What Is Wrong With My lake? The Algae Scourge

KILLENS –DOVER 9/15/10

We went to Killens today on 9/15/10 and found less than desirable conditions. I said to Skip, “What is wrong with the water?”, ” I have seen it green before but this is bad”.

We fished hard and caught just one bass. It was decent but it was poor fishing all day and if you know me at all, it was not for lack of knowledge or lack of effort!

I worked every water depth with more than 20 baits presented in a variety of ways to no avail, and we left. I said to Skip, “I have Seen this before but can’t remember what it is called or what it does to the lake exactly as it has been years since I retired and was involved in this on a daily basis.

I no sooner got home and picked up the new BASS TIMES magazine that I got yesterday, and started to read, and what to my surprise was right inside?? What looked like a picture of KILLENS POND with an article attached called, “THE ALGAE SCOURGE“, and here is what it says. I now know what is wrong with KILLENS!!

The algae scourge

Bass Times

Tue, 06/01/2010

By Robert Montgomery

More than pesky surface scum, new algae blooms are killing fish, poisoning wildlife and harming humans

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As pollution degrades our water, it also feeds a toxic outbreak that threatens our fisheries and our future.

“We are approaching a tipping point where we might not be able to get back to what used to be,” said Dr. Ken Hudnell, a neurotoxicologist and adjunct associate research professor at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

“We could lose ecosystems, leaving only cesspools of cyanobacteria that can’t be used for recreation or drinking water.”

The growing danger for fresh water, not only in the United States but worldwide, exists in cellular populations described collectively as Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are the most notorious, and some species are potentially harmful to humans. Golden alga, a dinoflagellate, is a relentless killer of fish. Didymo is a diatom that has smothered stream-beds in several states.

All are spreading and increasing the duration and intensity of their blooms.

For example, golden algae obliterated all aquatic life in a 30-mile stretch of West Virginia’s Dunkard Creek last fall. Until that kill, it was thought to be confined mainly to brackish waters typical of rivers and reservoirs in east Texas, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Now, resource managers fear that another 21 streams in the state could be at risk because of similar water conditions, as well as waterways in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky.

Paul Ziemkiewicz, director of the Water Research Institute at West Virginia University, said the Dunkard incident was “the worst fish kill I’ve experienced in 21 years in West Virginia.”

In Ohio, meanwhile, the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper recently reported, “The number of [blue-green algae] blooms producing scary toxins or poisons is growing in frequency and duration in Lake Erie and many inland lakes and water-ways in Ohio and elsewhere.

“The threat is gaining attention as new testing shows the toxin microcystin from the planktonic bacteria is present in popular recreational lakes and city water supplies, including Akron’s.”

Late last summer, Western Lake Erie Waterkeeper Sandy Bihn told BASS Times, “Old-time boaters say the algae is as bad or worse than it was in the ’60s and ’70s. I think Lake Erie is poised for something awful that will make national news.”

In Florida, Hudnell said, studies have revealed that toxins from some of these blue-green blooms “are higher in drinking water than raw water because the cells are lysed during processing and release all their toxins.

“It’s very difficult to remove all cyanotoxins from drinking water, and utilities don’t monitor for them. They are only concerned about other cyanochemicals that cause taste and odor problems — and phone calls.”

In a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Earthjustice said, “Potentially toxigenic cyanobacteria have been found statewide, including river and stream systems such as the St. Johns River in the Northeast Region and the Caloosahatchee River in the Southwest Region.”

Bill Frazier, a water quality expert for a municipality as well as conservation director for the North Carolina BASS Federation Nation, has been watching the growing assault on our waters and sounding the alarm for some time.

“HABs are a type of canary in the coal mine,” he said. “The fact that they are present is an indicator of an out-of-balance ecosystems. Nothing good can outcompete them for living space. And the space we are talking about is water — the substance that allows us to live on this planet.

“Add to that the fact that HABs are exchanging genetic material in order to allow them to adapt to conditions they otherwise couldn’t tolerate, and it no longer is a wakeup call. It’s more like a piercing scream. Unfortunately, only a very few of us are listening.”

In fact, Hudnell resigned from EPA because it would not start a freshwater HAB research and control program. He and Dr. Wayne Carmichael now are leading an informal coalition of more than 500 people in lobbying for passage of the Freshwater Harmful Algal Bloom Research and Control Act of 2010.

“It’s an emerging story, a fascinating story, a very scary story, and an incredibly complicated issue,” said scientist Julie Weatherington-Rice of Ohio State University. She was speaking specifically about blue-green blooms in Lake Erie and other Ohio waters, but her assessment also accurately describes the HAB problem nationally.

Why is this happening?

To simplify: All blooms benefit from four “stimulatory factors,” according to Hudnell. They are sunlight for photosynthesis, warmth (in general, the warmer the better), nutrients (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus) and calm, even stagnant, water (often brought on by drought).

“Good things just don’t happen in stagnant water,” he said. “A water body, like a human body, needs good circulation to function properly.”

But it is what we continue to discharge into our waters — dissolved solids, salts and particularly phosphorus-laden nutrients from our cities and agricultural lands — that drives this threat.

“In Lake Erie, the cure in the ’70s was the ban on phosphorus in laundry detergent, which reduced the phosphorus in the lakes,” Bihn said. “About 1995, the phosphorus curve reversed its downward trend and began once again increasing. This time, it is said to be dissolved phosphorus rather than total phosphorus.”

Hudnell added, “The No. 1 problem is too many nutrients. This allows HABs to dominate, to crowd out and shade out the good algae. As these occur for longer times and in more places, it’s going to be more and more difficult to reverse the trend.”

Cyanobacteria: A World Wide Nightmare

According to studies by the University of North Carolina, the algae bloom like engulfed Lake Atitlan last year is a world wide epidemic, endangering fresh water supplies at alarming rates

In fact, Hans Paerl, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences Professor and co-author of the Science paper, calls the algae the ‘cockroach of lakes.’ It’s everywhere and it’s hard to exterminate – but when the sun comes up it doesn’t scurry to a corner, it’s still there, and it’s growing, as thick as 3 feet in some areas.

Note: In Lake Atitlan, 85 per cent of the 30,000 acre lake was recently covered with the green scum, going as far down as 80 feet in some locations.

The algae has been linked to digestive, neurological and skin diseases and fatal liver disease in humans. It costs municipal water systems many millions of dollars to treat in the United States alone. And though it’s more prevalent in developing countries, it grows on key bodies of water across the world, including Lake Victoria in Africa, the Baltic Sea, Lake Erie and bays of the Great Lakes, Florida’s Lake Okeechobee and in the main reservoir for Raleigh, N.C.

‘This is a worldwide problem,’ said Paerl, Kenan Professor of marine and environmental sciences in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences.

‘It’s long been known that nutrient runoff contributes to cyanobacterial growth. Now scientists can factor in temperature and global warming,’ said Paerl, who, with professor Jef Huisman from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, explains the new realisation in Science paper.

‘As temperatures rise waters are more amenable to blooms,’ Paerl said.

The algae also thrive in wet, soggy ground in areas experiencing periodic floods, like the U.S. Midwest. And in a drought, like the Southeastern United States is experiencing now, other algae and aquatic organisms die off, cyanobacteria thrive, waiting to explode

Warmer weather has also created longer growing seasons, and it’s enabled cyanobacteria to grow in northern waters previously too cold for their survival. Species first found in southern Europe in the 1930s now form blooms in northern Germany, and a Florida species now grows in the Southeastern U.S. Others have appeared recently places as far north as Montana and throughout Canada.

Fish and other aquatic animals and plants stand little chance against cyanobacteria. The algae crowds the surface water, shading out plants – fish food – below. The fish generally avoid cyanobacteria, so they’re left without food. And when the algae die they sink to the bottom where their decomposition can lead to extensive depletion of oxygen.

These cyanobacteria – blue-green algae – were the first plants on earth to produce oxygen.

‘It’s ironic,’ Paerl said. ‘Without cyanobacteria, we wouldn’t be here. Animal life needed the oxygen the algae produced.’ Now, however, it threatens the health and livelihood of people who depend on infested waters for drinking water or income from fishing and recreational use.

These algae that were first on the scene, Paerl predicts, will be the last to go… right after the cockroaches.

Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Public Health Advisories

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PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORIES

Note: All information on this page taken from public health documents and web sites who freely pass on important health information that allow and encourage  reprinting in order to save lives!

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Watch “LIVE” Coverage of the 2010 Bassmaster Classic

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NEW BASS FISHING WEBSITE NOW OPEN!

We have opened a brand new website centering on trophy and world record bass fishing in the Northeast with additional information, tips, videos, podcasts and tackle for the entire world! We have professional anglers, guides, and tournament anglers ready to assist you with any waters in the USA and Japan, and we specialize in tournament tactics and videos on the Uppper Chesapeake Bay Rivers and the Potomac River with professional grade tackle at discounts, including FREE SHIPPING on most orders. We have contests to win free tackle, podcasts, coverage of major events, detailed tips and tactics and locations to catch moe and bigger bass in the northeast and beyond. The forums have special reports with video enhancements. Register today for full access.World Record Trophy Bass at http://delawaretrophybass.com

This site brings you the best information available on trophy and world record largemouth bass fishing worldwide.The site centers on northeast trophy bass fishing featuring the Potomac, Sassafras, and all upper Chesapeake Bay rivers. You will find the bass fishing tackle used by trophy bass hunters like Mike Long, Bill Siemantel, Manabu Kurita, and Jed Dickerson, as well some of the best professional anglers and guides. You will find expert help in our forums and get live help from the staff on all Delaware and Maryland lakes, ponds, and rivers. We have the most up to date information on the new World Record Largemouth Bass from Japan and Lake Biwa and the tackle used by these anglers to take these monster bass is available at a discount in our tackle store.There is information that will help the beginner or novice anglers with bass fishing basics and there are more advanced articles and tactics for the trophy hunters and tournament anglers. You will find informative articles on all types of techniques in the articles section and in the forums, many with video enhancements. We offer Tournament winning tips for these locations. Register in the forums for full access.

IGFA SAYS YES TO KURITA BASS!

Today, in a live press conference, the IGFA, announced that it has officially certified the catch of  Manabu Kurita, a 22.311 pound largemouth bass, making his bass the new world record largemouth bass.

While according to IGFA rules, the bass must exceed the current weight by 2 ounces to be called a new world record, trophy bass hunters and many tournament anglers, myself included, recognize that less than an ounce wins a tournament anywhere in the world, so in my book, this is the new world record bass. Bassmaster magazine lists it in the top 25 at the top of the list, as 1A above George Perrys record that stood for more than 77 years.

If you want to learn more about trophy bass fishing, or the tactics that Manabu Kurita uses, or watch videos and see photos of his bass and his baits that are not seen on ANY OTHER website, including Bassmaster, you can talk with him and others in the forums at Northeast Bass Fishing For Trophy Bass where he is a member and close friend of the owner.

Northeast Trophy Bass and a new World Record by Manabu Kurita. A Great Start to 2010!

CONGRATULATIONS MANABU KURITA! “A TRUE TROPHY BASS HUNTER”

StevevonBrandt Big Bass World Champ/NAFC Hall Of Fame angler

IGFA To Announce Status Of New World Record Bass

The IGFA will announce the status of the new pending world record bass caught by Manabu Kurita LIVE in a press conference on Friday. read the whole story at Northeast Bass Fishing For Trophy Bass

StevevonBrandt Big Bass World Champ/NAFC Hall Of Fame angler

World Record Bass Mounted!

StevevonBrandt Big Bass World Champ/NAFC Hall Of Fame angler

Manabu Kurita

StevevonBrandt Big Bass World Champ/NAFC Hall Of Fame angler

Manabu Kurita Interview

Epic Interviews With Japan’s Top Trophy Bass Hunters

Story by Matt and Chinami Paino, Dr. Rogelio Villarreal and Russ Bassdozer

September 28, 2009

To begin our trophy bass hunter series in Japan, these are some of the first stories to inform the world about Japan’s trophy bass fishing as told by the top trophy hunters themselves.

There have been trophy bass in Japan for many years, but trophy hunters there have always felt that Japan did not get enough recognition for its trophy bass potential. Now, we’ve given each trophy hunter a chance to tell their story, and we’ll publish each one-by-one in the order shown:.

Interview with Shimada (the previous 19.15 record holder)

Interview with Kurita (the new 22.4 record holder)

Interview with Okumura (deps tackle company owner)

Interview with Yasumura (monster bass hunter)

We asked each trophy hunter identical questions about big bass in Japan, and their answers translated to English for you.

It is a special honor for us to be able to tell the world about Japan’s trophy fisheries and fishermen in their own words.

And although many of us may never fish in Japan, the interviews have lots of key info that’s useful to try to relate how these trophy hunter’s game plans can help you catch some of the monster bass on your own home waters.

Here now is Okumura’s story, beginning with a little background. In 1992, Okumura-san started to gain much media attention by breaking the ten pound barrier several times in a row on Japan’s famed bass water, Lake Biwa. He used an original design heavy weight spinnerbait, slow-rolling it deep along the bottom, a tactic not practiced much in Japan. However, Okumura loved to fish with big spinnerbaits, and he had an uncanny knack of catching monster bass, especially when outdoor writers/photographers were fishing with him. So that lure and technique started Okumura’s career and legend as one of Japan’s foremost big bass experts, and it led to his founding of the deps lure company in 1998, at the age of 28.

At first, deps offered Okumura’s legendary spinnerbait named the B-Custom. It became an immediate sensation in Japan and the B-Custom still ranks as one of the best fish catching lures in Japan today.

But Okumura didn’t stop there. Okumura and deps began to test and manufacture new styles of big baits not seen before in Japan, or anywhere. One radical new design was a big wakebait named the Buzzjet 96, released in 2003. It still remains the most popular big wakebait in Japan today.

In 2004, deps released another big bait, the Silent Killer jointed swimbait which features a hard plastic body encased within a soft silicone skin covering it. As the name implies, this big bait is both a silent runner and a subtle killer on big bass. This bait has demonstrated that there are times when silence and subtleness, even in a big bait, is key to catching monsters.

Okumura’s next triumph was the release of the Realiser, a big bait which capitalizes upon the plentiful bluegill population of Okumura’s home lake, Lake Biwa. With its larger profile, the Realiser features an unorthodox look and an action that’s designed to mimic big sunfish sunning or swimming through grass. The deps Realiser has become a required bait for many of Japan’s big fish anglers.

In 2007, he released the High Sider, a big triple-jointed swimbait that has 4 body sections to produce a lot of high side flaring with its body roll. It is very effective when used on a straight grind for monster bass.

As you have seen with the previous two Japanese fish hunters’ interviews (Shimada and Kurita), the large profile lures are popular with these trophy hunters. What’s different in Okumura’s case is that he founded deps to research and develop the very lures that Okumura has required throughout his intense and much-publicized pursuit of lunker bass. Okumura’s vision has been for deps to develop big profile lures like the B-Custom, Buzzjet 96, Silent Killer, Realiser, High Sider and others that would give him a better chance of catching Japan’s monster bass. Such big lures really didn’t exist at all in Japan before 2000, and it is only since then that the monster bass potential in Japan has been tapped – with the development of big baits. Before the big bait boom, monster bass catches in Japan were uncommon. Okumura has been a pioneer through the big bass tackle produced by deps and via his insights shared in magazines, DVDs and on TV.

Interview with Japan’s Top Trophy Bass Hunter: Okumura

Question #1: How long have you been fishing for trophy bass, Okumura-san? How did you get started?

Okumura: For about 18 years. Ever since I was a little kid I have always wanted to catch big fish. There is nothing like the feeling and value you get when you catch a big bass and that’s what keeps me going.

Question #2: Please tell us a brief “fishing bio” about yourself (200 words or less) such as: how many days do you fish, if you are pro tournament angler, if you are in the fishing tackle business, if you are sponsored by companies in the fishing tackle business, if you are a fishing guide, if you have written or been written about in trophy bass articles/books, on fishing TV shows or videos – none of those things are necessary, but just establishes who you are with the unfamiliar reader. Basically, please share 200 words or less “fishing bio” about yourself.

Okumura: I started writing articles for several magazines around 1993 introducing my fishing style of targeting big bass. At that time some of the magazine editors started to go fishing with me and together we introduced monster fish hunting to the Japanese public. In Japan ant that time, fishing was mainly with light tackle and finesse rigs.

In 1998, I established my company, deps Co. (www.depsweb.co.jp) and since then I’ve been dedicated to designing lures and rods for catching big bass.

Although I am not a tournament angler I have become very popular and known to all the Japanese anglers because I have demonstrated in videos and in magazines various techniques on how to catch trophy bass.

Question #3: How many trophy bass have you caught (definition/size of a “trophy” is whatever you prefer)? What is the size of your biggest trophy bass?

Okumura: Over the past 10 years, most of my time on the water has been working with Japanese magazines and producing bass fishing DVDs where I have been called upon to catch 60cm (23.6″) bass and above. In Japan, the 60cm bass are called “ROKU MARU” and that is considered to be a trophy catch. Most of my fish have been right around this 60cm mark in length and weigh between 4-5 kilos (9 to 11 lbs) in weight. Most of these fish have come off of rubber jigs, big swim baits or big worms.

Question #4: What rod and reel combos do you use most often for trophy bass hunting? What line and pound test do you use most often (mono, fluoro, braid) for trophy bass hunting? We are not asking so much about brands and models, but about general features of the rods, reels, lines you most often use for trophy bass hunting. Also, we are not asking about every rod, reel, line you use – that can be many different outfits. We wish to give the reader (who may be unfamiliar with trophy bass hunting in Japan) a general feel for what you most often would prefer to use in terms of rod, reel, line – understanding it is not the only outfit you use – but the one you would prefer to use, or tend to use most often.

Okumura:

7 Foot Heavy Action Fast Tapered Rod with 20lb fluorocarbon

7 foot 6 inch Heavy Action Medium Fast Tapered Rod with 25lb fluorocarbon

8 Foot Extra Heavy Action Medium Fast Tapered Rod with 25-30lb fluoro or also with 66lb braid

All reels that I use have a line capacity for holding 70 meters of 25lb line

Question #5: What are your top three techniques for catching giant bass?

Okumura

Big baits (lipless jointed types) used with a jerk and fall technique

Swimming a jig throughout the water column

Deadsticking (stitching) a big worm

I do not agree with Japanese pro anglers or filming videos of bed fishing right when the spawn is occurring but I do think the world record fish will come off of a bed.

Question #6: What are your top three lures for attracting trophies?

Okumura:

Big baits – lipless jointed type

Big worms – 8 to 13 inches

Rubber jigs

Question #7. What is the best time of the year for trophies in Japan?

Okumura: I think that for Lake Ikehara, mid-April to the end of May is the best time period.

For Lake Biwa, from March to the end of June since there is a big difference in spawning months between the south end (Nanko) of the lake and the north (Kita) end of the lake.

Question #8. What role do electronics play for you when hunting for trophy bass?

Okumura: I do not find any need for electronics at Lake Ikehara because sight fishing is the main style of monster fishing there. In the case of Lake Biwa, electronics can be extremely helpful to look at and understanding difficult topography, or examine dredged areas, sunken boats, locating schools of fish as well as bait, and weed lines. However I turn off the power when I am fishing a well-known spot or at my top ranked spots.

Question #9. Once you are on the water, how do you divide your fishing day trying to locate trophy bass?

Okumura: I will target the areas that I feel have the highest potential to produce lunkers. If I do not feel that the timing is right there, I will wait it out or go check other areas or even circle back to the original high-potential spots and repeat the process, kind of keep cycling through the potential areas until I hit them.

Question #10. What is the main trophy bass forage in Japan’s lakes?

Okumura: Bluegill is the main bait at Lake Biwa. Sometimes bass will prey upon other bass as well. Biwako (Ko means lake, so Biwako means Lake Biwa) has lots of weeds and therefore there is an abundance of crawfish, shrimp and ayu ensuring that bass have plenty to eat and grow rapidly during their life.

At Lake Ikehara, the monster bass feed on Ugui and Funa which are both large baitfish. The water is extremely clear at Ikehara. It is so clear that, except for the spawning period, it is rare that monster bass are caught there. So, except for the spawning period, Lake Ikehara has less pressure on big bass compared to Lake Biwa.

Both Lake Ikehara and Biwa have Florida strain bass. However it’s only been within the past 10 years that the bass have seen considerable growth spurts and we are now seeing more of these monsters. I believe that the changing weather patterns and changing climate is a factor in the bass growing larger in recent years.

Question #11. Do you do any night fishing for trophy bass?

Okumura: No. A camera crew is usually always with me fishing so no night fishing.

Question #12: Do you feel there is a particular time of day or night when it is best to catch trophy bass?

Okumura: From my experience, I notice that bass go into a feeding time around 10am, 1pm, and 3 o’ clock in the afternoon. So between 10 and 4 in general is a good timeframe to be trophy fishing.

Question #13: What do you feel that trophy bass do different, that ordinary size bass do not do?

Okumura: I think that smaller bass behavior is preoccupied with constantly looking for bait. For trophy bass, their top priority is safety or security first and foremost.

Question #14: What do you do different when hunting trophy bass, that you do not do when fishing for ordinary size bass?

Okumura: When I target big bass, I try not to worry or become anxious that I have to catch a monster that day. I tell myself I have the whole season to catch a monster. I also use large lures when targeting big fish.

Manabu Kurita

Here now is Kurita’s story. Please enjoy!

Interview with Japan’s Top Trophy Bass Hunter: Kurita

Question #1: How long have you been fishing for trophy bass? How did you get started?

Kurita: This is my 8th year targeting monster bass. It started when I caught a 64cm (25.2″) bas

s, which was great, however the bass swimming next to my bass (64cm) was much larger than mine and it was a thrill to see that bigger one. Since then I have always wanted to catch just trophy bass.

Question #2: Please tell us a brief “fishing bio” about yourself (200 words or less) such as: how many days do you fish, if you are pro tournament angler, if you are in the fishing tackle business, if you are sponsored by companies in the fishing tackle business, if you are a fishing guide, if you have written or been written about in trophy bass articles/books, on fishing TV shows or videos – none of those things are necessary, but just establishes who you are with the unfamiliar reader. Basically, please share 200 words or less “fishing bio” about yourself.

Kurita: I am a product field tester for Roman Made (www.roman-made.jp) which makes handcrafted lures and Fina (Hayabusa) a Japanese hook company. I do not compete in tournaments. I am just an avid angler who goes fishing on average 150 times a year.

Question #3: How many trophy bass have you caught (definition/size of a “trophy” is whatever you prefer)? What is the size of your biggest trophy bass?

Kurita: On April 6, 2008 I caught a 70cm, 8480g (27.56″, 18.7 lbs.) with a giant swimbait called “Mother” by Roman Made. It is the 3rd largest bass on record in Japan. Pictures are here in the gallery

Kurita’s 70cm, 8480g (27.56″, 18.7 lbs.) bass is now 3rd largest in Japan.

On July 2 of this year (2009), I caught the 73.5cm, 10.12kg (28.94″, 22.31 lbs.) monster bass which is pending world record review on a live bluegill. These are my two largest that went over the 70cm mark, They are 1st and 3rd largest on record in Japan

Question #4: What rod and reel combos do you use most often for trophy bass hunting? What line and pound test do you use most often (mono, fluoro, braid) for trophy bass hunting? We are not asking so much about brands and models, but about general features of the rods, reels, lines you most often use for trophy bass hunting. Also, we are not asking about every rod, reel, line you use – that can be many different outfits. We wish to give the reader (who may be unfamiliar with trophy bass hunting in Japan) a general feel for what you most often would prefer to use in terms of rod, reel, line – understanding it is not the only outfit you use – but the one you would prefer to use, or tend to use most often.

Kurita: For the most part I use a long rod. Typically 7’ – 8’ and one that has a fast taper and is rated heavy action. I use a high gear reel that is heavy duty. I use fluorocarbon line rated 20-30lb.

Question #5: What are your top three techniques for catching giant bass?

Kurita:

Burning a big bait

Jerking a monster lure, 30cm (12″) 10 oz

Stitching a big worm

Question #6: What are your top three lures for attracting trophies?

Kurita:

Big swimbaits

Monster baits. 30cm (12″) or over

Big worm, or rubber jig

Question #7. What is the best time of the year for trophies in Japan?

Kurita: Based on my experience, my opinion is every month besides August and September. August is the hottest month in Japan and September is still hot but air temps begin to cool off. Still the water temperature has risen so high and that makes the grass so thick.

Question #8. What role do electronics play for you when hunting for trophy bass?

Kurita: I do have my boat equipped with electronics but I only use them when I want to see the water temperature, depth, or structure which is not that often.

Question #9. Once you are on the water, how do you divide your fishing day trying to locate trophy bass?

Kurita: I start out by throwing the Giant Bait and check to see if there are followers or not. I also just like to use my senses and search for places I have a good hunch about. It then depends upon that day’s reaction from the fish whether I continue to use lures or I switch to live bait.

Question #10. What is the main trophy bass forage in Japan’s lakes?

Kurita: The main bait found in Lake Biwa are bluegill, hasu and funa. However bass will change what they feed on depending upon the season and the prevalence of bait.

Question #11. Do you do any night fishing for trophy bass?

Kurita: I used to fish at night but not now. At night, I usually caught bass between 30cm – 60cm (12-24 inches). So now I try to fish from morning to afternoon to catch bigger size bass.

Question #12: Do you feel there is a particular time of day or night when it is best to catch trophy bass?

Kurita: I prefer fishing between 10am and 4pm.

Question #13: What do you feel that trophy bass do different, that ordinary size bass do not do?

Kurita: Bass that are locked down to one spot grow quicker and larger than the bass that are always swimming around from place to place.

Question #14: What do you do different when hunting trophy bass, that you do not do when fishing for ordinary size bass?

Kurita: For me its all about mindset. I have to be committed and remain stubborn to only fish for giant bass of the hugest proportions. To succeed, it’s imperative to stay loyal to your goals.

It’s all about mindset concludes Kurita, to be committed and stubborn to fish only for true giants.

Photos of all these bass are here in the gallery at Northeast Trophy Bass

StevevonBrandt Big Bass World Champ/NAFC Hall Of Fame angler

Mother Swimbait by Manabu Kurita

Would you like to be able to purchase this bait in shops here in the United States? It is the “MOTHER” swimbait that was designed by the new pending World Record Bass angler Manabu Kurita? This bait caught the 18 pound bass that was the third largest ever caught in Japan. Pictures of all of them are available.

Manabu asked me if I thought this bait he designed would sell here in the US as well, and I thought that this was the best place to ask. If you could take a look and make a post it would be appreciated. Thanks Steve

http://www.delawaretrophybass.com/apps/forums/topics/show/1631064-romanmade-mother-swimbait

StevevonBrandt Big Bass World Champ/NAFC Hall Of Fame angler