Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pros?

[trish76642]

Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

I need some tips on catching the Big One Guys!

Hubby & I are going to the Annual Skeeter Boat Owners Tournament next week, and i wanna catch a big one! Be nice if a woman could win the big check for once, and a new boat to go along with it!

Whats the best lure to use, and should i fish deep for the big one or hit the banks, peirs, water lillys?

thanks for the help!

So far we got...making my list

Purple plastic worm... RR.
Popper... momabear
red or green crawdad crankbait
Light green lizard warsaw
rattle trap
Big Bait & Running Lures...Charlie
4" grub or tube, salt & pepper color...Grip
Texas rig worm
8" worm in watermelon color
6" olive green worm..NGE
Minnow Lure, crankbait...rockhound.

 

[River Rat]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

I still do some bass fishing, but not & heavy into it like I was in the past. I normally had better luck with a purple plastic worm and casting close to the bank among the lilies and cypress knees.

Do mostly salt water fishing for specks & reds now.

T, I'm laughing now at the "fishing pole"; something I learned long time ago it's a rod & reel unless you're using a cane pole.

Good luck, Trish!!

RR

 

[trish76642]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

I need some tips on catching the Big One Guys!

Hubby & I are going to the Annual Skeeter Boat Owners Tournament next week, and i wanna catch a big one! Be nice if a woman could win the big check for once, and a new boat to go along with it!

Whats the best lure to use, and should i fish deep for the big one or hit the banks, peirs, water lillys?

thanks for the help!

glad to hear you took the fishing pole thing serious.....good luck and happy fishing...take lots of pictures.

Its something we do every year Tee...i figure if i gotta go i might as well try to win.

Last time i won, actually my first time winning, i got a GPS, Tony Chacheres cook book, spices, a bunch of lures and the guys got expensive rods, and so much more than i did! I thought that was a little shovanistic myself...so i asked Fish Fishburn, while i was on stage, after they handed me my prizes "Wheres my rod?!" Just cuz imma woman doesnt mean i wouldnt like to have one!

 

[mamabear]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

I would love to win a bass boat. Heck I'd like to win even if it was just to be able to say I did it!
My daughter & her fiance came out from WA, & he & I went fishin in a little pond I love. we were using worms, but I switched to a popper & got a 5 1/2 lb large mouth I gave him my rod with popper (we were on our way out) & he caught a 2 lber. made his day. I like fishing lily pads or submerged trees shallow always seems too work for me. practice with the popper, you want it to really pop. have fun good luck & win it for the girls!!!

 

[trish76642]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

I would love to win a bass boat. Heck I'd like to win even if it was just to be able to say I did it!
My daughter & her fiance came out from WA, & he & I went fishin in a little pond I love. we were using worms, but I switched to a popper & got a 5 1/2 lb large mouth I gave him my rod with popper (we were on our way out) & he caught a 2 lber. made his day. I like fishing lily pads or submerged trees shallow always seems too work for me. practice with the popper, you want it to really pop. have fun good luck & win it for the girls!!!

Fabulous! I just bought one too at Gander Mountain! Never have tried one, but it looked like it would catch a fish when i saw it, so i bought it! lol Thank ya moma! Im gonna try my BEST to win!

Top water frogs are great too fishing lilly pads...take my word on that one, thats how i won the first time..good ole top water frog... I hope theres no one here going to the same tournment..im giving away my secrets lol

 

[savant365]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

Trish there is not any specific lure to suggest. The best thing you can do is try to figure out what the bass are feeding on and then try to use a lure that resembles it the closest. The weather plays a big part too, fish are very sensitive to barometric pressure. If the pressure is high the fish are going to be deeper and if it is low they will be feeding shallower. Your best bet is to go to the bait shop closest to the lake and ask what other people have been catching fish with, It hard for fishermen not to brag about what they caught the "big one" with.

Bass like to ambush their food from cover too. If you have electronics look for anomalies on the bottom that can't be seen from the surface like submerged stumps and weed beds. I always try around standing trees and things sticking out of the water. They are sensitive to light also so they will be on the shady side of these objects. Cast past the cover and then reel the lure in as close to it as you can without getting snagged.

The spawning should be over down there by now and the big females have slowed down their feeding patterns but they will strike out of instinct if you present the bait in the right way. A slow presentation will probably work best like jigging a worm up and down off of the bottom near cover.

Like I said they are sensitive to light and if it is sunny and bright they seem more responsive to bright colors and if it is cloudy or overcast darker colors work better. If it is windy and the water is kinda choppy and rough try something like a crankbait or even a topwater lure that is dark on top and shiny on the sides and bottom, they look like bait fish and the rough water makes it hard to see them clearly but if they are flashing in the sunlight it will get their attention.

Water clarity makes a difference too, if the water is murky use a lure that makes noise so they can zero in on the sound. If it is really clear water try to use the closest looking lure to their natural food source and go slow.

Sorry this got so long but I hope some of it helps. Search the web and you will find all kinds of articles and tips. There may even be a specific site for the lake you are going to be fishing at. The best thing you can do is just try different things until you find one that works. The fish will dictate which lure you need to be using but sometimes it takes several tries to find out what they are interested in.

Good luck and let us know how you do,

Charlie

 

[trish76642]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

Thank you Charlie!!!!! Thats great info!!!!

 

[savant365]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

No problem Trish, I hope it helps you out. I did a little search and found this site for you. It looks like a daily fishing report for Lake Fork, there should be some good info on here for you. Check it every day and see if you can spot trends in how and where they are catching them. Again good luck and I want to see a pic of that new boat hitched up to the back of your truck.

http://www.ets-systems.com/lakefork/services/fishreport.htm


Charlie

 

[warsawdaddy]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

I don't know what lake you will be on so; If there is not much traffic,a top water is good very early in the am,then I would fish a red or green crawdad crank bait until afternoon then switch to a floating 8" lizard with a split shot about 14" up from it and fished slow(light green).Lot of boat traffic and not much action on the lizard(caught my 7lb'r on one) and deep water,swith to a rattle-trap and go deep(caught a 6lb'r).Fish all of them SLOW.Goodluck!

 

[trish76642]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

LOL...yep Lake Fork is where im going! Known for the biggest bass in Texas! Its a slot lake, for those who dont know, meaning if you catch one between 16 and 24 inches, you better not take it to the weigh in..Games Wardens are standing right there when they measure your fish...makes me a nervous wreck! The fish i won on was, i mean right almost touching that 16 inch mark..i was scared to death their measureing stick was gonna says something different than mine did...Their ready to slap ya when a big ole fine. Matter of fact i almost didnt take my fish up to the weigh in because it was so close to that 16 inch mark! Thanks Charlie, i'll save that to my favorites.

WSDaddy, lizard is what i use when their spawning, love fishing with lizards, i almost always catch a fish on those. Thanks!

 

[savant365]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

Another thing to remember is that big fish eat big bait. Don't be afraid to use a bigger, deeper running lure...you might just get really lucky. It sounds like from what I read on the lake report the bigger ones have went deep...out past 12' to 14'. I would try fishing the shoreline in the morning with your lizard and then get a big 5" or 6" crankbait and go after the big ones in about 20' to 16' after about 10AM. Look for points running out into the water and then fish whatever cover they have.

Charlie

 

[River Rat]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

Trish,

The 1st tourney I ever won was while still in high school, fishing with my dad (my bestest fishing buddy, his too). Dad was checking the trot lines, I was hogging with a Lucky 13, when the bass hit. Honey, I slipped in the boat, hit my head between the 2 of us we got it landed. Not sure if anyone is familiar with hogging poles, but it's the longest/biggest bamboo poles with about 24" line attached. Just gig it in and around the lilies & knees at the water edge. That bass was 5lbs 11oz to win 1st place. I wasn't even fishing for the tourney, it was just a lucky catch and hauling in to the fishing rodeo. I won a rod & reel, ice chest and a minnow bucket.

RR

 

[DrGrip]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

Hello Trish,

We have a place on Fork and for the last couple of months we've been having good luck in the mornings with the top waters and dad figured out a good trick for when the big ones don't seem to be hitting the tops much. After you cast the bait out, let it sit until the rings from the initial splash down discipate. Then after popping it a couple of times let it sit again until the rings are gone. He seemed to get 3 to my one working it like this.

If the water clears up to the normal clarity I would suggest using a 4" grub or tube in a salt and pepper color. Place a 1/8 ounce weight (split shot) about 12-14" above the grub/tube and work it around submerged brush or pads.

Also, don't forget a good old fashioned Texas rig worm at the edge of the drop offs. 8" worms in a watermelon color have produced the best for some of the locals lately.

Grip

 

[NGE]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

Trish, the lake I fish is olive green clear, most of the time. I use Gary Yamamoto's 6 inch olive green plastic worms, straight tail, they are kind of heavy no need for a weight. I fish in 3 to 6ft. of water. Cast your line adjacent to but not into lily pads. Do not reel line in as it sinks, just watch for your line to twitch, when the slack starts to be taken up by the bass lower yer pole to the water while slowly taking up the slack, then BAM! put yer back into it. The bass around here will take the worm on the drop. I do this consistantly at any time of the day......Good luck at your tournament..........NGE

 

[rockhound]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

When the water temperature warms to 70 degrees or more on top, the bass feed heavily on top water early in the morning and late in the affternoon. This is the best time to catch a large bass. During the middle of the day they head for shade or deeper water. The best thing to do then is use a crankbait or minnow lure with a deep diving lip. Good Luck. rockhound

 

[trish76642]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

Thanks everybody, yall have no idea how much your helping me and how much i appreciate it!
Next wednesday im gonna copy all this and take it with me, "TOP SECRET INFO" lol...

I guarantee ya, i gotta catch something with all this great advice im getting!

 

[G.I.B.]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

Here is a little trick you might like. Set a few of these out with different baits...

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...208206_800012000_800000000_800012000_800-12-0

 

[trish76642]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

Here is a little trick you might like. Set a few of these out with different baits...

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...208206_800012000_800000000_800012000_800-12-0

lol...yeah those would be fun! Hubby see's that he'll be wanting one!

 

[Bassfish]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

This time of year if I was looking for one slob largemouth I would throw a 1/2 to 3/4 oz black jig with a green crawfish trailer. Flip it into cover, let it sit on the bottom for a three count, "bounce" it there for another couple seconds, pause, then retrieve and flip it again. If you feel a "tick", set the hook. Largemouth can get lockjaw post spawn and be real tough to catch. I have spent over an hour flipping to one blown down tree before getting a big bass to commit, but eventually instinct gets the best of them. You'll need a rod with some backbone to stick these fish.

Early morning you'll need to figure out if the fish are active. Throw a top water bait, usually a buzzbait (white or silver) and burn it across the surface, or throw a hard body jerkbait, I'd use the baby bass pattern (Rapala makes some decent ones). If they're active, keep at them until the bite dies off, then go to the jig.

I'm closing in on my 200th tournament and there's one thing I can say with certainty, if you're catching a lot of sub-par size bass (13-14 inches), move to another location. I do a lot of SCUBA diving and larger bass will not fight with the smaller ones over a small meal. They either move, or lay dormant.

One last thing to remember, no matter how "shut down" the fishing may be on any given day, whether it be high pressure system, bluebird skies, or any other reason..... A big bass has to eat more often than a small bass. Keep bugging them and eventually the munchies will get the better of them.

Best of luck to you!!


PS- I'm actually eyeballing a quick trip to the south end of Lake Champlain today, this thread will probably seal that deal!

 

[trish76642]

Re: Wheres all my Bass Fishing Pro's?

thanks Bassfish! Good luck on your fishing trip to lake Champlain today!