The Dean : Fishing Forum Posts
Hey Bob, I use two Power Poles 8' for my 20' Basscat. I chose the Power Pole because of the way the they deploy. They reach out and that does two things for me. The first thing is that in shallow water they offer a wide stance which makes the boat very stable. The ten foot poles offer even better holding power when shallow. I prefer the 8 foot anchors because they are easier to manage when I have to get under overhanging trees or bridges. I also like the fact that they can reach out when 50% deployed and protect the rear of the boat from rocks or other hazardous bank or bottom structure. Can't tell how many times they have saved me from fiberglass damage.
Hey Bill, You can ask us anywhere, hahaha. Lipless is a great tool in the 40's. I just fished a derby last week and the water was 48. All our fish where caught on Lipless. Here are some other great choices in the 40's. Suspending jerk bait, blade bait (Silver Buddy, Heddon Sonar, etc.), hair jig. These are my best choices when the water temp is cold and falling. That yoyo lipless technique is excellent so keep using that one.
Hi Scott, All our special offers can be found at https://bassu.tv/special-offers. The button is on the right of the page toward the bottom. "Pro Member Offers"
That will be an amazing swing in conditions Rich. 20 degrees last night and 55 rain on Sunday. Look forward to hearing your report. Good luck in the derby!
Good deal. Hope we both get in. It was 20 degrees here last night. I need to get into some of that Florida weather.
I know exactly what you mean Douglas. Its hard to make sense of things. Here is my experience with braid and leaders. I guide and teach on the Chesapeake Bay which has stained water (about 1-2 feet of visibility). We fish a chatterbait a lot on the bay. I typically would only fish the bait with braid because it helped my students get the baits through the grass better and trigger the strikes. I experimented with flourocarbon leaders and found that the guys in the boat that used flouro leaders or flouro only had significantly more strikes on certain days. Some days it didn't seem to matter and other days the guys with flourocarbon where the only guys getting strikes. My conclusion was to always use a leader because I feel like this takes line concerns out of the equation.
I also see your point on hooks on Ned rig and drop shot. I would prefer not to use hooks, I think I would get a lot more strikes, hahahaha. I do try to match hook color with baits if possible to camouflage them as best I can.
Hey Doug, responded to your comment on the other thread.
Spinnning gear is definately easier to skip with Douglass. A weightless 5" senko is the probably the easiest bait to learn to skip with. The bait us use is as important as anything. Some baits (any texas rig) are very difficult to skip with. Find a bait that is easy to skip and start there.
Here is a number for you. It takes 5000 repetitions to become proficient at any cast. This number comes from working with students at the Bass U, On-Water Training. Some casts are easier to master, but skipping is the most challenging. I also recommend an angler learns to skip both forehand and backhand. In addition, the pitch skip cast is very important to learn. Get your repetitions in your back yard, garage or swimming pool. Don't wait until you get on the water to start practice. That,s the easiest way to get frustrated. Good luck.
Hey Derek, I have not dealt with a lake like this that is dominated with spots. In my experience, when grass takes over a lake its just a matter of time until grass patterns start to dominate the fishing. Often a lake can explode with more and bigger bass when the grass comes. I'll reach out to our Pros on this question for more details.
Great Question. The key for me this time of year is to always follow the bait. A lot of time the birds can help with this process. Great Blue Herron's let you know that the bait is shallow. Seagulls, Cormorants, and loons are good indicators of bait below. As fall turns into winter, look for the bait to move out of the shallow and into deeper areas. The bass will fallow the bait wherever it goes. Sonar is the very important this time of year. The depth you find the bait is the depth I begin looking for bass. The good news is that this time of year, the bass are often schooled up. If you can bear the weather, the fishing can be outstanding.
I have always used the Weather Channel app Douglas. It does a good job with hourly wind forecasting as well as rain and temps.
Wow! I want to come fish this spot with you. It sounds amazing. Hare are a few things I do when dealing with a school like this and keep them biting. One of the things that can be helpful sometimes is to keep the fish you catch in your livewell. When you release a fish back to the school, this can often have a negative effect on the school and cause them to become inactive or suspend. I don't keep them for very long, just long enough to catch a few out of the school and then I release them. Sometimes the school will use you boat shade as cover and follow your boat. I have been successful from time to time by fishing directly under my boat for these fish. I also recommend that you change color and size of you lures. Schools of fish quickly become educated to a particular lure, but changing colors, size and noise on your lures can keep them biting.
I also pay special attention to water and weather conditions. If your bite has stopped, I'll leave and come back if the wind picks up or clouds take over. An change in weather or current on the areas you are fishing can activate a school of fish.
Maintenance has not been a problem for me with my poles. I have never had to add fluid to my poles that are now five years old.
Hey Dean, I got the notice last week that I have been taken off the waiting list. Looking forward to the Harris Chain in a couple of weeks.
My first choice is usually lipless this time of year. I like the larger 3/4 ounce size. It matches the size of the bait better in the winter. A single Colorado spinnerbait is also a great choice in a lot of shallow situations. It can be fished slow around wood and shallow cover. I also like a jerkbait if the cover allows it. Always have a jig ready this time of year as well. My first choice is the lipless.
Thanks for the feedback Douglas! We will have have a monthly call in show. In addition, we will have a monthly live call in show on-the-water. Our next live on the water will be this upcoming Thursday with JT Kenney down in Florida. Tell everybody!! We do our best to keep it clean on Bass U and I'll pass you message on to the crew.
The freshman title only refers to how long you have been with us. Every six months your with us you graduate to the next level-Sophomore, Junior, Bachalors, Masters, etc. We are planning reward benefits for every level you make. Thanks for being part of our family and thanks for the feedback.
I understand your point of view. I agree and disagree. I've seen bodies of water like Guntersville, Okeechobee and Rayburn have massive amount of tournaments and continue to put out giant stringers of fish and amazing fishing. I love tournament fishing, but I have seen some bodies of water over fished with tournaments. I like the idea of restricting the amount of tournaments on any particular body of water depending on its size.
Great question Douglas!!!! We continue to try and recruit Rick and will continue to do so even if we have to travel to his house to work with him. Rick is one of the most amazing and accomplished anglers the sport has ever seen. He is also one of the most interesting individuals in our sport. When he won the St. Johns River Bassmaster Ellie tournament in 2016, he stopped the fishing in its tracks. He was 69 years old. Amazing!
Live is here now and much more to come!!! https://bassu.tv/live
Smallmouth are certainly fun if you have them. I hear that smallies have been stocked in several places in Texas. I understand your comment, though. Lots and lots of largemouth trainning available on Bass U and a lot more coming. Will be live fishing for Florida strain largemounth on 12/20. https://bassu.tv/live. Don't miss it.
Great idea Anthony! We have discussed this topic many times on the live show and many times in the classroom. I think its time we focused on how to be successful as a co-angler.
I think that techniques, areas and patterns that are effective in the fall are also effective in the spring. I have seen this repeat itself over and over all around the country. If you have an area that produces fish in the fall, definitely look for that area to hold fish in the spring.
Great question John. I use the Albright knot. Its larger than some knots, so I use only a 4-5 foot leader so the knot doesn't come into the rod eyes. A very interesting take on this comes from Seth Feider on BassU Live. He likes his knot to be in the reel. He feels the knot should be at the level of the water when the retrieve starts. hear is the live show. https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/fall-smallmouth-japan-mike-and-pete-live.
Hey Balsacranker. I love fishing from the bank. Seasonal patterns will always dictate the best places to fish from the bank. Certain times of year the fish are off shore in some lakes. Those time are usually summer and winter. But even during those times you can always find a few fish on the bank. The spring and fall are the best times to find a lot of fish on the bank. One of the things I like to do is select a body of water that I can fish the entire shore line in a day. This allows me to have access to all the habitat available on that body of water and give me the best chance to find fish. These are typically farm ponds and smaller lakes. Shallower banks are best in the spring and fall and the steeper banks are best in summer and winter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiuG2kupZtI. This is a product called Deeper. Its a device you can cast out and find the depth from the bank. I've never used this, but I think it would be very useful on an unknown body of water. You can countdown a jig or texas rig to also guess at the depth you are fishing. Generally speaking a 1/2ounce jig will fall 1 foot every second. This can help you with depth.
I recommend two rods. A spinning rod and baitcasting rod. Both are 7' medium/heavy action. With lure choices your also forced to keep things simple. I pick three colors of cranks, spinnerbaits and topwaters. I have a Shad pattern, Chartreuse pattern and craw pattern. With jigs and plastics i also try to keep it simple. Black, green pumpkin and Watermelon colors.
