Over the last several years I’ve read hundreds of posts here on BR where members ask for lure, line, rod, reel and tackle / technique questions.  
 

As a broad based membership that is so geographically diverse, it is often hard to provide the best response because the situation is left out or at best vague.

 

I wanted to share my observation to help improve the communication and information the questioner seeks.

 

Here are some real life scenarios for me:

Clear cold reservoir that is thirteen miles long and narrow with primary cover being rock, sand and huge stumps and very limited bottom grasses. Max depth 100 feet at full pool. Primary species smallmouth, and forage base of sculpins, crayfish and yellow perch.  Ample off shore structure consisting of short points and creek channels.

 

2800 acre shallow lake with low visibility and high level of stain when windy.  Very little structure. Primary cover is pad fields, piling rows and downed aged wood with runs of buck brush. All largemouth. Forage is sculpins, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, tadpoles and frogs.  No current and two small creek mouths.  Kind of a bowl shaped lake. 

 

Now these descriptions are still somewhat vague but that type of information would go a long way to answering question to anglers just beginning there bass fishing career.

 

Please share your thoughts and input. Am I wrong?

 

CC

I agree with what you’re saying, but I’ve found that on the internet in general, when people are asking for help, they leave out a lot of necessary info, but that doesn’t stop people from offering advice, anecdotes, etc. In fact, it seems like questions that are unclear get more responses (to a certain extent), and many times if you ask the OP for clarification, they don’t reply. It’s just the way it is, and it won’t change.

I agree.  Folks ask “What’s your favorite _____?” and I’m thinking I have a different favorite on every lake I fish in middle Tennessee and can’t imagine what my favorite would be on the other side of the country.

A bass is a bass, except not exactly. I catch countless numbers of fish on my bladed jigs in shallow, dirty water in the lakes here, especially around grass. Several years ago, I visited a friend at his private lake that gets very little pressure in South Carolina. Shallow, had a distinct tannic stain, and plenty of weeds, bladed jig paradise. A week later, it had accounted for exactly zero fish, not even a bite despite me trying and conditions being about perfect for it. Now maybe another time it would have set the world on fire there, but if I could have moved that lake and those conditions back home, I'd have worn my thumb out with all the fish I would have been catching on them. 

 

I hear guys up north talk about how difficult it is to catch smallmouth when it's cloudy, which is the opposite here. You're supposed to go deep to catch smallmouth also, but don't try that here, unless you want to catch a bunch of drum/white bass/wiper/catfish/walleye, basically everything except smallmouth. They just rarely seem to get deeper than 10' in our lakes when they're actually feeding. 

 

Those are my favorite posts honestly..they always make me laugh. No detail of forage, water temp, clarity or structure/cover. Just hey I can't catch fish so what do I do. I never respond.