GET A STRIKE first. No need to hook and land many during your search...

Consider the relationship between finding and catching bass. The former is about gathering information and processing it. The second is more of what vacationers from Nebraska get to do: shriek and reel ‘em in.

Searching is learning. Catching is about rewards.

Over-simplified, sure. But the fact is in getting a sense of what’s going on (pre tournament)–many get rubber-legged and don’t believe their own eyes. Instead of confidently logging a discovery, they want the prize at the same time.

Instead of walking (driving) away, they keep hooking, disturbing or otherwise educating the fish they need to catch later.

I understand how this might happen, even though it’s been taught a thousand times. Nothing sticks in our individual psyche; nothing registers in our memories like that one we enticed to bite, hooked and landed. But practice fishing is not about learning all the options of fish behavior in a lake or even one cove in a lake.

It only matters that during your alotted practice you draw (discover) “a few dots” on your figurative gameplan. Your mind, through your own experiences, will connect the dots when it really matters–during tournament hours!

ONE BITE can tell you plenty...

The best anglers don’t always find all the answers in practice, but they don’t dwell on what they don’t know, rather they rely on what they have experienced. Back in July I referenced Gary Klein’s U.S. Open practice with hookless Texas rig (with a Blakemore Hitchhiker). More recently I watched Dean Rojas fish a chugger with all the hook points bent closed except one on the feathered trailer.

These pros wanted to generate strikes, but they didn’t have to hook many fish as they ran widely separated areas to confirm a pattern. But being more frugal rather than less frugal hooking fish is even more critical if an area “looks good.” Brent Ehrler, in a Bass-A-thon seminar warned that if it looked good to you, it looked good to every other savvy pro who passed by the area.

If you stick one and so do a dozen others behind you, that spot is done, done, done!

If there is a wider time-gap between your search and the actual competition, you can take a few more swings and you can go after the “easy” fish. You know the term “search bait,” but there is no one lure required to speed up the hunt. Ehrler says jerkbait, but heavier jig heads or sinkers can be employed in places where you might actually go smaller or slower on gameday.

The search really only requires that you find a location or location type for the fish and then some clue of their willingness to bite–and that’s your practice. To do more than that steals from your chances of getting a check.

WELL DIVIDER didn't seem that practical in my Z7...

After witnessing a lot of weigh-ins in the West (especially with teams and shared-weight pro-ams) I’ve wondered why more anglers don’t remove the divider in their livewells. The fish count the same for both partners, so why squeeze somebody’s kicker into that shoebox that is half a livewell?

I’m sure there are reasons–and someone may want to chime in with their explanation–but my fishing is a lot more pragmatic. Not only do I want all the combined catch to have ample room in transit, what if I or a partner happen to bust one worthy of an official weight check at the dock?

PRETTY SIMPLE procedure...

Even back in the day of stringers, we lugged a big fish (one fish) in a 48-quart ice-chest. You think we would be even more conscious of those things in the modern era.

Anyway, I asked around, and got differing opinions, so I’m not trying to convince anyone to take a saw to their baby. But in my case, I really wanted my catch to be able to stretch out in the box, so today I removed the divider in my Nitro.

First, I used a hand mirror to examine the inside of the well. It appears that Nitro actually inserts the divider before they put the cap on the deck. By examining every corner, I discovered there was no permanent attachment in play for the divider, so I took the following steps.

THE WOOD SCRAP protected the lining of the box...

1. I masked (sealed up) the area around the drain, knowing that cutting the divider (made of fibreglass) would create lots of sawdust.

2. I started cutting, using a drywall hand saw, through the holes in the divider. However, when I got to the hole closest to the bottom of the well, I put in a piece of one-by pine (sheet metal, pie pan or plywood would have all done the job) to protect the lining of the box.

DIVIDER OUT, allows maximum space for the catch...

3. Using a short prybar (a heavy duty screwdriver would have done the same) I broke the divider free of its “slot,” which also broke the last section of the fiberglass. From there, I merely folded the divider over like a piece cardboard and pulled it out through lid opening.

4. I vacuumed out the boxes, removed the masking and cleaned out the divider slot. The short project gives me maximum space and actually makes it much easier to be ”clean and dry” in there.

CHILLY early, warmer later...

The late “Lunker Bill” Murphy used to say there were only two seasons in Southern California: summer and winter, with a brief time-out for the spawn. When you think of things that way, you don’t get ahead of yourself, trying to track the general fish movement or behavior.

But while our seasons tend to ooze into one another, that doesn’t mean you don’t acknowledge a longer thermometer in September and October, where the mornings can be flat chilly, but the mid afternoons almost like July.

SWEATS TO SHORTS is the fall pattern...

As a rookie frogger, I’ve been interested in the turn from full-on summer to fall. Dean Rojas commented a couple of days ago that the fall transition is an unpredictable time. “In the summer, they bite [the frog] all day long. In the fall, there can be terrific bites and other times they just won’t go.”

He suggests it’s a “timing thing” and a guy might be better served by going to the frog water first thing and if that doesn’t produce, coming back in the afternoon. But he made it clear, it’s unpredictable. Still, unpredictable has potential.

STILL TIME for crushing strikes.

Because the water is cooling, even the insulated water beneath the mats and “cheese,” you don’t know precisely how the fish are reacting. The last two months have been pretty exciting for me on the Bronzeye, but a trip last week with Rick Grover, showed that in the 5 degree cooler water, the more subtle Phat Frog (the Ish Monroe design) could draw some strikes that the harder walker didn’t.  And that’s really not bad news. It means you can’t put all your frog legs in one basket.

Right now the fish know the days are getting shorter for them and their cold-blooded, amphibian food source in the weeds is not as active. This doesn’t mean absolutely that both with be more active (or willing) later in the day, but it sure leaves that door open.

And for one of those jarring, tongue-swallowing strikes, it’s worth checking.

TROUBLE could be lurking under your prop...

The trolling motors we have today are so good compared to 10 , 20 or more years ago. The brackets, cables and inter-related systems let you weather some big waves and maneuver through some heavy green stuff. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay attention to some things.

I’m talking about when plowing through the grass and it seems to take a more effort than usual. Sure, when you lift up the head and find 10 extra pounds of salad, that can be part of the problem. But sometimes the grass is hiding the real culprit.

NOT MUCH SHOWING, but line in the prop is never a good thing.

A recent foray into the thick stuff sure proved it to me. I was almost done after lunch when I thought I’d look closer at the prop. Sure enough, mono ”whiskers” were signalling I wasn’t the first guy fishing my area. When I pulled off the prop–Yikes! It wasn’t just some jungle vines, I had two different pound tests strangling the shaft.

I got it taken care of, but it reminded me of something else: the risks in making that on-the-water prop check. Sure, the obvious ones: if you drop the nut or the shear pin overboard–and you don’t have a spare.

YOU CAN BARELY SEE the 'quickie' remedy holding the prop nut...

But something else too. I know this because it happened to a friend. His brand new prop and nut assembly went spinning off underwater in the first hour of fishing. Like me, he didn’t think he needed to use some Loctite Threadlocker (24 bucks for 2 ounces), and I’m still not sure you do.

MAKE YOUR OWN "nut holder" (not warranted, sorry) from stuff in the boat.

But for those to whom Murphy’s Law never fails, there is a little trick you can use that will avoid the problem. Just cut a little strip from the top of a worm bag–3/4 inch is plenty–and put it inside the nut as you re-tighten the blade. You can barely see it in the photo, and yet, it will help hold the nut from unscrewing–until the next time you’re checking behind the prop.

You have to be careful in the jungle.

FLUORESCENT LINE gives you a good look...

In the early 1970′s I was first introduced to DuPont’s blue Stren line and its mantra suggesting, “A line you see is a line you control.” In time, Trilene (before the companies merged much later) offered an even mellower shade of blue, and a couple of other companies got in on it as well. But when ”Golden Stren” was introduced in the mid to late 1970′s, there was also a lot of debate. Would you get bit since the fish could obviously see it too?

To his credit, then Stren pro Dave Gliebe went to flippin’ with the gaudy string, and I recall at one time him explaining that he felt the fish “saw it and followed to the end where his bait was.” Regardless, his success bought me a little confidence, and one Saturday in early May, 1977, I caught back-to-back, 7-4 and 9-15 largemouths at Lake Sutherland–on 12-pound gold Stren.

FOLLOW THE YELLOW LINE...

Over time, of course, we got away from “high viz” lines, but slowly in the last decade or so in varied applications around the country, the bright stuff has returned. Only this time, and perfect for bass fishing needs, it has been accompanied by the fluorocarbon revolution.

OPTIONAL COLORS: Remember, braids fade; monos stay hot.

Now, there is no debate, whether you fish high viz mono or some version of braided or fused superline, you can still stay as invisible as possible with fluorocarbon leaders. And the hot, main line colors make a real difference in strike detection or in merely monitoring your bait’s fall rate, regardless of cloud cover or wind ripple.

But not all. I’ve experimented with translucent white or chartreuse braids and lime green, orange or golden monos and they all give you something clear to look at. But, to my surprise, red monos or braids, are just awful to pick up where they enter the water.

PURE FISHING has hi-viz...

Yes, I know ”reds” have been touted as low viz lines underwater, but it’s apparent to me they don’t show well above water either. Whether it’s a rippled surface, of clear or murky water, there must be a lot of ambient red light reflecting around, because even a gray or green line gives you a better view than red where it enters or bows to the water.

I gave red a lot of testing, because it seems so bright in the package, but in the sunlight or with a breeze, you’ll probably feel the strikes before you see them.

SAW THIS BITE on a Senko...

Personally, I like the fluorescent orange Sensation, but newest version of golden Stren shows up very well. Now I spool these as well as both translucent Invisi Braid from Spiderwire and the reliable chartreuse Berkley Fireline. The latter I use stop-and-go fishing with Road Runners (3-inch Sassy Shad, sliders, etc.), while the former are great with wacky jigs or Senkos or even dartheads or other jig/worm combos.

I know there are a lot of hawkeyed, young anglers that do just fine detecting visual strikes with the clear lines. But I also know, even the best anglers in the world occasionally get caught off-guard when a fish takes the bait on the fall. But seeing that  bright main line flinch, stop or move off diagonally (a virutal ”strike detector”) has helped me dramatically.

Yes, I can still cast, and I’ve still got 20/20, but high viz lines and fluoro together can make you better. At least, a little.

DON'T STOP SHORT--go to the end boundary waters to start...

APRIL FEATURE: Much like explorers of centuries past who searched for the very ends of the earth, bass fishermen would be wise to follow a similar path as they search for catchable fish—especially in “new” waters. The reason, as levels rise from spring run-off or increased tributary flows, black bass explore the newest boundaries of their habitat.

Since the beginning of the modern bass fishing era, anglers have understood this. One of the oldest axioms in the game states: Rising water, fish shallow. Bass fishermen have long observed that as the water level rises, inundating the flat or modestly sloping banks, their quarry could often be found investigating the new real estate.

Logic suggests that there are at least three reasons for this movement to the bank:

–One, the fish must instinctively realize there may be new sources of forage in this freshly flooded zone. Some may be winged insects, some amphibian and some terrestrial, but surely this predator recognizes opportunity.

–Secondly, since bass are not known to travel widely in a given range, their investigation of new, shallow areas allows them to become familiar with this new element within that range. They may react to murky conditions, running water coming into the area, or perhaps unusual or manmade cover that may provide sanctuary or ambush points. In any event, home guard bass know, even need to know their own territory.

–The third reason is instinctive. Spring means spawning season is at hand. Bass would be coming into shallow water to take advantage of warmer water and enough sunlight penetration for their eggs to mature. Locating areas to forage and eventually establishing nests is part of the spring ritual and it may be enhanced if the lake level is rising, or has risen above the norm.

On the one hand, however, rising water can exacerbate the problem of locating specific fishing areas. After all, not only is additional shoreline cover inundated, it is so new there are rarely any tried-and-true spots with which to rely.

Enter Gary Klein, former Oroville resident and 29-time Bassmasters Classic qualifier. His advice is always the same when it comes to tackling new water: “Go to the very ends of the lake and/or tributaries. Go until your boat can hardly float.”

YOU CAN START CASTING when you've reached the end of a particular environment...

His rationale is both logical and even selfish. On the one hand, we already believe that black bass will investigate all the boundary waters in every part of the lake. Traveling to the backs of the arms or creeks assures that every key portion of these extreme ends has been investigated by the fisherman as well.

And from a selfish standpoint, he says specifically, “You never want to get beat by someone who went around the next corner to find the winning fish.”

Ideally, then, the best way look at new water is to view the shoreline as well as what’s below (by sonar) while slowly traveling to the back ends. This will allow the angler to see if these boundary waters are stained or clear, if they offer diverse shoreline cover that could hold fish, or if such boundary areas have obvious signs of bait on sonar or by way of diving or shorebird activity or other clues.

Then once you have explored to the very end of the boundary waters, you can work your way back, stopping to cast at those most promising spots or stretches.

So, despite “irrrefutable evidence” to either sustain or repudiate (take your pick) certain claims, I find nothing incites distrust in humankind like the list of the Top 25 largest bass ever caught.

(“Caught,” of course, being the operative word, since it often turns up in conversations regarding lawful methods, witnesses, consistent accounts and validation). Still, the latest list from SDFish.com, is one where you must, at least, admire the size of the fish, even though you may regard the mythology as suspicious.

Time, you see, has a way of either eroding or enforcing the merits of past deeds. You know what I’m talking about. I would like to remember O.J. Simpson as a running back. But fat chance of that.

Or, on the other end of the spectrum, why would someone assail a rowing-and-chucking George Perry’s long-standing world record mark? Is it somehow less authentic because it wasn’t on YouTube? He did all that was in his power to validate the catch–and remember, the “rules” for setting a record as we understand them today, weren’t even in place in 1932.

Rather, I would be more cautious about assigning too much credit to several of those listings as currently recorded–you know, just to be safe. While I am sure many on the list will get the Saint Peter, rock-solid gate pass, I’m also thinking, for a few, that gate’s gonna slam shut.

WHAT COLOR IS THAT?

Sometimes I get strange notions about techniques and when I do, it’s probably because I have forgotten the foundation of all bass catching: bass are just big, dumb perch and will hit anything.

Sure, there are exceptions to that rule (sometimes lots of them) and that’s why I repeat the rule so often. Every time I get off track, can’t get a bite, or lose faith, I have to remind myself: Hey, you went to college, dang it!)

Still, it’s only natural to make certain assumptions in fishing.

Take the wacky jig. I’ve had this conversation with my long-time friend and former clubmate, Jim Emmett a couple of times. After I was lucky enough to get an early look at the Flick-Shake and wacky jigs from Jackall, a few years back, it was an easy transition from a dart head and worm to a jig and wacky-rigged worm.

But initial successes seem to come more in the greater spring season than the rest of the year. It wasn’t anything dramatic; it just seemed as the season progressed, my bait choices were sort of programmed in and I went in other directions.

That was, until last fall, when both Jim and I started wacky jigging again, with the Jackall bait and with some homemade versions (which also meant some homemade colors). It didn’t take two trips from the turnover to the New Year, to see, they were biting the darn thing–often way better than the traditional skirted jig.

Of course, now we’re in spring and wacky fishing, with or without a jighead or nail weight are standard fare, so it’s not much of a story. But I will say this. While bass will hit anything, sometimes there’s something unique enough in a bait or tool that cast for cast is just better than other tools for the same technique. A reaper would be one of those, and maybe a French Fry.

FLICK SHAKE is a unique shape.

I would also have to include asymetrical Flick-Shake in the same category. Neither Jim nor I are on the payroll, but rarely does the Flick-Shake lose in head-to-head challenges with other dangle-in-the-middle plastics–unless you find a color for the situation that Jackall doesn’t offer.

We kind of know this, since Jim actually melted down and remolded some Creme Color Plus worms (yeah, they still make some) and that color inexplicably gets bit real good at times. Creme, of course, was an early leader of wacky fishing, and beyond the Scoundrel (nightcrawler shape in a ton of colors) they actually offer a Whacky Worm–in 11 of colors.

But my real point is yes, bass will bite this wacky jig/worm now. But they will also bite it later (when the situation warrants). And I shouldn’t be so quick to make up my mind in either case.

In the arid Southwest, and especially as applies to Southern California and in some degree to Arizona, flooded shorelines are all about the brush, their relationship to heavier growth, or if it’s been a particularly wet winter, some manmade cover such as fences, boundary markers, or even some agricultural elements.

None are more important that brush lines, although some reservoirs might also offer the equivalent in tree lines or stump rows. Brush is really the more consequential of the natural cover because unlike trees or stumps, brush represents more temporary, less durable growth.

Regardless, the linear nature of such cover is one of the most fundamental elements of shallow water fishing, and yet the subtleties are often overlooked. A look at shoreline vegetation, as it is sometimes called, tells you a couple of things. If the growth is alive and still green—and it reaches the water line—there is a good chance that the lake level is rising or has recently risen. New flooded growth is one of the first places that spring bass investigate because such areas often provide lots of terrestrial or semi-aquatic forage.

If you discover brown (dead) brush from previous seasons, you get a feel for the “old” lake bottom or at least, the lay of the land at lower elevations. Brush lines usually develop where seeds wash to shore, before the water recedes and the new growth germinates.

Because this happens so uniformly around any earthen shoreline with the same wind and sunlight exposure, the subsequent weed growth is both identical and often linear. But where the visible cover does not mimic either the height or the perceived contours of the visible bank, these brush lines quickly point to anomalies such as depth changes or differences in bottom composition (nothing grows in rocks, for example). These clues should immediately indicate unseen casting targets.

But brush lines do even more. For one, they often form “pens” or pockets where bass nest, or may eventually nest. Dense brush lines serve as filters of new, muddy water in a rising lake, and these lines also provide a certain amount of natural security for the bass. Parallel lines on the same bank suggest growth at different depths, and may give you options as to where the fish are in their spring progression toward nesting. On one trip, the outside brush line will produce all the bites, but a week or even a day later, the inside line may be the key.

In reading a brush line, there are certain things you need to watch for. Bass often follow these lines of brush and you should too. One key is the general diameter of the brush and another is any space or break in a continuous line, dead or alive. The old rule of structure fishing applies even in two feet of water. If you encounter something different (a break) in the cover, that often is the spot where bass will station. A thicker, taller piece of brush is just such a break.

Same goes for any irregularity in the consistency of a brush line. If you find most bushes are 12 to 24 inches apart in a line, and then you find a gap of five feet or more before the line resumes, you have found a spot that needs your casting attention. Fish both ends of the opening, and toss one down the middle for good measure.

Another good target is a “stick” or maybe a clump of several sticks that are laying over or resting diagonally to the water line. Bigger, individual fish like this type of spot and you can often pick off your best of the day on such an irregularity.

Everyone has their favorite baits, of course. I suggest a tandem spinnerbait for the lines of brush, fished lengthwise where depth permits (as in fishing from a boat). However, if you must fish perpendicularly, aim for gaps in the stalks. For those more obvious breaks or irregularities such as thicker stalks, gaps or laydowns, you can toss a target bait such as a jig, tube, Ika, or Senko.

That’s the fun part. The key is to read the lines.

Bass are pretty basic. And California bass lakes, for the most part, are pretty basic too. There is a lot of rock and often enough, a lot of clear water. But this year, when you factor in a lack of artificial forage (the stocking rainbow trout stocking having been curtailed), trust me, you need to have that jig and worm ready to go.

And if ever there ever was a worthy combination, the dart head jig and worm is one of the best. Fit for bottom dragging, but at its best “on the shake,” the dart head accounts for huge numbers of black bass of every species, depending on where you make your casts. All it takes is a spinning outfit, traditionally matched for 6 or 8-pound line, and just about any likely hard bottom point, ridge or bank.

I say jig and worm, but of course, there are lots of options and pockets of regional favoritism. Still, I find it hard to get too far away from a four-inch “ring” worm like a Yum Ribworm (oops, they don’t make it anymore) on an Owner darthead. What you get with this combination is a bulky offering that works well down to about 20 feet with a one-eighth ounce head and 8-pound test.

NOT ALL HARD STUFF is rocky. It's about fishing to contact, though obviously not in brush or grass.

A fatter worm, however, does certain things you need to consider. In shallow water, it gets down easily enough, yet it falls much slower than a skinny straight tail (or any thinner or shorter offering) because of friction the deeper you go. To overcome this “delay” in getting down, you can switch to 6-pound test or 6-pound fluoro or 12-pound braid with a fluorocarbon leader.

(Yes, you can go to a heavier head, and I have gone with 1/4- or even 3/16-ounce, but that extra weight will exaggerate the sensations up the line, so you’ll probably have to go to a stiffer rod to compensate. If you prefer that approach, just recognize those changes in the relative sensations are ones you need to internalize. Read get used to.)

Obviously, the deeper you fish, the greater the reason for the braided line/fluoro leader approach. But the shallower you go with the same set up, the easier you have to work the rod tip, because there will be no stretch in the line to get the same motion of the bait. Still, if fluoro leaders do nothing else, they really provide better abrasion resistance against that rocky bottom.

In typical shoreline to 20-foot ranges with an eighth-ounce head, I use a 10 or 12-pound test fluoro leader tied to the end of 6- or 8-pound mono. That might be too heavy for some really clear waters, but the break0ffs I have saved in the last two to three years has upped my “fish landed” numbers dramatically.

While some worry about line stretch, I really don’t. Heck, I’m using an exposed hook. And a 7-foot rod (how I wish there was a good one at 7 1/2 feet) I can move a lot of line on the set to drive the point.

OPEN HOOK darts usually make quick penetration.

As for strike detection, it’ still a matter of recognizing a sensation that is different than the “feel” the dart head merely hitting the bottom. For me recognition of the bite is just an issue of balance, not a peck or tap pulsing up the line. But whichever way you perceive bottom contact, that is your baseline: that’s what you pay attention to while shaking the rod tip, pausing periodically for the bait to settle, or tumble down ledges or rubble piles.

From there, the one means that has never let me down is when I encounter a different sensation: something more than or less intense (in the bottom bounce), something lighter or heavier than the baseline feel, that is likely the bite or strike. A bass may catch the lure as it falls, but often it tracks the bait and when motivated, it will corner it on the bottom and do anything from nip at it, such as a spotted bass or smallie, to inhale it all, more common with a largemouth.

With the spot or smallmouth, you may have to tease a strike by letting the bait sit, or resuming the shaking motion, or by lifting the rod tip lightly to make the fish think the “worm” or other offering is attempting to pull away and escape. Because I use open hook darthead (without any weedguard) the only issue with hook-setting is to have a tight line. The tapered jig head can be moved easily in the fish’s mouth so all that is required is to turn the handle until the rod begins to load up and then swing. Still, I know skilled anglers who never swing, feeling their own rapid reeling and the fish trying to escape create enough force to drive the hook point past the barb.

Winter is here now, but very soon fish will be staging and making their way shoreward. And along that rocky path–when you really need a bite–the darthead is made for the job.