Cory20

Oh Long Mike, what wit!! I take it all LBH models come preprogrammed with detailed contour maps and hot spot information?

The best investment is your education, but if you realistically have 2000$...you have a lot of cash! You can go through 2,000$ fast while at school. So let's say you do have 2000$ for a boat and you have 2000 more to make it through a school year without bugging your parents for 20$ every weekend to cop a g and roll one.... Plan A Hunt around for a john or semi v. Something that comes with a trailer, runs, and doesn't need much maintenance. Say you find a 14 foot john with a 9.9 for 700$. Great. Everything works, no leaks, yahoo. You can stand up, take a friend maybe two, maybe one that's a girl. Tell your parents that fishing is really important to you and so is college. Then offer to match whatever you spend on buying the boat, registering, maintaining, trailer hitch, fixing the trailer lights (because they never work) etc. on your education. You get a little runabout and your parents get a little help with the bills. Say you buy a little aluminum boat and things don't work out. You're going to be able to sell it and not lose too much $$. Plan B Save your money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in college and went through the whole should I buy something bigger than my 9 foot john boat which I bought for 50$ when I was 14. I still have my little john boat because buying a boat is more than just dollar bills.

Wow LBH that's just about the best advice bassnjar could have heard!!

My best attractant is roasting garlic, ginger, and onion in coconut milk with thai red curry paste. Really piqued the curiosity of some healthy females for me!

I like the shad rap. It's a little light for the size and can be tough to cast and the minnow rap looks to improve on that. I don't like the red hooks and red bill, seems like too much and gimmicky. This summer the shad rap in perch worked better than it's short and fat counterpart. Maybe because perch are actually long and slender not short and fat?

Square Bills - shallow diving depth - float - square bill is used to get a big deflection off of sunken timber or rocks to trigger strikes Traps - sink or suspend - common techniques are ripping them through the tops of grass, burning, yo-yo, slow roll - used when fish are active enough to chase them down

I'm pretty sure power pro is the top choice on the forum, no lighter than 30 #. 30# test braid is the same diameter as 8# test mono. The superlines aren't cheap. Some people use braid for nearly everything. I use it for fishing my larger jigs and any time I'm in real heavy cover. For less visibility you can color the last couple feet with a dark marker and/or use a fluorocarbon leader.

Karu has a good bluegill pattern

How about those strange but true fish stories of what bass will eat. A shallow diving baby turtle or a topwater duckling? Hmmmm...... Someone already did a snake that's gotten very mixed reviews, so who knows.

What lb test leader are you using with the 30 lb braid? Which knots work best for you?

All stages of insect and their wheaties

Water surface temps still in the 80's. Seems like summer out and the leaves are falling of the trees (I know it's a daylight change not temperature, but it's still weird to be around). Maybe it will be fall next week.

Don't forget gravel, rocks, and stones. This is a natural way to impede vegetation and to mix things up. They were here before and will be after you go too.

Be gentle

When picking a color for a top water frog there are lots of choices. Fish will understand commotion and contrast (against the sky and cover) better than actual color. I like junebug with chartreuse kickers or a white belly with a dark back.

I forget which pro said that catching bass was easy, it's finding them that's hard.

On cloudy days the bite may last longer. Matching the color of lure to the amount of light or clarity of the water can help too. You don't need to go overboard and fish only black and blue, but a firetiger or bluegill color might be hit more. Chartreuse spinnerbaits too. Hope this helps, this is all I've been able to figure out and I'm sure someone much more knowledgeable will come along and set you straight

As you start to see the fish coming up slow down your retrieve and see if the fish is going for a jump. If you're cranking away and the fish wants to jump you are helping them look good and get big air. Do the opposite with your rod as the fish. If the fish dives for cover, you go high and fight hard. If the fish looks like it's going to jump don't be afraid to put your rod in the water (talking feet here) and change the point where you are retrieving to below the surface. Set the hook hard enough for your bait and don't forget to set the hook on cranks. Wacky senkos need a little pop, that same hook set would do diddly on a frog in heavy cover. Hope this helps, good luck

"The double, or multiple fluke rig is also deadly. Yes, he may have caught a 3 lbr but the chance for a much larger fish was there, trust me." The rig looked good, the big ones must have been some where else. Maybe the guide knew.

The fish fight when you pull on them. They're not that concerned otherwise.

A quality product at a great price. It can be done!! Love that gelcoat glitter finish too

See above post by Clayton This is especially true with stripers. A jig head on your superfluke is a method to get down to these bigger fish, that are like Clayton said, waiting for the easy pickings to come on down. They don't get big by working their tails off! I was watching a fishing show (forget which one) where the host was out with a guide fishing for stripers in R.I. He was from the south and had little experience with the fish and was having a blast catching all the schoolies on top. The whole time the guide is trying to get him to fish his fluke with a jig head rather than weight less. Seriously, ever other shot is her using a weighted fluke. He of course ignores her completely and goes on to show off his "Special" fluke rig which is a fluke with a trailer hook with another fluke with a trailer hook and so on. He was ripping up three baits to catch one 3 lb schoolie!!!! Maybe that's why he's a fishing show host and not a guide?!?!?

GYCB makes some monster grubs in the 10" variety.

I like Owner twist lock 4/0 and 5/0 as well. Work well with 6" senkos too

The guys cashing in local tourneys have been throwing 7" senkos. Now that is a large piece of plastic!