Map it, Plot it, Document it

The night before a fishing trip I always check the weather, tide and moon phases. Each month I highlight all the days on the calendar that have good tide swings. I then check what time of day the high peaks and low tide bottoms out. It is always good a few hours before and after those swings. 

Look at the map and plot the best plan of attack for the day. Well on February the 14th a 5.9 high tide was at 8:29am so with a swamped out high tide early I decided to fish pilings and structure because those bass don't care as much about water movement to feed. They are more territorial and a good cast deep into heavy structure will usually be rewarded. I fished the pilings until around 9am and then as the tide switched I move to the middle/front bay and took advantage of the good water movement. I picked away at the bass on the eel grass flats with nice drifts until around noon. Stoked to get 4 nice bass on the Deceiver Curly Tail Grub I just tied earlier this week. You can really see the good action of the flash and feathers in the underwater images.

Experimental Typography: Poplar Wood, Nails, Colored String                                             © swyss 2014

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Deep, Deep, Cover

My game plan today was to meter some deeper spots and try and pull out some bigger bass lurking in deep cover. I usually fish the 1/2oz Warblade in shallow eel grass flats ranging from 8 to 16 feet of water. It works great in that depth to stay in the strike zone but when I go deeper then 16+ feet I have a hard time staying in the right zone to get bit.

F I E L D   T E S T S 
{War Underspin 1/2oz}   I first tested the War Underspin in "Burnt". I matched a Sierra Slammer 5 inch swimbait in "Halloween". The thin profile of the Sierra Slammer bait works perfectly with the underspin. It seems to swim and track straighter then other thicker/wider profile swimbaits. This swimbait tapers nice toward the back and I found the bass can really collapse the whole bait in their mouth right up to the hook. The ribs on the side of bait also hold Uni Butter really well. I also tested the Underspin with a 4 inch Big Hammer in Bleeding Olive Herring. I caught fish with that combo but noticed the jig had a tendency to swim off kilter on its side. The Sierra Slammer Swimbait was the ticket and had the best balance from what I tested today. 

{Warblade 1.5oz}   I wasn't sure how such a heavy Swimjig would make the Warblade swim but it actually has better action then the lighter ones.  I fished spots from 18 to 30 feet of water with a good drift moving my boat and I had no problem staying in the strike zone. Made long casts with slow steady retrieves. Got two nice bass on it today. The bigger bass I got today were all on the Underspin and Warblade. 
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Field Notes | Winter Bass Fishing

Search out Structure | Docks and Pilings

1) Cast parallel to the edge of submerged rocks, structure or docks

2) Let it sink to the bottom. Then slow crank it back to the boat bouncing it off the rocky structure

3) As the lure bumps the rocks bass are tracking it and waiting to ambush

4) If you do not feel the bottom structure reposition drift for best result.

TIP: The bass sometimes hit it on the drop other times they hit it five feet from the boat. Get into the mindset that they are always following it and be ready to strike.

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Experiments in the Lab | Hybrid Lures

Around any heavy structure or docks pitching this hybrid fly/grub is deadly. I made this lure a combination of curly tail grub with chartreuse buck-tail, chenille, flash and added a 20lb fluorocarbon leader as a weed guard. 

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