COOPER LAKE MONSTER BASS
By: Jim Holderfield

The sun was just peaking above the horizon when Cooper Lake Guide Marc Mitchell fired up the Mercury on his Cobra Bass Boat and headed for some of his favorite bass spots. A little chop on the water and the cooler temperatures assured he would have a challenging day looking for Monster Bass on Cooper.

This day started at 5:30AM when he met my son Danny and me at the Burton’s Restaurant, right next to the Best Western Motel in Suphur Springs Texas. This location is convenient to both Cooper and Fork, where Marc offers guided trips. Both these lakes have gained a reputation throughout the U.S. as one of the top candidates for an opportunity to catch trophy Bass.

Finessing Monster Bass
By: Eric Elshere

When you hear big bass, you think big baits don't you? Well I will agree with that, but I feel that finesse will catch more big bass. Big bass seem to like the little offerings during this early spring season a lot more. I am referring to little 4.5" to 7" Deadly Duo Worms and Roboworms. I love these little offerings, in both Texas and Drop-shot rigs.

For the Texas rig, I like to use a 6'6" G. Loomis Rod with a Team Daiwa reel on it. Spooled with 10 or 12 pound P-Line for maximum strength. I will fish this bait in 10 to 15ft. of water for the bigger bass staging out deep. The bigger bass seem to stay away from the super shallow water where they are more easy to catch. I like to use a Green Weenie and Purple Weenie colors for best results. I prefer the 6" and 7" worms for this application.

How to Become a
Bass Tournament Angler
By Ken Warren

Have you ever thought about becoming a bass tournament fisherman? Ok, well if you fish for bass that is probably a dumb question. With all of the fishing shows we grew-up watching, and with the increasing TV coverage of pro tournaments it is fair to say, all bass fishermen have thought about competing. With some the daydream stops, however, when perceived reality hits home. One of the following things may stop you. Perhaps you don t have a boat, or maybe it is not what you think of as a tournament boat. Or it could be that entry fees seem too expensive. Also, daunting is the idea that some of the fishermen live on that body of water and I don t have a chance. Ok, well chances are that one of those ideas has stopped you if you have not given tournament fishing a try. Let s examine each of them and see if it is really a concern.

How to Catch Big Bass In Delaware And Maryland

by Steve vonBrandt

There are thousands of small ponds, lakes, and rivers that hold "Huge Bass" from Maine to Florida. Over the last 10 years of maintaining records, and having caught and released over 500 bass between 5 and 10 pounds, from small waters on the East Coast, and 1 over 10 pounds from Delaware, here are the tactics I have found that produce consistent trophies each year.

LOCATION
Even in small bodies of water (under 1000 acres), there will be only a small portion of the water that will hold the biggest bass. The most important features to look for

THE MILLION DOLLAR "BASS BAIT"
By Roger Lee Brown The Bass Coach

A million dollar bass bait? "Right"... Especially just for catching bass? "Sure Thing"... Don’t remark yet because I know what you must be thinking about this article already. You are probably saying to yourself "is this guy for real" right? The truth is that "It’s True!" my dear fellow bass anglers (and future potential bass anglers.) Yes, there is a artificial bait used for bass angling on the market today that is actually worth a lot more than a million dollars. Not only that, this certain bait has proven itself over and over again for many years when used by some of the top bass pros but, most of you just weren’t aware of it. In fact, I would be willing to bet that most (I said most) of today’s

Soft Plastics for Big Bass

by Steve vonBrandt

The variety of soft plastic baits for bass is mind boggling. The choices available just in worms alone, are enough to cause confusion with the novice angler, and hours of debate among the more experienced. What size? What color?, straight tail? curly tail?, salt or no salt?; what rig to use them on; Drop-Shot? Carolina Rig?, Weightless?, what are the best times to use each one? Then add in the endless variety of lizards, grubs, Jerkbaits, freakbaits, tubes, and creatures, and you end up with more questions than answers. In the following article I will try to list the most effective plastic baits and presentations that catch not only numbers, but big bass as well, whether it is in a lake, pond or river, just about anywhere in the country. There will always be a new type of bait that one person or the other claims is better than

Pre-Spawn Bass

By: Eric Elshere

This time of the year, everyone believes that the bass are easy to catch and of course they are big. Well the bass aren't very easy to catch, as a matter of fact they are very difficult to catch. You have to use the most natural looking baits as possible, or live baits. My personal favorites are big swimbaits and live baits.

Live waterdogs are a very good choice for this time of year. I have noticed from watching a buddy of mine catching and landing 4 to 5 bass over 5 pounds in a day, when everyone else is shut down. Therefore I gave them a shot, and they are a great bait.

WHY BASS FISHING?

By Roger Lee Brown (The Bass Coach)

Everyday it seems that more and more of the general public (men, women, boys, and girls) are starting to take notice that there may be just a bit more to bass fishing that meets the eye than just the Sunday morning bass fishing shows they see on TV. Why is this so? They see bass fishing in regular TV commercials (I’m sure that you have seen the commercial where 3 men are in a boat, fishing with artificial lures, and one of them throws his lure around a tree branch, and the spokesman says; "even the fish are comfortable"). This advertisement is about clothing! "Jeans." Or, how about the grocery stores...... Yes, even in food stores you will find a picture of a famous Bass Pro on a box of Wheaties. Or, turn on a sports outdoors network anytime during the week and

Striped Bass Fishing Lake Norman, North Carolina

by Gus Gustafson

In late Spring the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission will place its 2004 allotment of striped bass fingerlings into Lake Norman. This year s scheduled stocking will be the same as it has been for more than ten years. One hundred sixty-two-thousand five-hundred (162,500) fish approximately one inch in length will be released into the lake at Pinnacle Landing. At first this seems like a lot of fish, but the fact is that only one in ten fish survives to grow and become the legal creel size of twenty inches.

One hundred forty-six-thousand two hundred and fifty (146,250) fingerlings from this annual stocking will not live due to natural causes and predators. Enemies include

Striped Bass Fishing Trip To Lake Texoma, Oklahoma

by Virgil Reich

The morning air is crisp as the dawn of a new day is approaching. The skyline in the east is slowly changing from black of night to the light of day. There is excitement in the air. There is myself, Ken, John, And Tom. I am from the Kingston area of Lake Texoma. The other three are from Kansas. We have been acquaintances for a few years.

We have just eaten breakfast, bought our snacks and drinks and our Texoma fishing license in preparation for an exciting day of striper fishing with a guide on Lake

Texoma. As we wait for our guide to arrive to pick us up we can hear the occasional splash of a fish striking their food. A mother duck and her seven ducklings slowly pass underneath the dock on which we are standing.