Place your TIP here...

[Deitz Dittrich]

A little over a week away and we will all be hitting the water after the fish we care the most about. At least I speak for myself on that one.

Thought it would be fun if we started a post on tips to help us boat more fish... I'll start with a couple..

#1, watch your water temps. If you can find the warmest water in the spring you have usually found the most active fish.

#2 Expecially in the spring, polarized sunglasses are a must. As we fish the shallow waters in the spring you are better able to see if not the fish, but fishy spots where they could be. Also being in shallow water, its not a bad idea to protect your eyes from flying lures.

#3 Step outside the box on lure color...When targeting shallow bass I will often choose a color that I can see well, you may not always be able to see the fish, but you can bet you can tell when a white tube disapears!

OK... Your turn... what yah got?

[luv2senko]

Dark or murkier water with dark bottom tend to warm the fastest.

Early emergent vegetation, especially isolated clumps of pads or reeds will often hold fish.

Bass love to chase bluegills in the spring so black/blue/chartreuse are good colors.

[ABASSER]

Hey Deitz,

Another thing to remember is that in the spring the water is very clear and the bass are spooky. I like to visually search the shallows while making long casts well ahead of the boat,this allows me to catch some fish before the boat gets near them. A couple of my fav techniques for this is a 1/16 mojo rig with a 4" pumpkin colored lizard or a weightless Texas rigged Comida.

[wyldewal]

When the water starts to warm up don't forget the top waters. A lot of people get so caught up with jigs, tubes and spinners they don't give chugs and sticks a chance. And don't be afraid to fish them in deep water. I've caught bass in 30 feet of water on the surface.

Dark colors work well for this (Black is my favorite )

[LEECH21]

BIG baits=BIG fish. I caught my biggest bass on a musky lure.

[st.crioxfishin]

rat'l traps and spinnerbaits over new emerging weeds

hard jerk baits such as husky jerks, swim them down then let them suspend for up to a min. if necessary, give it a little jerk and hold on tight!

wieghtless tubes over shallow warming flats for spawners and fish moving up to spawn

I cant wait!

[gspman]

To make your scum frog style baits easier to see buy the bright colored ones that contrast with the color of the cover you are fishing. Then color the bottom black with a magic marker. The black enables the fish to see the silhouette of the lure better. Additionally, put a rattle or 2 inside the body of the frog to add more weight for casting and to increase the noise it makes for added attraction.

Adding a small rubber-core weight to the hook of a buzzbait allows you to cast it further and doesn't affect the performance of it on the retrieve too much either.

There. That the only 2 tidbits I know as I'm a very wet behind the ears basser.

gspman

[ThunderCat]

Add weights to the bottom of your pole. just enuf where you can balance the thing from about where the reel is. Less stress on your hands and forearm when fishing those long days.

[cheektowaga]

1. Be prepared to throw anything and everything. Not so much for the crafty veterans of this page, but for others, especially with the weather patterns lately you just never know where they'll be or what they'll want.

2. Bring a camera!

[EBass]

Structure! Overhanging trees, docks, laydowns, boulders any cover that they can hide in and ambush is a likely place to cast to when good weed growth isn't present. Eh, even when goods weeds are present

Not all bass do the same thing at the same time. Very true for Tonka with all the bays, structure, water clarity forage, weather/wind and diff temps.

Be stealthy.

If you make a bad cast real up quick and cast again until you put said lure where you want it to go.

Vary retrieve speeds and subtle action. Don't just cast and reel. Give the lure some life like looking presentation to increase the odds of triggering said neutral to negitave bass.

And the most important: PLEASE practice catch and release!

Want more?

[carlcmc]

fish weedless rigges texas worms like senkos with braided line over weeds thick or thin. Crawl them over, pop them, or slither them quickly over. I have caught many bass by quickly retrieving a weedless worm over a thick weed mat and having a bass explode underneath.

fish ponds for less pressured bass! Took my son to one of my dad's ponds and caught 54 bass in 4 hours on senkos and a black spinner bait with a artificial minnow on the hook.

When fishing a senko on braided line, retrieve it beneath the surface at times by turning the reel handle 1/4 to 1/2 turns. it will make a walk the dog type darting beneath the surface and will dart in and out of weeds.

[SledNeck]

Dont be afraid to try live bait rigs. When (it doesnt happen much)Im having trouble getting bass to bite, especially in the middle of the day. I like to fish sort of a lindy rig set up with a crawler or a leech. Sometimes i anchor and slowly pull it off the bottom, or sometimes I troll it....works great when fishing non or semi weedy areas.

#1 tip. Use jointed shad raps, its the greatest bass lure that ive ever used. You'll get northerns on em too (15 lber for me on one last year).

Buzzbait tip. You all may know this already but on a new buzzbait I cut the wire halfway between the jig head and where you tie the line. Then I connect the two parts to a swivel. This makes the jighead and hooks sit lower in the water while your buzzer is ontop. Also add a trailer hook. This set up resulted in reducing my fish loss by about 80% it works that good!