Syracuse.com - Elite Series bass fishing pros offer advice to help the average CNY angler up his or her game

[HuntingNY-News]

Maybe you're like me. I have a 14-foot, aluminum V-bottom boat with an old, six-horsepower Evinrude motor and oars. I take out a couple of spinning rods each time and have a wide assortment of lures and plastic baits in my tacklebox.

Peter "Peter T" ThliverosConsider yourself a decent bass fisherman?

Maybe you’re like me. I have a 14-foot, aluminum V-bottom boat with an old, six-horsepower Evinrude motor and oars. I take out a couple of spinning rods each time and have a wide assortment of lures and plastic baits in my tacklebox.

Question: What does it take to get to the next level of bass fishing?

Several Elite Series anglers who are town this week competing in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open on Oneida Lake responded earlier this week.

“Look, you can go out with a canoe and a fly rod, catch fish and have a ball,” said Peter Thliveros, who won the 2007 Bassmaster Memorial Tournament on Onondaga Lake. “But if you want to be bass fishing at the next level, you need the right equipment ... among other things.”

Apart from getting a bigger, better, faster and more expensive boat (which many of us can’t afford), Thliveros and others offered the following suggestions:

Peter Thliveros

Jacksonville, Fla.

- Spend as much time on the water as you can. You can’t learn this stuff on the Internet or by watching TV. You just can’t be a fair weather fisherman.

Learn what the fish are doing and biting on in all kinds of weather conditions. And pay attention to the little details. When you’re catching fish in a particular area, don’t just blow through and figure they’ll be there next time. Try and understand why you’re catching them at this time of day, at this location, on this particular bait or lure and under these conditions.

- At the very least, you need a good, strong trolling motor and a depth finder. The trolling motor enables you fish in the weeds, or in shallow water. If you’re fishing without a depth finder, you’re stuck to what you can see with your eyes. You’re right there with the rest of the crowd.

You need to learn how to fish areas that other people don’t normally fish, to know whether you’re fishing over weeds, rocks or a sandy bottom.

- Bring a number of fishing rods. I always have at least six to eight rods rigged up at any one time for specific purposes. You have to be prepared to fish the water — top to bottom.

Greg HackneyGreg Hackney,

Gonzales, La.

- Work with what you have. My first boat was a 14-foot aluminum, with a nine-horsepower motor. I cut up a piece of plywood and put in a casting deck. I had a foot-control trolling motor and I bought a depth finder. I did it back then for about $500. You could do it now for about $1,000. And with a smaller boat you have access to areas on lakes, rivers and even streams that you can’t reach with a bigger boat.

- Spinning rods are nice. They’ll handle the smaller baits, the lighter line. But you need at last two to three bait casting rods to handle the heavier test lines and lures/bait that you need to use. You need a crank-bait rod, a flipping stick that will handle the heavier test line and let you fish the heavier weed mats and structure along the shore, and you need an all-purpose rod with 12- to 15-pound test line to handle the bigger, heavier plastic baits.

- Once you get your depth finder, get a topo map of the lake’s bottom. That way, you’ll know where the humps (and drop-offs) are and actually be able to drive out and find them. A trolling motor is invaluable, especially when the wind is blowing. It sure beats rowing.

- As for baits and lures and colors, I tend to go with the natural shapes and colors. They may not be identical matches, but they’re similar in size and color to what the fish are feeding on.

Here on Oneida Lake, it’s crayfish, alewives, gizzard shad. Sure, on areas that aren’t heavily fished, you’ll see fish hitting on a wide variety of colors. But once the pressure increases, I can tell you color does matter. Sometimes a slight change will make those fish come in.

Russ Lane</span></span>Ish Monroe, Hughson, Calif. - The most important thing you have to have is the belief that you can go out and do it. The biggest thing that separates a pro bass fisherman from an amateur is the mental aspect. It’s just knowing that once you drop your boat in the water you’re going to catch fish.- Next, you have to find that ability and apply your knowledge. Use everything you know and don’t get stuck on just one approach.

- And if you haven’t already, go out and get a bait caster. The best you can afford. And practice with it. It’ll make fishing more fun. And that’s my last tip: Make sure you’re having fun.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog