WRB-2.0

The late Bill Murphy and I have several bass fishing experiences in common. We both started bass fishing in the 50's and belonged to the same bass club (Pisces) during the learly 70's. This coincided with Florida LMB being introduced into our local San Diego lakes, then Southern California lakes. Before FLMB were introduced we couldn't catch a potential record size LMB. By the late 60's we started to catch bigger bass then then we thought possible and members of the Pisces club became focused on big bass, not just catching limits of bass, but 40 lb limits! The competition between members was intense and Murph was always on or near the top big bass for the year. Live bait was not restricted from club competitions, so if you wanted to be in the top 10, you better know how to fish crawdads. Bill Murphy was tight lipped back in those days and shared nothing, so when his book came out, I was surprised how detailed it was and it is a classic big bass behavior and bass location for deep structured lakes. Definitely a must read! Bill Murphy passed awat too young from skin cancer. Please heed this warning; skin cancer can kill, so wear a wide brim hat, SPF clothing and put on a good water resistant sun screen. Bill was careful, but the extended hours exposed to sun reflected off water took it's toll. I am fighting the same malady because our generation didn't know better. Tom

Winter= 40-55 degrees Pre Spawn = 55-60 degrees Spawn = 62-67 degrees Post Spawn = 65-69 degrees Summer = 70-85 degrees Fall = 70-60 degrees Transition periods fill in the gaps. Water temperatures at the depth of the bass, not surface. These are the basic water temperatures wherever bass are located. Location will determine if the bass have transitioned from cold winter water to stage for pre spawn; deeper water outside of the areas where bass spawn and cruising bass roaming the spawning areas indicate a transition to spawn. Bass often spawn in cycles, not all at one time, so there is over lapping cycles. Tom

Learning to interpret sonar signal returns takes lots of practice. Can you describe your sonar and how it's set up? Never use the fish Icon setting, it's of no value. Auto settings may also fool you when trying to determine details like identifing bait from suspended debris, thermal changes or air bubbles. Bass rarely stack on top of each other, they tend to be at the same depth range or within a few feet within a depth range. A sonar screen shot would help,a lot to determine what you are metering. Tom

Know one should get into a set retrieve pace or cadence with any lure, big mistake! Before changing lures or color and size of a lure you should first experiment with retrieve speed and cadence to determine what the bass may react to, if you know bass are in the area. Sometimes it's a dead stick bite, other times they want as fast as you can retrieve it and you can't reel in faster than a bass can chase it down! Fishing memories will usually get you in trouble; the last time was out the bass wanted it.............fill in the blank. With spinnerbaits you may need to change blade styles or weight to get the lure to run at the right depth and speed. Most anglers use a spinnerbait as it come out of the package; 1 willow and 1 Colorado for example and the bass are striking 2 willows burn near the surface or 2 indiana's slow rolled in deeper water, no set rules, just trail and error until you figure it out. Same applies with crankbaits: deep diving tight wiggle or slow wobble, lipless or shallow running, big or small...it takes time to determine what's going on the day you decide to go fishing. Generally the colder the water the deeper and slower the lure pace, but not always. Can't tell how many times I have discovered what the bass want by mistake; a backlash and picking it out and the bass strikes or you crank the lure in fast to make another cast and bam! Tom

All bearings are not equal, so many counterfeit parts from China on the market. ABEC grade 7 ceramic or SST bearings or a true grade 9 (very expensive) will help, if the reel has been serviced properly. I changed out bearing on my older Daiwa 103HTSA's, very good casting reels to start with and it improved performance. The high end Ardents, Daiwa and Shimano's already have grade7's. with Garcia reels the issues are compounded when made in China....very, very few are made in Sweden anymore, you must be on the short list (top pro) to have them. I would change out the gears & bearings on the Garcia reels. Tom

What fight? Just an honest observation from my perspective. Fighting big bass in brushy or woody cover is shallow water (6' deep?) on heavy tackle with 65-80 lb braid and heavy wire hooks is very different than fighting bass in water that drops off into over a hundred feet with line no heavier than 14 lb FC. The last thing you want is a hot bass head shaking next to the boat. Lets see what Big O has to say, should be interesting, there is more than 1 way to skin a cat. Do you know if a net was used? The 1landed was lipped. The lake Fork record is the Texas state record 18.2 lbs I believe. Never fished Fork or Falcon, have fish in Mexico's lake Guerrero, 10-12 lb class LMB with 25 lb mono in heavy brush, back in the mid '70's, those bass had teeth! So a net was used. Lots of flooded trees and wirery brush and would break off every other big bass, 65# super braid would have great, didn't exist then or 6 power flipping rods. Tom PS, my 5 top FLMB are; 19.3 lbs, '93 from Castaic, jig, 14# FC Sunline 18.6 lbs, '81 from Casitas, jig, 12# mono Trilene 17.6 lbs, '91 From Castaic, jig, " 17.4 lbs, '90 from Castaic, jig, " 17.4 lbs, '88 from Casitas, jig. "

OK, I looked at the RageTail-Steve Parkps vedio's , exciting and entertaining. He is fishing somewhere in Mexico or Lake Facon during warm water period, possibly the spawn. What I called pandemonium at the boat was well documented. I don't know what Parks PB is, very few of the big bass in the Vedio looked to be DD size bass, maybe 8-9 lbs and 1 he estimated to be 12-13 lbs....a scale would solve that? Bed bass are notorious for having little stamina or energy to sustain a fight and the reason I mention bed fish in my first post. Shallow water bass can't go deeper, so they tend to fight near the surface and know one can prevent a big bass from jumping, it happens. You can however prevent all the head shaking near the boat by controlling the fight...it doesn't make for good Vedio. All those bass and only 1 big bass was landed on camera, which leads to how many we're landed? Not nit picking, just curious. Very heavy tackle capable of landing 50 lb+ musky, but still made me nervous watching the head shakes near the boat, If anyone reading this is fortunate enough to hook into a giant bass, ounce it clears cove, calm down., take a big breath and keep the bass under control, keep pressure on it but not to the point the bass is held up on the surface. When a big bas runs left move the bow left....keep the bass in front of you and under control. These big bass turn on a dime and make fast powerful runs, but they tire fast and less than a minute you should have your bass of a lifetime in the boat, instead of what t went wrong. Tom

It goes under no good deed goes unpunished and I also support your effort. Google Reel bearings -101 good article online. Bearing are rated by ABEC 1 is standard up to 9 being NASA quality, fishing reels use 1, 3 , 5 and 7. A good reel technician can update shaft bearings in a quality reel with grade 7 bearings and it will make a big difference in casting distance. For example I still fish with 3 Daiwa 103HTS1A's from the mid 90's that cost $165 back then. The reels have been upgraded with grade 7 ceramic hybrid bearings and Shimano drag disk, perform and cast as good as any reel on the market today. If you buy good quality, the reel will last a long time with care and upgrades. The reason I dislike anything made in China is they ignor our laws, patents, regulations and will counterfeit parts. Tom

I don't where some of this information is coming from! All the reels you mentioned are made off shore, most by Okuma in S.Korea or China...not in the USA , Sweden or Japan. The original Ambassador 500 red reels had centrifugal breaks! I fully agree with high quality bearings, few if any of the reels mentioned come stock with high quality bearings. Daiwa, Shimano, both made in Japan use highest quality bearings and Ardent is the only bait caster made in the USA and has high quality bearings. The legacy reels had 2 to 4 bearings on the spool shaft, level shaft and bushings in the end caps. The modern reels add bearings to the crank handles and may have 2 piece crank shafts with addional bearings. High quality bearings are important and add expense. There isn't any reason to anodize a fresh water reel spool, used in salt water it's a good idea to have a corrosion preventative coating, like anodize. The legacy reels often used brass nickel plated frames with aluminum end caps, today's frames are usually aircraft (7075-T6) machined aluminum alloy and incorporate composite end caps to reduce weight. You don't want a reel with cast aluminum frames that reduces cost. The reel mounting seat should be an integral unit to the frame. Today's anglers rely on brakes, our generation relies on an educated thumb! The modern have wonderful drags compared to the legacy reel and the high end reels have state of the art drags, although most bass anglers do not utilize them effectively. The modern reel have close tolerance fit between the spool and frame that prevents small diameter line from getting inside the reel, legacy reels don't. The reason I am mentioning legacy reels is today's state of the art becomes tomorrow's discount reels. Tom

Control means you are in control of the big bass instead of the bass controlling the fight. You try to winch in a giant bass to the boat too fast and you lose it trying to land a hot big fish. I have watch a lot of bass anglers lose big bass at the boat because they fought the bass like it was any other bass, then it's pandemonium at the boat. The first chance I get when fighting a big bass is check my drag and make sure it's working good and not too tight. Bait casting reel drags tend to take a set if you don' t adjust them with every use before you start to fish. Making sure everything is working right, knots are tied perfectly, the line doesn't have any flaws and hook points are very sharp should be something you do every few casts, if you want any chance to land giant bass. Big bass is a relative term, giant bass are the biggest bass in your state; northern LMB over 10#, FLMB over 15#, smallmouth or spots over 8# are in the giant bass category where I fish. Tom

Night fishing, T-rigged with a glass bead. When the bass want a shorter worm then I normally use and are not striking a jig, the G-tail may work, it moves a lot of water, is compact and tough plastic that can go through brush fairly well. Tom

Similar, I believe the G-tail is a little thicker, same shape.Tom

Buy the highest quality reel you can afford and stay away from store brands like BPS. Diawa Shimano Lewis Ardent Any of the above are good brands. Abu Garcia are all made in China today, unless you are able to get a reel made by the Swiss, they are rare, but good reels. Tom

Tried Nanofill on spinning outfits for drop shot with a FC leader and didn't have any issues that was different than other brands of braid to FC leader rigging. I fish very clear water and the white color bothered me and couldn't get comfortable with white line, otherwise it's OK. Today I don't use any braid to FC line rigs due to knot issues* and use FC line with the new swivel hooks like VMC for spinning drop shot rigs. The best finesse braid I found is Diawa Samuri, green color small diameters and cast good. Tom * double Uni knot works with Nanofill or other braids for leader connection, it is still 2 knots; 1at the leader 1at the hook or lure.

You clearly have two choices; go macho and horse the big bass into the boat or take a controlled approach. Planning ahead with the proper tackle to handle big bass is very important, but the vast majority of bass anglers are not going to be prepared with heavy tackle for a fish of their lifetime. Anyone who has successfully landed a DD bass, that was not caught off a bed, will tell you these big fish do whatever they can do to get away. If you let the big bass go where it wants to go your chances are nil landing that bass. On the other hand big bass can turn and run on the heavest bass tackle, they are physically built to make sharp turns and that is the moment of truth. Tom

Thanks! I have a habit of approaching parallel as close to the bank as practical and cast over cover from one side, in lieu of head on. If I hook a big bass in cover, then try to get inbetwen the bass and the bank while putting pressure on the fish to run out into deeper water and out of trouble, especially trees, brush or tullies. Open water in our deep structured lakes, this is a lot easier than water like the delta. The delta requires heavy 65 + lb braid to control a bass, the cover is everywhere and makes it more difficult. Good luck. Tom PS ; you should contact Andy "Cooch" Cuccia if you want to learn to catch big bass in the delta, he is in the Jan 2013 Bassmaster Lunker pics with a 14+.

Over the years I have been blessed to put a lot of giant bass over 15 lbs in the boat and only used a net on a few. I know Butch Brown uses a net all the time, so different strokes for different folks. What is important is controlling the bass and keeping the fish in front of you and this requires you to be able to move around in the boat safely. I have only caught a few big bass from shore and had to follow those fish down the bank to keep them controlled. The big mistake most anglers make when trying to land a big bass is fighting it like any other bass and forcing the fish in too fast...all h*ll breaks lose along with a hot bass when it get close to a boat or net. Take a deep breath and tell yourself to calm down and take your time, the fight will only last a minute or two, no reason to force it in 30 seconds or less. Bass usually don't panic at the sight of your hand in the water, so it is easy to get a good hold of their mouth, as long as it doesn't have a lure with multiple treble hooks, then it's net time. I put all my fingers in the inside side of the jaw and thumb on the outside, get a good hold on the bass, set my rod down and lift the bass out of the water and in the boat. If you are fishing heavy cover you must plan ahead. When you hook a big bass, it will pull against the line pressure and run away from you. If you are inbetwen the bass and an avenue of escape to deeper water, the bass will run deeper into the cover...not good! Plan you lure presentation so the bass can run out of the cover. Tom PS; set the drag at 1/3 the line strength for mono or FC and braid not greater then 6 lbs.

2 power is generally close to medium light, 3 power for medium. Most bass rods are fast action and appropriate. I fish with 3 power spinning rods for general use application with 6 to 8 line and lures from 3/32 to 1/4 pz. 2 power bass rod is marginal for most presentations, good for drop shot.The $100 budget limits quality guides, reel seats and warranty. The Shimao rods are a good choice, as they tend to be a little slower action and under powered; there medium is usually about 2 1/2 power, which maybe ideal for what you are looking for. Tom .

The simple truth is; no standard for rod strength or action exists. Rod makers that rate strength in numbers are a little more accurate between brands. Are you looking for a spinning or bait casting rod? Tom

Sometimes no good deed goes unpunished. Trying to save trophy size bass is a good deed, however very few anglers who catch their first true trophy bass release it in good health or at all and say they did. I have spent about 40 years trying to educated bass anglers on the importance of trophy size bass, they are rare and bring value to the sport. Nearly every bass angler dreams of catching a giant bass, it's our sports goal. A good replica bass mount will match your catch and look great for decades, whereas a skin mount will deteriorate. I know this from experience and have both; skin mounts before good replica's were available and have 1 giant bass replica that represents several giant bass. I believe Lake Fork Taxidermy does good work at a reasonable price, however I haven't used them myself. Tom PS; MN LMB record is 8 lbs 15 oz.

Deep water is relative to the type of lake or river and the bass that live in those different ecosystem are conditioned to. Bass are cold blooded and their annual calendar is measured from spawn to spawn cycle. The female bass lays eggs, the male bass fertilizes the eggs, that is the definition of spawn. Pre spawn is the time prior to spawning, the bass have not moved into to spawning areas, they are staged somewhere else. To know where that staging area is you first need to know where those bass were during the period prior to pre spawn...the cold water winter period. Like depth of water is relative to the type of lake or river, so is the temperature of cold water. Bass must find water during the winter that isn't colder than they can survive in and that magic number for most Black Bass; largemouth, spotted and smallmouth is 39 degrees .Colder than that the DO (dissolved oxygen) are too high, the water is floating toward the surface to freeze at 32 degrees. In lakes that have Florida strain largemouth bass, the lower water temp limit is 45 degrees and this limit their distribution. Shallow water cools and warms faster than deeper water, so the winter bass migrate towards the shallower water that is warming. The bass eggs have been developing for several months and the warming water triggers the spawning cycle. Males move into spawning areas first to establish nest sites, this is your first clue; cruising bass in shallow water, the females are not far away in deeper or water that offers food and sanctuary, that area is called a pre spawn staging area. Tom

Persuader Lures make a baby mallard duck lure that works in the spring and there is Flipin the Bird lure available in various bird colors. Tom

It's suited for casting jigs up to 1 oz a Long distance, horizontal jigging. The 785 will not cast worms or jigs as well as the 784, both rods are very strong and handle any LMB.If you want something in between with state of the art blank, guides etc., then a custom rod is the answer. ALX makes my rods for this reason, give Alex a call or call Gary and ask him what he thinks! You are the only one who can make that decision. ALX has a free rod return policy if you are not satisfied and I'am sure Gary will do the same, if you contact him. This allows you to try out the rod, the only risk is paying the return shipping cost. Not familiar with Delaware Valley Tackle Rods a site sponsor offers. Tom

If you have a boat with sonar you can locate fish and spoon them with a gold 1/4 to 3/8 oz kastmaster. Both trout and bass will strike the soon and gold is a good off color water choice. Nothing wrong with catching trout out of cold water, they are strong and great table fare. Bass prefer the spoon to flutter down vertical in lieu of retrieving horizontal. Cast, let fall on a tight line, jig it a few time and retrieve. Bass on the fall, trout on the retrieve sounds good to me! Tom

Look at DX784CML this is a 7'8" 4 power rod that will do everything you want. Also give Gary a call and discuss this with him. Dobyn's usually has a few Gen 2 rods at a great price. Tom