# Ever catch a bass near a log with a turtle on top?



## Rooster (Apr 8, 2004)

This is only a half-serious question, but Im becoming progressively obsessed with this question! OK, a few years ago I remember one of the godfathers of BASS joke that they had never caught a bass near a log that had a turtle on it. Now, everytime I see a turtle on a log, I make the cast to try and disprove this theory. However, I have been doing this for a few years now, and have not caught a bass. So, what are your thoughts?


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## catking (Apr 5, 2004)

ROOSTER- Now you've gone and done it, everybody will be lookin for logs and turtles.........  CATKING !!!


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

I guess I never paid attention. Will now though


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## Rooster (Apr 8, 2004)

Sorry! I truly wish that I had never been exposed to this idea. I Just hope that someone disproves the idea, and I can start concentrating on fishing and not the turtles.


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## JBJ (Apr 11, 2004)

I caught a bass holding on a log that did have a turtle on it. It was the ONLY one I pitched to when the turtle did not jump off. My opinion is that when these turtles splash into the water they startle the fish away.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

I fish Lake fork in texas quite a bit and all of the bays are full of timber and a million turtles. 

It would harder to catch a bass by a log that didn't have a turtle on it than vice versa down there. There are hundreds of targets (logs and standing timber) within casting distance almost everywhere all of the time. The shallow spawning bays in the spring are covered up with turtles and filled with bass. The hard part there is just being able to move through all of the trees and logs without hanging your boat up every few minutes.

A good question there would be to determine if the logs with one turtle are better than a log with 8 turtles.  

Kim


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## eye4neye (Apr 12, 2004)

do you all think that this just applies to bass?----because i was just sittin here thinkin that last weekend i saw a bunch of them sitting on a log or 2 and i casted right beside one of them, and several jumped in the water....then i casted at the other and none jumped in and i did manage to catch a nice sized perch under that log.....just some food for thought.....eye4neye(tony)


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## discgolfer (Apr 11, 2004)

i thought i was the only 1 with this "superstition". i have always thought that turtles were an omen of a bassless cast. this goes back years before working the stip ponds of augusta, ga. i've always kept movin ever since if i saw a turtle perched upon a log. i'm glad someone proved me wrong though.


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## ncraft150 (Apr 5, 2004)

I never really thought about this before, but I can't remember ever catching a bass off of a log with a turtle regardless if the turtle went into the water or not.


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## AndroDoug (Apr 12, 2004)

Man oh man! You _have_ went and done it now. I, too, am going to pay attention to the turtles and logs now than things I should be concentrating on. I probably am going to seek them out!!

I can't remember for positive if I have or have not. BUT, there is this one particular log at Congress lake that almost always holds a bass. There are turtles frequently on that log at times as well. As for them being there when I catch a bass... no idea. I will pay attention now!


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## DaleM (Apr 5, 2004)

Can't say I have or haven't. I know there are lots of turtles on the logs at Griggs and O'Shaugnessy, and I'm sure I have though. DAMIT NOW I'LL HAVE TO WATCH CLOSER!


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## pacosraiders (Apr 13, 2004)

Great.. now everyone in Ohio will be throwing lures at logs with turtles on them...lol   

Keep it up and we'll have P.E.T.A. on our case for harrassing turtles sitting on logs    

Anyone ever catch a bass next to a log with a snake on top of it???

Maybe we should start a critters on top of logs forum? LOL


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## WLB (Apr 6, 2004)

Up here on lake Erie I fish a couple small inlets in the spring that are loaded with those small turtles and on sunny days they are on all the logs, The big smallies don't seem to mind, I think they would eat the turtle and all the way they smash that spinnerbait  The water is only a couple feet deep and I've seen the turtles slide off right in front of the lure and still get a bite. Never caught a largie by a turtle thou


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## BANDIT (Apr 22, 2004)

A couple years ago, I was with my cousin fishing at Watts Bar. It was early April, nice weather blue bird skies and we weren't catching much of anything. We were back in this one cove and my cousin started trying to knock turtles off logs when he saw them with his bait. (Having heard of this superstition also), I tied on a small blue/chrome rattle trap and started throwing at the turtles also not expecting to catch anything. On the second or third cast I caught a bass and then a few minutes later another. My cousin tied on a rattle trap also and we started using this as our pattern, looking for logs with turtles on them. I ended up catching big bass of the week that day and he had one on about the same size and lost it at the boat which he says I knocked off with the net...  I know this was in Tenn. and fishing in Ohio is about the exact opposite as it is anywhere below the Mason-Dixon Line, so it probably would never happen in Ohio...  But I"ll keep throwing at them turtles, just in case....lol.


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Guys I have asked this question but when it pretains to 'Cats (that a bad word in the bass forum!) anyways from what a couple catfish pros that fish the Mississippi river have told me is that if there is a particualr small body of water or smalla rea of water overan w/ turltes there will be no gamefish ('cats are game fish there). They went into more detail, but I didnt really pay attention after that.


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

i was fishing in a bay on lake fork in texas about 4 years ago and i was throwing a buzzbait. the fish werent doing much so i figured I would try to knock this sleepy cold turtle off of this log. well I kept missing by just a few inches and the turtle didn't move so I kept casting. no joke about a foot from the log a bass blew up on like the 10th cast. It was about a 4 pounder. I had always heard that repeated casts to the same area with a buzbait could pay off. 
So yes I have caught a bass off a log with a turtle on it. The only problem is, if you have ever fished fork, its hard to find a log without a turtle on it! 

This was all about 30 yards from where i was repeatadly attacked by a spawning bowfin that was protecting its nest while I was wading, so maybe in that part of lake fork logic dosen't apply


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## MIKETORBECK (Apr 11, 2004)

My Partner Caught A 5 1/2lb Bass Sunday May 2nd Of A Log With Turtles On It Out Of Bischoff Res. Jig And Pig Pitched In Tight To The Log. I Was Amazed. We Were Discussing This Thread Prior To His Fishing Trip And I Was Pretty Adament About Passing Up These Logs! Guess We'll Have To Fish Them Now.


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## Bassmastr (Jun 8, 2004)

Turtles have nothing to do with it. The fact is that you never know what log is holding a bass!!!


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## Dirty Harry (May 22, 2004)

I was fishing with my brother-in-law at Clendening a few years ago and was trying to point out a turtle on a log. When he couldn't see it, I cast a worm towards the log and said 'right there' and caught a keeper bass (this was in a tournament).
When we fished the same tournament the next year, I asked if he remembered where the turtle was on the log. Joking, he said "I don't remember which log it was on." I cast my worm to the log and -- again -- said 'right there' and caught another keeper bass.
That was the last time we fished that tournament together, but I told the story to my son when we were fishing the same bay and cast to the spot to demonstrate and caught another fish there.


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## BANDIT (Apr 22, 2004)

thought it might put an end to this discussion....  

KNOWLEDGE- Use your bass knowledge. Listen to the fish talking to you. When you generate a strike, note your approach, where you fished, the lure you use and the presentation. Now look for the same structure elsewhere on the lake and repeat your presentations. Always watch for fish locators. Diving birds mean bait fish with predator fish below. Cast your lure into the school of bait fish using lures that imitate the bait fish. *Turtles on a log mean small food fish nearby and structure. Don't back off fishing a log with turtles. They eat bait fish too and the bass will be near the log. Your plastic worm works well by turtle sitting logs.*


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## Fastlane (Apr 11, 2004)

Ok, how about this:
Have you ever caught a log near a bass with a turtle on it


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