A lot of myths are commonly associated with topwater fishing. We've all
heard that the technique is just something you do in early morning or
late afternoon hours. Or they only work in the spring or fall. Or that,
because of increasing fishing pressure, bass simply aren't fooled by
topwaters like they once were. Forget these myths.
A topwater can
pay off for you if you give it the chance and put the typical
misconceptions out of your mind. Topwater baits can be dynamite during
all hours of the day and are more versatile than most realize. I agree
that early, late, spring, and fall are the prime times for the surface
lure. But anglers who believe this is the only time are really limiting
their ability to catch bass.
Rivers are excellent for topwater
fishing because in this swift environment bass live in less than 5 feet
of water. When fishing current with a topwater plug there are a few
things to think about. The position of the fish and the angle in which
the current will move your bait. Always through 3 feet or farther past
your target, so you won't spook the fish, and move the bait with the
current as close to the target as possible. Lures of choice are the Zara
Spook Jr., Spitting Image, Cotton Cordell's Crazy Shad, and the Tiny
Torpedo.
So the next time you're on a river system and the bite is slow, tie on that old topwater plug. You'll be surprised.
Here's a modified way to tie a blood knot... The blood knot is great for joining two types of fishing lines together. It works especially well for joining braided line to fluorocarbon line. Hope you find this helpful. If you already know this knot, there's an unrelated funny clip at the end of the video (2:55 min in)
Thursday, June 7, 2012
A wind devil runs right over our bass boat while filming a bass fishing
show. High winds come out of no where, and a mini water spout begins to
form like a tiny tornado funnel cloud and heads right for us.
Everyone thinks “a bass is a bass no matter where you go“; Lake Fisherman
will say that bass relate to the same cover and that bass move the same way on
any body of water. Well, myself, and a lot of river rats know that’s not
true!!
Rivers add a different mix of situations to deal with, current and water
fluctuations are two of the major issues to contend with on river systems. In
the spring it’s the most crucial piece. Water movement can change the movement
of the bass and start or stop the pressman migratory run to the shallow water
spawning bed. One of the best tools to use to get update info on your water
levels is the Army Corp of Engineers river gauge reader. This reader is the
actual water level read out that the Army Corp Lockmasters has allowed to flow
in and out of the locks. This read out can change every day or every hour. You
can get this piece of info by going to the Army Corps Website or calling your
local river lockmaster! This information tells you how much water flow have
come in & how much water is flowing out of those locks, you can use that
information to help make better decisions on where the bass will move into to,
and where the bass will spawn.
When bass move up to spawn & the water flow is
strong and rising, normally the bass are easier to catch, but with high water
comes dirty water so sight fishing becomes impossible. When bass move in to
spawn & the water levels start to drop the bass don’t leave their beds,
however bass become very spooky so you have to make long casts & use finesse
presentations to get them to bite. Some the lures I like to use are finesse
worms, Sinkos and my favorite is a Horny Toad lure. Mainly, I use baits that
don’t make a lot of noise.
Bass don’t like strong currents when it comes to spawning time so look for
areas that don’t have a lot current when looking for spawning bass (canals,
chutes, backwater areas & any current break areas). Low water during the
spawn look for areas with quick access to deeper water (bluffs, points, deeper
pockets & marinas). Knowing your river current flow by checking your water
levels will give you a better understanding on where to concentrate your time to
get the most productive bite!!!!
Want to learn how to quickly pin point the most productive feeding zone while fishing for bass? If you can master this one tactic, you will consistently catch more bass.
One of the most important factors you can determine is if bass are looking for a “vertical” or “horizontal” presentation? When you can identify this one piece of the puzzle quickly, the rest will fall into place easier.
At the very least if you only get the “vertical/horizontal” preference determined, you’ll be 50% more productive while you are out fishing.
If you are in a boat with decent electronics and you know how to use them to determine what the predominant depth zone (top, middle, bottom) bass are using, you should find this fairly simple to do. If not, there’s a tip below that will help you.
For this technique I would recommend using a 6’ to 6’6” Medium Power Fast Action rod. I like fast action rods with single hook lures. I pair mine with a Daiwa Sol 2500 reel or a Shimano Stradic MGFA 2500. For line I recommend using a tuff 6 pound test line like Berkley Trilene XT. In really clear water I like to use fluorocarbon lines, but it’s not a must.
So here’s what you need to do. You'll need to start by using a 3” soft plastic grub rigged on a ¼ oz mushroom or ball head jig. Choose a color that you have confidence in. A color that you know produces on the body of water you are fishing.
Cast it out and start counting as soon as it hits the water surface (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi). Let it go all the way to the bottom then and let it sit for a few seconds (vertical presentation). If you get hit on the drop or after the lure is sitting on the bottom, they are most likely looking for a vertical presentation. Pay attention to on what count the strike occurred. If you did not get hit on the drop or after letting the grub sit for a few seconds, then begin to reel it in slow and steady (horizontal presentation). It is very important that you do not move or twitch your rod while reeling in. Just keep the grub coming along steadily. If you get a strike or notice a bass following the grub back to the boat/shore, they are most likely looking for horizontal moving lures.
If you are fishing deeper water, you might be wondering how are you going to be able to know where the bass hit in the water column? Here’s a little trick you can use. When you make a cast with the grub, start counting as soon as it hits the water surface (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi). See how long it takes for the grub to hit bottom. If it takes a "10 Mississippi count" to hit bottom, now you have a baseline to work from. Just break it into thirds and put the left over in the middle column. Meaning Top= 1,2,3 Middle=4,5,6,7 bottom=8,9,10
Now make a cast, give it a 3 count (top) and start reeling the grub back in slow and steady. Repeat the process a few times paying close attention for strikes or follow-ins.
If you do not connect, try a 7 count (middle) and again start reeling the grub back in slow and steady. Again, repeat the process a few times paying close attention for strikes or follow-ins.
For vertical presentations, you can do the same thing by counting down on the fall. Now when did the strike occur (on what count)? Let’s say you got a strike on “3 Mississippi”, try and fine-tune your presentation by making another cast and only let the bait fall for a “4 or 5 count”. If you continue to get strikes during the first “5 count” you now know that the bass are using the “TOP COLUMN” for the active feeding-zone. So you can simply fan cast around and only let the grub fall for a five count, then reel it back in steadily and cast again… no sense letting it go all the way to the bottom if you do not have to.
It’s important to remember that you’ll still need to try both vertical and horizontal presentations regardless of which feeding zone you find bass using, (top, middle or bottom) until you find their preference. When you can consistently put these two pieces of the puzzles together quickly, your fishing consistency will rise dramatically. You will be able to eliminate unproductive water more quickly and ultimately find where the bigger bass are feeding.
Sometimes they'll be all over a grub and you can just adjust the retrieval speed, depth, color, size, etc. to fine tune your presentation. Other times if you switch over to a crankbait, spinnerbait, swimbait or something that moves horizontally, you'll be able to start connecting with those bass that are aggressively chasing down baitfish.
Let's say you notice that your first strike occurred on the drop, you should try and duplicate that presentation. Make another cast and let the grub to fall vertically. If you are able to trigger more strikes, you now know that the bass are looking for a "vertical" presentation. Let's say that you are getting some strikes on the fall, but not really connecting with the bass that strike, you already have one piece of the puzzle solved (they want a vertical presentation) so now you can try using a different lure with a vertical presentation.
Personally when faced with short strikes, I like to immediately "down-size" the lure I am using. You might choose to throw a smaller grub on a lighter jig head (let's say a 2" grub on a 1/8 ounce ball head jig). Cast it out and let it sink to the bottom. Pay attention to where you get your strikes. Near the top? On the way down? At the bottom? This will let you know where preferred feeding-zone is. You will quickly start to see better and better results as you figure out more of these details. This is called fine-tuning a presentation.
As you start to imagine trying this, you’ll probably have a lot of “what if'” questions come to mind. Like, “what if the bass hits after the grub is sitting on the bottom after the 10 count is over”, or “how long should I let the grub sit on the bottom before working back in”, or “should I work it back in”. What I can offer is simply “experiment”… but pay close attention to when the strike occurs. For more insight on fine tuning your lure presentation, Frank Lapinski from our NY Prostaff wrote a great three part article that can help explain this in more detail, here's the link to "Bass talk, are you listening? - part 2"
The better you get at this, the more and bigger bass you will catch. I know it may sound complicated at first, but it is really very simple once make a habit of this process.
I have done several product reviews over the past few years
and most have been of tackle that promises to catch more fish, but this review
is of a product called “Troll Perfect” from Perfect Outdoor Products in
Rochester Hills, Michigan and though it doesn’t claim to catch more fish, it
will make your time on the water more enjoyable.
Not very often does a product come along that will truly benefit the
fisherman who spend hours pursuing a tournament limit of fish or that once in a
lifetime trophy, but this product does just that. The Troll Perfect is a 2 piece
high impact polymer device that attaches to your trolling where the stationary
upper shaft meets and the rotating lower shaft. You attach the pieces on each
side of the shaft by using the two stainless steel hose clamps that are
included. Place the first clamp in top groove on Troll Perfect and tighten the
clamp until snug making sure it cannot rotate. Place the second clamp in the
lower groove and tighten until desired amount of tension is achieved. You will
probably have to make final adjustment while on the water to get the perfect
amount of tension.
Troll Perfect Installation
Troll Perfect Installed - Stowed
After receiving my Troll Perfect it took me about ten minutes to install it
on my trolling motor while my boat was in the garage and motor in stowed
position. Once on the water, it took me just a few minutes to make my final
adjustments to get the right amount of tension.
Adjusting Tension on the Troll
Perfect
The very first time I used this product, I was
fishing a three day tournament on the Tennessee River in high winds and a very
strong current all three days. The very first thing I noticed was how much
better I could maintain boat positioning in these harsh conditions with the
Troll Perfect installed due to the fact it prevented the twisting of the motor
during the high waves and current. It also took all the “play” or looseness out
of the pedal, which in turn made my trolling motor a lot more responsive. But
the biggest benefit for me, was after three 8 hour days on the water, I felt
much less fatigued from not having to fight my trolling motor.
If you enjoy fishing and rather fight fish instead
of your trolling motor, this is a “Must” product for you. It is made right here
in the USA and is available for most brands of trolling motors. Visit: www.trollperfect.com or give
Edward Laabs a call at (248) 747-8520. Perfect Outdoor Products LLC. Rochester
Hills, MI 48307.
More ProStaff Reviews of the Troll Perfect Product:
Well after eight years of being a Skeeter ZX225 owner, I made the leap into a 2012 Ranger Z520 with 250HP Yamaha SHO. After spending only a couple of days in this new rig, it very easy to see why the Z520 cost more than the new Skeeter FX series. You can see how much care is put into every little detail on the Ranger. Every buckle, knob, switch, strap, bolt, etc. is high quality. I keep looking for someplace where they might have cut corners, but I can't find anything. This is truly a fishing machine with all of the comforts of a luxury water craft.
All the storage compartments are very well thought out. There's a place for just about everything. I went with a dual console because I fish a lot of team tournaments and also have young kids, so I wanted to make sure "everyone" is comfortable, warm and as dry as they can be. (If I was flying solo, I would have went with the single console). The glove box is a bit smaller than the one in my Skeeter, but the extra compartment between the front seats makes up for the loss of space. There are four cup holders in the cockpit area, along with two good sized bins that are ideal for dropping wet lures into so they can dry off before putting them away. The soft ride seat system that comes standard with the Z520 makes for a really comfortable ride when in ruff water (my back says "thanks"). The rod locker system for me was a huge improvement over what I had in my Skeeter ZX225. I can fit plenty of rods (both spinning and baitcasting) and it is very easy to get to them. In my Skeeter, positioning my reels was always difficult and getting to the rod I wanted was always a chore.
The 250 HP Yamaha SHO four stroke outboard motor is amazing! This motor is super quite and packed with power. The hole shot blows away my old two stroke VMAX and the boat rockets to 60+ MPH in seconds. Currently the top end speed is around 72 MPH, but I plan to tweak the settings of my jack plate to see if I can get the boat up to 74-75 MPH. I must say it is a little strange at first going 60 MPH and being able to talk at a normal voice level to your fishing partner. The sounds of the wind and water against the hull are louder than the motor.
The Ranger trailer blows away my Skeeter trailer... you can see the care that went into every component from the breakaway tongue and boarding steps to the fiberglass fenders that match the paint job and chrome rims. All high quality parts.
Although I've only been a Ranger owner for a few days, I'm proud to say it! My hat goes off to Ranger Boats for the 2012 Z520 and to Yamaha for the 2012 SHO... I'm looking forward to fishing with this rig for many years to come. I guess like the saying goes, "You get what you pay for".
The banning of all lead in fishing tackle because it is ingested by wildlife
resulting in lead exposure has become a very controversial topic. This topic is
taking on a life of its own. Some people believe that environment lobbyists have
extremely blown it out of proportion, while others feel that the government has
not taken it seriously enough. There are always two sides to the story, and then
there are the facts. I myself am interested in keeping the environment a clean
and healthy place for my four young children.
They love the outdoors and fishing as much as me, and I want them to grow up
and be able to continue that enjoyment with their own kids someday. So, I
decided to dive a little deeper into this lead ban and find out some of the
facts.
After careful review, EPA has determined that, while the petition does
provide evidence of exposure and a risk to waterfowl in some areas of the United
States, it does not provide a basis for finding that the risk presented is an
unreasonable risk for which federal action under section 6(a) of TSCA is
necessary to adequately protect against such risks…”
At a local level I found that Waterfowl are picking up lead shot as grit
(in shallow marshes) to help with digestion, and unfortunately, some fowl have
ended up dying of lead poisoning. I would like to add that lead shot is not
exactly tackle, and it is extremely rare to see a bird eating a jig or
spinnerbait, at least in my experience.
Are our priorities a little skewed when it comes to such things? There
aren’t too many groups screaming about the fecal matter that these birds (I mean
Canadian geese or now, what seem to be called Long Island Geese) spill out
everywhere, which can be a health hazard to those, such as my kid’s, who fish
the shoreline. If my kids ingest the feces somehow (simply picking up a rock
from the ground, kids are just not aware). I would have to believe that it is
far worse than the same bird trying to eat the jig I lost 10 feet under the
water.
With that said, I come to New Hampshire. Their interest for a lead ban is
mainly because they are trying to protect a species, the Loon. Here is a very
solid argument, and it is great they are protecting an endangered species. Get
the full details here regarding lead and fishing tackle deaths.
http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fishing/Fishing_PDFs/Lets_Get_the_Lead_Out.pdf
“In 2006…seven out of 16 dead adult loons studied during the breeding
season were known to have died from ingesting lead sinkers and jigs. This
represented a 1.3 percent loss to the state’s total loon population.”
I also thought who benefits from a ban of all lead? Are politicians
pushing this or companies? Who is tied to the manufacturer that is going to
mass produce all the new tackle? Because let’s face it being green and
environment friendly is not cheap. Fishing is a multi-billion dollar industry.
When push comes to shove, fishermen are going to purchase all new tackle.
Like a friend said “A ban would decimate small business owners that
depend on the fishing industry. Not to mention the loss of income from fishing
licenses that won't be bought.”
I found there are some legitimate cases, and probably a real cause for
the ban of lead fishing tackle, I respect that. And yet, at the same time I also
find that I am not entirely convinced that the banning of lead fishing tackle is
going to save the environment.
You
have to ask, are we as fisherman really that bad? Is there overwhelming proof
that the environmental changes and large number of bird deaths are caused by
solely using spinner baits and jig heads, or a is going to impact the whole
ecosystem? All fishermen need to continually take care of the environment,
cleaning up behind themselves and not purposely leaving tackle behind, because
that will help our environment overall.
However, the one question still lingers, to lead or not to lead?
Well I was able to get out with my fishing partner Joey for a half-day trip on Sunday. We fished a small pond on the east end of Long Island. We arrived at the ramp around 1:30pm.
Date: 2/19/12 Air temp: 44 degrees Water Temp: 41 degrees Water Clarity: Clear Winds: West at 10 MPH
We set out to target largemouth bass. First area we approached produced two largemouth bass on back to back cast with a hair jig.
Both bass were located at the base of the drop-off into deeper water. We fished the break for about an hour and landed a total of 5 bass ranging from 2.5 lbs to 3 lbs. No giants, but some nice post frontal action for February. We also connected with a bonus fish, a really chunky perch.
We left that area to check another wintering spot and were rewarded with a 2 lb bass and this nice largemouth that was about 3.75 lbs (photo below). That was our biggest bass landed for the day. We connected with couple more 2-2.5lb bass in another wintering hole, but nothing big.
All in all we had a great day on the water. All of our fish were caught on1/8 oz. hair jigs. We managed to catch 9 Largemouth Bass, 4 pickerel and that fat perch, which got me itching to go target perch, so that became to focus for the following morning:
On the trip back, I put a call into my friends Dave and Nunzio to find out if they wanted to join me for a Perch trip. Both agreed and we planned to be on the water by 8:30AM. Our destination was another Long Island pond that holds a very healthy population of nice sized Perch.
DAY 2
Date: 2/20/12 Air temp: 37 degrees Water Temp: 40 degrees Water Clarity: Clear Winds: North 25 MPH (with Gust up to 35 MPH)
You know it’s cold when you are thinking of getting back into the truck while you are taking the tie down straps off the boat! The wind was howling and the pond we were fishing has no place to get out of the wind, so we knew it was going to be a long day. We started searching for Perch in a hole where they are often found schooled up this time of year. It is a large area with weeds and stumps, but with the wind at 25mph sustained, it made finding the perch a little difficult. In addition, the weed was gone. We worked around the area for a while and then decided that we needed to set out to find some good weed that might still be around. Once we found a good patch of weed near the creek channel, it was on! We connected with our first perch around 9:30am, kicked a buoy marker over the side and caught them almost on every cast until about 12:00pm.
Every now and then they would move around a bit, but for the most part they stayed within about a 100’ radius. We had tons of doubles and a few triples. We only had on one giant, but she came off before we could land her. The rest were all really healthy, fat and feisty perch. With the average perch weighing about 1.5 lbs. They’re a lot of fun on light tackle with 4lb test line.
One lake in particular that I like is Clinton Lake, (about 2 hours south of Chicago) a 4,900 acre reservoir that's a cooling lake for the Clinton Power Plant. In the dead of winter we're catching bass in 50 degree water on crankbaits, plastic worms and slow rolling spinnerbaits.
October thru March in the upper Midwest usually means that bass season is pretty much over, most folks take their bass boats in for their end of the season maintenance and winterization and start focusing on deer and waterfowl season. Hey what do you expect it's the North Country; the first major snow storm comes in and you're stuck at home watching fishing show and going in & out of Bass Pro Shops or your favorite tackle store just to keep that desire for April spring fishing on your mind.
That works for some but there are a few of us that will get our bass fishing fix by fishing Power Plant Lakes.These are cooling lakes for Power plants, whether its nuclear or coal generation, these lakes don't freeze in the winter months and believe it or not stay fairly warm in the cold months. The other nice thing about these lakes is that they are usually stocked lakes, most of them are bass factories, so you will likely get some kind of action all year. Here in Illinois, where I live, we have several lakes just like these all over the state.
This is a great practice lake in the winter month's because with the warmer water from the hot discharge it will teach you how to fish currents, practice your prespawn-spawn techniques, and it will help you gain confidence in baits as well. On Clinton you can use rattle traps in 50 + degree water temp and 38 degree air temp and catch 15+ bass in a day.
Clinton Lake and other Power Plant coolings are a great option to work on your bass techniques in the winter months, and will keep that winter monkey off your back!!!
Tight Lines!!
Marques Green
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Frank from our ProStaff started this topic on our message boards:
I was reading an article in a fishing magazine where they were talking about old lures that have fallen out of favor in bass fishing. They seem to become "kinda not cool to use." In the article they wrote about in line spinners like the rooster tail and the Mepps and one of my favorites the Panther Martin. It got me thinking about old lures that aren't cool anymore, but we all started out with them. Maybe it's the tournament thing, who knows.
I never go fishing without a stock of Johnson silver minnow weedless spoons in my boat or a couple of Johnson Sprites, yup that simple silver spoon. Now I know some guys carry them on winter trips for jigging, but they still catch fish on a regular retrieve. In fact they catch a lot of fish. Another is the 4 inch Rapala and Rebel minnows. And of course the Jitterbug which I think just had its 80th Birthday. What do you carry thats uncool but works for you?
It’s that time of year again for BASSIN’ USA’s Fantasy Bass
Fishing League!This year we are using
the Bassmaster’s Fantasy Fishing website to manage the contest.We created a “GROUP” called “BASSINUSA.com”
within the Bassmaster site (http://www.bassmasterfantasy.com).This will make all participants eligible for
the prizes from Bassmaster too!
In order to participate in the BASSIN’ USA.com contest, and
be eligible to win our prizes, you MUST be a registered member of
Bassin’USA.com site.Membership is free and it’s easy to register, just go
to www.bassinusa.com/forum/ubbthreads.php
CLASSIC CONTEST
Each registered member will be able to submit one (1) team
consisting of 5 Classic Qualifiers.Your roster may only contain 1 Qualifier from each of the five groups
(A,B,C,D,E) .The top three (3) teams
with the highest total of points after the BASSMASTER’s CLASSIC will win a
BASSIN’ USA prize package.
Prizes for BASSIN’ USA.com CLASSIC CONTEST will be as
follows:
(1st Prize) Tackle
Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)
(2nd Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)
(3rd Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)
ELITE SERIES CONTEST
Each registered member will be able to submit one (1) team consisting
of 5 Elite Series Pros.Your roster may
only contain 1 Pro from each of the five groups (A,B,C,D,E) .The team with the highest total points after
each quarter (2 tournaments per quarter) will win one of the four BASSIN’ USA
prize packages.The team with the highest
overall total points at the end will win our GRAND PRIZE.
Prizes for BASSIN’ USA.com ELITE SERIES CONTEST will be as
follows:
(1st Period Prize)
Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)
(2nd Period Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value
TBD)
(3rd Period Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value
TBD)
(4th Period Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value
TBD)
(Grand Prize) (Value TBD) Gift Certificate to Midwest
Fishing Tackle’s Store, Tackle Package (Value TBD) + Bassin’ USA Hat ($15.00
Value) & Trophy
Here’s how you get started!
1)Register, if you haven’t already, on BASSINUSA.com to become a member.You’ll need a valid email address and your
account will not be activated until you respond to our verification email.Once registered, you can post comments,
participate in discussions, talk about the tournament, etc.
4)Once you activated your account, then create
your entry (the entry is your Fantasy Team) click on the link again to return
to the fantasy fishing page.
5)Go to the Groups Tab or click the “Join a Group”
and search for BASSINUSA.com and join. To participate in the BASSINUSA.com
contest, you must join the BASSINUSA.com group.
You are now a participant in the
contest!It’s that easy.
We will be following the game rules posted at http://www.bassmasterfantasy.com/
for “how to play”, however the BASSIN’ USA.com prizes are subject to our own
terms and conditions.BASSIN’ USA.com
reserves the right to disqualify any participant who does not comply with our
terms and conditions.BASSIN’ USA.com is
not affiliated with BASSMASTER, its website(s), contests, tournaments, etc. in
anyway.BASSINUSA.com has organized a
Fantasy Fishing Group that will be playing on the BASSMASTER Fantasy Fishing
site for scoring purposes only.Eligibility to win BASSMASTER prizes is subject to their rules and
regulations.
BASSIN' USA is hosting our annual Fantasy Bass Fishing contest beginning February 1, 2012! This year we are using the Bassmaster's Fantasy Fishing website to manage the contest. We created a "GROUP" called "BASSINUSA.com" within the Bassmaster site ( http://www.bassmasterfantasy.com ). This will make all participants eligible for the prizes from Bassmaster too!
In order to participate in the BASSIN' USA.com contest, and be eligible to win our prizes, you MUST be a registered member of Bassin'USA.com site. Membership is free and it's easy to REGISTER at www.bassinusa.com.
So with all of the talk over the past several months, B.A.S.S. has made a decision to ban the Alabama Rig (along with other multi-lure rigs) from both the Bassmaster Classic and Elite Series events.
"The rule change, which does not apply to Bassmaster Open, B.A.S.S. Federation Nation, College B.A.S.S. and other events, clarifies the intent of long-standing rules permitting only one rod, one reel and one cast at a time. No longer permitted are double soft jerkbait rigs, drop shot rigs with jigs used as weights, double topwater setups and other multi-lure rigs, such as umbrella rigs.”
Most bass clubs traditionally follow the rules that B.A.S.S. institutes, so I wouldn't be surprised to see this new rule eventually flow down through the federation, opens and ultimately to your local bass club.
Personally, I like the decision... Stop by our message boards and share your thoughts on this topic.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Big Smallmouth Bass in deep cold water on Keitech Fat Swing Impact Swimbaits. A preview of BASSIN' USA's 30 minute smallmouth bass fishing video catching big wintering reservoir smallmouth bass in the northeastern United States.
Since most lakes in the North Eastern United States have not iced up yet, we decided to shoot a video on catching deep water smallmouth bass using Keitech Fat Swing Impact swimbaits. Not something one thinks would typically work in 40 degree water, but it does! You've got to try this technique, it's that good...
We had a great day on the water and got some really nice video footage with several smallmouth bass between 3 and 4 lbs. Subscribe to BASSIN' USA's YouTube Channel to be notified when we release this awesome video!
While browsing YouTube I came across a video that someone posted for a “fish
finder app”.It has over 100,000 views
so far, check this out:
I'm always amused by the crazy things people think up to trick people on YouTube. This one actually had many people out there searching for the app on the iPhone and android market. The trick here was that the guy was simply taking a picture and the image he pointed to (claiming it was a new "fish finder app") was nothing more that a screen shot of a fish finder which was stored in his iPhone gallery...
So the lesson here is "if it sounds too good to be true... "
On a side note, if you like playing gags on your fishing buddies, you could have a lot of fun with this video!!!
Everyone thinks “a bass is a bass no matter where you go“; Lake Fisherman
will say that bass relate to the same cover and that bass move the same way on
any body of water. Well, myself, and a lot of river rats know that’s not
true!!
The banning of all lead in fishing tackle because it is ingested by wildlife
resulting in lead exposure has become a very controversial topic. This topic is
taking on a life of its own. Some people believe that environment lobbyists have
extremely blown it out of proportion, while others feel that the government has
not taken it seriously enough. There are always two sides to the story, and then
there are the facts. I myself am interested in keeping the environment a clean
and healthy place for my four young children.
You
have to ask, are we as fisherman really that bad? Is there overwhelming proof
that the environmental changes and large number of bird deaths are caused by
solely using spinner baits and jig heads, or a is going to impact the whole
ecosystem? All fishermen need to continually take care of the environment,
cleaning up behind themselves and not purposely leaving tackle behind, because
that will help our environment overall.
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