WRB-2.0

Agree. Most of the time the V's are tiny waterstriders on a calm surface. These little bugs are very fast and create the V wake you see. Fish create a much larger wake and are not nearly as fast as the striders. Tom

Oxbows have long been a favorite of Bill Dance who filmed lots of TV bass fishing programs on them. By defination an oxbow is a cut off river bend forming a small natural lake. Backwater lakes are similar, they are low areas filled with river water, usually attached to the river, both are natural lakes. Montgomery lake GA was a backwater or oxbow lake off the Ocmulgee river that has silted in and become a meadow. I would imagine with the high water this year, several oxbows have been rejuvinated and the fishing should be good. Tom

Reread Catts reply, perfect! The only thing I can add is; Use premium sharp straight shank hooks like Gamakatsu #011 or #484 size 3/0 for standard size 6" to 7 1/2" worms, size 4/0 for fatter bodies worms. Use at least 10 to 12 lb premium mono or FC line. Not a fan of braid for T-rigs. Use a 6 1/2' to 7' medium/heavy fast action worm rod with bait casting reel. Not a fan of spinning rod/reels for T-rigs. If you use a spiining outfit, then use braid with a leader. Difficult to keep in touch with the T-rig using spinning outfits, better off using a C-rig. Tom

If you don't know the tackle being used you can't effectively suggest how to fish a Texas rig. All we know is a crank bait has been successful at times. Tom

The bass you are catching on the crank bait are active bass that react to your lure. Keep using the crank bait until the bass stop striking it. Learning boat control and trying to learn to worm fish can be difficult, anchoring near a known spot is a good idea. Worm fishing is a lot slower than what you are doing now, it takes patients, that is why cranking first is a good idea, then slowing down is easier. The Texas rig is most common, however a split shot, drop shot or finesse C-rig (slip shot rig) are also good to learn with. What type of tackle do you plan to use? Tom

Rivers are all about current and current breaks. Rain changes the curent rate, water clarity and water temperatures. Unlike a lake, the river LMB bass tend to stay in small areas unless their food source moves, the smallies will roam more. You are catching more LMB becuase of the type of current eddies you target; backwater areas and big laydowns that create slack water zones the LMB prefer. The hot weather doesn't affect the moving river water as much as cold rain will, the combination of cold rain and colder weather can have a big impact on bass activity. The bass become more inactive until they accilamte to the changes and you need to target them with smaller lures like a jig or jig/worm presented close to their nose. The smallies should be located where the river creates a current break away from the bank, deeper water runs slower than the shallower water and that creates a current break or seam. Boulders or wing dams that are located on or intersect the current breaks are good smallies areas. Crawdads and worms washed into the river should be the prey the bass are looking for. Tom

This site covers bass fishing from coast to coast and we sometimes forget that fact. Bass are bass, however not all bass are largemouth. Lakes are lakes, not all lakes are reseviors. Time changes what we know or thought we knew. If we could go back and fish yesterday with what we know today, would we catch more or bigger bass? That is exatly what fishing memories or history is, going back and hoping to do better. Sometimes it works, most the time it doesn't. Example; Lake Havasu on the CA / AZ border. Deep canyon reservior on the Colorado river system. The 50 years I have fished this lake, it has changed from a largemouth fishery to a mixed largemouth and smallmouth fishery. The largemouth now are mostly located in the north end and smallmouth mid lake towards the dam south end. Fish for largemouth where you did 5 years ago and you will be blanked, however fish for smallmouth and catch 20+ lbs 5 bass limits. You need to know how to catch smallies at Havasu today. Most of the local lakes I fish have silted in with 50' of sand and silt, the outside structure is gone in the upper 1/3rd of some of these lakes today and a waste of time trying to located where the breaks used to be. GPS has had a major impact fishing outside isolated structures on big lakes, 5 years ago few bass anglers ventured off shore, today it's common. Time changes how we fish and where the fish are located. Tom

There is rain then there are major storms, it sounds like a major storm event. Natural small lakes and ponds tend to flood around the edges due to water levels higher than normal max pool. When water floods the bass tend to move into and out of the newly flooded areas for short time periods, they don't want to get trapped by falling water levels. The best spots are where raising or moving water enters into and exits out of the newly flood areas, we call these funnel zones. The bass should be active and facing into any current and your lure should be moving towards them, if possible. Surface lures work very well like a buzz bait, near surface like a spinner bait or accurately placed jig or worm. Tom

I nearly always start my day with the same routine; launch the boat, check the surface water for clarity, baitfish or bass around the dock, check the water temperature, then meter around the launch ramp. Based on what I obsever make the decission what tackle I want to get ready and where to start my day fishing. Sometimes it's fish the active bass in the marina or run to a seasonal area or a spot I like and let the day evolve. The decissions you make will determine your success. Sometimes it's a small observation like a blue heron standing on a point or splashes or grebes or a meter bait ball that is unexpected turns your day around. Experience helps to make the right decissions, but it's isn't a panacea. Sometimes it's just luck being in the right place at the right time. Tom

I don't believe the intent is to forget what you know every time out on the water. If you do exactly the same thing you always do and you are unsuccessful, then it's time to make a change to what you are doing. We all develop both good and bad habits and sometimes it takes fishing with new partners or new presentations to realize this. Sturcture does change? it ages and changes it suttle ways that may make it better or less attractive to bass and prey. The lakes I fish some of the best isolated rock piles are now silted over or all the wood cover has rotted away. I totally agree with Catt on this subject; you can't toss out out your experience for the sake of change. On the other hand pounding the bank when the bass are out in deeper water behind you or vice versa, you do need to take the time to figure out why you caught bass and or why your are not catching them and learn from both experiences. Tom

The down side of fishing memories is doing the same thing you did without knowing why it worked. Seasonal periods come into play and the relationship of the bass and it's prey source. The obvious is the spawning period, going back to empty beds isn't the best use of your time on the water. Fishing empty banks because the water temperature is too hot or fishing outside structure without any bass in the area becuase of current changes or no baitfish. Just because you caught them last weekend doesn't mean they are still there and feeding. Take a few minutes to determine why you are catching bass, then the memories can be helpful. Tom

It's more commonly referred to as fishing memories and we all tend to do this. The last time we were on the lake and found or caught bass is the first place we tend to start the next trip. Tom

The body of your bass has the classic over size head and skinny body of an under nourished fish. Unheathly female bass do not fully develope eggs. Your mount should represent the bass you caught. Tom

Making a comparison between trophy and tournament anglers is like comparing apples and oranges, they are very different. Tournament anglers must fish at specific times, days and restricted by rules like no live bait. Trophy anglers have only self restrictions and state regulations. Butch Brown fishes a small 197 acre public lake with less than 3 miles of shoreline with a max depth of 70 feet. The lake has a good population of big bass that are highly pressured by skilled anglers. Butch knows every inch of the lake and most of the bass. KVD is the best bass tournament angler today and has caught one of the largest tournament bass ever, on a drop shot worm. Both KVD and BB are highly skilled bass anglers, both have the skill it takes to catch adult size bass consistantly, where ever they fish. Tom

The factor that almost everyone over looks is bass are nearly impossible to catch on artifical lures when they are not active. You can be at the right place at the wrong time with the right lure and be blanked. The key is being at the right place at the right time, then you may have several choices of lures that may work. I spend nearly as much time trying to figure out when the bass will be active as I do fishing. Once I know when the feeding periods are, then I pick my prime areas to fish and know what to use. Tom

There are lots of factors why a largemouth bass isn't typical body weight for a particular lake; old age, injury, desease all contribute to the lack of ability to catch prey. It is very rare for a largemouth male bass to weigh more than 7 lbs, the vast majority over 5 lbs are female. The sex organs, gonads are either testicles or ovaries of largemouth bass are internal, the external appearance are indenticle between the sexes. You can sex the bass if the females have eggs or the male has melt. General weight formula for LMB is length X length X girth divided by 1200 = weight in lbs. Length is measured with the mouth closed from tip of lower jaw to center of the end of the tail, with the fish laying on a flat surface. The girth is measured around the bass at the widest area near the center of the dorsal fin flattened. Tom PS; I would return the mount for the proper length and girth of the bass you caught. The girth of a skinny bass is about 60% of the length, the average is 75%, heavy body bass are over 85% of the length. 24" skinny bass = about 6.9 lbs.

To catch big bass you must use big lures isn't always true. Yes you can catch big bass on big lures, if the bass prefer that size lure under particlar circumstances. The vast majority of big bass are caught on 3" to 4" live crawdads or jigs that represent crawdads. The exceptions are; areas where big bass are feeding on large bait fish like 6" to 8" golden shiners or plated small trout. Bass, like most animals, can't judge size from a distance, it's a last moment choice to strike based on experience. Tom

There is an old saying that 10% of the fisherman catch 90% of the fish. Lets refine that by saying 10% of the bass anglers catch 90% of the big bass. The bottom line; it takes skill to consistently catch big bass. Tom

The best book written to date on how to catch big bass is Bill Murphy's "In Pursuit of Giant bass". Like most bass anglers I do not like to live bait fish or camp out on a few spots for hours at a time. I spend a lot my time searching by metering potential areas known to hold big bass and than target those areas that show evidence of bass and bait activity. To catch big bass consistantly you must fish for them where they live and with lures or bait they prefer to eat. There isn't a panacea or magic lure, just a lot of time on the water and close attention to details. Tom

Texas is your best bet for numbers over 10 lbs., California would be 2nd....

Adult size bass vary with species; northern largemouth, Florida largemouth bass, smallmouth, spotted bass and 3 other isolated species. Combine all those diffierent bass and natural lake, reservoir, river, pond with a vastly different growing potential, size varies greatly. Most common is LMB (northern); big adult female over 7 lbs., trophy over 10 lbs. LMB (Florida strian); big adult female over 10 lbs., trophy over 14 lbs. (Florida, California and Texas) Spotted and smallmouth; big adult female; 5 lbs., trophy over 7 lbs. Where I fish FLMB are predominate and average 1 over 10 lbs for every 15 hours on the water for the past 30 years, until 3 years ago. I can only fish 1 lake the past 3 years and the big bass population has crashed; 8 over 10 lbs during the past 3 years, over 40 hours per big bass and none over 14 lbs. The bass must be there to catch them.

There isn't any standard to determine what a long cast is or how fast or slow a lure is retreived. Todays longer rods of 7' to 8' can luanch a lure over 30 yards with ease, a long cast by anyones standard. Clear water is another moving target, what is clear water? Lets say you can see the bottom with the sun over head at 10' is clear water. I fish jigs a lot and make long cast in clear at times. The only reason I do that is to present the jig to bass that are holding in sun lite areas in deep water. If the bass are holding in shaded areas on deep structure or cover, they tend to stay and not spook as easily and I can make shorter casts with the same jig. At night or low light periods I rarely make long casts, the bass are not as spooky under those conditions. All the above is true for other lures. Lure speed depends on the lures action and the basses activity level. Active bass will react quickly and faster moving lures work well. Inactive bass rarely react to faster moving lures and bass are inactive far more than they are active. Most of the time it's easy to determine if bass are active by baitfish activity and visual clues of feeding bass; by sight and by sonar. Try different lures, diffient depths and different speeds and you will determine by trail and error what works and what doesn't. The direction the lure is moving relative to where the bass are holding can be more important then length of cast or speed of the lure; bass can get spooked by lures that approach from behind them. Tom

You should choose the lens color based on the predominate availble light conditions that you normally fish under. Low light; light amber will brighten the contrast the darker background, the brighter the light the darker the lens should be. Light green is very similar to yellow or light amber. Medium amber to dark amber is similar to blue and grey lens, except better background contrast. Everyone has his/her personal choice, what is best is what works for you. Tom

Does a pair of Strike King $15 sunglasses have the same performance to eliminate water reflected glare as multiple coated lens like $150 Costa Del Mars....no! If they did everyone would buy the less expensive sunglasses. Does the $15 work for seeing into the water...yes to some degree. Tom

You can polarized any translucent material. The difference between polarized fishing sun glasses is the quality of the lens and frame. You generally get what you pay for. Tom