buzzbaiter83

I think you misread that. I didn’t mean they were the same color to our eyes or even the fish’s eyes. I meant that they didn’t actually transform into a new colored version of themselves & fish are used to seeing & feeding on them in different colored water.

I think the new fishfinders & GPS units have allowed people to catch more fish consistently but I’m not sure if it’s what opened the sport up so wide. I think Marketing is the biggest reason why bass fishing has grown over the past 10-20 years. Johnny Morris with BPS and Tracker Boats has probably brought more people to bass fishing than anything else. Add in YouTube Channels, social media, fisheries management, major chain stores, & access with new types of watercraft and its the perfect storm to blow up the sport.

I agree about fish not minding the light. They don’t pay much attention at all. We use them crappie & stripper fishing to attract baitfish and catch a lot of bass in them while fishing for other species. I will say the only time I’ve seen light play a factor and make fish not bite is when throwing topwater. Unless they’re feeding crazy they just won’t take it as well with a light on. The darker the better.

I think the biggest factor in choosing color is matching prey colors for the water you’re fishing. In the river here where there are no shad, I catch twice as many fish on a watermelon super fluke but at the local lake they want a shad color. I think water clarity does come in to play but not as much as we may think. Shad and crawfish are the same color whether the water is muddy or clear and bass eat them regardless.

The majority of club tourneys and derby’s I fish are night time deals. Equipment really depends on how you plan on fishing. I agree with Catt about knowing your body of water. I’m blessed here with the Tennessee river chain that gives us constant deeper water channels to follow with good knowledge and a good GPS. If you’re going to fish soft plastics, jigs, or slow roll a big spinnerbait on mono then I’d definitely use a blacklight. Being able to see your line with those baits is huge and you’ll be able to notice ticks & pecks that you wouldn’t without the light. I’ve used headlamps but they don’t compare to fluorescent line and blacklight. As far as the rest of your equipment, just use what you normally would in the daytime. I will say that that when I throw a Colorado Bladed Spinnerbait, I like to throw it on big braid with a heavy or medium/heavy rod. When bass hit a big spinnerbait at night it’s way more violent than a daytime bite. They’ll take off blades or break the wire sometimes. You want something you can hammer them and get them in quick with.

It’s a ledge lake and the summer bite will be deep 20-30ft. Big crankbaits, swimbaits, 10” worm, & shakyhead on the ledges should work. Good luck.

Norris is up big right now with the water in the trees. It was really trashy last week with logs floating everywhere. Largemouth are in the grass in the coves. Smallmouth have moved out onto points and islands. Stripers are at the mouths of coves. Walleye are biting good just off the main lake. Crappie are back on the main lake mostly up the rivers. It will be the Dead Sea in a few weeks and the bite will get tough. Smallmouth should still bite decent down the lake but they’ll be deep on points and humps. I’ll be back there around the end of June fishing a tourney. Message me and I’ll let you know how it is then. Hope that helps.

From my own experience I can say that scent has ever gotten me more bites but I do believe it’s made the fish hold on longer. If I’m getting pecked to death on soft plastic or jigs I’ve had success with Liquid Mayhem. JMO.

I fish derby’s on a small clear lake that gets pounded with pressure. When the bite gets tough I always go to a Neko Rig or Ned Rig to get a limit or even get a bite. Neko Rig has been money this year.

Clacker style buzzbait with a pork or beaver trailer. Get right against the bank and parallel it. Reel as slow as possible to keep it on top. Make sure to drop your rod to let them eat it or you’ll rip it away from them. Have fun and post pics.

Parallel the banks with a buzzbait, whopper plopper & Colorado bladed spinnerbait. You can cover lots of water. If you want specific areas I’d look for places with current. A creek that runs in, a spillway where water releases. Even current made by the wind. Wind will push the plankton that baitfish eat to the banks & the bass follow.

There’s a lake I fish and between 1-2pm in the summer bass will push shad up to the top out in the middle of the river channel if it’s sunny. It can be 90 degrees and we’re sitting in 40 feet of water killing them on top water. It’s crazy.

Cattle fences in the water on Cherokee lake. A couple years back I was fishing a derby and the lake was up. I caught fish on 3 separate cattle fences paralleling them with a spinnerbait. I’m just glad none of them had any electricity hooked to them.

Spring - Rapala DT6 or Strike King Red Eye Shad Summer - Neko Rigged Yum Dinger Fall - Vibrating Jig with Swimbait Trailer Winter - 1/8 VMC Mooneye Jig with a 3''Berkley Gulp Minnow or 3'' Damiki Armor Shad

I don't use my thumb for drag on my baitcasters. I do use my finger on spinning gear. In the winter I fish Lake Cumberland, Norris & Cherokee for smallmouth on 4-6lb test until the water hits the upper 50's. I flip my backreel switch and use my finger to assist my drag to land them when needed. If I just used drag I'd get broke off quick with a big fish.

Beavers don't hurt the fish at all. Muskrats, Otter, & snapping turtles will eat anything they can get though.

Deep cranking. Some guys have mastered throwing the big DD22 or Megabass X300's. It's just not for me. I'll go and try to find a place I can throw a big swimbait, plastic, or a jig of the bite is that deep.

I've seen a lot of stripers caught on Norris with a big A-Rig Rod and an Ambassador reel spooled with 17-20lb test. Seen a couple that tipped 50lb scales caught off that rig around the Lakeview/Hickory Star area. My uncles fish the Clinch side out of Lakeview and use catfish rods to catch big stripers with their pontoon. They park on points and fish shad off the back. They also troll A-Rigs and catch some nice ones. Good luck!

Agree with everyone else. Depends on what size fish are in the pond. But if you're throwing soft plastics, I'd just use my regular gear. I've caught a lot of dinks on regular sized baits.

I don't mind to eat small spots if the lake is crowded with them. I don't eat largemouth or smallmouth. I'd rather have a mess of crappie, walleye, or shellcrackers.

That's right around prime time to start. It gets better as it gets later. I have a 2 man night derby this Friday and we'll throw it the entire tournament. Guy on the inside will throw the buzzbait and guy on the outside will throw a Colorado blade spinnerbait. Keep at it man. Buzzbait fishing is a blast.

Hah, since my username is buzzbaiter this is probably the best place for my first post. I love clacker style with big blades. I fish from sunset til around 8-9am with a buzzbait when the water is between 60-75 degrees. I like to parallel the bank with it, in just a couple feet of water, with a pork chunk or creature trailer. I like black, Black/Blue, & Black/Chart. Hard to keep a white one away from stripers and hybrid. The night bite is right April-Early June and then Sept-Early November. Good luck!