merc1997 Bo

report on our trip around big m last night. 5 keepers, and they all were just nice keeps. pattern was you got a bite where you found it. bites were in groups, but no real pattern to where you found a bite. the average depth was about 15 ft. the bite was somewhat off because of the front. most bites, if you would even call them that were really just nothing bites. everyone talks about getting that "tap". i would love to have a trip where i got that "tap" on a bite. there are lakes in this world that most of the bites are that traditional "tap" that is always talked about, but table rock is rarely included in that list anymore. perhaps the suspended shad chasers might give a more aggressive bite, but i really feel that most of the bass that we catch at night are just ones that have laid down somewhere to rest and are not active. bo

i know there are many that do not use a black light, but i can tell you that i catch lots of bass that i did not feel any bite, but i did see my line flick ever so slightly in the black light. i would not night fish without one, period. i use florescent braid. stren did offer its sonic braid in florescent, and i like it really well. i have now found that the spider wire glo-viz is florescent, and it does a fine job as well. bo

nice brownine!! glad to see that all of the brownies that leonard and i transported from the dam area and let go at big m have somewhat taken hold. i can remember when catching a brownie up here was unheard of. i am going to give a go tonight. hopefully we will find an area or two that the shad chasers and laid down to rest. i fished around eagle rock monday night, and it was pretty slow between bites. we did end up with 3 3 lbers. and one other keeper, and 8 or 9 shorts. one of the 3 lbers. was a brownie. it came out of owl creek. big bass are hard to come by on the upper end anymore. they are not that plentiful in the lake as a whole. i do think we have some in the lake, but they stay suspended out in open water following the shad. i have noticed a thermocline around 20ft. around big m, and closer to 10 above eagle rock, and i think that changes day to day depending on how much water is being let out of beaver. bo

yep, pretty good weights with the bass being so scattered and varying depths. bo

you did good according to what reports i have been hearing from the lower end. bo

center based weed guards bristles or otherwise do cause you to miss fish. it has been in print since the beginning that they will cause you to miss strikes, and the science of it is they do!!! i used to fish with them too eons ago. i watched that very thing happen years ago, and i set out to fix the problem. being a tournament fisherman, lost bass means lost money. bo

NICE!!! bo

just to clear up your statement. you were sent one of the old blems, not a new production pro series. the function of that blem is just as good as the new ones. the pro series has an owner hook, a positive skirt collar and a soft plastic keeper barb. i did not send you that free blem for any other reason than to see if it fished and hooked bass better. if you would like to compare finish, hook, and skirt, i would be glad to send you a new pro series. i might add that the blem i sent you maded in the late 80's and the hook choices then was gold or bronze. i will still put that "crappy" gold hook up against any of the new hooks for hook penetration. one last thing, is that the people talking about NuTech products is of their own accord. bo

thanks for posting the pic! there are many things about the Black Widow that are great advantages. first, is wire design. with the loose head, you get way more vibration, and that is further amplified by using .032 wire. sounds light right?? it is except that the bend design makes this spinner bait virtually indestructible. i have frames that date back to the late 80's that are still going just like new. the other great advantage about the frame is you can change out your head for a different size and color. the Black Widow can be fished through anything with very few hangups. the other thing is the hooking is going to be in the roof of the mouth every time, and this means you are going to put your hookups in the boat. as bud stated, the Black Widow is a great big bass bait. bo

i see my buddy tracy floyd gathered up a few on NuJigs friday. they did not get a kicker bass on saturday though. bo

it is a crankbait, and if you are fishing the right depth, the right depth, and in front of some fish, there will be times that you will catch some fish on it. i seriously doubt, that bass perceive that as a group of shad, but just whatever the main color is. just mho. bo

you need to start taking a nap, and then you will be ready to do some after dark fishing. bo

i fished from bi m to eagle rock last night. ended up with 5 good 16-17 inch chunks. only caught two very small kentuckies. caught several small lmg to go with the keepers. the bass were very scattered, and at various depths out to 20 ft.. medium sloping chunk banks were definitely the best producers. the producing baits were senkos, beaver type baits, and skirted jig and trailer. all were fished on various weights of NuTech Jigs. to further comment about bill statement concerning kentuckies, i think the continual high water is affecting their spawn success. i know that after the fish kill that there was a big increase in size of the kentuckies, but to me not necessarily an increase in numbers. to me, i really think the numbers are declining even though they feed suspended off shore much more now. back when we really had a lot of kentuckies they would wear you out catching them on any chunk rock bank at night on a plastic worm. the high water has been good for lmg spawn, and we are seeing those numbers increase. table rock has really struggled and continues to do so in recovering from the fish kill of several years ago. i ask the mdc and continue to do so as to why we do not stock our lakes. texas is very successful stocking their lakes and have some of the best fishing in the country. we stock trout, and many people enjoy catching trout, but the reality is there are a whole lot more people fishing for crappie and bass, and that group of people are also spending a whole lot more money. WAKE UP MDC!!!! take some lessons from texas. falcon has been in a decline, and because of that, they just stocked over 1,000,000 fingerlings in falcon over the last 4 to 5 months. if our guides are struggling to catch bass, it will not take long, and they will not have a very long customer list. your average fisherman will quit coming to the lake, and all in all the local economy suffers tremendously. MDC perhaps we should just fire everyone, and get another bunch of employees. if you can raise and stock trout, you can do the same with bass, crappie, and perch. bo

night time is the right time for clear water lakes. bo

most of the time the spinner baiters are covering water not fishing brush piles. this time of year, bass will roam flat points searching for food. back of pockets can be good also. a spinner bait will make enough noise to call fish to it. you do not have to put the bait on the bass's nose. spinners are sometimes a good choice when bass are some what scattered as they are right not. a crankbait would work also, or a vibrating jig. bo

spoons are a great fishing tool for sure. they will work great for shad chasing fish. i have seen times though that the whites would not give a spoon a look. this usually happens when they are chasing very small shad. in these instances, i have seen a simple rooster tail catch one every cast. don't forget to use that spoon on them when they are down deeper also. you certainly had a great evening of fishing!! bo

the NuTech CrazyJigs come in 1/2 as well, and the Blitz CrazyJig is availble in a 1/2 and a 3/4. bo

i have found that if that bend is away from the hook instead of towards the hook, it will help keep the bait down better without breaking out on a faster retrieve. bo

you actually get more vibration with a split ring because of the blade being further out. it creates i wider wobble. bo

i think the bait in question that d&m made had a very large coffin shaped blade, which is what z-man has protection on. if you want an even better vibrating jig try the NuTech Lures CrazyJig. it is also available in the Blitz series CrazyJig. more vibration, more snag proof, and much better hook ups. bo

see, there is very good evidence to spend some time big bass hunting in areas where there is lots of gills or goggle eyes. bo

i think there will be craws up shallow until the water level drops quite a bit. then it will be time to find where bass are tearing up shad, and the craws will be gathered up underneath feasting on what went to the bottom. i just talked to a guy that had been fishing daytime in the virgin bluff area, and they caught a slug of bass fairly shallow on black and blue jigs. so, some areas still have shallow bass. i know in the down stream area, lots of bass are showing up out deeper, but lots of them are suspended out in the lake around small shad pods. bo

very interesting that you mentioned the bluegill. big bass love them. this is one of those things that come under the food chain, and how it relates to the bass. i am betting there are some very good bass hanging around the areas where there are so many gills. i know that on the lower end of the lake, and i hit an area that has lots of goggle eye, i do not let that chase me away. i have caught many big bass in these areas. big bass love big easy meals. i do not know if bill's nice kentuckies are coming from the same areas as the gills, but if so, it could be a very good reason that the bass are around. bo

sounds as though there needs to be some time looking to see where all the bait is. i know many time we get in the habit of fishing spots and do not catch anything and then wonder what is going on with the fishing. i have found over the years for even someone like me that night fishes all the time, that there has to be some time spent looking the lake over a bit to see where the majority of the shad are at. this will help in fishing the right areas. i have not bee on the lower end of the lake for a while, but here on the upper end, a lot of the bait is still back in the coves and arms a ways. as the water continues to warm, the bait and bass will continue to move out towards main lake. i also feel that there are many bass that are just following around shad pods and never get near the bank or bottom. bo

probably a true statement, but the truth is you can catch just as many fish from a bathtub with some decent electronics, and a good trolling motor. but, there is certainly not one thing wrong with having some very good equipment, including the boat. bo