WRB-2.0

In deep structure lakes where I have spent the majority of my bass fishing the water is very clear with few aquatics weeds, mostly rocky with sparse wood/ brush. This is typical of SoCal bass lakes during the spawn. The tem shallow is relative to the lake regarding how deep bed site are. Rarely will you find beds in water less than 2' , the average is closer to 4', some beds are deeper than 1o'. The very shallow beds are usually made by smaller males, the larger females tend to avoid beds less than 3' deep, preferring the deeper bed sites. One reason could be blue herons can easily catch a bass off a shallower bed. To claim the female leaves immediately after laying egg's may be true if that female has completed all her eggs, the female usually moves somewhere between 5' to 10' away from the nest site and keeps a watch from the perimeter area. The little male stays on the nest site. A common practice with bed anglers is catch the male, and wait for the female to return, then catch her. I have witnessed several big females laying eggs on one bed site at the same time, it's not always one pair. Most bass anglers have experience with spawning bass due to the fact they easy to observe and catch. The time it takes for eggs to hatch depends on the water temperature the eggs are in; about 14 days in water 60 degrees, 5 days in water 67 degrees. The warmer the water the more egg eating predators are around the bed sites, thus lower success rates. Survival of the fittest! Tom

Use the hook barb to gauge the depth you insert the hook point, rotate the hook when the barb enters the soft plastic nose end. Pull hook down until it reaches the hook shank, then rotate the hook around so the pointvis upright, before pulling the hook eye into the nose/ head until the eye is just inside the soft plastic worm, creature. As mention align the hook to oneside of the plastic body to determine where the hook point should be inserted so the plastic lays striaght, this step takes some practice. Flukes have a slot molded into the belly, the hook doesn't need to penetrate a lot of plastic. A trick that helps is to push the hook point all the through the top of the soft plastic so it lays flat and exposed. To make the hook point tip weedless, just slide the hook back about 1/8", pinch the soft plastic to make a bulge, then slip the point into bulge to just cover the tip. This is called skin hooking. Good luck.

#2. Male bass select the bed site and protect until the fry are ready to be on their own. The female bass select which male and bed site or sites they lay eggs. The female doesn't instantly move onto a bed to spawn or leave immediacy after laying eggs, about a 2 day period the female is very protective of the bed site area and the reason they get caught during the spawn. There should be no debate on this set of facts. #3. Yes I have watched the movie Big Mouth, filmed at Cypress Springs or gardens, FL. This is a no fishing area, a sanctuary similar to a large aquarium, the bass are wild, very used to seeing people that don't harm them. Bass don't have hands, you see them make a half hearted attempt to check out the lures and instantly reject them, treble hooks and all. These bass are grouped up and active, not suspended in an inactive mood. Great film for every bass angler to watch. Tom PS, watch this film and you will know why sharp hooks are important!

You can't always trust your electronics to meter all the bass in an area, you can be assured if you spend time with your sonar you can spook off wary bass. When I am searching for baitfish/ bass in deeper water and meter active bass, I will stop and give them a short try. I will return quietly in about 20 minutes or after checking out several other spots and spend enough time to determine what is going on. If I know big bass are using that area or spot, I may sit on it for about 2 hrs, depending on how confident I feel about the area. I always meter the area when I leave to determine if bass have move in or still suspended off in deeper water. Tom

1& 2 there isn't a debate, bass must eat to survive and must protect their spawning site to reproduce.3 is debatable. Fish are not like cats that we can tease into striking, I belive that is a myth. Spent a lot of time watching bass in the wild in clear lakes and ponds. When these bass are inactive, you can drop a live crawdad,minnow, tiger salamander (water dog) on there nose and they just back away and have zero interest in striking. At the same time you see baitfish swimming around these inactive bass without any sign of fear. Within a moments notice, the baitfish run and hide, the bass start to move and become alert, now if you drop the same live critter in the water near the bass, it strikes immediately. It's easy to tease a bass looking for prey, impossible to get a reaction from a bass not interested. The direction prey enters the basses viewing area can make a big difference in getting the bass looking for prey to react to that prey, this is different then teasing, you simple discovered the right angle for the bass to commit to. Tom

Experienced bass learn from their time on the water what bass prefer on the lakes they fish and become good anglers that consistantly catch fish or they don't learn and repeat what other good anglers are doing. The 90-10 rule where 10% of the angers catch 90% of the bass hasn't changed in my life time. The fact that the top anglers catch their bass using different lures and presentations then the 90% who struggle is an interesting topic and gives us a clue regarding bass behavior. The common denominator to solving this problem is food verses bass feeding activity, the top anglers are catching active feeding bass, the unsuccessful are not. Bass don't eat all day long and they are not laying in ambush waiting for your lure to swim by as most anglers believe. Cover enough water and you will catch bass is another mistake most anglers make. You may stumble into active bass by covering a lot of water where bass are located, this is a hit and miss technique. If you could go directly to where the bass are located and time your fishing to when the bass are active feeding, you will consistantly catch more bass. Learning about bass behavior helps, discovering what the bass are eating and where they are located = success...as long as your presence doesn't alter the feeding activity. Tom

Discussed some differences between NLMB and FLMB sharing the same lakes. The next is the integrate, a combination of FLMB and NLMB or F1. The F1 is the first generation integrate where a male NLMB and pure FLMB spawn. The F1 growth potention is similar to pure FLMB, 20+ lbs, however is more aggressive, these are the giant bass that make up most of California's record list and the reason those records are aging. F1's maybe a memory today, very rare bass. The northern (Kentucy) spotted bass vs the southern (Alabama) spotted bass are similar to comparing FLMB and NLMB, 2 different species. Like the LMB, the Northern spot grows about half as big as it's cousin the southern spot, however both are very aggressive feeders, the easiest of all bass to catch. The spots seem to have no fear when focused on feeding. Spots tend to bite their prey and have teeth to hold it, this means they use the front of their mouth, where LMB use the back of the mouth more often. A spot will bite prey to injure it, then bite agian to turn the prey around to swallow it. A pecking type bite often confused with a bluegill. If you have spots where you fish, you can hesitate on hook sets, the spot strikes more than ounce! Smallmouth have similar striking traits of the Spotted bass, no teeth and tend to be a little more wary, somewhere between a LMB and the spot. Smallies and Alambama spots grow about the same size; records in the 10 to 11 lb range. Both spots and smallies prefer more open water areas and some current if available. Tom

Because this thread is about bass behavior, I choose to reference Mike Lemark's studies for 2 reasons, 1 they are scientific. 2, they where performed on wild bass in their natural environment. These studies changed they way I perceived bass behavior and adapted this knowledge to help me become a better angler. A few things stood out, big bass have lived long enough to avoid anglers and tend to locate near deep water sanctuaries. Observing the San Diego bass anglers like Bill Murphy that were successful catching these bass, it became apparent keeping quite, blending into the environment and waiting for bass to return to an area that they had vacated when I came into that area, was important in catching the wary bass. One of Mikes bass would leave the area it was located during the closed fishing season the day the lake opened to fishing each spring. This big bass swam straight into the buoyed off area by the dam closed to fishing, stayed there until the lake closed agian in the fall. Several bass would leave areas they stayed in as soon as boats started up each morning, moved out into deep water and returned when the lake closed each day. This study included about 150 big bass that were electro shocked, with radio tracking devices surgically inserted and lasted a few years, exact time period I need to look up. Tom

It's a mistake to compare the thought process of the human brain to that of animals that survive by instinct in lieu of intellect. Good examples are migratory animals like insects, fish and birds with tiny brains that travel thousands of miles, make round trips one time in their lifetime. The Monark butterfly for example migrates from the Midwest to Mexico and California, winters on fir trees, then returns to where it was it started. Monarks only live as butterflies for 8 month and have no prior experience to learn how to do this. Bass have instinctive intellengance to help them complete their life cycle and reproduce the species. How a bass learns to stay out of harms way hasn't been scientifically proven. There have been tracking studies with LMB in the wild, San Diego biologist Mike Lembeck studies in the mid 70's suggest we know little about bass migration habits, their survival instincts indicate a high percetage of big bass are rarely caught. Bill Murphy quotes Mike Lembeck in his book In Pursuit of Giant Bass and by Homer Circle in his book Bass Wisdom. Google or Bing: Mike Lembeck, biologist, interesting scientific facts about bass behavior in the wild. Tom

You can't catch a cold using black and blue jigs in the lakes in SoCal, unless it's at night! Up in the NorCal delta black and bue or all blue works great, the difference is water clarity. In both places our crayfish (crawdads) are reddish brown or greenish brown in the wild. Bass know how to hunt, they just change the prey preference as they get to be adults. Have you ever caught a finger length bass, they are hunters. Tom

The basic rule with lures is use them the way the manufacturer recommends, they want you to catch fish with that lure. Bass fishing I can't remember using a snap swivel for any lure or rig. I use Berkely Cross Loc snaps,black, size 3, for crank baits, spoons and hard swimbaits. I don't like inline swivel rigs and only use a swivel if there isn't any other option to reduce line twist. Tom

Keep in mind what LMB are.....sunfish family, they prefer warm water and will find it as long as the prey is close by. Fishing from shore it's difficult to bass fish during the cold water period; water temps below 50 degrees. When the water column drops below 55 degrees, the fall bite us usually over and transitioning to winter. Take a look at the lake you fish, a map is a good reference. Most lakes you can divide into 1/3 rd sections. Big lakes with long creek arms are like individual lakes, so treat those arms like individual lakes. The deepest water in man made reserviors is the dam area or lower 1/3rd. The next deepest area is the middle zone and the shallowest the upper 1/3 rd, where a river or creek enters the lake or arm. Cold water bass like deep water areas because this water is usually warmer. If your lake has a major point near the dam area, or mouth of a big creek arm, that is where you should be fishing. Tom PS; take a look at "pointer pointers" in the never get bites thread on this forum page.

Any angler fishing for prize money needs to be good and competitive enough to win. If your desire is becoming an Elite tournament anglers you need more than good fishing skills, although good fishing skills are essential. I grew up in a competitive sports environment and thought it was normal want to win at everything I did. You need this competitive drive to become an Elite tournament bass anglers, winning is how you will be ranked. Fishing for fun isn't like fishing for money. The weekend angler goes fishing, gets blanked, no problem. I fish to catch fish first and foremost. It doesn't matter if it's a fun fishing trip or a tournament, you must focus on why you are on the water. You can enjoy your surroundings, wildlife, but you fish to catch fish and in the case of a tournament anglers your fish needs to weigh more then anyone else in the event. Tom

None then, none now. Although being retired, almost retired, I may rethink fishing for food! It cost me an average of $50 to fish a day.Tom

During the late 60's and early 70's I was a staunch advocate of catch and releasing largemouth bass, specifically trophy size bass. To say that I ran into a brick wall is putting things lightly. I got letters back from Ray Scott, the president of B.A.S.S. stating fishing pressure alone had no affect on bass populations, the bass are prolific spawner's, good renewable resource. Times have changed and I now find myself on opposite side of the C&R issue. C & R has become a cult with some anglers that believe every single bass caught must be released. It was wrong when Scott took his stand, he later reversed his position, not from his original belief that fishing pressure was harmful, it looked bad to have hundreds of dead bass at the end of his tournaments that became food for fish fries. Livewells were developed and better fish handling skills are still evolving. In-Fisherman had it right with their "Selective Harvest" in the 80's that continues today. Properly handle the special trophy fish and keep fish that will not survive or a size that are overly populated. What the 100% C & R angler doesn't acknowledge is it's impossible to release 100% of the bass, some don't survive after catching it. There is a post catch mortality rate, the bigger the fish, the higher that rate becomes. It's doesn't harm a fishery to keep a few fish to eat, there is always a combination of factors that deplete a fish species from a body of water as large as a lake. Should you harass another angler for fishing within regulations...no! Should you turn in another angler for fishing illegally... Yes! Tom

What gets over looked with animals we base preconceived ideas about, like memory and brain size is geneic instinct. You don't teach a bird dog to hunt birds, they are genetically wired to hunt birds and all we do is teach them to behave in a manner we want them to. Animals like bass must learn instantly where to find food and what food is, they are also part of the food chain and must learn that fact quickly. This learning ability is survival instinct, if they don't have it, they don't survive. The soft plastic worm doesn't give off many negative signals to bass, the only negatives are color, line, hook, weight , unnatural smells and movements. What has and continues to happen is a specific size, shape and color combination becomes the "hot" worm for a season or two, then dies off. Perfect example was the green weenie era or worms. We had green weenies in red, black, blue flakes, light and dark green, light and dark brown. Today it's pumpkin or watermelon, not a combination of 2 colors that is the " hot" worm. What happened to the green weenie? Why did bass everywhere stop eating it? Did anglers tire of catching bass on weenies or did the bass learn to avoid it. Tom PS, the DeFresco bass is part of the world record bass legacy. This 21.1 bass, including the 2.5 lb diving weight was identicle to a 19.8 lb bass caught at Miramar lake a few days earlier. The 2.5 lb diving weight was subtracted from this bass and stands at 19.1. Fraud was never proven.....

No problem, it's getting harder to find those retarded bass!Tom

It's the opposite. The most aggressive bass get caught, the less aggressive and more cautious bass servive. In a few generations we end up a population of bass that are harder to fool with artifical lures. FLMB are less aggressive than NLMB, in the lakes that have or had where I have bass fished over 50 year period. In the early years the FLMB were thought to be uncatchable on artifical lures, only live bait worked. In the San Diego lakes the bass anglers in the know, like Bill Murphy, were live bait specialist. Being a diehard lure angler I spent a lot of time trying to catch FLMB on lures. I learned a lot bout fishing live bait and the SD guys learned how to use big soft plastic worms and jigs. At the end of the day we shared and learned together that FLMB were different from the bass we knew, the agressive eaier to catch NLMB. The vast majority if the country has NLMB because FLMB can!t survive water less than 45 degrees. Texas/Oklahoma has tied to genetically alter the FLMB to have a lower water temp tolerance, don't believe it was a success. If you want to catch FLMB that grow over 15 lbs., your choice is warmer climates. Be aware these bass are not easy to catch on lures. Tom

Gamma FC 10 lb is listed at .012D, this is very large diameter FC! Line diameter and memory is what makes a poor choice for spinning reels. Sunline Sniper FC 14 lb is .012 for example, the 10 lb is .010. Be aware of line diameters. If you are looking for a manageable 10 lb, check out the Toray Blackwater line, Solaroam Bass Hi-Class; 10 lb is .011D. Tom

I am not familiar with the St Croix rod listed, looked at their 7'9' Mojo swimbait rod and it's rated up to 4 oz lures and doesn't have a foregrip! Having fished big heavy swimbaits for several years, this rod is questionable. Okuma 7'11" heavy swimbait rod is in the same price range and works for 8" BB1's and TripleTrout wooden swimmers. Your rod maybe OK for 7" TT's and 68 Huds. In regards to line; Big Game 25# works, good knot strength and smooth casting. Good luck with your swim baiting. Tom

Vee cutting the smooth water surface could be a fish, however it's usually a tiny bug called water strider. When fish make Vee's there is always a pressure wave in front of fin wake. Tom

Fishing points pointers. 1. Start near the base of the point. From shore or a boat, position yourself near ( boat) or on the bank about a good casting distance to one side of the point. Next make the first cast to the base where the point attaches to the bank and retrieve. Then start your casting down the spine of the point while moving closer towards the base. With a boat you can move out into deeper water and fish all around the perimeter out into deep water, around the point tip and continue back towards the base on the opposite side. 2. From shore you maybe able to walk onto the spine of the point and fan cast all around the points sides and tip. 3. With a boat you can cast over the submerge point spine and work up and over the opposite side, back down the face side. This presentation is over looked by most anglers, because they fear hanging up lures, no problem with a boat to retrieve lures by moving around to the opposite, retrieve the lure. If you fear losing bottom bumping lures, don't use them! 4. Most boaters tend to approach and fish points from deep water towards the point tip, the problem this can create is you are sitting on top of the bass that heard you coming and moved into deeper water. Approaching from the side or base of the point, you can cast to bass without sitting on top of them. Bank angers don't have that problem, they can only present lures from where they are standing. Tom

All amphibians have poisionous skin secretions, frogs, salamanders, newts and bass eat them without any problems. The critters that don't learn from mistakes, don't survive. Prey preference is usually a matter if availability, bass prefer high protein prey that is nearby, easy to catch and abundant. Genetically some bass species are better suited to catch and eat different types of prey. For example Florida strain LMB prefer baitfish in the shape of golden shiners; long slender baitfish over shorter wider baitfish. When FLMB were transplanted into California lakes, no golden shiners were available and planted rainbow trout filled that niche. The northern LMB in the same lakes tend to ignor planted rainbow trout, preferring to eat smaller Threadfin shad, bluegill, crappie, green sunfish. Both FLMB and NLMB targeted crawdads in the same lakes they shared. Then consider the method the different bass species go about hunting and eating prey. Smallmouth and Spotted bass are more selective hunters than LMB and faster stronger swimmers covering more water than LMB. Spotted and Smallmouth bass tend to dash into bait schools, LMB tend to heard them into feeding zones before attacking. LMB engulf prey in one gulp, both Spotted And Smallmouth tend to bite their prey first. Tom

There are several different species of fresh water black bass, the most common being Spotted bass, Smallmouth bass and Largemouth bass, Both Spotted and Largemouth have 2 different strains that affect size and prey preferences. Spotted and Smallmouth bass are river bass that live in both rivers and lakes, both behave as if they live in moving water and tend to roam a lot looking for prey. Largemouth are lake bass, tend to stay in one area, and move during migrational periods and don't roam by nature. Largemouth bass eat a wider variety of prey because they can with a larger mouth. All bass like to eat crawdads and baitfish, they are a predators that adapt to the ecosystem they live in. Both Spots and Smallies spawn in colder water than Largemouth and tend to like gravel bottoms, where Largemouth are not as particular, preferring more sheltered areas. Could go on for several pages, this should get you started. Tom

Well now we can see you are from Jersey, a young man who is more than likely fishing from shore with a Texas rigged soft plastic worm or a few different types of plastic worms...right? Most of us started out bank fishing with 1 rod/reel outfit, today that is usually a spinning outfit...right agian? Guessing wastes lot of time and energy and the reason I ask these questions. Lets assume you have no idea where the bass should be during this time of year, most anglers don't! The average bass angler start where they fished the last time on the water and fish the way the did when it worked. Sometimes this approach works, most of the time it doesn't. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. This time of year the bass have moved or are moving, so you need to do the same...move to different locations, fish deeper and slower; fish main lake points and let us know if that helped. Tom