I agree Iv'e caught my share off ramps. also at the mouth of creeks after a heavy rain. Or drainage ditches. Especially on clear water lakes around here it gives you something different to look for.

Gotta love those creeks after a rain. Caught an 8-pounder in four feet of water in a creek made dingy by rain.

True johnnie since most of the lakes around here are clear and no veggitation. Any type of difference is something to look for. Anytime you find a drainage ditch, creek, churned up shoreline, basicly any type of cover the bass can use to their advantage always deserves a second look. Especially in the spring where the dingy water will actually be a few degrees warmer.

Johnnie what they should have said was that "the Bass have the shad pinned"... it's all about big-eats-small and every creature/organism must consume or absorb something to sustain itself... hence we get the "food chain"... You can learn a lot about bass by studying its prey... and what food the prey eats... and so on... lol if that makes any sense at this point!

You're right Brendan. I know bass and other game fish can force shad to the surface and tear them up and they can escort the shad to the shallows and gorge themselves. Some anglers don't seem to realize that this feeding spree we see on the surface or along shorelines actually happens every day or night-under the water, in open water- we just can't see it happen.

That reminds of when I was a little kid, there I would be at the docks dreaming of owning a boat to get out and get the big fish, some guy coming back in with his boat would say have any luck and I would hold up a stringer with a few bass or walleye and maybe a crappie or three and they would look almost angry at you. The grass is always greener at the other side of the lake.

ed

That takes me back. I had my Dads old shakespeare level winde 1965 professional, on a fiberglass rod with line that looked like heavy thread. A hand full of old crankbaits that he had let me have. Jitter bug,hula popper,crazy crawler,creek chub,grumpy, devil horse,rapala minnow,bomber long a. I spent the whole summer trying to learn how that reel worked. Caught alot of trees and fish. Still have the reel and rod and most of the lures. Really makes you apprciate how much better the equipment has gotten. As I got into high school and more into fishing I had my Diawa millinaire with the pistol grip rods and of course my Roland Martin polerized sun glasses. LOL and I still use the reels.. Their great for deep crankin!!!

You know, it's funny how someone can tell one story and it triggers a whole bunch of memories in our minds. Sitting here reading both of your recollections, I remember back when I was also stuck on the bank and wanted desperately to get to all of those place that could only be reached by boat. I ended up buying a small inflatable 2 man raft... the really cheap ones that you can get at k-Mart (I think I got mine from a "Modell's Sporting Goods")... it wasn't even a multi-chamber one. What a blast I had going out in that thing.

I think it was on my second trip out when my sister's boyfriend and I found a big 4 man inflatable stranded in the middle of nowhere with a hole in the main chamber. We dragged it back to shore, took it home and got a patch kit. That was some upgrade! We could take turns standing in that one. It lasted at least two seasons (as I recall) we patched it many times from all of the hook holes.

It was on Schroon Lake in the Adirondack Mountains while away on a family vacation, when the vessel's hull was finally breached beyond repair. My cousin's boy friend was the villain... you see, he did not have the respect for that raft like I did and would be careless when casting... I warned him several times to "be careful", but it was no use... I think we took the hit on the starboard side from a Jitter Bug... and of course, the lure was more important than my raft, so he decided to try and "rip it out" rather than wait until we could carefully extract it while safely on shore. I'll just say that it was a long swim back to shore... and a long ride home. But then I got this rig and my whole perspective changed forever:

Boy do I remember my first boat. Dad and I had found an old jhonboat that was made into a bass rig. It was 10'with 2 mounted seats no casting deck, 18 horse evenrude with stick steering. trolling motor, livewell, depthfinder. We fished out of that little boat for years. Till 1991 WE got a 17' bass tracker. Which I still use. Dads been gone now for 5 years. But I still remember that little jhonboat. And alot of happy memorries

whoooooo booked my room for next weeks tournament. Got lucky it was the last room in town. Looks like two other tournaments are going to be there also. I'm super stoked! Barren river will be a blast!!Hitting my home water this week to get some practice in. It feels like Christmas!!!