Conference wahoo::fishing

    Brian,
    
    I think you partner has it all over you, which is probably why you fish
    with him. Deeper water makes the difference Dude. I wouldn't hesitate
    fishing dropoffs down to 40 feet in the heat of the summer, lets face
    it, its cooler. Get those deep diving crank baits and look out. You'll
    need a real high speed reel though, those big bill crank baits don't
    dive well with a whimpy retrieve. I'd even though a jig and pig if I
    were you. I trust we can count on you at the Quinsig Night Tourney? 
    You'll like Quinny, Its got SHARP drop offs down to 70+ feet!!!! BIG
    BASS. Hope this helps,
    
    Ray 

      Hmm...those three 5+ pounders and the 7+ pounder that I caught in mid
    April in 2.5 feet of water within 30 feet of the shore must have been
    confused then.....
    
    
      (In my opinion it all depends on the time of year....)
    
    
      JMc (Stupid angler...)
    

    re: .0
    
    	I guess I favor the heavy pads/shallow water stuff. Nothing like
    	tossing a rubber worm near the pads and seeing the wake of a big
    	fish coming out to grab it - I've gotten plenty of 4+ lb. fish in
    	shallow water, but I suspect as the water warms, you either have
    	to go deeper or farther back into the weeds (my catch rate drops
    	alot around mid-july).
    
    				Robert.

    	
    	We are talking about Largemouth Bass, right?
    	I think everybody has an answer for this one... and they're all
    different!  It depends on the lake, the time of year, the amount of
    fishing pressure it gets, the amount/type of cover, etc, etc!
    	I feel that you should fish the areas that are too much trouble
    for the average fisherman.  Hard to get to ponds.  HEAVY weed/wood
    cover.  Watch 10 boats fish a big heavy weedbed.  What do they do?
    Most will throw some lures along the edge.  Some will even throw a
    few from the front edge back into the weeds.  How often do you see
    someone bother to go way back in, back where their electric can't
    take them, where they have to either paddle or pole to push through?
    Very, very few will bother.
    	Most of my biggest bass have come from heavy weeds in large
    shallow areas.  And most were caught in the hottest months of the
    year with my biggest in the beginning of August.
    	Ask the REAL pro.  Get one of Doug Hannons books on big bass.
    Nobody has caught more hawgs than he has, I think the last number
    I heard was something like 300+ that were OVER 10 lbs. !!!
    
    				B.C. 

    I'll share the type of areas where I have caught my largest fish,
    but I'll pass on trying to come up with a golden rule for big bass. 
    
    Not only does the time of year matter, as .2 mentioned, but I'd say the
    time of day as well - and current weather conditions, and the moon, and
    the traffic, and the body of water, and.........
    
    My two largest bass (7lbs 12 oz and 7lbs 8oz) were both caught in July 
    (a couple years apart) in 8-10' of water around wood structure.  I've
    also caught a couple between 6 and 7lbs in 3-5' of water.
    
    -donmac 

    I am a salt water fisherman and have never fished for bass in fresh
    water, only trout in streams and rivers.  I recently read an article in
    the Fisherman, NE edition on structure for bass and the "migration
    routes" taken during each day.  The reason I paid so much attention to
    it was Striped bass follow the same pattern.
    
    It basically said that during the day bass travel to/from deep water
    along structure (dropoffs, boulders, logs, etc.) in their search for
    food.  It said this happens every day; the only thing that changes is
    how far they move based upon the weather, sunlight intensity, available
    food.  The pros who consistantly will know where they are on a given
    day based on the conditions.
    
    The article said to start deep off of a point and work your way in
    shallower until you find the fish.  Keep a log of when,where,
    conditions, bait/lures, etc. so in the future you can find the fish
    faster and catch them.
    
    I anyone is interested, I can probably find the article and send it to
    you.  It is only a couple of weeks ago.
    
    Gordon
    

My buddy caught his 8-1/4# lm in 3-4', casting to shore (1' or less
depth) and retrieving back to the boat. The fish hit between five and
fifteen feet from shore.

My experience with LM is essentially the same, except that I don't stuff
sash weights in their belly to make them weigh over eight pounds. ;^)

I've caught smallmouth in three feet of water, and in twenty feet. One
basic finding: my biggest smallmouths (four #) have been caught at the end
of my longest casts from the boat. *Always* around rocky structure. In my
favorite smallmouth lake, they'll come up from depths in the teens to
take Torpedoes and Zara Spooks.

Art

    
     I'll be up at Memphre' next week!! 
    
     I'll be fishing top water and those smallies will
     come up out of 35' of water to blast my bango-lure!
    
     Hope to have the 7lb smallie on the wall soon.
    
     - Slam

    
    				IMHO
    
    	  I have caught the majority of the big fish pre spawn...
    	  we MAY all agree with that.  But once the summer heat shows
    	  up....my belief is that you work the shore to 8-10 feet and
    	  HOPE that the hawg has come up to feed.  
    
    	  Not that I have spent hours and hours working deeper water...but 
    	  what time I have spent has been unproductive looking for the big 
          fish.  Certainly technique is involved here...but I believe that
    	  when they are sitting out in deeper water...they are not looking
    	  to feed agressively.  Sooooo....you have to have the timing right
    	  when they move up to feed near the shore...and in general I have
          found that the best time is dawn or dusk.
    
    	  Summation:  Work the structure from the shore through 10 feet of
    	  water....and PRAY your timing is right.
    
    	  Gitzit'
    	

    I think the time of year and location has been covered, but there
    is one important element your leaving out. PUT YOUR TIME IN! Dont
    sit around pondering where the big fish are, go fish for them. Last 
    year I caught more fish over the 4 pound mark than ever before, I would
    say easily over 10. What did I do differently? Nothing except I spent
    a lot more time on the water. At least 3 - 4 times a week average.
    Personally, I think the big fish are just the result of normal fishing. 
    You get one every now and then. 
    
    Rich
    
    P.S. Try the NUNYA line from Pop Top (tm) 

    
    
    	Rich...I guess that is what I was trying to say...keep fishing and
    	when the active big one is around...hopefully you are too.
    
    	Also...with Orlando in the boat and NUNYA's on your line...I am
    	surprised that you ONLY caught 10 over 4.  I would suppose that
    	those are the ones you boated...who knows how many Orlando lost
    	due to misnetting...:-)
    
    	Gitzit'
    

    	Gitzit,
    		I hate to say it, but of all the net persons I have had,
    	My wife is the only one so far that hasn't tried to give me a heart
    	attack when netting. She gets them first time every time. 

    	Old Orlando, man this guy is tuff on the ticker. I thought I was going 
        to die when it took him FIVE tries to net the hawg winner in this
        springs tourney. 

    	Rich 

      Re .9
       
      I have to agree with most of what you say... My experience has been
    that before spawning...that is right after ice-out and maybe in most
    years up to June 1 or so, there is NO specific place that the Bass will
    be found... After semi-dormancy during the winter months, they are
    cruisin'...hunting for food...and crayfish---one of the Largemouth's
    favorite snacks---typically hang around under rocks in shallows... My
    "spot" is a place on a large lake where a small stream empties into the
    lake...and the area is shallow---2-3 feet, with fist sized rocks and
    smaller. I fished this area with an 8" Producto grape worm, rigged
    Texas style...got not a single ticle from 9:00 in the morning till 2:15
    in the aft...then caught 2 over five pounds in less than 20 minutes..
    
      Two days later, same place, same scenario...not a thing for 4-5
    hours, then a 5+ and 7+ within a half hour...
    
    
       After the spawning is over, the Bass look for a place to hole
    up...dead tree, stump, log, brushpile...and that's when I get out th
    old Spinnerbaits... Slow retrieved past this type of structure will get
    you extremely excited....when a Bass hits a Spinnerbait, they POUND it
    usually...no problem setting the hook...they set it for you. 
     
      These are 2 distinctly different ways of fishing for Bass...but both
    are a whole bunch of fun for me anyway...
    
    
      JM
    

    ..a little off the subject.
                               .
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                                 .    <>x   <><>X
                                  ....
    what is best...all day with 1 - six pounder
                   or
    7- but all under 3 pounds ??????
    
                           -Steve

    best structure,, 
    
    keep an EYE on madd matts house when he's not 
    around, open up the cover in his back yard,He
    has his own personal under the yard creek running
    threw his property? not sure if it holds the hawg
    but like the RE::14 says theres plenty of small ones!!!!!!
    
    					(Gill_Raker)

       Re .14
      Funny thing you should ask... I really can't say I prefer one over
    the other.  I've had days when I caught 35-40 in the 1 to 2 pound
    range, and there've also been days with nothing doing and then I
    latched into a 5 pounder... With the action fast and furious, you have
    a ton of fun, but the adreneline shot that a 5+ pounder gives you when
    it sticks it's head out of the water and it looks like a bucket full of
    cotton is really hard to duplicate...  
    
      I guess I'd take either...it's all part of the territory.. 
    
      I guess you gotta take what you are given...
    
     (Damn...I KNOW there's a 10+ pounder right near that place where I
    caught that 5+'er!!! That's O.K...I'll be back!!)
    
      John Mc

>    what is best...all day with 1 - six pounder
>                   or
>    7- but all under 3 pounds ??????
    
    
    Well, having had a few days with 7 fish under 3 pounds, and NO days
    with one six-pounder (no fish, period), I'd have to say a six-pounder
    is WAY better.
    
    Ed
    

      Re .17
    
      Right you are...and there ain't NONE of us who haven't had those days
    with 2 bites....a mosquito and a tick!! But even those are days I
    wouldn't trade for anything..(well, maybe Megabucks...). Even the days
    youthink all the fish in the water have gone to South America are good
    because you're OUT THERE and the sun/air/water etc. are still something
    to enjoy... 'Course, some action is much better...
    
      John Mc.