Were All About Fishing

Scott R asked: What do you know about bass fishing at night?




People hear about night fishing for bass, but they aren’t sure if it will be productive in their particular lake, river, or pond. Chances are it will be more than “productive”; it will more likely than not be the best fishing of your life, if you follow some simple laws of night fishing.

First law- Never use live bait. You will have the worse night of your life (unless you have located fish first that will feed on bait). At night, you want to use crank baits with rattles. Not huge crank baits, but about 3-5 inches with a medium sized bill. You want to be able to hit the bottom or be right above the bottom with these crank baits. You need to make noise below the surface and a rattling crank bait is the best way to do it. The fish will come to it, and they will come with a reckless attitude.

Second law of night fishing- Do not use a top water lure. Top water baits will not catch you as many fish as crank baits. The number of fish that end up attacking a surface lure at night pales in comparison to what you can catch below the surface with a crank bait. To illustrate this point, think about how much surface activity you hear at night above the water. Probably not much right? That is because all of those fish are feeding below the surface. You may be reading this and saying to yourself, but wait a second, I go top water night fishing , and catch 3 or 4 big bass every time I go out, this guy has no idea what he is talking about.

Well, I guarantee that if you switched to crankbaits, in that same area, you would catch 3 times as many fish, if you use a proper lure. Fish just don’t like to come to the surface at night, and if they do, they will miss the bait all night long.

Third law of night fishing for bass: Take a headlamp and move around, do not stand in one spot and cast for three hours. The fish are on the move, and you need to be as well to find them and catch tons of them. The best spot to start night fishing is any huge point you can find. A triangle that juts out from shore, points with deep drops on either side, or both, are the best places to catch huge bass. If you can find points that are huge and shallow, you will be in fish heaven. You don’t want to fish places that gradually get deeper, like a swimming beach, you want the water to plunge off shallow points. The bass move up out of deep water and onto the shallow point at night, and they will smash your bass crankbait [http://www.squidoo.com/getlargemouthbassfishing] all night long.

W Scott asked: Tell me about all the different lures.




In the world of bass fishing, the amateur and competitive nature of this sport has attracted a rather large following that has only continued to gain popularity over the years. In order to become a success, using fishing lures and bait is a must. Depending on the time of day or night, location, type of water, and depth - different bass fishing lures will produce better results than other selections. To become familiar with the most common and effective choices, consider the following suggestions:

Jigs

Many will say that jigs - heavy, lead-headed baits with a single hook are the most useful of baits to consider - especially when fishing in waters that are somewhat murky or clear. Jigs are good for attracting inactive fish and getting the attention of those who are buried deep. When using this type of lure, keep in mind that jigs are meant to create presentation, where success comes in making them appear noticeably alive. The ideal water temperature for this bass fishing lure is below 60 degrees. They are also perfect for night-fishing.

Rubber Worms

The hassle of dealing with real worms is eliminated when using rubber selections that work just as well. An added weight in the structure of the lure allows a slow descent to the bottom of your fishing location. When lucky, bass strike at the rubber worm. If the lure reaches the bottom without any action, simply reel it back towards the surface and let it drop once again.

Spinner Baits

The unusual shape of spinner baits are constructed with an over-sized metal attachment that spins. This lure doesn’t attract fish by appealing to their hunger, but rather through agitation. Spinner baits are year-round lures that especially work well during the spawning season when bass are less desperate to feed.

Crank Baits

Through the imitation of a weak or injured fish, crank lures are used as top water and sinking lures. The added cranking noise attracts bass with its sound. A slow approach is necessary in order to successfully imitate an injured fish.

Poppers

While poppers are similar to crank baits, they are set aside solely as a top water lure. As they travel across the water, a “popping” sound is emitted. The best time of year to use this lure is during the summertime, where slow reel action is required.

Grubs

The smallmouth bass is especially attracted to the tiny lures known as grubs, which are geared towards larger catches. Grubs are bare jig heads with a soft-plastic body added to a hook. When a highland reservoir lacks ample cover, this lure is rather effective. Clear and deep waters are the greatest locations to use grubs, where white, yellow, salt and pepper, and smoke selections work best.

Tube Baits

When fishing in clear water or surrounded by inactive fish, tube jigs works wonders to specifically target bass. A spinning reel on a 6 to 6 ½-foot medium-light to medium action rod best accommodates this type of drop bait. Also, seek out water no deeper than 10 feet when using tube baits.

Vibrating Lures

Plastic or metal is used to create the vibrating lures that generate a tremor when retrieved out of the water. With a sound (much like a rattle), the baits sink to the bottom and do not get lost in particularly deep waters. A variety of lures are offered in this category, including tailspinners, which are heavy, compact baits of metal that uses a small spinner to attract the bass. Use vibrating lures when fishing about stumps, close to river currents, on deep channel drop-offs, and over waterlogged grass beds.

bass fishing

Saturday, December 5, 2009
Opening Day 4 months away

Someone said to me the other day, only 4 more months to opening day. It is a day that I look forward to as long as it is 50 degrees and above. I barely manage to get out of my man cave until june. After all the average temp is about 34 - 44 degrees at the beginning of April in NY. I just can’t bring myself out to ice fish.

Trout fishing for me will start on the Hoosic river around April 15th this year. Water temp 45 - 55 degrees. As a rule water temp will be just about right around 2pm - 5pm. Its a stream that runs west out of Vermont into the Hudson. It is a river that has had its share of trouble. The tanneries all but destroyed its fish population. It is no longer stocked, but it does hold some wild rainbows and browns. What it lacks in fish is made up in the size of fish that are available.

Wide and slow and some fast, riffed water make for some good holding spots for some large fish. Early season above the village of Eagle Bridge puts out some good mayfly hatches. Tan, cream and white are the colors of the spring here. Wets are the preference. A lot of the stream side is unshaded so dries are an afternoon to evening technique. 9″ min and 5 take limit, although in this river catch and release is the best way to go. As it is in most rivers.

One of the best trout fishing techniques I have found is asking owner permission before walking across a land owners property. Some of the best areas are behind some-ones home and common respect goes a long way for all fisher persons. Practicing this keeps the fishing open for all.

As for equipment, early spring brings out my 4wt, 7′ leader, 4x tippet and size 12 - 16 flies.

Davy Cadis sz 14
Hairs Ear sz 14 - 16
Hairs Ear Bead sz 12 - 16
Gold Rib Haired 14 - 16 one of the best when you just don’t know what to use!
March Brown nymph

Streamers:

Matuka sz 12 -14
Zonker sz 12 - 14
Muddler Minnow sz 12 - 14
Peacock Woolly Bugger sz 12 -14 the best of the best get black, brown and red

Wets:

Olive Woolly Worm

Drys:

Adams
Light Cahill
Dark Cahill
Black Midge
Blue winged olive good in early sprint late afternoon when sipping is in progress.
Ant
Daves Hopper

By: Eric Clayton

About the Author:

Born To Be Caught: Largemouth Bass Vulnerability To Being Caught By Anglers Is A Heritable Trait

ScienceDaily (Apr. 15, 2009) — In an experiment spanning over 20 years, researchers at the University of Illinois have found that vulnerability to being caught by anglers is a heritable trait in largemouth bass.

The study began in 1975 with the resident population of bass in Ridge Lake, an experimental study lake in Fox Ridge State Park in Charleston. The fishing was controlled. For example, anglers had to reserve times, and every fish that was caught was put into a live well on the boat. The fish were measured and tagged to keep track of how many times each fish had been caught. All fish were then released.

“We kept track over four years of all of the angling that went on, and we have a total record – there were thousands of captures,” said David Philipp, ecology and conservation researcher at U of I. “Many fish were caught more than once. One fish was caught three times in the first two days, and another was caught 16 times in one year.”

After four years, the pond was drained, and more than 1,700 fish were collected. “Interestingly, about 200 of those fish had never been caught, even though they had been in the lake the entire four years,” Philipp said.

Males and females from the group that had never been caught were designated Low Vulnerability (LV) parents. To produce a line of LV offspring, these parents were allowed to spawn with each other in university research ponds. Similarly, males and females that had been caught four or more times in the study were designated High Vulnerability (HV) parents that were spawned in different ponds to produce a line of HV offspring. The two lines were then marked and raised in common ponds until they were big enough to be fished.

“Controlled fishing experiments clearly showed that the HV offspring were more vulnerable to angling than the LV offspring,” said Philipp.

This selection process was repeated for several generations over the course of the 20 year experiment.

“As we had predicted, vulnerability was a heritable trait,” he said. Philipp went on to explain that with each generation, the difference between lines in angling vulnerability grew even larger.

“Most of the selection is occurring on the LV fish – that is, for the most part, the process is making that line of fish less vulnerable to angling. We actually saw only a small increase in angling vulnerability in the HV line,” Philipp said.

Male bass are the sole caregiver for the offspring. Females lay eggs and leave. The male guards the nest against brood predators for about three to four days before the eggs hatch and another eight to 10 days after they hatch, before they become free-swimming. Even after the baby bass start to swim, the dads stay with them for another three weeks while they feed and grow, protecting them from predators.

Philipp explained that the experiment sped up what’s actually happening in nature. “In the wild, the more vulnerable fish are being preferentially harvested, and as a result the bass population is being directionally selected to become less vulnerable. We selected over three generations, but in the wild the selection is occurring in every generation.

“We’ve known for 50 years that commercial fishing exerts selection on wild populations,” he said. “We take the biggest fish, and that has changed life histories and growth patterns in many populations of commercially harvested species. Because there is no commercial fishing for bass, we were assessing the evolutionary impacts of recreational fishing.”

Philipp explained that the perception among anglers is that catch-and-release has no negative impact on the population. During the spawning season, however, if bass are angled and held off of their nests for more than a few minutes, when they are returned to the lake, it’s too late; other fish have found the nest and are quickly eating the babies.

Philipp recommends that to preserve bass populations across North America, management agencies need to protect the nesting males during the spawning season. “There should be no harvesting bass during the reproductive period. That makes sense for all wildlife populations. You don’t remove the adults during reproduction.

“One of the big issues for concern is the explosion of tournaments. Lots of bass tournaments are held during the springtime because there are lots of big fish available. In tournaments you put fish into live wells, and yes, they’re released, but they could be held for up to 8 hours first. They’re brought back to the dock, miles from their nest. So, basically, if a fish is caught in a tournament and brought into the boat and put into a live well, his nest is destroyed.”

Philipp recommended that if fishing tournaments were held during the spawning season, then regulations should require that there be immediate catch-and-release, eliminating the use of tournament weigh-ins.

Philipp urges management agencies to go even further and suggests that a portion of each lake could be set aside as a bass spawning sanctuary, where all fishing would be prohibited until after bass reproduction is complete. In the rest of the lake, mandatory catch-and-release regulations could be put into place during that same reproductive period. In Illinois, the bass reproduction period is from about April 1 through June 15. Philipp said that in that way, anglers could help protect the long-term future of the resource without completely restricting fishing.

“The potential for angling to have long-term evolutionary impacts on bass populations is real. If we truly want to protect this valuable resource into the future, then we need to understand that and adjust our management strategies,” Philipp said.

Others on the University of Illinois research team include Steven Cooke, Julie Claussen, Jeffrey Koppelman, Cory Suski, and Dale Burkett.

Brought To Our Attention By: James Loc

About James Loc

Bass Fishing Lure Tips

Bass fishing has quickly become one of the most popular sports out there today, and it is really no surprise why. It is enjoyable, and there is nothing better than bringing home a freshly caught bass fish to cook for supper. It is a great sport that is bringing in more fans all the time.

Stay Up To Date

Staying up to date on different bass fishing lures is one of the best things that you can ever do if you want to have greater success with your bass fishing. After all, the bass lure that you choose can have a significant effects on the number of fish that you are going to attract, and so you therefore are going to need to check out the bass fishing lure selection and make sure that you choose the best lure for you conditions.

Learn What Your Lure Options Are

One of the most important bass fishing lure tips is to learn what your options are before even getting started. You are going to need to learn about the different bass fishing lures that you have available to you before you are going to be able to decide which is the best.

There are soft plastic baits such as grubs, tube baits, soft jerkbaits and plastic worms, and then there are also hardbaits like jigs, topwaters, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, vibrating lures and jigging spoons.

Location Is Important

One of the best bass fishing tips is to kno what location you are going to be fishing in before deciding on a lure. This is one of the most important bass fishing lure tips because you are going to need a different size and type of lure depending on where you are going fishing.