I read about this book in a bass fishing magazine article and ordered it. You may have read about this book that relates what John Hope found out by tracking the 10 pound plus ladies (and other bass) to note their behavior in the wild, not like Dr. Keith Jones' scientific experiments in a controlled atmosphere.

 

It is a very easy book to read and the findings are very interesting.

 

The writer blasts some of the myths we have about bass, especially the myths about the big ones over 10 pounds.

 

So if you have time this winter and want an easy to read and extremely informative book about that little green monster that can drive us nuts, I suggest you look for this book on the Internet and get a copy.

 

John Hope's Trackin' Trophies by Jesse Miller.

 

I think you will enjoy the story and its findings which are very interesting. In fact, I have a tournament on Lake Gaston this weekend and plan to fish it a different way then I have always fished Lake Gaston based on John Hope's information. Of course, I have to get my boat out of the shop (bent trolling motor shaft which I do every other year) to put his suggestions in action but hopefully I will get my boat by this Thursday to get ready for the tournament.

I enjoyed reading John Hope's studies, big bass - very interesting creatures.

I’ve never been more disappointed in a fishing book than with that one. Ralph Mann’s 2 part In-Fisherman articles on Hope and his tracking studies was much more informative than the book itself. I got the sense from reading the book that he really didn’t want to divulge any “secrets” still at the time of writing. YMMV

Josh Alwines Lunker Lore book has some good info on catching big bass not tracking them. 

Books like Murphy's In Pursuit of Giant Bass are both educational and help to catch big bass.

My experience is learning enough to locate, understand big bass basic servival habits and catch them. Too much scientific data can overwhelm anglers filling thier heads with useless information.

Tom

 

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Josh Alwines Lunker Lore book has some good info on catching big bass not tracking them. 

Books like Murphy's In Pursuit of Giant Bass are both educational and help to catch big bass.

My experience is learning enough to locate, understand big bass basic servival habits and catch them. Too much scientific data can overwhelm anglers filling thier heads with useless information.

Tom

 

^ ah yes. That.

The last sentence just may be the secret to life as well. Sifting thru the s*** to find the diamonds. 
 

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Too much scientific data can overwhelm anglers filling their heads with useless information.

 

Tom

 

3 minutes ago, 813basstard said:

^ ah yes. That.

The last sentence just may be the secret to life as well. Sifting thru the s*** to find the diamonds. 
 

One could argue it applies to those seeking forum message board advice, also ?

The source of information on fishing that I find the most interesting are scientific journal articles.  They are written in a way that assumes you have at least a masters level degree in biology so they can be hard to digest.  I sometimes spend a lot of time looking up the definition of scientific terms they use but I enjoy trying to figure it all out and I learn a lot in the process.  Most of it does not alter or improve my fishing but I usually find it interesting.  There is very little of it that I would classify as useless.  I'm sure I'm a little weird in this regard.  The vast majority of angler's find these journal articles boring and useless.  

 

I agree with @Team9nine about message boards.  Pick a topic pertaining to bass fishing and ask yourself what does this forum say about that topic.  The answer is probably everything and we all have to decide who's opinions we respect and believe and who's we do not.  That's not always easy.

 

 

 

https://www.insideline.net/features/2016/10/31/tracking-trophy-bass-with-john-hope

An interesting summary. 

16 hours ago, Sam said:

I read about this book in a bass fishing magazine article and ordered it. You may have read about this book that relates what John Hope found out by tracking the 10 pound plus ladies (and other bass) to note their behavior in the wild, not like Dr. Keith Jones' scientific experiments in a controlled atmosphere.

 

It is a very easy book to read and the findings are very interesting.

 

The writer blasts some of the myths we have about bass, especially the myths about the big ones over 10 pounds.

 

So if you have time this winter and want an easy to read and extremely informative book about that little green monster that can drive us nuts, I suggest you look for this book on the Internet and get a copy.

 

John Hope's Trackin' Trophies by Jesse Miller.

 

I think you will enjoy the story and its findings which are very interesting. In fact, I have a tournament on Lake Gaston this weekend and plan to fish it a different way then I have always fished Lake Gaston based on John Hope's information. Of course, I have to get my boat out of the shop (bent trolling motor shaft which I do every other year) to put his suggestions in action but hopefully I will get my boat by this Thursday to get ready for the tournament.

Targeting 10 lbers in a tournement! I like your style. Goodluck. Get pics.

7 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Targeting 10 lbers in a tournement! I like your style. Goodluck. Get pics.

GreenPig, I know of a wonderful gentleman who is a fantastic bass fisherman, although he has slowed down as he has gotten older, who throws hand made one-half ounce jigs with Zoom pigs and he does fantastic in tournaments.

 

He told me that all you need is five good bites for the six hour tournaments and he gets them.

 

I am a Type A so I go for five in the well and then try my luck with his jig system, but so far have not caught anything over two pounds. I will try again for the last five club tournaments this year or head to my double secret pond to give them a try.

7 hours ago, txchaser said:

https://www.insideline.net/features/2016/10/31/tracking-trophy-bass-with-john-hope

An interesting summary. 

Yes, I have that document. Thanks for sharing it with the gang.

 

The book is really very interesting. Good and easy read.

 

Looking forward to putting some of the findings into operation in the near future and next year.

The proof is in the pudding! ☺️

On 9/22/2020 at 8:18 AM, Sam said:

He told me that all you need is five good bites for the six hour tournaments and he gets them.

Most fisherman fish a tournament like any other day fishing. They hope to catch a limit and if they are skilled enough, they do much of the time.  This will win a tournament on a day when no one catches fish.  Consistent winners aren't fishing for the same fish.  All they want is a few big bites.  If you want to be a consistent winner, fish for big fish. The small fish will take care of themselves.    

On 10/3/2020 at 7:43 AM, Captain Phil said:

Most fisherman fish a tournament like any other day fishing. They hope to catch a limit and if they are skilled enough, they do much of the time.  This will win a tournament on a day when no one catches fish.  Consistent winners aren't fishing for the same fish.  All they want is a few big bites.  If you want to be a consistent winner, fish for big fish. The small fish will take care of themselves.    

This is a very hard skill to learn.

This is when the Ghosts of Fishes Past and the space between the ears starts to talk

Then they bring in their friends, Doubt and the 2nd guess gang.

All while the jeopardy theme song is playing....

4 hours ago, BassNJake said:

This is a very hard skill to learn.

This is when the Ghosts of Fishes Past and the space between the ears starts to talk

Then they bring in their friends, Doubt and the 2nd guess gang.

All while the jeopardy theme song is playing....

The best way to learn a new skill is to avoid doing what you always do.  This is hard because most weekend anglers go fishing to catch fish, not to learn a new way to catch them.  Stand in the weigh-in line next to someone with two eight pound bass in his bag and you will feel pretty silly with a limit of 12" fish.  There are techniques that specifically target big fish.  Fishing for big bass is hard. You won't get as many bites.   You may not get any.  If you stick with it, you will learn to fish for big fish instead of just any fish.

On 9/21/2020 at 12:25 PM, Team9nine said:

 

One could argue it applies to those seeking forum message board advice, also ?

 

Profound!

On 9/21/2020 at 1:05 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

The source of information on fishing that I find the most interesting are scientific journal articles.  They are written in a way that assumes you have at least a masters level degree in biology so they can be hard to digest.  I sometimes spend a lot of time looking up the definition of scientific terms they use but I enjoy trying to figure it all out and I learn a lot in the process.  Most of it does not alter or improve my fishing but I usually find it interesting.  There is very little of it that I would classify as useless.  I'm sure I'm a little weird in this regard.  The vast majority of angler's find these journal articles boring and useless.  

 

I agree with @Team9nine about message boards.  Pick a topic pertaining to bass fishing and ask yourself what does this forum say about that topic.  The answer is probably everything and we all have to decide who's opinions we respect and believe and who's we do not.  That's not always easy.

 

 

 

Where's a good source for scholarly articles/papers on the subject? I've been looking but haven't found much.

Michigander, although some of our fellow Forum members may disagree with me, the one scholarly paper on the subject of bass fishing that I know and can understand is Dr. Keith Jones' book, Knowing Bass, The Secret to Catching More Fish.

 

Although Dr. Jones uses scientific data and nomenclature, the book can be understood by anyone who wants to know more about that little green monster. And it has charts and graphs, too!

 

There are a lot of universities that offer fisheries biology as a major and I am sure someone along the way has penned a paper for their masters or Ph.D. on the subject of bass behavior. Check out this list and you may be able to get into their archives and locate the topics you are seeking.

 

https://www.universities.com/programs/fishing-and-fisheries-sciences-and-management-degrees

 

I think the entire list is longer but these are the best schools for fisheries biology.

 

You can contact Northern Michigan, University of Michigan, or Michigan State to find out what they can offer you in your search.

 

Good luck and please remember to check in from time to time to let us know how your search is progressing.

10 hours ago, Michigander said:

Where's a good source for scholarly articles/papers on the subject? I've been looking but haven't found much.

The best way to find interesting articles it through references in other articles.  Of course you need a starting place.  I would suggest you start with https://scholar.google.com. It's just gives you google search limited to scholarly articles.  There is plenty of free stuff available on the web.  You will find references to articles that sound interesting but are not free.  That can be very frustrating because they are usually very expensive to buy (like $40 for a five page article).  If you have access to a college library or to a kid in college,  you should be able to get a copy of almost any article for free.  

59 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

The best way to find interesting articles it through references in other articles.  Of course you need a starting place.  I would suggest you start with https://scholar.google.com. It's just gives you google search limited to scholarly articles.  There is plenty of free stuff available on the web.  You will find references to articles that sound interesting but are not free.  That can be very frustrating because they are usually very expensive to buy (like $40 for a five page article).  If you have access to a college library or to a kid in college,  you should be able to get a copy of almost any article for free.  

Yeah, I think I hit that paywall before. The wife just got hired to teach some college classes in January so I'll have to get her library login credentials... ?

On 9/21/2020 at 8:38 AM, Team9nine said:

I’ve never been more disappointed in a fishing book than with that one. Ralph Mann’s 2 part In-Fisherman articles on Hope and his tracking studies was much more informative than the book itself. I got the sense from reading the book that he really didn’t want to divulge any “secrets” still at the time of writing. YMMV

Can you post the title of the 2 part article? Thanks

14 hours ago, Kevin Coffey said:

Can you post the title of the 2 part article? Thanks

 

"Radio Tracking Giant Bass" appears on the covers.

"Angling in the 90s: Tales of Lunker Bass, Part I & II" in the index.

Books #108 and #109 from 1992