i know the general rule - don't leave fish to find fish, but if I'm catching dinks normally I don't start whacking 4 and 5 lbers after I've caught a whole lot of dinks. There might be one or two decent ones mixed in there, maybe one giant, who knows.. If I try some bigger baits, maybe some slight adjustments to presentation and depths and if I'm still catching dinks, I'm out of there.

so what was the winning weight on EM this morning?

good advice evan. that is exactly what i tried today too. it didn't work to well so i just gave up and had fun catching the little guys hoping for that big one to bite.

9 lbs.won first place.

man.. that would have taken me 7 fish.. IF they were even legal.. Good job to the winners.. guess i need to invest in some SI..

We didnt have a SI,or even a depth finder that worked.I kept sticking my rod in the water to see how deep it was.
Learn the lake,give yourself several options.

Just time on the water.

Bass are schoolers, generally of relatively the same size so one can't eat another. One time during a night tournament on Granbury, I caught a keeper Spot on the railroad bridge at about 0130 and on the next 36 casts, I caught a spot on every cast, and not one was a keeper. Move....

Come to Lewisville. That'll solve the dink problem. Of course you won't catch any keepers either.

good one joe.. that sounds like one of my normal days on EM

Move to offshore structure if you are beating the bank, that will help as well. It is harder to find them, but they are usually bigger, and more plentiful as well.