TOXIC

I sat back and read about the foolishness on the lake from the comfort of my Bark-o-lounger. I saw a grounding and a boat fire by noon via the internet. Weather was iffy as well so I didn't need any more encouragement to stay off the water. It's going to be busy until fall now.

I once worked a show with Gary Klein and asked him about fishing a pressured lake like the one I guide on. He told me he loves those kind of lakes because as long as he can find the fish there are no less than 5 lures at any given time that he could catch them on. My point......you have to fish where the fish are (knowledge), then bait becomes secondary.

Go out at sunup or sundown with a topwater. Of the species you listed, bass will hit it on top. I'll wager there's bass in them.

You have to remember why a bass eats a lure. You are correct, feeding is #1 on the list and tailoring you approach to that behavior will get results most of the time. And you are also correct that bass, for the most part are ambush feeders but also remember they do not set up "in" the cover all the time. The cover is for prey to hide in and many times they will be on the outside looking in. Likewise if they are feeding on schools of openwater baitfish, there is no cover and you match the hatch to get a strike. When bass aren't actively feeding, then go for the "instinctive" or reaction strike baits and if they are spawning, the annoyance baits. There's a lot of ways to skin a cat.

Depends on where I am fishing. If it's the lake I've been guiding on for 15 years, I pretty much already know what is down there. I may graph some areas looking for new brush piles or structure but for the most part, I could fish it without electronics. Now, the Potomac river is a different beast altogether. Grass beds change and the water is not clear enough to visually see how the grass is positioned (clumpy vs solid) and if grass has returned to an area or failed to grow in an area.

For the last 15 years, I have had Carolina Wrens nest behind an old boat seat on a cabinet in my garage. I don't know if it's successive generations or the same pair but every year they raise a brood and we have 4 or 5 chicks learning to fly in the garage. I have to leave a window cracked open so they can come and go as they please. If I don't, they raise quite a racket for me to open the door in the morning. They are in the garage year round. They are so used to seeing people they will almost land on your shoulder. I don't feed them because I don't want them becoming dependent on handouts.

Sometimes you gotta make em' mad as hell before they strike a lure. Remember, they are not feeding, they are guarding. If your lure doesn't pose a big enough threat (in their pea brain) they will ignore it.

Restoring old fiberglass boats with wooden stringers and transoms is not for the faint of heart or thin of wallet!! Besides, you're not gonna put that on your ladder rack!! The boat is just one part of the repair/upkeep/maintenance. Now you have a trailer as well and a motor to break. Until you get to a fair sized boat (depending on the water you fish) you will be limited to the days you can go. Budget and boating never belong in the same sentence unless you are looking a floating the local ponds or very small lakes. I had a Bass Hunter 2 seater and a 40lb thrust TM that I fished lakes up to 300 acres. Now I have 21 feet of fiberglass and a 250hp. Each has it's place.

First, use a thin wire hook. Second, you might want to look at how you are rigging and note how you cover the eye of the hook and not stretch your bait is when you skin hook the nose. If I want to preserve a Senko that has torn like that, I will carefully un thread it and roll it 90 degrees. That can be done a few times before as has been mentioned, you can turn it around. It's a little harder to thread since the nose is thinner but it will work. And it works well for swimming under a dock past where you can skip to.

Nothing gets me mad on the water. I won't allow it. Being on the water is my happy place. Recharges my internal batteries. Getting ready to go to Lake St Clair later this week for an entire week of fishing. Rent a cottage on an island where we can doc the boats (5 of them) right at the house. Get up and walk out to the boat and go. Weather is going to be cold. Water is dirtier than we like but we will still have a blast.

My rule of thumb is that they will shut down for a day or 2 when the water gets dirty but by day 3 they gotta eat!! That's when I go after them. I fish everything from gin clear to heavy stain and one thing is consistent.....sooner or later they have to eat.

I've broken off a fish and when I came back up the bank, caught him again with my hook and bait hanging off his lip. Middle of summer so not bedding. You have got to realize that bass eat things with claws (crawfish) and spines (bluegills/baitfish) that are constantly sticking and fighting them. IMHO, the old term of "sore mouthing" a fish is overstated.

It generally doesn't pay if you are a guide to give out where you are catching your fish but there are some things to remember. A good spot will always "re-load". When I was guiding more regular, I got a lot of tournament anglers who would hire me just to poach spots but you have to remember there is a lot of difference between tournament quality fish and what guides call client fish. Usually that is a milk run that you can put clients on fish pretty consistently. I got a lot of calls before any big TX asking for conditions and locations. I usually would be pretty forthcoming. You would think that after taking people to productive spots as a guide they would get fished out but that was never the case. As I said, good spots reload. My friend who was an Elite series angler would prefish looking for spots that were not normal fish holding areas. An old fisherman once told me "You're never gonna catch another man's fish" and that saying holds true. I had a spot on the lake that was always good for a couple 3lber's. Another guide lived on the lake within eyesight of the spot. He and I talked at the dock waiting for clients one day and he mentioned he saw me there. I told him he now knows my secret. He laughed and said every tournament he sees lots of boats fish that spot but that I was the only one he ever saw pull fish out of it.

Vary your lures. Throw cranks, spinnerbaits and others. Dragging is only one technique why limit yourself to just that?

Yes. Mac Mini and 2 of us from Virginia. A few more mixed in local and this year we are bringing in another guy from VA.

Thanks. I will. We leave on Thursday the 11th and fish through the 19th. We rent the same cottage on Harsens Island every year. It is a fun time and we can find them as long as we can get on the water.

Weather has been really off this year. Been coming up for 13 years straight and we have seen it all from snow to 90 degrees. A few of our areas are producing according to my local buddies but you are correct, they are behind. We'll just have to get them pre spawn this year.

Interesting angle. I prefer a #1 not 1.0 Gamakatsu EWG hook and a Texas rigged bait. Traditional nose hooking in St Clair and the reeds that a lot of the beds are in won't work.

I'll be fishing the dropshot a LOT in little more than a week on St Clair. One of my go to techniques especially if drifting. I've used it with a short leader for bed fishing as well.

I will say "finesse" as a group. I have at times had 5 rods rigged different ways with 5 inch Senkos on my deck at once.

SpotSticker.

Would I still throw Yamamoto if I weren't sponsored by them.......? Resounding YES. That's all I threw before I got sponsored by them. If I had to rate and throw something else, #2 would be Case Plastics and #3 would be Missile Baits by John Crews. There are no plastics other than Yamamoto in my boat as we speak. None. If they don't make it, I don't throw it. If I were on a budget, I would still buy them. I have the confidence and I have seen the difference.

32 years in with the Federal Government and I'm about to lay myself off. I've had my fill and it's time for 24/7/365 fishing.

9-10-297 is Yamamoto's best selling size and color. Nothing else comes close.