The 2021 season has started and we are off to the races. If you’ve been with us for a while, you know that 2 years ago when I started to “get serious” about fishing in my home state (instead of just waiting until we went to Wisconsin every year to really get after it for 2 weeks) I caught 9 bass.
9 bass.
… and that was a BIG deal for me!
I’m just a website consultant that loves to fish. I need a clean, uncluttered area to work and keep my mind focused and clear, and I try to apply the same concepts to fishing. I want to get better for me and my family – that’s it.
So anyway, catching 9 fish man… it got me all fired up for last year. Well, last year turned out to be a banger. I caught 193 bass in Illinois and Wisconsin (and yes, I kept a spreadsheet) and many of those trips turned into episodes of Thursday Night Fishing.
This year, the goal is 250 bass and posting video updates throughout the entire season as fast as possible – not letting the footage pile up. I still have Thursday Night Fishing episodes to go through from last year that will post, but that will take place simultaneously with this years updates.
Also bought a new camera, new microphone, I’m playing around with 60 FPS instead of 24 (which is killing me) and trying to edit faster and better, which is a lot of fun but a lot of work.
I wish I had someone to help edits my videos and make them look great, and save me time, but I’m only one man… with a full time website development job and a family. Very blessed? Yes. Very busy? Also yes 🙂
Enough about me – let’s kick this party off and get into some fish – it’s gonna be a good year!!
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The Hunt for 250 continues…
THE HUNT FOR 250: Bass Count for the Season: 3
CONDITIONS: Location: Northern Illinois Time of Year: 1st Week of April / Afternoon Weather: Overcast & Windy Air Temperature: 50°F
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There are easily more than 20,000 species of fish found worldwide.
Among these species, a multitude of body shapes exist. Different designs are adapted to the wide range of habitats and behavioral diversity these fish exhibit.
Catching some nice trout trolling the great lakes.
Fish face resistance to forward motion. Water is much more dense than air, and a streamlined shape minimizes this resistance. Certain fish like pike and muskie can make amazingly fast directional bursts, and some open water fish resemble cigars.
My wife with a nice Canadian pike – literally a swimming missile.
However, this tubular body shape is a compromise, because while these fish excel in straightforward bursts of speed, they lack the maneuverability of broad-bodied fish – especially in tight quarters. The forward propulsion of a streamlined fish is produced via lateral body thrusts supplemented by caudal, dorsal and anal fins. “Flatter” body types provide good propulsion, but also aid in maneuvering in cover.
AJ with an early morning Illinois muskie – shot out of the depths like a rocket to attack a black bucktail with bright green blades.
Again, pike and muskie approach the optimum hydrodynamic shape. They have large dorsal and anal fins (near the rear of their body, as opposed to the mid-body dorsal fin placement of some other fish) which allow for massive bursts of speed, but then fall short in maneuverability.
The flattened bodies of crappie and bluegill don’t allow for fast forward movement, however, these fish can easily make sharp turns and quickly move up and down. Their rounded shape and large fin area also aid in swimming backwards.
Wide bodies make for sharp turns.
Largemouth bass (again, a sunfish) and similarly shaped fish have compromise shapes, which allow them to operate in a wide range of habitats.
They can function well in both open water and cover.
The next time you’re on the water, take a few minutes to observe and appreciate the differences between all of the different fish you catch or see. Make an effort to look at the placement of the fins and think about how that along with the shape of their body could help them survive better – or worse – in different kinds of water, cover and conditions.
It might just help you identify better areas for your target species… which means more fish.
Tight lines!
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The largemouth bass is a chunky lass. Dummy thicc, if you will. She’s a powerful fish, full of vinegar and whatnot, with a broad body that allows for powerful bursts of speed and tight maneuvering in confined areas.
But shame on me – focusing on the body and passing over the most prominent and definitive feature of this fish:
… her huge mouth.
*A bead of sweat is forming on my head as I struggle to control the urge to make a ridiculous dad joke about big-mouth females… too easy… too easy…*
The largemouth bass doesn’t have sharp teeth like walleye, pike and muskie, but their huge maws easily engulf most prey.
This large mouth is a feeding advantage. When the bass attacks a school of minnows for example, the mouth opens wide and the gills flare – like targeting a dove with a shotgun loaded with bird shot, instead of using a rifle.
One of those two methods is far more efficient.
In addition to the large mouth, she also has a big pot belly. It’s expandable. It stretches. It hangs over her belt. It accommodates a fair amount of… whatever she put in there. This is good, as the largemouth is an opportunistic feeder. When an easy meal approaches, that extra space is put to use.
Look at the pot belly on this piggy. She was clearly already full, but couldn’t resist a weightless brown Zoom tube – similar to the Strike King Coffee Tube – tossed into her pond right as the sun was setting.
Bass can catch and swallow a variety of prey types and sizes, but they are limited to what they can fit in their mouth. I’ve used this image too many times lately, but this was what we found on a recent trip around the lake during the cold water period… it shows how far that mouth can stretch, even though this one didn’t stretch quite far enough…
Largemouth bass eating a largemouth bass… unsuccessfully…
The lower jaw of the largemouth is long and underslung. While this allows them to eat larger prey, it also makes them less adept at snatching food up off the bottom. Smallmouth bass have tweezer-like jaws and a smaller belly, along with a more slender, streamlined body – making them much more efficient at plucking crayfish from crevices.
Studies have suggested that largemouth as most effective when they feed up – however, they will take prey off of the bottom, at mid-depth and on the surface.
Like other sunfish (remember, the largemouth bass is a sunfish) she has adapted well to living in heavy cover, weeds or wood. These areas better suit her than someone like the pike. While pike have missile-shaped bodies and the ability to cover a lot of water very quickly due to their hydrodynamic shape, that do not have the ability to make hairpin turns in confined areas.
Canada pike patrolling a deep weed edge, caught on a big swim jig with a steady retrieve.
Bass can maneuver very well in these areas, and even effectively track and take lures moving erratically in heavy cover. They can quickly change direction while maintaining speed.
The largemouth bass can swim at about 2 miles per hour for long periods, with a burst speed estimated at 12 miles per hour.
5 times faster than you can retrieve a crankbait.
Bass, like many other fish, have scales. These scales offer protection from attacks by predators and parasites, but they prevent the largemouth from sensing their environment through their skin. The skin is an important sensory organ.
Largemouth bass also blend in with their habitat. In most instances they exhibit countershading – their backs are dark, and their bellies light. This helps them blend in with the darker bottom when you look down in the water, but their light bellies blend in better with the surface when you look up at them from below. The body colors are accentuated even further depending on the environment in which the bass is living:
An Illinois pit bass with golden, light coloring…
Compare that to this bass taken in the exact same state from a different body of water with thick cover:
A largemouth with distinct countershading and dark green coloring taken from a pond with heavy, green cover.
The combination of chameleon-like coloring plus countershading offers both protection from predators, and camouflage aiding in their ability to remain undetected by their prey. This is very important as bass are opportunistic predators that will wait to ambush any food that passes by.
Murky water transmits less light. In murky water, bass coloring fades, making them less conspicuous. In the example above, the pit bass lives in very clear water with high visibility, however the bottom is light colored sand. The bass below is also very light colored, but lived in a lake with very poor visibility. So even though the bottom is made up of dark rocks and debris – the water clarity is low – so the bass have lighter coloring.
As a rule of thumb, bass exposed to sunlight in shallow clear water will have darker backs and bright green sides, but bass in deep or turbid water are pale and silvery.
It is also believed that active bass are darker than inactive bass, as their green coloration camouflages them in weedy habitat – especially wherever plankton and algae are present.
The combination of all of these attributes make the largemouth bass an effective predator. One that can survive and adapt to many environments and many different conditions.
More reasons to love ’em I’d say… as if we needed more reasons…
Tight lines!
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The largemouth bass is distinctly different than the brook trout. As we discussed earlier, the brook trout was at one time the most popular gamefish in the United States. So targeting bass required the anglers of the day take a very different approach. Let’s look at some of the differences between bass and trout – specifically, how they feed.
If we understand how they eat, we stand a better chance of catching them (once we’ve found them).
Stream trout are adapted to life in current. While this may require more energy (unless nice, calm eddies and resting areas can be found) the benefit is that the current brings the fish food. The constant use of energy requires a steady supply to replenish what is used up – and this must be done efficiency. Trout can’t afford large, wide searches for food or make poor use of the food that flows towards them. Therefore they will often spend hours feeding from a current break, looking for insects primarily. Large insect hatches are a very reliable source of food for the trout, especially those that are small to medium sized.
A Beautiful Specimen: The Brook Trout
Not all floating items are edible however, so trout rely on keen eyesight and the ability to identify “food” from “not food”. Because of this trout feed selectively, often “locking on” to a specific food type and becoming picky – sometimes only eating a single type of insect. They will eat insect after insect, but ignore something like a frog. That frog could provide much more nutrition in a single meal than the giant handful of insects that will take the trout hours to catch…
… if you’ve ever fished for bass, you know where this is going…
Largemouth bass are distinctly different. They have huge mouths and large bellies, and this allows them to take advantage of many types of prey. Largemouth can seize and digest food that will fit in the width of their mouth. This means that the supply of food available to largemouth is much more flexible and broad: snakes, ducks, bats, turtles, frogs, dragonflies, crayfish and mice are all fair game.
Careful… your crayfish claws are showing…
If streamlined baitfish are available, bass will often target them over spiny-finned broad-bodied sunfish (remember, the largemouth bass is actually a sunfish), but chances are they will not eat one exclusively. Bass are opportunistic feeders.
This may not have been the best opportunity…
Overall bass are far less finicky about what they eat – however, they will usually avoid carrion. Bass are much more experimental with their food, while trout on the other hand don’t enjoy the same luxury. This is one of the reasons why bass lures come in such a variety of shapes, colors and actions.
Bass key in on vibrations and patterns of movement that suggest vulnerability to attack.
Reaper tail largemouth bass taken from shore in Wisconsin, in a backwater area.
As bass move from location to location, their feeding habits change based on the available food, but when fishing for these green monsters, baits need only look alive and vulnerable. They must be presented within the strike zone, which will vary from day to day depending on the current conditions – but overall, fishing for bass is more forgiving.
Fishing for trout requires the exact imitation of the food they are eating. Getting this specific for bass only enhances your chances of a remarkable day on the water – but even novice anglers can do well fishing (around fish) with baits that look alive and vulnerable, even if that bait is not an exact imitation of their primary food source.
That doesn’t mean fishing for bass is easy, but it does mean it is different.
In many bodies of water, the dominant forage is small baitfish and crayfish when they are available. These meals are highly nutritious and readily available. Frogs too. As we mentioned earlier, a single frog can hold far more calories and energy for a bass than a handful of insects – insects that would require much more energy to catch.
Experienced bass may exhibit more selectivity, ignoring animals that they know are hard to catch, or dangerous. Some bass have been conditioned to different lures or presentation types. For example, in highly pressured waters where most anglers use rattling baits, experimentation with silent crankbaits can prove to be extremely fruitful. Pay attention to what is going on in the body of water you fish. Talk to other anglers and try to minimize the amount of negative cues you are giving off.
When they zig, you zag.
Bass will always be ready to snap up an easy meal – even if it looks like nothing they have ever eaten before. This is one of the qualities that makes fishing for bass so exciting and enjoyable. You can catch some fish while you continue to fine-tune your presentations to match the hatch.
Now get out there and start experimenting.
Tight lines!
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Every species of fish has certain characteristics and abilities that help them survive and thrive in different environments. Catfish are known to be “swimming tongues”, tasting their surroundings as much as they feel them with their lateral line. Smallmouth and muskie are both excellent “sight feeders”. Carp reproduce and grow quickly, helping the young avoid being eaten by other preyfish.
The largemouth bass? Well, he has a myriad of special skills – he’s a generalist.
Smallmouth bass caught on a Rapala Husky Jerk – a bait that requires “sight” or visibility to work at it’s optimal level.
A generalist can cope well with change, survive in multiple environments, and adapt to disturbances brought on by natural disasters or man. These same disturbances can be devastating to a specialist, or a fish that requires very specific conditions to exist.
Generalists will adapt.
Generalists will overcome.
Generalists will live in many different places.
Generalists will spread out.
My wife with a great largemouth in a shirt that is way too nice for fishing… caught in a calm Wisconsin river channel (slack water area).
While the generalist species lack a specific approach to feeding, they make up for it with hustle and experimentation. They compensate and eat a variety of prey… and baits… which is good news for us anglers. Nothing is easy for the generalist, but much is possible.
The largemouth bass will find things to eat without being too picky. Like all things in life – it’s a trade off.
For this reason, you will find bass in ponds, lakes, reservoirs and rivers.
Another quality largemouth taken in a Wisconsin river channel between two lakes (slack water).
Over the next several sections, we will discuss certain characteristics that make the largemouth bass unique, and the differences between bass and other species of fish that require much more specific conditions to survive.
They’re all special in their own way…
If you’d like a refresher on Identifying the Black Basses, make sure to hop over to our helpful guide and step through some of the more common – and less common – species. You’ll learn more about what makes them tick, their unique characteristics and their current known range so you can target them yourself if you’re looking for a new challenge or adventure.
Tight lines!
Get Articles & Videos First
Catch More Fish Than Your Friends. Laugh At Their Tears.
Your support directly funds the creation of weekly articles and videos that promote the development of better anglers and better men. Our country (and our kids) need both. Please share this site, and consider a monthly, weekly, or one-time donation. You are helping us make a difference!
Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu – Micropterus dolomieui is a common, somewhat accepted misspelling) and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) are the two most widespread, popular – and important – of all of the black bass species.
Early Morning “Football” Smallmouth Bass
As their name suggests, the biggest differentiator between the two is the size of their mouth. The jaw of the largemouth extends past the eye (when the jaw is closed), while the jaw of the smallmouth ends before the eye.
Largemouth bass usually have a dark horizontal stripe on their body – which explains the nickname “linesides“. Smallmouth bass typically showcase beautiful vertical bars on their bodies, and angled lines on their face & gills.
The Northern Smallmouth Bass can have light or dark coloring – Micropterus dolomieui dolomieui
The Neosho Smallmouth Bass
The Neosho Smallmouth Bass is a stream loving strain. They can be found in Arkansas and Oklahoma waters – again, usually in streams. If you are targeting a true Neosho, look to 6 different counties in Oklahoma: Ottowa, Delaware, Adair, Cherokee, Mayes and Sequoyah. (Locals also claim that southeast Oklahoma is home to the genetically distinct Ouachita smallmouth bass.)
On rare occasions, Neosho bass will be caught in Grand Lake, the dividing line between “true” and “contaminated” strains of smallmouth bass; a result of the state’s stocking programs. In years past, this subspecies was described primarily using slight differences in counts of the second dorsal fin rays, pigmentation patterns, and dentition on the tongue – however these are not flawless methods as the differences between the Neosho and the northern smallmouth are subtle.
In the field, the fastest way to identify a Neosho is to look at the bottom lip. When the mouth is closed, it will protrude ever so slightly – more than a northern strain – as if the fish is enjoying a pinch of snuff.
The Neosho Smallmouth Bass – Micropterus dolomieui velox
A Freshwater Chameleon
You may have noticed something while looking at the pictures above. One example of northern smallmouth was light, the other, dark. That’s because both largemouth and smallmouth bass will change color to blend in based on their surroundings. Largemouth can be deep, dark green in heavy cover, or light green, even somewhat golden – when taken from sandy bottom pits, as shown below:
Notice the golden color and light contrast on this pit bass that lives on a sandy bottom…… compared to the deep coloring on this bass caught in the same state out of a pond with dark, thick green cover.
Smallmouth bass are often a nice golden bronze or a dark brown. In our experience, smallmouth caught off weed edges seem to have more contrast and showcase their vertical bars. Sandy bottom smallmouth living by sunken logs and boulders usually exhibit less contrast, and a more uniform color overall.
Dad releasing a nice smallmouth bass with excellent contrast and coloring, caught on the deep weed edge.
Largemouth and smallmouth bass are both omnivorous, opportunistic feeders, but smallmouth are better adapted at feeding on crayfish and smaller crustaceans in rock crevices. The mouth of a smallmouth is more pointed and better for feeding down than that of a largemouth. Smallmouth also have a more streamlined body better suited for rivers and current.
Like the largemouth, the smallmouth bass has been widely transplanted outside their original, native range. From Northern Minnesota and the Canadian Shield Lakes, to New England and the mid-Atlantic states. Introductions have also taken place in rivers and reservoirs throughout the western United States.
Indeed, many bodies of water that once held no smallmouth now offer world-class smallmouth fishing.
Known Range of Smallmouth Bass in The United States – Visit USGS.gov for current information
In certain locations, largemouth and smallmouth can be found in the exact same areas, even though these fish have evolved in different habitats. Smallmouth typically thrive in cool, clear lakes and rivers with gravel bottoms and moderate flow.
We discussed this in our series on Learning to Fish Rivers & Streams. The headwaters of a stream or river are clear and cool, the flow is faster. This is ideal trout water. The middle section slows and becomes warmer as the water runs through shallow riffles and watersheds. This section will hold more walleye and smallmouth. Still further down, the stream widens out, more tributaries enter, and the pool-run-riffle pattern repeats again and again, warming the water even more and ultimately providing excellent largemouth bass cover in the backwaters and oxbows that form.
The different fish are perfectly matched to these different conditions.
Smallmouth and spotted bass (another subspecies we’ll talk about in the next section) thrive in highland reservoirs, while largemouth bass do best in flatland or lowland reservoirs. Some reservoirs are diverse enough to provide habitat for all three of these bass types:
Spotted bass may prefer the deep midsection of a reservoir, largemouth will opt for the shallow arms in the upper third, and smallmouth may set up in the lower third.
No matter where they are located, smallmouth bass have distinct features and advantages in certain environments – and they fight hard, making them extremely fun to catch – no matter what size!
Tight lines!
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Catch More Fish Than Your Friends. Laugh At Their Tears.
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*zzzzziiiiiinnnnggggg* screams the drag as line is violently ripped from your spinning reel.
“Whaddya got on there buddy, a big ‘ol bronzeback?!“
“A what!?“, you holler back to Grandpa as he drops his Zebco and scampers over sticks and brush, moving quickly towards your current location.
“A bronzeback! Big ‘ol hawg. Lookin’ like a dang football!“
You look around scanning the shoreline, expecting to find a handful of empty beer cans. “You said you had coffee in that thermos not hooch! Why the heck are you speaking in tongues?!“
“A smallmouth bass kid! But I guess probably not in a pond… Oh waitwaitwaitWAIT I see some green – you got a spot? Meanmouth? Kentucky? Or did you hook into a nice bucketmouth?! Black bass?! They’re all black bass… WAIT – I see ‘er – ‘ol linesides!!! Looka’ thar looka’ thar whatta TOAD!!“
*ker-SPLOOSH!!*
“Grandpa… are you off your meds?“
“JUST LOOK AT THAT DONKEY!!!“
The monster bass makes another acrobatic leap out of the water, then returns to the algae-covered pond with a massive sideways splash that further disrupts everyone still inside their tents at the campground. The once silent morning has been completely shattered by what sounds like a crazy person. The two of you make eye contact for a brief second, and the look on Grandpa’s face lets you know he is not joking.
*zzzzziiiiiinnnnggggg*
The green behemoth pulls you back to reality, making another extremely powerful run.
“We gotta land that fatty! He’s a giant! A gorilla! A REAL WHOPPER! What a BRUISER! STUD MUFFIN! A BEEFY CHUNK BOX!!“
“Grandpa seriously…“
“SHAMOOOOOOO!!!!!“, he screams as he angles his head back and releases a primal howl. It’s as if this fish has awoken something deep inside – something that has been dormant all winter, begging to be released.
You bend down to the edge of the mucky water, slowly pulling the bass towards your outstretched hand.
“Just a bit closer darlin’… a bit closer… lemme get a lip on ya…“, you mumble to yourself… pulling a bit too hard on the line…
*pop*
The hook flies out of the mouth of the fish just two feet from the shoreline.
Your heart stops.
You look down down in disbelief at your hand – the hand you were unable to place within the maw of the fish.
“No… no… no no no… nononono…”
“SHAMOOOOOOO!!!!!” Grandpa screams again as he lunges past you, flinging himself head first into the water, tearing the thick green mat covering the pond in two. He seems crazed. Unwilling to accept defeat. This is not the one that got away!
You take a step back, wiping the splatter from your own face and notice he’s managed to place a hand on the beast. Then another. He lifts the fish then drops it. It flops left. He goes left. It flops right. He goes right. Reflexes are on high alert. Adrenaline coursing through his veins. It’s like watching someone wrestle a greased pig; the fish is bucking like a crazed bronco – but this ain’t Grandpa’s first rodeo…
“GAHHHHHHHGetOverHereYaBigFatCowIGOTCHAAAA!!!“
He thrusts his arm towards the sky… along with a beautiful 6 pound largemouth bass. Not a blemish on her. Truly a giant for this campground pond. His knuckles are white aside from the blood, and his grasp on the lower mandible resembles something closer to a vise-grip than a human hand.
The sun, now peeking over the trees provides a soft warm glow behind the mighty warrior. One might describe the scene as angelic… if the victor wasn’t completely covered in foul green sludge.
“Here’s your mondo,” he says with a pleasant Grandfatherly smile, extending his arms and the fish towards you.
“No Grandpa, you earned it. It’s your fish.“
“OUR fish then“, he smiles again, covered in stinky green pond scum, “let’s see if anyone is awake and ask them to snap a picture.“
He looks right at you as the blood immediately drains from your face…
“I forgot the camera.“
Silence.
A cardinal sounds off.
“Ha! That’s ok… I don’t think we’ll forget this one…“
The two of you take one more gander at the magnificent specimen and gingerly place her back in the shallow water, holding her by the belly and gently working water through her gills. Then after just a few seconds, you watch as she slowly saunters off. No doubt she’ll live to fight another day.
The calm morning sounds have returned to the campground, and as the two of you watch the ripples slowly fade, you share the exact same thought:
What a perfect morning.
All About The Black Bass
Largemouth bass are often called black bass, which can be confusing – mainly because they aren’t “bass” at all. What about all those other fish we call bass, you ask? Well, they’re not really related to largemouth… because the largemouth is a sunfish.
I know, I know… mind blown.
The largemouth bass is the world’s largest sunfish.
Known Range of Largemouth Bass in The United States – Visit USGS.gov for current information
The sunfish family, Centrachidae, includes 33 species that live in warm or cool water. Their flat bodies offer plenty of fin area, useful for short bursts of speed and maneuvering in tight places. Sunfish have spiny dorsal fins – in fact, the name “bass” is derived from the Old English word baers, meaning “bristly like a wild boar“. These spines give sunfish limited immunity to attack, as preyfish will often opt for soft-rayed morsels over spiny sunfish.
If they don’t… this can happen:
Such a waste. During our last walk around the lake during the cold water period we came across this bass whose eyes were definitely bigger than his stomach…
Sunfish are shallow-water nest builders. The male is tasked with protecting the eggs and the young (with the single exception of the Sacramento perch… which is a sunfush, not a perch… to help add to the confusion).
However, the largemouth differs from their sunfish cousins in many ways. If you’ve ever caught a sunfish you may have noticed their small mouths are perfect for feeding on insects, zooplankton and small crustaceans. By contrast, the largemouth has a gigantic maw and a much heavier frame. In certain bodies of water, they are the dominant predator. This means they can use the water and cover in any way they see fit – they can be at any depth at any time.
You’re a… you’re a SUNFISH?!
These characteristics must be advantageous for predator fish, as other fish unrelated to bass have evolved into similar shapes over time. White, yellow, peacock, striped and sea basses are not related to largemouth bass. However, they are called bass because of their body forms. The word bass has been applied to many fish with spiny dorsal fins, big mouths and chunky body types.
#triggered
“Maybe we should stop being so offensive?! Maybe stop fat-shaming and ask the bass how it identifies?? Maybe it’s non-binary?? BIGENDER?!?! GENDERFLUID?!?! HMMMmmmmm????????“
</end sarcasm>
Yeah… maybe.
Maybe not.
I’m most interested in what she wants to eat.
Come ‘ere you fat pig… (he said with love)…
The Black Basses
Within this family of sunfish, the largest members are indeed called the black bass. Again, even this name is confusing – since they aren’t even black! Darker yes, but not black. These black basses include: largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, redeye, shoal, Suwanee, and Guadalupe.
Depending on who you talk to, you’ll come across different “lumps” or “splits” in these species & sub-species, as bass have been continuously recategorized, but no matter what you call them (donkey, toad, football, spot, hawg…) or where you find them – one thing is for sure…
Bass are fun to catch!
So let’s take a look at some of the differences between the most common species that you are likey to find on the other end of your line – all the fish that we lump together into the confusing category of BLACK BASS.
Tight lines!
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Catch More Fish Than Your Friends. Laugh At Their Tears.
Your support directly funds the creation of weekly articles and videos that promote the development of better anglers and better men. Our country (and our kids) need both. Please share this site, and consider a monthly, weekly, or one-time donation. You are helping us make a difference!
The Solunar Calendar provides a window into the activity of wildlife. If you’d like to learn more about how you can use this tool to your advantage, make sure to read our article on The Solunar Method & History.
Solunar calendars can provide you with a nice baseline for potential animal activity, but you must also take into account local weather conditions leading up to (and during) your outing. If you’re fishing, it’s also a good idea to monitor barometric pressure. Use all of the tools available to you to maximize your time on the water!
Click the banner to jump to The Minimalist Fisherman on YouTube.Solunar Calendar for April 2021 (Illinois)
Tight lines!
(OH! Before you go make sure to check out In-Fisherman’s Solunar Calendar Tool. It’s free and fantastic if you’re wondering what the current solunar calendar looks like in your area.)
In fishing, the concept of catch & release has been widely practiced ever since the early 1900s… in Europe. In North America however, the trend towards voluntarily releasing gamefish started with a trout & salmon angler named Lee Wulff around the 1930s.
During this time, trout fishing was a top priority, and many anglers had started to realize that the increase in fishing pressure and harvest led to stocking. Lots of stocking. Loads of hatchery trout were dumped into streams, and fishermen found them to be inferior to the native brook trout.
Jason Lucas, a bass fishing pioneer was also known to grumble about “those paltry, hatchery-reared trout“, which helped shift the national focus away from trout to largemouth over his 20-year career with Sports Afield Magazine.
Wulff’s answer to the stocking issue was the separation of catching fish from killing fish.
A good gamefish is too valuable to be caught only once.
Lee Wulff
This idea ran against prevailing management customs and theories in other fisheries, but over time, started to take hold in trout-fishing circles.
In 1971, Ray Scott (the founder of B.A.S.S. – the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society) attended a trout fishing conference in Colorado. He noticed the enthusiasm that the anglers had for releasing trout. Well if releasing a 10-inch trout was a thrill… imagine releasing a 6-pound bass to be caught again and again!
The added benefit for Scott was that catch & release provided a (partial) answer to the disdain tournaments had started to garner from local anglers. Locals didn’t want “a bunch of hotshot anglers coming in and killing all of their fish!” So why not take steps to give anglers “their” fish back, and diffuse the hostile feelings towards tournament fishing at the same time?
Scott began rewarding contestants for keeping fish healthy.
In 1972, bass boat livewells had no aerators. Many were poorly designed. All of the sudden – that changed. (If you needed a testament to the influence of tournament fishing on the sport of angling, make a mental note of this situation.) The scheduling of B.A.S.S. tournaments also changed, opting for cooler water periods to minimize fish stress and fatalities.
So to be fair… the initial interest in catch & release had more to do with reputation, or political maneuvering, than with the actual preservation of the fish. However, in time this practice was shown to help sustain good fishing, and anglers could see the potential damage that could be done through heavy fishing pressure. Many fishermen were shocked when Georgia’s new West Point reservoir showed a serious largemouth bass depletion after only 2 years (the reservoir opened to fishing in 1976).
Thus, thoughtful anglers that were able to look to the future – either selfishly (I want to catch more fish) or otherwise (I want my grandkids to catch more fish) – began to see voluntary catch & release as an important component of long-term, quality fishing. Certain fishery managers began to push for stricter regulations, and over time the black & white mantra of catch & release transformed into the In-Fisherman concept of Selective Harvest.
Selective Harvest
Fish are delicious. They are nutritious. The good Lord put ’em here for us to enjoy – from the lake to the table. However, in order to maintain good fishing and a healthy gamefish population, we need to do our part by stepping away from certain traditions of the past – especially as tackle options and boat electronics become more and more effective.
Stringer shots of giant bass might look great – but removing 6, 8 or 12 large bass that will most definitely spawn in the spring can have a detrimental effect on your lake. When you consider that a fraction of 1% of every group of fry might survive, all of the sudden these trophy fish become even more valuable – but within the lake.
If you want to eat fish – and let’s be honest, who doesn’t – a family fish fry sounds absolutely outstanding right now – focus on species that reproduce quickly and that exist in your body of water in large numbers. Panfish like crappie, bluegill, perch or even bullhead – but remember to release the larger panfish as well.
There are trophies within every species, and monsters need to spread their genes to future generations!
Use your best judgement to define what an “eater size” fish is for your lake, and remember – you can make one heck of a feast with just a handful of fish. Don’t load the freezer every time you’re on the water.
It’s March in the Midwest. Water temps have barely hit the 50° mark on the surface. In fact, just two weeks ago most of the small farm ponds that line the interstate were still sporting a layer of crusty, frozen slush.
Things are changing.
“Dang it…“, you grumble as you waste time picking the cold, messy wad of brown snot off of your exposed swimbait hook for the 563rd cast in a row. “It’s cold. I want to fish a jerkbait but can’t because of all the floating dead debris from last year. Those trebles don’t stay clean for a single twitch. How about slowly working a shaky head? Can’t. As soon as that weight lands in the muck on the bottom, it gets sludged up even if my hook doesn’t touch it… it’s too windy for a weightless Texas Rig, and don’t even think about dragging a jig… what the heck am I going to do?“
You violently shake your rod tip in an attempt to both relieve your frustration and dislodge the remaining mucky morsels from your lure, debating whether or not to make a long cast and let it sink, then work it back slowly – like you should – or make a short little pitch simply so you don’t have such a mess to clean off when you get it back to shore.
It’s a lose-lose proposition.
Your fingers are now cracked and bleeding in a few new spots. That’s what happens when you get them wet again and again and again in cold, windy weather. It’s tolerable when you’re catching fish, but today…
“This is not working… so now what!?”
Time to get creative.
The Origin of The F4 Rig
The F4 Rig (meant for Flexible Finesse Fluke Fishing) was something that I created out of necessity. During a particularly mild day in very late winter, my son noticed a small silver shiner with traces of light purple & blue coloring while we were walking around the lake. Just a few weeks earlier, this same lake had ice on it.
We’re not sure why or how this shiner ended up on the shore, but it told us something; the local forage is not limited to bluegill, crappie or even bullhead. These little 3.5″ silver shiners dart around the shallows, and there is a good chance that they are both the appetizers and the main course for bass of every size swimming in the lake.
The Forage: Small Silver Shiners
As the water continues to warm, bass will move up onto the large shallow food-shelf areas filled with these small, frantic baitfish. They’ll start to feed, and we need to present a small bait efficiently, but also cover a fair amount of water. So the question is this: how can we imitate the forage convincingly in a way that allows us to fish multiple depths, at multiple speeds with the least amount of mucky snags?
First: Select The Bait
The Z-Man StreakZ in 3.75″ is a perfect little pot-bellied shiner imitation in terms of both size and color (try “smokey shad” or “the deal” for a silver or blue tint). I’ve also had a lot of luck using green pumpkin in this lake, so my follow up of choice is The Standard Zoom Fluke in a two-tone “baby bass” color that has a bit more fleck and sparkle.
We’ve caught some great fish on this larger offering (as seen on Thursday Night Fishing) and later in the year the Super Fluke will definitely be paired with The F4 Rig, and a larger hook. It will come into play around rip-rap to mimic spawning or feeding baitfish, while helping us avoid some of the snags that come with using heavy, compact weights (jigs, shaky heads) around jagged rocks.
Another reason we’re going to experiment with a green color is because we definitely know that bass eat other bass… or… they try to eat each other… it doesn’t always work out too well… we found the proof of that last time, right after we found that silver shiner!
“I’ve made a huge mistake…” -Billy Bass
Also, it’s important to note that in this body of water largemouth bass are the primary, dominant predator. We have no walleye, pike, or muskie. This means we won’t get bit off, and the bass can (and do) use any depth and any location they want in the lake.
Having the flexibility to fish shallow or deep, fast or slow, calm or erratic is critical for maximizing our limited time on the water.
Next: The Complete F4 Delivery System
The F4 delivery system is incredibly simple. Dare I say… minimalist?
The BBFF (Build it. Break It. Fix it. Fish it.) Rod
ASSEMBLY: Grab your spinning rod, reel, and spool up with 8 pound test fluorocarbon. Fluoro will sink (helping your bait get deeper, faster) and give you greater sensitivity and power on the hookset compared to mono. It offers the most abrasion resistance around rocks, and is much less visible than braid. Low visibility is key, because we need the option of stealth. Attach the components (in this order) to your line:
Add your favorite soft plastic. Fish. Enjoy. Repeat. Tell your friends. Or maybe don’t.
Any plastic will work – but The F4 Rig was originally designed for smooth, snagless fluke fishing.
Keep reading – there are several nuances to keep in mind and countless ways to fine-tune this rig so you can maximize your time on the water!
It’s like a Texas Rig… but it isn’t…
The original concept was to create a “finesse Texas rig” for fishing around all of the muck in my lake after a frustrating afternoon fishing with exposed hooks. I wanted the weight to move freely up and down the line – however – also needed to be able to “peg” the weight close to the bait if too much muck was getting picked up. The bobber stops give me the best of both worlds – allowing the weight to be pegged close to the bait, pegged away from the bait and further up the line, allowed to float freely, OR float within a dedicated range higher up the line, never coming into contact with the bait. This last option allows me to let the weight sink and land on the mucky bottom, but floating plastics stay slightly suspended and right in the face of curious bass – which is incredibly effective.
Never use toothpicks to peg your weight when you are using light line. You will compromise your rig.
It’s like a Carolina Rig… but it isn’t…
The Carolina Rig requires 3 knots and several additional components (weight, bead, clacker, swivel, leader, hook, bait… and again, 3 knots). They utilize a heavier weight and typically include a brass “clacker” somewhere between the weight, the bead and the swivel. Dragging a Carolina Rig on the bottom kicks up sediment and causes a disruption – it is suited for rocks & gravel, not mucky bottom.
The plastic bead between the weight and the lower bobber stop on The F4 Rig will give off a slight “click” if you need noise as an extra attractant (like in murky water or on windy days), but it is more finesse than that big ‘ol Carolina clack.
It’s like a Tandem Fluke (Donkey) Rig… but it isn’t…
Want to move faster to trigger bites? No problem. Twitch The F4 Rig along the surface to create the illusion of a baitfish chasing something small and edible as the weight and fluke bounce back and forth with every snap of the rod tip – similar to the triggering effect of a tandem fluke rig (aka the Donkey Rig or Double Fluke Rig).
It’s like a Split-Shot Rig… but it isn’t…
Split-Shot Rigs are a great option around rip-rap or when you’re targeting finicky bass. They are not a great option around muck and weeds – it is incredible how much muck and debris the jagged, pointy edges of the traditional easy-pinch removable sinkers will pick up on a single cast. And slipping through the suspended debris without getting hung up?
Not gonna happen.
The bullet weight on The F4 Rig is much more streamlined, allowing the angler to make repeated muck-free retrieves.
It’s like a Mojo Rig… but it isn’t…
The Mojo Rig is similar; a hybrid rig between the Split-Shot Rig and a Carolina Rig. Mojo Rigs utilize a cylindrical weight and a single rubber stop between that and the hook. They are silent. By using a bullet weight and a bead, we can create space on The F4 Rig to add subtle noise when needed, push the stoppers together for complete stealth, or push our bobber stops down to the hook to fish a traditional Texas Rig with the weight pegged or free-floating.
A super-fast modification that takes seconds without requiring any retying – complete with bullet weight.
The F4 Rig was born out of necessity. It stays weedless. It creates noise. It can be silent. If you’re using a floating plastic it stays off the bottom. It’s flexible. It allows you to experiment with different leader lengths (from several feet to zero inches) without retying. It’s subtle. It’s erratic.
It’s a Flexible Finesse Fluke Fishing delivery system, and it will put more bass in your boat.
The F4 Rig in use at a Small City LakeThe F4 Rig catches little largemouth bass…… and plenty of big ‘ol keepers!
Let me know how it works for you.
Tight lines!
Z-Man StreakZ Fluke for The F4 Rig Delivery System created by AJ Hauser: Flexible Finesse Fluke Fishing
“I’ll never catch any fish around here“, the forklift driver grumbles as he enters hour 11 of his 12-hour shift. “When we go up to the clear northern lakes, man… that’s where it’s at.”
The clang of the tines echo through the warehouse as they hit the floor just a bit too hard. Too hard for an experienced driver like this – unless of course he’s having a tantrum.
“I wish there were pike around me. Or smallmouth. Or walleye. All these ponds and lakes in Illinois is just so mucky – so sloppy – so hard to fish. Can’t use the jig-n-leech I grew up on, it snags everything floating and on the bottom – same with my jerkbait, even my swimbaits with exposed hooks – especially in early spring. Nothing of any quality lives here – the good fish are all far away and there is no way with work I can travel. I barely get enough time to go throw a footballhead jig in the slop for a frustrating hour once or twice a week… I hate this.“
The low battery beep starts to go off on the fork, meaning he’ll have to go swap for a different one and plug his in. A mild inconvenience, but combined with the current foul, frustrated mood – a recipe for total defeat & exhaustion.
“Whatever… I just need to get done so I can go home and go to bed. There is no point fishing when I spend more time picking debris off of my hooks than I do catching fish. Forget it.“
With that, he backs his lift into a “charging station”, designated by some spray paint on the floor, plugs the large plastic power connector into his battery an wanders off – completely defeated – to finish his shift…
The questions our hero should be asking himself are simple, but not always easy to figure out: What fish live around me? Where do they live? What do they eat?
I know this – because I was the forklift driver not that long ago… and until I re-learned how to fish based on local fish, forage and cover, I was constantly frustrated by the fact that the presentations I learned to love as a kid – the ones that worked in clear, natural lakes with distinct weed edges – definitely did not work around me.
At least, not the way I was fishing them. We don’t have pike. Or smallmouth. Or walleye.
Largemouth bass are easy to like – especially after you catch a few. They’re “sporty”, they fight hard, they jump, and even though they don’t fight as long as smallmouth – their broad bodies and tails allow them to pull like an ox.
They’re green little beasts.
Largemouth are known to be scrappy. They are also aggressive, and can be caught on a myriad of artificial baits – hard & soft – fast & slow – depending on the conditions and their location.
There is nothing like hooking into a largemouth bass in shallow water if you are looking for what feels like hand-to-hand combat. Bass can set up in what seems like mere inches of water, and if you hook into a spooky bass in skinny water, they will put you and your gear to the test!
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Bass also spend time in areas that look “bassy”, and finding them while fishing visual cover is extremely enjoyable. Word on the street is that there are always some bass sitting shallow – even if they might not be the biggest bass in the system, or part of the highest concentration. This means that shore-bound anglers can usually beat the bank and find some fish – sometimes more effectively than boaters.
Hunting largemouth bass is a thinking game, because no matter the time of year or the conditions, there is always a way to catch them. The challenge is in solving this puzzle.
It’s addicting.
Largemouth Bass Accessibility
One of the most amazing qualities of the largemouth bass is their adaptability. This in turn makes them extremely accessible.
They live (almost) everywhere!
In fact, few Americans live far from good bass fishing. They live in both still & running water. Lakes & reservoirs. Streams & ponds. Huge water. Small water. Pits & rivers. They live among alligators in the southern tropical lakes and far to the north where water is frozen over 5 months out of the year.
In terms of their geographical spread, largemouth bass live in some capacity in all of the lower 48 states + Hawaii! (Even the southern fringe of Canada!) In fact, it’s easier to say where they don’t exist: Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, and certain arid regions of the Great Plains.
One huge factor to the spread of these fish, was of course stocking. Originally bass were present only in the eastern half of the continental United States (with the exclusion of certain eastern seaboard states). As bass interest grew in the 19th century, they started to get transported in milk cans via the new and improved railroad system, ultimately being placed into waters all across the country.
It’s ‘merica’s fish!
They have adapted to artificial lakes, ponds, and during the “Dust Bowl” days that started around 1936, the construction of ponds was encouraged by federal and state agencies. Over 300 million farm ponds were built and most were stocked with bass. In Kansas for example, almost 43 percent of the bass habitat is in ponds the size of 20 acres or less. Additionally man-made reservoirs total about 10 million surface acres. Excluding the Great Lakes, their construction has nearly doubled the nation’s total lake surface area.
Bass have been able to adapt extremely well to all of these bodies of water. There are probably some nearby, and we can probably all go catch a few… in fact, with such a wide range, maybe we should all be asking the same question…
My brothers and I have vivid memories of the stacks and stacks of In-Fisherman Magazine that Grandpa collected. They were placed ever so carefully in medium-sized wicker baskets that lived next to the old wooden rocking chairs in the cabin up North.
Well… it was a “cabin” to us because it was in Wisconsin… but in reality, it was simply Grandpa’s “home away from Illinois”.
We loved it.
Dad taking us out into the channel to fish.
We also loved flipping through the pages of these beauties, imagining ourselves pulling giant pike, walleye, smallmouth bass and muskie up from the depths of the chain ‘o lakes – which would be extremely difficult at this time considering we all fished with bobbers, worms and a size 6 Eagle Claw baitholder hook right off the dock in about 4 feet of water.
(We never had cheap cartoon-character fishing poles, thankfully… Grandpa and Dad insisted we go straight to Zebco 33s.)
The covers though, I remember the covers. They were exciting and mysterious and I would flip through the pages looking for more pictures – not so much tips, advice and science. Science?! I got enough of that at school – this was about fishing!
Many great memories were made in the living room, but when anyone mentions In-Fisherman, I think about those wicker baskets next to the rocking chairs…
Grandpa’s Wisconsin house years later – similar, but at the same time very different… good memories.
The In-Fisherman
Al and Ron Lindner also used to vacation in Wisconsin as kids. Bass fishing started for them around this time, and Al avidly read Jason Lucas (who at the time was the only national figure writing about largemouth bass in Sports Afield magazine). While bass weren’t the only fish the brothers chased, this was still an important developmental time for the two young anglers.
We fished a lot in a little lake outside Hayward, Wisconsin, when I was about 5 years old. Ron and I didn’t have a boat, so we ran around in swim suits fishing lily pads and deadfalls from shore. We usually fished with frogs on weedless hooks. Later we used all sorts of artificials.
I remember two particularly big bass. One was a huge fish that Ron hooked on a Johnson Silver Minnow… we finally lost it, but I think that bass was 7 or 8 pounds, one heck of a fish for northern waters.
Another time, on the same lake, I tied into one on a Burke plastic worm with propellers. I lost it in shallow pads. Figure it was a 10. Even if I’m wrong, it was huge!
That lake turned me on to bass fishing. We fished for other species, but bass were exciting. I was pretty good with a jig and a worm when I was 10, long before worms were popular in the North.
Al Lindner
Those lost fish are the things that nightmares are made of… sleepless nights… wondering “WHY?! Why did she pop off?!”
Ron too, was knows to ask the question: “why?” He was a fisherman that loved the catch, but was fascinated by theory. In fact, in the book “Largemouth Bass in the 1990s: an In-Fisherman Handbook of Strategies“, it is said that Ron frustrated hundreds of fishing partners, fishing in screwball ways simply to test new theories.
Al on the other hand was more of a results-oriented angler, applying theories when they were shown to help him catch more fish.
These two personalities meshed together, one providing the yin to the other’s yang, allowing the brothers to probe the frontier of fishing in a way that no other single individual could.
In 1970, Al experienced lean times as a guide in the north during the ice season. He decided to make a move, and relocated near Sam Rayburn Lake in Texas. Rayburn was 5 years old at this time, and it was just hitting it’s productive peak – but Al still needed to learn how to target these winter bass in a huge southern reservoir.
He quickly learned just how important timber and creek channels were to bass location. With the help of other guides from Missouri and Arkansas, he mastered deep-water jigging. This method – along with many others associated with Rayburn – allowed the two brothers experience the effectiveness of lures that hadn’t yet reached the north.
By 1975, even though they had accumulated a large amount of knowledge, they had not accumulated a large amount of money.
They were broke.
So… what better time than now to start a brand new fishing publication?! It was out of this situation that The In-Fisherman Magazine was born. However, it didn’t look like the In-Fisherman we know today – the In-Fisherman that lives in those wicker baskets next to the rocking chair. No, Ron’s original concept was to create a small, focused correspondence course for a select few serious angling subscribers. However, by 1980 the magazine had evolved into so much more than that. It didn’t take long for the information the Lindners were bringing to the table to expand out into radio and television as well, forming the base of the In-Fisherman network. A network that would become In-Fisherman Incorporated, providing a powerful base for fishing education, sustained by contributions from powerful fishing educators.
Al & Ron Lindner
The network has always centered around collaboration, striving to provide authentic, useful fishing information provided by great fishing minds working together.
The development of general principles that aim to help anglers understand both fish and their world take center stage. Without these principles, the sea of “tips & tricks” can become a useless, overwhelming mass.
The network does not limit itself or specialize in a single technique, species or region. Instead, it seeks insight in all aspects of freshwater fishing.
From the beginning, In-Fisherman presented a more comprehensive picture of angling than had been the norm. Instead of focusing on “hot baits” or “hot lakes” and ignoring location and outside factors that could position fish, they provided a more complete picture and developed the formula: F+L+P=S
F (Fish) + L (Location) + P (Presentation) = S (Success)
Finally, by taking a more scientific approach to understanding fish and their environment while still focusing on catching fish (remember, Ron was all about the theory, and Al was all about the results), In-Fisherman was able to bring together recreational anglers, scientists and fishery managers – establishing itself as an authority and helping to promote sound conservation and wise fish management principles – all while teaching people how to fish.
Al & Ron Lindner of In-Fisherman & Angling Edge
As an adult, I am now a paying subscriber, just like Grandpa was years ago. Doug Stange (the current Editor in Chief at the time of writing) has done an outstanding job of keeping In-Fisherman on the cutting edge of the fishing world with continuous, high-quality information and articles. If you have never cracked the pages and had a look for yourself – I suggest you do so.
You might even consider filling up some wicker baskets and planting a few seeds for the next generation of anglers while you’re at it…
Some anglers look at tournament pros with pure disdain.
“I could outfish that hack!” “They’re messing up the spawn and ruining our fishery!” “Put summore patches on your jersy, you clown!“ “Must be nice to get your fishing boat and gear for free!“ “Great… camera crews… our lake is ruined…“
Have you ever heard anything like this?
… have you ever said anything like this?
While there is definitely a time and place for open discussion regarding fishing during the spawn, catch & release vs. selective harvest, and lake publicity – there is also reason to be thankful for tournament fishing.
In years past, different lakes & reservoirs would have a few local celebrities. Guys that could catch fish on any day at any time in their local lake. Many lakes still have these hot-sticks, but tournaments started to give visibility to versatile anglers from across the country. Guys that could travel and fish different bodies of water well – maybe not perfectly like the locals, but still very effectively.
Someone would always catch fish no matter what the weather was doing, or the time of year. This reduced the amount of “luck” needed for the recreational angler; luck started to be replaced with scientific and environmental theories that were being proven and refined again and again on the pro circuit.
This also allowed for the testing of new techniques, the sharing of information, and an overall better understanding of how bass would behave from region to region. We’ve all heard the phrase: “a bass is a bass is a bass“, but behind the scenes professional anglers were sharing (some) information and learning new techniques, then scrutinizing them. As publicity increased, the amount of money to be made increased as well. Tackle manufacturers could develop new rod & reel models that were species or technique-specific, new baits, new line – you name it – based upon the success (or failure) of certain combinations in certain lakes – and with the chance of national publicity, the incentive to innovate became massive.
Capitalism on display. And who benefits from capitalism? Us. You and me. The consumer. The better a product and it’s reputation, the more it will sell. Don’t let anyone tell you different.
If a company ain’t innovating – we ain’t buying! If we ain’t buying – they ain’t a company!
Certain patterns emerged as the best, fresh data was analyzed and put to the test, allowing those of us with “day jobs” (and therefore lacking 12 hours to fish every day) a chance to stay current with modern trends and developments.
Flippin’ for Bass
A famous example of this came from a The Texas Invitational B.A.S.S. tournament held on Toldeo Bend in 1977. Water temps were in the high 40s, and many of the prespawn bass were shallow in the murky water. However, right before the event, a cold front came through that caused the temps to drop in the shallows as the water clarity increased – shutting down the bass.
A competitor from California named Dave Gliebe won the event with 20 bass and an average weight of more than 4 pounds. Others soon realized that Gliebe had extracted his bass from heavy cover in shallow areas with deep holes (about 8 feet). These areas were covered in thick grass and matted, weedy “umbrellas” and heavy timber. The method of extraction? “Lever-jigging.”
Dave Gliebe Flippin’ for Largemouth Bass
Dave had learned “flipping” from his mentor, Dee Thomas, and had actually won two earlier tournaments using this technique and heavy jigs in timber. The “lever-jigging” variation was a 5/8 oz jig, flipped to penetrate the thick weeds, which was then allowed to fall to the bottom. The line from the mat to the jig was straight up and down, the line from the mat to Dave’s rod was angled. By pulling the line back and forth towards his location at that angle, the jig underneath the mat was allowed to raise and lower straight up and down. He would then work his jig for up to 5 minutes in a single location, waiting for a negative bass to strike.
The national press was impressed with how effective this method could be when other methods wouldn’t produce. Both flipping and “lever-jigging” had originated in Tule Lake (an intermittent lake covering an area of 13,000 acres) in California. Flipping presentations were known locally as “tule-dipping” or “doodle-socking”.
A handful of the other contestants were given a presentation on the technique after the tournament, including Al Linder, Ron Lindner and Roland Martin. These anglers soon spread the word, so much so that Roland Martin is more associated with the technique than Gliebe and Thomas. Ron predicted “there might be many other situations when this (basic) lure delivery system could be used.”
If you’ve ever caught a bass flippin’ a jig… take a second and thank the tournament anglers of years gone by. Chances are without the sharing of information and the development of new techniques, many of us in the Midwest and elsewhere would be unaware of the myriad of presentations that can – and do – catch bass.
Over the last several articles we have focused on individual men & methods surrounding the development of largemouth bass fishing. Pioneers like Jason Lucas, Buck Perry and Bill Binkelman, as well as Al & Ron Lindner. Let’s continue to work our way through what will be the foundation of our bass-fishing knowledge base: Largemouth Bass in the 1990s: an In-Fisherman Handbook of Strategies.
Largemouth Bass in the 1990s: an In-Fisherman Handbook of Strategies
During the 1960s and the 1970s, largemouth bass fishing exploded in America. So much in fact that the history surrounding this period actually becomes confusing. The sport that had been either dormant or developing slowly for the last 200 years blossomed at an alarming rate.
For starters, man-made impoundments across the country reached their fishing peak. (Quick sidenote: just this week I was watching a video where professional angler Randy Blaukat was thinking out loud, asking where all the big bass in Table Rock Lake had gone. In the comments section, someone claiming to be a marine biologist actually mentioned that reservoirs hit their peak at a certain time, then decline. The time for Table Rock? Many guys piped up and said it was in the 70s… still a great lake, they said, but you weren’t going to pull out 8 and 9 pounders with the same regularity of years past… if this is true, it aligns with what the staff at In-Fisherman was saying when they wrote this book.)
The first hydrographic lake maps showed general underwater features. Sonar let anglers fish these features more effectively and efficiently. (These days, we take casting our sonar units from the bank for granted!)
Zebco Model 33 Fishing Reel Ad
B.A.S.S. – The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society became the most dominant and influential force in the bass fishing world.
Tournament fishing started to become popular, and the success of tournaments – coupled with the publicity they offered – led manufacturers to produce better fishing tackle adapted to newly developed techniques. Developments in fibers & technologies led to new space-age graphite rods with advanced performance characteristics.
Tournaments also led to the development of better baits. The old Shannon Twin Spin was refined into the spinnerbait we still use today. Soft plastics multiplied as anglers developed more and more ways to use them.
The bass boat was refined into a fast, safe, comfortable “fishing platform”. To this point ‘ol aluminum 3-seaters were widely used. (That said… aluminum boats (jon boats or otherwise) still have their place!)
The bass fishing pro had become an influential fixture.
Underwater scuba diving pulled back the veil on underwater bass behavior.
Major biological studies of the black bass began, spurred on by the economic importance of bass fishing. Radio tracking of individual bass became available with new technology.
While this list may not seem that long – if you take a step back and look at everything listed here that we take for granted, it’s completely mind-boggling. It’s one thing to read a list of developments that took place over a 10 to 15 year period in any short format, but stop and really think for a minute:
Imagine fishing without your favorite rod and reel, your favorite soft plastic or a spinnerbait that would actually run true enough to be worked around heavy cover – without sonar, or even maps that showed the bottom contours of the lake.
We’d be lost for a long while – and I know this…
The fishermen of yesteryear, the ones that never had these luxuries, would probably fish circles around us.
If you’re looking to have some fun, take a peek at all the ways people used to market their goods and services. For example, the top of this book by Ron & Al Lindner:
Price: None, since this information is priceless.
Sounds too good to be true – I think I’ll get that!
One thing that many people don’t realize is that the Lindner brothers – while excellent fishermen – were also excellent marketers. Both men are engaging, they’re storytellers. You watch their fishing segments on TV and you feel drawn in, like you’re on a boat listening to an old friend.
Over the years, these two worked with many other anglers as they built the empire that would become In-Fisherman, and one of those anglers was Bill Binkelman. These 3 men made many important discoveries and contributions to the world of bass fishing.
Binkelman was an avid bass angler, although he was more widely recognized as an expert in walleye. In 1964 he was managing a large hardware store in Milwaukee. He became enamored with the advice of Buck Perry – advice that matched his own experiences on the water.
Thus, Binkelman briefly became a spoonplugger – after all, he had to stock cases and cases of the lures to meet the demands of his customers. He even promoted them through a newsletter published by his store, called “Fishing News“. Suddenly there were all sorts of “fishing secrets” being discovered!
Fishing News: Two Men – 60 Bass – 7.5 Hours
(Even more enticing marketing!)
However, Bill abandoned spoonplugs after concluding he hated motor trolling. He favored livebait presentations – and like Perry, also promoted structure fishing, combining the two methods into his own technique. He garnered fame through his walleye fishing, but Binkelman himself admitted he learned all of his walleye techniques catching bass.
In the early 1960s, Bill met Al and Ron at the store. He said that the two Chicagoland anglers were both “already skilled fishermen, especially with a plastic worm”, and the three men remained friends until Bill’s passing in 1989.
When Bill left the hardware store, he started “Fishing Facts” magazine. His friends Al & Ron were frequent contributors to the publication, and it became the first magazine to deal seriously with the concept of structure fishing.
Over time the magazine grew to be extremely influential, and through marketing and some fancy new illustrations (like underwater side-views and contour maps), it generated excitement and a hunger for new information and new techniques.
Buck Perry was said to be a loner. Jason Lucas – a loner. But Binkelman left a legacy as a collaborator. In time he worked on television shows, magazines, and additional fishing concepts like the calendar of seasons – although many would argue the adaptation of the spoonplugging technique to livebait was his greatest contribution to the sport of fishing.
He was truly a pioneer and a world-class fishing educator.
A chunk of bent metal adorned with some sort of painted pattern resembling anything from a frog to a minnow.
Buck Perry’s Spoonplug
The spoonplug was invented by Elwood “Buck” Perry after he spent time traveling and fishing in the south in the 1940s. The deep-diving lure not only served as a fish catcher – but also as a bottom-mapping device. By trolling rapidly with the spoonplug, Perry could figure out both the shape and composition of the lake bottom – and when sonar came on to the scene, he incorporated that into his system as well.
Chicago writer Tom McNally reported that Perry was catching amazing stringers of bass in the 1950s. His articles brought spoonplugging into the national spotlight, along with their creator. This method of trolling originally meant working a certain path or pattern with the spoonplugs, but later it was refined to mean fishing the bottom systematically to eliminate unproductive water.
“Deep water is the home of the bass”, Perry proclaimed.
This startled many bass anglers who had become accustomed to “beating the banks” and fishing visual cover. However, Perry’s claims were backed with alarming catches, and this persuaded many fishermen to begin focusing on offshore structure. His unique approach led to many arguments about who was the better fisherman: Buck Perry or Jason Lucas, but one thing is for sure – Perry had made a name for himself as the father of structure fishing, being the first fishing authority to give it focused attention.
Some of Buck’s theories seemed dogmatic in nature, others scientific. He talked about the shape of the bottom and it’s potential to hold fish. He said that bass live in schools. He turned attention to deeper water, and while a handful of anglers had proven him wrong on a few different points, his claims were always thought-provoking. They spurred growth. Growth that led to the development of the first logical theory for locating and catching fish.
Perry was a productive thinker.
Eliminate dead water. Locate the fish. Concentrate on productive areas.
Buck Perry and his Spoonplugging Book & Lures
Truer words have never been spoken. The spoonplug is still in production to this day, although it’s popularity has faded in time (being replaced by more modern trolling baits). Yet the principles and concepts that Buck brought to the table continue to form a strong foundation upon which anglers can identify the right water – with the right fish – at the right time.
Like the colonists that came to North America by boat years before, the outdoor writers of the 20th century (the fishing authorities, if you will) regarded bass as inferior to trout. In fact, they fished for bass simply out of professional curiosity.
“What is this coarse blackguard of a fish?!”, the Northeastern writers wondered.
Largemouth bass simply couldn’t compare to trout – the “sportiest” of all fish. However, between the early 1940s all the way through to the 1960s, outdoor enthusiast Jason Lucas started to publicly admit he was a bass fisherman. These claims continued throughout his career as the fishing editor of Sports Afield.
He fished trout too, of course, but within the pages of Sports Afield (one of the “big three” publications of the day: Outdoor Life and Field & Stream being the other two) he became an important spokesperson for bass.
In fact, he preferred bass, and he wasn’t afraid to say so.
He published a book as well, titled “Jason Lucas on Bass Fishing“, which became extremely popular and underwent major revisions, being released in three distinct editions between 1947 and 1962.
Lucas was also known to have a disdain for live bait fishing, which helped set him apart from the traditional fishermen of the day. He was said to be a bit of a loner, preferring his time to himself and often fishing 12 hours a day, six or seven days a week.
Clearly… those ain’t rookie numbers.
He was a fishing machine, and his work helped spearhead the effort to shift the national focus from trout to largemouth. Zach Taylor went as far as calling him the “pioneer of modern bass fishing”, releasing an article in Sports Afield titled “Evangelist of Bass Fishing: Jason Lucas”. In the article he proclaimed that this shift in species was fully realized when Lucas retired after 20 years with the publication, and it was helped in part by the demise of wild trout, which were replaced with “those paltry, hatchery-reared trout”.
Around this time Buck Perry had become known for “speedtrolling”, and anglers were taking massive strings of fish using this and other familiar presentations, like jigs and pork eels. Lucas was known to be critical of some of these new techniques, but one thing was certain: bass fishermen had arrived, in a big way.
When Lucas retired, the world of bass fishing had changed forever. Bass had been anointed:
Throughout the 1950s, the first sonar units built specifically for fishing made their appearance. They were expensive. They were difficult to use. They were clunky.
They weren’t popular.
In fact, a 1958 Lowrance Fish LO-K-TOR would run you as much as a Browning shotgun.
Lowrance Red Box Fish LO-K-TOR
However, as time passed the “Red Box” eventually became the famous (portable) “Green Box”, which worked well enough to become commercially successful. Soon after, others followed.
Lowrance Green Box Fish LO-K-TOR
Before the introduction of sonar, the surface of the water stood between fishermen and the world below. The world inhabited by the fish they were chasing. If the water was especially clear, anglers could see some objects below the surface, but in murky water the nuances below remained a mystery, and the same held true for deep water.
Early units were simply depth indicators, but improvements quickly appeared. Not to mention as anglers learned what the different signals (or signal strength) meant, they were able to identify bottom composition: mud, rocks, sand, based on what their units displayed.
This allowed bass fishermen that had primarily been limited to visible cover & structure, to confidently move into deeper water.
It also helped fishermen working the depths for other kinds of fish as well, by making underwater cover visible.
These humble beginnings were the building blocks upon which today’s super-advanced electronics were developed.
You’ve come by to visit a million times. To the casual observer it might appear cluttered, but Grandpa knows where each and every piece of fishing gear lives.
Gear that has taken a lifetime to accumulate. Cultivate. Collect… and of course… use… and use well as evidenced by the pictures strategically nailed into place all over the homemade workbench.
Some of those pictures are prints you gave him. You, your wife, the kids kids, all holding some combination of bobbers and panfish in vivid color. The over-the-top contrast and super-saturation that comes with phone cameras is on full display – but to the left near the edge of the light thrown by the single dangling bulb you notice something else. Pictures with a wide white border; lower contrast and yellowed edges that are slightly curled – maybe from age, maybe from nicotine… maybe both.
“Polaroids”, he says, before you have the chance to ask. “We used to shake ’em when they came out of the camera, thinking they’d ‘develop’ faster. Still don’t know if that actually worked…”
“I remember Grandma chasing us around with those big pancake-looking cameras when we were kids”, you respond. “Smile you little rugrats! I only got so much film and ‘yer wastin’ it!!“
You both pause for a second, fondly reminiscing about the docile woman in the kitchen upstairs (currently boiling hot dogs for lunch in her meticulous manner) chasing a bunch of kids around snapping pictures many moons ago.
Good memories.
Grandpa breaks the silence without looking up from the ancient reel he’s cleaning; “speaking of chasing – what are you chasing these days?”
Without hesitation you respond; “largemouth bass. I’m about perch & sunfished out, Grandpa. I want to catch something like what you’re holding up in the pictures on your workbench.”
“Ah! ‘Ol bucketmouth!”, he chuckles. “We’ve had a few run ins over the years. Powerful brutes… beautiful coloring and blood-red gills so vibrant that pictures never seem to do them justice.”
You sit in silence hoping he’ll keep talking…
“If you want to catch them… and I mean really catch them… you need to go back and learn everything you can. History, anatomy, location and adaptations. It ain’t about the latest & greatest hot-shot lure on the market, it ain’t about learning spots – it’s about knowledge. It’s about learning what makes them tick. What drives their behavior.”
He stops and looks you dead in the eyes.
“Them big ones ain’t big because they’re stupid. If you want to land one, you’re gonna have to put in the work… or get really lucky… or both.”
With that, he places the reel on the workbench and wipes his hands on a towel – stands; straightens his back, then reaches up to the stack of books sitting high above. He moves “Book of the Black Bass” aside, then “More About the Black Bass” – both by Dr. James A. Henshall – “you should read them too” he mutters, “but start with this.” He pulls down a well-weathered book and blows the dust off, revealing a busted spine and several deep creases in the cover:
Largemouth Bass in the 1990s: an In-Fisherman Handbook of Strategies
“Guaranteed to keep you two steps ahead of the crowd, huh!? Dang, pretty serious!”
“Don’t laugh”, Grandpa warns, “there is more knowledge packed into these 300 pages than you will be able to absorb in a single read. If you really want to catch bigger fish – this is your foundation.”
He tosses the book your way. Some of the leftover dust sticks to your shirt as you fumble to catch it.
“Keep it. Read it twice. Then tell me what you think.”
“I will… thanks.”
You hear Grandma’s voice from up above, “lunchtime you two!”
Grandpa reaches up to pull the white string attached to that single bulb above the workbench. The two of you turn and head up the creaky stairs for the bounty that awaits: boiled hot dogs.
Meticulously prepared.
Grandma’s specialty.
They’ll taste just as good today as they did over 30 years ago.
Holding the book in your hand, you think to yourself “a hot dog and a visit sound excellent… but… I’m actually kind of excited to crack this book open when I get home…”
Grandpa doesn’t say a word… he knows the seed has been planted, and your deep dive into the world of largemouth bass fishing is about to begin.
The Beginning of Bass Fishing in America
It took bass fishing over 200 years to achieve the popularity that we see today. When colonists arrived in the new world in the 18th century, they would fish for sport and food – but they knew two classes of fish: the highly valued trout and salmon, and the less valued “coarse” fish like pike and carp.
Coarse? Perhaps in the eyes of some…
The largemouth bass is actually a member of the sunfish family, and originally only existed in North America. British colonists were unfamiliar with them and as a result this new “coarse” fish was considered second-class. One early writer wrote about native brook trout as if he was penning a love letter; they are “a thing of beauty and joy forever”. But the bass? A “blackguard and tough”.
Some would say that catching even a 15 pound largemouth out of alligator infested waters was a far cry from landing a single tiny brook trout in pristine surroundings.
Debatable.
This sentiment was also influenced by availability. Many initial settlements on the eastern seaboard had streams with plenty of trout – and without bass. Yet in the early 19th century, wealthy sportsmen in Kentucky wanted to fish closer to home than the great trout waters of New England.
Guess what that meant?
Yup. Fishing for largemouth bass.
Bass were readily available in Kentucky, and interest increased even further with the development of the “Kentucky” style reel in 1810. This reel was designed by watchmakers to cast live bait on the long, slow action rods of the day, making fishing for bass much more “sporty”.
A “Kentucky” Style Fishing Reel
A prominent physician and writer named Dr. James A. Henshall published his “Book of the Black Bass” in 1881. Anglers in other parts of the country had begun taking largemouth bass seriously, and Henshall famously claimed that bass were “inch for inch and pound for pound the gamest fish that swims.” In fact, he prophesied that bass would become the primary gamefish in America… but this opinion was held in the minority for decades.
Trout remained king in the eyes of sportsmen.
In the early 1900s, artificial lures began to gain in popularity. Henshall led the charge for shorter rods (8-footers instead of the usual 10-foot plus models of the day) built with more backbone and geared towards casting. Around 1896 James Heddon started making plugs. The Johnson Silver Minnow was invented in 1920, and archaic soft plastics came onto the scene as well.
After World War II, many advancements were made in the areas of plastic and fiberglass, and new, inexpensive fishing rods soon came onto the market. Monofilament line was invented, as was the spinning reel (actually it was imported from Europe – we can’t claim that one), and the first sonar system followed soon after.
Moving Forward
You sit back and close the cover of the book, running your hand over the deep creases that adorn the cover. Proof that this guide has been opened and closed hundreds if not thousands of times.
“The Johnson Silver Minnow is Grandpa’s all-time favorite lure”, you think to yourself. “He was absolutely slaying pike on that thing in the deep cabbage-filled bays last summer with Dad – that spoon is over 100 years old and it still catches fish?!”
If a lure that was created over 100 years ago still catches fish, what other gold nuggets lie within these pages that may have been forgotten or replaced with the latest & greatest whizz-bang marketing craze pushed by XYZ tackle corporation?
“I have no idea… but I’m about to find out!”
You take a long, deliberate swig off of your piping hot coffee and crack the creased cover open one more time to see if you can glean just a bit more information before it’s time to hit the sack.
Icicles are gone, but there are still random piles of dirty, crusty ice in sporadic locations all around town. These are the dead remnants of another miserable winter.
But the combination of these signs and the first few solid days with sun poking through the dark canopy of thick cloud cover gets my heart racing. I immediately start thinking about setting the hook, feeling my line tighten up and seeing it rip off to the side while my drag screams bloody murder.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
Oh, how sweet it is.
Once the daydreams kick in… so does reconnaissance. Me and the boys start going to “play at the lake”… which really means Dad is going to check the water temperature and look for signs of life… like baitfish:
Small baitfish my son found – color & size will help when selecting our initial presentations this spring. We think it might be a Steelcolor Shiner but there are a few other likely candidates on this DNR list of minnows in Illinois.
Once the water hits about 50°F, bass become more active. Question is, how are we shore anglers supposed to check in on the water temperature without the aid of fancy bass-boat electronics?
Well, there are 3 options as far as I can tell:
Stick your head in the water and guess (GOOD? Yes. Worked just fine for your grandpa, sissy.)
Get a small water thermometer to toss in… and wait… and wait… (BETTER)
Get something like the Deeper Pro+ Sonar and get the temperature as well as much more useful information about the body of water you plan to fish! (BEST)
Create your own topographic maps, get water temperature and down-imaging-style fish finder features right on your phone. Use from shore or in a boat (with the appropriate mount).
The feature that initially got my attention with this unit was map creation. It allows you to make your own topographical maps. Literally cast out from shore, slowly reel the Deeper unit back – and as long as it stays connected to your phone (which can be a bit of a challenge at times) it will track bottom contours, depth, temperature and draw out a map that will automatically upload to Deeper Lakebook™ the next time you are connected to WiFi.
This is a great way to be more efficient. Instead of going to check the temperature alone – grab this unit and check temperature, depth, look to see if you can mark fish, and draw a topo map – all at the same time.
I also took this unit out on the jon boat this year and just let it run in the background, recording the bottom. After returning home, everything I charted was uploaded to Deeper Lakebook™, and I could go back and review bottom contours and deeper areas that I missed from the comfort of my desktop PC.
This helped me focus on fishing while I was on the water, but still go back to find the deepest area of the small city lake (about 25 acres) after the fact. This is critical for those of us with limited fishing time.
Find areas of interest after you’re off the water. Focus on fishing while you’re out! It’s like another set of eyes for those of us that fish alone.
Guess where I’ll be starting this spring?
Moving Forward
The daydreams continue.
They become even more vivid when it’s warm enough to open windows around the house. The smell of the breeze pulls me out of whatever website I am designing, and I’m transported to the lake.
Fortunately, with these recordings I am able to pull up my maps from last year and start to strategize where I’ll go first. This is so helpful for those of us that fish alone, and those of us that fish small lakes and ponds with no topographical maps to be found.
Last season was the best I’ve ever had, and the fishing continued up until the snow started to fall. I’m ready to start back up again.
Are you with me?
Spinnerbait largemouth bass caught while using the Deeper Pro+ Sonar to record a little city lake on a COLD morning! Video will be up for this one in the near future!Click the banner to jump to The Minimalist Fisherman on YouTube.
My inbox threw up all over itself again last night. There are emails everywhere.
Whenever I answer a message, two more take it’s place. It’s going to be very difficult to fish this week – especially without feeling guilty the whole time. But… we have to go. The goal is to catch at least one every week, and gosh darn it, that’s what we’re going to do!
Question is… when do we go to maximize our time so we can give ourselves the best chance at success?
Let’s discuss Solunar Calendar Fishing and see how it can play into our minimized fishing lifestyle.
*Audible Groan*… SHE’S GONNA BLOW!!!
When are Animals Most Active?
Any sportsman that is blessed enough to spend a fair amount of time outdoors quickly realizes that there are time periods when the local wildlife exhibits heightened activity levels. For us fisherman, the first thing that comes to mind is an aggressive topwater bite in the early morning, or perhaps the swirls & ripples that appear on the top of a calm lake in the evening as the sun sets and bass really start to chase around their evening snacks.
For hunters, similar activity has been noted for whitetail deer. Dawn & dusk are active periods, with increased activity at times in the middle of the night – which can be seen on trail cams.
In the 1930’s a man named John Knight started to wonder why these periods of increased animal activity seemed to be consistent, complimented by less activity during the day. His research led to the development of The Solunar Table. Fishermen and hunters alike use this to try to “get an edge” – but the question is… is there any legitimacy to this theory?
Knight’s method relies on lunar phases – the changing angles of the earth, the moon and the sun that dictate how the moon “looks” – and the time of sunrise and sunset. These factors have in fact been shown to have an impact on wildlife activity.
Deer. Bass. Coyotes. More bass. Your Mother-In-Law. Etc.
In May 1926, John Alden Knight put together some fishing folklore and other fishing factors such as the sun and the moon, hence the name Solunar (Sol for sun and Lunar for moon) to form a theory on the patterns of animal movement. Knight compiled a list of factors which control or influence the day-to-day behavior of many freshwater and saltwater fish. Each one of the 33 different factors were considered. All but 3 were rejected. The three factors retained were the sun, the moon and the tide. For salt water fishing, tides have long been known as a factor that controls fishes’ behavior. As Knight’s research progressed, he found that rather than just tides themselves, the relationship of the moon and sun’s positions relative to each other may be the determining factor. In addition to the time of moon up (moonrise) – moon down, his research determined that there were intermediate times of the day that occurred in between the two major periods. From that he establishes that there were major periods (moon up – moon down) and minor periods. Knight published the first Solunar table in 1936.
Wikipedia
Sounds scientific.
What this method doesn’t take into account, is the weather. Changes in temperature will have an impact, so will storms, and any sort of increased cloud cover at night can reduce the amount of moonlight passing through to the earth. This means visibility will be reduced; animals on the hunt for food, or animals hoping to avoid predators will all be at a disadvantage.
Additionally, some believe the force of gravity – something we all experience on a subconscious level – comes into play as well:
Using these tables, a fisherman and a hunter can tell when the moon is directly underfoot or overhead. The strongest activity occurs when there is a full moon or a new moon, and is weakest when there is a quarter moon or a three quarter moon. This is because the combined gravitational force of the moon and the sun is strongest when both are directly above or directly below our heads.
Wikipedia
When reviewing a Solunar Calendar, take note of the major feeding periods and the minor feeding periods. Major feeding periods are 2 hours long, centered around (sandwiching) the solunar time. Again, most activity is usually predicted to take place around the full moon or the new moon. During a quarter moon or a three-quarter moon, activity is predicted to be at it’s lowest.
Summary: Solunar calendars can provide you with a nice baseline for potential animal activity, but you must also take into account local weather conditions leading up to (and during) your outing. If you’re fishing, it might be a good idea to take a peek at barometric pressure. Use all of the tools that are available to you!
Moving Forward
Planning is important – especially for those of us with very limited time to fish. But your next trip should not be planned using just a single tool. Take advantage of all sources of information at your disposal. Consider all options and factors.
But don’t obsess.
The most important thing is that we make the time to go and be on the water – whether we’re catchin’ ’em or not.
That reminds me… I need to hammer out some of these emails. Sitting here feeling sorry for myself isn’t going to improve the situation… and I really need to get out and catch a fish.
You’ll Never Have Time… So Always Make Time to Fish With the Kids
Tight lines!
OH! Before you go make sure to check out In-Fisherman’s Solunar Calendar Tool. It’s free and fantastic if you’re wondering what the current solunar calendar looks like in your area!
The leaves look like a red, orange & yellow quilt against the bluebird sky.
It’s a subtle reminder that the days will be getting shorter soon. Darker. The evenings cooler.
Hoodie weather again. Maybe tonight would be a good night for some toasty s’mores with the kids.
Yeah… yeah let’s make it a point to set aside some quality time for family.
Fall in Reservoirs
Some of our friends are hanging up their rods for hunting gear and tree stands. Certainly nothing wrong with that… but this could be a great time to catch a trophy now that the fish are putting on the feedbag in preparation of winter. Not to mention the reduced fishing pressure, which will only continue to decline as the weather becomes even more “uncomfortable”.
The water temperatures are dropping as well; below the optimal temperature range for bass. The young shad have grown up to a size that is very interesting and appetizing, and the bass have taken notice. They’re schooled up tight and moving towards shore, to the shallows.
Fishing Muddy, Rising Water with Sharp Temperature Drops
While these are certainly tough conditions, the general consensus is that the changes do not actually displace the bass. Some anglers will switch to baits that cover the bottom, and slow down. Others prefer to tie on a muddy water bait and cover water; looking to stumps, hard cover of some sort, grasslines or submerged grassbeds.
Another option is to seek out the food. Where are the shad? Where is the forage? Find them, and be on the lookout for suspended fish. If you mark them, tie on a lipless crankbait and use it to cover water while following these moving shad.
If you find good looking hard cover, attack it using crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and vibrating jigs. Look around to see if you can locate incoming water as well. Fishing around the source of inflowing water can be a solid strategy, and at the very least it is worth your inspection.
Fishing Falling Water with Sharp Temperature Drops
If the water clarity has stabilized – meaning the water clarity is “normal” – then your primary variable will be either the water temperature, or the water level. Pay close attention to both.
If the water is falling you can expect the bass to relocate to the ends of laydowns, and to back off of shallow water areas. If they are in the backs of creeks and bays for example, the falling water may push them back out to the main lake. They may even suspend.
Don’t shy away from main lake structure, and try to seek out areas that can funnel fish. Say a channel under a bridge, or the opening in a causeway (a causeway is a raised road or track across low or wet ground).
Since the water clarity is “normal”, don’t be afraid to fish fast with topwaters, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, crankbaits, vibrating jigs & swimbaits.
Moving Forward
Graham crackers are so crumbly.
Gosh.. they get everywhere.
That’s one nice thing about eating our s’mores outside by the lake. Let the bugs & the birds have the crumbs. Let the kids make a mess. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
And let’s be honest here – the main attraction is that marshmallow… which… has somehow ended up on the little dude’s forehead.
The fishing has been good this year, and there is still no end in sight. So even though we’re in the Midwest and the changing seasons can be frustrating, and yes – a bit sad – it’s hard to be grumpy when you have cool air and a fire going in the evening, surrounded by sticky, laughing children.
There are few things as satisfying as the crackle of a piping-hot grill.
Sharp, crispy-hot pops of delicious fat sliding off of that ribeye that we should probably share with someone else… but… we won’t.
We’ll devour it.
Much like the bass devoured our topwater frog this morning. Ah… that is one thing more satisfying than a smokey grill: topwater largemouth bass explosions. Maybe we’ll be able to get a few more tomorrow…
The summer period is one of stability. Temperature changes are a non-issue for the most part, and several bass have moved out now that they are done spawning. Cool water inflows can attract and concentrate baitfish, and the bass will follow.
Heavy rainfall during the summer months can cause a sharp rise in the water level. This can also be followed by a sharp decline in the water level as the reservoir is brought back to the recommended pool.
The presentations we’ll start with have expanded a bit more, and a big reason for that is warmer water temperatures and additional stability. During prespawn we’d reach for spinnerbaits and jigs – but now it’s a great idea to add buzzbaits, frogs, bladed jigs, additional pitching jigs and soft plastics to the mix!
When the water returns to the normal elevation, it has much less of an effect on the bass. Many pros and hot-stick locals agree that this does not seem to be a major game-changer.
Continue to work tight to cover, but look to a few new locations.
Check shallower, offshore structure. Then drop back to deeper cover and structure, using louder, brighter, high-contrast baits. Don’t be afraid to add in scent if you haven’t already – you want to do everything you can do activate the other senses utilized by bass – not just vision.
Moving Forward
Speaking of scent… that steak is looking mighty fine this warm summer evening… mighty fine…
Well… spring has sprung in my head at least. At the earliest signs of melting snow and bright skies I’m ready to rip the Christmas lights down, tear off my hoodie (that’s strategically covering about 20 extra pounds of “holiday cheer” on my belly), and tie up any ‘ol rig so we can get out to the water and stick some bass!
The problem is that here in the Midwest, melting snow does not mean nice, warm water or active bass. Quite the opposite… we’ve got a ways to go, which means it’s a great time to do a bit more homework…
During the prespawn period bass are programmed to do a few different things. Primarily though, they start to move towards shallow spawning areas. Big flats and bays. Keep in mind that not all fish will spawn at the exact same depth in a system, and it’s not uncommon for bass in certain lakes and reservoirs to spawn a bit deeper if they are larger.
This period is also prone to rain and muddy water. In some parts of the county (… like mine…) residual snow flurries and frost can still make an appearance as well.
It’s torture!
But as that water temperature starts to scoot higher and higher, a few different unique scenarios can present themselves.
Here’s how to fish ’em.
Muddy, Rising Water + Falling Temperatures
For many anglers – both pros and hot-stick weekend warriors – this is a recipe for disaster.
Under these conditions, most would suggest you fish shallow and tight to cover. One technique is to stay within the pre-flooded shoreline. Try to work into the new shallow water areas from there.
If you are able to make a move – consider traveling to the lower end of the lake in search of clearer water. In reservoirs, water carrying sediment is usually incoming at the upper (northern) end. This means that as a general rule of thumb, water at the upper end is both shallower and dirtier than what you will find as you get closer to the dam, at the lower end. This area is usually the deepest spot in the reservoir and water is outgoing.
Temperatures can also be more stable on the lower end of the reservoir, which is not a bad thing.
Try a large spinnerbait with thumpy Colorado blades in a dark color like the Booyah Colorado Blade Spinnerbait so bass have the best chance to feel your offering as it’s headed their way!
Muddy, Falling Water + Falling Temperatures
What happens if the water is falling – still muddy and still dropping in temperature a bit like our last example – but the water level is actually getting lower?
This scenario can present itself in reservoirs with a flood-control function. A rise in springtime water is usually followed by a drop in reservoir level. Well… guess what?
This is another recipe for disaster.
Fish tight to available cover, fish muddy water, and fish your prespawn lures slowly. Go ahead and try to fish a bit further out from banks that are about 45 degrees or so.
Whether the water is going up or going down – muddy, cold scenarios are never a great situation. They are uncomfortable. Frustrating.
About as frustrating as trying to fit my 20 extra “holiday cheer” pounds into my rain gear from last season…
But placing ourselves in uncomfortable situations is the best way to prompt growth. Progress. It’s a chance to get better when everyone else has thrown in the towel.
The word that jumps out at you most when you watch John Dalton fish, is humility.
If you want to learn to fish creeks & streams, you will not find a better guide on YouTube. John began taking his viewers on adventures in his home state of Tennessee on June 22nd, 2016. A video titled “Creek Fishing with Kids” was created to set things in motion, released to zero subscribers…
Fast forward to today: Creek Fishing Adventures has 480 videos and is quickly closing in on 82,000 subscribers at the time of writing. John now travels the country and has been working his passion project full-time since 2019.
But that’s not the most impressive part.
The most impressive part, is that John is a fearless advocate of his faith in God.
In the current state of our fallen world, if you want to find the strongest men – you need not look further than those willing to speak of such things. John often closes his videos with scripture. He is not pushy, he is not preachy – he simply shares something within the Word that is speaking to him that day.
His viewers may not realize it, but he is giving them more than entertainment. More than fishing tips. More than bait reviews, interviews and snack recommendations. He is in fact sharing what we both believe to be the most important thing. Faith in God. He is planting seeds while being a humble servant.
Humility.
“Come on out tonight @6pm to the Shenandoah Baptist Church in Cleveland, TN. Christian nature documentary and a chili supper afterwards.“
Creek Fishing Advice
In terms of fishing, I didn’t think our free Learn How to Fish Rivers & Streams section would be complete without mentioning Creek Fishing Adventures. After you’ve had a chance to look through the information there – after giving yourself some time to soak up some additional knowledge that will serve you on the water – then I invite you to head over to the CFA YouTube Channel and subscribe.
The subscriber count currently sits just below 82,000. Let’s do what we can to help push that number up over 6 figures and support the cause – both fishing & faith.
John Dalton: Creek Fishing Adventures – Nice Largemouth Bass
Big Smallmouth Bass on a Nikko Hellgrammite
If you’re looking for a sample – check this video out where John uses the Nikko Hellgrammite. My opinion? Nikko needs to do a John Dalton Signature Series for CFA – he put them on the map!
You can also learn more about CFA and speaking of support, buy some merch after clicking the link over on the official website: CreekFishingAdventures.com
Moving Forward
Most posts on this website are fishing-focused… but sometimes you come across someone doing work that speaks volumes, and it’s more than just fishing. Yet the beautiful thing about this sport is that it can all go hand-in-hand.
Most of us have never felt closer to God than we do when we are on the water at daybreak. The sun edges itself up over the trees. The water is calm but glistening. You can hear birdsong over the slight breeze and the rustle of the leaves. It’s chilly – but not cold. Not uncomfortable.
There is so much order all around you. It’s hard to not take a pause and be grateful… tap… tap…
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