WRB-2.0

This inquiry will more than likely get moved and some of the kayak/canoe anglers can better answer your specific small water boating questions. Because you are limited to where you can fish with a canoe, I don't see any reason to spend a lot of money on a GPS sonar unit. What you may need is a simple color sonar unit that doesn't require a lot of power to operate. Lake maps are handy and a unit with maps & GPS are great bass fishing tools, however the small waters you plan to fish may not have GPS maps if the lakes haven't been surveyed by a GPS mapping service. I wouldn't use 1 battery to operate both the trolling motor and sonar unit together for 2 reasons; interference and changing battery power both impact the operation of the sonar unti. Weight is an issue for a kayak or canoe, so a smallerer motor cycle battery can operate the Sonar unti effectively. You will be fishing mostly near shore and should be able to use land marks to relocate your position on a lake map and make notes for returning to those spots. The surrounding above water terrain usually extends under water and that should help locate features you are looking underwater. This type of visual awareness will help you to understand your electronics and a good learning experience. Good luck. Tom PS, I recommend Don Iovino's book Finesse fishing and the Sonar Connection for anyone who uses sonar, plus good tips on finesse bass fishing.

Bass anglers have come a long way in a short time period regarding sun protection. Several types of good UV sunscreens and clothing are available.A good sunscreen should have the following features; Broad spectrum UVB/UVA, SPF 30+ Water resistant PABA free Unscented Zinc Oxide (transparent) Non-irritating (eyes) I use Solbar-zinc SPF 38 on my face, neck, ears and hands, apply when I get dressed to go fishing and during the day as needed. Clothing is also very important and should also be UV with SPF raring to block sun rays. Sunday Afternoon and Columbia are two good companies that offer a good line of hats, long sleeve shirts, etc. Bass anglers like to wear ball caps, short sleeve shirts, shorts and flip flops to say cool on the water during the summer heat, it's the traditional boaters clothing. However we should take a page from desert folks who wear clothing that covers up our skin and protects it from the sun. Light weight sun blocking clothing is just as important as sunscreens, you should be using both when on the water. I have severe skin cancer as a result of my youth and young adult years do to long hours of sun exposure on the water.I didn't know any better, today we have the knowledge and products to save our skin. Tom

The leading edge of a cold front is the high pressure system moving into where the low pressure system was. Low pressure is normally associated with clouds or a rainy storm front. The cold front is really a transition between the low pressure depression and the high pressure dome, this zone in between is usually windy, cooler temps with bright clear skies. All the airborne critters and aquatic creatures are very active during the approaching low pressure, then they look for shelter during the windy cold front. The shallower the water is the greater impact this weather condition has on bass. Deeper water bass are less affected by weather changes; hint target the deeper water structure areas if your lake is a deep structured lake. If your lake is mostly a shallow low land lake, then the bass tend to seek shelter in heavier cover and remain less active until the conditions settle down. Tom

+1You may be able to search "cold front" and locate some threads regarding this topic. Tom

You are fishing a pond or small man made make or whatever else you prefer to call the body of water.Think about the bass you want to catch, adult size LMB over 3 lbs, .what separates a 2 lb LMB from a 4 lb LmB in your pond? .............................. Size is not the answer. Every bass in this pond have one thing in common, the ecosystem they live in. These bass know every square inch of their environment , it's small and they have explored it and know what is there for them to eat and where to find sanctuary from predators. Have you come up with the answer what the difference is between a 2 lb and 4 lb bass is? Answer; the 4 lb bass has lived in that pond far longer and has more survival skills. Bluegill are over rated as a bass prey source, except smaller young of the year bluegill. Adult size bluegill are very hard for a 4 lb bass to swallow, they have dorsal spines and a risk for the bass to eat. Longer thinner prey are preferred. Young of the year bass are better prey source than adult size bluegill! Big worms are ideal pond prey, they don't have any negative profile issues for the adult size bass in a pond environment and can be fished in heavy weed cover very effectively. Darkness hides your presence and the larger bass are hunting the shallower water areas where you can present a lure effectively from shore. This makes big worms a very high % lure to use at night or low light periods during the summer. Tom

FC; Sunline Shooter and Blackwater Solaroam Hi-Class. Mono; Berkley Big Game Copolymer; P-Line CXX Hybrid; P-Line FluoroClear Braid; Diawa Samurai Tom

The split shot is very simple and consist of a round split shot in 1/8, 3/16 or 1/4 oz sizes. The hook should be like a light wire Owner 5100 in size 1 or 1/0. Finding smooth face round lead split shot will take some looking around, they are still made. An option is using a lead mojo tubular lead sliding sinker and crimping it in the middle onto the line. Leader length (your line) is usually between 14" to 36" depending on the type of lake bottom being fished. The key is using light mono or FC line 6 to 8 lb for finesse presentations and finesse style worms like Roboworms or Iovino hand poured worms in 4 1/2" to 6" curl tails or straight tails. The hand pours are softer and tend to float better. Crimping on the weight; lightly crimp the weight onto the line about 6" from the end, then pull the line through the crimped weight, the line will mke a hole in the weight and start to slide easier. Pull another 30" of line through the weight and cut off any flattened line. Next tie on the worm hook, Palormar knot works good for this presentation. Slide the weight to whatever leader length you want and re crimp it. Weedless skin hook the worm, make sure the worm is as straight as possible on the hook to reduce line twist. You are ready to fish. Cast, let sink to the bottom and feel the line go slack, then drag the weight about 1' to 2' slowly while feeling the bottom with the weight. Bites are very light or a rubber band type of soft pull because you don't feel the worm, you feel the weight. If you think you are bite reel fast and sweep set the hook. The bass may eat the worm and move forward in front of the weight so you need to take up all the slack line fast anf then sweep set. A lot of anglers drift this rig slowly along the bottom, works. I like to use a variation called slip shot. Use the mojo lead tubular weight (Pro Jo brass) and add a plastic Carolina Keeper or a pegged glass bead to stop the weight; like a Carolina rig without a swivel. The slip shot gives you a better feel of the worm because the line slide through the weight. Good luck. Tom

Every soft plastic you mentioned can be fished on a jig as a trailer. Shaky head jig Ball head jig Darter head jig Arkie head jig Flukes and creature both work very well on a keel weighted EWG hook. Drop shot both worms and Senkos. Plus the standard; Texas rig Florida rig Carolina rig Those should keep you busy for awhile. Tom

Being a shore fisherman makes it difficult. It sounds to me that you need either hire Ccoch for a day on the water and learn a lifetime worth of on hands experience or....plan to be more moble, if that is possible. Hoping there is a bass around your dock with tidal effects is low % hope! Bass on the delta like rocky transitions and any type of change is cover or structure. Look around for a culvert entering the slough, rocky areas between tullies, floating reed mat, abandoned docks in poor condition that indicate knowone is using them. Your highest % spots to fish are the slough ends where they outflow into the river. Fish the slough ends like it is a points, because it is! Fish the slough points when the tide is either flooding or dropping, both create current to activate the bass into feeding. I would shorten up the drop shot leader to 12" and wacky hook your worm or Senko. When a bass grabs your drop shot worm you will know it!, feel the weight and firm lift and reel. Tom

Fish at night with your soft plastics, go up to 9" to 12" T-rig with 3/16 sinker, 4/0 worm hook. Tom

Some lakes are "spot" lakes, it's hard to imagine your lake only has 3 spots that hold active bass. It is very common for LMB to become active feeders in 4 hour cycles with a short 20-30 minute activity period. There is a reason those bass are feeding on that spot, your task is to locate an unknown spot of your own. Look at your lake map very closely, there are more "spots" to discover! Tom

If the tournament allows bass with lip hole, make up a cord type stringer with stainless steel clips and a weight to keep the bass in the water when fishing. Put the bass in the cooler with water to transport. 3% over the counter hydrogen peroxide mixed 1/8 cup to 5 gallons will,keep bass well oxygenated for a few hours. Also add C & R or Please Release Me, both are Sure-Life products as directed to the livewell water. Also use a pool floating thermometer to keep watch on the livewell temps, should be around 70F. Good luck. Tom PS, PM me email and I can send a photo of the weighted stringer.

Rods will always come down to personal choice, what feels right to you the user. Today on the way home from worked I stopped into the tackle store to chat and was shown the new Cumaras mentioned above the A- rig rod. This is a light weight rod blank, heavy about power 6 and stiff for a Shimano rod. What I didn't like was the rod seat design and no fore grip, typical of the newer Shimano rods today. The problem this can create is trying to hold the rod in front of the reel, leverage you may need when fishing swimbaits for both hook setting and landing big bass. Tom

If your bass is very unque in shape you need some a custom replica mold made of your specific bass, this is very rare., but a possibility. In the case of my 19.3 it was 28.5" long with 28" girth. The 19 lb bass mold that existed was 27.5" long, 28" girth. The next mold was a 21 lb bass that was 29"X 28", the difference was in the body section near the tail, so we decided to shorten that area a little, everything else looked identicle. I didn't feel right using the 21lb mold as is and didn't like the shorter 19 lb. most good fish taxidermist have hundreds of bass molds to chose from between 10 to 15 lbs, every conceivable shape and bass vary very little in that size from each regional area. The average northern strain LMB will be in the body same body shape where the girth is 75% of the length for light bodies, 80% girth to length for medium bodies and 90% the heavier body shapes. True giants approach the 95 to 100% girth to length ratio; if your bass is in the 18 lb+ weight class it has a nearly equal length to girth body shape and very few molds. For this reason it is important to make length and girth measurement and a good color photo of the bass laying on a tape measure or ruler to help determine what body shape the taxidermist is dealing with if they don't have the fish. My advice is look at the taxidermists work before making decision where to spend your hard earned $$$ for a good mount. Tom

It came from their first deep diving crank bait; Fat Rap to separate it from all the slender Rapala minnow lures. Tom

Marketing!Tom

The rubber bobber stops look like a football with a hole down the center. The stop comes on a wire loop that you put your line through, then simply pull the wire loop tab to load the rubber stop onto the line.. Rubbe bobber stops come several sizes. I use Top Brass Peg-It, looks like a rubber tooth pick, pointed on one end and fatter on the opposite end. You put the weight and or bead on the line, tie on the hook. Next you insert the pointed end of the rubber peg into the hole of the sinker or bead and push in until the pointed end comes out the other end. Next pinch the pointed rubber end against the line and pull the line with the rubber peg into the weight hole or bead hole until the fat end plugs the hole. Cut off the pointed peg end next to the exit hole in the weight or sinker, I use line clippers and your done your weight or sinker now has a rubber plug the holds the line in place, but you can still slide it to make adjustment without damaging the line. The Peg-It Jumbo has a faster fatter taper for larger weight or bead holes. SeeTop Brass or TW for details. Tom

The ethics of catch and release is appropriate to the topic of trophy bass fishing in regards to trophy size fish. Bass are very prolific, fast growing and provide both recreation and food as a renewable resource, in general terms. Trophy size fall into a different category of fish as their population is very small, only a few in each waterway and have become the target for most bass anglers to catch as there own personal best. There are a few anglers who fish to fish and catching fish of all sizes has an equal appeal....numbers are as important as size. To those anglers this thread isn't about you. Dottie, the lake Dizon giant bass was a shinning star amount giant bass attaining superstar status being listed at least 3 times in the top catches of all time; 19.5, 20.8 and 21.7. It was her 4 th and final catch that brought her to the all favorite bass status when she may have risen to the coveted world record status at 25.1 lbs, however she was illegally snagged and never officially weighed before being released the final time before she died. If Dottie was caught at 10 or 12 lbs and killed for a mount, Dottie legacy would not have existed. Tom

To me a T-rig that is pegged isn't a T-rig, it's a Florida rig....but I guess it's lost this identity. Got to wonder what the Hemphill gang would say about this? When I fish a T-rig it's amost always with a glass faceted bead between a sliding sinker, gives it a California look...And you can shake it. Weight separation is what makes this rig work good, the worm only has the hook in it, no weight for the bass to feel when it gets engulfed. A pegged weigh up against the hook becomes a Florida rig or punch rig if it's heavy and used to penetrate heavy cover. The only advantage over a bullet head jig with a pegged bullet weight is you can vary the hook style and size vs the weight size or distance between the hook and weight, this rig is good in weedy cover. Tom

Really don't want to reopen this can of worms. If you know how a skin mount is made, it is less like your real bass than the replica mount. I have 3 skin mounts of fish; 12 lb 4 oz northern strain LMB that died because I over handled it back in '71. A 37 lb musky caught on my father in laws birthday in '76, agian over handled the musky after a party full of people want their picture taken with the fish, couldn't revive it. 10 lb 2 oz rainbow trout when I was 12 years old. All the skin mounts are top quality professional taxidermy and taken good care of over the years, they don't look very good today. The bass in my avatar is a replica mount, looks as good today as it did in '94 when it was made. The taxidermist had a 19 lb bass mold, reshaped a little to the dimensions and photo of the bass. Use this mount to represent all my giant bass and simply write the weights and dates on the backside of the mount. To clean it all you do is wipe if off with a clean damp rag. Can't do that easily with a skin as the moisture affects the skin and paint. What you may not realize is a skin has very little color after it's pickled and cured, basically gray and must be streched over a manikin to be painted, similar painting process as the replica and that is where the artistry comes in, the skill of the finish painting. Resin doesn't crack, peel, shrink, deteriorate or fade and the scales can't fall out or leak and the fins don't break off after several years. The replica is just as real as the skin mount, looks great a lot a lot longer and not a constant reminder of the fish you killed to get it made. Today we have a choice, back when my skin mounts were made, I didn't have that choice. Good luck and hope everyone has the opportunity to make a choice. Tom

A friend of mine decided to build his own lake for his family to enjoy on a farmland he owned. The land had a all season creek as a water source. The MO state DNR had to approve of this lake development to get a permit to build the dam and they have stayed involved now for 5 years. The type of fish that could be stocked and all the other prey sources had to be approved and maintained. The water shed around the lake and the creek exiting the lake is also has close scrutiny. My friend owns the lake and MO DNR keeps it's hand in to help manage it, like it or not! Ounce the lake was established, draining it and removing the dam will be a difficult task and that was made clear before construction.I have no idea what PA's DNR is like, I would think it would be at least as stringent as MO. Tom

You rod is only 6 feet long....typo?Tom

I have no idea why the A-rig would be restricted to cold water applications, it replicates a school of smaller bait and bait nearly always schools. In California where I live and fish the A-rig isn't new, it's newly popular as a fresh water castible rig. Last year when this rig became well known and several being offered by a wide variety of lure makers, everyone has to have this rig. Things have settled down somewhat, but still very popular and widely used. Like every lure presentation it has it's following and productive periods. CA allows only 3 hooks can be fished at one time in fresh water, number of decoys or attractors isn't regulated. Most popular rigging is 3 small swimmers with a jig and 2 attractors without hooks. The original Mann's style A-rig, 5 wire, isn't that popular out west, scaled down 5 wire rigs that can be cast effectively with a jig rod is the most popular and widely used in tournaments. What I have learned with A-rigs is when to fish them. Our lakes the prey fish that schools are threadfin shad and threadfin are most active in bright sunny days in the mid morning to mid afternoon time period, so this time frame is a good time to start. Best locations have been wind blown shoreline and points, not any different than swimbaits. If you see or meter baitfish schools, the A-rig will work if bass are feeding on them For the standard size A-rig I use 4" swimmers with one 6" swimmer and my swimbait rod with 25# mono. With the finesse smaller A-rig I use my 5 power jig rod with 14# FC, 3" or 4" thin body swimmers. Both rigs use 2 decoy swimmers attached with CPS, no hook. Swimmers are shad colors. Tom

Thank you Chris, that is a high praise coming from your skilled eye. Roberts Trophy Fish Mounts, however Robert Munose moved to Arkansas a few years ago and I don't know what happened to him. I believe he did your mount? It's been nearly 20 years since I caught and released that bass and I have been prepared ever since with a certified scale, good camera.....no 20+! Good Luck and enjoy Father's Day. Tom

Chris, Matt, A state record for us will more than likely be a world record to exceed the 22.06 Crupi bass. I looked into keeping a potential WR bass alive during the 90's when I really thought It was a good possibility. Contacted the Filmore F & G (hatchery) and had their phone number to call and bring a transport truck to pick up the bass and they agreed to do this! The problem is in CA we can't legally transport a bass away from the lake it was caught and the violation would void the catch...catch 22! I did a poor job of validating the PB bass and weighing at the Mini Mart or Corner market with Polaroid photos or some bystander photo wasn't a good plan. Today with cell phones it would be easier. My advice is document your catch properly, you can't do it over after the bass has been released. Tom