J-Doc

I do believe the OP was simply making a joke folks. Let's not start a "Bass are Sacred Unicorns" thread. Keep it light....laugh, smile. Way too many things screwed up in this country right now than a catfish eating a bass. Dead or alive.

Totally agree with your perspective of presentation getting the bites, not the realistic appearance. I mean what fish would think a hot pink worm was real? Still.....it gets the bites.

The bass was probably dead. I've seen A LOT of dead bass on Beaver (big ones too). Deep hooked fish or expired in a livewell and turned loose is my guess. Catfish probably wouldn't chase down and eat a 4lb bass. The bass is too quick to get away (I'm guessing). I know what you're saying though. I still think the worst thing for a bass is a bass angler. Or someone who takes every single thing they catch joke and cooks it (especially when caught in a net). No selective harvest.

I've tried a fluke many many times for years. Even the double fluke rig. There are days it works, and many days it does not for me. Slow, fast, dead stick sink......I've tried it all. And lots of colors. Yet I still throw them

Well its not ultra clear this year but we have had very high water with millions of small shad all over the lake. It's like a fat boy sitting on a couch eating tater chips all day long. When something else swims by, they just keep stuffing chips in their mouths.

You really need to come try that on Beaver Lake! LOL! Seems everything can get lockjaw on that lake. But I like where you're going with this. I'll definitely give this a try more often.

Completely agree. I also throw rooster tail type baits. Lately, even Rooster Tails and Road Runners are not getting bites. You know it's tough when neither of those get bites on actively feeding white bass too.

I've also noted they want the spook slower. But I haven't tried painful slow yet.

I hate to brag.... But our very own Jolicious got 10th place in the Everett tournament. Congrats to Joe!! I took the afternoon off from fishing Beaver. Sounds like you are still getting into them. It's been a weird weekend for the fish. Still a bit warm. Water temp was 80 Saturday.

You guys are killing me. Wish I had some of this knowledge but it only comes with time on the water. I tried some new techniques mentioned here yesterday and still no bites. I think I had a few nibbles but no fish. The slow lift got attention but swimming away faster seemed to make them follow. I hope I figure it out one day. I'll keep trying new things to see what works I guess.

I can help with that ;-)

Wanted. Information leading to the capture of wanted criminals of mischief and bad behavior (bad because they won't eat my crappie jigs) If anyone finds these elusive critters, let me know. Lol!!

I love the tiger striped smallmouth. Those are always my favorite. Actually, Beaver was REALLY quiet compared to previous weeks. I had an appointment at 1 so I only got out for a few hours this morning looking for crappie. I've got a good spot, but I haven't figured them out yet. I've only gotten a few out of there but there are some good ones there. I saw only two ski boats up until about 12 and one was on the trailer headed to the lake. And I really didn't see that many bass boats running around. Everyone was grinding it out. Simply put.....it was awesome. Fog on the water. Crisp cool air. Great weather. Barometric pressure was falling at daybreak (then it rose throughout the day later) And I do love a boat ride early on a crisp cool morning. I also love being able to run from PC to Monte Ne and only use 4-5 gallons of fuel including some trolling time. The lake is ours again fellas. Go fishing! :-)

One would think that size bait would make a good spoon bite.

Yeah I'd just assume stay at home vs. tying leaders to braid. I just hate tying leaders......

I wonder if you get your baits to a deeper depth with braid. Like more than 1ft deeper between the two (flourocarbon and braid). I like braid and I use it often but I have not tried trolling with it. I would think it could transfer boat noise down the line.

The KVD worms are very soft which is why they impart so much action without you doing anything. Much like the Ned rig. Sitting still, it's waving it's tail around very slowly and thus why it's such a great finesse presentation. I will say that the KVD worms were the only thing a certain group of bass wanted. I tried other worms because I was running out of KVD worms and the bass kept short striking and taking my worm or destroying the worm. I don't like fish getting worms in their bellies because it can ruin the fish and clog up their system creating a super skinny fish. ANywho........they wouldn't bite anything but the KVD worm on that particular day and on that particular group. As far as old worms vs. new, it's totally debatable and only the fish can prove one way or the other. As long as they worms are in good condition, they should work (in theory). However on a heavily pressured lake, you can have 20 packages of worms and only one bag work. Or 2-3 bags of the 20 get bites. So it's a total guessing game and how the worm is presented more so than color. Color, flash, and vibration all play a role together. The hard part is finding that perfect combination and then repeating it successfully. I know I'm not saying anything new here.......just a reminder that you can take out 20 bags of plastics and have a bad day of fishing and say "you couldn't find them". Or you can take 1-2 bags of "go-to" lures, find the fish on sonar and know they are there........and get really upset when you don't catch them because.......they should have bit your worm. That's been my story this summer. You have to figure out what presentation will get the bites. That can be very tricky on this lake.

I would say that when using braid for trolling, you have to turn the drag way down if you're targeting crappie because braid has zero stretch. Flourocarbon is supposed to have zero stretch also but it is just a bit softer than braid. mjk86: Are you using a flour leader on your braid or tying directly to the baits? I would think a flouro leader would be needed.

With the water being high still, you can't use Beaver Shores yet and Rocky Branch and PC are always packed. Especially with a tournament. The tournaments are only rough if you're launching by yourself. If you have someone parking your rig while you drift off the trailer, it goes pretty easy and quick. I'm hoping the ski ttraffic will die down now that the holiday has passed.

It was pretty busy this past weekend. Launched there twice. By 12 your boat would take a beating tied up to the dock just trying to load because of the wakes from barges and ski boats passing by. Better get there well before daylight for a good parking spot close to the ramp. Otherwise you'll be in the neighboring field way up the hill and down the road.

Possible I guess even with high water. Small parking area, lots of traffic for its size.

Do you like using braid over flourocarbon? It will get deeper but I would think it could carry vibrations through the lime such as boat noise, etc. I typically use my big engine for trolling vs trolling motor. But I do use both for trolling. Flickers seem to be more effective around 2mph or more. At least they do for me.

I must be picky. I cannot eat a catfish anymore. Not even in restaurants. Once you've had amberjack, grouper, red snapper, crappie, striper.....it just doesn't taste worth eating. And for some reason, walleye has become a bit gamey to me. Don't know why. I used to love it. Must be the last keeper size walleye I had. I haven't seen a keeper sized walleye in a year.

The lack of knowledge and respect to other boaters astounds me. Just when I think I've seen it all, someone surprises me yet again.

I used red label for a long time but line twists were an issue even with swivels. I switched to yellow and did not see much advantage for the cost. I'm trying Pline flourocarbon now. Just spooled it up. Was trying CXX but I don't think it was seeing the depth the red liable was getting.