roadwarrior

If you have a solid credit rating, look into an unsecured personnal line of credit. This will usually be prime or prime plus with no fees. This is the cheapest money around.

I fish Bull Shoals several times a year, but mostly below the dam, trout fishing during the day. Then in the late afternoon and evening I usually fish with my guide on the lake. We usually fish jerkbaits for walley, but we usually catch more smallmouth than walley. So, I agree, walley and smallmouth tend to favor the same structure and that generally means primary points.

On lakes with both smallmouth and largemouth, smallmouth are more likely to be found on primary points and largemouth on secondary points. Whereas largemouth often relate to cover, smallmouth are almost always related to structure and current if there is any. Regarding the size of fish in big lakes vs. ponds, there may be more big fish in a lake due to the gross size of the lake, but ponds grow monsters and they're much easier to catch. Ponds concentrate big fish which may be caught anywhere on the water. In a lake, big fish tend to be territorial and found around specific cover or structure which is not necessarily the case in a pond. BTW: "What is a secondary point?" Excellent responses, gentlemen. I have nothing to add.

Last summer I was bottom fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. The second morning we were fishing saltwater jigs that looked like tall spikes you might top a Christmas tree with. We were jigging at about 75' in 250' of water near an oil rig. This was vertical jigging and was wearing me out. I was about 3' from the back of the boat when an 80 lb amberjack slammed my jig. He hit the lured as it was falling and when I set the hook, he just about jerked me overboard! If one of the crew hadn't grabbed me I was a goner. Bone jarring? I'm telling you when the butt of that rod hit my belly I thought it was going to impale me and I just about broke both arms at the elbow. Maybe that sounds like fun, but it wasn't. It took nearly an hour to get that fish boated and I didn't fish the rest of the day.

Thanks guys, my check is in the mail.

Happy birthday! Maybe I need a girlfriend. I'll have to ask my wife about that.

Well, a C-rigged lizard isn't just a search bait, it's a catching machine. Sometimes it's just exactly what they're looking for. On any given day there seems to be a preferred profile, fall or action and sometimes color. Just another arrow in your quiver.

I fish the gin clear waters of Bull Shoals several times each year. This particular lake is all about structure, there is no cover, no vegetation whats-so-ever. (So what do the baby fish eat?) Anyhow, long casts seem to be important. We fish the windward side of primary points targeting smallmouth and walley. Secondary points and coves seem to produce more largemouth, Kentucky and white bass. I think white and black/silver are productive in all water, but especially clear water. On this particular lake, green is always productive. Blue, blue/silver and blue with an orange belly have some particular attraction, too. I have had good luck with a Gitzit, baby diaper yellow on most trips. Another consistant producer is a C-rigged lizard.

1. Fiberglass: Lamiglas SR705R, Lucky Craft Staysee 2. G.Loomis MBR844C, black & brown jig, black plastic trailer 3. St. Croix ES70MF, 6" Senko This was my program at the Secret Pond Saturday and Sunday morning. It's also my standard program to have a jig & soft plastic rod but I vary the glass rod with topwater (Sammy or Spook) or crankbaits (Bomber Square A or Bagley BII). I also take a soft plastic box and may switch off the Senko with a Fat Ika, Kut-Tail, Kreature or Gitzit. BTW, on my second cast with the Lucky Craft Staysee I caught a 12-15lb blue catfish, go figure. I fished almost three hours, probably caught around twenty bass all about the same size they were catching at the Classic, nothing else interesting to report. On to the river for the rest of the day, it's still striper season for me.

My theory for catching bigger bass: 1. Bigger lures 2. Slower presentation 3. Deeper water Suggestions include: 6" Senko, Fat Ika, Kreature, Kut-Tail and jig & pig (plastic trailers are fine). Topwater lures for bigger bass include the Spook, Sammy, buzzbaits, frogs and rats. I also like jerbaits: Lucky Craft Pointer 128, Smithwick Rogue and Rapala Husky Jerk. I have had some success with the LC Staysee fishing deeper water.

I think the bigger bass suspend in deeper water, on or near structure. I think on some lakes the bass will bury themselves in cover, lilly pads and heavy vegetation. I'm not convinced that they follow schools of bait or even seach for food, but rather, position themselves in ambush where baitfish may occasionally come by. Although I have caught all of my biggest bass in the middle of the day, I don't think they were actively feeding, I think the strike is opportunistic. Inactive bass usually will not chase a bait, but if you can put it in their face, instinct takes over and they have to strike.

I'm with Marty and I'll take it a step further. Everytime I go out I fish a completely different rig. Sure, I usually want to fish my old reliables, but I force myself to fish different lures and stay focused on that lure for a good part of any trip. If I didn't do this I probably wouldn't fish anything but soft plastics. Colors? With soft plastics dark works for me. I fish about five colors just for variety, but the bass don't seem to really care. With hard baits? Well, over time there seem to be some colors that are preferred on any given day and even when I'm pretty sure I have the right lure, it's not always productive. Color may come into play, but I stick with whatever I'm fishing and when I change, it's always a whole different category. For example, if I'm fishing a Sammy and that's not working, if I stay with a hard bait I'll probably go to a Bomber Square A or a Bagley BII. Still, I always want to fish soft plastics. Color, as long as it's dark , is not important to me, but the profile and action are. Some days it's Fat Ika, sometimes Senko or Kreature or a Gitzit. Believe me, it matters. Fishing the same water at the same time of day, certain lures just work when others don't.

#1 micromunchtackle Forum member earthworm77 (Craig DeFronzo), Owner/ Bait Designer (I see acstech was posting while I was still typing)

I have pretty consistant success with soft plastics on all the ponds I fish, but certain lures are significantly more productive on any given day. As an example, I'll generally start off with a Fat Ika. If I don't catch three or four bass in the first forty-five minutes or by the time I'm half way around the pond, I'll usually switch to a 6" Senko. After another fourty-five minutes or so it's either a Gitzit or Kreature, T-rigged and weighted. Although all four lures are very effective on a given day, for whatever reason, some days the profile or action of one lure will be preferred to the others. I can't explain it. In terms of quality fish, at least at these ponds, size is random. I catch big fish on all four baits and that happens just as often on the second loop as the first. So, after using the "wrong" lure at exactly the same spot, close to the same time of day, the "right" lure scores. Unfortunately, there is never any way of knowing what the "right" lure is without getting a few wet. Regarding "pressure", I agree with Shad_Master but would add general activity. I know on some of the public ponds that I fish, the fishing is always better in the morning. I believe that even though the general public catch no fish, they bother the fish that are there. The general activity significantly and negatively impacts the fishing in the evening.

I wouldn't advise it. I hooked-up with el_jewapo a few weeks ago on a little lake over in Arkansas. He's a big guy and I'm medium size. We were having a pretty good time until I stood up and we both went in. It was a hot summer evening and we recovered most of our equipment, but under other conditions it might have been serious. He didn't post this story, which was nice, and I kinda hate telling bad stories on myself, but I feel like I ought to warn you, it's potentially dangerous. (Or maybe I'm just an idiot!)

Whether it's a good, quick hookset like Rattlinrogue said or no real set like KU_Bassmaster described, it's NOT a Bill Dance hookset. If your hooks are sharp, I mean really sharp, the fish will hook itself. You can dramaticly improve your hookup and landing ratios by fishing with a moderate or slow action rod. These actions allow your rod to become more of a shock absorber when hooking and fighting the fish which makes it far more difficult for the fish to throw your lure. I use a 7' medium power/ moderate action rod for light to medium weight lures and a heavy power/ slow action glass rod for heavier plugs.

A couple of years ago GYBC came out with a complete package for the dropshot rig. Man, at the time this was the hottest new technique around, so I jumped on board. I think if I were fishing tournaments this would be something I would focus on, a lot. Dropshotting and flipping produce more bass in a shorter period of time than any other techniques I have every tried, but I don't like fishing either method. All I have to say about flipping is that dropping a lure and yanking out a big fish is just not fun for me. If it were about cashing a check, well that would be another story. Dropshotting? All I ever caught were little fish. I thought the technique was boring and although it produced a lot of fish, I never caught anything very interesting. Now, maybe I wasn't doing everything quite right and I certainly didn't devote a lot of tiime to fishing that way, but I had some success and still didn't care a thing about it.

Fishing jerkbaits is my favorite technique. I think suspended bass are the hardest fish to catch. Getting their attention and possibly a reaction strike is about all that usually works, but I have had inactive fish, smallmouth, largemouth, Kentucky and walley absolutely annihilate a jerkbait. I throw Lucky Craft Pointers, Smithwick Rogues and Rapala Husky Jerks.

Crayfish, crawfish and crawdads are EXACTLY the same, it's just that when people eat Mudbugs they sometimes like to dress them up a little and imply that they're some kinda fish. NOT. I think I read somewhere that there are more than a hundred different species. I don't know whether people eat them all, but fish do.

Crawdad is what you fish with or what fish eat. Nobody would want to eat bait. Crawfish is what you boil and eat.

Hey Nick! That was a pretty clever way to put it. My wife can't find her keys unless she's driving, her phone unless she's on it and heaven forbid, she thinks I might know where she left her purse! No Costa del Mar for her.

On second thought, how 'bout Terri Clark, Shania Twain or Faith Hill?

When I'm fishing one of my ponds I usually take one rod and one lure only. I am completely focused on improving my skills at fishing that lure and that technique that day. I don't bring along my soft plastics unless I know I'm going to have the time to fish the pond twice around. Otherwise, I know I'll be thinking that I ought to be throwing a soft plastic, weightless! That's my strong suit, too. I'm not trying to get away from soft plastics, but just expand my horizons. To answer the question specifically, it's jigs for me. Members of the forum have reinforced the overwhelming consensus in the literature that jigs are THE big bass lure. I have fished jigs in the past with some success, but not to the extent I have this year. They are still not my favorite lure, but I am getting a better feel for the bite.

I'll answer in two parts: I. Like Shad_Master, I fish a test pond, or in fact several similar ponds. My main body of big water is the Tennessee River. What the ponds have allowed me to do is develope my skills using every technique I'm aware of and consistantly catch fish. On the big water I know where to fish and really don't use any new techniques but have, at least to some degree, perfected my big fish technique. II. On the otherhand, according to Rick Clunn and many members of this forum, the real test of becoming a better fisherman is not only technique, but more importantly, the ability to find fish. I readily admit this is a failing in my bass fishing. When I'm put on fish, I usually catch 'em. Sometimes with whatever the guide or my buddies suggest, but often using lures they might not be familiar with or confident in. At some point this year I have caught bass on every category of lure, including jigs which I'm still working hard on. But that isn't what I'm trying to address. I have read virtually every article in the BassResource library, most threads and follow-up posts, many books and a host of magazines to become a better fisherman. There are occasions when I am able to pick locations on big water that prove fruitful, but I'm not sure how much of that is luck or how much is a function of what I have learned. If this is where we seperate the men from the boys, I don't feel like I cut the mustard. So, maybe in some respects I have become a better fisherman. Certainly from a technical standpoint I am more proficient and aware. But finding the fish is still the challenge and I think it is for everyone, including Rick Clunn.

I often fish with a horizontal sweep and fish certain lures with the tip down, but once the fish is hooked, ALWAYS tip up. The rod then acts as a shock absorber to both wear the fish down and compensate for a sudden surge (this is especially important with smallmouth).