WRB-2.0

Good way to change your luck is to slow down and present your lure in a realistic manner. Anchoring you have a stable platform to fish from and it certainly slows you down. The modern bass boat is made to be on the move. Fishing with the front controlled trolling motor changed bass fishing allowing fishermen to maneuver with easily. The era of moving and hunting; hitting several spots for quick active bass bites became popularized by the tournament fishermen. Today it's the run and gun era; run up to a spot, drop the trolling motor and hit the areas fast, pick up and gun to the next spot. The chances of catching big bass out side of the pre spawn and spawn periods is small when running and gunning. Swimbaits help because they can be cast a long distance and need to be retrieved slowly to be affective. The slower retrieve doesn't fit the run and gun style of bass fishermen, one reason few anglers have success fishing swimbaits. WRB

Matt, Some of today's bass fishermen use live bait, just not in tournaments. Example; the live bait shad bite following post spawn. When I was fishing live bait back in the late 60's to early 70's, we fished everything from crawdads, waterdogs, salt water mud suckers and golden shiners in the SD lakes. Casitas and Castaic in the 80's to mid 90's was the bug & dog; Kadota & Crupi era. The big difference today is the average bass fishermen does not like to anchor, or even own a anchor, to effectively fish most live bait. Casting a swimbait lets you cover water faster and catch big bass. To the best of my knowledge Texas bass lakes still have a lot of live bait fishermen and as you mentioned Florida the roach (golden shiner) is the preferred live bait used by guides. WRB PS; back in the early 80's there were so many waterdogs free swimming in Casitas, you would have thought they were a native species.

"The whole secret to catching trophy bass consistently is finding the right spot and being there when they are active", quote from Bill Murphy. As I stated at the beginning; anyone can catch one big bass. Catt noted the record books are full of big bass caught by novice fishermen, a true statement. The fishermen were lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time. I don't consider a jig with pork trailer as being a big lure, it is a big bass lure. The big lure big bass syndrome is a self fulfilling prophecy. The reason I catch big bass mostly on jig & pig is also self fulfilling; I spend over 50% of my fishing time fishing jigs, the odds favor jigs for me. I fish swimbaits and nearly everything else, just have more confidence with jigs. The fact that I try to be at the right location when big bass are active is why I've had some success at consistently catching big bass. Does live bait catch more big bass? IMO; yes, less skill to fish properly than an artificial, however need to be at the right place at the time. WRB PS; may need to add a giant or (big) bass location thread.

How old were the mags? Dropper loop rigs have been around forever and used in salt water fishing. The first drop shot rigs were called down shot and came from Japan to California in the early 80's. We started to fish the down shot rigs with 2 worms about a foot apart, more are not legal in California. Then the rig was refined and became known as a drop shot rig. WRB

Need a lake map to help with this. Reservoir with a dam or natural lake? Do you know where the bait fish are located? The shad would be primary baitfish for average size LMB, shad and smaller crawdads for smallmouth. When the weeds are developing, look for patches of weeds with hard bottom areas between them. Avoid the larger weed beds located on mud. Isolated brushy areas are usually better than large brushy areas. With the high water the bass have a lot of choices, try to narrow it down by fishing the prime locations and that is why I need a map. WRB

I disagree with the notion you can self teach and learn just a effectively as instructional teaching. Learning good casting mechanics will help you to avoid mistakes. Casting isn't any different than golfing, shooting, archery, baseball or whatever sport that requires good hand eye coordination. If you can avoid developing poor habits and practice good techniques, do it. The key word is practice with rod/reel designed for the lure type and go fishing. There isn't a substitute for casting on the water while fishing. It's a life long learning experience, enjoy it. WRB

last; 2/17/09, 14.7, lake Casitas, jig. 1st; May 1957, 11 lbs, live waterdog, lake Havasu. WRB

The thermocline is simply where the upper layer of warmer water transitions to cooler water within a few feet. Power generating lakes it is common to have more than one thermocline that bass, smallmouth and largemouth relate to. Carp, catfish, trout for example can easily live below the thermocline, however bass and the baitfish the prey on tend to live near or above the thermocline. Since colder water is more dense than warmer water, a sensitive sonar unit can be adjusted to display the thermocline as a dark line or zone located at a specific depth. The life zone is another way to look at this; the depth the baitfish and bass are suspended. Find the food source and the bass should be close by. WRB

One of the best books written to date on big bass is Bill Murphy's "In Pursuit of Giant Bass". The late Bill Murphy was a true pioneer in modern trophy bass fishing and credits earlier pioneer's like Mike Brown, Bill Wade and Red DeZeeuw, fishermen who could consistently catch big bass, as his mentors. Other pioneer's like Buck Perry, developed controlled trolling methods that helped locate big bass in deeper water, before sonar units were available. If you want to catch big bass consistently, reading Murph's book would be a giant step in the right direction. Giant bass are simply the largest bass in any regional lake or river, not necessarily world record class bass. Bill's largest bass was 17 lbs 1 oz., with several hundred 10+lbs.,he never lucked into a 20+. WRB

1979 We had Lowrance X15 paper graphs and Hummin Bird Super Sixty's, Trilene XT copolymer line, Eagle Claw and Mustad hooks with hones or files, Phenix and Fenwick boron composite rods with straight handles, good Swedish made Abu reels and bass boats with all of today's equipment, it wasn't the dark ages. Go back to 1969 and everything in bass fishing was just in the development period. Catt said he would like to be 28, I would to 58, but will take what I have and be very happy to fish any period with whatever is available. WRB

A road bed by itself may not be a good structure element. The hard surface can be a potential for spawning. What makes a road bed good bass fishing structure are other features associated with it; culverts that run under the road to drain a small creek for example. Old foundations that the road was near, fences that ran along side of the road. Creek or stream beds have deeper channels that undercut rocks and had trees lining them, where they meet the road bed and a culvert or bridge may still be underwater. My suggestion is get a map and follow the road bed out into deeper water, looking for structure elements that bass like. The road bed may also create an edge to weed beds, due to the hard surface preventing weed growth. WRB

When you consider the number of big bass fishermen verses the number of bass fishermen who fish to catch keeper size bass, the % of trophy bass fishermen is tiny, less than 1%. The odds of a weekend fishermen to luck into a record bass is very good. The odds of that same fishermen ever catching another big bass is very small, let alone anything approaching a record. Arguably the best trophy bass fishermen today is Mike Long, if you consider his outstanding record of giant bass. Doug Hannon's record of 300 bass over 10 lbs;, then Hannon is certainly a very lucky bass fishermen. If you consider my top 5 bass and several hundred over 10 lbs, then I'm also a very lucky bass fishermen and I agree; we are all lucky to have had the opportunity to catch these rare bass. WRB PS; edited "if" from DH sentence.

It wouldn't affect me much at all. The fact is I still make and use a lot of yesteryear's lures and presentations because they still catch bass today. Example; hair jigs with Pedigo cut pork lizards, I fish year around. Every once in awhile we still go out and fish with nostalgic tackle that dates back in the 50"s; Langley Target reel, Cololin rod, Ashaway line and antique lures. It's a lot fun. Pick any decade over the past 50 years and whatever the tackle was it would be OK with me. WRB

Curious: Who wins the big bass pool? Anyone in your tournaments win the big bass pool regularly? Are the guys that tend to bring in the most consistent catches the ones who also tend to bring in the big bass? Or are big bass catches random? The anglers or teams that win most tournaments also catch one of the top big bass. The reason is they know where the larger size bass over 4 lbs tend to locate and it's all about location and presentation, not luck. The adage that is is better to be lucky than unlucky is true. The best scenario is to good and lucky; meaning skilled at big bass fishing and having good luck. Staying focused on all the little details and keeping in the right frame of mind tends to create good luck. Knowing where to fish and when requires a lot of time on the water and time dedicated to the sport of big bass fishing to be consistent at catching them. Contrary to the common belief that big bass locate at the same places smaller do is simply not true. That doesn't mean that an occasional big bass will mix with smaller bass, they do during the spawn and at other random times. Hoping to catch a big bass when fishing for average size fish is a very long shot at best. You must fish for big bass to catch them consistently; at the right location, at the right time, with the right lure or bait. WRB

Swivels are used for the Carolina rig, inline spinners and structure spoons for the majority of most bass fishermen to prevent line twist. Don't confuse a swivel clip combination with a swivel or a clip used separately. Speed clips designed for crankbaits work OK, the Berkley cross-lock clip is also the one I like. Black color premium clips and or swivels help to reduce glare and are strong. Stay away from inexpensive brass swivel clip combinations for bass fishing. Tie the line directly to single hook rigs; worm hooks, jigs, spinnerbaits etc. Some light weight lures like jerk baits and the original Rapala work best with the line tied direct. WRB

Catt, it's called intuition. No, anyone can catch one big bass at anytime. To catch big bass consistently is a totally different ball game. The vast majority of bass fishermen don't have a clue where big bass live or how to catch them. WRB

Fishing tackle is a lot like everyhing else; you pay for current state of the art. The question should be; do you need this years state of the art to catch bass? The answer is obvious; no! Will the state of the art tackle give me an edge over my competition? the answer to that lies more with your fishing skills, not your tackle. If you have equal skills, state of the art tackle may help a little, but keep in mind it's only state of the art top $$$ tackle for one year, until the next generation comes out. The newest rod I own for example is 3 years old and I bought it this year as a close out item, new with full lifetime warranty, for 1/4th the original price, which was over $300. My reels are the same vintage and bought 5 of those 1/2 price when they were 1 year old. I don't use the rod/reels that I caught nearly all my giant bass on anymore, they have been replaced with newer out dated state of the art tackle. My advice; check out your local tackle shop for bargains on outdated state of the art tackle. With the economy being depressed there are a lots of excellent deals available at nearly the price you pay for mid range new tackle. WRB

Here is one reason; Columnaris disease. http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/library/Factsheets/Fisheries/Fish_health/Columnaris.pdf WRB

Send the pictures of the disease to CA DFG; Terry Foremen or Mike Giusti to identify it, if it's that predominate in the lakes you are fishing. WRB PS; don't have any NorCal DFG contacts.

When thinking about deep water structure; "structure is the bottom of the lake". Weeds, stumps, fallen logs and anything that has settled onto the bottom, but is not actually the bottom is called cover, IMO. Keep in mind bass fishing should be freedom to experiment and fish whatever your instincts tell you no matter what everyone says. Read , but try not to get too caught up in the science of fishing; bass are individuals that can't read. My favorite method to survey new deep structure areas is to first meter the area to get a good idea what may be down under the water and try to visualize the contours with the aid of a map. I also look for baitfish or bigger fish marks, this helps me to determine the depth of the life zone. I like to fish points and underwater high spots connected to deeper structure. Strolling is trolling with the trolling motor and very effective method to initially fish a new area. The C-rig works however I prefer the slip shot or drop shot finesse size worms as it tends to slow me down and catch more fish while learning where the rock piles or stumps, deep ledges are located. Work both up in the shallowest area to the deeper areas, bass can be anywhere. Once I know the area, then may come back later to fish jigs or bigger worms if I feel the spot holds larger bass and worth the time. Try to learn something from each area you survey and apply it to the next spot. It doesn't take long to become a good deep structure fishermen, if you fish patiently and enjoy fishing. Good luck. WRB

Your lake may be in post spawn to summer transition, if the water down to 3' or so is 71 degrees. What this means is the adult bass have moved out of the spawning and either holding nearby or relocating. Try a T-rigged or C-riigged worm near wood, stick ups, rock, weed beds edges, etc, where the water drops off quickly. Also give a soft or hard jerk bait a try around the same area's. he original floating Rapala makes a good sub surface jerk bait fish slowly. Whatever you do, don't do the same thing you did. WRB

Start with a good book on the subject such as; http://www.iovino.com/donbook.htm Don's book is well written for fishermen and easy to follow. Doc Bruce Samson has instructional DVD's for Lowrance Sonar and GPS units, Google links. After reading the suggested books or DVD's, it would be easier to answer specific questions. WRB

Deep water is relative to where you fish. How deep are you trying to catch bass? How do you know the deep fish are bass? Do you know how to locate the thermocline depth? Deep water bass are structure orientated and near baitfish or food source. A breakline is good to find if it has something that the bass relate to; rocks, gravel, ledge, tree, brush, stumps, hump, saddle, weedbed, etc. WRB

I'm not an expert on diseases, but this looks like a protozoa infection. Reference; Anglers Guide to Fish Diseases and Parasites, Warnell School of Forestry Resources. http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/service/library/index.php3?docID=52&docHistory%5B%5D=1 WRB

It's a lake issue where I fish. Lakes that have planted trout seem to have wardens checking for fishing license. WRB