Whats your opinion....

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by numbskull

I know of a 52# fish that took a reverse atom with a skin on it in the dead of a Nov night.

Hmmmm, a skin?

That's almost an eel....

[steve]

It's not scientific, but from my expierence over the years bigger bass seem to want artificals under the surface, even an inch or so , after dark.

[Ed B]

Originally Posted by steve

It's not scientific, but from my expierence over the years bigger bass seem to want artificals under the surface, even an inch or so , after dark.

I would agree with that, and extend it to most gamefish day or night. The percentage of hookups on bigger fish dramatically increases when the offering stays in the zone to which the fish feels the safest while feeding.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Ed B

I would agree with that, and extend it to most gamefish day or night. The percentage of hookups on bigger fish dramatically increases when the offering stays in the zone to which the fish feels the safest while feeding.

Good post, but perhaps an over-simplification. Injured baitfish go to the top. Big fish like easy meals. Many times I have seen large (20-40 lbs) bass come up during the day in 15-18 feet of water to crush a danny plug struggling on top, while ignoring deeper running artificals. The opposite is a much less common an occurence in my experience unless fishing in hard tide or deeper water. If you are feeding fish bait, deeper is certainly better. If you are fooling fish with plugs, then triggering their attack instinct becomes the primary factor, and surface plugs often are better at this than deeper running artificals. It is true, however, that fishing deep with artificals from shore in rocky water is sufficently difficult that most of us don't try it. The fact that eels sink is a major factor in their effectiveness.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Back Beach

Hmmmm, a skin?

That's almost an eel....

Shhhhhhh. That's what us holier than thou types use when we're slumming. Of course we always change back to a nice custom plug to hang on our expensive reels before we walk out with our noses held high. Appearances count, you know.