Cory20

Nothing like crushing the old PB! 8-)

Try the stickies. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1120348381 You don't need to exclusively use a floating worm. This will probably be moved in 2.2 seconds. No worries sharkbite, this fishing stuff gets easy...so I hear.

and cover

Sharkbait, boo haha What power and action rod do you have? What techniques do you fish most? I fish rock and grass cover the most. Right now I have these going: Casting 7' Heavy Fast with braid. Frog/pitching/mattlures baby bass 7' MH Xfast 15 lb berkley pro grade flouro. T-rig, light jig, spinnerbait, traps, plastics 7' M fast to moderate fast 12 lb something, probably going to try green hybrid ultrasoft. crankbaits, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, traps, topwater, trebled moving baits 6'6 M fast to moderate fast, 10 lb suffix siege mono. jerkbaits, cranks, topwater Spinning: 6'6 M F 10 lb flouro. lures too light for my baitcasting capabilities, finesse/weightless plastics 6' ML 6 lb flouro. finesse plastics

I'm no expert, but here are some things that I keep in the back of my mind while releasing and handling. Rule number 1!! Anything that Bill Dance does, you shouldn't. Handling. - Always wet your hands to prevent rubbing off their protective slime. - Don't let them flop around on the carpet, removes slime like sandpaper would remove our skin. - If holding by jaw alone, hold vertically. A bass's lower jaw does not take abuse well. Even a 1 or 2 lb fish can have their jaw seriously damaged by mishandling. This will lead to an inability to feed, then death. Most of the fish's weight should be supported with your other hand on their belly. Here is a thread on lipping fish with good pictures. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1207538665/6#6 - Have your tools for release on hand and ready. I used to overlook this and would be fishing around for pliers causing completely unnecessary stress on the fish. - Don't touch their gills (duh). - A rubber coated net is much, much, easier on a fish than the old nylon ones. - The matter of hooks differs from person to person and there have been a few times in tournaments where I wish I had an extra hook in a good fish. When "fun" or "free" fishing things are different. Flattening barbs greatly reduces damage to regular and gut hooked fish. I've noticed on my three trebled jerkbaits and topwaters that the rear hook is rarely hooked on the inside. That hook gets them in the gill plate, the top of the head, and the eye more often than not. Spooks and jerkbaits are not eaten gently with the front hook doing most of the heavy lifting. A Jimmy Houston release never hurt anyone Release - If possible keep the fish in the water during hookout. - I don't like the way a belly flop feels when I do one, I can't imagine fish do either. - Again, I'm no scientist, but I know when I'm sprinting and running around for a while that I'm out of breath. I know that during this time my muscles are producing energy anaerobically. Lactic acid and carbon dioxide is produced and retained in muscles. This is what makes them sore and cramp. I think the same or very similar thing happens to these fish that are fighting so hard. When we breathe the fish it's like the NFL lineman putting the oxygen face mask on. What I do to breathe a fish is support the fish by the belly a little ways behind the gills and hold them in front of the tail. I then move them back and forth, slowly moving water past their gills. Like so many things in fishing, the fish will tell you when they're ready and swim off. Other There are some special situations, such as caring for fish in livewells, how to unhook gut hooked fish, and what to do with bleeding fish. This thread contains good information on proper fish care while in a livewell and when bleeding. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1205107829/0 I know I've read a few threads here about successful techniques for unhooking gut hooked fish. I couldn't find any in a search though, anyone know where they are? I know most of my ideas or techniques are common sense. I know most of the problems on the water that I have had and read about on here aren't (fortunately) of catastrophic nature. They are caused by a lack or forethought and common sense. Things like not charging the batteries the night before, not checking knots and damage on the line, properly set drag, making sure the drain plug is in etc. They are all easily avoidable, as is the mishandling of a largemouth bass.

Have you looked at the sticky by LBH? Are you looking for something in particular?

What kind of tackle?

I haven't used the starflash material, but have heard good things. It depends on how much looks matter to you. You will still catch them on raw lead. You can use lure paint or nail polish. An epoxy top coat will make that application much more durable, but is another step and more time. If your jigs are raw lead I would look into some powder paint, try black for starters.

So, are you fishing plastic trailers with or with out salt? I take mine off and let my jigs dry out before storage. This has cut down on rust for me.

What he said.

After a day of rain I'm usually at work or class because it's monday.

c'mon DSV, I thought you'd have sniffed this one out. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/hard-baits/9216-thinning-devcon-prefer-rubbing-denatured-alcohol.html?highlight=thinning+epoxy

denatured alcohol

Don't know much about it, looks cool. Reading tackletour's review on it now. Let us know

MMMmmmMMMmmm foot. My favorite fishing show by far Mike D. Can't wait for the new season.

My black sharpie thinks it would be fine

I fish a lot of frogs exclusively in lily pads at Round Lake, NY. I use both the hollow bodied and soft bodied variety. Equipment: 7' Heavy Fast rod, 6.1 or faster geared baitcaster, 30-50 lb braid. Owner twistlock 4/0 or 5/0 hooks. Conditions: Cloud cover and wind gets these fish charged up. The pads eat up a lot of the ripples and waves. I'll throw the softbodied variety in these conditions. I like to get the legs kicking and then let it die in a hole and sit for awhile. Strikes occur throughout this process, usually on the stop or start. When it's bright out, I'll slow it down and try a hollowbodied frog first. When I say slow down, I really like to hop em into an open pocket and just let it sit for a long while. If they aren't taking that presentation off the surface, then I'll go to a soft toad or a worm. Remember to really feel the fish and then swing hard. There's a lot of grass, plastic, and fish to get a big hook through. Good Luck

Some nice chunks! Good work.

Ok, never done this before, much less thrown a swim bait...but there's this guy...Fish Chris. He knows how to rig and fish them, very well. Here's how he rigs a hud, hope it helps. http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/huddleston_deluxe.html

Cool experiment hester, I've wondered that same thing. Keep us in the know 8-)

Welcome I'm sure someone will have a good suggestion for you shortly.

What a hawg of a thread! Can't wait to try out these tactics.

Those are some beauties. Nice photoshop work too

Wow water based? Very cool.

I had heard of KVD line conditioner, but at 2.75 $ a bottle I wanted to see if silicone spray was a good option. I had heard rumor about silicone spray and I was reading one of KVDs books (strategies maybe?). In there he talked on how he uses silicone spray on all of his lines. Obviously this was before he helped develop his own line conditioner. I know in that we in the fishing world understand that you get what you pay for. I also know there aren't to many of us that would pay 8$ where 3 $ would do fine extending the life of mono and flouro. "Well, the problem is that the silicone sprays smell like a petroleum product and the smell lasts a loooooooong time!" RW I can imagine that there is quite a smell. I don't want to open up an already heavily debated topic as to whether fish can smell petroleum or oil based scents. I'm not really convinced one way or another. I do know that I don't like having unnatural smells on my fishing lures; i.e. sunscreen, gasoline, bug spray me. So after reading the posts and the information from the line and lure website, the kicker for me is going to be that the line and lure conditioner actually bonds to the line instead of coating it. Not smelling like petroleum and gumming up my gear is a plus too. Maybe Reel Mech will see this one and respond or I'll send him a PM. Thanks gang, I'm sure I won't be disappointed.