Paul Roberts

Nice! Always feels good to break the skunkings. Nice looking water too. How close to shore were they?

I'm using a USReel 230sx. I like the design, and the extreme light weight. However it is a bit 'loose' feeling esp in the handle. I think it was over-priced. They've been on sale for a better price. I think the 3G or Pro would offer better quality for the money. I've had the original Ray Scott version, the American made one with a worm gear drive, for several years now and that's been a very good reel. Anyway, that's what I'm using, but there are lots of choices out there.

March 10, 2010 Ice-out?? Not quite. Some gills and small bass were seen along de-iced strips of N shores. NW shores were most thawed. Only one pond had a fully open NW corner, and carp and gills were gathered there. March 18, 2010 Ice out came within the past week, on a sunny warm spell. Perused shallow ponds finding water 52F at shore and 48F just 2feet deeper. In the two shallow ponds I fished I looked for heated water where I could find it downwind (and NW as luck would have it ), on both ponds. In the first pond the NW corner held carp and some bluegills, and numbers of small bass up to 12 that attacked a jig -most just grabbing the pork trailer, then dropping off lol. Optimistic little fellas! Spring is in the air. This corner drew fish, but was too far from winter quarters in this particular pond to draw bigger bass -yet. Next pond had wind blowing strongly across it from the NE. The SW corner cove was being blown into creating a current pinched by a point. Some small bass and gills were in the calm slightly heated cove behind. Caught 5 mature bass 13 to 17 from sparse dead milfoil clumps in the current, swimming a creature through. Despite the cold water (50F) I saw a bust, where a bass chased a pod of gills, obviously making good use of the wind-generated current. Also took a single 15 in back end of the cove, also on the creature. No pics today, just fishing. March 31st, 2010 Winter and summer are still duking it out. Water still cold, with no chance for strong heating today. Larger pond this one: 48F at 8feet, 51F at shore. Fished a jerk and a jig, and a painfully slow-rising lipped crank to probe slightly deeper after I found I could not find the big females. There is a strong year class of 4-5yr olds (13"-14") in this pond I've watched grow over the past few years. Caught 20 nearly carbon copy 13-14ers, a 15 and a 16, and half a dozen around 9-10. The big girls are apparently still away from shore, or deeper on the drops. With water levels so high, and no appreciable heating, they are probably relating to last year's weed edges. Thought I found one, but it turned out to be a 27 7-12 cat -on a jerkbait! It was in fine condition so I took it home. At one point, while I was subduing another carbon copy, a guy walking the pond approached. He told me that it was too early for the bass and I was lucky to get one. I told him that was number 17 for the day, and that if anyone ever tells you can't catch bass in cold water, wellit's a myth. He said, Wow! I guess so. Bass were happy with an aggressive retrieve, but not too much horizontal speed. I swam, and flipped a jig wherever there was cover. Slow rising "potato chip" (shad-style). Short pulls, and pauses. Dinner. Found a stout piece of wood, looked all directions (for possibly sensitive on-lookers), and administered the coup de grace. Best bass for the day a 16. The big girls just weren't up on the shoreline shelf, or in the flooded shoreline cover. Probably off the outer weedwalls of the shelf. I, shorebound today. April 1st, 2010 Cold again (winter just won't give in), with very dark snow squalls pushed around by strong winds. The sky was tornado black at times. In between tempests the water was flat calm downright eerie with black skies in the background. The wind storms were a little disconcerting and at one point the first lightning of the year cracked overhead. I stayed in lees and made sure I wasn't under any big cottonwoods. :-/ Started at a larger pond and measured 48F at 7feet and 51 at shore. I knew what that meant but started my obligatory quick paced jerk retrieve ("power", baby!) to no avail. The first fish was a perfect test case, and its behavior held true: I had switched to a favorite very slow rising (almost suspending) crank and while watching it flutter on the twitch (testing the action), a 10er took it. It was like a jig bite. I went on to catch 5 12-14 on both the jerk and a skirted jig, staying an hour or so. All fish took on bottom and slow horizontal speed. Even with the jerk it was like fishing a jig. A foot too high and fuggetttaboutit! On to a series of smaller ponds that hold some better fish. I stuck with the jig and found a few. But the retrieve was somewhat faster, as these shallow ponds were a tad warmer -52 to 54F. I ended up with 4 more: two 15's, a 17, and an 18. The 17 was holding tight to the bank of a small bar in 2fow and if I'd just walked up to the spot I'd have spooked it. I stayed low and behind the bar and cast over the bar. Whap! The largest fish of the day was filched which means an individual fish I finagled into biting. You know, lures look pretty stupid to educated bass most of the time. To catch them the lure has to do something right (and esp nothing wrong) at just the right place and time within the individual bass' strike window for the given time. Some places and times lend themselves to this, others require filching. In small ponds I don't always find a solid multi-fish pattern -like the wind blown area found last week (the 18th). Sometimes it's visiting places that consistently hold fish (these are small waters) and having to figure out how to get bites. I approached one such spot carefully (it always holds several larger bass top fish for these waters -17 to 20 inches) and cast my trio of lures to the important places and some less likely places nada. As I gathered my rods to move on, I spotted the dark shape of a large bass about 4feet down. I flipped the jig beyond and hung it until she got within appropriate range, then I let it fall bass LOVE falling prey-sized objects . I laid the braid slack on the surface (but straight just like nymph fishing with fly tackle) and watched it. It made two flicks as she handled the jig, I set, and lipped an 18+. As I hoofed out I looked at my bloody, tooth-torn fingers, and knew they'd sting like hell when they warmed up. I passed a couple of well dressed birders, aware of my mud boots and layers of old fishing clothes spattered with black mud and long-dead algae, remembering I had to stop at the grocery store on the way home. I saw my shadow on the ground as the setting sun broke out of the clouds low behind me, and reveled in what I saw a fisherman, and a happy one at that. It had been a long winter.

I agree that the JM felt lighter in hand, and likely was. You do pay extra for the highest modulus graphites. In fact when I added a new spinnerbait rod to my arsenal I would have chose the JM over the CL, but found a Browning Midas (85mill.psi) on the clearance rack. It's tough to judge actual weight of rods though without a scale; Balance affects this so much. My 6-6 M F spinning weighs 3.9oz. That's pretty light for that power -and it's a strong "M" -with plenty of butt. Compare this with my Kistler LTA 7ft M -similar power but 6 longer, and no skeletal guides -at 3.6oz . From just "rack testing" rods in that price range though, I'd say the CLs are top in the price range in terms of stiffness/weight. My CL is fast, but the tip is soft enough to cast lighter baits well, and allow me to watch the vibrations of plugs. It was my designated jerkbait rod for the day (actual several days now) and it's done that just fine. It's faster than what might be considered a "plug rod", but I didn't lose a fish with it due to pull-outs -back-reeling helps there in that I have complete and instant control of tension. Looks like Fishing Rhino also gave his CL a workout too see his Sprinkler Head thread in the My fishing section. With any super high modulus rod, breakage is possible. I've used a number of rods that had high breakage rates, and none have given way (without my help lol). BPS will see how they hold up with the general public. I don't expect to break mine and it will make a very good all-round M spinning rod -esp for jigs (single hooks). They make a 6-6 ML that might be an ideal jerk/light crank rod, as well as finesse jig rod.

Very nice, Tom. Beautiful fish, and nice photo too.

Neither and both. I do what it takes. I prefer to fish fast, of course, but that is dependent on the fish. It can be tough to "power fish" small waters -when you don't have a ton of water to search for (very much) water that supports your strengths. But with the number of small waters available to us here, I can usually find some fish more willing to meet me some of the way. Also, concerning small waters, finding the fish is less an issue -it's getting the bites. If I put myself fully in either box, I'd be short changing myself and missing what's really going on and what needs to be done at a given place and time.

Been getting some fishing in, and using my new BPS Carbonlite 6-6 spinning rod some. Yesterday it got a workout: Along with ~20 bass (13"-16" -where were the big girls??), came a 27" 7-12 channel cat -on a jerkbait! I actually hate hooking cats as they take time to beach, and this one broke the lip off a favorite jerk > . Took less than 5 minutes on .010 FC -coldwater and back-reeling help a lot. Got some nice fillets and my son got to get out of bed, on a school night, and help me fillet and dig through the cool insides of a fish. 8-) It's stomach had thousands of Chironomid larvae (along with the mud these live in), one crayfish, the remnants of a rather large fish judging by the remaining bones. Anyway. So far so good with the CL.

You'll get used to it. Wind is the biggest hassle for me. But then you only have to add a FC leader and you're back in business.

Ha! I've had that SAME thought! In fact, I've got an orange and green G.I. Joe that I plan on injecting with insulation foam for buoyancy + 4/0 hook + trailer hook sitting in my car that I've wanted to toss out on an aggressive frog day for awhile! Only problem is, I've never been able to convince myself to waste good fishing time throwing a G.I. Joe! That would NOT be a waste of time! If you do, share the pics with us.

OK... I took the reel apart and found it was almost new inside. In VERY good condition. I didn't even find anything to clean -no gunk, no grit, no grime. Greased and oiling and that was that. I did some research and the ABU XL series and they get very good reviews. I got a parts blow-up from Mike's Reel Rapair site too. One of the comments made was that the reels don't hold up to heavy flippin' work. It's a rather complicated reel (with all the it's bells and whistles) -one guy complained they tried to put everything into it. It also had some nylon gears I didn't like the looks of, but they appear to be associated with the levelwind worm gear and I assume get minor stress. Saltwater guys suggested drag washer upgrades. Here's a pic. It was scarcely used! The sticker on the thumbar and levelwind hood where you'd rest your thumb when palming it, show virtually no wear at all! : One more pic. What $110 dollars can buy, if you keep your eyes open: ABU UltraMagII ($5), ABU UltraMag XL Plus ($25), Daiwa Fuego ($80).

I don't use flash very often. For bright sun with shadows, or if I'm taking a pic with the subject filling the frame, like an angler holding a fish, I'll use fill flash. What I want to avoid is the bright "flashed" fish and dark background look I too often get. Maybe the fill flash on my camera's are too strong? I tend to meter on the fish and then shoot without flash. I also like the mood natural light can often cast, even if the pics are a bit soft.

VERY nice. Congrats Dave! Love your pics; Feel like I'm out there with you guys.

OK...I purposely didn't tell you this story...but I did once meet an aggressive snapper. I fended him off with a stick while I fished the spot. I was on shore and this was an aggressive individual and probably some breeding territorial thing going on. I've seen, caught, played with, and even eaten, a lot of snappers in my time, and never had a problem. The one mentioned wasn't even a problem. If had been in my tube I'd have simply pushed him away, or kicked away from the area if I really had to. Snappers are generally reclusive, and downright easily spooked. No turtle has ever kept me from fishing.

Good thread. Thanks, BigE. I'll add something to the pot: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1218589384/0

Velcro is your friend. Snappers? Don't even worry about it. There are snappers in every pond I fish. I like them actually -but they are pretty shy. But, my guess is that sort of fear has less to do with "turtles" and as much to do with dark water weedy you can't see into. :-/ If you can muster the courage -there's nothing down there that can hurt you -unless maybe you live on Florida. Oh yeah...except, the muddy bottom thing mentioned above.

Leaders First, I'll tell you how they are made and why, so you can think for yourself as you go. You may want to make your own, or work from a factory tapered leader. I tie my own , and the only factory ones I used I didn't like the tapers. I'm sure there's good ones out there. When I didn't like the factory leader I'd just use the transition and add my own butt and tippet. Again, The basic formula: 60% butt, 20% transition, 20% tippet. And this is roughly what you want don't need to worry about being exact. For butt material I use .015 to .017 for 3-4wt, .017 to .019 for 5wt. You use the thicker (heavier) material for larger flies, esp in wind, thinner materials for quiet splashdown in quiet waters. It's the weight (mass), not the diameter or stiffness that matters (despite what you might read). But not too heavy; You tend to want a butt about the same stiffness as the fly-line it's going to be nail-knotted to. Test it by comparing the curvature of the fly-line and leader butt when connected they should maintain a similar curve. The tippet is the fishing end, matched to hook size mostly. The transition is a mutli-piece step-down from the butt to the tippet. The number of steps dependant on how much diameter change there is from butt to tippet thick butt and thin tippet requires more pieces. The transition does two things: It transfers cast energy smoothly to the fly, and doesn't allow weak knots caused by too quick a transition between diff diameter pieces. About .003 is about as different a line diameter as you should attempt more important at the finer end. An example for a 4wt line. It'll be an 8ft leader, which is a good length to start with casting wise the shorter the easier to cast. For bluegills a short leader is fine. In fact my young son uses a 3 or 4 footer with good effect, and it's something he can handle with minimal wind knot' problems: .017 butt (5ft), .014/.011/.008/ transition (1-1/2ft total), .006 tippet (1-1/2ft), size 10/12 fly. You can vary things to fit circumstances, but confine deviations from the basic 60/20/20 to the transition and esp the tippet section, mostly. Probably as a bass fisher you already have much of what you need to tie your own or doctor up a factory leader. You don't need special fly-leader material; I use Trilene XT a filler spool of each diameter will last you a long time. You can mix and match brands too, just pay attention to diameters. I'm sure there are good factory leaders out there too I just couldn't recommend any out of sheer ignorance lol. But to do either you need to know at least two knots practice and they become easy: Nail Knot (attaching butt to fly-line), Surgeon's Knot (adjoining lines of diff diameters). As you cast, watch for caster's knots some call them wind knots lol. It's an overhand knot caused by the leader running into itself on the cast and they severely weaken your leader. These will be with you for a while, til you get the hang of things. You'll get good with Surgeon's Knots regardless. Bluegill Hunt with my son. He uses short 3 to 6ft leaders for ease of handling. Bass too! This 19"er was spotted under a footbridge at one of our FF camps. I gave an impromptu lesson in "bass filching" with a borrowed 9wt and a saltwater "eel fly" -essentially a plastic worm made without plastic lol. Fished it JUST like I'd sight fish a plastic worm: The drop, the pause, the twitch, ...Thump! It put on a great show too, making three head-shaking jumps. Very cool. Black eel flies were tied with fervor the rest of the week lol. Bass leaders are simpler, but then again your aren't going to be using a 4 or 5wt. Think of a 6wt as akin to finesse spinning. For LMs, esp in cover, you are talking about an 8wt minimum. First to pitch a BIG fly (can't be too big) and second to winch em out of cover. My bass leaders for such a rig are two or three parts since they tend to be short, with tippets of .014 to .017.

3lbs. Camera's have a way of distortin' images... ;D

Cool stories. Hooligan, that takes the cake. And finding fine cane rods is amazing. I've found only two of quality: a Winston and an Orvis (1960s). One reel I picked up a 1960s Hardy Princess (the champaign green one) I found in a box in Doctor's garage I was being paid to clean when I was about 16. He said I could have it. Then he wanted to pay me for my day. I told him "No, no. The Hardy is enough." I've used it ever since. I bought and sold a lot of old vintage tackle to collector's too, sometimes for surprising sums. I once sold some old muskie plugs for a buddy that had belonged to his grandfather. The collector bought 10 of the lures. I returned to my friend's house and had fun presenting him with the money. I handed him a $20 bill. Then another, then another, and another, ... and watched his eyes widen as I kept going, to $250. He couldn't believe it.

Congrats! Glad there were smallies there. 5-3 is one heck of a smallie!

Quite a few years ago I stopped at a garage sale and found an ABU XLT stuck on a cheap kiddie rod -for 5$! SCORE! Yesterday I was at a consignment shop with my wife and son looking for a particular piece of furniture (something to help organize our chaotic mudroom/entry). Big place so we split up, checking for any tackle as I go, of course. My wife calls me and says, "There are a pile of fishing rods in the SW corner of the E room -easy to miss back there." I find my way there and find a tangle of old and cheap glass rods (some that bring back memories). Amongst the tangle I spot a Fuji guide sticking out. I reach in and disentangle it from the mess, and it's an Eagle Claw Blue Diamond, with an ABU XL Plus!! Nice reel. Swedish made, dual brake, free floating line guide, narrow spool, Thumbar, Flippin' switch, quick remove sideplate for spool change, and in virtually spanking new condition! It apparently wasn't used much at all. Drag is still strong. No grease or gunk on it. Inside the side plate it's dry and shiny -looks literally like new -in better condition than the one I found in that garage sale years ago and have used flawlessly for years -although the magnets weren't ABU's strong suit then. I've got to Google it to see just what I have, and lube and cast it. It's got a ~4.5:1 ratio so it was apparently designed as a fippin' winch. The price belied the junk pile I pulled it from -$25. But I happily paid it. Oh yes, the Blue Diamond. Really nice light crisp graphite, esp for it's day (1980's -the reel comes form that era too I believe), but...they had breakage problems. And alas the rod was about 4inches shorter than it should be, and a pistol grip too. AND I accidently left it on the roof of the car DOH!, drove off, and heard it clatter off the roof. In my rearview I watched the car behind me not swerve to miss it. Oh well -not much of a loss -a shortened already short pistol grip rod, although I do have some reverence for those early attempts at high modulus rods. I owned and fished a BD rod for several years before getting lax and breaking it on a steelhead. As to the reel SCORE!!!

...so take advantage of whatever window in you get, and don't question it because it doesn't fit the season, the report, whatever. I've had great results this winter on the bottom with jigs and hogs...but when my fishing buddy's spinner gets pounded, first cast, it's probably a good idea to give it shot. I caught my best fish (7 10) on the observation that they wanted to react that evening, rather than sticking with the bottom feeding game that had been producing. The lesson for me was read the fish first, and don't question it based on history, season, report, etc...or I might miss a good window of activity. Good luck! That's good advice. I can be too thick to notice when the fish were telling me something lol. But when fish are chasing, I'll take the hint. Sometimes they NEED that speed. I've even taken to speed testing the smaller more abundant bass to see how they react.

Fun. I remember the 'bows in the morning thing. Red teeth on that one too. Is that the picnic table boat that goes with your lawn chair boat? ;D

My best guess is that there were prey fishes in that moss -likely feeding on midges. The bluegills, if that's what they were, were close to the surface. Warm water floats too btw. I've seen similar situations and look for them now. Just last week I found bass in dead milfoil in 47F water chasing bluegills in 2-3 fow I found them with a lure and fished and watched and eventually saw the busts -boils from bass chasing 'gills. I caught a half dozen good ones there -but not on topwater although I probably could have, as strike came within a foot of the surface. There's never NO reason to be made of a situation. We just may not be hip to what's going on in a world we can't see into. And while fish may act on "instinct", that doesn't mean the world around them isn't important, or that they don't notice opportunity when it knocks.

Ditto! When Carl Lowrance first developed sonar they called em "fish locators" and used them that way. But they were missing the real show -the importance of underwater landscapes. Good hunter don't hunt deer and rabbits just looking for deer and rabbits. Eventually you get to know the landscapes they rely on to live, and understand how they make there livings there. Same with fish, but we cannot just go see it. GF, I fish shallow ponds with sonar and do see fish, but not always. Realize your beam cuts a pretty narrow swath, and only fish near beam center will appear as classic "hooks".

It goes away rapidly -the brilliant red anyway. It fades to duller red and remains for a while but is not so noticeable. Good pics in this thread showing the progression. Dunno how long on a given fish, but the whole process takes a good month to fade. But the scarlet, bleeding red, goes in a matter of days after ice out where I fish, in shallow ponds that warm rapidly. Team9 said he was going to try the ice down idea this year. He also spoke with a fish pathologist who was unaware of this. I'm certain there are physiologists who would know what's happening with this, but I haven't taken the time to search them out.