Everyone thinks “a bass is a bass no matter where you go“; Lake Fisherman will say that bass relate to the same cover and that bass move the same way on any body of water. Well, myself, and a lot of river rats know that’s not true!!

Rivers add a different mix of situations to deal with, current and water fluctuations are two of the major issues to contend with on river systems. In the spring it’s the most crucial piece. Water movement can change the movement of the bass and start or stop the pressman migratory run to the shallow water spawning bed. One of the best tools to use to get update info on your water levels is the Army Corp of Engineers river gauge reader. This reader is the actual water level read out that the Army Corp Lockmasters has allowed to flow in and out of the locks. This read out can change every day or every hour. You can get this piece of info by going to the Army Corps Website or calling your local river lockmaster! This information tells you how much water flow have come in & how much water is flowing out of those locks, you can use that information to help make better decisions on where the bass will move into to, and where the bass will spawn.



When bass move up to spawn & the water flow is strong and rising, normally the bass are easier to catch, but with high water comes dirty water so sight fishing becomes impossible. When bass move in to spawn & the water levels start to drop the bass don’t leave their beds, however bass become very spooky so you have to make long casts & use finesse presentations to get them to bite. Some the lures I like to use are finesse worms, Sinkos and my favorite is a Horny Toad lure. Mainly, I use baits that don’t make a lot of noise.



Bass don’t like strong currents when it comes to spawning time so look for areas that don’t have a lot current when looking for spawning bass (canals, chutes, backwater areas & any current break areas). Low water during the spawn look for areas with quick access to deeper water (bluffs, points, deeper pockets & marinas). Knowing your river current flow by checking your water levels will give you a better understanding on where to concentrate your time to get the most productive bite!!!!

By Marques Green - BASSIN' USA PROSTAFF TEAM

If you are in a boat with decent electronics and you know how to use them to determine what the predominant depth zone (top, middle, bottom) bass are using, you should find this fairly simple to do. If not, there’s a tip below that will help you.


So here’s what you need to do. You'll need to start by using a 3” soft plastic grub rigged on a ¼ oz mushroom or ball head jig. Choose a color that you have confidence in. A color that you know produces on the body of water you are fishing.

Cast it out and start counting as soon as it hits the water surface (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi). Let it go all the way to the bottom then and let it sit for a few seconds (vertical presentation). If you get hit on the drop or after the lure is sitting on the bottom, they are most likely looking for a vertical presentation. Pay attention to on what count the strike occurred. If you did not get hit on the drop or after letting the grub sit for a few seconds, then begin to reel it in slow and steady (horizontal presentation). It is very important that you do not move or twitch your rod while reeling in. Just keep the grub coming along steadily. If you get a strike or notice a bass following the grub back to the boat/shore, they are most likely looking for horizontal moving lures.

If you are fishing deeper water, you might be wondering how are you going to be able to know where the bass hit in the water column? Here’s a little trick you can use. When you make a cast with the grub, start counting as soon as it hits the water surface (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi). See how long it takes for the grub to hit bottom. If it takes a "10 Mississippi count" to hit bottom, now you have a baseline to work from. Just break it into thirds and put the left over in the middle column. Meaning Top= 1,2,3 Middle=4,5,6,7 bottom=8,9,10

Now make a cast, give it a 3 count (top) and start reeling the grub back in slow and steady. Repeat the process a few times paying close attention for strikes or follow-ins.

If you do not connect, try a 7 count (middle) and again start reeling the grub back in slow and steady. Again, repeat the process a few times paying close attention for strikes or follow-ins.

For vertical presentations, you can do the same thing by counting down on the fall. Now when did the strike occur (on what count)? Let’s say you got a strike on “3 Mississippi”, try and fine-tune your presentation by making another cast and only let the bait fall for a “4 or 5 count”. If you continue to get strikes during the first “5 count” you now know that the bass are using the “TOP COLUMN” for the active feeding-zone. So you can simply fan cast around and only let the grub fall for a five count, then reel it back in steadily and cast again… no sense letting it go all the way to the bottom if you do not have to.

It’s important to remember that you’ll still need to try both vertical and horizontal presentations regardless of which feeding zone you find bass using, (top, middle or bottom) until you find their preference. When you can consistently put these two pieces of the puzzles together quickly, your fishing consistency will rise dramatically. You will be able to eliminate unproductive water more quickly and ultimately find where the bigger bass are feeding.

Sometimes they'll be all over a grub and you can just adjust the retrieval speed, depth, color, size, etc. to fine tune your presentation. Other times if you switch over to a crankbait, spinnerbait, swimbait or something that moves horizontally, you'll be able to start connecting with those bass that are aggressively chasing down baitfish.

Let's say you notice that your first strike occurred on the drop, you should try and duplicate that presentation. Make another cast and let the grub to fall vertically. If you are able to trigger more strikes, you now know that the bass are looking for a "vertical" presentation. Let's say that you are getting some strikes on the fall, but not really connecting with the bass that strike, you already have one piece of the puzzle solved (they want a vertical presentation) so now you can try using a different lure with a vertical presentation.

Personally when faced with short strikes, I like to immediately "down-size" the lure I am using. You might choose to throw a smaller grub on a lighter jig head (let's say a 2" grub on a 1/8 ounce ball head jig). Cast it out and let it sink to the bottom. Pay attention to where you get your strikes. Near the top? On the way down? At the bottom? This will let you know where preferred feeding-zone is. You will quickly start to see better and better results as you figure out more of these details. This is called fine-tuning a presentation.

As you start to imagine trying this, you’ll probably have a lot of “what if'” questions come to mind. Like, “what if the bass hits after the grub is sitting on the bottom after the 10 count is over”, or “how long should I let the grub sit on the bottom before working back in”, or “should I work it back in”. What I can offer is simply “experiment”… but pay close attention to when the strike occurs. For more insight on fine tuning your lure presentation, Frank Lapinski from our NY Prostaff wrote a great three part article that can help explain this in more detail, here's the link to "Bass talk, are you listening? - part 2"

The better you get at this, the more and bigger bass you will catch. I know it may sound complicated at first, but it is really very simple once make a habit of this process.

Read More Bass Fishing Articles

Related Bass Fishing Video - Springtime Grubs:

Kevin Springer

I have done several product reviews over the past few years and most have been of tackle that promises to catch more fish, but this review is of a product called “Troll Perfect” from Perfect Outdoor Products in Rochester Hills, Michigan and though it doesn’t claim to catch more fish, it will make your time on the water more enjoyable.

Not very often does a product come along that will truly benefit the fisherman who spend hours pursuing a tournament limit of fish or that once in a lifetime trophy, but this product does just that. The Troll Perfect is a 2 piece high impact polymer device that attaches to your trolling where the stationary upper shaft meets and the rotating lower shaft. You attach the pieces on each side of the shaft by using the two stainless steel hose clamps that are included. Place the first clamp in top groove on Troll Perfect and tighten the clamp until snug making sure it cannot rotate. Place the second clamp in the lower groove and tighten until desired amount of tension is achieved. You will probably have to make final adjustment while on the water to get the perfect amount of tension.







After receiving my Troll Perfect it took me about ten minutes to install it on my trolling motor while my boat was in the garage and motor in stowed position. Once on the water, it took me just a few minutes to make my final adjustments to get the right amount of tension.

Adjusting Tension on the Troll Perfect

My ratings of the Troll Perfect are as follows: Design: 10 Overall Performance: 10 Durability: 10 Comfort: 10 Installation: 10 Price: 10 Overall Rating: 10

Well after eight years of being a Skeeter ZX225 owner, I made the leap into a 2012 Ranger Z520 with 250HP Yamaha SHO.  After spending only a couple of days in this new rig, it very easy to see why the Z520 cost more than the new Skeeter FX series.  You can see how much care is put into every little detail on the Ranger.  Every buckle, knob, switch, strap, bolt, etc. is high quality.  I keep looking for someplace where they might have cut corners, but I can't find anything.  This is truly a fishing machine with all of the comforts of a luxury water craft.

All the storage compartments are very well thought out.  There's a place for just about everything.  I went with a dual console because I fish a lot of team tournaments and also have young kids, so I wanted to make sure "everyone" is comfortable, warm and as dry as they can be.  (If I was flying solo, I would have went with the single console).  The glove box is a bit smaller than the one in my Skeeter, but the extra compartment between the front seats makes up for the loss of space.  There are four cup holders in the cockpit area, along with two good sized bins that are ideal for dropping wet lures into so they can dry off before putting them away.  The soft ride seat system that comes standard with the Z520 makes for a really comfortable ride when in ruff water (my back says "thanks").  The rod locker system for me was a huge improvement over what I had in my Skeeter ZX225.  I can fit plenty of rods (both spinning and baitcasting) and it is very easy to get to them.  In my Skeeter, positioning my reels was always difficult and getting to the rod I wanted was always a chore. 

The 250 HP Yamaha SHO four stroke outboard motor is amazing!  This motor is super quite and packed with power.  The hole shot blows away my old two stroke VMAX and the boat rockets to 60+ MPH in seconds.  Currently the top end speed is around 72 MPH, but I plan to tweak the settings of my jack plate to see if I can get the boat up to 74-75 MPH.  I must say it is a little strange at first going 60 MPH and being able to talk at a normal voice level to your fishing partner.  The sounds of the wind and water against the hull are louder than the motor.

The Ranger trailer blows away my Skeeter trailer... you can see the care that went into every component from the breakaway tongue and boarding steps to the fiberglass fenders that match the paint job and chrome rims.  All high quality parts.

Although I've only been a Ranger owner for a few days, I'm proud to say it!  My hat goes off to Ranger Boats for the 2012 Z520 and to Yamaha for the 2012 SHO... I'm looking forward to fishing with this rig for many years to come.  I guess like the saying goes, "You get what you pay for".

The banning of all lead in fishing tackle because it is ingested by wildlife resulting in lead exposure has become a very controversial topic. This topic is taking on a life of its own. Some people believe that environment lobbyists have extremely blown it out of proportion, while others feel that the government has not taken it seriously enough. There are always two sides to the story, and then there are the facts. I myself am interested in keeping the environment a clean and healthy place for my four young children.

They love the outdoors and fishing as much as me, and I want them to grow up and be able to continue that enjoyment with their own kids someday. So, I decided to dive a little deeper into this lead ban and find out some of the facts.


The Center for Biological Diversity is one group of many that want to make it a federal law to stop all lead in tackle. Recently (EPA) has rejected their petition. The entire report can be read at http://www.epa.gov/oppt/chemtest/pubs/TSCA_Lead_Sinker_Petition_Response_Signed_2012-02-14.pdf


After careful review, EPA has determined that, while the petition does provide evidence of exposure and a risk to waterfowl in some areas of the United States, it does not provide a basis for finding that the risk presented is an unreasonable risk for which federal action under section 6(a) of TSCA is necessary to adequately protect against such risks…”


At a local level I found that Waterfowl are picking up lead shot as grit (in shallow marshes) to help with digestion, and unfortunately, some fowl have ended up dying of lead poisoning. I would like to add that lead shot is not exactly tackle, and it is extremely rare to see a bird eating a jig or spinnerbait, at least in my experience.


Are our priorities a little skewed when it comes to such things? There aren’t too many groups screaming about the fecal matter that these birds (I mean Canadian geese or now, what seem to be called Long Island Geese) spill out everywhere, which can be a health hazard to those, such as my kid’s, who fish the shoreline. If my kids ingest the feces somehow (simply picking up a rock from the ground, kids are just not aware). I would have to believe that it is far worse than the same bird trying to eat the jig I lost 10 feet under the water.


With that said, I come to New Hampshire. Their interest for a lead ban is mainly because they are trying to protect a species, the Loon. Here is a very solid argument, and it is great they are protecting an endangered species. Get the full details here regarding lead and fishing tackle deaths. http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fishing/Fishing_PDFs/Lets_Get_the_Lead_Out.pdf


“In 2006…seven out of 16 dead adult loons studied during the breeding season were known to have died from ingesting lead sinkers and jigs. This represented a 1.3 percent loss to the state’s total loon population.”


According to the Loon Preservation Committee, they are averaging about 5 loon deaths per year and last year they found 12 lead poisoned loons.
You can read the whole article here http://www.sentinelsource.com/community/weeklies/lead-fishing-tackle-ban-idea-is-fueled-by-loon-deaths/article_71ed4179-f695-5969-9544-140510442a3a.html
There’s no question that the loon is affected by lead fishing tackle and has resulted in the unfortunate deaths of some of them. This ban will ultimately help preserve a species that has been fighting to keep their existence.


I also thought who benefits from a ban of all lead? Are politicians pushing this or companies? Who is tied to the manufacturer that is going to mass produce all the new tackle? Because let’s face it being green and environment friendly is not cheap. Fishing is a multi-billion dollar industry. When push comes to shove, fishermen are going to purchase all new tackle.


Like a friend said “A ban would decimate small business owners that depend on the fishing industry. Not to mention the loss of income from fishing licenses that won't be bought.”


I found there are some legitimate cases, and probably a real cause for the ban of lead fishing tackle, I respect that. And yet, at the same time I also find that I am not entirely convinced that the banning of lead fishing tackle is going to save the environment.


You have to ask, are we as fisherman really that bad? Is there overwhelming proof that the environmental changes and large number of bird deaths are caused by solely using spinner baits and jig heads, or a is going to impact the whole ecosystem? All fishermen need to continually take care of the environment, cleaning up behind themselves and not purposely leaving tackle behind, because that will help our environment overall.


However, the one question still lingers, to lead or not to lead?

By Nunzio Prato

Well I was able to get out with my fishing partner Joey for a half-day trip on Sunday. We fished a small pond on the east end of Long Island. We arrived at the ramp around 1:30pm.

Date: 2/19/12
Air temp: 44 degrees
Water Temp: 41 degrees
Water Clarity: Clear
Winds: West at 10 MPH

We set out to target largemouth bass. First area we approached produced two largemouth bass on back to back cast with a hair jig.





Both bass were located at the base of the drop-off into deeper water. We fished the break for about an hour and landed a total of 5 bass ranging from 2.5 lbs to 3 lbs. No giants, but some nice post frontal action for February. We also connected with a bonus fish, a really chunky perch.



We left that area to check another wintering spot and were rewarded with a 2 lb bass and this nice largemouth that was about 3.75 lbs (photo below). That was our biggest bass landed for the day. We connected with couple more 2-2.5lb bass in another wintering hole, but nothing big.



All in all we had a great day on the water. All of our fish were caught on1/8 oz. hair jigs. We managed to catch 9 Largemouth Bass, 4 pickerel and that fat perch, which got me itching to go target perch, so that became to focus for the following morning:

On the trip back, I put a call into my friends Dave and Nunzio to find out if they wanted to join me for a Perch trip. Both agreed and we planned to be on the water by 8:30AM. Our destination was another Long Island pond that holds a very healthy population of nice sized Perch.


DAY 2

Date: 2/20/12
Air temp: 37 degrees
Water Temp: 40 degrees
Water Clarity: Clear
Winds: North 25 MPH (with Gust up to 35 MPH)


You know it’s cold when you are thinking of getting back into the truck while you are taking the tie down straps off the boat! The wind was howling and the pond we were fishing has no place to get out of the wind, so we knew it was going to be a long day. We started searching for Perch in a hole where they are often found schooled up this time of year. It is a large area with weeds and stumps, but with the wind at 25mph sustained, it made finding the perch a little difficult. In addition, the weed was gone. We worked around the area for a while and then decided that we needed to set out to find some good weed that might still be around. Once we found a good patch of weed near the creek channel, it was on! We connected with our first perch around 9:30am, kicked a buoy marker over the side and caught them almost on every cast until about 12:00pm.
















Every now and then they would move around a bit, but for the most part they stayed within about a 100’ radius. We had tons of doubles and a few triples. We only had on one giant, but she came off before we could land her. The rest were all really healthy, fat and feisty perch. With the average perch weighing about 1.5 lbs. They’re a lot of fun on light tackle with 4lb test line.

More Bass Fishing Reports

One lake in particular that I like is Clinton Lake, (about 2 hours south of Chicago) a 4,900 acre reservoir that's a cooling lake for the Clinton Power Plant. In the dead of winter we're catching bass in 50 degree water on crankbaits, plastic worms and slow rolling spinnerbaits.

October thru March in the upper Midwest usually means that bass season is pretty much over, most folks take their bass boats in for their end of the season maintenance and winterization and start focusing on deer and waterfowl season. Hey what do you expect it's the North Country; the first major snow storm comes in and you're stuck at home watching fishing show and going in & out of Bass Pro Shops or your favorite tackle store just to keep that desire for April spring fishing on your mind.

That works for some but there are a few of us that will get our bass fishing fix by fishing Power Plant Lakes.These are cooling lakes for Power plants, whether its nuclear or coal generation, these lakes don't freeze in the winter months and believe it or not stay fairly warm in the cold months. The other nice thing about these lakes is that they are usually stocked lakes, most of them are bass factories, so you will likely get some kind of action all year. Here in Illinois, where I live, we have several lakes just like these all over the state.

This is a great practice lake in the winter month's because with the warmer water from the hot discharge it will teach you how to fish currents, practice your prespawn-spawn techniques, and it will help you gain confidence in baits as well. On Clinton you can use rattle traps in 50 + degree water temp and 38 degree air temp and catch 15+ bass in a day.
Clinton Lake and other Power Plant coolings are a great option to work on your bass techniques in the winter months, and will keep that winter monkey off your back!!!

Tight Lines!!
Marques Green

Frank from our ProStaff started this topic on our message boards:

I was reading an article in a fishing magazine where they were talking about old lures that have fallen out of favor in bass fishing. They seem to become "kinda not cool to use." In the article they wrote about in line spinners like the rooster tail and the Mepps and one of my favorites the Panther Martin. It got me thinking about old lures that aren't cool anymore, but we all started out with them. Maybe it's the tournament thing, who knows.

I never go fishing without a stock of Johnson silver minnow weedless spoons in my boat or a couple of Johnson Sprites, yup that simple silver spoon. Now I know some guys carry them on winter trips for jigging, but they still catch fish on a regular retrieve. In fact they catch a lot of fish. Another is the 4 inch Rapala and Rebel minnows. And of course the Jitterbug which I think just had its 80th Birthday. What do you carry thats uncool but works for you?

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Since most lakes in the North Eastern United States have not iced up yet, we decided to shoot a video on catching deep water smallmouth bass using Keitech Fat Swing Impact swimbaits.  Not something one thinks would typically work in 40 degree water, but it does!  You've got to try this technique, it's that good... 


We had a great day on the water and got some really nice video footage with several smallmouth bass between 3 and 4 lbs.  Subscribe to BASSIN' USA's YouTube Channel to be notified when we release this awesome video!

While browsing YouTube I came across a video that someone posted for a “fish finder app”.  It has over 100,000 views so far, check this out:

I'm always amused by the crazy things people think up to trick people on YouTube.  This one actually had many people out there searching for the app on the iPhone and android market.  The trick here was that the guy was simply taking a picture and the image he pointed to (claiming it was a new "fish finder app") was nothing more that a screen shot of a fish finder which was stored in his iPhone gallery...

So the lesson here is "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't". 

On a side note, if you like playing gags on your fishing buddies, you could have a lot of fun with this video!!!

Has anyone been following this story?  Some local fishermen fear that this could result in the lake being closed for fishing tournaments and perhaps even make the lake private. 

Towns bordering Candlewood Lake will begin talks about buying the lake.

BROOKFIELD -- Built more than 80 years ago to produce electricity, Candlewood Lake may become a publicly owned lake managed primarily for recreation and the environment.

The Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials on Thursday authorized its executive director, Jon Chew, to set up meetings to discuss purchasing the lake from its current owner, FirstLight Power Resources. Candlewood Lake, at 5,420 acres, is the largest inland body of water in the state.

The council met Thursday at Brookfield Town Hall.
New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge, chairman of the council and a member of Candlewood Lake Authority, told the council that FirstLight officials raised the purchase issue during discussions FirstLight between and the authority this week.

"They're very agreeable to selling it off," Hodge said
The buyers and owners would be the five towns that border the lake -- Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford and Sherman. Hodge estimated the lake might cost $10 million, based on FirstLight's estimates of its worth.

Hodge said ownership would allow the towns to control what he called "a jewel of the region."

Charles Burnham, spokesman for FirstLight, said Thursday that FirstLight mentioned the sale to town leaders as something they might find advantageous.

"We welcome the discussion of this option," Burnham said.
Hodge said Thursday the authority and area town leaders want to manage the lake to increase its value to western Connecticut.
"As the lake goes, so goes the region," Hodge said.

Hodge said FirstLight, as a company interested in increasing it profits, has less interest in the lake as a center of recreation.
"FirstLight is there to make money," he said.

Hodge said, the towns and Candlewood Lake Authority would like the annual drawdown of the lake to last a full 60 days or longer. The drawdown lowers the lake by several feet every year to kill the Eurasian watermilfoil growing near its shoreline.

"In an ideal world, the drawdown would begin the first week of December and last for 60 days or so," he said. "But FirstLight has told us one of the most profitable times to make electricity is near Christmas."

Burnham pointed out that FirstLight agreed this spring not to pump water into the lake to reduce the chance of zebra mussels getting into the lake. That meant the company wasn't generating power at its Rocky River hydroelectric plant in New Milford.
"It's been difficult to make it profitable," Burnham said.
Hodge said Thursday it might take five years to discuss all the issues surrounding a purchase and reach a deal with the utility.
The towns will have to decide whether they would continue to generate power at the Rocky River plant or simply use it to raise or lower the lake, he said.

"But let's see where it leads," Hodge said.

Written by Robert Miller
at bmiller@newstimes.com
or at 203-731-3345.

ARTICLE SOURCE: Towns can consider buying Candlewood Lake



 

As we head into December 2011, we've been pretty lucky here in the northeastern United States as far as weather is concerned.  Every year at this time I'm faced with the debate of whether to winterize my bass boat or not.  Some years the lakes don't freeze over and I can still use it.  Other years, we’ve gotten hit with a nasty snow storm before I had a chance to winterize my boat... and therein lies the dilemma... "to winterize, or not to winterize".

This year I will again take the gamble and see how much more fishing I can squeeze out of 2011.  It really gets interesting when you start hearing “talk” of a snow storm.  Do I run out and fog my engine just in case?  I think the safe bet is to do so and if the weather stays mild and I want to take the boat out, just burn off the fogging oil and hit the motor when I pull out.  Perhaps the best of both worlds.

I have spoken with other northern bass fishermen who feel that since the boat is only really going to sit for a couple of months, there really isn’t a need to fog the motor.  Some guys farther up north don’t take that chance because they might be iced in for up to 4 months.

It certainly posses some interesting things to ponder…  what do you northerners think?