Clark Stewart

I've only caught 2 bass fishing jigs - it's not my confidence bait but I'd love to get into it. Problem is the 4 acre pond I fish is covered with slime/slop on the bottom, but it has underwater grass too. How do you fish a jig in this place? I don't want to rake the lake with every cast. What should I do? The water I fish is only 6 feet deep or so casting distance from the bank.

I agree I just got into using brush hogs and i like to rig em weightless and fish em like a buzz bait. Which means each hog is good for about 2 fish because every strike pushes the hog about a foot up my line over the hook causing a tear. I know it wouldn't be so bad with a pegged sinker but that's not my style. I wish strike king would expand the 3x line to include brush hogs! that would be awesome as those things float like crazy and jaws couldn't tear one - matter of fact neither can my 85 pound yellow lab - she loves to wrestle em out of my hand! For what it's worth I'm a bigger fan of big bite baits' kriet kreiture which looks a whole lot like a brush hog but in my opinion has more action, more salt/scent and is cheaper. 2.09 at academy v. around 4.00 for a pack of brush hogs.

My favorite technique is probably not that unheard of but I love it. I just got into creature baits hardcore and my favorite technique with them is to throw a kriet kreature (my favorite lure) with no weight and rather than let it sink or dead stick i run it back to me like a buzzbait. Not glamorous I know but most people I know simply pitch the thing in cover or dead stick it. This catches bass and aids in my lack of patience. I also like to let a frog sink like the other guy - especially a white one in semi clear water - you miss a lot less fish when you see the thing disappear a half second before you feel the bite. I'm also gonna need a picture of the tricky dick rig or whatever it's called - sounds cool.

We did the pvc pipe in bucket thing a couple years ago at out cabin on Weiss Lake. We used those metal caserole dishes you can throw away - lined em with saran wrap and filled with concrete then plugged the pipe in. 10 minutes to make about a day to cure - we put 7 of em out off our pier. They've been great for the crappie - but I haven't tried fishing for bass off em - I'm sure they'd work. The key is placing them near other structure like a nice long point or on the edge of a dropoff - any area where bass are anyway turns a decent spot into bass heaven.

I picked up a pack of 3/0 straight shank and 3/0 wide gap tournament choice hooks at academy the other day on a whim. The price was right but the package said carbon steel. I can't remember if it said who makes them for Academy or not, but I was impressed to say the least. I have had no bending or bad hookups since I started using them. In fact, I have a hard time getting the fish off the hook due to the barb! I can live with that if it means hanging onto a fish longer! Anybody have any idea who makes these? I'd be willing to bet owner.

I would drag a jig through the sandbar then let it drop down the drop off till it hits bottom but don't expect it it to make it that far before something scoops it up. You're spinnerbait would work too

I read somewhere several years ago that barometric pressure plays a huge part in fishing - that bass are more active the higher the pressure as are we, that changes in pressure trigger feeding responses in bass, and that fishing while the pressure is dropping but before the weather event arrives is very effective. Bass eat more right before a front hits because they don't know what the weather will do to their ability to eat. The clear water now may be muddy in an hour and thus harder to find food. So I've read. All I do know is that my personal best was caught while it was thundering and starting to sprinkle! Then I couldn't buy a bite once the rain came.

I like to rub a worm behind me ear then go float tubing - nude...the bass and I love it! Too far???

Wife's working late so i have the baby boy tonight. I learned a couple weeks ago that anything I do with him (5 month old) is considered quality time to the wife so I've been getting my quality time in with him at Academy. He likes it too for the sole purpose of staring at 8 million different colors at once. Anyway since I've got the green light to hit up academy tonight, and since I'm a huge new fan of frogs and creature baits - what do ya'll recommend? Types of frogs and creatures and colors and all that. Let's hear it.

just a touch over 3 i'd say - i've been catching all his brothers I think in my favorite pond lately - they all are super long like that but only 2-2.5 each

How much is your eyesight worth? They're cheap but still UV protecting and polarized. Besides I can fish blind, can't fish with no money for tackle

I'll probably get slapped for this but I used to have some costa del mar wave killers. Great sunglasses but It bothered me that they'd fog up constantly. Plus there's always the fear of losing $120 sunglasses. I ended up selling those cuz I needed the cash, and bought some wal-mart special Strike Kings. I've been impressed so far. They're plastic lenses of course but i haven't scratched this pair in over a year of hard fishing. Plus at 13-15 dollars a pair I won't cry if I lose 'em, and now I can spend the extra cash on bait. Rolltide as well - Alabama Alum here!

Good idea about the finishing nail. I had been using them on a simple ball jig with no keeper and a touch of glue. Like your idea better. I love the 3x baits but their selection could be better. I'd love a brush hog in that style! Only one i've been able to find is made by snapback (i think terminator owns it). It's hard to find and I've only come across it on ebay. Skeet Reese endorsed it. I'm not sure why this type tackle isn't the next big thing. I curse every time I have to throw away a brush hog after 2 bass. I guess the only other option is mend it.

I'll put my 2 cents in since nobody else has mentioned it, plus last Friday was the first time I ever tied one on and I caught 4 or so on it. My first impression is like everybody who fishes a creature bait for the first time - what the heck is this gonna do? But once I put it on and watched it take an eternity to hit bottom I was kinda impressed. Anyway here's how I caught em all weekend. I would take the brush hog in pumpkinseed and texas rig it weightless and fish it like a buzz bait on the top of weeds and millfoil that were in 2-4 feet of water. I'd cast out past the weeds in 4 feet and reel it just fast enough to churn the surface. Most hits would come before it ever made it into the slop. I assume because the bass would rather take it before they had to work for it in the weeds. Friday I caught 6 bass this way with 2 brushogs and 2 paddle frogs. Both performed equally for me. Caught another 3 this way Sunday. Needless to say it's my new confidence bait. It's easier to fish than a worm.

Don't let the insert fool you - it's a small bag but perfect for toting around or no-boating tournaments. It's about a foot long and 8 wide. Big enough for 3 or 4 of the slim plano boxes. I keep it in my car with a senko box, a crankbait box, and a little bigger box with jigs, spinnerbaits, etc. Also has a zippered pocket on the outside that's handy for a spool of line. Worth about 8 bucks i'd say!

Was at academy over the weekend. FYI to guys with baby boys - tell the wife you want some quality time with the boy - anytime I need to justify a trip to academy I pull that - she gets some alone time and I get some academy time without the "you ready to go yet?". Anyway! After my creature success of a previous post I went to academy to build a creature kit (I like to build kits ) and stumbled upon a plano box for about 6 bucks that is dark dark gray and about 8-10 inches long. Smaller than the big ones. The beauty of it was that it had 2 shelves with 4 latches. Two latches for one tray and 2 out to the side of those for the bottom tray. I crammed 23 bucks worth of tackle in that beauty and it will fit perfectly in my B.A.S.S. tackle bag they send with new memberships. I'm always looking for innovative tackle boxes like that that allow me to cram a little more into a little smaller space. It's a thing of beauty!

I saw those on the website - looked awesome - one of those baits is called something else but I would have named it the batman or something similar cuz the dangling legs wobble and look just like the logo does in the movies when the bat is flying at the camera - awesome

Took my wife's grandfather to a pond we try to fish weekly. It's a little over 120 yards down 2 banks with the other 2 around 200 or so. Good pond about 16 feet in the deepest corner. Caught 6 each on friday and 3 each yesterday before getting rained out. What was strange is that on friday i didn't have any tackle so I borrowed one of his baitcasters and whatever I could find in his bag. Ended up with 2 pumpkinseed brush hogs and 2 frogs of varying colors. I've never caught a fish on either until that day and learned quickly that these baits don't last long when the fish bite - they were destroyed after a couple bass per lure. The water is down about a foot or 2 and the grass was barely visible out of the water. I would cast past the weeds from the bank out to about 4 feet of water and and run the brush hog like a buzzbait toward the bank in 2 feet- deadly. Same with the frogs until I learned to let em sink a second before bringing it back to buzz. I was blown away by how effective these baits were. Went to academy the next morning and made a creature kit with brush hogs, frogs, Kriet kreatures, and yo-mama's. Yesterday we only fished about 2 hours before the weather turned rough. They didn't bite the watermelon seed brush hog as well but still rather effective. The 4 inch kriet kreature worked well - frogs still good, but no takers on the yo-mama beaver bait. All in all it was a huge confidence booster - i'm sold on creature baits. Any tips for better success from these lures would be appreciated - senkos are bench warmers now! 6'6 medium heavy rod with 15 pound cx p-line and 3/O offset and wide gap hooks with no weight.

The pier is located in a shallow slew (can't spell it!) with an extremely slow drop to 10 feet in the very middle. Honestly there's not much redeeming qualities for this hunk of water but bass can be caught under the docks. I guess that is the only real cover in this area. It is a good crappie spot in spring as they come in the cove to spawn. This is weiss lake water! Going up there at lunch to see what's under there. Probably nothing but maybe some bluegill will be under the new dock and hungry for a rooster tail if all else fails

My parents just built a 2 lift boathouse with adjoining 15x 25 pier. The old pier was made of cinderblock, and it was broken up and made to collapse inward with the new dock built over it. So now there's chunk rock underneath the new dock. It's in about 4-5 feet of water with little to no slope. How long before the bass will relate to this cover? It was completed last thursday. I'm thinking of running up there on my lunch break tomorrow and throwing a shaky head or a jig underneath it and seeing what happens. My question is: how fast will bass key on new cover, and is there anything I can do to speed to process?

We work in a courthouse and have taken to going fishing at lunch when we can. We'll be fishing a city pond today in a few minutes. It's really an inlet that connects to the main river but is cut off by a culvert. It holds fish but I've never fished it. Small weed clumps in the corners and some brush on the opposite end. What would you throw if you only have about an hour to fish it?

I've got to ask: has anybody tried this lazer lures? the ones with the lazer that lights up the bill? I've heard things but my God is this another banjo minnow? Questions, comments, talk amongst yourselves!

What he said - however you can still find folks fishing pork albeit a smaller number. In my experience I like pork better - not for convenience by any stretch of the imagination, but because you don't have to keep spraying scent on it, and they'll always hang on to it because it is as real as whatever a jig is supposed to mimic!

use anything that stands up on it's nose - good bet would be a tube that resembles a bream or a lizard in the natural lizard color for the area - these are the two main enemies of a bass bedding - the storm brand bream swimbaits are a good choice make sure you use an exposed hook because they aren't interested in killing the intruder - only escorting it away from the nest - an exposed hook will seal the deal. Be patient and super persistent if all else fails use something super bright like hot pink and fish it very aggressively - sometimes you can provoke a bedding bass to attack it

I'm probably going to fish this lake this week - got an invite from course superintendent. It's a public golf course but a very private lake so it gets little to no fishing pressure. I've fished it several times over the past 2 years from the bank only (not for fishing so no boats allowed obviously) In the past we usually only had luck with senkos, shaky head worms, or larger worms of differing varieties. I've caught a 4 pound bass on a texas rigged 7 inch monster senko with a 5/0 hook. I lost at least an 8lb bass by trying to lift it up onto the cart bridge (stupid i know) because i couldn't lay down and reach her. Needless to say there are monsters here (there's a 13.5lb on the wall of the office). It's not uncommon to catch a 6lb bass here. That being said I wonder how you guys would approach this lake this week. There's got to be other effective lures, and I'm in that zone where I can't decide what to throw and it's debilitating to a degree. We only get to go out after the last golfers leave, and usually only get to stay till around 9pm at the latest. The water is stained with visibility about 2 feet or so. Never seen any fish other than bass and i can't recall ever seeing minnows but this is the healthiest lake i've ever fished due to sheer numbers (average bass is 1.5 to 2 pounds) We generally stick to that area of the attached map where the cart path cuts across the water in 2 places - fishing that point. Also directly across the lake is good too. There are weeds near shore, relatively clean bottom, and off that first hole the water is at least 16 feet deep. We threw one of those zebco castable depth finders. Probably close to 20-25 feet or so in the very middle where no one could ever reach. attached is the map and a weather forecast for this week. What would you do? do a search in google or live search maps for: silver lakes golf course, alabama