questions commonly asked

 

Both of us are using the same lure and equiptment. Why is my partner catching more fish?

Subtleties are the key. You both may be using the same lure, a 3/8 ounce chartruse crankbait, for example, with 6 ft rods and bait casting reels. Even though you think your equiptment is the same, slight differences can have a big effect on catching fish. First, lets talk about the reels. Baitcasters can have different gear ratios from about 3.8:1 to 6.5:1. If you were using a 3.8:1 reel and your partner wer using a 6.5:1, this means that your partners lure is being retreived close to twice as fast as yours even though you were turning the reel handles at the same speed. The amount of line spooled on the reel also has a large effect. If your reel was filled to half its capacity and your partners reef was filled to the full capacity level, this would also have your partner retreiving at twice your retreive speed. The reason is that he is retreiving twice as much line per turn of the reel handle causing his lure to travel faster. One more difference might be line diameter. If you are using 14 lb test line and he is using 8 lb, your partners lure may be diving 3 to 5 feet deeper than yours due to the greater resistance of the higher diameter line. This added depth may just be the key to putting his lure in the strike zone longer or reaching the point were the fish are suspended. So, Pay attention to slight differences like these if you think he is just LUCKIER than you. You may find that your equiptment is not exactly the same and this can make the difference to catching and watching fish being caught.

Can you tell me where a good web site for lake maps or topo maps for the lakes in Oklahoma? -Mike

I've gotten topo maps from several sites in the past. Some are free, some you can buy the CD. Check these out: http://www.topo.com, http://www.topo-log.com, http://www.landinfo.com   Hope you can find your area on these sites.

I was wondering what the difference was between and Large Mouth Bass and a Small Mouth Bass? - Angie

In Short, the differences are they are two different subspecies of bass. This means that largemouth, aside from having their jaw back behind the eye,giving them a larger mouth, live in slow moving shallow water generally. (except in California) Smallmouth bass prefer cooler water temperatures and generally are deeper than largemouths. They are also beter suited to live in rivers with fast moving water.  If largemouths are in a river, they will be found in the slow eddys picking off food as it floats by. Check out my site in the near future as i'll be adding more stuff like this to my site. thanks for writing.

Do you know of any lakes around Bergen County and about how far from upper NJ are the lakes that you mentioned? -John

I'm not that familiar with Bergen County myself but I suggest that you contact Bergen Bassmasters on the web and perhaps they can give you better info on your area. http://www.i2.i-2000.com/~scocco/home.htm --Hope this helps

When do bass spawn? -Jeremy

To answer your question, Bass spawn according to water temperature, not any calendar date. At 50 to 55 degrees, bass begin to stage in the front of the coves or flats that they will spawn in. As the water temp rises, bass will begin to move toward the backs of the coves. At 57 to 59 degrees, male bass will make their beds, cleaning out a 2 1/2 ft circle with his tail. At 60 to 62 degrees, the male bass will try to get any nearby female to lay eggs in his nest. If he is successful, he will fertilize the eggs and defend the nest for about 2-3 weeks So remember, temperature is the key.About 75% of the bass will spawn at the full moon nearest to the 62 degree temperature. the rest will spawn at the full moon of the next two months. This is natures way of keeping some spawning successful,if something like flood or drought should destroy the first spawn's fry. Remember to start fishing in the northwest corner of your lake. this is the spot that warms first in spring. Please release any caught spawning fish immediately and they will go back to their beds. 

 

 

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