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Old 12-23-06, 09:47 PM   #1
zooker
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Default how to learn your water 101

i have been asked -about 30+ times- how i figure out what works when and where.

when i first started down here i learned by fishing just one lake every weekend -high rock- i fished just one creek -flat swamp- for a whole year about 100 days.
you learn struture by seeing it as the water level rises and lowers through out the year. knowing that most of high rock is a rock/rubble bottom helps. the lure color choices for it are the standards for muddy water. i had alot of help in my lure choices from a couple guys i work with that consistaintly fish it.. this i would call local knowlage.
over the past years i have fished more of this lake one creek at a time.. this next year i plan on hitting "crow creek" consistaintly..

i understand that you northern guys fish mud puddle sized lakes and i say do what you can with what you have. try all kinds of colors and types of baits..in the last couple years on high rock the bass have gone from hitting finesse worms to large 8"-10" worms. from shad raps to bandits or normans. why this change i do not know if fact i don't think any one person can explain it..

thinking out of the box is something you learn by your self. with a mess of time on the water..

this is a green pumkin jig in that prodouced in highrock this last year.



an 8" junebug worm on a carolina rig -at night-



in clear water-firetiger, blue back chartuses,tenn shad.










junebug in clear water?? you bet..





although the blade has not been just "the bait" the last 2 years. i have been catching them on it..


yeah i know water aint all that muddy in them pictures is it? so lets get us some muddy water.



now catch a fish in the stuff



note the lure used above..
same bait in clear water



now class is there any questions??


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Old 12-23-06, 10:01 PM   #2
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Zook you nailed what a lot of people refuse to accept, without the hours on the lake you just arent gonna get all that great.

Going on what you said, my best spots are all places that I have hit over and over for years now, and I know them. I know how to pattern them and find fish on several different patterns. Sadly all those spots are healthy drives away, but the day is coming where I will just break down and go live in a van down by the river.
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Old 12-23-06, 10:15 PM   #3
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Zook good right up!

But why is your fish always real pale compared to these?



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Old 12-23-06, 10:25 PM   #4
zooker
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northern strain bass in deeper water..most of my fish picture above were caught in 3-5 feet of water but yards from 8-30 feet of water.

florida strain are darker and found in lakes that are mostly shallow..

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Old 12-23-06, 10:26 PM   #5
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Okay that explains some of it but why the different colors, Whats the cause?
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Old 12-23-06, 10:49 PM   #6
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Your water is black and clear. Bass are like chaemeleons almost in that they do change color to fit the surrounding terrain/water, to a degree. For whatever reason, they blend in to muddy or deep water by turning pale and whitish, whereas both shallow water and clear or coffee colored water tends to make them darker and more distinct marking wise.

If you take one of your bass out of that water and put it in a small muddy pond it will quickly resemble the pale fish you have seen pics of.
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Old 12-23-06, 11:01 PM   #7
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Huh, sounds pretty cool to me, all about survival of the fittest.
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Old 12-25-06, 10:22 AM   #8
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chris,
up here near the great lakes, you can take a bass deep and it comes up light silver/green on the sides, put it in the live well and a hour later its more green.
On the other hand, in mid summer you can get a bass in shallow water under the mat of vegetation, and its back will almost be pure black with some green.
Same with smallies, greenish in spring, they turn bronze back in the fall..pretty neato I'd say!
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Old 12-25-06, 08:09 PM   #9
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Zooker, Bass become conditioned to lures in time, thus the reason other lures tend to work better.Its just a matter of time before they come full circle again.Always let the fish tell you what they want,if you want to be stubborn, you can fish your favorite lure all you want, but you might want to know when to switch lures if you want to catch fish. P N J
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Old 12-26-06, 08:54 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pig n jig View Post
Zooker, Bass become conditioned to lures in time, thus the reason other lures tend to work better.Its just a matter of time before they come full circle again.Always let the fish tell you what they want,if you want to be stubborn, you can fish your favorite lure all you want, but you might want to know when to switch lures if you want to catch fish. P N J
LOL Watch saying let the bass tell ya what they want you know what happened the last time I said that.....LMAO was ridiculed for weeks bout talking bass
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Old 12-26-06, 10:54 AM   #11
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rotfl at laser! i agree with you pnj,let the bass tell what they want.
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Old 12-26-06, 01:02 PM   #12
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No wonder you USA fisherman have bigger records than us South Africans, you have talking fish that tell you what they want. lol.
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Old 12-26-06, 01:36 PM   #13
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yeah just got to watch for them to pop a sign up that says " 8" june bug worm" ..lol

zarod
welcome to the site..we have had a few SA guys in here lou being one of them -aint seen him in a while..

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Old 12-26-06, 01:59 PM   #14
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Lmao.......
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Old 12-26-06, 11:55 PM   #15
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Zooker I totally agree with you on your learning methods....I find that even on small ponds and lakes I learn more about where the fish move and where they hang out...sometimes they go against where we think they should be....I am finding that out this winter as it has been warmer...the fish are around some of the areas I get them when it is colder than hell out but they are also in areas biting that I am finding that I wouldn't normally check out just because I can cover more water in the outings...
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Old 12-27-06, 07:41 PM   #16
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I got a question, is it recess yet, I wanna go fishing. rotfl

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Old 12-30-06, 09:34 PM   #17
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Its what ever u want it to be lizzy. Came up to the mountains this weekend towing them basses WORST nightmare and all its gonna do is RAIN!! Oh well murphy's law lives wit me.
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Old 01-04-07, 12:21 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zooker View Post
northern strain bass in deeper water..most of my fish picture above were caught in 3-5 feet of water but yards from 8-30 feet of water.

florida strain are darker and found in lakes that are mostly shallow..

zooker
I was always under the impression that the coloration was determined by metabolisim. Is this also a factor in darkness?
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Old 01-10-07, 03:41 AM   #19
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http://www.wmi.org/bassfish/articles/T10.htm

does not go into great detail about all things involved, but gives a pretty good insight into why fish are colored the way they are at any given time.
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Old 01-10-07, 03:44 AM   #20
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I forgot to say that people should not be afraid to take a pen and paper with them when fishing to note things going on that day, draw rudementary maps, keep track of what baits/colors/retrieves did and didn't work that day. Over time you'll start to see certain patterns develop that can be happening over a whole body of water or different patterns in different area's of the same lake.

We've been blessed with the gift of knowledge but we're not all geniuses and can remember everything..so don't be afraid to WRITE IT DOWN!
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Old 01-10-07, 12:16 PM   #21
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Mr. Dammit, thanks for the "set-striaght". Funnything is most of the fish I catch are really dark, but in mostly clear water. I suppose its dark bottomed or something. All the species down here seem to be dark. Good sized bream are almost black and some of the bass are almost black.
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Old 01-11-07, 05:55 AM   #22
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there are three BASIC things that will effect the color. The amount of sunlight they are getting directly, the color of the bottom(a bass will shade itself to blend in to the bottom color so as to avoid overhead predators) and the color of its surroundings from a lateral viewpoint. Its like mixing R/G/B to develop say..purple...

they have to find the right combo to blend in with all three. Its not a completely involuntary process that they go through, although it IS probably 80-85% involuntary.

A clear water bass who's receiving a lot of light will most always be very dark and "black" looking because of the sun.

We also have to remember that we're not a "natural" predator to fish, so we have to think in terms of the vision say a bird or other mammal may have. To us, what may appear absolutely sticking out like a sore thumb, may make the fish completely invisible to say..an eagle or hawk who just swooped over the water looking for a meal.
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Old 01-12-07, 08:42 AM   #23
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Hey ole buddy. Man sometimes I think u are kin to einstein . Got to thinking bout what u posted and backed up and started fishing hard certain sections of the various waters I fish and IT'S PAYING OFF. Instead of bvurning up that liquid gold and running all over the place I started to really fish hard like I used to when I owned a 14ft jon with a 7 1/2 hp weezer and its really showing. Went last weekend and never left the south corner of a lake and caught 14. The besat 5 woulda weighed in around 22lbs. I really put it on my buddy. Thanks for bringing back a EXCELLANT idea that I used to do but fergot it when I got into a bigger boat.
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Old 01-14-07, 10:31 PM   #24
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I have caught really pale bass in 5-7 feet of muddy water (see picture)
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Old 01-15-07, 04:44 AM   #25
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the key to why that fish was pale was "muddy water"

all the suspended particles will reflect the light and make the actual penetration to the fish very low.

Another thing not to forget is that these are general rules...there will always be exceptions with animals and nature.
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