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Bass Fishing Quiz: Win a $100 Bass Pro Gift Card!
August 03, 2009
Bass Fishing Quiz: Win a $100 Bass Pro Gift Card!
Ya’ll did great giving detailed answers on the last quiz, so let’s keep it going. Same deal this week. I give you a scenario, and then you convince me that you know your stuff. If you pull it off, a cool $100 in the form of a Bass Pro Shops gift card will be headed your way.
Scenario: Bass fishing (black bass only) out of Big Cedar Marina on Missouri’s Table Rock Lake in the late summer, with water temps through the roof. Four hours, in the early morning, to fish in a tricked-out Nitro boat, full tank of gas, and a good map. No live bait or trolling allowed.
Questions: What type of structure and depth, and what gear and lure would you choose to start searching?
Good luck and remember to ask yourself: “What would Bill Heavey do in this situation?” That and a good GPS will get you out most jams you will find yourself in outdoors.
—John Davis
August 03, 2009 in
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Comments (14)
Haha! Sounds like almost exactly what might be presented for the finals, so I'm gonna keep my mouth shut on this one. Table Rock is a great lake, but sometimes all the planning in the world won't put the fish on your line. Cant tell how many times I have had the "perfect" plan on where the fish should be, and what to put in their face, but it just didn't pan out. Main thing with this sort of fishing is to be ready to adapt!
I would start my search (earliest part of the morning) in the shallow water tossing crank baits, avoiding areas without any vegetation and focusing on any visual structure. I'm sure my tricked out Nitro has some wicked electronics, so I would watch for some obvious drops or rises along with any substantial submerged structure and hit those with a blue or black worm/lizard or jig.
All the time watching for any bait that may break the surface and have a Zara spook ready (silver is my fav.) to toss in the mix.
If we are looking at super clear water, I may start heading deeper with a Carolina or Tx rig working the ledges that I scoped out with my electronics (especially if I spot some bait fish down there). I also like to flutter a spoon down there if we are talking fish hanging deep along some of the drops along side some schools of bait.
As the sun starts to get up there, if I am still not having much luck, I would start looking to the shadows created by the docks/trees/boats throwing my crank baits again and then following up with the worm/lizard once I locate a fish or two.
On the day's prior to the event I'm gonna keep an eye on the fishing reports and make sure my box is stocked with the lures and colors mentioned in the reports. On the night before i'm going to make sure i catch the weather report paying close attention to which way the wind is blowing. I'm going to do a good map recon marking all points and structure that i'm going to fish, keeping the weather report in mind. I would target the deep water points with a crank bait fished on a 7 ft M/H casting rod spooled with 15 lb flourocarbon line. This will allow you to cover as much water as possible. As the day heats up I would move out to deeper water on the same points and change to a shacky head or a drop shot rig. I'm going to fish this with a 7 ft spinning rod spooled with 6 lb flourocarbon line.
If this fails to produce i'm gonna go find Paul and copy what he's doin.LOL
What type of structure and depth, and what gear and lure would you choose to start searching?
First I would go as deep as 3-5 ft of water in the early morning and not throwing a crank bait but throwing a rapala r-5 or r-7. In minnow color. In any early morning fish are feeding on top on minnows and water flies. My pole of choice would have to be a 7 ft spinning rod with 8 lb test fireline. Its has awesome knot strength and great dependability with the diameter of 2 lb and strength of 15 lb. As the morning grew warmer I would move into deeper water 10-30 ft deep throwing a black rubber worm with red glitter and gradually ease into a nice soft colored crank bait moving it slow to moderate through the water on the end of a 7 ft baitcasting rob with 15 lb line.
Negitive Ghost Rider, the pattern is full....LOL
Well first, knowing that Table Rock has VERY little shoreline vegitation or any shoreline cover, I would start out in about 16' of water knowing that with the water temps in the Upper 80' low 90's currently, the thermocline line is setting up hard right now around the 35 to 40' deepth, the fish are not going to move too shallow during the early morning hours. I would start out on the bluff end that has timber right at the mouth of Big Cedar cove. Knowing that there is not much structure in Table rock and that it what structure that it has is usually deep and Table Rock is a extremely clear lake, I would look at the deep structure preferable around the 40' mark or deeper. I would run to the Indian Creek area and look at a ceritan type of tree called a cedar tree. I would find mismatched trees and try to find trees that have the tops setting in the thermocline line. I would next look at channel swings with slow tappering pea gravel points. To start out with in the mornings, I would throw a #5 strike king pro modle crankbait in either the sexy shad color or the chartruse shad. I would also start out throwing a MO craw spider jig or a peanutbutter and jelly football head jig. I would put Gary Yamomoto craw trailers on both topped off with rattles. I would use 7/16th on the spider jig and 1/2oz on the football head. When I move out to the deep structure and trees, I would use my front graph to locate fish in or around the trees. I would use a custom white 1/2oz spoon with a sneaky rig, run the line through the eye of the spoon and tye it directly to a feathered trailer treble hook with feathers on it. If the spoon didnt work, I would us a drop shot with prefferably a 1/2 oz bottom weight with a #1 gama drop shot hook and nose hook a fluke or a aaron martins robo worm in the laminate color. For the jigs and crankbaits, I would use 12 lbs florocarbon and 12 lbs mono and for the Spoon 17 lbs florocarbon. The dropshots would be used on a 7' med action spinning rod with 6 or 8 lbs floro.
P.S That is what just won a tournament on Table Rock with almost 20 lbs coming to this same set up.
Early morning is good, I know Table Rock fish like to rest in the afternoon this time of year. You must adapt to deep water tactics, or start doing rain dances and hope to spend your time using that tank of fuel to follow the main channels up or down to dirty water. Start your recon by logging onto MO conservation.com and down load brush pile locations by GPS cooridnates. Thanks for the idea Mr. Heavy! Hopefully there planted deep enough. Know the thermocline, and how to fish structure adjacent to it. A topo works well for narrowing down suitable areas. I like to have three game plans, so I will have picked out three suitable areas for each plan. Deep timber, main lake points, and channel swings with slow tappering pea gravel points. Become familiar with todays elecronics beacause they are a must for this task. For my reels I want to fish with 15 lbd braid and 12-18" of flourocarbon leader due to the sensativity and strength against abrasion. I like droppshotting the arrons magic, and texas rigging Table Rocks best green pumpkin. Swim jigs for dock patterns, carolina rigs for gravel points ect. And of course what you read on the internet, spooning. So my perfect plan is catch 5 in an hour then move on to catch some bigger ones. Ozark Mountain Mamma is right on. By the way I have a border permit can I use it?
Tools of the Trade:
I have 5-Pflueger XT Spinning Reels on St.Croix Legend Rods,and 3-baitcasters,2-Abu-Garcia Low-Profile Reels,on the Bass Pro Qualifier,Trigger Rods,and a Johhny Morris Signature Reel,that I use for my flippin' stick.
First of all,I would be flexible with just 4-hours imposed as a time limit. I would check at the Big Cedar Marina,on my way in,and ask if there had been any bass tournaments the day before,as some of the bass will still be lethargic and lingering near the dock,slips and underwater structure.
If so,I could save time and gas,by fishing this area first,while devoting only a small amount of the 4-hours. I believe I could catch a couple of keepers right off,and then head to the shallow water with the grass and flats.
For early morning, I would be working shallow grass on the main lake, and in the beginning of creeks up to, and including secondary points.
When I pass any privately owned docks,that were bordering deeper water,I would flip these docks with my flippin' stick,using a small finesse jig,1/8 or 3/16 tipped with a Berkley Sinking Minnow,or a Yamamoto Flappin' Hog, and let it sit. Patience here will produce several sizeable keepers.
While flippin',I remind myself that one can never fish too slow.
I would continue on lookin' for weedlines that border deep water,and locate the edges.
For bass feeding over the top of submerged weed lines, I would toss a Booyah Spinnerbait or Buzzbait,a Bayou Boogie,or a Cotton Cordell Super Spot,to locate feeding bass in a hurry. After picking up a few keepers,I would switch poles and toss a Snag-Proof, Pro Frog, to the inside of the weed line,in early morning,and outside edges later in the morning.
The more erratic the edge,the better!
For bigger bass, I'd toss a 3/8 oz weight jig tipped with an Uncle Josh,Phantom Crawl,or a 10-inch Bass Assassin Worm,Texas rigged, to openings in the weeds, lily pads on flats or near stumps on points, again looking for the edge of the deep weed line. I too,would make several long casts parallel to the shore where the weedline begins to drop-off.
At this point,I've probably spent close to an hour and a half, of my alloted fishing time, and I would reassess and consider my success. If I have already boated a couple of larger bass,I would continue on with the patterns,I just described.I would have culled and gleaned the bigger bass,and I'm sure confidence is now one of my biggest tools of the trade ... Hawg Huntin'.
I too would take into consideration any temperature/weather changes,or if the wind has shifted,for example. If so,I would fish the wind blown points,flats and grass banks.
If I haven't caught any sizeable bass within the first hour and a half,I would head to the points nearest the dam,or the deepest water on the lake,where I first learned to fish. Here, patience is more than just a virtue,it has become my money maker,especially on friendly bets with my buds,to pass the time.
I would look for bass feeding on points and flats near or in the main lake. I would fish mostly in 8-feet to 15-feet of water, around the deep edge of the milfoil and hydrilla.If the bite is slow,I'll start to fan cast moving into deeper water.
If the bass are experiencing "lock-jaw",I begin to look for unique underwater structure,for example a lone tree, or submerged structure,in deep water. Here I incorporate what I call bangin' for bass.I tie on a Gay Blade or a Little George Tail-Spinner,on my Trilene,Big Game,Green,25-pound test. I twitch the lure while "bouncing" it off of the branches or other submerged structure.It works more readily, if I bang the lure continuously off of the structure, as if it is an injured or trapped baitfish. I check my line frequently for abrasions.
My main pattern would be deep underwater structure points, secondary points,humps, and roadbeds in 16 feet to 30 feet of water. If the fish aren't suspended,I would try the bottom. I also would search with my depth finder for any isolated piece of underwater structure,including the thermocline.
If fish are located on the bottom, near any underwater structure,I would use,Texas-rigs,Carolina-rigs,finesse lures,drop-shots and/or jigs,with Lake Fork Hyper Freaks,and Finesse Hyper Worms.With the water temperature in the upper 80's,I would "swim" my rigs and jigs back to the boat,waiting for the hook-up,and keepin' my line wet.
If the bass are suspended,I would use spoons,especially ones with the weed guard. I like the Tackle Flats Intruder,and I love to drop 'em into the underwater structure and let it rest for awhile, and then work 'em.I also like to use swim baits,such as the Berkley Hollow Belly or deep diving crank baits,such as my Yo-Zuri,Crystal Minnows,with light line in the 8-to 10-pound test range,so I can get the deep diver down to the suspended bass.
By now,my boat is fish heavy,and I'm keeping a close look at the time. I would probably scoot on back near the Big Cedar Marina,and catch a couple of more keepers where I caught a few earlier in the morning.
Four hours come and go quick ... when you're havin' fun!
This is just me, but I'm not sure I would tell everybody how I'm going to fish on Table Rock Lake and what to look for if I was competing in the competition. You might have a good answer but it wasn't good to answer. Hmmm... 25 g's or a $100 dollar Bass Pro Card, thats a tough call.
I heard this is all on TV, so wouldn't it be nice if all the anglers catch their limit!
Tough choice, but OzarkMountainMna had the best answer, first. So, OMM, shoot me a e-mail to hookjawed@sbcglobal.net and I'll see that the gift card heads your way. Good job everyone.
OzarkMountainMna-
Congratulations on winning!
I would start with a Lunker lure, crank baits next, jig and last a worm. Areas to work grass flats, points, docks and creeks. Colors use your preference and change if conditions dictate the change. Do not close the door on change if your first patterns are not productive, read the signs and change to meet them.
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This is just me, but I'm not sure I would tell everybody how I'm going to fish on Table Rock Lake and what to look for if I was competing in the competition. You might have a good answer but it wasn't good to answer. Hmmm... 25 g's or a $100 dollar Bass Pro Card, thats a tough call.
Haha! Sounds like almost exactly what might be presented for the finals, so I'm gonna keep my mouth shut on this one. Table Rock is a great lake, but sometimes all the planning in the world won't put the fish on your line. Cant tell how many times I have had the "perfect" plan on where the fish should be, and what to put in their face, but it just didn't pan out. Main thing with this sort of fishing is to be ready to adapt!
I would start my search (earliest part of the morning) in the shallow water tossing crank baits, avoiding areas without any vegetation and focusing on any visual structure. I'm sure my tricked out Nitro has some wicked electronics, so I would watch for some obvious drops or rises along with any substantial submerged structure and hit those with a blue or black worm/lizard or jig.
All the time watching for any bait that may break the surface and have a Zara spook ready (silver is my fav.) to toss in the mix.
If we are looking at super clear water, I may start heading deeper with a Carolina or Tx rig working the ledges that I scoped out with my electronics (especially if I spot some bait fish down there). I also like to flutter a spoon down there if we are talking fish hanging deep along some of the drops along side some schools of bait.
As the sun starts to get up there, if I am still not having much luck, I would start looking to the shadows created by the docks/trees/boats throwing my crank baits again and then following up with the worm/lizard once I locate a fish or two.
On the day's prior to the event I'm gonna keep an eye on the fishing reports and make sure my box is stocked with the lures and colors mentioned in the reports. On the night before i'm going to make sure i catch the weather report paying close attention to which way the wind is blowing. I'm going to do a good map recon marking all points and structure that i'm going to fish, keeping the weather report in mind. I would target the deep water points with a crank bait fished on a 7 ft M/H casting rod spooled with 15 lb flourocarbon line. This will allow you to cover as much water as possible. As the day heats up I would move out to deeper water on the same points and change to a shacky head or a drop shot rig. I'm going to fish this with a 7 ft spinning rod spooled with 6 lb flourocarbon line.
If this fails to produce i'm gonna go find Paul and copy what he's doin.LOL
What type of structure and depth, and what gear and lure would you choose to start searching?
First I would go as deep as 3-5 ft of water in the early morning and not throwing a crank bait but throwing a rapala r-5 or r-7. In minnow color. In any early morning fish are feeding on top on minnows and water flies. My pole of choice would have to be a 7 ft spinning rod with 8 lb test fireline. Its has awesome knot strength and great dependability with the diameter of 2 lb and strength of 15 lb. As the morning grew warmer I would move into deeper water 10-30 ft deep throwing a black rubber worm with red glitter and gradually ease into a nice soft colored crank bait moving it slow to moderate through the water on the end of a 7 ft baitcasting rob with 15 lb line.
Negitive Ghost Rider, the pattern is full....LOL
Well first, knowing that Table Rock has VERY little shoreline vegitation or any shoreline cover, I would start out in about 16' of water knowing that with the water temps in the Upper 80' low 90's currently, the thermocline line is setting up hard right now around the 35 to 40' deepth, the fish are not going to move too shallow during the early morning hours. I would start out on the bluff end that has timber right at the mouth of Big Cedar cove. Knowing that there is not much structure in Table rock and that it what structure that it has is usually deep and Table Rock is a extremely clear lake, I would look at the deep structure preferable around the 40' mark or deeper. I would run to the Indian Creek area and look at a ceritan type of tree called a cedar tree. I would find mismatched trees and try to find trees that have the tops setting in the thermocline line. I would next look at channel swings with slow tappering pea gravel points. To start out with in the mornings, I would throw a #5 strike king pro modle crankbait in either the sexy shad color or the chartruse shad. I would also start out throwing a MO craw spider jig or a peanutbutter and jelly football head jig. I would put Gary Yamomoto craw trailers on both topped off with rattles. I would use 7/16th on the spider jig and 1/2oz on the football head. When I move out to the deep structure and trees, I would use my front graph to locate fish in or around the trees. I would use a custom white 1/2oz spoon with a sneaky rig, run the line through the eye of the spoon and tye it directly to a feathered trailer treble hook with feathers on it. If the spoon didnt work, I would us a drop shot with prefferably a 1/2 oz bottom weight with a #1 gama drop shot hook and nose hook a fluke or a aaron martins robo worm in the laminate color. For the jigs and crankbaits, I would use 12 lbs florocarbon and 12 lbs mono and for the Spoon 17 lbs florocarbon. The dropshots would be used on a 7' med action spinning rod with 6 or 8 lbs floro.
P.S That is what just won a tournament on Table Rock with almost 20 lbs coming to this same set up.
Early morning is good, I know Table Rock fish like to rest in the afternoon this time of year. You must adapt to deep water tactics, or start doing rain dances and hope to spend your time using that tank of fuel to follow the main channels up or down to dirty water. Start your recon by logging onto MO conservation.com and down load brush pile locations by GPS cooridnates. Thanks for the idea Mr. Heavy! Hopefully there planted deep enough. Know the thermocline, and how to fish structure adjacent to it. A topo works well for narrowing down suitable areas. I like to have three game plans, so I will have picked out three suitable areas for each plan. Deep timber, main lake points, and channel swings with slow tappering pea gravel points. Become familiar with todays elecronics beacause they are a must for this task. For my reels I want to fish with 15 lbd braid and 12-18" of flourocarbon leader due to the sensativity and strength against abrasion. I like droppshotting the arrons magic, and texas rigging Table Rocks best green pumpkin. Swim jigs for dock patterns, carolina rigs for gravel points ect. And of course what you read on the internet, spooning. So my perfect plan is catch 5 in an hour then move on to catch some bigger ones. Ozark Mountain Mamma is right on. By the way I have a border permit can I use it?
Tools of the Trade:
I have 5-Pflueger XT Spinning Reels on St.Croix Legend Rods,and 3-baitcasters,2-Abu-Garcia Low-Profile Reels,on the Bass Pro Qualifier,Trigger Rods,and a Johhny Morris Signature Reel,that I use for my flippin' stick.
First of all,I would be flexible with just 4-hours imposed as a time limit. I would check at the Big Cedar Marina,on my way in,and ask if there had been any bass tournaments the day before,as some of the bass will still be lethargic and lingering near the dock,slips and underwater structure.
If so,I could save time and gas,by fishing this area first,while devoting only a small amount of the 4-hours. I believe I could catch a couple of keepers right off,and then head to the shallow water with the grass and flats.
For early morning, I would be working shallow grass on the main lake, and in the beginning of creeks up to, and including secondary points.
When I pass any privately owned docks,that were bordering deeper water,I would flip these docks with my flippin' stick,using a small finesse jig,1/8 or 3/16 tipped with a Berkley Sinking Minnow,or a Yamamoto Flappin' Hog, and let it sit. Patience here will produce several sizeable keepers.
While flippin',I remind myself that one can never fish too slow.
I would continue on lookin' for weedlines that border deep water,and locate the edges.
For bass feeding over the top of submerged weed lines, I would toss a Booyah Spinnerbait or Buzzbait,a Bayou Boogie,or a Cotton Cordell Super Spot,to locate feeding bass in a hurry. After picking up a few keepers,I would switch poles and toss a Snag-Proof, Pro Frog, to the inside of the weed line,in early morning,and outside edges later in the morning.
The more erratic the edge,the better!
For bigger bass, I'd toss a 3/8 oz weight jig tipped with an Uncle Josh,Phantom Crawl,or a 10-inch Bass Assassin Worm,Texas rigged, to openings in the weeds, lily pads on flats or near stumps on points, again looking for the edge of the deep weed line. I too,would make several long casts parallel to the shore where the weedline begins to drop-off.
At this point,I've probably spent close to an hour and a half, of my alloted fishing time, and I would reassess and consider my success. If I have already boated a couple of larger bass,I would continue on with the patterns,I just described.I would have culled and gleaned the bigger bass,and I'm sure confidence is now one of my biggest tools of the trade ... Hawg Huntin'.
I too would take into consideration any temperature/weather changes,or if the wind has shifted,for example. If so,I would fish the wind blown points,flats and grass banks.
If I haven't caught any sizeable bass within the first hour and a half,I would head to the points nearest the dam,or the deepest water on the lake,where I first learned to fish. Here, patience is more than just a virtue,it has become my money maker,especially on friendly bets with my buds,to pass the time.
I would look for bass feeding on points and flats near or in the main lake. I would fish mostly in 8-feet to 15-feet of water, around the deep edge of the milfoil and hydrilla.If the bite is slow,I'll start to fan cast moving into deeper water.
If the bass are experiencing "lock-jaw",I begin to look for unique underwater structure,for example a lone tree, or submerged structure,in deep water. Here I incorporate what I call bangin' for bass.I tie on a Gay Blade or a Little George Tail-Spinner,on my Trilene,Big Game,Green,25-pound test. I twitch the lure while "bouncing" it off of the branches or other submerged structure.It works more readily, if I bang the lure continuously off of the structure, as if it is an injured or trapped baitfish. I check my line frequently for abrasions.
My main pattern would be deep underwater structure points, secondary points,humps, and roadbeds in 16 feet to 30 feet of water. If the fish aren't suspended,I would try the bottom. I also would search with my depth finder for any isolated piece of underwater structure,including the thermocline.
If fish are located on the bottom, near any underwater structure,I would use,Texas-rigs,Carolina-rigs,finesse lures,drop-shots and/or jigs,with Lake Fork Hyper Freaks,and Finesse Hyper Worms.With the water temperature in the upper 80's,I would "swim" my rigs and jigs back to the boat,waiting for the hook-up,and keepin' my line wet.
If the bass are suspended,I would use spoons,especially ones with the weed guard. I like the Tackle Flats Intruder,and I love to drop 'em into the underwater structure and let it rest for awhile, and then work 'em.I also like to use swim baits,such as the Berkley Hollow Belly or deep diving crank baits,such as my Yo-Zuri,Crystal Minnows,with light line in the 8-to 10-pound test range,so I can get the deep diver down to the suspended bass.
By now,my boat is fish heavy,and I'm keeping a close look at the time. I would probably scoot on back near the Big Cedar Marina,and catch a couple of more keepers where I caught a few earlier in the morning.
Four hours come and go quick ... when you're havin' fun!
I heard this is all on TV, so wouldn't it be nice if all the anglers catch their limit!
Tough choice, but OzarkMountainMna had the best answer, first. So, OMM, shoot me a e-mail to hookjawed@sbcglobal.net and I'll see that the gift card heads your way. Good job everyone.
OzarkMountainMna-
Congratulations on winning!
I would start with a Lunker lure, crank baits next, jig and last a worm. Areas to work grass flats, points, docks and creeks. Colors use your preference and change if conditions dictate the change. Do not close the door on change if your first patterns are not productive, read the signs and change to meet them.
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