roadwarrior

What Ratlinrogue said, it doesn't have to be complicated. I generally use dark or natural colors for most lures and dark only for soft plastics, but here are always exceptions!

Yamamoto Laminated Lizard, green with a white belly.

Low light, early and late, Spook, Sammy, Bomber Square A, Bagley BII. The rest of the day, Fat Ika, Gitzit, Senko, Kut-Tail, jig and Kreature.

Marty, Thanks for the link, but the chart only goes to 25" for smallmouth. Guess we're still going to have to weigh the big ones!

If you haven't seen this article, borrow someones In-Fisherman June/July 2005. An exclusive look at how fishing legend Rick Clunn locates and catches bass. This article is about Clunn's approach to dissecting a lake and developing a pattern for finding bass. "What many people don't realize is that fishing talent has very little to do with actually catching fish. It is the ability to find fish on your own without any outside help or assistance." BTW, on a scale of 1 to 10, Clunn scores himself a 4 or 5 most days!

Southwest Tennessee Early, Bomber Square A. After sunrise and during the day: Senko, Fat Ika, Kreature and Gitzit.

#1 The most difficult part of fishing is simply finding fish. The more you fish, the more you read and the more attention you pay to details that have proven successful in the past, the easier it is to find the right spot at the right time. Still, finding the fish is challenging. #2 Attitude and concentration are important aspects of every endeavor. The importance of these two attributes to fishing success is a function of your expectations. If you are just there for fun and to enjoy the outdoor experience, your attention to detail is of little concern. However, if the goal is to catch numbers or if your are after a true prize, your approach must be more focused and your concentration on the task more intense. #3 Selecting the right lure for the specific conditions you face is the next challenge. As Raul noted, the wrong lure in the right hands is usually far more productive than the right lure in the wrong hands. Both the knowledge you gain from this forum and other literature, combined with your experience on the water will help weigh the odds in your favor when the lure selection is made. #4 The importance of presentation cannot be underestimated. This involves learning the correct action for any given lure and practicing your cast, retrieve and cadence. Every lure or certainly every category of lures has their special idiosyncrasies. Practice makes perfect only when your practice is perfect. #5 Lastly is your equipment. Again, as Raul pointed out, there is a "right" tool for every job. An all purpose hammer will work for 90% of your tasks, but when your done building the frame, a finishing hammer completes the job. I'm not saying you must have technique specific equipment to be a successful fisherman. All you really need is dependable equipment that can be used for that 90% of the fishing you really do. Buy the best you can afford, it will pay dividends over time.

Well, if it's my water it's the Tennessee River. If they have to play by tournament rules, i.e., artificial lures and I don't, I'll beat them 100% of the time. I'll catch more fish, bigger fish and the biggest fish just about everytime. Bring Al or Ron Lindner down and let them fish anyway they want and I'll lose. Maybe not everyday, but most days. On second thought, I'll probably lose everytime. They literally wrote the book on live bait fishing for smallmouth (an In-Fisherman publication, Smallmouth).

My favorite lures to use targeting largemouth bass, spring through fall are jerkbaits. My most productive lures year around are Fat Ika and Senkos. For smallmouth I like fishing jerkbaits, too. But when it comes to "catching", nothing compares to live minnows.

I agree with fivebasslimit, Lindner brothers without a doubt. Best Bass Anglers: 1. Rick Clunn 2. Roland Martin 3. Bill Dance

I fish soft plastics weightless in water <12', anything deeper is deep and I generally fish tubes, Kreatures and Kut-Tail T-rigged "deep".

I'm mostly fishing the Fat Ika weightless in <12' of water, but I have had good luck recently with T-rigged tubes (Mizmo watermelon with black & red flakes) and T-rigged Kreatures in deeper water on and near structure.

Why would you stop fishing the channel to fish the other spots in the first place? I would have switched to soft plastics and fished the channel exclusively. My answer is A.

When your wife comes down to show you her new outfit, dark gold capris and a white blouse with gold and silver patterned glitter, deep red lips and dangling earings and you say: Woman, you'd make a great lure... And mean it.

Well, if you are just trying to get from point A to point B, a Chevy will do just as well as a Lexus. For $25,000 you can get a very well equiped Chevy or for something north of $65,000 you can own the Lexus 400. Where is the value? Is it safety, design, engineering, innovation, craftmanship or performance? Maybe it's materials and constuction or maybe its dependability and service. I don't know, I don't own a Lexus. I like GYBC poducts and Lucky Craft lures. I don't know exactly where the line is drawn and value is defined, but it seems to me that I'm getting my money's worth from both companies.

Lot's of guys have no luck with jerkbaits. I think this is generally because they fish them too fast. The most important part of the retrieve is the pause. Regardless of your cadence, your pause must be complete. The rest is experimentation. Let's explore a specific retrieve: Rip, rip, pause, rip, rip, pause...etc...Okay, how long is the pause? Well, that varies, too. Now let's vary the rip, not a twitch but a long (12-24") sweep: Sweep, sweep, sweep, pause, sweep, sweep, sweep, pause...etc...The point is that there are so many variances in the way you can retrive the lure, you should probably use the same retrieve for several casts, then change it up a bit if that's not working. For whatever reason, once you catch your first fish, it's that particular retrieve that will probably work the rest of the morning or evening.

Casting: Shimano Calais (low profile) and CTE200GT (round) Spinning: Shimano Stella 2500FB

Wow Chris, that really sums it up. Although I am not a tournament fisherman, I still want to have the best advantage whenever I have the time to fish. I try to fish locally two or three times a week, after work and Saturday on the river. Every moment is precious to me. I fish other lures and other techniques, but soft plastics are undoubtedly my strong suit. I occasionally use other brands of specific lures, Gitzits come to mind. However, on the whole, GYBC makes the baits I know I can count on. They are worth every penny to me.

Sweetwater, Man, that's my kinda fishing! You don't need any advice, but as I read and reread your post I kept thinking "Gitzit". Have you tried tubes? Have they not been productive for you or do you not like the technique? What you have described at West Point just sounds like the perfect scenario for fishing tubes to me. Something else comes to mind when I picture you fishing under the overhanging trees: Fat Ika. Your bass may have never seen this lure. I bet they'd like it.

Pick up a couple of the Lucky Craft version, I prefer the LV500 but you may like the LV300. As much as I too like Rat-L-Traps, the LVs are much better lures. The 500 weighs 3/4 oz but is packed into a 1/2 oz frame. You can cast this lure further than any other. It contains rattles and comes standard with Gammie treble hooks.

Cephkiller, You have already proven that there are bigger fish in the water you are fishing. Fish for 'em! Larger lures, deeper water and a slower presentation are the keys. You may not catch quite as many fish, but you'll still catch lots of fish and your percentage of 5+ pounders will improve dramatically. When you're fishing topwater, fish the full sized Spook or Sammy. Use big worms, I like 6" Senkos. Try the Yamamoto Fat Ika, it's my #1 big bass lure right now. Just fish for big bass and I think you will be surprised how successful you can be.

My guys like to take a break every now and then. We go downstream from the Pickwick Dam, jump in the middle of the river and float down a couple of miles. Now, that's fun. If that's not an option when you're fishing, bring a lightweight towel, dip in the lake OFTEN and wear it around your neck. This also works great for yard work, jogging or most anything else you're doing on a hot summer day. Always wear a light colored hat, always.

All right, let's keep it simple. First of all, this time of year we probably need weight to get down to where we want to be. I don't fish the Senko, Ika or Fat Ika with weight. So, for me its either a Gitzit, Kut-Tail, Kreature, lizard or jig. I might try some primary points, but I generally fish secondary points for largemouth. Start quite a ways out and work both sides of the drop, you'll be able to feel it without much trouble. Next, channels of the old tributary creeks that now are coves. I would start way out where you think the old creek emptied into the river. I bet there's no one else out there to bother you! You may look like a nut, but sometimes this works. Move in from there. Again, I think you'll have no trouble feeling the drop. My next suggestion is obvious structure: submerged timber, rocks, ledges and especially docks. That's all I know without the help of electronics.

Wow! I nominate this as our #1 Thread. Everything you need to know and the how to, also. Excellent.

I would relate my fishing skills to my golf skills. When I first began playing golf, I practiced during the week and took lessons, lots of lessons. My goal was to become a bogey golfer. Bogey golf is basically 90, that puts you in the .05 of ALL golfers. If you can play bogey, you can play with anyone and everybody will have fun. You make a few good shots and, most importantly, you won't hold anyone up. Now, shooting 90 will not win any club tournaments and if you play with "good" golfers, you won't be winning any rounds, but you might win some money! So, that's how I feel about my fishing. I would feel comfortable fishing with just about anyone. I can fish most techniques adequately, even the ones I don't like. Occasionally I catch some great fish (like making a great golf shot). I sometimes fish with guys that are tremendous fishermen, guides on their own water. That can be humbling. I guess I consider myself a bogey fisherman.