Fish Like a Pro

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	Why fish slime matters May 08 at 9:00 am Afew months ago, I accidentally dropped a bass in the bottom of a dirty old johnboat at my favorite pond. I felt bad, as it was covered in sand when I let it go. Two months later, I took a friend and his son back to the same pond. Every fish we caught was beautiful — except one my friend’s son caught. It had sores all over it. I think it was the fish I dropped in the bottom of the boat.

	March is tough to beat March 08 at 9:00 am March is when most of the big bass are caught in North Carolina. One reason, I think, is because it’s when most people start fishing. For whatever the reason, it doesn’t get much better for bass fishermen in North Carolina. Bass are on the move this month, and you should be, too.

	Keep it simple in winter January 07 at 9:00 am With all the fancy fishing items we have available today, sometimes it is best to get back to basics for winter fishing. During the coldest months, fish can actually get quite predictable, since fishing pressure does not dictate their locations. Locating fish and catching them are two different things, since their metabolisms are slower and need for food is less.

	Magic fall number is 60 November 12, 2012 at 9:00 am Bass fishing has really gotten into its comeback from the slowdown of August and September as the water is cooling down. If you are a regular reader, you might remember an article a couple of years ago called “National Buzzbait Week” — a coin termed by my friend and next-door neighbor, Steve. He is retired now, but he once told his boss he was going to take off the last week of October because of National Buzzbait Week. You should be excited about that week, but it does, like everything in fishing, depend on the conditions.

	Cut down on your junk September 24, 2012 at 10:00 am All fishermen have great hopes of finding the next great lure; companies are always searching for the same thing. So what happens? We end up with so much tackle that we are confused and overwhelmed when we hit the water.

	Draw the ‘right’ reaction July 30, 2012 at 7:00 am Much is written about bass and reaction strikes. Making a bass bite when it is not actively feeding is what separates a good fishing for a whole day from good fishing for a few minutes. Tricking bass into biting that are not in the “feeding mode” is one of the things that makes fishing so fun.

	Why May is my favorite May 01, 2012 at 7:00 am When asked my favorite month to fish, it is a close call between May or January, but I think May gets the nod because of good weather and aggressive bass. In January, you can have the water all to yourself and really get on quality schools of fish that stay put. In May there is a lot of movement, but it is all in the pursuit of feeding.

	Big-bass month is here March 01, 2012 at 9:01 am March is probably the best month for North Carolina anglers to catch a giant bass. We have so many good lakes with potential for double-digit largemouths.

	Boat-buying advice January 01, 2012 at 1:00 am January can be really good for fishing or really cold and miserable. It seems like every year around boat show season, it is one extreme or the other. It’s either snowing or beautifully warm in the low 70s.

	Rollin’ slow in December December 01, 2011 at 12:07 pm December is my favorite month for slow-rolling big spinnerbaits for big bass. While our North Carolina bass can be doing just about anything with our wild weather patterns, one thing remains steady: big bass are lazy and always looking for an easy meal. A big, slow-moving target gets them to bite.

	Follow the shad, but try not to follow the herd September 28, 2011 at 1:58 pm A few Octobers back, I discovered a magic cove on Falls Lake. There were so many bass in there that you could simply cast a big Zara Spook down the middle, over 20 feet of water and catch one nearly every cast. It was so much fun, I went almost every day until the water was in the low 40s in December. I could still catch some on top when it was 48 degrees, which is rare. As it dipped lower, though, I had to really slow-crank a Shad Rap to catch them. Then one day near Christmas they were all gone — it was not a Merry Christmas. I never relocated that school again.

	One Man’s Trash...Junk Fishing 101: a class to be taken August 01, 2011 at 1:22 pm The 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series was an interesting year. The stars and lakes did not line up to make all the tournaments offshore structure events but were conducive to junk-fishing the bank. Junk-fishing is basically doing a little bit of everything and catching one fish here and there all day.