WRB-2.0

The average is more than likely well below 1 time in a basses lifetime. The reason is; well over 75% of the bass population is never caught, life is very hazardous and they don't survive to grow to be large adult bass. Those adult bass that do survive become wary in a highly pressured small lake. The aggressive bass that can be caught several times may be caught by a fishermen who keeps it and removed. Catch and release doesn't mean release and survive. 25% of the bass you think you released OK, don't live. The 75% that do survive become less aggressive towards striking lures. WRB

The male makes the initial bed and the larger female often sweeps it out to make it bigger. Remodeling must be in every females genes. WRB

Good point, I almost specified the crankbait's dive depth for that reason, but I didn't think anyone else would think about that, so I left it out. Deep is relative to where you fish. In Florida for example 10 feet maybe considered deep water, in regions that have gin clear water with visibility down to 25 feet of more, meaning you can clearly see the bottom at that depth, then 10 feet is fairly shallow water. The conditions that bend light are waves, airborne water particles, suspended underwater particulates and shade. Once the sun is 30 degrees above the horizon, light penetration will be at it's maximum. The depth you can clearly see a white spinnerbait for example; is a good general rule of the practical depth of light, if you can see, there is light at that depth. If disregard the prey source and pick your favorite color based on which one looks good or sells good and doesn't resemble the prey the bass are targeting, you will be in for a long day on the water. make your choices based on what the bass are eating at that time and your success rate should improve dramatically. We often fish translucent smoke and light cinnamon soft plastics on the bottom 35 to 50 feet of water, these are not dark colors, however they are what the bass are looking for. WRB

Google Doc Bruce Samson and Don Iovino, Samson for excellent Lowrance DVD's and Don for his book Finesse fishing and the sonar connection. WRB

It's very difficult in SoCal to fish a variety of lakes, due to low water conditions and the qaugga mussel issues. Your boat get locked onto one lake like Casitas for example and you can't fish anywhere else without going through a 21 day quarantine period. Fishing is good overall, typical feast and famine cycles, related to fishing pressure and water levels. WRB

The lake I have been fishing lately is formed by a relatively low dam on a wide river. The result is a body of water that averages 5 to 8 feet deep for about 5 miles. There are islands but few creeks feeding it. At this time of year the flow is heavy making a slow presentation difficult. There are some areas that have grass and some that are shallow on the downstream side of the islands. I have also found some ledges in the main part. I do have a boat with sonar. I can have 12 rods on the deck rigged anyway I want. I usually try jigs and tubes, spinnerbaits and cranks, and soft plastics weighted and unweighted. Sometimes everything falls in place and I do well, but if it starts slow I never seem to find them. I have that same problem anyplace I fish. I don't tournament fish; I do it for relaxation. I don't mind going out with little to show for it - I can just enjoy being out. When I take someone it bothers me if I can't find fish for them. Low land type of flood control reservoir with occasional or seasonal current. Current is going to be the key factor and slight bottom contour or composition being important things to look for and target. The main river channel more than likely is partially or completely silted in, except in hard or rocky areas. Current can be created by water flowing or wind blowing the water. If this lake has islands, then the fish tend to use funnel areas where the current is increased. Funnel areas are low benches or bars between the higher islands. Waves and current create added dissolved oxygen (DO). The bass hold on these spots waiting for the current to bring bait fish to them. Any current break; a rock or 6" drop can be very important isolated structure in a shallow lake. You should invest in a sonar unit to find these spots. Watch bird activity closely and check out what they are feeding on. Shell beds, gravel bars, submerges laydowns, isolated brush all become places that hold bass and bait fish. Rip rap break walls or old wing dams, stick ups whatever can be good spots. Spots are key, patterns are less important on this type of lake. Soft and hard jerk baits, buzzers, frogs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, shallow crankbaits, T & C-rigged worms and creatures that have the baitfish profile should all work. Pitch jigs to over hanging willows etc. WRB

Deep clear western reservoirs with threadfin shad as the primary prey, crawdads and larger baitfish the secondary prey source, you need try and match the prey colors and profile, when using soft plastics or swimbaits. As mentioned; translucent smoke as a basic color with gold, silver, blue or purple highlights closely mimic threadfin shad colors and are high % choices. Translucent cinnamon and green with red or purple highlights with contrasting darker back and lighter belly are also good choices, if weed/grass or wood cover is available. Light wind is far better than calm flat water with bright clear sky. Crawdads; browns and greens with contrasting highlights work well in clear water. Reaction s lures like crankbaits; same colors used for soft plastics work well; darker backs with lighter bellies. We have very little off color water other than the delta where darker solid colors; black, red, dark green with contrasting shades of the same colors, plus white/chartreuse and blue/chartreuse work well. WRB

Knowing what type of lake you are fishing, tackle and if you have a sonar unit would be helpful. Unlike most bass fishermen, I'm a believer in knowing basic bass behavior, seasonal periods and lake classification to determine where bass are most likely to be. The area of the lake that you must start at is where you launch your boat, assuming you are fishing from a boat and not walking the shoreline. Lets call the launch site a marina, although it could be just a ramp. Marina's make a good starting place because they are usually located near deep water in wind protected areas and bass fishermen have a habit of restocking bass there. After launching, check the water temperature, look around the dock, under the dock for bait fish and bass. If you have a sonar unit survey the marina area, including any long underwater point nearby, looking for; depth of bait fish or any marks that could be larger fish and the depth of the thermocline. Now you know a few things; depth of baitfish, if any, surface water temps, water clarity and life zone depth of thermocline depth. If you metered fish, fish for them before leaving the area. Lets assume your lake is a reservoir, has a dam. Divide the lake into 1/3 segments; lower or dam end, middle and upper end. The lower end is usually the deepest area, the upper the shallower areas. lager reservoirs like highland and hill land power generating impoundments, lake classifications examples, can have long deep creek arms that can be considered lakes within a lakes. During the winter or cold water period the lower 1/3rd is usually a good area to fish. As the water warms and gets above 55 degrees the bass move towards spawning areas and stage nearby; the transition areas where deeper water is close to shallower wind protected areas. The water warms above 60 degrees and the bass move into shallower water to spawn. After spawning the bass move out into the same areas they staged, then scatter locating where prey, structure and cover give the bass easy feeding opportunities, during the summer period; the middle and upper 1/3rds tend to be more productive. The water cools during the fall period, the bass start the transition towards deeper water and follow the bait fish. The water continues to cool and the bass locate to the warmest water with good prey and DO levels; usually the lower 1/3rd area of the lake or big creek arms. The most difficult for the average bass fishermen is learning not to always fish the shoreline year around. Deep water usually has points, islands, under water islands called humps, river and creek channels that provide bass feeding zones. Once you know what depth the bass are feeding, the seasonal period should help to determine what location to start. I'm a saturation type of bass fishermen and try to fish where I'm confident the bass are located. If this is too much information, just go fishing and enjoy your time on the water. WRB

Bass egg survival is tied to water temperature; the colder the water is the longer time it takes to hatch. Bass laying eggs in 58 degree water, for example, require up to 15 days to hatch and that is a long time for the bass to protect the eggs form egg eating predators. On the opposite end bass laying eggs in 70 degree water, the eggs hatch in a few days, however the bluegill and carp are swarming the beds sites and egg survival is low because the bass are over run. 62 to 67 degree water is a good water temperature range to consider for spawning activity as the water warms from the cold water period in protected locations and depth the bass use for spawning. Stable weather, length of day are all factors that warm the water. Moon phase is another factor that triggers spawning activity. Water temps are a primary factor in the life of cold blooded bass. WRB

Having been blessed to have caught a few bass 18+lbs and pursuing these rare giant bass for over 40 years, the first thing you look for in a photo is girth to length ratio. Any bass over 18 lbs, the girth will nearly equal the length; 90% to 100%. The bass shown in the photo isn't close to that; it's about a 75% girth ratio bass. Bass are not round bodied, they have flat shaped bodies with round bellies. This is why you can't use the IGFA formula to calculate bass weight and why I came up with the formula; L X L X G /1200 = weight in lbs. The bass in the photo would need to be over 30" long to weigh 18+ lbs. The Florida photo bass has a big head and body less than 80% and is a very questionable 18+ bass, IMO. Surprised that Florida would use a photo of a bass on literature that exceeds their state record. WRB * length = mouth closed measured to center of fork in the tail, not mouth open to tip of tail.

When the drop shot or down shot technique first came out, back in the late 80's, it was common to use a jig for the weight and 2 hooks about a foot apart for the online worms for a total of 3 offerings, the legal limit for fresh water fishing in California. The presentation was called "stacking". WRB

GK, +1 the lateral line scales have o hole in each scale, those are the scales you count. Note don't keep the bass out of water any longer than you can hole your breath, without refreshing it with water and lay the bass on a wet bath towel, unless you don't plan on releasing it. WRB

The difference between a round and sproat bend is irrelevant, it's the size of the gap throat that makes the difference, not the bend shape. Gamakatsu #11 is a good sproat hook and # 484 a good round bend, #584 is the EWG hook. All 3 are good choices. Mustad, Owner, Daiichi are all high quality products with similar hook styles. WRB

Must have used the Perry scale to weigh it. Poor picture, the profile looks good enough to determine a 75% girth to length body type bass. Would estimate this bass to be under 15 lbs. Does anyone know what the bass was weighed on or any measurements? WRB

Senko's are fat body worms with a lot of salt to sink them. Why you prefer to use a Senko T-rigged is your choice. The Mustad Big-Mouth hook is designed for tubes, short shank J bend. Checking the hook size to the worm body diameter; after you insert the hook and position the point where you like it, push the front of the worm and the worm body where the point was inserted down onto the hook bend gap. This is what happens to the worm when a bass bites it and you try to set the hook. If the hook bend gap is filled with worm body more than 50%, the hook point can't penetrate the fishes mouth tissue, regardless of how much force you try to apply. For T-rigged worms I prefer the straight shank sproat bend hook in 4/0 to 5/0 size for fat bodied worms 3/8+ diameter. Also with a Senko use the light, 3/32 oz, bullet weight. Senko's are designed to make slight wiggles as they fall. When a Senko hits the bottom, they lay motionless. With a Texas rig a floating style worm may give you better results; softer smaller diameter body, the bullet weight swims the worm down and the tail end floats upwards. Just a thought. Hook setting a T-riiged worm; work the worm with the rod tip, typical motion is lefting between 2 o'clock to 1 o'clock, when you feel a strike, lower the rod down to be parallel to the water surface, reel up the slack and snap set the rod back upright. With practice you should hook a high % of the bass you detect. Good luck. WRB

How you actually set the hook follows several more important factors. 1. The rod type you are using. 2.The reel and line. 3. The hook style and size. 4. The size of the worm verses the size of the hook. Setting the hook is a simple matter of applying enough force to the hook point to penetrate the basses hard mouth tissues. If you wait long enough time, the bass may swallow the plastic worm and hook, so timing is another factor to consider. How about answering the first 4 questions, then we can talk about hook setting techniques, like snap setting or slack line setting. WRB

Haven't taken the time to read Catt's list, sure it's a good read. Look at the terrain the lake is located at. What you see above water is generally flooded under water. With low water conditions the past few years, it was a good time to photo the structure that was or is exposed. Good maps will help to locate structure. Brush piles are considered cover to me. If it grows on and/or underwater, it's cover. if it's permanent it's structure. The depth you fish is the life zone; the depth the bass and baitfish are using. Thermoclines are areas where lighter warm water meet colder heavier water, the transition zone layer is called the thermocline. WRB

The has been "electronics" for as long as there has been "pro bass fihermen. First Lowrane flahser dates back to 1959 for example. 3 outfits would be more than needed, during a tournament. WRB

Can bass see different colors at night? Can bass see different colors in 50' of water during the day? The answer is; would seem like they can as bass can be very choosy at times about colors, day or night. With all the science, one study contradicts the other, however on the water experience is the best source of information, let the bass answer it. Out west we fish very deep during the winter period at time, over 50'. If you don't have the right color flakes in a worm, for example, it can make a big difference when everything else is identical. Obviously the bass can see down in 50' of water, with good clarity, very well. Bill Murphy, in his book Pursuit of Giant Bass relates a story when night tournament fishing; the bite stopped for him and his partner kept catching them. Bill had run out of the black worms he started with and open a new bag. The ones he started with were the same as his partners. The new bag didn't have the brown stripe the first bag did. Same DeLong 10" worms; black with brown stripe, he picked up in the dark the all black color and could not see the difference, however it made a big difference. We have all experienced something like that, if you fish often. A few years back I was night tournament fishing and the bite stopped. My partner started to catch bass using a dart jig with smoke grub on light spinning tackle. I couldn't believe he even had the outfit with him at night, good thing he did! The high % baits are black or dark colors with contrast at night, but that doesn't mean all the time or on every lake. If black doesn't work, go to your daytime stuff and it may work, if you give the bass a chance to make the choice for you. WRB

Looks a lot like the early 70's bomber style bass boat. Dick Trask had a 17' red/white Monark, fished it up until the mid 90's and won over a 100 tournaments on lakes like Mead, Mojave, that can have winds to 70+ mph, waves over 8', fun day on the water. If it can get you there, all you need is a good trolling motor and sonar unit, as Trask proved to the 21" 250/300 HP bass boats. WRB

Besides catching bugs in your teeth, how many bass have you caught at 75 mph? WRB

L X L X G /1200 = lbs L = length from closed mouth the fork in tail. G = girth measured around the bass with the dorsal fin down. / = divide by WRB

This lake doesn't look like it would be over run with weed beds. Maybe the shoreline, coves and shallow inlet areas. The bass should relate to the weed edges along the steeper banks as the water warms and pushes the better adult size bass into deeper water. Any outside structure, rock pile or humps should hold bass all day. The lake also looks to be a good night lake, good water clarity and the bass will be very active then. WRB

The question was about spinnerbaits at night and TB. I agree with Catt; fish soft plastics at night during the summer period, everywhere. Jigs and worms are my primary night lures and crankbaits like DD15 or 22's. Home made twin spins are another lure that works very well bottom bumping. Dawn and dusk, a big thumper blade works at times. 80% jigs & worms, 20% everything else equals a good night work for me. I use a lot of swimbait during the day, at night haven't done to well with them. WRB

OK; basic seasonal periods; winter; 39f to 55f pre spawn; 55f to 62f spawn; 62f to 67f post spawn; 67f to 68f summer; 68f to 80f (preferred temps) Fall; 58f to 68f Temperature apply at the depth of water the are using, not the surface. Transition period range about 2 to 3 degrees between each seasonal period. Green Valley pond; Small lake, deep with a dam at the SE, with quarry lake connected on the west side. Ramp at the south corner of the dam area. Your lake is more than likely in the late spawning stages or post spawn. Forage unknown; minnows, pan fish, crawdads and frogs. The NW inlet area looks good for the spawn & post spawn. Small lake and the bass will roam during most of the summer period. Key areas to target; inlet area and points at the quarry lake channel, long points on the east shore, boat dock, ramp, face of dam and corners. Early and late eve; back of coves. Start to learn this lake by making a few trolling passes around the shoreline using a deep diving crankbait that runs about 10 to 12 feet; Bomber 7A in baby bass or fire tiger. Troll about 2 mph, walking speed, about 75 feet back of the boat. Make lazy S pattern down the bank and follow the points out to deep water, stop and recast to troll int opposite side of the point until you are about 10 foot of water then turn and continue. Check you lure for junk about every 200 yards. Watch your sonar, if you have one, for any fish or rocks piles, Stop and fish the marks with a c-rigged worm. Let us know that worked and what you discovered. WRB