WRB-2.0

Global warming! ;D Send some up here, will ya! Problem is with GW, none of us individually have a global perspective. Nor any data. The news showed that it snowed in Denver Tuesday, flooded in Atlanta and we have fires near Los Angeles. Climate change covers all the fronts and the climate will always be changing. WRB

Your question seems to me to be about crank baits, casting longer distance with smaller diameter line to achieve greater depth and more cover water. The difference between 10 lb and 12 lb line can only be evaluated by knowing the line diameter difference, not necessarily the lb test rating. The smaller diameter line will tend to have less water drag, everything else being equal. If diving depth is a concern, then use FC line with less drag coefficient. Most people can't cast a 1/2 to 3/4 oz crank bait further than 100 feet with any accuracy, so make a little shorter casts; 75 to 90 feet, the lure should still reach the depth you desire and you should have better control. To set the hook on a long cast use the reel to load up the line pressure, then sweep the rod back. WRB

Excellent work. You are a good artist. Someday I will learn how to post a simple photograph, maybe when retired. WRB

It's the first day of fall everywhere, the fall equinox. Fish when you can it should continue to get better until you are uncomfortable fishing or the water freezes. Good time for jigs. WRB

Mattlures gave you some good advice, here is my advice; buy one of his bluegill soft swimbaits and forget the musky lures, unless you lake/pond has some big bait fish. WRB

Suggest that you search "thermocline" and read the variety of articles. Bass can move within a 30 foot or 1 atmosphere depth change without too much discomfort and will relate to the thermocline level when it exists. Some reservoirs will have multiple thermoclines created by current during power generations. Current affects both thermoclines and DO levels throughout any given day. Current can also be wind/wave generated and will mix the DO and bend the thermocline. Best way to determine at what depth the bass are using is with good sonar; you can see both thermocline and bass/baitfish levels. 3-12 mg/l is well within the tolerance levels for bass and that is a wide DO band. More important regarding bass is the water temperature; 70 is ideal, tolerance level; 40 (39.4) to 85 degrees, also a wide band. Below 40 degrees the DO level are too high, above 85 too low for the bass to survive very long. Smallmouth tend to tolerate colder water for a longer period and therefore can live further north than LMB. FLMB can tolerate slightly higher water temperatures, however prefer cooler water if available and locate under weed mats or near springs for that reason, when the water gets over 85 degrees. Water, like air, isn't evenly mixed, there will be colder zones and warmer areas at the same depth with different DO levels. The lakes structure has a lot to do with mixing or up welling currents and one more reason bass and bait like to locate near abrupt contour bottom changes. WRB

As mentioned the drop shot or down shot rig started as a salt water ganyun rig. The dropper rig is commonly used for a wide variety of salt water fish, including a catch bait like mackerel. A single hook dropper or multiple hook rig is used for deep water rock cod, for example. Out west we started using a fresh water version, back in the early 80's, called a stack rig before it was known as a drop or down shot. The octopus hooks were tied directly onto the line with a Palomar knot, exactly as it is today. The worm used most was a Flutter craft or Mister Twister. The Carolina rig is simply adopted from the lake rig; a sliding egg sinker and swivel with a leader commonly used for fresh water shoreline trout and catfish fishing. WRB

It's hard to identify a dead bass by the profile alone. The eye appears to be even with the lower jaw, making the bass a northern or Alabama spotted bass. The dorsal fins are usually connected on a spotted bass and they almost always have teeth on the tongue. WRB

Color can be a deep topic when it comes to bass and lure selection. The bottom line is we don't know as much about how bass see colors. Experience is the guideline to use, what works for you on a specific lake or river is the right color. Determining what color the bass prefer at any given time can take a lot of hours on the water. There is a big difference between hard bait and soft plastic lures when it come to colors the bass are tuned in on. Hard baits that are fished for reaction strikes tend to be close to prey fish colors, soft plastic colors can be very selective to specific lakes and/or seasonal periods. We can only look at a color and evaluate it in terms of our color spectrum. Bass however see color much differently because they have evolved seeing under water. Ultra violet and polarized colors are beyond our spectrum, however bass may see both extremely well, explaining how they can see at night and at distances in low light conditions. WRB

Number 1 rule of fishing is; don't leave fish. If you located active feeding bass, take the time to determine what they are feeding on. Every lake has a preferred prey the bass want at that particular time and place. If you can determine what the bass want; color, size, shape, action, speed and depth, then your day on the water should be good. Most bass fisherman that I see running around the lake will catch one bass and keep moving, leaving feeding bass behind. I will often wait for fisherman to leave a spot I know holds big bass to fish it. WRB

The Cosmic Clock* is based on water temperature, sun position, moon phase and bass daily rhythm; basic bass behavior. Seasonal periods change at a different pace than mans monthly calendar. There isn't any guaranteed method to predict the exact daily behavior of any living animal, including bass and especially man. Forget trying to relate to calendar months; this August is different than past years. Bass simply relate to their specific environment; water temperature and available prey. Weather impacts the bass's environment on a daily or hourly basis, affecting the activity levels and location. Bass in New York in February are still in the winter cold water period, bass in Florida could be spawning as the water temperature approach the low 60's. Relating to a 12 month calendar or a seasonal period calendar is just another factor to consider, when bass fishing. WRB * The Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar I'm referring to was created in 1974 by myself for SoCal seminars, later adopted by In-Fisherman. Dated information, but still appropriate.

You can use inexpensive Water Gremlin or similar bell sinkers. The weight shouldn't come off unless you pull hard enough to nearly break the line. WRB

Lead should not bother bass or any other fish. Lead, in high dose, can be harmfull to water fowl. WRB

Catt, I agree with your photoperiod theory, but photoperiod moves lockstep with our Gregorian calendar. August on these waters is different from those in the past (I know this lake 'very' well). Roger The bass calendar that Catt refers to and I totally agree with is within the bass's genetic base; the cosmic clock. PM me with email address and I will send you a copy. Every year differs to some degree due to changes in weather patterns, atmospheric changes, recruitment of prey and bass, etc. The cycles however repeat with each bass calendar period; winter, pre-spawn, spawn, post spawn, summer and fall. The Georgian calendar; January to December may at time coincide with the bass's calendar from time to time. We like to say; the bass are bedding when the mustard or dogwood blossoms. The old observations are based seasonal changes not calendar months and were fairly accurate WRB

Out my way the fall transition doesn't start until the surface drops below 70 degrees or so, until than it's still a summer pattern. Bait fish don't usually move out of the weeds until the weeds start to die back, then things start to change quickly to the fall pattern of bait fish and crawdad migrations. If the weeds continue to stay green and produce DO, the water temps are good, the bait or bass don't have a reason to move. WRB

Default your unit back to the factory settings, use the automatic mode until you are familiar with the unit and turn off the fish ID feature. What unit do you have? WRB

Bruce Sampson DVD's are worth having and Don Iovino's book. http://www.iovino.com/donbook.htm Don is one of the best sonar bass fisherman around. Fishing off shore structure is similar to bank fishing, except you can't see what you are fishing without the aid of the sonar. The terrain underwater isn't different from the terrain above water; look around for ravines, creek channels, ridges, islands above the water near where you plan to fish. A long point is a ridge line above above water that continues out under water. Use your sonar to follow the point out to where it may intersect a river or creek channel. Watch for suspended bait or bass as you meter the point. Arches that are near the bottom or within a few feet are usually active feeding fish of some type. Brush, trees, weeds, rocks, hard bottom, soft bottom are all easy to "see" with a good sonar unit. Keep in mind that your viewing areas is smaller than you think;, about 1/3rd the depth of water you are metering. Good luck. WRB

There was a lot of turmoil due to family issues, that both Bobby and Garry never fully worked out, they can rest in peace now. Garry sold the Gitzit company to Cayon lures (Canyon-plastics) and they are still being made today. Cancer took Garry slowly, pray for wife Kay and family. WRB

Garry Garland, brother of late Bobby Garland passed away. Garry with his brother Bobby invented the original Gitzit tube bait. Anyone who fishes a tube today owes a great deal of gratitude to the Garland brothers, they will be missed. WRB

If you are serious about determine catching the same bass again, tag it. A tag is positive proof it's the same fish. Very aggressive bass don't usually live too long is pressured lakes or ponds, the survivors learn from being caught and don't often make the same mistakes. There will always be exceptions. I caught the same tagged 7 lb bass several times over a 3 year period from lake Sherwood several years ago. Tagged 100 bass and caught 3 tagged bass, one 4 times. 3 out of a 100 = 3%. Lake Sherwood is a private lake about 1 1/2 miles long, 50 feet deep at the dam. WRB

Bigtimfish, looks like you are from Texas, the water temperatures shouldn't get down to the freezing point, maybe 45 degrees core water temperature. Bass are sunfish and will seek the warmest water with good dissolved oxygen levels; comfort range is between 40 to 80 degrees, DO levels between 3 mg/l to 12 mg/l. Water colder than 39.4 degrees has too high of DO, water above 80 is generally too low DO levels depending on wind and weed cover. The bass will go into colder or warmer water for short time periods. Florida strain LMB are not as tolerant as NLMB to cold water temperatures; 45 degrees is about the lower limit, 85 the upper limit. LMB can be anywhere in regards to depth during the cold water period if the DO and temperature limits are within their limits. Deep water is usually warmer than cold surface water due to springs in smaller lakes and current in larger lakes. Use your electronics to locate baitfish, look for diving grebes (birds) feeding on bait. Also keep you eye out for bass feeding activity, both on the meter and surface. Structure spoons, drop shot, jigs, swimbaits are all good cold water presentations, where I fish. WRB

Thanks, didn't know the bluegill issue was still a factor. The scale damage could easily be from nets, not knowing the netting size it's impossible to determine the type of net. A big bass living in a lake with nets is going to have scale damage from time to time. Just need to wait and see how the IGFA reacts if or when they get the application. I am on Kurita's side and hope somehow this bass makes into the record book. WRB

Matt, let me clarify my buoy line statement. Castaic has a few such lines, the jet sky area and the Elderberry foredam area. There are also spawning areas buoyed off. I had used my bow trolling motor to move the slack out of the buoy line so I could cast to a certain spot, the wind had blown the line the opposite direction. Not fishing a tournament, so who would care? It's not illegal, the ranger may have said something to me, never had over the years. When I went to weigh the bass, 2 fisherman started telling the few people gathered to see a big bass that I poached the bass from a closed area and it upset me. Should have ignored them and weighed, photographed the bass properly. I believe Crupi made a similar mistake trying to quickly release his 22 before properly documenting the catch, do to intense pressure at the time. Dottie was snagged, a certified weight would have been a good idea before releasing the bass but Weatley was also under extreme pressure to release the bass. If I'm ever blessed with a 20+, it will be documented, over 22 it will go on ice. Thank you for all your accurate information and we will wait and see as GK noted earlier. WRB

Live bait isn't the issue with the Kurita bass. The problem is where he caught the bass was a restricted or closed area to sport fishing. According to Matt's post, Kurita had a permit to fish with bluegill, or whatever live bait he used to catch the bass. The Japanese do a lot of net fishing under docks and bridges, those areas are closed to sport fishing so the nets are not damaged. WRB

There isn't any anti-Japanese or bashing going on here. The IGFA has specific rules and must be followed. If the Japanese rule the bass was caught illegally, the IGFA can not except the application. WRB