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1) Be careful using fluorocarbon in the cold weather. It becomes brittle, loses it's textile strength, and snaps easily
2) Monofilament is the way to go when fishing topwaters
3) Fluorocarbon line sinks allowing you to get the maximum depth out of your lures
4) Many pro's will tell you, green tinted lines disappear better in the clear water than do clear lines
More Tips
1)
To clean up dirtied rod handles ... gently rub the cork with light grain sandpaper
2) Before or after each trip, rub a Q-Tip around each of the eyes on your rods. If you notice pieces of cotton becoming stuck, this might indicate a damaged eye
3)
Rods with built in
hook holders are a blessing
4)
Keep good care of your rods, especially graphite. When banged or dented, when bumped into another hard object, graphite becomes weakened. When storing, traveling, or using graphite rods, always be
careful. Strap them down when running, keep them from bouncing around. When not being used, keep your rods in a rod cover.
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1) Shove a rattle or two inside your topwater hollow bodied frogs. You'll catch more bass, especially in grass
2)
Use Scent! Those of you who own some already, don't just let it sit idle, give your baits a squirt or two
3)
When you first take a jig out of the package, trim it. Make the
weed guard shorter. Then trim the skirt. In clear water, trim down to the hook. In dirty water, leave the skirt a bit longer
4) "Live Rubber" is the best material for
buzz bait skirts
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1)
When dropshotting, try using an 18 inch leader as a starting point
2) When the going gets tuff, try drifting soft baits over the tops of submerged vegetation.
Grass beds are perfect
3)
When fishing brush piles,
lay downs, and any other isolated cover ... work your way into the structure. First cast around the edges, catch those fish first. Next, move into the heart of the cover. By doing this, you give yourself an
opportunity to catch multiple fish off of the cover. When you cast right into the middle of the structure, sure you'll get bass, but while reeling him in, you'll scare away all of the fish on the edges and outside of the structure as you reel the fish through. The smart angler works his way into the cover, catching the outside fish first
4)
Keep in mind, a dropshot rig is not only for probing deep depths. In fact, success can be had dropshottin' shallow, and lots of it. Think about the design of the rig. Cast it up on shore and pull it into the water, now pull it through the water. Notice, the bait comes first, followed by the sinker. This is a very natural presentation and should be
considered every time one fishes shallow. In the wind, a dropshot is deadly, using one will keep you catching those shallow bass, even when your other plastics are drifting away
More Tips
1)
In clear, cold water, add a feathered treble hooks to your suspending hard baits. You'll get more bites. Make sure to pause and fish slowly in the cold
2)
In clear water, bass often relate to cover more so than they actually hold to it. In clear water bass generally stay within
eyesight of the structure they are relating to, and can be found up to 30 feet away from their actual "home". Now in dirty water the
opposite is true. In dirty water, the bass relate directly to the cover. In dirty water make your casts right near and directly into the cover.
3)
When it's extremely hot, or especially cold, to conserve energy, a bass will actually shut down it's "fast muscle" group. These muscles are the ones used to chase down and ambush prey. Instead in the hot and cold, the bass prefer and easy meal and are not willing to chase down
anything. Because this muscle group is shut down, they actually can't. So in the heat and in the cold ... SLOW DOWN ... fish slowly!
4) In clear to slightly stained water, remember this ... On sunny days, the bass are generally going to relate more to the bottom. However, on cloudy days, the bass are going to move up in the water column and be closer to the water's surface.
More Tips
1)
Often, after a
disappointing performance, we run home after the tournament. Instead, try sticking around for a while and learning what techniques those who performed well used that day.
2) Pre-fish a lake before you even leave your home. Use the internet to your advantage. Before you leave for a trip, use the internet to check conditions for the water you'll be fishing. Get accurate information such as weather, water levels, previous tournament results, water clarity, water temperature, and much
more. Learn types of forage and common methods for catching bass .. right from your computer. Also popular is the use of satellite imaging, try programs such as Google Earth or go to a
website such as Terraserver.com
3)
If you know the bass are going to be devouring a certain bait on tournament day, the night before, rig up an extra rod and reel with the line you'll be using and that same bait. This way, should anything go wrong with setup #1 on tournament day, you grab setup #2 and keep on fishing. Try keeping that extra rod rigged with a different color as well. Say bait "A"
gets hit and you miss the fish, throw bait "B" (the same bait only different color) in there to nab that fish.
4) To ensure maximum battery life on tournament day, carry a small pail or bucket. Use this to fill and empty your
live wells throughout the day. This little trick will save tons in battery life. Use your batteries to recirculate the water and keep the oxygen levels up. Don't use them for filling, emptying, or changing water ... use the bucket!
More Tips
1) When the breeze picks up, try using a drift sock. For larger boats, use two. Drift socks will slow the drift of your boat, enabling you to make more casts and stay accurate. In the wind, when others flee ... you'll be able to stay and keep catching!
2) Those of you, and it should be all, with throwable floatation devices on their boat should also have the following. "A rope attached". What good is throwing a drowning person a floatation device if you can't pull them in after. If you see someone in distress, the idea is to toss them the floatation device, then pull them back into safety. So remember to attach a rope. Also, if you make a bad toss, you pull the float in and toss it out again
3) You can never overpower a bass boat with too large a trolling motor, even the most
powerful trolling motors can be run on low speed. Contrary, it is quite easy to
under power a bass boat with too small of a trolling motor. Unlike a large motor which can be run on low, there's no way to turn up the power on a smaller motor which is already at it's max. So think "big" when searching for a trolling motor for your boat.
4) When fishing, always face the nose of your boat into the wind. You want the wind blowing on your face if you're up front controlling the motor. By facing and fishing into the wind, you'll have great boat control, you're lures will be
traveling with the current (which the bass like), and you won't be drifting on top of or past fish you have not caught yet.
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1)Over the winter, after removing your electronics from the boat, slip balloons over the loose ends of your sonar/gps plugs. Depending on how you store your boat, this will prevent any water getting into the connectors, freezing, expanding, and cracking the plugs
2) In general, fish finders come ready to use right out of the box. In the hot
summer though, learning to adjust your sonar to detect the thermocline is a key measure you can take to find those suspended fish
3) Technology today allows us to do amazing things. One such thing is the ability to back up our GPS and sonar information on our computers and other storage devices. So this tip to remind you to remove your chips or use your USB cords that came with your units, to back up all your info for safe keeping. Should you purchase a new unit, you can simply transfer your info
4)
When installing, always use the inline fuse and fuse holders that come with your GPS and Sonar units. They are designed to protect your expensive units incase of any electronic malfunctions. Don't be a fool and assume all is well without them!
More Tips
1)
To avoid losing your hat while zooming down the lake. For a few
bucks you can purchase a hat keeper. What it is, is a cord with a clip on each end. One goes to the back of your hat, the other to your shirt collar. Should your hat blow off, it is kept from flying away by this device.
2)
Polarized glasses are great, they're a must for any bass angler. Let's talk lens color though. In direct/heavy sunlight, grey and mirrored lenses are best. For low light conditions though, amber and pale yellow lenses are your best bet. By switching lens colors, you'll actually see better and ultimately, perform better as well.
3)
Marker Buoys are great. When you find that juicy spot
you drop your marker buoy right on it and from
then on use the bright fluorescent buoy as a guide. X
marks the spot. Problem is, other people can find your
buoy and catch your fish. To keep others from finding
your buoy, spray paint it black, it's hard to spot
unless you're looking for it. You though will be able to
see it just fine.
4) To
avoid the dreaded "Raccoon" tan from wearing sunglasses
out all day on the water, here's the solution. Invest in
rim-less sunglasses. With rim-less shades you can wear
them all day long in the bright sun without fear of a
funny sunglass tan-line.
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