JoshKeller

Should have at least been able to pick of a few buck bass gaurding the fry shallow. After u get a few bucks, go to the main lake points and fish the daylights out of them. Fish tend to move on and off points every hour or so.

PAHUNTER21

With your scenario, I probably would try 2 approachs.

First would be to get into the structure with Some rubber wormage or a small jig. Also I would try some smaller crankbaits around the edges. You may be able to grab a reaction strike with a buzzbait, but I would tend to think the smaller bait would do wonders here.

Second idea would be to work the open water structure (dropoffs, points, etc) You may be able to snag a few suspended bass with a jerk bait, in this scenario. Use the depth finder to see if they are there and how deep. If they aren't reacting to a jerkbait, I would try a Rattletrap.

Hard to make any assumptions if you're not actually there. Got me thinking though.

robdar

We spent alot of time with plactics and small spinners in and around structure in the channels...I am feeling our mistake was not spending enough time out of the points and drops. We ran out there and worked them awhile, but I think we concentrated too much on what has worked in the past (plastics in and around structure) thinking we could get something going. We knew that the structure fishing would be a "hit em on the head" kind of day and werent expecting a bumper bag, but we should have went for the bumper bag anyway. We should have abandoned it much earlier in the day and went out to the drops and points...we actually talked about it several times but kept saying..."but we can always pull fish like this!". We surely were not versatile enough that day!

Chuck7

Tournamenta do that.The clock seems to race and your always wondering ...what if. Rooster tails are generally good for picking up the 1-2 lb fish. If you are a team..I'd have one flip or pitch while the other guy either cranked or spun baits in the deeper water . Bass generally love water that is 8-10 feet deep. I've read also tha tthey seldom leave 50 yds from where they are hatched. For a few years I kept a few bass in a large tank. I noticed durin gthe most part of the day they stay on the bottom. I generally fish the bottom unless I see them busted on top. When tha thappens ,Rooster is almost 100%. Their down fall is the small hooks are hard to keep your fish on. Keep that line tight!
Chuck

Deerslayer_37

on days when you can't get the bite going and dont have a pattern, just start fishing fast. look at your map. search it for certain bass holding features. if i dont have a clue what the fish are doing, i'm chucking a spinnerbait or a buzzbait and then slowing down when i catch a fish or get a hit. fishing a worm slow on a day like that isn't going to boat you any fish. and by following the locals like you said, it shows you had no confidence in your presentation. 90% of fishing is half mental. don't get worried or psyched out. If you think what you're doing is wrong and you are ready to copy others, just sit down, pop open a gatorade, and scour your map for about 10 minutes. just cool off. then pick up your rod and keep plunking away.

you said your were fishing the channel. I dunno if that was right. i would have defintely been trying to fish points of land and points of weedbeds and stump fields. One thing you can do thts pretty high confidence is pitch jigs and stuff to visible cover. you're almost guaranteed a bite. Chuck, i think bass move around quite a bit, depending on what the lake has for cover. I mean, if you've got deep water with great cover nearby, the bass probably won't move alot. Bass move alot though. After wintering on extreme drop offs, they move out to main lake points and secondary points near spawning areas. Then they'll stage for a while and gradually move in to spawn. After that, its reverse. Some bass will disperse throughout the lake. in the great lakes, theres nomadic schools of smallmouth that just follow around baitfish schools when they're not spawning or wintering. Most of the time you'll find bass in less than 7 feet of water, given thers a low enough water temp and good cover. i guess this is as basic as i can put it without writing a darn book.

It's interesting you guys use rooster tails. i never use them on bass. i have a box of them, but i usually use them on pike and smallies in streams. I'd take a small spinnerbait over an inline anyday because of its weedless. I guess though you're giving the fish a little different look.



slayer

robdar

Deerslayer said...
You are right...after the tough morning we had we probably should have shown more confidence and moved out onto the big lake and fished the points like we had talked about. It is interesting to me though how matter a fact many people are about their choices, for the same conditions, and yet their choices are vastly different approaches.