Rattlinrogue

Cedar,so far all I've done is work on the minnows themselves.CJ,thanks for that info! Hey,Sorethumb I've managed to keep from cutting myself to ribbons,but Jamie gave it a try and immediately cut his finger.Wailed like a tomcat!

I fished those exact conditions on Sunday.I went with a big spinnerbait in a flashy color called Golden Shiner.Had really big thumping blades on it.In my situation it was almost impossible to fish a slow moving bait because the wind and waves were so bad.I decided to try for a reaction bite,and I caught four nice bass.

What a bass!

Will do,Falcon! Thanks.

The Skeeters,Tritons,and Rangers are in a class by themselves,no doubt.Call me crazy(or cheap),but I've always had this thing for Nitro boats.I'm planning on buying my first "real" bassboat next year.Although I love my little ole Terry and it gets the job done,I'm ready for something that looks good for a change.

Dang Matt,everything really IS bigger in Texas!Man,what a hawg!

Welcome,Tide12.You're entering the greatest sport chasing the greatest sportfish,and you landed on the world's #1 bass fishing site.As for learning the sport,there are so many fine articles on this site I'm sure you'll learn as you go.If you have specific questions,by all means,ask.There are NO stupid questions!Just take it slow and learn all you can.A year from now,you'll be a competent basser.Again,welcome!

Thanks,cedar!

My newest passion is carving balsa wood floating minnows.You can get the wood really cheap at hobby stores.So far I've managed to carve out some,IMO,outstanding minnows of all sizes.I still need to add the hardware and the paintjob.Does anyone have any experience in painting balsa baits?Any info or tips would be highly appreciated.When I get 'em "perfect" ,I'll post some pics of them.Thanks for any suggestions on painting these baits.Tight Lines,RR

It's alright Russ.Have a drink...er I mean,fish on me!

Cravenfish,welcome!

Ron,you sound like my kind of guy! Welcome!

Favorite mag=Bassin' with Bassmaster 2nd;TV=Angler on Tour with Pro Team Journal 2nd;Book= ?

Keep it simple.T-rigs and C-rigs will cover you pretty well as far as catching numbers of bass.I like to pitch a T-rigged tube or creature bait,pegged also.

My best colors this Winter have been green pumpkin finese worm and lizard,green pumpkin w/chartreuse tail lizard in highly stained water,watermelon red lizard,and Chartreuse pitchin' tube in highly stained water.

The temp had been 62-65 degrees for several weeks and the fish were starting to move into the backs of coves in fairly shallow water last weekend.On Sunday,the temp was down to 54 degrees and I caught 7 bucks toward the mouth of the cove with a SK 3/8 ounce chartreuse with tandem gold willowleaf blades.Strangely,this is the coldest water temps that I've recorded all Winter(of course,I haven't really fished as much as I'd wanted).

I keep mine in the original bag.

If a guy wants to spend $20 on a bait,more power to him.I own exactly one Lucky Craft Live pointer 80MR.I've caught hundreds and hundreds of bass on Rogues,Rapalas,and Rebels and that's good enough for me.I plan on giving the Live pointer a really legitimate look this spring and early Summer.I just haven't given it a chance.I'm quite sure it's a bass catcher if given a chance.I just haven't developed any confidence in it yet.If it's as good as advertised,I'll be buying many more.

I use Yamalube oil.It's a brand new outboard and the dealers suggested to stick with the oil that Yamaha has for its outboards.I know they're saying this to get me to buy their oil,but why take any chances?Works great and with the mixture at 100:1,It takes me a couple of months to go through one bottle of it.

Flech,I do the same as you, down to the weight.I pitch tubes and creature baits with a 1/4 ounce weight pegged.I get all the distance that I need,and I can control it much better than with a 1/2 ounce weight.As you stated ,loosen that spool and turn off that braking system.You'll get all the distance needed.As far as flippin', it's not meant to get long distances.It's for close up work.BiGame,you just have to practice your pitchin',and be sure to keep your thumb on the spool or you'll get a nasty overrun.

With a floating minnow,I'll add a little more red on a j-bait with a white belly.I use my wife's red fingernail polish.I also tie a piece of red yarn off of the rear treble hook on most topwaters to give the look of entrails hanging out of an injured minnow.

After each fishing trip,I print out a Bass Resource log(which is free!) and record all the info from my trip.I find that the BR log sheet pretty much covers everything that I want to record about my trip!

I'd have to say Central Florida.My son lived there for a year,and there are numerous world class bass fisheries all around.In addition to that you are an hour from the Atlantic and an hour from the Gulf of Mexico for saltwater fishing.Throw in a 3 hour trip to Miami's canals where you can catch peacock bass,and you have a diverse choice of types of angling.I would certainly want to live in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Celebration area.Now that I'm gonna be out of coaching and teaching in 5 weeks,I'm seriously considering a move.I simply love Central Florida!

During the Summer,waking up at 3-4 AM ,at least 4 times a week to be on the water for the early bite.

I think it is,but I also think there's one swimming around right now that's bigger.