bigbill

I think it was Fish Chris who decades ago was trophy fishing for record breaking bass who was using ultra lite equipment so it's not a new thing today. I think there are many more using it today. I use spinning and baitcasting reels. And yes there are what I call thicker bass rods. With more lower backbone. I for years never seen them sold that much locally. I'm not sure if we have bass fisherman in numbers here. It seems to me we have more trout fisherman here. The guys we see for the first six weeks the season opens. Someday I'll make it to cabelas and spend the day there. I still don't think that bass fishing here in the northeast is as popular as it is in the rest of the country. We have one of the biggest freshwater game fish here and not that many fish for them too the great northern pike. You can sit there all day fishing for trout with no success then this guy shows up with his son, in a few minutes catch two three pound bass and we get the evil eye from the trout fisherman. The bass are there waiting for the correct lure.

I purchase outdated New rods and reels at 50% off the $100 list. I have so many rod setups. I have setups for shore fishing and boat fishing. My money is in lures more than rod and reels. I have two more expensive hobbies to feed too. But you guys do have some nice looking stuff there. It's so Purdy I'd hate to fish with it. Congrats there's some awesome reels there. Bigbill

I purchased some better quality spinning reels with up to ten bearings. I notice them a tad harder to turn with spinnerbaits. I use them on my plastics setup first to break them in a little first. I could be wrong, maybe it's me getting older.

Everything that works down south pretty much works here when the ice is gone and it warms up in the northeast. Now if the larger baits don't work I go smaller in size. I use the 1/8 & 1/4oz spinnerbaits with success. On the other end the 12" worms will catch 13" fish go figure. Success comes with improving our skills nothing beats our time spent on the water.

My back up plastics and hardbaits are in cardboard labeled boxes on shelves this is my last resort storage. My next storage is in those large green spinnerbaits worm boxes. I think I have 12 of the large spinnebait and worm boxes. After this my 17 or so tackle boxes store the rest plus one magnum boat bag. All this is on shelves. I also have the 3700 plastic cases for storing my hooks of all kinds, my c rig stuff(beads,brass weights,swivels) another 3700 for lead and steel bullet weights. I mainly fish with up to five tackle boxes from shore. Topwater #9606 large barn roof box stuffed with every brand and color topwater lure. Crankbait #9606 large barn roof box stuffed with most crankbaits. Medium sized Crankbait 9606 large barn roof with larger crankbaits, Minnowbaits. Weedless box with every weedless lure known to man. Plastics box with senko, worms, swimbaits. Besides this I have a quick fish box with a little bit of everything. My magnum boat bag is stuffed with the 3700 cases full of everything my tackle boxes have. Trust me we never have enough storage. I have a tackle room stuffed with more fishing equipment than mom and pop bait shops. I admit I have a problem my name is Bill and I'm a tackle hoarder. I'm also a color freak too. I change lure colors till one works. You can't read the water conditions from shore exactly. When nothing else works the buzz word is chartreuse or firetiger. I need the number 18 tackle box soon for the swimbaits I started buying up. I purchase backup stuff to the point my backup has backup. When my smaller tackle boxes over flowed I purchased the largest split roof 9606 tackle boxes. Now there stuffed. Do I use everything? Yes on each trip I throw a wide assortment of lures. Sometimes it's throwing a lure I haven't used in a while. Those larger deeper running shad raps really do work. The infisherman used them for decades. Example. Right now I carry every bomber fat A, model A, shallow A in every size and color, I carry every color of Norman fatboys and thin n's. A variety of different colors and sizes of shad raps, glass raps, original rapala. Due to my health my shortened fishing time I can't throw everything like I once did. I love throwing lures just making my presentations Oscar winning perfect. Then the bass interupt me, that's how I know I got it right.

Try the Norman thin N too in redear and chartreuse killer.

Look at eBay.

A mass release can really stir up the bacteria on the bottom changing the PH. The mouths of the bass are tighter than zip lock bags. You need a PH tester. Look for a 7 or as close to it as you can get. If your in a boat. From shore fish behind every rock.

Your not saying where you are? Here it's still cold temps at night and maybe 60's in the daytime with lots of wind. I would suggest staying home. But if I had no wind I'd go out to check all my rod setups in the daytime for night fishing in the dark. At this time I'd practice my presentations. Throwing my crankbaits.

I like a 5'6" spinning rod setup for smaller plastics, smaller crankbaits, inline spinners, spinflys, bugs, smaller lures. I also like a 6'/6'6" rod for a Carolina rig/worm rod/senko Larger plastics.

Norman thin N in redear, chartreuse killer, voilet. Bomber fat A, model A, shallow A in colors, Redapplecraw Baby bass orange bottom Green bass orange bottom Silver shad Greencraw Browncraw Chartreuse blues Citrus Firecraw Mann's classic spinnerbaits 1/4oz gold colorado blade, blue glimmer(white) skirt, mister twister 4" white split double tail grub trailer, with trailer hook. 1/4oz gold Colorado blade, chartreuse skirt, mister twister 4" chartreuse split double tail grub trailer, with trailer hook. Blue glimmer skirts for white. Hot chartreuse skirts for chartreuse. Split shot rigged black plastic worm. Split shot rigged purple plastic worm. Carolina rig, 24" adjustable carolina keeper setup. For senkos, brushogs, creature rigs, etc. Topwater spooks, rebel popr, popr frog. Don't forget the yum shad and crawfish scents too. Build your skills, fish to win.

Select a ritual of lures to throw. I do this on every trip. I practice with every lure to see how many presentations I can do with each lure. Being on my own when my mentor passed away I found this sight for some guidance and went out practicing with lures. I carried lures in my tackle box for over 3+ decades and never used them or caught a fish on them. I never knew lures worked the way they do till one night while fishing a small road side swamp with open water and stumps. It was in the evening with rain on the way in a few hours away. We were using 12" culprit worms and as I reeled it in I had a strike. Silly but the fish told me they wanted something moving. I just picked up a mepps assortment of bass #3 inline spinners a few days before. I put on a #3 mepps silver blade and brown tail and started catching bass after bass. My son seen this and says do you have anymore of these inline spinners. I gave him a #3 mepps with a red/white blade and gray tail and we both caught doubles after doubles till it got dark. It's been lures ever since. I was fishing with two rod setups one with live bait and one with lures. Soon the lures was out fishing the live bait. I was spending $50 on live bait per week. When my catch picked up with lures I stopped using live bait and purchased more lures. Since we only use lures now I save money so I purchase lures for the whole family. I show or explain to my son's with there gals how to use lures and all of them are catching fish. I have no ego and don't claim to be a pro. I'm a guy who loves bass fishing and I like to see others catch fish too. I give up some of my time when fishing to help kids. The more kids I get hooked on fishing the better. Now with your fishing get a few crankbaits, a split shot rigged black rubber 6' worm, some mepps inline spinners, a 1/4oz Mann's white spinnerbaits with a trailer and trailer hook, some shad bass scent. Go fishing in the evenings and early mornings. Stay going. Speed is very important with using lures, slow is better. Read all the tips on bass fishing here, watch all the videos. Ask questions too. We support and help each other here were like family here. There are no dumb questions. Welcome to the forum. Bigbill

First thanks to my buddy John for telling me he caught a real one. My river2sea nest robber arrived today. It's much better looking than the real thing. Now when it warms up I'll try it out.

It looks like a bad wet summer? Time to dig out my nam boonie hat and my Swiss camo poncho. This cold and wet pattern is not letting up.

Right now the bass are in the northern most part of the body of water because that gets the most Sun during the day. As there almost ready to bed. It's still cold here. Hint my new kittens are laying in the big Windows soaking up the sun right now. Predators think alike. I seen during the low water here one year I got to see the empty bass beds in the middle of the summer. What a large nursery for a small body of water.

My free panther Martin hat. Wear it on every trip.

Buy two or more of each one you order incase you lose one. But once you see Mr Mike's quality jigs you will buy more I did over and over. And I still need more.

There is no experation date on the line package or spool?

Recently I fish the smaller bodies were no motors are allowed even more. But my buddies change from the larger bodies of water to river bass fishing because of the many boaters.

Bigger bait catches bigger bass "sometimes" I've said this before to stay on the small bass when they bite. When the bite of the smaller bass turns off I find the larger bass will cruise in to see what the smaller bass are feeding on. At this time I upside my lure size and target the bigger fish. IF no action happens then change color. Don't forget the scent.

Welcome to one of the top bass fishing resource forums on the net. I'm a freak when it comes to color. I ask myself the same questions about why the jigs are dark colors too. Yet we use all the other lures in bright colors in muddy water? I ordered Seiberts jigs in the brighter colors too. I just have to try them soon. I was on a bass fishing forum down in the gulf years ago and been told about a bananna color for spinnerbaits skirts. I believe now choosing the correct color for the light and water conditions. Mr Mike does offer us an array of different colors.

The DEC or DEEP as there called in ct have more power than a state policeman. I was stopped while on my land in vt. While bear hunting. The first think we did was to put down our guns to ease the tentions. Then we talked and everything was ok. But the deep in ct aren't that nice. Some can be nasty. It's a one sided sword. I seen one deep officer Chase a whole family away that had no licenses for fishing. One of my buddies pulled up in his truck and yelled he'd be back to check for fishing licenses one night. The whole family even an old lady ran too. After he drove off.

I like the duck dynasty guys. Number one show to me on tv. The Bigfoot show is entertaining somewhat. But I've had closer encounters than they do. They got the cooking bacon idea from me on the net. But bacon frying is similair to fishing your not sure the Bigfoot are nearby. I know they visit my camp even more when I cook my famous bacon cheeseburgers. I know I need to make extra so I can share.

I have over heard talk about spoons how they have trouble finding the red and white devil spoon. I never use them that much, I probably should throw them more.

It's way too cold to fish here yet. So is anyone using or tried the poppers bait ball yet? Crankbait results? Color? Shallow or deep? Minnow bait results? Color? Popper results? Color?