WRB-2.0

Trying to fish heavy cover like lily pads from shore with spinning tackle and 8 lb line is very difficult for anyone. The bigger bass tend to locate near the deeper water breaks under the pads and you may not be able to reach those spots. If you do get strikes, hooking the bass and getting back to shore may be extremely hard to do. Most common frogs are Zoom Horny Toad and Stanely Ribbits, they are fairly light weight and can be rigged weedless like a Texas worm. The Top Brass Peg-It that you use for pegging the glass bead on the finesse worm rig can be used very effectively for holding worms/Senko's onto the hook eye. I use the saved jumbo Peg-It rubber pieces and slide it through the hook eye, pull up snug then cut off about 1/8" each side of the hook, then rig the worm and pull the Peg-It inside the worm head when you cover the hook eye...works good to hold the worm or Senko in place. Tom PS; will PM you contact for the pontoon boat info. You can google Don Iovino for illustration on how to use Peg-It's.

Anyone who bass fishes will experience laps of concentration that cost lost opportunities. We remember the big ones that got away more vividly than the bass we catch and the lost bass get bigger with time. Tom

I know a bass angler that is confined to a wheel chair and has rigged a pontoon boat for bass fishing. Will try to have him contact you via PM to share his knowledge on the subject. Bass hang around boat docks and launch ramps, it give them shelter and a supply of baitfish and crawdads. The island with the path to the right over the bridge, as mentioned earlier, should be good; fish it all the way out to point as far as you can. Good luck to you and be safe around the water. Tom

I would also recommend Yamamoto's 5" Hula grub in single and twin tails on a plain black 3/8 or 1/2 oz Yamamoto football head. Cast and retrieve similar to a Texas rigged worm; trees, rocks, transitions. Lots of colors selection for this grub. Off color water might try; basic 021 black w/bue flake, 159 black w/charteruse flake, 221 brown w/purple flake, should get results. Tom

Read the thread by ClintC. Finesse slip shot rig or drop shot rig; except with 6 to 8 lb FC line. Spots like rocks, they also seem to prefer green colors with charteruse tips like Roboworms mean green, green shiner and junebug hot tips. Drop shot with size 1 Owner mosqito or Gamakatsu drop shot, nose hooked. Meter the bass or thermocline, fish at that depth. Tom

With a spinning reel and limited to wheel chair access you don't have a lot of options. With that in mind don't try too many techniques or presentations, keep it simple and use high percentage rigs that you can use effectively. If I was teaching you how to bass fish on this small lake I would: 1. Rig you uo with a finesse Carolina rig called a slip shot rig. You spinning reel would be spooled with 8 or 10 lb premium mono line. I prefer Top Brass Pro Jo black 1/8 or 3/16 oz weights, 8 mm glass faceted red bead, Peg-It II or Jumbo to peg the glass bead and size 1/0 Owner #5100 or Gamakatsu #11 worm hooks. Peg the weight about 14" above the hook. You can ajust the weight position depending on how you cast; anywhere from 6" to 24" works OK. 2. Use a high floatation worm 4 1/2" to 6" curl or straight tail finesse worm; Roboworms are excellent. Hook the worm like a Texas and skin cover the point. Roboworms Rebard hooks hold the worm onto the hook, but this isn't essentail. Palomar knot is good. 3. This rig is simply cast and slowly drag along the bottom anywhere bass maybe be located. The bite is usually a pressure feel or slight tick because you feel the weight before you feel the bass. Hook setting is; drop the rod tip, reel line up tight, then sweep the rod back. 4. Where; any breaks that you can get to. Rock to soil, weeds to soil any change of bottom contour and any funnel areas that tend to concentrate bass. The end of the rocks before the bridge looks good. The right point on the island is a funnel area and may see less pressure and looks good also for this presentation. Take your time and fan cast the areas. 5. Colors; that is hard to figure without being on the water. High precentage colors like oxblood red flake, MM and Aarons magic should work anywhere. Good luck. Tom

Sounds like you are fishing with a spining reel, what rig are you using? Georgia has spotted bass, are you targeting spots ot largmouth? Shell crackers (red ear sunfish) will also tear soft plastic worms apart. Smaller bass tend to pick up a worm and move off with it to get away from other bass. Spotted bass can be extremely aggressive at times and can also peck at crawdad looking soft plastics. Changing color and/or size can often help. Another observation you can make is; look at the soft plastic for sand paper like teeth marks that indicate bass are biting your worms. The old saying bass don't have hands applys; if you feel the slightest line movement or pressure set the hook. If that doesn't work then drop the rod tip, take up slack line and then set the hook. Tom

When you say CA there is a big difference between NorCal and SoCal, average NoCal lake is over 20,000 surface acres/15 to 20 miles long or 10X the size of SoCal lakes. Toledo Bend is a big reservior over 50 miles long, but they have high pressure due to the number of skilled bass fisherman per acre is about the same. Fishing pressure affects bass fishing; where you can fish and how you can fish is limited compared to lower traffic during the week days. The Classic where Jay Yelas catches a big bass just after a boat nearly runs over him and over his fishing area demostrates bass can be caught with high boat traffic....and are caught. However it's a lot esier during the week days. Tom

It's hard for anyone to imagine what high pressure bass fishing is until you fish a SoCal lake during a weekend between March to October. Every weekend there are bass tournaments, both organized cash tournaments and club tournaments with about 100 boats on every bass lake. The lakes are small; average about 2 to 3 miles long. Add the recreational boaters, water contact sports, etc. The tournaments start at day break and end around 2 pm. Rectreational boaters show up around 9 am and leave about 4 pm or when the lakes close between 6 to7 pm. Some of the lakes have night tournaments starting at 6 am until midnight, we have a 6 hour rule. If you bass fish during the weekend, you don't move around very much because you can't. Boat traffic is what it is, ignor it or go home. The bass will bite, limits will be weighed in every weekend, someone is always on them and catching bass. Me; I fish week days and a rare night tournament during this time period, heavy boat traffic gets to me and I don't enjoy the hastle. Tom

It's a myth that big female bass do not reproduce, they reproduce until they die. Example Dottie, the lake Dixon giant, was caught as a reproducing bed fish at least 3 times before deing. What value would give to Dotties gene pool? Bass survival rates drop with each year from the time they are fingerlings. Ault size bass have survived and the longer they live the fewer there are and you should protect them. The size of the pond and it's bass population dynamics should be evaluated by someone who knows proper pond management. Basically you remove a year class that has over populated the pond, balance is the key word. Tom

There was a link on this site to Sure Life with Lane and Tony vedio instruction on how to use Catch & Release, add ice and HO2 during hot weather to keep livewell bass healthy. Any company is only as good as it's people, Lane and Tony are the best. Tom

It's a common practice to have a mount made of a personal best fish and killing the fish for a skin mount is just as common as releasing them after taking a photo. It comes down to personal preference and I have done both over the years. Today I believe replica's are a better choice, they last longer and look better. Good luck in your quest and you got some answers you can use. Tom PS; tournament anglers are not allowed to use stringers, not because they harm the fish, the problem is anglers cheating by stashing fish on a stringer before the tournament. Good luck; your grandfather will be proud of you.

Fishing related; Changing over to AGM deep cycle marine batteries from wet cells or gels. Battery maintenance has been an issue for over 50 years. Since installing (Oddessey/Die hard) AGM's battery charging time and life on the water has far exceeded my expectations. I check my batteries every outing from habit and they have been maintenance free, no corrosion to clean, terminals remain tight, they batteries are always clean. Tom

Camera; take a photo with a tape measure and weigh it. Good digital scale like Jennings Ultra Sport 30 about $30, small and compact..very accurate and includes a tape measure. You don't need to kill the fish to get a good replica mount. Tom PS; what makes you think a good stringer like Sampo will harm the fish? You poke a small hole through the lower lip membrane, clip on the bass and keep it in the lake water. Putting a bass in a bucket of water with very low dissolved oxygen levels will kill it. Water weighs 8 lbs/gallon.

Sampo nylon fish stringers comes in both 6' and 10' lengths, excellent product. The 10' may be a good choice for bank fishing. A wet burlap bag will keep fish fresh as long as you keep the bag wet and good for transporting fish you plan to eat to a cooler with ice, if necessary, for the trip home. Learn to catch & release and carry your tackle in a fanny or small back pack; no bucket and more mobile. Tom

You guys in the mid west are having a severe drought while here in SoCal the weather has been very cool this summer. Our lakes are mostly very deep clear water with rocky structure, few weeds. The bass have acclimated to draw downs of over 50 feet each summer, very few weeds, some brush, a few trees so they go down to the thermocline or oxycline which can be 35 to 50+ feet. The bait fish is mostly threadfin shad and crawdads. The CA delta is shallow and Clear lake has large shallow flats with weed beds, they are the exceptions. The deepest bass that I have ever caught in the summer was from Crow (Kakagi) lake in Ontario Canada at 85 feet...bass can go deep if the conditions support there needs. Tom

Cold fronts don't make bass sluggish, they may be less active in shallow water. Hot water (over 85) creates low DO levels; the bass must move to cooler well oxygenated water, if the bass can't move to deeper water or find weed beds with good DO levels, they will become very sluggish. Cold water can slow bass down, they are cold blooded and become sluggish. Keep in mind that bass are not always active, they are inactive for longer time periods. The key is timing, be on the water when bass are active. Tournament anglers don't always have that choice and must fish under all conditions. Tom

12" - 13" spotted bass are very aggressive and will hit nearly any lure. Suspended marks could be any type of fish. If the bass were feeding on a shad school then use shad profile and color lures; spoons and Traps are ideal, under spins like a Road Runner and tail spins like a Little George are also good choices. Tom

Rhythm can apply to pace of a lure or the pace of life in general. We don't all march to the same drummer, the same applies to aminals like bass living under water. When everything is in tune or in sync there is a harmony, when someting is out of sync it stands out. Imagine your lure as something out of sync, it stands out from everything. We are trying to get bass to strike it, why should they? Does the lure represent something they want to eat and looks like an easy target because of it eractic behavior or color? Bass that are active may react very differently than bass that are inactive; active bass react and inactive may not, it's all part of the daily rhythm. Tom

+1 and bacteria from loss of slim coat swimming in livewells not treated with Catch & Release.

You need to contact a good pond manager like Bob Lusk. Balance is everything and you need to know what you have in the pond to know were to start. Electro shocking survey may be a good place to start. Tom

Speed or pace the lure is being retreived, size of the lure, wiggle fast or wobble slow, silent, BB rattles, thumper rattle, depth, color all factor into what makes a bass strike a lure. A blade bait like a Sonar or Silver Buddy is heavy for it's size and can run a little deeper than Trap of the same size, they all tend to lift due line to drag. Smaller diameter line; 10 lb instead of 15 lb or FC verses mono can get you a little more depth. Paul Elias is known for his reeling and neeling to get crank baits to run the depth and speed he likes. Calling all this rythym works for me. Good thread. Tom

Catt nailed this topic as usual. To catch big bass consistantly you must fish for them. Big bass are adult bass and have lived long enough to avoid making mistakes most of the time. Location is very important, how you approach the fish and present your lure is important. I would say if you are not catching an occasional big bass ( a blind squirrel can a find a nut ) then you need to change where and how you fish; slow down and aviod making noise. My suggestion to anglers looking for big bass success is study their habits. Bill Murphy's book "In Pursuit of Giant Bass" is a good resource to learn about adult size bass over 4 lbs. Bills tactics are different, his knowledge of big bass is well worth reading. Tom

You found bass and caught a few, now take a look at what you found with all the info given. There is a reason those bass were at those spots at that time; they were active and feeding. Sometimes it's the shade cast by a tree or even a single stick up, located in the right place at the right time. When looking at tree's don't look at the whole forest. Look for trees with fish eating birds, they know where the bait is. Tom

No shad, then crappie should fill the pelagic baitfish nitche. 14' shoulds like a thermocline could be affecting the depth. Crawdads; wood and rock, the some weeds fills their needs. Oak tree, big root system and prefers higher harder ground and hill sides. Any shade where you caught the 3 lb bass? Did you happen to check out what those bass were eating? No current? no wind? wind generates current. Sometimes it a spot situation and not a pattern or several patterns and you found a few. Tom PS; Glenn, didn't intend to quote your thread.