SV1000

My goal for 2008 is to learn how to fish plastics. I have tried and so far the only bite I feel is when the bass just hits it. Is it normally a tick, tap, slack line or what? I am saying most common in your experience.

Welcome! I disagree with 90% of people here, I like the taste of Black Bass as much as Crappie and hands down over any catfish. The Filet O' Fish is one of the primary reasons for me needing a bigger outboard; and, the fish in the stores are filthy compared to what I am eating. I live on a private lake and I record how many people I see fishing and on what days, but I can't determine how many fish they catch or keep. There are not that many who fish the 55 acres though. I am doing as much as I can by sinking crappie and bass habitat, logging the fish I catch to access as much as I can about the bass population, and will probably buy a few 1000 Coppernose Bluegill this summer out of my own pocket...and I am on a tight budget. I WILL eat one or two fish every week from our lake. If I find that fish are disappearing or becoming scarce I will change my approach. Here is a link to Pond Management from TP&W http://www.sdafs.org/tcafs/manuals/tcafs_pond_manual_2005.pdf Hope this helps!

OK, I caught two on a buzzbait and missed two hits last night. I only set the hook once but had to resist the urge to set the hook when I saw and heard the hit and wait unil I felt the fish. The hole was about 1/4" in diameter on both fish after the fight, so I think ya'll nailed it...setting the hook more than once is probably causing the lost fish. It makes more sense if I lowered the rod too.

I bought an XPS Slim Dog Sunday and tried it out tonight, it seems to work well and swings about 12"-16" to either side. I think it was a good buy for <4.00. I caught a few nice fish on it tonight and they slammed it. I also tried an XPS Lazer Eye Nitro Super Shallow but didn't get any hits. It ran very straight and has a wide wobble, wakes very well too. Since many of the bass I kept for the pan in February had perch in them, I chose a color that looks very similar to the hybrid sunfish we have in our lake; the color is a light green over yellow/white. I think this will be another good bait for <5.00. My two biggest fish of the night, two 20's weighing 4 lbs and 5.75 lbs were on a Horny Toad in a brown over pearl color. I liked fishing with it. Even though it sinks a bit, a few twitches get it back to the surface. I just threw it in the weeds and started twitching it back and they slammed it hard. Very cool! I can't wait until next week, Daylight Savings Time will give me a full three hours after work 8-)

I went out from 5:00-7:30 tonight, the night after a cold front moved through with rain and very strong winds, there was frost on the truck this morning so it was pretty cold. This afternoon was blue sky, calm and about 60 degrees. I caught three 17's, one 15 and two 20's that weighed 4 and 5.75. I caught one or two on a chart buzzbait but they didn't seem to want to chase it. I picked up my second rod and threw a BPS XPS Slim Dog and they just slammed it! Later in the evening I caught the bigger bass on a Horny Toad, I just cast up in the weeds and popped it back through. No waiting for these guys, they came out of the water. Tomorrow should be even better 8-)

How about the BPS brand crankbaits?

I managed to get to a Bass Pro Shop today thats located about 70 miles from my place. The place was packed but I found some decent deals while navigating around all the glazed eyed zombies. 6 - Bomber A's 1.88 each 1 - XPS Lazer Eye Extreme Shallow Crankbait 25% off 1 - XPS Slim Dog 25% off 1 - Pack of Horny Toads 25% off 1 - Plano Bill Dance Box 4 - Flambeau 3500's for the Plano I looked at the Sammy but I can't spend 14.00 on a bait. The XPS Extreme Shallow crankbait is pretty fat and wide, I hope the action is decent but the price was right. Most of the bass I've kept in February had small perch in their gut. That is why I bought it. I grabbed the closest color to Bluegill I could find, their was nothing similar to a Redear on the shelf. I had all my hardbaits organized and loaded in my typical plano 3 tray box and it fell off the boat seat on Saturday. Needless to say, it was not organized any longer and the reason I splurged. It has been blowing 20+ mph today, I hope it dies off by tomorrow, I really want to try some of the new baits after work.

Hey thanks for the tips, I did not think about tearing a big hole on the second hookset but this may be very likely after switching to braided line. Twisting the hook a bit makes some sense if the fish has latched on to the bait without being hooked. I may try this on one or two of my 1.99 baits from Academy. My favorite buzzbait so far is the Booyah clicker model. Have ya'll had issues with the hooks from this company? I looked for a hook sharpener at BassPro but only found one that looked like a small mill file so I passed on it.

I have hooked a bunch of fish in the last few weeks including at least 8 this morning, set the hook more than once, fought the fish for a bit and then had the buzzbait fly past my head. The hooks feel sharp but it's almost like they latch onto the bait and then open their mouth and let it go. I am stopping by BassPro today and will look at hook sharpeners. Any recommendations?

I picked up some Zoom Chunks before I went to Gibbons Creek yesterday and they worked fine to me. I tried a Toad this morning for a few casts and did get one hit, I wasn't ready so he spit it out before I set the hook. I think they will work great when the vegetation starts to take over in the next month or two. I have (1) scum frog and I can only cast it about 20' with my baitcaster. I caught quite a few last summer with it but then switched to a PopR almost 100%. The Toad is a lot easier to cast and in my opinion, I believe the bass will hold it longer than the plastic frog.

Had fun??? ABSOLUTELY! I definitely see the difference between a low-pressure private lake like my own and a public, known for lunkers lake...it won't be easy catching fish. It also give me more reason to practice plastics and jigs.

...it was my first time fishing Gibbon Creek and I only hooked two bass in 6 hours. I lost both fish on white spinnerbaits after the initial hit with a few jumps. Both looked like they were over 14 and in the 14-24 slot so they were not keepers. I've been tearing them up on our private lake but Gibbon's is not a private lake LOL. I spend the first 1/2 hour throwing into the trees with my Chart Buzzbait and Bandit Footloose. I stuck with the buzzbait for several hours and then switched over to the Footloose and later a jig. I spent the next few hours catfishing and was skunked too, although a couple of kayakers had a nice stringer of channel cats at the boat ramp. What did I learn? My trolling motor mount needs work, my new (used) 6hp Evinrude needs work, the tank bung is not correct for the hose, I hate spinning reels even for catfish, take more water, 6hp is not enough for my 14' Lowe, get on the lake earlier to beat the other 35+ boats on the lake at 7:00. Although I was fishing the shallows all day my bass hit in an area with reeds, up against the bank with some shadows. However, there are not a lot of areas like this. Most folks seemed to be fishing the stumps with plastics, my least favorite method. The jig and trailer was not bad and may have been my best bet but I didn't work it enough. I look forward to going back, possibly over Spring Break. SV

Mine is not a Sammy, it's an H2O from Academy, I saw it tonight. It certainly did not "walk itself" as Raul said in an earlier post.

Topwater? I have a lot to learn...thanks XL

They all have long bills in the photos, only the top example has the short bill. Are those 100 or 200 series that shown as the colors available for the Footloose?

I bought one bag of the Toad's a few weeks ago with a C-rig in mind but then I started reading about jigs being a very popular year around bait. They seem too big and heavy to put on a jig. I laughed when I typed "horny jig" in the search box, it came up dead anyway.

Maybe this article will help... http://www.sdafs.org/tcafs/manuals/tcafs_pond_manual_2005.pdf I am working on a survey by recording the information about the fish I catch and have kept the small fish for the pan.

Burley...check this out http://www.banditlures.com/cart/products.php?cat=14

jemack... I feel your pain, I lived on the south side most of my 30 years in Houston so driving to a lake was a pain. Have you tried Sheldon? It used to be covered in lily pads and alligators but *looked* like it would hold some nice bass. I had no luck bank fishing but if I had a canoe I would probably have boated some fish. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/sheldon_lake/ hooker, If you try Sheldon don't go out in a tube, I'm serious about the gators!

Burley...you are one sick puppy!!! I'm not joking about the haircut either, my 12 and 13 year old daughters were not pleased at all.

The Super is 5" long with 3 hooks and the SS Jr is 3.5" with 2 hooks.

...I figure the 12.00 + tip every three weeks for the high and tight will be good for at least four good baits every time I break out the clippers. The buzz will be perfect for the summer and I'll fill the tackle box without guilt when dipping into the checking account

Does the Luckycraft Sammy have a logo on the belly? I might have an Academy knockoff. I tried using the Super Spook and the other jerkbait last night but the wind was blowing at least 20 and possibly 25 mph. I kept casting into the weeds, casting parallel to the weedline and having the wind blow the bait 15 feet off, ended up with bad backlash and broke my Pinnacle rod slapping the boat during a tantrum. I did however catch 6 bass from 13"-21", hooked at least 6 that I didn't boat and had a few boils on my white buzzbait. I really think the jerkbaits will catch some big fish with some reasonable weather and I think the fish will smash them compared to the PopR's. Do the bass clear the water when they hit jerkbaits?

I just ordered almost every fishing, boating and ATV catalog available from BP, Cabela's and a few bait company's. I am an internet junky and use it as much as possible to research, purchase etc. But since I don't have a laptop I need to restock the library for the fishing season ;D I ordered Cabela's a few days ago and received the Master Fishing, Flyfishing and Saltwater cataloges yesterday. I am not devoted to any store, local or not and will mailorder as much as possible to save money. As an example, neither Gander Mountain or Academy have Sufix Braid locally so I ordered it from Cabela's this week.

My boat is a 14' V jon boat so there are only two positions, front and back. I am having good luck with the TR on the back and fishing backwards. I have a good friend that wants to come up and fish on my lake. I have been aggravating him by sending daily fishing reports and a few pic's until he gets free from work. When he does get here, probably over Spring Break, he will get the front seat and I will put him on the hot spots I have found since I have the advantage on this lake. On a public lake, I would position the boat parallel to the shore and move it about two boat lengths at a time so we could both fan cast. I saw a crappie show this morning and three guys were standing on the front platform...CROWDED!