The Dean : Fishing Forum Posts
It all depends on the pond. Some ponds are spring feed and have some depth to them. In this case, the bait will go deep in the summer and so will the bass. Deep cranks can be a great tool in that case. They are very difficult to use if you are bank fishing. However, if you fish from a boat they can be a great tool.
Braided line is very buoyant and can help you keep the bait up. A slow retrieve is key.
Jason has a good suggestion here. The must me something out of balance on your real. The bail is a good place to start looking. Lures that have a lot of resistance in the water can also create the effect of being out of balance on spinning gear. Deep diving crankbaits are an example. I always drop of a my reals that are acting funny to a professional reel repair shop to have then cleaned and lubed. They can often find things that need to be repaired.
I fish around green and black algae all the time. Very difficult to manage. The bass seem to like it. In the spring time, these areas can warm much quicker and I've seen the bass use these areas to spawn. They will clear out the algae and make beds.
Lures that work best are texas rigs and weightless senkos. Even these weedless lures get algae on almost every cast. It takes some time for anglers to pick this stuff off, but bass won't bite lures with algae on them. Spinnerbaits can be good too.
Finesse fishing is a good technique to try if bites are few. The drop shot is hard to beat. If your chatterbait isn't working, try another. Sometimes they are faulty from the factory. You need to feel that vibration for it to trigger strikes. Don't give up on it. Its a highly effective bait.
I don't use Lowrance, but a lot of our pros do. What Jammie Hartman discuss how he uses his Lowrance to fish vertically. Copy this link. https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/video-game-fishing-lowrance-sonar-electronics-hartman. Search Lowrance in our search bar for more details.
I use that rod from Cashion to fish shakey head and senkos. It's the perfect rod for those jobs.
Current is key as the hot weather presses down. Especially in a river situation. Finding areas they neck down will have extra current in a drought situation. Deep water is also key. There is a castable sonar device that works with your smart phone that can help you find deeper water. Its called "Deeper". That will help you find the deepwater holes from the bank.
The wacky rig is a great tool to get started with. If I have to pick the next three techniques to add to your arsenal are as follows; jig, chatterbait then squarebill crankbait. You can fish a jig in the same types of places the wacky rig works. It also is fished on the bottom. The jig has a reputation for catching bigger fish. When your ready its time to get into the moving bait catagory. Chatterbait and squarebills are a great place to start.
Z has this technique dialed in. I like the vmc straight shank hook below. Give this a try. Use your Rapala vip access and get 30 % off or more.
https://www.rapala.com/vmc/jigs/swinging-jigs/srflj-swingin-rugby-fl-jig-straight/SRFLJ+Swingin+Rugby+FL+Jig.html?cgid=vmc-jigs-swinging#start=1&cgid=vmc-jigs-swinging
Hi Jeff, The month of June is known as the month to fish the offshore shell beds on the Tennessee River. The lower and central end of the lake are know for the best ledge fishing. Most mapping will show the best off shore stuff to fish. Type "ledge" in the search bar and a lot of great seminars on this topic are available to you. Most recently Gerald Swindle attacks Guntersville ledges in the summer. Very similar to the Chick. https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/how-to-fish-for-bass-on-ledges-gerald-swindle.
As a secondary pattern, there are millfoil grass beds around the lake. They grow close to the river channel. I found some just up river from the Blue Water resort when I competed in the recent Bassmaster Open there. I love fishing grass and I caught almost all the fish that I weighed in from the mollfoil grass. They love to bite a jig and a swimbait on this lake. I hope this help you get a good start and good luck!!
Shad, herring, emerald shiners and perch can cause bass to school. Yellow perch can gang up in big school in the early spring to spawn. Bass will often group up to feed on them when they are doing this. Perch generally go deep in the summer months and you will have to look for schools of bass chasing them in the deeper water. If you can't find this activity in your lake, staying shallow all year is always a great option. Below are some videos I recommend. The color contrast is off temporarily on the forum, so hover your courser below to light up the links. Greg Hackney shallow water seminar and I have two small water seminars.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/shallow-water-fishing-all-year-long-greg-hackney
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/locate-bass-in-ponds-small-lakes-bass-university-basics
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/bass-fishing-in-small-waters-pete-gluszek
Check out this seminar I put together for this exact situation. The color contrast is off temporarily on the forum, so hoover your courser below to light up the link. It seems like everything is flooded this year.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/how-to-fish-for-bass-in-flooded-water-gluszek
Thanks Jeff! Really appreciate the kind words. A lot more to come.
I would guess what you where looking at was a shad spawn. They also do that when threatened by a predator.
Congratulations on a great tournament win!! 23# is a huge stringer of bass. Wind direction can certainly move things around. Ats all about the bait. The wind blows plankton around and the baitfish will follow. Wind can also accelerate current in a body of water and also slow it down. If current is accelerated, then the bite will be much better than when the current slows.
Here are some suggestions on possible back up patterns. Suspended fish can sometimes be caught. You have several seminars on how to deal with suspended fish. Below is one of our most viewed seminars on the topic from John Murray.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/locate-catch-suspended-bass-john-murray
There are always shallow fish around in the post spawn. Check out Greg Hackney's shallow water approach for all seasons-link below.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/shallow-water-fishing-all-year-long-greg-hackney
If your having trouble seeing the above link, just hoover your cursor above and the link will light up.
Its summertime way down there. I have never fished Amastad but when I fish lakes in Texas that time of year, my first look is always deep. Below are a couple of seminars links that will help.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/seasonal-approach-to-deep-water-bass-fishing-murray
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/catching-bass-with-sonar-electronics-brent-ehrler
Rick Clunn has shown us that age isn't a barrier in this sport. He has won Elite tournaments at 69 and again at 71. The quote from him that I like the best is, "Never accept that your best accomplishments are behind you." Not sure if that's the exact quote, but it was something close to that. Larry Nixon and Denny Brauer continued to win through their 50's and Kevin Vandam is winning at 50 and 51.
I turn 52 next month. I am not in the best shape of my life and I struggle to get myself back to peak physically. It hurts me in my ability to practice and prepare for tournament like I want to. Being in great shape is really going to help you.
So my answer to the question is NO! You are not too old to pursue the thing you love. I wish you the best of luck on your tournament fishing and hope you keep us posted on your progress.
I became a father relatively late in life at the age of 42. My son Jake is 9 years old and brings me joy everyday. He loves sports, video games and fishing.
I want to wish every Dad a Happy Father's Day. I hope you have a great day with your family and enjoy a great fishing season this year.
Hi Levi, I think the first step is to identify the seasonal pattern that the bass are currently in. Winter, pre-spawn, spawn, post spawn, summer or fall. This will cut your search down quite a bit. Winter and summer are when the bass are deepest on most waterways. Spawn and fall patterns are usually when the bass are shallow. This will get you started. Below are some great video links addressing this questions from Mike Iaconelli and James Elam. If you can't see the link just hoover your courser below and you will see the the link light up.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/locate-bass-fast-mike-iaconelli
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/locate-bass-fast-part-2-mike-iaconelli
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/prepare-for-fishing-like-a-tournament-pro-james-elam
Hey Robert, did you get to see the live show with Brandon Cobb we did recently? Must see for herring lake anglers. Link is below.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/blueback-herring-spawn-brandon-cobb-live
Hi Jake, I have fished the Tensaw River down in Mobile. The fish are really concentrated down in the delta where the salt water meets the fresh. My experience up river was similar to yours. I found fish in the oxbows and back water off the main river. I have provided you with three amazing river seminars below from three of the best, Bill Lowen, Mike McClellend and Ott Defoe.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/catching-bass-in-current-lowen
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/river-bass-fishing-mike-mcclelland
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/all-about-fishing-up-river-ott-defoe
Thanks for the question Nick. A lot of the time I find fish in the shallows in the summer they are chasing spawning bluegill. These fish can be caught. My top three baits are a stick bait like a Senko, Topwater or squarebill or flat side crankbiat. Below are links to some great seminars for fishing shallow water.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/seasonal-shallow-cranking-success-lowen
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/shallow-water-fishing-all-year-long-greg-hackney
Fast fall is the key to trigger strikes in the summer time. When the fish are tricky to catch due to the hot weather, this is the time to use a fast fall strategy. I won a Bassmaster tournament on Cayuga Lake in August with a fast fall senko. 3/4ounce weight pegged in front of a 5inch Senko. Below is the video that I describe how I used it to win. As the water temperature falls, I tend to lighten up on my weight. Good luck.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/312
I like the idea of keeping it simple. Below are some seminars that have been developed from fishing on Sam Rayburn. Summertime is when there is always a deep water bite. Deep diving cranks are a great place to start.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/master-the-rat-l-trap-mdj
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/super-deep-cranking-crews
