advise please 2024
fisherman_bob reply :
??? We have a shallow (6 ft near banks to 25 feet in the middle) 35 acre man made lake stocked with trophy sized (up to 20lbs or more) Large mouth bass (divers and carp netters estimated over 1000 bass in excess of 8 lbs), blue cats up to 40 lbs, rainbow trout (neighbor took a 5 lber), perch, and crappie. With carp and Koi for forage. We are located in south Riverside County California and the water is about 65 degrees.
I took an 11 lbs bass two weeks ago on a rattler and hooked a lunker cat that broke my rod, the problem is that we had fifty inches rain this winter, which means we got a lot of muddy silt from construction sites. The two hits I got was pure luck based on the water conditions and the fact that it's spawning time.
My question is what are the best lures for the conditions that we have here, oh yeah, we have no vegatation in the lake there are no trees or over hanging brush. We are not allowed to use live bait (other that worms), or corn (carp loves the corn but cann't digest it so they die if they ingest it.
BassMaster reply :
20 lb bass? the larges bass ever caught was i believe 24 poungs... but to answer your question, find humps in the lake and fish them c-rig, crankbaits, drop shot, texas rig... find creeks that run into the channel and fish them the same way. find shallow cut-outs and fish them with jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, any top water. usually if there's no vegetation or anything for the bass to take cover in, they'll usually go down deep where the sun can't hit them... where's it's cooler. so find the deep areas and fish them with everything you got. the best thing you can do is find out what you're most comfortable using that will produce fish for you. build up your confidence with your different lures. it's always good to have confidence with everything in your tackle box.
Gatorbassman reply :
22lbs 4oz out of Montgomery Lake Georgia in 1932. If you have trout, that will probably be the main forage for the big fish. So try to fish with anything that mimicks a rainbow trout. Like Bassmaster said, fish humps or any change in the contor of the bottom. ie rock piles, drop offs, ditches and so on.
BassMaster reply :
there was an unofficial 24 pounds i think a couple years ago... can't remember where, but he didn't have any whitnesses... all he had was a picture of it
Gatorbassman reply :
Yea I heard about that one. I think they weighted it on a scale that only measured in 8oz incraments. The witness didn't know anything about fishing so it wasn't counted. That is too bad. That person would have made alot of $$$$. This might have been a diffrent one though.
BassMaster reply :
sounds about right... been a while since i've heard the real thing, and you know how you get stuff mixed up after hearing something that long ago
MyKeyBe reply :
Paul Duclos caught that fish. Didn't want to risk killing it by transporting to a certified scale so he had his wife bring out the bathroom scale. Weighed himself and then himself with the fish.
I don't know if it was a record or not, but you have to respect the fact that he released a monster fish like that. You can check out some info and pics here:
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/duclos.html
fisherman_bob reply :
Ever see how golf course developers build lakes? Once in a while they build them with creeks or streams, but this one has no creek or stream, it's water is replaced by a non-potable well, it's current is generated by aireators in the middle of the lake which is shaped something like a lagre "Y", it is said that the current is sufficient to circulate the lake once every 10 days. Without the fresh water supplied by the well, we would have nothing more that a huge watering hole. We are not allowed to use boats to get where the aireators are (which is where the really big fish are) so all fishing is done from the bank. There are no humps or rock beds just clay bottom.
Prehaps it seems hard to believe that we have the trophy fish that we have; but the catch and release program ( bass only ) really helps. We hire a netting company every year or two to take out excess carp (which are sold to an asian company that cans them), at the same time we bring in divers to make repairs to the filtration system and do counts on the fish populations.
Muddpuppy reply :
Do they restock bait fish in it occassionaly? The reason I ask is I have been told on one of the lakes around here they came in and dredged out the bottom when it was built. The original lake looks like a huge bowl on sonar. After several years the fish began to diminish in numbers. The reason being, I was told was because of decreasing numbers of prey fish. Finally they had to build fish attractors and reefs. I think when the level was raised that it took in some added structure. Not to mention it is covered now with boat houses. I don't know this for sure, it was before my time. There are some nice fish in it now. Just Curious.
John Cullum reply :
Over 1000+ 8 pound bass in only 35 acres?? It seems your odds of catching a monster would be very good after the water clears up.
Big baits. Like 10 inch worms and musky sized spinnerbiats and crankbaits in rainbow trout color.
bassin4life reply :
20lb bass hmmm... 
Vorlin reply :
Back to the question at hand...
I'm trying to learn as fast as I can because I've had a 25 year period of no fishing in my life... so I have a lot of learning to catch up on. Because of teh radical changes in water condition around my favorite river, I've had to research a lot about water conditions.
Remember, bass are primarily visual *when they can see*. When they can't they use their ability to sense vibration in the water and their keen sense of smell as well.
If the water's that muddy, then think about what you'd need to do in order to be able to catch a blind bass. Rattle trap or Super spot, scents and other such things immediately come to mind.
So, after you figure out what they're eating at the moment (shad, crayfish, etc.) you also need to ask yourself how is it that they're able to locate these things?
And there is where you'll find your answer.
No one can really hand you an answer to this because we don't know those waters the way you do... all we can do is get you thinking about things in a different way and, hopefully, that combined with your knowledge of the area will get you looking in the right direction.
Good luck!
Vorlin
Raul reply :
When they can't they use their ability to sense vibration in the water
WHAT ? !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vorlin reply :
Ok, I missed a comma. I blame it on the dog trying to be in my lap as I typed!
In muddier water, they rely more on their senses of smell and vibration / hearing. After all, a wobbly crank down't make "noise" the way a rattle trap does but bass can feel the pressure waves from it's vibration just the same.
Vorlin
FIN-S-R reply :
Big loud and dark
Weakly caught a 25lber early this year late last year in cali...not certified by I'ntl game fish blah blah. Check out the pics on bassmasters web
Keithscatch reply :
1,000 8+lb bass in only a 35 acre pond? I would doubt that is possible. Just seems likely that it would have too many fish per acre for anything to survive and flourish. You have to ask how many 7lbers? how many 6lbers? 5lbers? 4lbers? etc. Sounds like you could walk across the tops of the fish in that little pond with what would be over 15,000 bass alone in such a small lake. Then throw in Catfish, Bream, Trout etc. Get my point? Some of you biologists chime in on that. How many fish can be supported per acre? Where's Jim when you need him? Oh he left. Anyway, get in a small jon boat and fish at night in the middle. That is what I would do. lol.
dale reply :
Yes you are correct in clear water lakes after a rain the main lake fish will shut down more than the fish in a feeder stream with normal less clairity.
Dale
roadwarrior reply :
This thread is disfunctional.
I would guess that there is not a bass in a hundred that weigh 8 lbs. So, let's do the math:
(8000 X 100) / 35 acres = 22,857 bass per acre. George Welcome says Stick Marsh/ Farm 13 is one of the most densly populated bass lakes in the country with an estimated 800 bass per acre.
Sense of smell? Not bass or at least not much.
The only time bass can't feel vibration (lateral lines) is when they float, belly up.
Oops!
I just noticed fisherman_bob is no longer with us.
dale reply :
Sorry I was only responding to Vorlin's post
Keithscatch reply :
Thanks for helping me make my point Kent. I hate BS like that. What is the point of posts like that? But to clarify the math using your numbers it should read (1,000 8lbers X 100=100,000 total bass. Divided by 35 acres is 2,857 per acre.) Still crazy none the less. Then we get to add in all of the other fish too. The biomass just doesn't support that many fish per acre.
Crazy just crazy.
roadwarrior reply :
Yep, you're right. This thread has made me disfunctional, too.
Vorlin reply :
Moving back to the subject of catching in murky water, it was my understanding that bass are sensitive in the lateral lines and that this is what we're playing to by using rattles, Carolina rigs, Rattle Traps, Super Spot and the like.
As far as scents go, the info I had read said that "fish" can detect 1/200th of a drop of a substance, but I do of course realize that "fish" does not equal bass. If advertisers could say that bass could detect that little you can be sure that they'd be putting that line in big print on their bottles of liquid scent! They're not doing that though...
But "attractants", for lack of a better term, do seem to work on various levels. First and foremost is that they mask the human, cigarette and beer smells that get onto the bait so that the fish aren't repelled by them. This in itself could make a good bottle of scent worth the price. Next, fish of all sorts seem to hold the bait in their mouths a bit longer rather than rejecting it... a big plus since bass often take a worm and drag it off to some little corner to eat it, much like a dog. (See the post about a guaranteed way to catch fish for more on catching fish with an open bail, while drinking your coffee.)
Do they really attract fish, especially bass? I don't know about liquid scents, but Fishin' Strips artificial bloodworm seems to do just that. It's a slab of goo on a hook, and I've watched panfish and smallmouth come running for it from over 20 feet away, and they aren't doing that on the drop for a dry bait. Once the strip has 30 seconds or so to get wet and soften, that's when the fun starts and you can watch the fish come running like someone rang a dinner bell.
But would it work with larger fish? That I'm not sure about yet... so far the ones that come running are all under 9" but the species include grass carp, bludgill, sunnys and little smallmouth.
Constructive feedback and debate is most welcome...
Vorlin
roadwarrior reply :
Nope.
Tennessee smallmouth like the smell of tobacco and taste of beer. If there is any value in "scents" it's after the fish has picked up the bait. I sometimes use MegaStrike because it has the consistancy of Vasoline which gives soft plastics a slimy feel. I don't really feel that it or any other "attractant" adds much.
Low_Budget_Hooker reply :
Plus,...the weighted chum bag full of perch cuttings and crushed crayfish that he's jigging next to attracts 'em plenty. :-?
He stuffs the fat Ika right in the bag and lowers the whole thing down to the bottom. wait 23 minutes ( 3 cigs and 2 cold ones) and then "POP" that thing out of the bag with a swift snap of the rod straight up and then buckle the seatbelt.
Secrets out.
roadwarrior reply :
Shhhhhhhhhhh...
Vorlin reply :
LOL
In all honesty, I've often wondered if the best "scent" might just be a few crayfish and the scraps left over from a filet or two. Toss it all together in a blender, put the results in a zip-lock and dip your lure in it every 3-5 casts or so. 
Vorlin
FIN-S-R reply :
Caught more bass on zoom finnesse worm than the same color gulp finnesse worm, but boy those blues, channels, flatheads and bluegills sure do like the gulp.
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