bigbill

Well my tackle boxes are sorted out and my lures are placed where they should be ready for early morning fishing in the pre dawn dark. My new rod and reel setups are ready but they need to be tested soon so I'm sure there are no glitches with them. I can't afford equipment failures in the dark. My little one battery flashlights are ready. I'm stocked up on hooks and bobbers for the grandsons first fishing trip. I purchased him a new batman combo for Easter. He looks inside every tackle box I have at the lures every time he comes over. He is hooked on fishing before we start. I admit I buy him everything. I'm not sure how long I'll be here no one knows that. I will leave him enough to fish with for sure. I'll pass on what fishing skills I have to him. Now we just need the warm weather. Yup once it was eat, sleep, work & fish. Now being retired its eat, sleep & fish more.

What are your goals in bass fishing this year? Mine are to learn more different lures and there presentations. Fish more with jigs. Fish more with Carolina rigs. Fish more with larger spinnerbaits. Fish with drop shots. Use the split shot rig more often. I need to park the crankbaits and fish more with different lures and presentations. I'm stuck in a rut because the crankbaits catch fish so I'm using blinders on the other lures that work too. I've used the other lures but I'm focused on the cranks too much lately. My goals Use more plastics. Break the state record of 12#14oz. I've been so close and had two record breakers on my line but lost them. I have the better quality rods now with the correct action and backbone. I'm ready equipment wise. I know the bigger bass are there. Just breaking the record won't prove what I say about the bigger trophy bass being in every state. If I don't break it I'd like to see some little guy or gal do it with there batman or Barbie fishing combo. Overall I want to see the record smashed this season.

On a trip to Vermont to hunt bear we drove into the national forest and parked near another out of starter there garbage was at there doors on the ground. I was with my cousin who lived there. He was really upset. He piled all there garbage on the hood of there truck. When we returned there truck was gone, so was there garbage too. Why do we have to see others leave there foot print of garbage on the ground up in our national forests too. I want to become one with nature and walk in the steps that have been walked in for hundreds of years enjoying the outdoors and the hunt. Yup the garbage is everywhere. I hunt to enjoy the outdoors and nature at its finest hour. To sit and watch the chipmunk eating some of my fifth avenue candy bars. Or my captain crunch peanut butter cereal snack. The forest is alive by the time we leave. The wrappers go in my deep pocket in my camos.

I use the Mann's classic spinnerbaits with the single or double Colorado blades in polished brass/gold they work the best here. The hammered blades give off the sparkle in all directions like a diamond. When reeled slow. It should work better in darker water and light conditions.

He did it right. It depends how deep it is whether to just remove it by hand. The pain can be slow and more intense by hand too. I have a Flatfish hook dig into my leg about six inches long it ripped up my leg. My dad was a medic in the army and was with us so he took it out. I was just a kid casting a open Penn reel.

I have many setups. Five+ for shore fishing and many more setups for boat fishing. My shore setups average from a light 5'6" setup for smaller lures to a heavier setup for topwater action. I vary my line test on all my setups. Most crankbaits will have a tighter action with a heavier line test. I want to get the most action out of my crankbaits. I use a lighter line with a ball bearing snap swivel as a hinge. My setups; All spinning reels 1. 6'6" topwater med/hvy action w/12# test 2. 6' Carolina rig/plastics & jigs med action w/14# test 3. 5'6" Spinnerbaits setup med action w/10# test 4. 6' Crankbait setup med action w8# test 5. 5'6" small lure rod or action w/6# test I also carry a crankbait setup for jigs it depends on where I'm going that trip.

Don't day dream it, learn it and live it, go fishing. Nothing beats the time on the water fishing or practicing the skills you have learned here. Fish and fish hard. Stay positive. If your going to be negative stay home. Get out there and become one with nature.

Now your going to have good days and slow times too. I use the slow times to practice different presentations with every lure raising the bar on my skills. Try different speeds with your lures. Pay attention on how you turn the crank on your reel. You need to make a perfect even circle on your crank handle. You need an even lure speed not a fast and slow speed. Why do you ask? If your lure has a rattle the noise won't be even and steady. I try to make the lure speed perfect on every turn of the reel handle just stay focused till it comes natural on every cast. Remember to lube your reel too. So it's quiet. If your reel is worn out and noisy get a new one for using lures and use the noisy one for live bait or Carolina rigs. The noisy reel can send funky noises/ vibrations down your fishing line into the water. I learned this one day as a sunfish was listening to my line exactly we're it entered the water using a worn out reel. Again it's a part of being stealthy. A shot of line lube on your rod eyes and on your spool doesn't hurt too. Like reel magic. Every thing we learn it's another tooth on a gear it all works together when we put it together. When I go fishing I want to be the best I can be on the top of my game and skills. You can be too if you stay focused and motivated. Read and watch all the videos here these guys are the best here listen to them.

Get up at 3:30am and hit the water by 4/4:30am in the dark. Before the wacky boaters are water up and tearing up the water. Be very, very quiet, very, very stealthy. So quiet like you in a tree stand looking at a 20or buck. Walk very softly as you walk to your spot. Don't step on rocks or tree roots sticking out of the ground. They send vibration noises into the ground. They set off the alarm your there. The bigger bass know this well. My PB of 10# was caught while casting two feet parallel to the shoreline. Remember I'm fishing a man made dam and roadway. It's the dams drop off I'm at. I been using the rebel BIG CLAW D74 or D76 crawfish crankbait in chartruese that dives 10'. I cast it out as far as I can and do a sweep back with the rod to make it dive quickly. Then I slow reel it. This is one very effective bass catching lure. I start off with this one in my ritual of baits I throw. Here's exactly what I do. I use my topwater bps topnocker soaked with a bass scent casted out as far as I can throw it. Then; 1. Topnocker soaked with bass scent(baitmate) 2. Rebel BIG CLAW crawfish crank soaked with a yum craw scent 3. Bomber crankbait redapplecraw size 05 fat A or model A(craw scent again) shallow running. 4. Mepps inline Anglia #3 spinner silver/Gray tail 5. 1/4oz Mann's classic spinnerbaits Colorado gold blade in white with a 4" mister twister split double tail grub trailer with a trailer hook. Any smaller white spinnerbaits will do too 6. Bomber crankbait baby bass with the Orange bottom. 7. Mann's crankbait baby 1 minus in browncraw. 8. Mann's 1/4oz spinnerbaits in chartruese with a mister twister split double tail chartreuse grub trailer with a trailer hook. 9 mepps Anglia #3 inline spinner gold blade Brown tail. 10. 1/8 oz carolina rig with a brass weight and a brass bead knockers. With a senko, a brushog. 11. Rapala size f7 in blue 12. Bomber fat A or model A size o5 in citrus I throw these in any order from shore till I get action. My color choice and lure may vary too this is an example. Don't be afraid to use brighter colors in low light conditions. The basses eyes change to the different lighting conditions first before the baitfish eyes change. This first light is the basses ambush feeding time. There near the shoreline feeding. This feeding time happens early in the morning, at noon and In the evening. I find the bass are bigger in the mornings. In the evenings the numbers of bass caught are higher but nothing over 4/5#. They range from many dinks to 3#. Maybe one bigger. You need to find the fish. Find the drop off or channels, Rocky points, submerged weeds. A hummingbird portable cast out fish finder will tell you the bottom structure too. I use a setup with braided line for it. Beaware of float tubes with snapping turtles and snakes too. I have some mean turtles were I fish there like 30" to 48" round. To raise the bar on your PB we must raise your skills first. It's not luck that catches bass it's your skill. I try to raise my number of bass caught on each outing.

Guys I've said this before I've caught my PB of 10# in ct, seen bigger swim by me on the drop off' s and lost two bigger bass. We have big bass in every place I fish at. If I'm seeing this here and a 9# was caught in Maine come on do the math. I fished hard to get my pb night and morning. I find the bass are bigger as the night turns to day from shore. Be very stealthy because they spook easy. That's the key I make not one sound and even close my bail on my spinning reel softly too. I'm afraid to use a bait caster because of the click after a cast when we crank it, in that quiet. It's not the 5 to 8#ers making all these baby bass it's the bigger ladies making these babies. The local DEEP as there called now can only use the shock system in the shallows. Now there was a 12# bass killed with the weed chopper in Lakeville,ct. That should of gotten every fisherman's attention. I use my polarized glasses and scan the water while I'm fishing. Even while I land a fish. These big gals show up like ghosts. Trust me I'm telling you the truth. I must have put a thousands of miles on my two stroke street legal dirtbikes and remembered every decent looking place to fish at these could be up to 30 to 40 acres of water that's down stream from bigger well known lakes. We have to be stealthy, walk softly, don't even coff, don't sneeze. I coff' d one morning as I arrived at my spot and watched a large wake going away from me. At two of my spots in elevated on the shoreline about 3' so I can see in the water quite a distance. I'm on a man made dam/ roadway that was used for water power over 200 years ago. I had an old man stop and tell me about the mill that was there. I find the history of my area great too. Now it's almost time to fish and fish hard again. I know there are record breakers out there. Trust me if I'm seeing them here you have to have them too. Where do all the bass fry come from? You gotta believe, man.

It's there earth too so they should keep it clean because they own it too. I just don't understand it. We're all part of this big eco system. Don't they get it. Now if we get lots of rain were does all this garbage on the shoreline go? The Styrofoam floats right?

I notice the natural mud puppies have a reddish color on there gills what ever there called the plastic lures don't. I'd like to paint them red. What do I use?

I need to go to lake zoar more. I was thinking about going to Batam for great northern pike too. I need to look for a boat soon. Something light I can launch were no boat ramps are. I have some hot spots were no motors are allowed.

A mh & hvy action setup. Different conditions calls for different presentations. Thick weeds to bust through or thinner cover. Then there is open water along side the weedlines to deal with. One setup can't do it all.

Wear camo, move slowly. We have native trout that you have to crawl up to the bank to catch. If you can see the fish they can see you. Walk up slowly and softly be stealthy and don't talk. When I do it right some big mouth walks up and yells did you catch anything. Then I leave.

Floating senko? Don't we rely on the movement of the falling senko to attract fish?

We would have more fishing spots available to us if some fisherman didn't leave there empty coffee cups, lunch wrappers/bags and empty worm containers on the ground when they left. Why do they do this? This I'd why the "NO FISHING" signs are so popular. PLEASE PICK UP YOUR GARBAGE LEAVE THE PLACE BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT TOO BY PICKING UP SOME ELSE'S GARBAGE TOO. I LEAVE NO FOOT PRINT BEHIND. ITS LIKE I WAS NEVER THERE. NO TRASH NO CIGARETTE BUTTS NO LURE PACKAGES NO WORM CONTAINERS NO FOOD WRAPPERS No fishing line NADA, NOTHING LEFT BEHIND. We need to respect people's property and nature. It's not just about fishing. Leave with more garbage than you brought with you. You will be rewarded in someway with good karma.

Fishingtackleoutlet.net offers plastics in bulk. He is one of my go to places for affordable stuff I give to the kids.

Doesn't anyone use these lures for bass? Does anyone use these lures in the hunt for big bass? It's said these mud puppy, water dogs, become active at night and under the ice. Could this mean the bass feed on these over sized salamanders during the winter? This could be a game changer for me.

I use mainly 3700 tackle boxes in my x large soft sided magnum boat bag and for home storage too.

Maybe the creature baits work so good is there mimicking mud puppies.

I have okuma epitor spinnng, Finor spinning and us reel super caster spinning reels. For casting reels it's the quantum code red, us reel super caster, Shakespeare bait casters. I fished with a $12 bait casting reel for years. The rods all new lews baitcasting and spinning from ultra lite to heavy duty. I think I purchased 15 lews rods. One all star spinning rod. My thoughts are my son's and there families will get them. I don't want anyone crying there getting left out.

The castaways casting rods are $150. I purchased the All star pro2 series 6'med rod New for 50% off for $42. Well see when it arrives. I also purchased my 4yo grandson a batman and a spiderman combos for Easter. They were $12 each. He's begging me to go fishing.

Mine is the rapala orginal floater etc. I've have had awesome success with the non rattle rapala.

If my buddy caught one ice fishing here in ct this could be a game changer. These are big here too so the bigger predators I think are feeding on these. These are known to be in the south of me. They say these feed in the dark mainly. I need to study more about them. I really don't want to use live one's. I have to do this the right way for me. I like the challenge.