WRB-2.0

Spinning or baitcasting?Mono line has the least strike detection feed back and a medium action 2 piece rod is not a good T-rig or jig rod. Spinning reels combined with the rod you defined would make your strike detection even more difficult. What size weight and hook do you use? Tom

Lakes that freeze over should be closed to bass fishing, give a break! Tom

Worms represent several critters to bass depending on feeding activity. Terrestrial critters would include night crawlers, snakes etc., aquatic critters like leaches and several species of baitfish. Worms are more than night crawlers, however night crawlers are good bass food. Night crawlers don't have ribbon tails, they are straight tail, leaches have ribbon tails for example. What bass think a Senko is only they know. We may think a Senko represents a slowly deing prey or injured critter. There are several terrestrial and aquatic creatures that become prey to bass from insects to frogs, mice and rats, birds and lizards, worms and leaches, crayfish and bait fish of all types, a vast variety that makes bass fishing both exiting and challenging. If I had an easy answer to your question it would be offered. The only way to know is by trail and error and being observant. One day bass prefer 12" cinnamon blue neon straight tail worms, the next 4" oxblood color drop shot worm and you don't know until you offer it to the bass. Tom

The answer is; use a lure that represents what prey the big bass are feeding on. The theory big bait equals big bass doesn't hold water, unless the big bass are targeting big lures. Swimbaits work for example when bass are looking for that type of prey, otherwise a big swimbait becomes a curious object to the bass. Tom

JF said it best, color doesn't matter, when it does it really matters ! Bass can be very color selective at times and when they want a specific color that is all they will strike, soft plastics, jigs etc. if you only fish black-blue or green pumpkin and the bass eating brown-red, you are fishing and not catching. Tom

Gee whiz; old geezer describes me or old school. Although I never heeded much of Homer Circle advice, did enjoy his home spun approach to fishing. Homer Circle was an icon to thie sport of bass fishing and he did enjoy researching bass fishing with some of the top biologist and anglers over a period of decades. Sometimes wisdom gets lost on the younger generations throughout history. There are some good books on bass fishing that are dated; The book of black bass by Henshaw. Lucas on bass by Jason Lucas Think like a bass by Tom Mann Tom

The first 2 sound like classic hill land reserviors, the 3rd a highland deep structured lake and trophy bass lake. The lakes with shad should have seasonal bass migrations, multiple long creek arms and river channels, islands, humps, lots of good fishable structure and cover. You can apply most of what has been offered to the lakes 1 & 2 as flood control heartland bass reservoirs. The 3rd lake is the type I fish, deep structured trout lakes, except no shad population. To understand this lake I will suggest you get a copy of "In Pursuit of Giant Bass" by the late Bill Murphy. Read this book for basic big bass behavior, not necessarily the live bait and anchoring techniques. Tom

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I would suggest considering a 4 power jig and worm rod in lieu of a 3 power. The G. Loomis GLX is in the $450 price range, the Dobyn's and St Croix are in $350 range, so it comes down to what you prefer, if a $100 isn't an issue. Tom

Back to Kentucy where OP lives and bass fishes. Most of the larger lakes are riverine class power generation impoundments with largemouth, spots and smallmouth bass. Bass populations off shore and near shore. Locate where the bass spawn and work your way out to staging areas is one thought. Another tactic is to optimize your location by finding where the bait fish are consentrated. In most power generating large reserviors the bait is pelagic fish like shad go where their food source is. During the cold water period the current tends to move towards the lower 1/3rd of the lake near the dam. Humps and main lake points also up well current and consentrate baitfish, good places to look for bass. Keep in mind that bass also eat crawdads and they are located all over the lake. Would you look for bass on the same type of mid lake or deep water structure during the spawn? No, that would be a low % area to look for spawner's. You should be looking for structure that will hold staging bass that is near the spawning areas. Will bass spawn near the deep water area like the dam, you bet they will if it is suitable for a successful spawn, however the larger flat wind protected areas would be a higher % to attract more bass.

When you say creek bass in heavy wood cover, are you talking about smallmouth or largemouth?A puff ball style living rubber compact jig like Skinny Bear is ideally suited for your cover. If you don't want the mess of small 2" (1 7/8 x 3/4) size pork trailer, nose hooked, simply use 3" to 4" end of any curl tail worm or a 3" to 4" curl tail grub as a trailer. I would go with darker colors in heavy wood and cold water. 1/8, 3/16 or 1/4 oz should be a good size for either LMB, Spots or Smallmouth in a creek. Tom PS; creeks flow into streams, streams into rivers, rivers into oceans, unless impeded by dams.

Largemouth bass are genetically small water fish, small natural lakes and ponds. Smallmouth, spotted and their cousins are genetically river and stream bass, with the exception of the Great Lakes region. When the topic of bass behavior comes up it defaults to northern strain LMB, that is the most common and popular bass. It's only been about 120 years the LMB have lived in man made impoundments, they are adapting to this new ecosystem. The prey sources like Threadfin shad and herring have been introduced to some of these impoundments, but most importantly the LMB are new to impoundments. When we tend to talk about bass behavior, we use average behavior traits where the bass are located that we pursue. I agree with Catt, some bass or most adult size bass may never leave or travel miles from an area that supports their life cycle, however other bass in that same location will leave and return seasonally. Out west, west of the Rocky mountains, where no bass lived 120 years ago, all species are evolving their behavior habits. The latest are the Florida strain of LMB that behave differently than the northern LMB originally introduced. FLMB tend to prefer being off shore, where NLMB tend to prefer near shore habitate. The vast majority of the bass population migrates seasonally to spawn in wind protected water less than 8' deep. The same vast majority of adult size bass leave the spawning areas after spawning. I believe all the other bass movements relate to prey and sanctuary. Tom

Bill Murphy's book "In Pursuit of Fiant Bass" has some insight into bass behavior, on a practical level, that should benefit nearly all bass anglers. Keeping an open mind, not necessarily adopting Bill's fishing techniques, anchoring and live bait fishing, instead excepting his strategy that adult size bass behavior differs from juvenile bass and knowing the prey bass prefer will improve your basing fishing success. Tom

The only B.A.S.S. tournament pro that was also a scientist was the late Dr. Loren Hill, professor U of OK. Father of Keyon Hill, Elite pro. Dr. Loren Hill had written about 50 papers on largemouth bass and we tend to debate his knowledge, bass anglers are a study unto itself, self proclaimed experts . Keep an open mind and you may surprise yourself and learn a little here. Tom PS; agree with KayakR, this was an interesting thread and everyone who interacted added their opinions and experiences, sharing is what this is all about. Have a good Thanksgiving day to all.

Te ideal cold water jig trailer in a small creek would be Uncle Josh 101Spin frog with Skinny Bear Pro series 1/4 oz living rubber jig. Soft plastics aren't soft in very cold water. Tom

Eastern Kentucy you have northern Spooted bass and northern largemouth bass, different critters with different seasonal patterns. The Kentucky spots are small bass, so lets focus on the NLMB. Basic seasonal periods are; winter cold water period, pre spawn, spawn, post pawn, summer and fall. It's winter nearly everywhere by now, the core water temps in the mid 50's or less. If the water down to 20' is warmer, then it's still fall to the bass. Water is thermally conductive, affected by it's environment. The simple definition is cold water is more dense and heavier then warmer water that is less dense and lighter weight. Lighter weight water floats on heavier water. During the warmer water periods the upper layers of water floating on the colder water. Where the cooler and warmer water comes together is called a thermocline. During the summer to winter transition we call fall, the water column tends to mix and this is called a turnover, the water is the same temperature top to bottom, the thermocline disappears. All this affects where bass prefer to be located; near food and comfortable water temps. During the fall to winter transition the bass are making seasonal location changes, find the baitfish, the bass should be close by. If bait fish like shad have moved into creek arms, the bass should be there. If the baitfish is located in main lake areas, that is where the bass will be. Some lakes have large bodies of water where bass can be located in several areas. Your sonar unit is your best fishing tool, use it. Tom

Weather is always a factor to deal with, if it's safe to fish, the water isn't frozen, dress for the elements and go fishing. Looking at today's weather report it look like another storm is passing through your area. The bass are already deep and that is where you should be fishing. Tom

Most lakes in CA are operated by private concessionaire that have the rights to all retails sales at that lake. If the lake is operated by the US Forest Service, they collect fees for entry and parking and may also have a concessionaire lease. Food service is another regulated business, plus a license to sell alcohol beverages. Not saying this isn't a good plan, however the tackle business becomes secondary to operating a food services. At Lake Castaic there is a family owned market/gasoline service station that sells tackle, makes lunches, hot and cold sandwiches, soft drinks and beer or wine. This works because the location has room to park tow vehicle with boat trailers and is located just off interstate 5. It also takes 5 employees during peak hours! You need to decide what business to focus on unless you have the resources to be multifaceted. Catering to a small core of local anglers is common with small tackle stores, however this doesn't pay the bills. To attract new clientele that purchase enough tackle from you to make a profit takes a lot of work, local advertising, special seminars to earn community support. I wish you good luck. Tom

Prior to premium mono line like P-line CXX I fished both XL on spinning and XT on baitcasting, good line during the 80's. Tried a lot of different mono line types and finally settled on 12 lb Berkley Big Game for crankbaits and 25 lb for swimbaits. The reason is exceptional durability and knot strength for mid water column lures. The fact I change line often when cranking and swimbait fishing factors in to my choice. Stopped using P-line CXX when they changed their line formulas and had issues. The higher end line I use Blackwater Int'l Toray FC. Big Game is perfect for a new bait caster. Tom

You can go online and look at Bill Seimantel Vedio on Spro float n fly. Bass you do need longer rods to take up the impact of harder runs near the boat. If the cover is heavy like it is in most of Florida, a 1 or 2 power med/light is more appropriate for bass. Quality is quality, size doesn't matter; $75 rod and $75 reel would be lower of the moderate rods & reels. Shimano Sedona FC1000 reel is about $70, they make decent spinning rods in the &70 range, light action, 6'6"- CSS66LB Claris that would be good with 4 lb mono or FC line. Tom

Patents are expensive, the initial research for prior art, writing and drawings to define your ingenious new idea is only the tip of the iceberg; about $15K. Non disclosure agreements are not that expensive, but easy to break between individuals, they work for corporations with assets to loose. Patents must have litigation to protect it, costly and only valid between member countries. Fishing lures are not a good product to patents IMO. Whenever there is money involved you must protect yourself. Good luck! Tom

The signature holographic trout is already on eBay @ $300

The OP is near Lake Havasu located on the Colorado river, CA/AZ border, is a deep canyon reservior with big Smallmouths, a good vertical drop shot lake at depths to 60'. One of the most popular DS rods on Havasu is iRod and the reason I suggested their DS rod. The Dobyn's Champion M/L makes a good DS rod, it's heavier and not a specific application rod. IRod Air uses high quality components and blank, I doubt a custom rod would be as good at this price point, plus iRods are available in tackle stores to touch and feel out west. Tom

I use Berkley Big Game 12# for crankbaits because it cast very well and 1/4 lb spool cost less than $15 and will last you a few years. Buy a 1/2 oz casting plug, rubber coated. Remember to adjust the spool end tension so the casting weight pulls line off the reel with a little drag as it falls, this helps to prevent a backlash, and stop the spool with your thumb to keep the line tight on the spool. Good luck. Tom

The only "swim jig" I fish is a Scrounger or a Mattie. Crankbaits are a different type of lure, you can very the speed and depth, stop and they float, etc. A Mattie is a standard skirt type jig with a swivel and Colorado size 1 blade in place of a trailer like a tail spinner. Tom