Bass_Akwards

I took a friend fishing this summer who had never been before. He got a bite on a Senko, and within 5 seconds the bass broke off the line. He reeled in and got a little mad that he missed the fish and had to have me re tie a new bait for him. I told him "Hang on, one more cast and I'll retie you a new Senko. I made a cast as he lit a cigarette, and whammo! I had a fish on. 10 - 20 seconds AFTER he hooked this bass, I hooked it. I reeled it in and it had the original Senko and hook my friend used, in it's mouth, as well as the Senko I was using. This fish had a hook in it's jaw, and a Senko stuck in it's mouth, and it went after another Senko 10-20 seconds later. I just looked all over my computer for the photo i KNOW I have of this fish with 2 Senkos in it's mouth and can't find it. What a bummer dag nabbit!

This is the best explanation that I have read on the subject. I didn't write it, but it's great info. It's by a Florida Fishing guide. _________________________________________________________ I rarely throw any bait for 20 minutes without at least picking up another rod and making a few cast with something different. If you pitch a jig all day without a bite, you're not on fish. Look at it this way. If a 100 more guys were out there with you fishing all day in a tournament, at the end of the day a whole lot of them are going to weigh in limits of fish. Obviously, a lot of things were going on that you either didn't know about or didn't take advantage of. You say you knew they were there. How do you know? If you caught them a week before, chances are they moved. This would be a good bet if it were spring, late summer, or late fall. At each of these times, the bass will be in transition. The word pattern is way over-used. Many people think that if they are catching a lot of bass using a spinnerbait, this is a pattern. This is not a pattern, it is a technique. A pattern is a certain bait, fished at a particular depth, in a particular manner, on a specific type of cover or structure. If you can take that spinnerbait to other places with the same make up and have it produce again and again, anywhere you find the same type of cover or structure, at that same depth, then you have a pattern. Let's say you are catching these spinerbait bass at 10 feet on secondary points that have chunk rock. If this turns out to actually be a pattern, all you would have to do is find other secondary points with chunk rock, fish the spinnerbait at 10 feet, and you will catch bass. As you can see, it's just not that easy or often that you put a true pattern together. Most tournaments are won on areas or spots, not patterns. What you had here sounds like a spot that the fish left. If they were there and simply turned off for whatever reason, you would have had to change your presentation or bait and create reaction strikes. The vast majority of bass are caught because of reaction strikes rather than feeding. When it gets tough, the strike zone shrinks. This means the bait must be placed closer to the bass to get the reaction. If bass are in an area, once you find the spot or spots they are on, they can and will be caught. You simply have to do something to make them react. If I fish a bait for 10 minutes on a spot that I know is holding bass, and I still haven't had a strike, something's wrong. Bass don't simply pack up and move, other than when they are in transition. This happens as the seasons change and during the spawning period. You can establish a true pattern and then have it fall apart gradually or overnight. Even if it falls apart overnight, a true pattern would still produce a couple of fish. This is the reason I have never pre-fished or practiced for tournaments for long periods as some guys do. If you start practice 2 weeks before a tournament, chances are when it starts you are going to be fishing a pattern that is on its way out. You win tournaments by putting together a pattern that is just coming on. This way the fishing keeps getting stronger as the tournament progresses. It's the same with areas or spots. You want to be fishing spots that the bass are just moving into rather than off of. This way your bass are replenishing themselves. It takes a great deal of experience and knowledge to be able to put all of this together. Once you get to a point with your fishing, you know where fish are going to or coming from at any particular time. This is when you can stay on them all year and not have those fishless days. The bottom line is, if you are on fish, anybody can catch them. The tough part is getting on them and staying on them. When they do make moves, they are not a mile at a time. They are gradual moves most of which are vertical. Study everything you can get your hands on about bass behavior and their needs. Then use your head. Never fish a spot or bait all day without a strike. If they are there, do something to make them react. You don't catch bass by waiting for them to feed. You catch them by making something happen.

Oddly enough Raul, my lake is teeming with baby spinner baits, and I saw a female Zara Spook giving birth to a solid white crankbait this spring. But I get your point.

Let's say that I live in a state where there are no lizards. Is it a good idea to throw soft plastic lizards in the ponds I fish? I figured bass might go nuts for something they've never seen, either in the natural forage base, or from anglers. Then again, they might ignore a lizard profile just to protect themselves against an unknown species or other reasons? Along the same lines, I was watching "Bassmasters" and a pro was saying "everyone is throwing a certain lure, these fish have seen this lure for years, so I'm going to throw something completely different to catch fish" What's everyone's thoughts on this? I mean if a lake has a main forage base of shad, and for years, many are throwing a shad pattern at that lake, is it really wise to switch it up and throw something completely different? Perhaps even a bait that's not natural to that state or lake? Todd (yes I know there are Lizards in my home state, but had to ask anyway)

I guarentee, if someone here puts together a three day bass trip on BR, and we get 4,5,6,7,8+ guys, I could get us a killer deal at a great lodge. I'm talking about $250.00 a day or so, which would include all the margaritas you can drink, all the water and juice you can drink, a great breakfast, delicious lunch, tasty dinner, and a room to sleep in. Not top mention a great guide, fishing license, gas, etc etc. No guarentees but I became friendly with the manager and gave him a bunch of my photos for his website. He said he'd set me up good if i ever come back, especially with a crew. You guys think fishing is fun now? Just wait until the motor starts up on the boat and you start heading to the most rediculous cover and structure you've ever seen. And when you get there, it's literally one 7 pounder after another, all day long. (until you catch a 13# of course) Let me know if theres a bunch of people who want to go and I'll TRY and set soethign up for a big group. Feb and March is when spawn is and the fish get huge. June and July is when fishing is at it's "peak" and I can almost guarentee, you'll pull in 50-100 fish every day. Most likely 75-100. I pulled in about 40 fish when i went and it was not close to the best time of year. T

Nice Island Bass! where are you staying in Mazatlan and why whon't you be hitting El Salto? 400 bucks or so gets you 3 awesome meals, all the water and margaritas you can drink, plus fishing licence, guide, and 12 hours in heaven! Go if you can bro, you'll absolutely NEVER forget it. Only problem with El Salto is that fishing it makes you so d**n spoiled. Now i'm scared when i catch a 4 pounder here in Boulder, 'm just gunna laugh at it and let it go like a dink.

I think I noticed some people fishing from shore. There are a few houses on the lake, including my guides house. There were a couple old roads leading in there as well. It's a huge body of water. About 27,000 acres if I'm not mistaken. The water temp when i was there recently was amazing at 91 degrees. All we did all day, from sun up to sun down, is catch 6,7, and 8 pound bass. 4's and 5's were just a dink. We pulled in a couple double digit bass and I guarentee if I was there for 3 days, i'd have caught a 13+. Almost everyone I talked to who stayed there 3 days caught an 11 or bigger. It's completely surreal. You sit in the boat and with all motors off, all you hear, every half second - two seconds, is bass swirling and jumping and hunting in the water, and bait fish running and jumping for their lives. Big schools of Talapia and Shad everywhere! Protein! That's all these bass do is swim, and eat protein all day, it's rediculous! Go down there in Feb and March when they spawn for a week and try and catch a world record! Although I think the next world record might very well come out of CUBA!!!!!! I've been there, and never fished, and i regret it. There's some lakes in Cuba that hold some serious treasure bass. Go google Cuba Bass fishing.

I reccomend that if you fish El Salto you C- Rig lizards. Why? Here's why, as well as a few other shots I took of the amazing cover, points, beautiful water, and some football fish I caught.

Haven't been here in a month. just came to make a post about "what exactly can a bass see at night?" I wonder if they can see as good as us at dusk or better or worse. And what is it they see. I think profile and vibration is very important at night. I've caught them on lots of stuff, but nothing touches the Rapala #10 husky Jerk 3/8oz firetiger seen here. http://www.bluelaketackle.com/rapala-husky-jerk-434-38oz-firetiger-pi-8555.html?type=jpg The thing slays it for me at night AFTER dusk. Great night lure, especially in a lake or pond with perch in it. Give it a try bro, you'll love it. Todd

I can't believe I'm saying this but, I'M GOING TO EL SALTO!!!!!!!!! My girlfriend and I were having trouble picking our next vacation spot in October. Puerto Vallerta and Mazatlan? I learned that El Salto is 1 hour from Mazatlan, so guess where were headed in October?! Weeeeeeeee! Anyway, does anyone have any tips, recomendations, ideas, knowlege, or ANYTHING they can add in this thread, to make my trip to ElSalto as amazing as it possibly can be? I would LOVE it if you guys can tell me things ranging from the least expensive, yet still very good guide services, to recomendations for bringing my gear or renting it? Is there a way to get a great half or full day deal I don't know about that someone here does? If anyone has fished it before, where should I fish on the lake, or should I just let the guides guide me? Are swimbaits a must? Since I fish spinning reels, should I bring braid? ANY info would be awesome! Cheers, Todd

I just started fishing spinnerbaits. I've fioshed them before with no luck and I lost confidence. I found this pond with lots of grass this week and thought, "I'll try a spinner bait and "tick" it off the top of the grass" just like I read on BR. Well it worked and I caught a few, but didn't know if I should just reel it in the same speed the whole way, or let it fall into the grass and then reel in, then let it fall again, then go real fast, then slow, all in the same retrieve. What works best for ya'll? Also, what exactly do people mean when they talk about "Ripping", a spinner bait? Is it self explanitory? Is it just yanking it real quick through the grass or other vegitation?

Agreed. There's two different ways to go here Mr Roberts, depending on where you're fishing here on the front range. When fishing a coverless lake/pond, you have no choice but to do 2 things. . 1. Fish deep structure with cranks and jigs and plastics 2. Fish areas of shade if there are any. Any docks, overhanging trees. or anything else that creates shade is always a good spot to start. When fishing a place like Pella or Sawhill, you don't have to fish deep structure. You can pound all that awesome cover with Frogs, C- rigs, T-rigs etc etc and really slay some good ones. They're all in those thick weeds on days like that. I caught this one yesterday fishing deep structure in my new boat. (a little pontoon o got) Everyone else was spanking the banks in their float tubes and boats, not catching anyhting I could see. 20.5 inches a little over 5#

If you are really having problems getting through the mats, texas rig Brush Hogs, Fat Ika's, and Senkos, (heavier then most 5'' worms)with a 1/2oz or bigger weight. Brush hogs have been slaying it for me lately. Either weight them or don't, I'd experiment. When I'm fishing weeds that are medium tough, or tough to penitrate I'll peg a bullet weight about 8 inches from the worm(Carolina rig). I'll let it fall to the bottom, and twitch it back to me, or sweep my rod, reel in the slack, sweep my rod, reel in the slack, repeat. If you peg it right, it gives the Hog a nice little action. I really do love the frog bite, almost nothing is as extreme and exiting. All top water bites are super fun, but with a frog, I feel like the bass really do attack it with a certain anger and explosiveness that can be second to none. Read RW's, posts on the magic lure. Get a jig down under those weeds if you can. Black and Blue is always a screaming choice. Have fun and let us know how it goes. P.S.- The bass in your avitar is closer to 4-5 pounds IMO tough to tell though. Todd

RW I went to BPS and as far as YO ZURI the only thing I found was the Hybrid 8#/clear .011 diameter. I bought some. Is this still going to be okay? I am still blown away that I can get 850 yards for $5.50. How is that possible? Did I buy the "cheap version" of what you told me to get? Or is this just the best darn line for the money on the market? With that price, for that much line, it beat everything by far at BPS. I hope this isn't one of those times where the ole "You get what you pay for" goes into effect. I'm gunna re-line my reels now, and look forward to trying it. I really hope I love it, and it casts smooth and far, along with being tough as nails. If so, it's the best deal in fishing.

Just to clarify, I have spincasting reels. Looking for the best flurocarbon for far smooth casts and toughness. I think I remember LBH or RW telling me a few great lines in a previous post I made, but now I can't find it. I DO remember the P-line was in there and I was told the 8# P-line is stronger than the 10# Triline? Since I couldnt remember, I just re posted. Sorry. In any case, any other recomendations?

Hey guys, I'm about 20 minutes away from leaving for BPS. I'm going to fish my soft plastics on Fluorocarbon from now on. Whats the best line for SPINCASTING? I've tried Mono and nothing over 10# test will cast far, so that should give some indication as to what Fluorocarbon might work with my gear. I need very tough line that will cast really far. Please help? Thanks!

Have been fishing this pond in Boulder. A couple anglers I've talked to have pulled out 7&8 pounders there. Thats HUGE for Colorado. I've only fished it 30 times or so. The last 15 times or so, I've been fishing this huge flat. It has deep water access and just looks like it would be an amazing spot for bass to hang out. I have fished it during the day over and over again, not catching a darn thing. I wind up moving down the bank or to the other side of the 35 acre pond. I went over to this pond last night, about an hour before dark, with a friend. First time we've fished it at night. I walked to the end of the pond and started fishing this flat again. Nothing. It got dark. I started thinking about this thread oddly enough and I tied on a Silver X-rap. 6 or 7 casts or so to this flat and I got slammed. In no more than 3 feet of water I caught my personal best of this year so far at 5 pounds 4 ounces. I lost another one that sounded and felt huge. My friend heard the massive splash and came running over to me as I lost my Rapala and the fish. I threw my rod and acted like a 4 year old for about 2 minutes, then settled down to fish some more. Didn't catch anything for about an hour and left. Just got back from that same pond 10 minutes ago. I site fished and threw X-raps, a black and blue jig, and swimbaits to the flat. Nothing. Didn't see or catch any fish. I can't wait to go back there tonight at about 8:30. I guarentee I catch a monster no more than 10 feet from shore. Night fishing is addicting. Use the banks to your advantage and slay 'em.

I wonder if the pond itself can change bass behavior? The pond I fish that has the most noticable change in bass movement, from daylight to dark, is a pond where there is no obvious cover off shore. No weeds, no visable trees, docks, etc etc. In ponds with obvious cover, I think it's eaiser to "fish the same spots you do during the daylight" because the bass are relating to this cover a huge percentage of the 24 hour day. With a pond that has no/not a lot of cover, it seems many bass relate to deeper structure during daylight hours, and move shallow when the sun goes down. Does this mean theres no bass out there at night where they were during the day? Of course not. But when I fish my ponds that don't have a lot of cover in them, I notice a huge difference in my strike ratio when I fish near shore at night as compared with when I fish the shorelines during the day. Also, when fishing a pond without a lot of cover, I notice a higher strike rate in deeper water during the day, than I do fishing shallower water during the day. I can't say if this is universal bass behavior with ponds like this, I can just say what I've seen in the 1 little year I've fished these types of ponds at night. Also, catt mentioned color is not as important as contrast. He's right, but don't forget there's some great baits out there with 3 or 4 contrasting colors, that can produce amazing strikes at night, like the rapala #10 Huskie Jerk. That thing has really paid off for me after dusk.

Absolutely no doubt bass come in close to shore to hunt bait fish after dark, at least in the multiple ponds i fish. I've been noticing it in nearly every pond i throw a lie into. You can try sight fishing on many of the ponds I fish during the day and not see a thing near shore. You can cast and cast and not get a bite near shore. Then, when the sun goes down, everything noticably changes. Of course fish can be caught near shore during the day, but at night, the shoreline comes alive in my opinion. my friends and I wait till the sun goes down and tie on rapalas. For some reason, this year, the #11(i think) fire tiger has been KILLING it every night on lots of ponds when casted down the shore line. I fish a TON an hour before dusk, and will fish until 10:30, well into darkness. The changes are obvious when the sun goes down. Bass in my ponds get ballsy, daring, and unafraid to hunt in shallow water near shore. Throw an x-rap or fire tiger rapala, fish it all different ways until you get slammed. then, stick with that retrieve until the fish tell you different. Cast down shore off a nice point, or to a place where water is shallow, but might have some deeper water, or a drop off next to it, either jerk or swim it back to you, listen or look for a splash and bro...... HOLD ON TIGHT!

No idea why I never have tried whacky rigging, but I'm going to try it this weekend. For some reason, probably cause I'm an idiot, I can't find any articles on whacky rigging on the site when I do a search. I'm sure I'm doing somehting wrong, as I've seen a few posted. Anyway, Does it matter which direction you put the hook through the worm? I noticed, with O-rings, the hook sits horizontally with the worm, and some pictures withOUT the o-ring, people are sticking the hook in the other way. I won't be using o-rings. Is the whacky rig retrieve more of a popping and twitching then a sweep of the rod? What's worked best for you guys? T

Great stuff as usual guys, thanks. I find it very interesting how one pond can have a certain sized ceiling for growth, while a pond 100 yards away, can be completely different.

I'm looking for huge bass. Everything is relative obviously. A huge bass here in Colorado is 8 pounds, with the state record being 11.6. that's lunch for the bass in Texas, Florida, and Cali. My question is... What kinds of things should I be looking for in a bass habitat, both in and out of the water, that might create a state record, or at least some monsters? For example, in a 10 mile radius around my house, theres 30 different ponds or so. I've seen 8 pounders pulled out of 2 personally. I've pulled 5 pounders out of some. But what will make one pond have a maximum sized bass of 5 pounds, while the one down the road, has a max size of 9 pounds? As far as I see it, many of the ponds have the same forrage base. Things such as Frogs, mice, Blue gill, croppy. and cray fish lead the way in most ponds I fish. So what else is there in a pond that creates a relative huge bass? Pond size? Pond depth? 15 other things I don't know about? T

RW, that's weird. Can't believe NP's are not on that site. Check this out. http://www.coloradofisherman.com/fish_species_of_colorado.php also, google, "colorado northern pike" if you are a little interested.

Great stuff guys, thanks. Caught a nice 4 pounder tonight but nothing "Hippo like." I'll let you know when I get a monster. Yes, there are pike here in Colorado. Nice ones. Tiger Muskie, wipers and walleye too. The NP's can be found in many mountain lakes and rivers. My friends love catching them on flys. By the way, some of the flys my friends tie for fly fishing, are some of the most stunning, functional, beautiful LMB baits I've ever seen in action. They're mind boggling in fact. Unreal action and looks. The big ones can be casted with spinning gear. I'm going to try some soon. I watch them yank out 2 and 3 pound bass on their fly rods and their beautiful home made flys all the time. But I digress. Thanks for the tips, very helpful as always. Todd

I know 8+ pounds isnt a "Big Fish" in some parts of the country but for Colorado, it's a cow. 11.6 is the state record. I've been doing really well the last 10 times out. I've been catching lots of 2's and 3's, some 4's and 5's and some good volume as well. The thing is, I've been hunting "bigger fish" lately. Using swim baits and bigger jerks, and bigger rattle traps and such. I've also been starting to fish at night more. The last three times out, and I'm not kidding, I have hooked into fish that are absolut monsters for Colorado. 8+ pounds in my opinion. Bigger if I really must be honest here. They all took my drag out like it was no problem, and my drag is set medium high, and isn't easy to pull. In the past, I have caught my share of 5 pound fish. I know exactly what they feel like on my rods. The 3 fish I've hooked into the last 3 nights are so much bigger than 5 pounds, it almost makes me sick to think about losing every single one of them. Every one of them has broken off. So I ask you. For me to land an 8-12 pound bass,once I have her hooked... 1. Should I loosen my drag once I have her hooked and let her take my line more, while fighting her? 2. Should I be using braid exclusively? I've lost all 3 of these hawgs on 10 pound Trilene. It's the biggest I can get away with on spinning gear without losing casting distance? 3. How often should I change my line? It wasn's corkscrewing last night when I lost this pig, but I admit, I didn't check for roughness or freying near the bait all night 4. What's the best and easiest knot? I don't know if my knots stink, my line stinks, if I'm not changing my line often enough, if my line just gets roughed up near the bait due to contact with brush while I'm fishing or what. All I know is I keep getting broken off when I land an absolute monster. Please help. Any tips that I might not be thinking of would be great too. I'm dying to catch the state record, or at least an 8+ which I KNOW are in this pond. Thanks in advance.