Bass_Akwards

I've read/heard great bass fishermen/women say/write "Matching the Hatch IS important. Sounds simple right? The thing is, I've also heard other great bass fishermen/women say "Matching the Hatch" is absolutely NOT important. Who's right and why? T

HERE'S a nice little mama I caught recently. Colorado style. She was just over 5 pounds and completely choked down a lipless crank bait

Paul, I find this question very interesting, especially the way you worded it. Water temperature actually DOESN'T matter in a way also. Meaning, if you're a great fisherman, no matter what the water temperature, you're going to catch a fish. In other words, if KVD goes tournament fishing on a lake that has 78 degree water temps, or if he goes on a lake where the water temps are 57 degrees, IT DOESNT MATTER! He's most likely going to catch fish. If your question was "Does water temperature effect the behavior of fish, thats a very simple question, and I'm surprised an angler with your knowlege actually asked the question in the first place. I'm not sure if any of the guys who replied to this post have read any of your past posts, but I found them to be very informative and well written. This post has me kinda confused. P.S. I fish the front range as you do, and carry a thermometer with me at all times. I've really only been seriously bass fishing for about a year now. I came to this forum the day I started, and one of the first things I learned when I came to this site, is how important water temperature is to the behavior of cold blooded bass. Hope to see you out there soon! Todd

Woooa, why did the photo come out so huge? Did I do something wrong? It's only a 2 meg file. t

Got my first one yesterday here in Boulder. 5.1 pounds. God I freaking love fishing.

What lipless cranks have you guys found to be a big producer? T

......Coldwater fishing? I rekindled my love for LMB fishing last June, so I haven't been fishing that long. But I slayed them all summer and had a blast. In about September, when the water temps fell into the 60's, I started getting skunked regularly. It's now been about 20 straight times that I've gone out, some in sept, some in Oct, and some now. Ive gone to 3 different ponds at which I slayed them all last summer, and I can't for the life of me, catch a darn thing. I've tried everything. Jigs, cranks, spinners, Senkos, brush hogs, rattle traps, jerks, FAT IKA'S, you name it. I've changed colors, I've downsized, I've slowed down, I've sped up, and now I'm fishing so slow that I can watch an episode of Seinfeld from one cast to the next. Any suggestions for fishing clear water thats about 45- 50 degrees? I have fun fishing, even if I dont catch anything, but I'd like to improve this part of my game if I can. What are you guys doing to nab fish in these conditions. Remember, I'm a shore fisherman, and can't target specific structure since I can't see it. I try to target isolated weed beds and other cover if I can. T

Anyone fishing the front range catching anything yet? Been out twice, nothing for me yet. Haven't noticed any pre spawn activity yet either. Water temps are about 50, so it seems we might have a couple weeks to go yet! T

I have what my psycologist likes to call.... "Bait ***"

Funny, I came here to make the same post. Is it as good for LMB as it is SMB? t

Listening to Kevin Van D the other day, he was saying that many times Craw fish will tend to be the same or close to the same color as the area they live in, to better disguise themselves from preditors. When picking a fat ika to purchase, should I be looking at colors that match the bottom of the ponds I fish, or does the water color/clarity have more to do with my color choice? I fish mostly clear to slightly stained water. Secondly, I remember RW saying he fishes the Ika like a Senko. With 6'' - 12'' horizontal sweeps, letting it pause for 10-20 seconds. RW,(and others) do you mix it up as well? Do you ever hop it or use up and down sweeps as opposed to sideways? Do you ever pop it like a jerk bait? Swim it? If so, how are the results? I'm about to order some Ika's. Some color choices I was considering are... Chartreuse GN w/ ch flk Black Fading watermelon w/ bl flk June Bug Which two should I get for now? Thanks!

I just dont get it! This shouldn't be this big of a problem, but it is. I'm wasting money on line I shouldn't be buying because it's all coiled and lame right out of the box. I'm really confused. I have spin casting gear. Am I to understand there's no 12+ pound test that I can buy, that isn't impossible to cast really far on a consistant basis with a pfluger supreme? If theres a thin diameter line thats really amazing for spinning tackle and far smooth casting someone PLEASE tell me what it is because 10 pound test seems to be as big as I can go with the lines I've tried. I need better than 10# test to wrestle fish out of the weeds sometimes, and don't wanna go to a bait casting reel.

just bought my first 2 spools of P-line CXX x-tra stong 12 pound test and started spooling my brand new reel (pfluger supreme) with it. I noticed as I was spooling it, the line was anything but straight. It started coiling right out of the box. I kept spooling anyway, hoping the coiling would work itself out. I went outside and test casted and it only casted like 40 yards and it was completely unsmooth. As the line sat there after my cast, it was all coiled . Am I doing something wrong? Seems like the line should be nice and smooth and straight and not coiling out of the box but both boxes seem coiled.. I need really long smooth casts, and just spent 100 bucks on a reel but I can't seem to cast worth a d**n. The line seems very thick, is there something else I should be using for my rod and reel combo?? (7' st croix avid rod) I'm very confused as P-line has come highly recomended on this board. Every time I try to go above 10 pound test with any spinning reel it seems it just is to thick and wont cast very well. Heeeeelp! T

Heading down for the spring classic in Denver in about 4 hours. We got Skeet Reese, Alton Jones, Clunn and others from 2-8pm for meet and greet and other fun stuff. should be sweet! If you're going to the Denver Spring Classic today? Let me know, maybe we can say "hello" to eachother. I'm heading down with a few friends. T

Thanks guys, good stuff so far. SMCENTEE mentioned that he loves the Daiwa Tournament SS reel. His discription made the reel sound very good for long casts. He also implied the reel isn't really smooth. Have any of you guys fished this reel? Do you love it? Are there others like it out there that have an elongated spool, that are even smoother or "better?"

Can someone post all of the do's and don'ts of fishing specific lures with specific lines? For example, I know some line sinks and some doesnt, this effects the lure presentation. Which lures should you use with Florocarbon? What about Mono? Howabout braid? What line should I, and shouldn't I use when fishing Cranks, Jerks, Soft Plastics, Buzzbaits & Jigs? Also, when is using braid a bad Idea? Thanks!

I am a shore fisherman mostly, and need a spinning reel and rod combo that is going to make super far casts, with nice smoothness. I'll be hitting Bass Pro Shops Spring Classic on Friday, what reel(s) are great for long casts? I was told a Shamano Stradic is nice, but I think I was told they don't make them anymore. True? I've got about $250 bucks to spend on a new rod and spin casting reel (I know it aint much), what should I get? The reel is most important, the rod is easier for me to figure out what I want by feel. I fish EVERYTHING. Car. Rig, T-Rig, Cranks, Buzzbaits, Jerks, Swims, Ika's, spinners, Jigs, you name it. Thanks in advance!

Hey paul! When are you getting your gear out to fish the front range? Do you start fishing right when the Ice melts? Do you wait until the last two weeks in April? I'm dying to get out and wet a line! Saw some nice 7+ pounders caught last year in early March! Todd

Hey guys, Most of the ponds I fish, have bluegill as the main forage for bass. I never see shad. As far as cranks and jerks, what Bluegill patterend lures have you guys had the most success catching LMB's with? Thanks as always, Todd

Try some of what I did starting last summer. I rekindled my love for fishing and got back into it in June of last year. I only fish from shore, so I used google earth, and located 20 ponds within 15 miles of my house. Then I started calling the Fish and Game department from my state, as well as parks and open spaces to name a couple. I talked to biologists, and others who had access to topography maps for some of the ponds, and learned. I came to this site and asked what seemsed like a million questions, and have learned a ton. There's so much knowlege here that when any single problem you have as a fisherman, can literally be solved in seconds, just by coming home from fishing, and posting the problem in a thread here. You want to know what lures work best in the fall and why? Come here. If you have no clue what soft plastics to start with, just come here and ask. My advice for shore fishing is to listen to the guys who have the boats. When we fish from shore we dont have the luxury of fish and depth finders, advanced topography maps, etc etc, but what the guys in the boats do, thats what you should do. Things like... 1. Targeting heavy cover 2. understanding what the fish's main forage is at whatever pond youre fishing. 3. Understanding water temperature and how it effects the fish 4. Using the correct lures for the particular structure and cover youre fishing 5. Having basic knowlege of bass behavior like you've already read about 6. Look for things like stumps, points, dropoffs, trees, hydrilla and other bass hangouts, cast past them and let your bait wirk it's way THROUGH ambush points. Don't cast AT them, cast OVER them. 7. Some believe in the barometer more than others. Some believe in moon phases and how they effect bass behavior more than others, but my advice is to try and find a pattern with both. If you fish for three months or a year or whatever and see no corolation between the barometric pressure and fish activity, I'd be very surprised. The 10- 2 hours hours before a big drop in barometric pressure has always increased how many fish I catch and how active they are. Do the same thing with the moon. I've noticed, however ironic, that the bite was always much better here in Boulder Colorado, when the moon is only half full. Werid. Perhaps I'm full of it and just fish with more confidence, when the moon is half full, therefore increasing my numbers, but it's always a good idea to chart the moon and barometer and how it effects fishing where you live. 8. There's a big difference between a good "pattern" and just finding a good lure thats working well that day or a series of days. But either way, if you find either one, don't change. Keep tossing that lure from shore untill it just isn't working anymore. 9. Dont get discouraged if you are slamming them one day or even three days in a row in a certain part of a pond or ponds you're fishing, and then come back and don't catch anything for a day at the same exact place you were slaying them at a couple days ago. It happens. Move if you don't find fish after 30 minutes or so, and try somewhere different on the pond. Hit new structure. Cast to new cover and see what happens. 10. Get good gear bro. Have a rod and reel and line that can cast as far as possible. Us shore fishermen can just pull our boats up next to the best cover and pitch and flip, we have to target cover 60 yards out and cast to it. In my opinion, I catch more fish that lots of other shore anglers I see fishing, simply because I can cast to cover they dont get to because they dont have the reel or rod to do it. As a matter fo fact, I am getting even better stuff this year to make even longer casts, and people have recomended the Shamano stradic 2500fh or the Sadona 2500fb for a great reel for under 100 bucks to do what I need. Hope that helps a little. Cheers

Worst part of bass fishing for me, at least sometimes, is fishing pressure from complete morons. Or clueless idiots. I fish from shore. I get there at 7:30 in the morning, for example. It's a goregous morning, water all calm, fish jumping, noiseless, and thereaputic. Then out of nowhere, some moron with will show up with their dog, will throw a stick in the water not 10 feet from where im fishing. The dog will of course jump in after it and completely disturb what little peace I had, not to mention spook every fish within catching distance. Ya also gotta love when you're fishing alone, or even with a friend, and some clueless fool who has an entire shoreline to fish, or even an entire pond, or ponds, to fish, and they stand right next to you and start fishing anyway, casting into places you were going to cast. t

Guys, I have a question about this. I live in Colorado and water temperature here doesn't hit the 60's until the middle of May or even later. Traditionally in May it's 70's during the day and 40's at night here in boulder. I've heard through the grapevine, however unreliable, that bass start spawning here in March, but that would mean the water temps would be pretty darn cold. I'm really confused. Does water temperature effect the spawn here in Colorado, or is it more of a seasonal thing? Does anyone know when they'll be spawning in a place like Boulder? T

Fantastic stuff guys! Thanks!

What makes someone "Good" with a crank bait? What are the most common mistakes made by people who aren't very good at fishing a crank bait? T

Thanks everyone. Great job.