WRB-2.0

The late Bill Murphy mentions biologist Mike Lembeck tracking studies back in the 70's and the late Homer Circle wrote an article called "Where are the bass" and quotes Mikes studies. Go online and read Mike Lembecks studies that support bass migration suspended in deep water and move to shallower water to feed when oportunity arises. In deep clear water structure lakes threadfin shad follow and feed on phytoplankton that rises near the surface during the bright sun, then the shad move to hide in brush or whatever cover nearby during low light or at night. Bass and other predator fish like trout feed on shad, follow the bait away from cover and back to cover on a daily bases. Both the shad and trout become a prey source for bass. It's common to meter bass suspended off shore a few hundred yards from brushy areas in shallower water and catch those bass as the sun sets when they move into the brush. As Catt has tried to share, bass love to hold near humps that offer shallower water and deep water close by, perfect places for bass to feed on migrating baitfish without the need to move a few hundred yards. Tom

Lamiglas Excel II, 7'3" , 4 power; EXL 734 bait casting rod, $120 retail Daiwa Tatula R-100XS, 8:1to 1, $199 retail Sunline Super Sniper 12# FC, $30 retail Contact Valley Sports, sponsor and save $$$ Tom

If being a pro bass angler is taking it to the next level, then several BR members are at the next level. If you intend to become top level pro bass angler then you need more than bass fishing skills. Tom

Hook sizes differ between mfr's and style. Sizec1 is one size smaller than size 1/0. Check out Barlows online tackle and look at hooks.Tom

FYI, Canyon plastics makes the Lindy Tiger tubes. Barlows Tackle in Texas sells a wide variety of tubes and may have Tiger tubes and paints for soft plastics and they ship world wide. You need to contact them, not everything is in their catalog. Tom

Take a look at bearsbaits.com, excellent home injection molding softbplastic fishing lures. Canyon-plastics is under new management, you might want to give them another try. Tom

The C-rig is designed to be dragged along the bottom horizontal, the drop shot or down shot rig is fished vertical with the weight on or off the bottom. The hook is above the weight tied directly to the main line without leader unless you choose to use a leader, the soft plastic is a controlled distance above the bottom with a drop shot. The hook is behind the leader with a swivel and weight in front the leader, the soft plastic is uncontrolled and may be on or slightly above the bottom, the angler can't feel where the soft plastic is. The only thing these two rigs have in common is the soft plastic lure used. To fish in 30' of water with a drop shot rig you can have 30' of line. To fish a C-rig in 30' of water you need a minimum of 45' of line or more line between you and the lure. You can cast a drop shot and retrieve horizontal, however it's designed to be fished vertical. Tom

No mercury warnings where I live and fish. The OP needs to educate himself as to what mercury poisioning is and what types of fish may be harmful to eat and where those fish come from. A little knowledge can be dangerous. The commercial swordfish business for example was damaged unnecessarily due to false mercury contamination reports and just now starting to recover a decade later. Tom

Go online and look up methylmercury.

Two factors involved with big swimbaits; 1. Bass don't know their size verses the swimbait and sometimes strike it to check it out as something to eat. 2, Bass recognize the swimbait as prey they have successfully eaten several times and strike it to kill and eat it. Your highest success rate is #2. Tom

Good point Glenn. I believe the OP just wants to know what it takes to improve his bass fishing skills or take it to the next level. My first interpretation was how to improve my bass fishing skills to become a pro, very different questions. Tom

In off color water or weedy water you don't need a leader other than for confidence. Clear water with good visibility (see the bottom at 8+ feet) than leaders may help depending on how active the bass may or may not be. What size and type of braid are you using? Most anglers with spinning outfits use a leader long enough that the knot is located between the first big guide and the reel with rods having conventional size guides. Tom

Anchovies are light wight about 1oz, sardines are weigh about 2 to 8 oz, depending on length; 6" to 10".Albacore tuna run on average about 25 lbs and stronger than any fresh water fish; speed, pulling power and endurance.

Looked at my salt water rods and the Shimano TLC80MLBBL Tallus blue water series casting rod should be perfect. I use this rod for casting live bait like sardines and anchovies albacore tuna fishing, work great. Tom

I know Aaron Martens doesn't get much support on this site, he makes a good example. Aaron's family didn't have money, average wage earners. You can plug in most of the bass "pros" names into this category. What Aaron has and most of the other "pros" is talent to catch bass under all kinds of conditions and the drive to get out there and compete. Time on the water doesn't do much good unless it's quality time where you learn something to improve your bass catching skill. Competition tends to bring out your bass catching skills, you start winning and earning checks and get noticed. The bottom line is you earn it. Tom .

Check out Barlows Tackle for spinnerbait skirts, lots of good choices in various shad and bluegill colors. Tom PS; pattern #763

I would think the Okuma Guide Special Heavy swimbait rod would work for you. Another option is salt water live bait rods, spinning or bait casting? Tom

When you trim the skirt as shown on Aaron's video, the straight cut results in 2 tapered layers of skirt when you tie on the jig and fish it. The technique Dee Thomas taught Aaron Martens is the same as I have used successfully for decades. Different strokes for different folks.... Tom

The trigger spin reels are great for kids, however a 6 year that is familiar with rod/reels can easily graduate to a light spinning reel and 5' spinning rod. Tom

If you make your own jig skirts the skirt ends are uneven so the first trimming should be to cut them to an even length, longer is always a good starting point and that is about 1" or 2 finger widths beyond the hook bend, jig head upright on standard skirts. This is about the length you get with off the shelf jigs. You can cut them shorter as needed when using the jig. What is important is hold the jig head down, hook bend upright, fold the skirt down and straighten out the strands then cut straight across, them rotate the head upright to determine if the skirt is about the right length, this take some practice. Also if you tie real hair jigs; don't trim the hair off, like a silicone type skirt, leave the tapered hair ends alone, trimming only the very long hair strands. Mop jigs are popular in some regions, the skirts are long, up to 3" past the hook bend, the skirt becomes a trailer. Puff ball living rubber jigs are trimmed round like a ball shape. These are a few exceptions that differ from "standard" jig skirts. Tom

Hard to see in Aaron's video; length of the skirt is about a finger width past the hook bend with craw type trailers for jigs with silicone or live rubber skirts. Tom

The classic Carolins rig is made up using a size 1 barrel swivel, 8mm glass bead and 1/2 to 1oz egg sinker. Mono leader, 10# to 15# tied to the barrel swivel, length between 24" to 36". The weight goes on the main line followed by the bead, then tie on the swivel. Finesse C-rig; no swivel, mojo style weight 1/8 to 3/8 oz, Carolina plastic keeper holds the glass bead and weight up the FC main line, hook tied to the end. Tom

Big natural lake in the far frozen north! The In-Fisherman books are perfect for you. If you can find In-Fisherman early fishing reports like "weeds the key to bass location" and "bass in the slop" in natural northern lakes that is priceless, will look through my archives for it. Bass behavior is different in northern natural lakes then typical reservior impoundments in the southern region. One reason is bass are not the prime predator, musky and pike are. The prey source are mostly dermasil, not pelagic bait like shad. My in laws lived in MN and Ontario and fished there a few times, not that knowledgable with largemouth and smallmouth in big natural lakes. Tom

All variables of how the lure moves (action) as opposed to color. Anglers can control how much or how little action or movement a lure may have and where to fish and how to present it, they can't always control the lures built in action or movements. The color is the color.All excellent points Roger and very important to being successful catching bass with lures. Lure size, shape or profile have a big impact on how effective a lure is and may also affect both action and colors. Depth is dependant on where the bass are located, activity level at the location, depth of available light. Both lure action, movement forward or sinking or setting still and color vary with depth. A lures action, profile and color can be changed by adding feathered hooks, hair, blade size/shape, etc.. Tom

Looking at your profile doesn't help as you don't want to disclose anything about where you are located. If you fish lakes that are reserviors classed as hill land or highland deep structure, then Bill Murphy's book In Pursuit of Giant Bass is appropriate and has good bass behavior information. You can PM me and I can send you my bass seasonal calendar with some general information that should help you. Kieth Jones book on bass behavior, The Scientific Approach to Catching More Bass is expensive, good information depending on who you ask. In-Fisherman has some published bass behavior books, mostly for the mid west region. To understand bass behavior beyond what has been published requires getting to know their prey where you fish. Agian you will get mixed opinions on how important knowing prey preference is, it's important IMO. Learning to use your sonar unit is critical for tournament anglers, suggest reading Don Iovino's book Finesse Fishing and the Sonar Connection. If you are going to strive to be a top 10 club tournament angler, you need to learn a few presentations that consistantly catch 3+ lb bass and manage your time on the water focused on that goal. Like racing you don't need to win every race, but that should be your goal. If you catch 15 lbs each tournament day you will end up near the top. 3 + lb bass are adult bass, don't bother catching juvenile size bass when tournament fishing. Tom