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3 Ways To Catch Shallow Water Bass, Without Spooking Them

3 Ways To Catch Shallow Water Bass, Without Spooking Them

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  If you want to catch big shallow water bass, you should use the same approach as a hunter stalking big deer. You don’t see too many hunters going through the woods honking their horn or yelling to their buddies, yet anglers sometimes make a lot of noise while trying to catch a big bass in shallow water and that’s a critical mistake.

Bass get in different moods and there are times when they are a lot spookier. You’ll see a lot of signs that you are spooking fish, such as bushes and reeds shaking or mud boils in spots where bass have vacated in a hurry.

1. Watch Your Shallow Water Bass Approach
huge-bass

The first precaution you should take when shallow water bass fishing is during your approach. Try to approach an area as naturally as possible. If the area and its surroundings are still, then shut off your outboard engine a safe distance from the area and enter it as quietly as you can. If your area has a lot of wave action and commotion, then your approach doesn’t need to be as quiet.

2. Limit Your Boat Noise
shallow water

Next, avoid constantly switching your trolling motor on and off. Figure out the speed you need to work the cover and stretch of water you’re fishing and keep the trolling motor running constantly on that speed to avoid spooking shallow water bass.

If you need to talk, speak in a low tone to your partner. Also avoid excessive noise such as dropping stuff on the bass boat’s deck that will spook shallow bass.

3. Know Your Shallow Water Bass Presentation
night fishing tips

A pitching or flipping presentation to make a quiet lure entry also prevents spooking a big bass in the shallows. When the lure enters the water it looks like a baitfish has flicked, which draws a bass’ attention rather than spooking it.

In clear water, the sight factor becomes more important so you have to stay farther away from fish when working the shallows. Wear clothing in low-key colors such as gray or camouflage to make it harder for bass to see you.

You also need to avoid rapid movements in the boat and keep a low profile when fishing shallow in clear water. Casting a shadow on the fish is about the worst thing you can do so avoid casting to spots where you have cast your shadow.

Take these precautions the next time you fish for shallow water bass and you will enhance your opportunities to catch bigger fish.

 

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T-H Marine Supplies Continues Sponsorship of Alabama Bass Trail

T-H Marine Supplies Continues Sponsorship

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Decatur, Ala. (October 30, 2017) – The Alabama Bass Trail is pleased to announce that T-H Marine Supplies will continue its sponsorship of the Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series (ABTTS) in 2018. The Huntsville-based boat parts and accessory manufacturer has also committed to be the presenting sponsor of the Open Tournament, set to launch in 2018.

“The success of the Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series is largely attributed to our great sponsors,” stated Alabama Bass Trail Program Director Kay Donaldson. “T-H Marine Supplies, Inc. is one of the most trusted names in the marine industry and we are honored they see the benefit of partnering with us. 2018 will mark the fifth year of our partnership and to have them jump on board as the presenting sponsor of our first Open Tournament shows the great deal of confidence they have in us.”

During the tournament series, T-H Marine Supplies will supply its trademarked OxygenatorTM and G-Juice Live Well Treatment where they will be used in the water weigh-in system to assist in a 100% live release of fish back into their habitats at the conclusion of the tournament. The OxygenatorTM uses a patented process to create 100% pure oxygen from the water itself by separating the water molecules into their elemental parts: hydrogen and oxygen. The lighter hydrogen molecules rapidly leave the water and dissipate into the atmosphere. The heavier oxygen molecule remains suspended until it dissolves in the water. The G-Juice formulation was developed from over 15 years of research spent in the baitfish, fish transporting, and sport fishing industries.

Considered the best outboard jack plates on the market, T-H Marine’s ATLASTM hydraulic jack plate will serve as the official jack plate of the Alabama Bass Trail. Made in the United States, the ATLASTM is factory installed by more boat manufacturers than any other plate and is used by more professional fishermen than any other hydraulic jack plate.

“We are so pumped to see the Alabama Bass Trail going so strong for five years now. We are happy to have been there from the start to support this awesome trail on our beautiful home state’s lakes,” said T-H Marine’s President and CEO Jeff Huntley.

Serving the marine industry since 1975, T-H Marine Supplies, Inc. is headquartered in Huntsville, Ala., and employs over 125 people in two plants located in Alabama. Family owned and operated, T-H Marine is one of the nation’s largest suppliers of parts and accessories for recreational boats, offering over 3000 different products including outboard motor mounts, outboard tilt and trim, access hatches, deck plates, lid locks, deck hardware, live well aeration, fishing rod holders, boat lights, rigging accessories, trolling motor accessories, and general boat accessories. Their products are available at major retailers such as Academy Sports, Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, Gander Mountain, and West Marine. For more information, visit www.thmarine.com.

Returning for the fifth season, the ABTTS is held on eleven of the lakes of the Alabama Bass Trail beginning February 17, 2018, with the championship tournament to be held on October 26-27, 2018. As part of the agreement, the Alabama Bass Trail will feature T-H Marine Supplies on all tournament related advertising, website, social media channels, and collateral materials.

North Division:

Pickwick Lake             February 17, 2018 hosted by Florence-Lauderdale Tourism

Lake Guntersville        March 10, 2018 hosted by TBA

Wheeler Lake              April 21, 2018 hosted by Decatur-Morgan County CVB

Weiss Lake                  May 12, 2018 hosted by Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce

Logan Martin Lake     June 9, 2018 hosted by Pell City Chamber of Commerce

 

South Division:

Lay Lake                                             February 24, 2018 hosted by Shelby County Commission

Lake Martin                                        March 24, 2018 hosted by Alexander City Chamber of Commerce

Lake Eufaula                                       April 7, 2018 hosted by Eufaula-Barbour Chamber of Commerce

Lake Jordan                                         May 5, 2018 hosted by Wetumpka Chamber of Commerce

Alabama River/Cooter’s Pond             June 23, 2018 hosted by City of Prattville Parks and Recreation

Championship:

Neely Henry Lake      October 26-27, 2018 hosted by Gadsden Parks and Recreation Department

The new Open Tournament makes its debut September 8, 2018, on Smith Lake. Hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County, the one-day tournament allows teams to compete in a single tournament instead of the tournament series, which has a five-weekend commitment. It has a $15,000 guaranteed first place prize and a total cash payout of over $70,000. The maximum number of boats is 250 in the amateur division and 25 in the professional division. The professional division will consist of one FLW or Bassmaster Elite Series Pro and one amateur who will be vying for a winner take-all $7,500 cash prize. The entry fee is $300 per team. Registration opens January 22, 2018.

 

For more information on the Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series or Open Tournament, visit www.alabamabasstrail.org or call Program Director Kay Donaldson at 855.9FISHAL.

 

About Alabama Bass Trail

The Alabama Bass Trail is a program of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association. Its mission is to promote Alabama as a year-round fishing destination, to preserve natural resources for generations to come, and to educate high school and college-aged students to be good stewards of natural resources. The 13 bass fishing lakes consist of Lake Guntersville, Wheeler Lake, Pickwick Lake, Lewis Smith Lake, Neely Henry Lake, Weiss Lake, Lake Martin, Lay Lake, Logan Martin Lake, Lake Jordan, Alabama River, Lake Eufaula, and the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. For more information, visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.

Joey Bramlett & Barry Holloman Win 2017 CBC Classic Lake Wateree, SC(Oct 27, 2017)

Click Here for Results

The 2017 CBC Classic on Lake Wateree is a wrap! Thanks to the City of Camden and the Camden-Kershaw County Tourism Partnership!
Skeeter Boats, Foothills Marine & Marshalls Marine! We paid back $106,200.00!Joey Bramlett & Barry Holloman took the top prize with 5 bass weighing 35.37 lbs plus the top SKEETER Bonus! All total Joey & Barry took home $54,000.00! They said they targeted brush both days in 10 to 12 foot of water.2nd went to Sean Anderson & George Berry with a 2 day total of 26.28 lbs! The collected $10,000.00!

Steve Addington & Scott Beattie brought in 10 bass weighing 24.57 lbs good enough for 3rd and the 2nd SKEETER Bonus. Steve and Scott earned $8,000.00!

Jerry Craig & Bobby Latuch weighed in 23.02 lbs and took home $3,000.00 for their 4th place finish.

Keith Porter & Tony Price claimed 5th with a 2 day total at 21.37 lbs and received the 3rd SKEETER Bonus for a total of $4,500.00!

Grady Allen and Calvin Hewitt took 6th with 21.20 lbs and they weighed the BF of the Classic at 5.97 lbs. Grady and Allen took home $3,000.00!

Mike Byrd & Chris Moody earned 7th with a 2 day total at 21.02 lbs and claimed the 4th SKEETER Bonus for a total of $2,700.00!

Thanks for fishing the CBC!!!

Bass Cast Radio October 29th Featuring Jeff Francis & Brent Hatton winners of the Elite 70 Championship & Manny More

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What a great show with some amazing guest from Jason Baggit with Contender, George Thomas with Hook Pal, Dale Wilson with our SML Fishing Report & Jeff Francis & Brent Hatton Winners of the Elite 70’s Championship on Kerr Lake.

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Jeff & Clay Ross Win BassQuest 2017 Classic on SML October 29,2017

What an interesting weekend again on SML lake for the two days BassQuest Classic. With day one being a beautiful 60 plus degrees and sunny & the weather changing overnight to a cool 50 degree high & wind & rain. But the did not deter the 45 teams that quallified this yor for their chance to win a Niro Z18. But again one team prevailed bringing in a two-day weight of 32.61lbs the team of Jeff & Clay Ross with Chad & Elliot Pilson in second place with the bigest bag of the weekend weighng 20.85lbs & a two day weight of 32.26lbs. Congartulations to those that finished in the money & we will see you all again in 2018.

Chad Emory & Stephen Lasher Win Cashion Fishing Rods Championship October 28th 2017 on Jordan Lake

PBC CASHION FISHING RODS ‘End of Year’ TEAM BASS FISHING TRAIL

                                             CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
           Saturday October 28th, 2017 ~ Jordan Lake ~ Farrington Point Wildlife Ramp

 

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What a great Championship!  The bass we biting pretty good and the weather was great with air temps around 46 degrees in the am on up to 72 at the 3pm weighin. Water temps averaged about 68 degrees. The wind was light and variable all day long. 30 teams turned out to vie for the 1st place Championship honors. Right many bass in the 4 to 5
pound range were weighed in. Afterwards all the anglers were treated to drinks and ‘Decky’s Famous BarBQ Sandwiches which were absolutely great!!!

The team of Chad Emory & Stephen Lasher won the Championship with 5 bass weighing 19.42 lbs. and also won the 1st Place Big Fish Award (5.99 lbs.), the 1st Place Tournament within a Tournament (TWT) and 2 nice Cashion Fishing Rods for a total of $3,704 in winnings. The team said most of their bass were caught on offshore humps and off bank & point dropoffs in 2 to 8’ or more of water depth using Rattle Traps, Crankbaits & Carolina rigs.

1st..Emory on Left..Lasher on Right

2nd Place team of Keith Deal & Anthony Miller caught 5 fish weighing 17.95 lbs. and they also won 2nd Place TWT
and 2nd Place Big Fish (5.64 lbs.) to pocket a total of $1,319. 3rd place team, Doug Stalling & Seth Ellis, won $510 by
weighing in 5 bass at 17.55 lbs.

The team of Tony Woodard & Stewart Adams worked hard in all of the tournaments and consistently caught good

weights to win the Cashion Fishing Rods ‘EOY’ Points Championship. They were rewarded with $1,117 in cash and 2
beautiful Cashion Fishing Rods and Trophies.

Points..Woodard on left

89 fish were weighed in for a total of 239 pounds for an average of 2.68 lbs. each. Most of the fish were caught on  a
variety of lures…Topwater, Rattle Traps, Carolina rigs, Spinnerbaits and Crankbaits in 2 to 18′ of water off bank &
point dropoffs, main lake humps and rip rap. The Fall bite is still going strong!!

I want to thank all the anglers that participated and all our sponsors that support our trails.  Our next event is the
2018 Cashion Fishing Rods Spring Team Tournament Bass Trail, February 24th at Shearon Harris out of Cross Point
Landing Wildlife Ramp. All the information on our 2108 Tournament Trails can be see at:
http://piedmontbassclassics.com/

Now here are the full results:

1st Place: Chad Emory & Stephen Lasher of Durham & Bahama…5 bass…19.42 lbs…$2,233
2nd Place: Keith Deal & Anthony Miller of Holly Springs…5 bass…17.95 lbs…$860
3rd Place: Doug Stallings & Seth Ellis of Durham & Charlotte…5 bass…17.55 lbs…$510
4th Place: Tony Fofi & Dave Murdock of Spring Lake & Sanford…5 bass…16.64 lbs…$350
5th Place: Lee Williams & Jeremy Martin of Durham & Roxboro…5 bass…15.99 lbs…$270
6th Place: Mark Herndon & Jay Garrard of Bahama & Durham…5 bass…14.94 lbs…$220
7th Place: John Anton & Bryce McClenney of Chapel Hill & Raleigh…5 bass…14.50 lbs…$190

1st Place Big Fish..1st Place Team above…5.99 lbs…$406
2nd Place Big Fish..2nd Place Team above…5.64 lbs…$174
1st Place TWT..1st Place Team above…19.42 lbs…$665
2nd Place TWT..2nd Place Team above…17.95 lbs…$285

I want to thank everyone that fished with us this year!!

You have made PBC the best tournament trail in the area!!!!

I hope to see you all again on the water in 2018.

Be sure and check out our 2018 Tournament Events at:

http://piedmontbassclassics.com/2018Announcements.html

I also want to thank all you media folks that kept the

sportsmen & women informed on our results. Thank

you so much and we’ll see you in 2018!!   Phil

Contact Information:
Phil McCarson…Tournament Director—922 Valetta Rd.—Durham, NC   27712
Home: 919-471-1571     Cell: 919-971-5042
email:[email protected]            website: http://piedmontbassclassics.com/

Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Report by Captain Dale Wilson November 2017

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT
November 2017
DALE WILSON’S
SML GUIDE SERVICE
PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950
www.captaindalewilson.com

Picture: My son Chris & my granddaughter Addi Wilson with her first striper caught while fishing with grandpa (Captain Dale Wilson) last month.

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OVERVIEW-  The fishing has been fair the past several weeks! This is a transitional time of the year for fishing! The water temperature has started to drop. Fishing for bass has been fair to good this past month! Water temperature will be in the 60’s. Best times will be early morning, late afternoon and cloudy days. Night fishing can be good this month. Fishing usually picks up later during the month of November.

Largemouth Bass- Fishing for largemouth bass should get better this month. Best lures will be large plastic worms, top water lures, shaky heads, shallow running crank baits, jigs, spinner baits and Carolina rigs. Points, coves, brush piles, rocky areas, ledges, stumps and shallow docks will be the best areas to try your luck. Best depths will be from the surface to 30 feet deep. Remember to take care of the bass and release them! Bass fishing should improve with the cooler water temperatures. Most bass will start to follow schools of shad as they migrate back into the coves and up stream.

Smallmouth Bass- Fishing will be good. Best areas will be ledges, humps, stumpy areas and rocky points. Best lures will be tubes, jig & pig, hair jigs, drop shots, top water and medium running crank baits. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Cloudy days with wind are good times to try your luck! Look for areas with rocks and ledges close to the deep water. Look for isolated rock piles near deep water. Smallmouth bass feed heavily on crawfish around the full moon each month. They will also suspend around schools of bait in the main lake.

Striped Bass- Fishing will improve this month. Stripers will be caught in the mid to upper sections of the lake and in the large creeks. Best lures will be swim baits, buck tails, spoons and Zoom flukes fished on 1/4 to 1/2 oz. lead heads. Best time to fish is cloudy days, early mornings and late afternoons. Night fishing will be fair. The best depths will be from the surface to 50 feet deep. Live bait fished on down lines and planner boards work good this month. This is also a good month to troll as the stripers will be shallower. The stripers will constantly be on the move. Look for large schools of stripers with your electronics. Some schools of stripers will surface this month. We should have some seagulls this month. The seagulls will help locate feeding stripers.

Crappie- Fishing for crappie will be good this month. The best depths will be 5 to 15 ft. deep. Crappie will be found around docks, brush piles, and fallen trees. Docks with brush piles are usually good areas to hold crappie. Small live minnows and 1½ to 2 inch tubes or shad shaped plastic lures fished on 1/32 to 1/16 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month. Best areas are the main creeks and the upper sections of the lake.

TIP OF THE Month- Start looking for seagulls! Fishing will improve as the water temperatures fall! Schools of shad are migrating up stream and into the creeks. Always wear your life jacket and make sure your running lights are on after dark!!! You can also hear reports about local fishing on the website: THE BASS CAST RADIO SHOW & WSLK 98.3 radio. Remember: TAKE A KID FISHING! SEE YOU ON THE LAKE!!! GOOD FISHING!

The Summit, Sevierville, and El Salto – October 26,2017 by Ken Duke

For many of you, being on the road for nearly three weeks is no big deal. For me, it’s a classic example of a blessing and a curse.

My road trip started close to home at Clearwater Beach in Florida — about an hour and 45 minutes from Orlando, where I live. That part of the trip was for the ASA Summit, the annual meeting of the people who work to keep the sportfishing ship headed in the right direction.

The Summit is what you make of it, which basically guarantees it will be good and bad, thrilling and frustrating. If someone tells you something else, they’re trying to sell you something … or maybe they just weren’t paying attention.