WRB-2.0

Will email a photo of my 18.8 (18lb 11oz) LMB, my PB is 19.3 however very poor photo. WRB

Update on the lake Casitas Quagga mussel issue. http://www.casitaswater.org/frontpagearticles/board%20to%20address%20quagga.htm The March 4th meeting is a vote to close the lake to recreational boaters. Lake Cachuma has already taken action to close to recreational boaters pending the Casitas vote. This is not good news for bassfisherman in CA. WRB

With your water temerature below 45 degrees (41?) shad start to die off. Threadfin can grow to 6", however the 41 degree water may rule those out. Gizzard shad can tolerate colder water, but the northern strain LMB rarely target bait fish over 8". Florida and FLMB intergrades will target large baitfish up to about 2lbs or 18", however prefer 6" to 12". Whatever baitfsih they maybe, a swimbait in the general color contrast and profile should work. It's impossible to claim any exact rule what individaul bass may try to eat. They are called largemouth bass for good reason and a very aggressive bass may try to eat something that doesn't fit down it's throat or gets stuck and the bass dies. TVA did plant stripers to control gizzard shad because the average size stripers grow much larger and can eat the larger bait easily. WRB

Good information. Lets make this a little easier to understand as it applies to bass fishing in Great lakes region, where lakes tend to freeze. Bass are cold blooded and prefer the warmest water they can find during the cold water period. When a lake warms and the ice melts, the water colder than 39 degrees is lighter weight and floats on the surface. As the water warms it become heavier at 40 (39.3) degrees and begins to sink. The surface water can out weigh the water below it and this causes the lake to turnover, mixing all the layers below. You see the bottom decayed vegetation that died and shank come back up to surface before the lake froze. The problem this causes for bass is the water column is now colder and has less dissolved oxygen, so the bass don't feel very good. As the lake continues to warm up the lighter warmer water stays near the surface floating on the colder water below, the bass move up into the warmer water. During the summer the surface water can continue to warm beyond the basses confort zone (80) and the bass move down into deeper water, where the DO is good, just above the thermocline layer. The thermocline is a thin layer of water that is cooler than the surface water and warmer than the lower layers of water by about 4 ddegrees. The thermocline becomes very important to bass because both the water temperature and DO levels are comfortable. During the fall the process reverses until the lake freezes over. A summer turn over is usually caused by high winds, not cold water. Thats is why I said, during the ice out turnover period, it is better to fish a different lake until the bass adjust to their environment. WRB

Welcome back to bass fishing. Kids today have a lot of interest in computers and there is some very good information available. I would suggest doing some research with your son and watching a few bass fishing video's him. At age 10 he should be old enough to use a spinning or casting outfit well. I would suggest that you take him to the same pond where you had success to start with and keep your initail outings short and successful.. Reading these message boards can be a little confusing because everyone has a little different opinion on what is good for what, so you end up with over load of information that may not be applicable to you. For example here is my 2 cents worth: soft plastics are inexpensive and work great for bass everywhere. One of the most effective presentations to learn to use is the split shot rig with spinning tackle and small 4 1/2" to 6" finesse type curl tail worms. Look around on this site for articles on split shot and drop shot techinques. You can use a night crawler with a split shot rig, however the plastic worm can work as well for bass. Good luck. WRB

Go to a different lake for about 2 weeks and let the winter turn over settle down. WRB

Your battery is more than likey in poor condition also. If it is a gel type sealed battery, try taking it to a gagrage and have it a load tested and recharged using about 20 amps. If the battery has caps for maintenance, check to see if the plates are cover with fluid, if not add distilled water and recharge with 20 amps, not the 3 to 10 type charger, to restore a full charge level. Vaseline works as well as any sealer to keep moisture away from the terminals. WRB

You are a bank fisherman, tied to it by the length of your cast. Don't be too alarmed, about 90% of the bass fisherman pound the bank just as you do. The presentations you are confortable with are fishing in heavy visual cover and casting to shoreline targets. The majority of the bass population doesn't live by the bank, they migrate there during spawning season and at night during the summer warm water period. What you are targeting are a few bass that have set up ambush sites during the day light hours. When it becomes cloudy, the shallow water ambush bass don't need to hold tight to cover to successfully catch prey, so they roam more. What lure you use is really a matter of choice as long as it is a reaction bait. Surface lures like a buzzer is one of the best for the cloudy condition, if a little ripple is on the water, otherwise a spook type lure works well. Jerk baits, crank baits, spinner baits all work well. What you need to learn is how to fish for the bass that are outside, on major and secondary points, humps, creek channel breaks, islands and other under water structure that you can't see without using your sonar unit and topo maps. Fish the bank early and late or when it's mid day high sky. Fish the deeper structure and breaks the majority of the time. Presentations like drop shot, slip shot, jigs, deep cranking, spoons, underspins etc. You will learn that cloudy over cast conditions are the best time to catch bass, because the bass are more active. WRB

Your question relates to high land and hill land reservoirs from the discription offered. Bass can spawn on a flat rock or tree stump, if that is all that is available, however they prefer protected coves from wind with some cover. High land and hill land reservoirs that are 30 to 50 miles long will have several major creek arms feeding into the main lake river bed. Each of the big creek arms are lakes within a bigger lake, so look at arms in those terms, plus the main lake body of water. Divide the lake into 1/3rds; lower, middle and upper and thats about the longest distance bass living in that reservoir tend to travel. Up and down the creek arms and out into the main lake body to seek prey, confortable water temperatures and to spawn. There are always exceptions, like low water levels and severe weather conditions that affect migrations. Several miles isn't unusaul on large impoudments, if prey and available spawning sites are long distances apart. WRB

Lowrance Electronics; 918/437.6881 Give them a call and report your Pro Staffer name, he is misleading his customers. A 25 to 60 pound blue or channel catfish will look different (bigger) than bass in the same lake. Skin vereses scales, thats a stretch of the imagination. What is evident from a sonar return is the location of the fish and the relative signal strength within the signal field area. Carp and bass look alike to sonar. Fish that are free swimming in the water column look similar to sonar; stripers, bass, trout, pike, musky, catfish or whatever. The size and shape of the signal return in comparison to the amount of airbladder a particular fish may have that gives a high density return, may give you clues to what a fish maybe; based on location, not color of the return. Trout for example tyically return a thin nearly straight line arc because they a fast swimmers and have small airbladders, whereas bass create an arc shape return because they tend to swim slower and have large airbladders. To some degree some fish can be identified based on knowledge of the fish location and how the signal return appears. It's still a best guess without seeing the fish visually. Scales verses skin is pure BS. WRB

Post the links to the studies that show LMB spawning successfully in water temperatures less than 58 degrees. Thanks WRB

Catt; what do you call the winter period(40 to 50) or mid winter (50 to 55)? From your discription it's all pre spawn (40 to 60). Whatever you are confortable with, we just need to agree to disagree. When I first used the term pre spawn back in the early 70's, before In-Fisherman, the term met the staging period that occurs within weeks before, not months, of the spawning cycle, ie; pre spawn. WRB

Things are really starting to heat up with the quagga issue at lake Casitas. The adpoted "clean & dry" policy is strickly enforced and a 28 day quarantine is in affect for boats that have been on the Colorado river lakes and most San Diego lakes. If you are planning to fish Casitas be advised that no water or debris can be in the boat, motor or on trailer; "clean & dry". WRB

Agree with Catt, except the water temperature statement. Toledo Bend is a classic hill land reservoir and the presentations are appropriate for that type of lake. Pre spawn is the transition period from the cold water to the warmer spawning flats. Water temperature at the depth the bass are holding in, not necessarily the surface temperature, for pre spawn is around 55 to 62 degrees for LMB. Once the bass start to roam potential spawning flats the spawn should start within 2 weeks during the first full moon as the water, at 3 to 5, feet reaches approximately 62 degrees. If you are in Main or Texas, the bass react the same to a combination of water temperature and day light hours. Like everything in nature not all the bass behave the same and the spawn can occur over a 2 to 3 month period in most reservoirs, as the lake warms at different rates in several locations. Cold fronts with high winds tend to chase the bass off the beds in exposed areas, the bass move and try agian. Female bass may spawn several times with different males. Pre spawn bass, the big females, are active feeding on high protein large baitfish and crawdads primarily, so lures should mimic the prey source. Deep breaks near spawning flats with wood cover are usually the best locations to find pre spawn bass. WRB

47 degree surface temperature isn't spring for the bass, it's winter cold water period. The bass should be in their winter locations and targeting smaller baits that move slowly the majority of the time. You may be able to locate a few active bass willing to chase and strike a crank bait in the afternoons. Take some time out to locate the bait that will be suspended over deeper water near breaks. The winter bass react to lures that represent the baitfish like; structure spoons, drop shot small plastic worms, vertical jigs, keel weighted blades with tail spinners. Find the bait and the bass should be close. If you see active bass, then feed them your reaction lures like the crank bait. If the water warms up to 55 degrees, then the bass will be staging in pre-spawn and located on the deep breaks near the spawing areas. Pre-spawn bass are active and will react to your crank baits and a veriety of other lures. WRB

It's good to read that any new outdoor recreational sport is being considered for high school. Fishing and hunting is dissappearing from the youth of today, being replaced with computer games. The liabilities alone would prevent this type of activity in California and other states where the fear law suits rule nearly everything. We occasionally have classes offered for bass fishing in city colleges, class room discussion sessions only, no on the water time. WRB

see reply #9. A little tongue in cheek, at a minimum the expenses should be shared. Never buy a boat in partnership, unless it's your spouse, best way to ruin a friendship. If you are planning to fish as a team in tournaments, take the time fun fish together first to see if your styles are similar or it may not work. Only one person can effectivitly run the boat and should be the boats owner, unless you both agree before hand who will be in the pointed end. WRB

Bass are in the sunfish family, where there are bass you will have sunfish, or bream down south, in every classification of lakes, rivers or ponds. Crayfish are usually in all fresh waters of the US. So it's not to hard tp predict what prey the bass are targeting, small sunfish and crawdads, plus anything else that may fit into thier mouths; worms, insects, frogs, lizards, salamanders etc. Look around the pond to determine what prey is available. Shad; threadfin, gizzard and silver sides require deep water and zoo plankton to survive, so the small ponds should not have a shad population. When bass are feeding on crawdads, their mouth will be rosy color inside from crunching down on them. WRB

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/taxgroup/mollusks/zebramussel/maps/southwest_quagga.pdf http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jan/10/fishermen-plead-to-keep-access-to-lake-casitas/ WRB

I have been posting a few years now and have learned that terminolgy can be misleading. What you maybe refering to as starting to spawn and spawning maybe be very different from what I call staging or pre spawn*. Spawning is when the bass makes a bed site and actually lay eggs into the bed. Bass stage and move up onto spawning sites periodically during the pre spawn cycle and cruise, about 2 weeks before the first full moon as the water temepratures rise. The male "buck" bass may stay up onto the flats, the females tend to move back into deeper water. There is always a few bass that do whatever, whenever. I have caught big females with eggs spilling out in mid january in 55 degree water, 30 feet deep. Every year has little different weather cycles that can warm up the water early and cool it back down quickly. The majority of the bass population follow their internal clock and spawn. Falcon lake, in Texas, is approaching 60's and the bass are starting to move up and spawn. Tom * coined the term "Pre Spawn" back in 1974 for bass seminars on bass behavior, been doing this for awile.

Please read the following; http://aqua.ucdavis.edu/dbweb/outreach/aqua/200FS.pdf I have taken the time to research instead of factual data.several sources and above will standby my original statement, based on factual data. WRB

Water temperature is the same around he world regardless where you live and bass relate to three factors when spawning; water temperature, length of day light and moon phase. Smallmouth will spawn in colder water than largemouth, but never witnessed, read of a smallie spawning in water less than 58 degrees. Doesn't mean it isn't possible, however the eggs may not survive. WRB

Willing to pay all the bills and stay home. WRB

Where did you come up with that fact? Lowrance factory settings are set to show the hotter spectrum colors as the stronger signal returns. Blue being cool and red being warmer or stronger followed by yellow etc. Air is one of the most dense signal returns a sonar can pick up, thus shown as red. Both bass and catfish have air bladders that the sonar signal returns as marks. If the fish is directly under the transducer signal in the center of the cone area, the signal will be the stronger than signals out on the outer cone edge. Free swimming bass, carp, catfish or any other fish with air bladders, including baitfish, will return a strong warm color signal return. The arc shape is generated by the boat moving over the target; as the target enters the cone signal area the return is faint and gets stronger as the boat passes, then fades, creating the arc shape. Or the fish swims through the cone signal area, creating an arc shape or straight line if both the fish and boat ae traveling at the same speed. The signal returns location in regards to baitfish or structure elements is your best clue to what the fish is. Catfish usually lay on the bottom, belly down on the mud. Bass rarley lay on the bottom and normally will have a few inches to several feet of bttom seperation or they are free swimming under or in the baitfish schools. WRB

Everyone can have an opinion, however the biological facts are fact based. LMB start to stage for pre spawn at the end of the cold water period. Adult female bass start to develope eggs shortly after spawning and the eggs remain dormant until hormones stirred by warm water start their development. Warm water is relative to the eccosystem, generally around 50 degrees in cold water environments. Staging or pre spawn in most lakes and rivers starts around 55 degrees, spawn at 62 to 67 degrees at the water depth the bass are using to spawn. WRB