WRB-2.0

So far what I have read can be summed up as "respect" the fish and everyone on or near the water. Boating safety applies to all types of water craft, not specific to fishing, again respect others on the water, they have the same right to it' s use as the fisherman. Most local tournament bass anglers are respectful and good boat operators, a few could care less about respecting others or boating safety, somehow I tend to crosses paths with a few of disrespectful types way to often. To me the most important lessons to learn about fishing are: 1. Learn all you can about the fish you plan to catch, it's basic behavior and food source. 2. Learn about seasonal periods and how each period affects where the fish locate. If you take the time to understand bass and why they do what the do, you will become a more consistant bass angler Respecting Your environment, it's creatures and other people makes everyone time on the water a good experience. Tom .

Fishing, hunting can be hard on a marriage unless your spouse supports your activity. Marriage is a partnership that both sides must make compromises; it's give and take with mutual respect to make it work. If you are young and living at home, let your parents know where you going and what you plan to do, you owe them that and as a result you will earn their trust. Everyone makes mistakes and learn from the experience, the key is not to repeat mistakes that get you into trouble. I regards to today's youth, you better get involved at a very early age and get your kids outdoors; camping, short fishing trips, hiking and teaching them to enjoy the outdoors. This takes time away from fishing and hunting and is one of the compromise in life that pays back. If you don't your kids may become consumed by the Internet world. As a youth my passion to be outdoors bordered on obsession. Fishing, hunting, trapping and collecting critters became a real challenge for my parents and I was getting in trouble with them a lot. Looking back my parents worked and didn't take the time needed with me or my brothers. I learned that lesson and spent the time with my kids and we had very few problems with them. My wife knows me well and is my partner for life; I fish, she shops and we spend some time together doing both, she doesn't like to fish but likes being outdoors and I don't like to shop, but tag along and enjoy the time together. Tom

The general bass fishing public has been conditioned to bass fish like their favaorite tournament pro. The pro makes a living promoting fishing tackle, boats and related fishing equipment. Since trolling is not allowed during a bass tournament, you never see bass pros trolling. I can make the argument that strolling is a form of trolling; moving the lure with the boat or long lining is a from of trolling; moving a few hundred yards with the boat under power. Did you know the world record smallmouth bass was caught trolling? Remember this fact; 90% of the bass are located in 10% of the lakes water; spend your time learning where that 10% of the water is that holds 90% of the bass. Trolling is a good technique to eliminate unproductive water while sonar surveying various locations; it simply another presentation tool for the non tournament angler. Tom

The reason the tournament bass anglers are not allowed to troll it is so effective. Anytime I take out a new fisherman I often troll crank baits to cover water at a controlled depth where bass are located. If you are using deep diving crank baits at 18' you use your sonar to keep the lures between 15 to 20', you discover exactly how deep that lure runs at the speed you troll; a slow walking speed for example. Just run the lure next to the boat to determine what speed the lure runs good at. The advantage is the bass will usually hook themselves when trolling and gives the new angler experience in feeling strikes verse hitting the bottom or snagging weeds. Within a few hours you can learn several weeks worth of crank bait experience. Strolling or dragging soft plastic worm on a C-rig or slip shot jrig through bass you have metered is also a good way to teach new worm anglers what a worm bite feels like. You control the proper depth with the sonar and you also know the speed is right because you are using the same rig and can feel the same structure as the angler you are teaching. A few hours of strolling is valuable, then you can cast and retrieve knowing the angler has a good idea what to expect. Tom

Your local Weights & Measures can certify your scale free; get the number off the local gasoline pump. Most recreational scales are within 2% of the weight, lab scales 1% . 68 # bass @ 2% = 1.76 # allowable variance; 66.24 to 69.76 #. Digital scales rely on accurate battery voltage, spring scales vary little over years of use. Tom

Just because the scale sent to the IGFA was accurate it doesn't resolve the lack examination at the time the fish was weighed. For example it is common for anglers to add a few fish down the gullet or bag of ice, sand etc. The A-rig falls under umbrella rigs with multiple trap hooks and it's common to foul hook fish with umbrella/spreaders/A-rigs and the IGFA will not recognize fish caught on them. Each state has there own set of rules, should also look into those. The state record bass you mention was disallowed for other conflicting statements, the license was a slam dunk. I am not saying this striper guy intentionally cheated or did anything at all, the problem is who will ever know? And a potential record fish ends up as a foot note somewhere. Tom

There is nothing about this catch that meets records fish requirements, other than the fish. The reason the fish must be examed is to eliminate cheating by adding weight, wounds from being illegally taken and to verify the fish specie, weight, length and girth measurements. Whenever there is money for a catch, there always a few who intentionally cheat and those who simply think rules and regulations don't apply to them. Must anglers simply don't take the time read the small print. Others like ChrisFish and me are fully prepared to certify a potential record catch, we all learn from our mistakes, and carry certified scales, measuring tapes, camera, local fish & game phone numbers, etc. I don't believe any rewards will be offered for this catch, which is unfortunate. Tom

The thermocline is usually only a few feet thick; 2-4 degrees within 1 to 5 feet in most reservoirs, unless mixed by current flow. Tom

Your sonar unit can easily detect thermal breaks like a thermocline or spring. Colder water has higher density and the sonar signal will indicate the difference as darker color, if the sensitivity is adjusted manually. I am sure this topic is defined under sonar unit. I have been reading thermoclines and springs for over 30 years, your sonar will have no problem! Tom

What type of bass; smallmouth or largemouth? My guess is you are fishing for LMB and to improve your success for larger size bass, you need to fish deeper water where they live during the day. Start by targeting all the main lake points as deep as the thermocline or at least the 8 to 25 foot zone. Big worms work at times, there isn't any panacea or magic lure that will help you. Try wacky rigged 6"Senko on a drop shot or C-rig a big worm, should help you learn the deeper structure. Tom

Been away for surgery and will try to add to Wayne P's excellent screen shot. When you are using your electronics, trust it. The return signal clearly shows a thermal break flowing with some current. If the thermal break was parallel to the water surface located in deeper water it would be a thermocline, however this colder break is being generated from the ground ; looks like a spring to me and there are fish there! Wayne, if you meter the cooler dense water in the same location another day, it's a spring; 60 degree water flow into 65-70 degree water at the depth of your screen would be my guess. What is important there is a thermal break and fish, possibly bass. Tom PS; there is a lot to learn about deep structure fishing, now you know what a flowing thermal break (spring) may look like.

They can be almost as dangerous as tungston weights when they hit you in the eye trying to get it out of a snag! The first lead ban on fishing tackle was due to a study with Loons. The hunting ban on lead pellets or bullets followed from a study on water fowl and condors. Lot of debate with the science in these studies. The bottom line is don't eat lead weights or get in the way of incoming high velocity metal objects, it is dangerous. Tom

If You are fishing the US Open at Mead ,Rick Tabor won that event many years ago using a modified Spook with split ring hung treble hooks (todays Super Spook). The problem with braids is it's too limp and the Spook can over run it snagging the front treble. Some Spook specialist use fly line dressing to help stiffen the line and it helps the line float better. I would use either 12 lb Big Game or 14# P -Line FluoroClear with about 3' of fly line dressing. Owners Zip n Ziggy in shad color is great at Mead for both LMB and SMB, the clear shad Spook is also a good choice for top water. Spooks will attract strippers at Mead! Hard jerk baits ( Pointers) would be another reaction b lure to consider at Mead and you better have Roboworms to finesse fish with and Phenix or similar jigs to fish any wood with, good luck and stay cool!! Tom

By it's name a Senko sinks due to the heavy salt content. Try drop shotting Senko wacky rigged. The Senko will stay in front of the basses nose at the depth you set the hook above the weight. Another choice is use a fat body high flotation worm like Roboworms 6" fat boy worm. Tom

Deep rocky structure lakes like Table Rock that have thread fin shad populations the bass feed on schooled shad during bright sun light periods , when the shad move out into open water to feed on phytoplankton. This is the time to use structure spoons, fished through the shad schools. You cast past the shad school and let the spoon fall down through the water column on a tight line, while jigging the spoon or drop the spoon straight down through the shad school, stop the spoon at the depth of the shad and jig it up and down a few feet. White or pearl white Lur-Jensen Crippled Herring 3/4 oz with a #2 chrome treble hook with white chicken feathers (Owner) works good. At night the shad hide in brushy cover or under docks, so spoons are not a good choice. You are better off using a soft plastic jerk bait like a Fluke or a white/chartreuse shad color crank bait , or a white jig at night for bass feeding on shad. Tom

How do you know the baitfish are shad and what type of shad do you think is in this pond? When bass are eating (thread fin) shad it's difficult to offer any artifical lure and expect strikes. The best lures are shad color 3" spoons, underpin like Sworming Hornet, tail spin like Little George, surface popper like Splash-It and small. 4" shad color worms on 1/8 oz dart head. Live shad is like candy to bass, so use a live shad for bait! Tom

LMB live in different locations then SMB and that is your problem, not the jigs you are using. Look for weed line breaks near deeper water and fish more cover areas and points. SMB like rocky gravel areas with less cover than LMB, hope this helps and good luck! Tom

LMB roll over from being over stressed, it's part of the dieing process. Look at the bass; it's mass is above the lateral line, solid meat, the body cavity is hollow with internal organs. When the bass is unable to maintain equlibrium, they go belly up, not from over inflated air bladder, unless forced to the surface from water over 40 deep and that is uncommon during the warm water period due to thermoclines. Your bass was dieing from trying to eat a fish it couldn't swallow or reject....nothing else.

Natural lakes in the great lakes region were created by glacier movement, pockets in granite that over time filled with water and soil sediments from errosion. Your lake is aging and now supports heavy scaled fish like the sun fish family that includes LMB and bluegills. The pike are the top predators in your lake, the bass are part of the food chain, until they become adults. The Lake basin in usually muck and may have a few rocky reefs, good structure if any are there! The weed line is usually the deepest edge bass will use in this type of natural lake. With pike owning the outside weed beds, LMB sould be confined to near shore cover, docks, trees, weed beds. I would fish the weed beds where the water enters the lake, any trees and docks and channels or pockets that create edges, including the inside weed break line. Surface spoons like Persuader Image weedless spoons in crappie chartreuse, 1/4 or 1/2 oz #681269, T-rigged plastic 6 to 7 1/2" worms with 1/8 oz bullet weight. The weedless spoon is very versitile; add a 3" single ribbib tail grub in chartreuse or pearl white, fish it across the weed beds, let drop into pockets or slow the retrieve and fish deeper along break lines, should be your go to lure! Tom

California is under zebra / quagga mussel hysteria due to the mussels being established into the Colorado river (lake Mead) and now the entire lower river. SoCal recieves water from the Colorado river. California doesn't have a unified quarantine plan, so each lake developes their own and the lakes do not honor each others quarantine "clean & dry practices". The result directly affects being able to fish multiple lakes or bass tournaments with 1 boat. I have no idea if the mussels will affect the over bass populations; it has affectted my ability to fish form them! Good luck Texans! Tom

Are the bass LMB or SMB, makes a big difference where and how you fish. Another ? Is the lake a natural body of water or a man made reservoir? Also makes a difference in regards to where the predators will prefer to locate and what type of baitfish are available. You mentioned bluegill, are there any crappie or perch? You also mentioned pike, any other predators like musky? Tom

During the summer you should be able to meter the thermocline as a dark or fuzzy gray line, if you set the sensitivity high enough; some background clutter, buy not so hight the screen is all clutter. Ounce you can see the thevthermocline a spring will look similar except like a darker cloud or dome on the bottom, like baitfish except more consistent dark color. Takes practice looking at sonar returns. Find the bait fish, the predators should be nearby! Tom

Spring water is usually a constant 60 degrees year around and a major factor during cold water periods as the spring water is warmer than the cold lake water. The opposite is true during the warm water periods when surface water can be above 80 degrees, spring water cools the lake water. Keep in mind spring water is void of dissolved oxygen DO, so fish like bass that need god DO levels may not be able to stay too near a spring outlet, until the water mixes with DO being generated by green weeds or windy wave action. Good sonar can "see" the differences in water density; colder water is more dense or heavier than warmer water. You may be able to see surface fog or lack of fog; foggy spots or clear spot in fog depending on surface water temperature if the spring water reaches the surface at a different temperature. Thanks, Bill

The reason I asked was to determine how to answer your post. You seem to have the answers you are looking for. Today's majority of bass anglers do not know how to fish jigs with pork trailers and sales prove that. Another technique that works well with soft plastic craw or creature types is peg a glass bead about 18" above the hook to keep the sliding sinker above the pegged bead. Use a 3/0 off set EWG hook, shin hooked plastic. This lets the craw / critter glide naturally and works good for less aggressive bass. Tom

when you say jig & pig, do you mean a jig with a pork rind trailer? And soft plastic craw ; fished on a jig? Tom