consistent feeding ground for them. Use your graph and look for some structure out a little deeper. It may be a creek channel or maybe just a slight drop or shelf or maybe some deep water grass. Also, you may be right that they have suspended in deeper water. I think that finding some deeper structure or some of the above mentioned options you can rediscover those fish. If there are docks and a marina around that would offer some cover that would be my first choice. Spend some time and graph it out as well as look for the obvious cover. Good luck.

This equation is really simple to me. Somebody is making a pi** pot full of money and we are spending a pi** pot full of money.

I guess I have lived to see it all.

Great article RW. You hit the nail on the head. I have to agree with every point you made in your post. Good stuff. Now, you wouldn't happen to be fishing those structures with a Stella reel,G Loomis rod, and Yozuri Soft fishing line would you?, lol. Again, great post. ;D

I have a pair of Nikons that I bought a few years ago for about 130 bucks that I really like and I guess you could classify as marine binoculars since I use them to check out the the girls in bikini's on two beaches at a local lake I fish. The lake is near Frostburg State U, thats right. ;D

6'6" or 7' MH Team All Star or a Gator Rod for off the rack rods are hard to beat. Check into some of the rods the guys like Alpster and ReelMech produce. They look pretty state of the art to me and if you could get them to make you one I would bet it would be exactly what you want for a worm rod.

If you mean pure Flouro, I will make it short and sweet, no.

I never used them for bass but, when it was legal we use to use them for Striper's on the Chesapeake Bay.

I night fish for smallies a lot on Deep Creek Lake in MD in the summer. I use a Super Spook JR., jigs with rattles, buzzbaits, short arm spinnerbaits with big col. blades and tubes with rattles dragged slowwwwly along the bottom. For largemouth I use the same but, add a big 12"worm to my arsenal. I also slow reel a dark red wiggle wart so that it bumps the rocks on the bottom. PS- Hey Vyron, that sure is one of the nicest looking Pop-R's I have seen, ;D

I would probably start with a buzzbait and then maybe a 1/4 or 3/8oz spinnerbait. If I could not make anything happen with either of these baits I would go to a floating trick worm or senko. After that I would flip a light 1/4 or 3/8 jig in the pockets.

Good article b8r.

Thanks for the heads up, I agree.

LOL,

Are you saying that you prefish for other guys fishing in a tournament? Just wondering if it was a typo or this is what you are doing.

I think that spot fishing and pattern fishing can both be good at times. Some days a pattern pays off. Some days fishing a likely area for the season can be killer as well. I guess it depends on the day. No two days are alike when it comes to fishing. There are too many variables.

Excellent answer RoLo. I agree with you. I have seen this situation manifest itself on a few small family farm ponds that range from 5-20 acres here in Maryland. I was wondering also, can you say eutrophication three times real fast, ;D

I am trying to get better at bass fishing too but, I have not accomplished much over thirty five years, LOL. Seriously, start reading all you can from pre-spawn to ice up. I think that Bass Resource has a wealth of info to offer and the boys from the IN-FISHERMAN are excellent at the seasonal phases of fishing. Dig up some articles from them. Then get to know your equipment, rods, reels, line,hooks, etc, and learn the when and whys of it all. When to use a baitcaster or spinning reel, heavy line or light line. Become proficient with your rods and reels by practicing flipping and pitching, skipping docks with a spinning rod, deep water fishing, shallow water fishing. When learning different baits stay with one for a few weeks and nothing else for example, for two or three trips throw nothing but a spinnerbait, or crankbait,etc. You will not learn all of this over night. Listening to the old timers of this sport and time on the water is the best teacher of all. Good luck.

Ha, Ha, Ha ;D, good try Allen. I have had most of those spots for a long time. Deep Creek Lake, Rocky Gap Lake and the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna are where most of them are. Heck, I'd give em to ya but, you would have to promise to share them with Uncle Larry,LOL. Are you going to the Timonium Bass Expo in Baltimore? I was going to but, I have a guy coming to the house on that day to give me a estimate on new field drains for my septic tank. Good timing huh? Oh well, I have more fishing junk than a man needs plus half of it is stacked up in the closet. Check out those Warrior Rods while you are there. They are pretty sweet. I think Jeff said that him and Zack are going.

Hey Speedbead, I am a far cry from a expert but, I have taught myself over the years to use it pretty well. I recieved your mail and will get back to you. Send me some of your questions and tell me what kind of depth finder you have. I have a old X 52 and a hand held GPS. I want to step up but, I am not going to until the old girl goes to fish finder heaven,lol. It took me a while to realize how much they can lie to you on manual. Things like using it in dirty water, separating the structure and deciphering between soft and hard bottom took a lot of trial and error and fine tuning. I came of age mostly because one lake I fish close to home is gin clear and if I went over a rocky or muddy bottom, saw a tree or rock pile or drop off I would spend time going back over that area where I could see this stuff with my naked eye or through a swim mask and learning how to decipher what I was seeing on the graph. It may have been a primitive way to learn but, it worked. I will certainly share some of the things I have learned and about the idiosyncrasies of reading one. First step is to turn off the auto mode and the fish symbol mode and we can go from there.--------Jim

Hey George Welcome, You know, I am going to rescind my statement about bass being primitive. I think they have to be smarter than me. They make a college educated, reasonable, sane man get out of a perfectly warm bed on a Saturday or Sunday morning on a 40 degree day with the wind blowing 35 mph and the snow flurries blowing sideways to fish for them when I could be on the couch watching the old black and white westerns on channel 53 and eating fried potatos, sausage and eggs in my Sponge Bob boxers. I must not be very bright after all, and a 50 year old man wearing Sponge Bob boxers proves it I guess,LOL. ;D

I am not a fan of either team but, I think the Bears are going to win this one. I have to laugh every time I here the name Bears. It makes me think of that SNL skit that was done about Mike Ditka and the Bears.

I am right handed and reel with my left.

There is a cleaner that I buy at Wal-Mart called Mean Green. That stuff works great on my cranks and cork handles on my rods.

Many moons ago in the spring I would use a CR a lot. I do not so much anymore because I just don't like throwing them but, when I did, I used #20 as my main line and #14 as my leader. I like a mojo rig better in the clear lakes where I live. #12 test and a 1/4oz mojo sinker about 15-18 inches up the line. I like throwing Zoom Centipedes on them in Green Pumpkin or Watermelon. Good luck my friend.

I have to agree with Avid. I think how you work a jerkbait can differ from day to day. Slow,fast, twitch, just experiment and the fish will let you know. Have their people call your people and yall can work something out.