Welcome said that these ditches are good places to find schooling bass.

"When you locate these schools along the ditches, anchor up and cast repeatedly to them. There's no telling how many bass you might catch from a single location," he suggested. This is a situation where he had produced some of those 100-plus-fish days.

The only place better to find bass than an irrigation ditch is at the intersection of two such depressions. By observing the patterns of the vegetation along the ditches, you can easily locate the junctions. These sites are especially good when current is moving through the lake.

The bottom line is, the deeper water in the ditches makes them great places to encounter bass just about anytime of the year!

LURE SELECTION
Regardless of the location, one pressing question for anglers is always, "What bait should I use?" Live shiners are always the best option on he Stickmarsh. They can be fished from an anchored boat or trolled on balloon rigs to cover move water.

But these days, many anglers find more pleasure in using artificial baits. Here is look at the ones George Welcome recommends.

Nothing is more exciting than catching bass on the surface. Even the missed strikes get one's heart beating faster. Chugger-style baits from Storm Lures are the guide's premiere choice for topwater action.

"Some days the bass want them fast, and other days it's more of a chug- chug-and-pause retrieve that triggers the hit," George Welcome pointed out.

After a little "field-testing," the bass generally let you know which way they want it.

Lots of colors seem to work, but one that emerges as a favorite is a blue and silver chrome pattern.

Topwater lures can be worked over the top of vegetation with great effectiveness. And you better have your pacemaker checked before fishing the Stickmarsh, because some of these topwater strikes are explosive!

On days when bass seem to be missing your topwater offerings, try downsizing the lures. Sometimes this results in a higher hookup percentage.

Senkos are mainstay lures on the Stickmarsh and have accounted for more big bass than any other artificial bait used by Welcome or his clients. The guide prefers 5-inch versions in dark colors, such as watermelon, June bug and brown.

As for crankbaits, nothing beats a Rat-L-Trap on the Stickmarsh. These lipless, medium-running crankbaits can be fished at a variety of depths, depending on retrieval speed. This can be critical when encountering varied depths of vegetation and timber on the Stickmarsh.

Adding soft-plastic jerkbaits such as Zoom's Super Fluke to your offerings nearly completes the ideal Stickmarsh tackle box. These versatile lures can be rigged weedless -- a huge advantage when fishing many portions of the Stickmarsh. Favorite colors are watermelon, salt-and-pepper, or pearl.

No box is complete without a spinnerbait, however. Welcome's favorite is a 1/2-ounce Terminator with Colorado blades. Colors choices are white or firetiger.

When heading to the Stickmarsh, rig your rods with at least 17-pound-test line. Even little bass will try to bury you in vegetation or wrap your line around stumps if you don't wrestle them to the surface immediately.

Medium to medium-heavy rods are recommended for handling hefty line and to muscle bass out of thick vegetation and wood.