Local Fish

[AandA]

Couldn't agree more with Kunze! ;D My wife and I both tremendously enjoy feeding the bass when diving, even when not fishing!  Sometimes we make a bit of a game out of it actually.  We call it "rounding up the fish!" We'll start by collecting crayfish and occasionally feeding the bass that show up as we're swimming along a drop-off.  Pretty soon we'll realize that we're surrounded by a 'herd' of bass that we've picked up 1 or 2 at a time along the way.  IT's funny how some of them will absolutely adopt you.  They'll swim along next to you, dart ahead, then come back.  If you change directions, they change directions.  Almost like going for a walk with a bunch of young dogs!  Aly gets sad when I fish for them.  She calls it "killing our friends!"  :'(

To answer the question of "how do you hook a crayfish" the answer is " very carefully!"    Seriously, the best way to hook them is to thread the hook through the back portion of the shell so that it is just barely under the shell.  The reason you do this is so that the crayfish still has the ability to swim naturally.  IT's the swimming motion of the crayfish that drives the bass into an almost instant strike.

AS to where to go - bass like structure.  Drop-offs, timber, beaver lodges, etc. are all very productive.  Many times the big advantage of fishing underwater is my ability to get into areas with a lot of sunken timber where you simply could not get the bait down there from the surface.  ANd if you could, you'd never get the bass out of such a tangled up spot!  :o

Good luck!  You'll have to let us know how you do!

Tomorrow night I'm planning on a fish dinner with some of the bass left over from this past summer!  ;D