Champ188

+1 ... probably nowhere are they more suitable than around submergent vegetation like hydrilla, coontail, milfoil, etc.

Good job, Sprint, and you are right about covering water. Fall is the junk fisherman's time to shine. For you guys who want a little something to chew on ... it's especially important in the fall to keep your eyes wide open and take advantage of every little circumstance that presents itself. We have a lot of windless days in the fall, so if a little breeze kicks up, go get in an area where it's blowing and use it to your advantage. If it's sunny and you can find shade in the kind of area you're catching them, use that to your advantage, too. Be alert to the presence of baitfish, a specific type of cover that seems to hold more fish than anything else, the exact depth your bites are coming if you're flipping docks, etc. Each of these things may contribute one or two fish to your day during the fall, and next thing you know, you've cobbled together a decent sack of fish. This is not to say that solid patterns aren't available in the fall. Sometimes they are. But some of us are more inclined to employ the Sanford & Son pattern, and to be successful at it, we have to fish "eyes wide open" -- along with our ears and other senses -- so that we don't miss our opportunities when they come along.

In my experience, they seem to work better in stained water. That eliminates a very big portion of Table Rock.

Yeah, that Fin info is no help. None at all. You shouldn't have bothered typing it.

Yes, I do have issues with CPA and Bass Pro where failing to return those fish to the lake is concerned. Major issues. By the way, triangler, how did you do in the derby today?

Only people who blindly back Bass Pro Shops (including BPS employees) would find anything remotely funny about a tournament organization hauling 40 (or so) bass out of one of the country's best bass fisheries and not returning them. The number of fish doesn't matter. It's the principle. You can't very well say that you support conservation of the resource when you trailer fish an hour or more to a weigh-in and don't return them to where they belong. It is a big deal to some of us.

And thank you for your service to our country.

Agreed with all, Hodge. Especially the part about all tournaments being down in numbers, which couldn't be more directly tied to payout. I hope you do well. Being able to stay/eat at home changes the dynamic considerably where the wallet is concerned. May see you at the May tournament. I do enjoy fishing post-spawn derbies on the Rock.

Hope it works out for you. But unless participation is waaaaaaaay up from what it's been the past couple of years, it's gonna cost you out the wazoo to fish it with little chance of recouping any of it. For example, by the time you pay entry fee, gas, lodging, eats, lures and other assorted costs, you are going to spend a bare minimum of $500. On a 40-boat field, you will have to finish third or better to get a check for more than $500. And they only pay seven places on 40 boats, so it's not like a bunch of people are going to recoup at least part of what they spent. And 40 boats is assuming a jump in participation. This past year and the year before, they only averaged 30 boats per tournament ... and that was without all the new restrictions on who can/cannot fish. Just saying, it will take a far bigger field than they've been able to draw in order to spread around any appreciable amount of money. And I'll have to see that happen to believe it.

Never seen such a fat summertime bass, vue. And from Beaver Lake, no less. Biggest fish I've heard of caught this year out there.

Very cool, 96CHAMP. I know the exact place of which you speak. Used to take my bass boat out there on calm days and just hammer those bluefish on the jetties on an outgoing tide. Dang things would destroy a spinnerbait. Certain times of the year, those crabs would come out of the ocean by the thousands. They'd be mashed all up and down the highway that ran along the beach.

There's also a Ned Rig article in the latest issue of BASS Times, if you can get your hands on one of those.

My grandfather caught those two great big ones fishing 35 feet deep along a bluff. They would drop redworms or nightcrawlers straight down to them on their old Abu-Garcia spincast reels.

Thanks for the report, as always.

Yeah, I lived in Pensacola for 3 years back in the late 80s and caught some of those shellcrackers. They do look different. But that's 101% for sure a good ol' redear bream (sunfish) that you're holding in this picture. My late grandfather caught thousands of them out of Lake Ouachita in west-central Arkansas, including a pair that I now have on my wall at home that weighed 2-0 and 2-1 each. Huge rascals and very nearly state records when they were caught in 1960 (a few months before I was born).

Oh yeah, forgot about that!

That's a redear sunfish. Some call them shellcrackers.

Fat Cat Newton ... now that's funny I don't care who you are.

In that case, cut yourself a sapling and thrash the water with it like they do in those third-world countries.

Very close, indeed. I googled hi and lo for just a pic of the 8-inch Snatrix and struck out.

Very good advice here.

Next time you're in schooling fish and they quit, fire up your outboard and fast-idle around the area for 30 seconds or so, then shut down and wait. Many times it will scatter/excite the shad and cause the bass to start feeding again..

Congrats on the win. Any tips? We tend to share at least some general information around here.

No need to ever leave Clevenger. I run a long ways sometimes to fish that area. Pay attention to the docks. Best ones will have 10-30 feet of water under them. Eakins finesse jig in 5/16-ounce, peanut butter & jelly color or green/orange are hard to beat down there. Use a Zoom Lil Critter craw trailer in green pumpkin and pinch off a couple of riings before threading it on. Also fish around the points from the bank out to 25-30 feet. Good luck and enjoy.

Shad flock to the creek arms of every highland reservoir in the fall. Always have.