Ken - Used to do that a lot when Richland Chambers first opened. My first guide trip ever on Fork was with Mark Stevenson fishing those forks in those deep trees using Spinnerbaits, jigs and Zara Spooks. You could barely get a boat through most of that stuff but every once in a while you could even see the tail of a bass fanning above the water.

I know for a fact they spawn in deeper water on Alan Henry.

So many stories from the old days and fishing with the older guys, I could go on for hours. They knew absolutely what a bait had to have going for it to produce more quality Bass. You can't imagine all the techniques and tricks you can learn form fishing with those old guys, if you can even get them to go out on the water any more. These experiences have prompted me to modify baits that play upon every sense that Bass are looking for in sight, sound, smell, taste, vibration and believe it or not a heat signature.

I picked up bits and pieces from many older guys; but none stand out more then the first one I fish with in Texas back in 1982. Mr. Martin seemed to have all the senses put together in his select few baits that he took on the water each day.
- He did not believe in the flash. His skirts on jigs and spinner baits were of the old school wide living rubber using the earth tone colors as most of the West TX. lakes were stained water.
- He hammered the heads flat to get the largest rattling disk eye on the bait as possible for sound and visibility. He believed that Big Bass would always turn on their side and look their pray in the eye before taking it by the head.
- He worked the Scent and Taste to the max. He kept the spinner bait, spook, crank bait and sassy shads in a minnow bucket over night with two dozen minnows. All 4 lines tied on ready to fish without touching the baits the next morning.
- He kept a Blue Flake Lizard and Worm in a Night Crawler box so they were ready to fish. He always handled the wad of Night Crawlers before putting the plastics on the hook.
- He kept his favorite Jig in a coffee can with Crayfish and a mud bath.

The Heat Signature:

Here is a great story on catching a fish on the first cast. The first older gentleman I fished with in Texas ask me that question; "Have you ever wondered why you catch a fish on the first cast then never get another bite on that lure"? It has happened to me over these 60 years that I have been chasing Bass hundreds of times and never thought anything about it until I fished with Mr. Martin.

His theory was that the lure was laying in the sun on the deck and was very hot. Bass are cold blooded just like a rattle snake and are constantly seeking pray that has a different body temperature than their own. A worm or spinner bait for example thrown in the shallows is several degrees warmer than the water and represents a critter that has been in a bush or on a rock sunning then enters the water. More often than not it gets eaten immediately as it enters the water. For the first 20 years of fishing I threw spinner baits exclusively and this is what I did about this presentation to win two tournaments in a row in early spring when the water was cold.

I had noticed that the blades were hot laying in the sun. I could usually catch a fish on the first cast if I was on fish then nothing else until I picked up another spinner bait. I developed a 6 cell flash light that could be plugged into a cigarette lighter. I lined the inside with cork and aluminum foil to hold the heat and used the tail light of a car flipped over and shinning inside to heat up the blades of the baits. I kept a dozen spinner baits tied on and hanging in this HOT BOX. It was somewhat time consuming to unscrew the lens cover, take one out and replace the one just used; but it worked. It produced 12 keeper fish on 12 consecutive cast to win both tournaments. This was done at the beginning of Feb. on one lake and the end of Feb. on another lake. This gave me the confidence to know that it was working. The down fall is that the blades being very hot would be cold by the time I retrieved it back to the boat and had to change on every cast. If you were not on fish you worked your azz off and I lost interest pretty quickly.

Mr. Martin would simply carry a roll of aluminum foil and a small metal bucket. He would line the bucket with the foil to reflect the heat and just lay his baits in there while fishing. He would take them out one at a time and catch a fish then make a change.

Here is the concept behind this:
Over the years I have determined that Bass have the ability to sense a heat signature different from that of their own. �This comes from the lateral line on the fish and is the most important factor in the way a fish feeds. �It is more important than sight, sound, taste, vibration and smell. �It has to do with them being cold blooded like a rattle snake.

Using the lateral line, a bass can feel the nearness of a prey or obstacle before it can see the object. Especially in water of low visibility, fish that swim in tight-knit groups, called schools, use their lateral lines to sense and coordinate sudden turns. Highly sensitive olfactory, or smell organs, permits fish to sense chemicals in the water, which helps identify food. Some fish, such as minnows, are also sensitive to chemicals in the skin of other members of their species. When released to the water during a bass attack, these chemicals stimulate a fright response that warns other minnows to escape, and at the same time gives Mr. Bass a trail to follow. The lateral line is also used for the fish to determine its depth in the water. This helps to distinguish up from down.

It is my belief that there is a fourth sense of the lateral line; sensing hot or cold thermal temperature changes in the food chain. As organisms move to the surface to feed, their body temperature is different from the organisms on the surface. The Bass�s lateral line processes this information and allows the Bass to track and feed on baitfish that have a different body temperature than their own. Any critter entering the water off the rocks or a bush is warm and produces a vicious strike.

If you would like to help in the development of this concept send me a PM..

I subscribe to the cattle myth...

Fish a tournament when the cows are laying down and there will be plenty of fish brought to weigh in, so even if the cows are laying down, fish are still biting for people who don't know that the cows are laying down.

I'm a big believer in the wind is your friend. Besides the obvious, it keeps more folks off the water.

A feller once said to me : If airplanes are leaving a vapor trail ( not smoke ) the fishing would be good. And, he also said, if you feel a tug on your line that to is a good sign.

Never eat fish on a fishing trip no matter how good the fried catfish plate looks.

I had a friend teach me about the 3 taps theory to worm or jig fishing. It goes like this:

First tap is when the fish picks up the bait

Second tap is when the fish spits out the bait.

Third tap is when my buddy would tap my shoulder and tell me I missed one.

I�ve always believed heavily in this theory.

Even if the cows are laying down and you shake a range cube sack they will get up and eat the range cubes. Just like dragging a big old fat lizard on a c-rig in front of a big old lazy fat bass he will eat it......

Launched the boat this past Wednesday morning and all the cows near the ramp were laying down as were most that I noticed in my drive to the lake. We ended up catching fish all day long. Fish were super aggressive and active.

I subscribe to the fact that cows lie. Literally and figurately.

What about when the cows are bedded on one side and grazing on the other ?

I will add this: when leaving the marina if the wake boats are still there, it will be a good day! At least for a little while. I swear they always find me unless I'm hiding in the stumps.

Just means half of them are tired or lazy.

Dang millennial cows.