bigbill

All the above. The twilite time in the morning just as the sky starts to light up. I try to fish from the darkness till 9am. That's about from 3:30am till 9am. What causes the feeding to happen in the early light in the morning and early evening is the basses eyes adjust to the light conditions faster than the baitfish eyes do. This makes them an easy target. The midday 12 noon turn on is caused by plankton (sorry bad spelling) that the plants give off that the baitfish eat. When the baitfish are active the bass eat. As far as topwater and the time to use it I try it all the time. Bb

Or do we just buy any rod and reel and put any size line on it? I see so many guys that have problems when casting out. I figure there line test is way beyond what line test the reel and rod was designed for. Think about it. We're wrapping a stronger line test on a smaller diameter spool. When we cast it out the stiffer line is springing off the spill rather than flowing smoothly off the spool. This does affect the distance of your cast. My question is do you use the correct line test for your reel and rod? Do you go by the specs on your rod and reel for the maximum performance?

Using a leader I put a swivel to attach both lines together then I use a snap swivel to change out my lures faster.

With a 308win caliber taking a 300 yard shot should be easy. That caliber is capable of making over 1,000 yard shots. I feel very comfortable at 500 yards with my M14. Just remember to practice.

I have used the Bushnell scopes with the BDC option it has the bullet drop compisation out to 450/500 yards with no hold over or error. You just dial in the distance using the top turret knob. The knob is marked for distance. The scope comes with extra rings for the turrets for each bullet weight in your caliber. You just install the correct bullet weight your using. Then sight in the scope at 100yds set the ring at 100yards and your good to 450/500 yards with no error. The Bushnell banner scope with the BDC option can be found for $100. I been using the Bushnell scopes with this option for well over 30+ years now. In low light conditions these scopes are very clear and lite up as it gets darker. I refuse to purchase any scope that doesn't have this dial in BDC option. With those scopes that have the dots on the crosshairs aren't for each bullet weight your guessing. Remember using a 100 yard zero as the distance increases so does the error. with the mechanical adjusting turret it'd dead with distance you dial it to. Remember to dope your scope. this is why some of the hunters on TV will miss a few long shots till They figure out where there bullet is hitting. There scope doesn't have the BDC option.

I also see some guys put two smelled hooks one on each end but we're losing the floppy action of the wacky rig. Ever see this?

I been playing with my carolina rig setup since I posted on how I make up my rig. I like using a rattle or ticker as its called after my weight. Since then I have learned how to mimic the very successful bomber FAT A crankbait sound of its finer sounding rattle. I put 5 of the 3/16" brass beads after the weight. The sound is exactly what the crankbait makes. I like this setup better than using a worm rattle that the fish could swallow if the senko breaks. I swear by using rattles, scents and lures with the Orange bottoms too. If I get no action happens on the first cast my next cast I twitch it as it falls using the rod tip. Letting the rattle do its thing plus giving the senko more flutter action. If I get a strike and a miss one shot of scent will make the fish hang on longer so a hookup can happen on the next cast. I only use a 1/8oz weight from shore.

I keep in constant contact with my carolina rig with the wacky rigged senko. It's a very soft double thump sometimes. I watch my rod tip. The hit can be as soft as worm fishing. If the fish is taking in the senko too deep your waiting too long to det the hook. I use a 2/0 or 3/0 hook. The larger the better for me. I missed too many fish on senkos at first then I learned. My hook was too small. I learned to use the eagle claw 249w weedless hook. If we get a strike and a miss the weedless barb will be open when it comes up. The weeds never open the barb.

Now I need the components for the Carolina rigs and spinner bait skirts and trailer hooks.

I would go with a mepps Anglia #3 inline spinner, silver blade with a brown trailer. When the bass bite is on with your 3#ers if it slows down I would switch to a #4 or #5 Anglia in the same colors. I find that the larger bass will come to see what the smaller bass are doing but they won't strike the smaller bait. They will hit the larger bait. Big bait big bass. I found out fishing from shore in the evenings I couldn't get into the larger bass. Then I switched to the early AM and the big gals were there.

Are they Pike(great northern pike) or its smaller cousin the chain pickerel? The pike grow to 50" + / - as where the biggest chain pickerel I caught so far are 30". Either way I love the fight from these awesome predators. Seeing this fight makes me wonder how the larger muskies are to battle. I would try a weighted worm so it goes deeper. I have a buddy who takes everything he catches even the boney ones, they make fish cakes out of them.

I use my spooks in two different ways I walk them on the surface or I hole the rod tip down and crank it faster so it walks under the surface. I've has the fish grab it in both ways.

Has anyone used the Mirrolure in He-Dog 95MR yet? It appears to be a topwater lure like a spook. I have a twin prop Mirrolure but I never used it yet.

Search for weedless lures at BPS and Cabelas looking for something the fish have never seen before. 1. Timber Doodle size 0 or 1 silver blade with the white split double tail grub. I use a jig type presentation the only thing difference is its not hitting the bottom. I like to bring it up to the top, let it fall and then swim it and repeat. This is my go to lure in weeds and pads. 2.If you have a clearing near the pads a popper or a rattle spook is a plus to draw them out. 3. Try a crankbait and rip thru them. 4. We have split shot rigged worms and plastics. A floating worm fished on top. A frog the moss boss topwater lures. 5. Mister Twister Top Prop it's one of my hottest topwater weedless lures. I cast it right into the weeds or pads and reel it slow. Don't be afraid to pause it. It will stand straight up that's when it gets hit sometimes too. 6. A weighted hook with a creature bait like a brushog. Just work it slow. I like to use a weedless eagle claw hook in the weeds on all my plastics. Putting a rattle in it helps too. 7. How about a rattle Bobber with a grub on a leader? I like hitting all the sences of the bass. It's sight, sound, vibration and smell when I can, a shot of scent helps too. Ring that din, din bell.

I'm disabled and can't walk too much so buying online is my way to purchase the latest fishing stuff. I do look at our sponcers offerings first. Then if I can't find what I'm looking for I search for it next. My hardest problem is buying a new rod with feeling it's action first. As I move up to larger sized plastics for hooks I'm going into the saltwater stuff. I have the largest bogbait frog to try. I'm still going to try to break the state record here which I have seen the bigger gals swim by me. There seems to be big bass in every body of water I fish at. Being in the northeast we're the summers are shorter than the south we still have bigger bass than most think We do. If what I'm seeing is true in these smaller places holding big bass in them then in every part of the country there are big bass too. There smarter too that's why there not being caught. These big gals feed in the wee hours of the am. When it's light they go into there stealth and ghost mode. I think there very weary of boats in some of these heavily fished places too. Fishing from shore in the early AM in stealth mode walking softly and handling your tackle with no noise so you don't spook these bigger shy, timid gals. You have to be so quiet it's like we're not there.

I set up my first baitcaster using a green pumpkin 3/8oz.football jig with a green craw trailer. On my very first cast hopping it up the point I nailed a 2 1/2lb bass right away. I got the hopping part down they strike it on the hop. We control the height of the hop and the rate of fall with the rod tip. Staying in contact with the jig at all times. Everything we read in the articles and In the fishing videos plus the time on the water trying it does pay off. I know this first hand in trying new patterns and presentations. Just go slow and don't rush. The fish will let us know when we get it right. I was focusing on using the jig rather than trying to catch a bass. He came up the Rocky point and hit it like a top water lure. He wasn't going to let it get away. The jig had a rattle too. It's not luck in fishing it's skill. Bb

I fish the same bodies of water over and over for many years now. Thru the many years I've learned to start off with topwater lures before first light.(pre dusk/dawn). At around when the sky starts to light up its called twilite I switch to deeper cranks in the 10' deep channel were I'm fishing. I have a rocky point on my left with a weedline to the right of this channel. I work the channel first. If no action is in the channel I go with the shallow running cranks in the submerged weedline. If no action by now the sun is starting to come up I switch to the Carolina rig. I call this place my twin lakes. Now at my manmade dam place its a tad different. I try the topwater first but then go to spinnerbaits and inline spinners, then I go deep with plastics right away. I'm trying to catch them as there headed to deeper water that's near the flats/pads. My point is to try a ritual of lures till the action happens then we're on the pattern. To me throwing different lures and presentations is a challenge and fun. I do find as it gets lighter and hotter the bass go deeper probably looking for the right ph and thermocline and a place to hide we're they can breathe better. I also learned what is the hottest bait this year may not be hot next year. In fishing the same places the bass do learn our baits and scents too. One day it was slow using my usual bass scent. When I changed from my usual bass scent to a garlic scent I caught fish again. It pays off to try one little thing that's different. I really enjoy throwing every lure out there.

I mainly fish from the bank in smaller unfinished places. As said above its shallow cranks like the bomber square A 1' -3'. The top water spooks and poppers. Inline spinners like Joe's Files in blackgnat, firetiger apache, glo-tiger, etc. And mepps and strike king inline too. I have success with the smaller spinnerbaits but don't throw them hard so you crash the water. I also use a light carolina rig with wacky rigged senkos and brushogs. The original plastic split shot rigged worm works in a slower presentation too. Now it's all about the location. I fish the dropoffs, the flats, the deeper feeder channels and along side the shoreline where the water flows from when it exits the body of water. I do find all the predators lined up in this area looking for an easy meal. Using an inline spinner with a slow presentation just fast enough to spin the blade will give the fish a longer time to view it. Remember there is a current in this area so try to stay near the shoreline and fish parallel to it when you can.

I use the silver blade with the split double tail grub in white timber doodle but the gold color blade with the chartreuse split double tail grub should work good for pickerel, pike and smallest. They love the chartreuse color more. I haven't tested the the different colors of the timber doodle yet. I'll I know is when I drop it into the weeds I come up with fish. I just purchased an assortment of the bogbait frogs from the polywogs to the biggest frog they offer. I went whole hog and bought the frog scent too. My only problem was finding hooks for the bigger frogs. I found them on eBay. I looked at bps and cabelas but seem nothing bigger than 5/0. I ordered the 6/0 & 7/0 hooks besides more open 5/0 hooks too. These frogs are available in sinking or floating too. To me these frogs look awesome it's figuring out the correct presentation. Even the smaller frogs that I have other than bogbait frogs look good too. We were dropping live frogs in a bass pond and they would freeze and sink slowly they the bass came from the shadows and ate it. We did this about ten times or so just watching the bass react. Thinking about this slow presentation.

I stayed fishing till around 11pm one night.I could hear the bass jumping out of the water that sounded like humans doing body slams in the water. I knew there were bigger bass there when my PB was 10lbs.caught at 4;30/5 am. She was 2 feet from shore. I got away from the people fishing there in the evenings because of the crowds and pressure.I find fishing at 3:30am much quieter.

I was losing decent size bass when I first started bass fishing using my cheap Garcia River mist mono. When I lost my last 3lb bass I said that's it. I started looking for a better quality line. There once was a line test done at Lurenet.com were they did bending and abrasion tests. At that time the Excalibur silver thread performed really well. It's a copolymer line. It has no stretch like the rubber band mono does. I been using it ever since with success and no lost fish do to the line I'm using. It's performance over all has been out standing. I can fish with any decent fishing rod, I can get by with any decent spinning reel, but When it comes to fishing line I need a good quality copolymer line. I have tried other brands of copolymer lines that we're affordable but they seemed stiffer when I tied my knots. Cabelas or bass pro shops had a decent copolymere line but they discontinued it. It felt like Excalibur silver thread too. We may pay more for the Excalibur silver thread over mono but it's good quality line. Bigbill

How religious am I? I do believe in our creator. I see his work every time I'm fishing when the night becomes daylite as the sun comes up. What a wonderful world we live in. We are truly blessed. Just look around you when your fishing. God bless everyone, bigbill Do that I'm still I'll and getting better go out and nail some bass for me. Soon I hope to join you guys and gals.

I was a messy tackle box fisherman. But fishing in the dark at night taught me all about keeping my tackle boxes organized. Now everything is in its place. I keep the plastics in there original bags but the used plastics go in zip lock bags.I do not mix the new plastics with the used plastics. I have a tackle box for each bait. One for topwater lures, one for shallow cranks, one for deeper cranks, one for weedless lures, another for plastics etc. My topwater and cranks are in the 9606 split top tackle boxes. I still don't have room for all my different lures so I rotate them often. When I go fishing there all with me.

Blue color worms work good too anytime. They say the blue turns brown in the water. I've had awesome success with electric blue when nothing else worked. Even the blue rapala is one of my hottest colors too I've had awesome success with the jointed countdown rapala in blue and chartreuse jigging it as it falls straight down. There is something special about the blue color.

Warning When purchasing fishing stuff online other than companies when doing private sales like auctions or buy it now deals make sure you read the description very carefully. Make sure you read exactly what the seller is selling and don't go by the picture it's not always correct. We can be baited by the picture. Example, The seller shows a large box of loose hooks. There has to be well over 100 hooks in the box in the picture. The description reads your only buying 4 hooks. Then the is a stack of hooks in packages in the picture. It says we get 5. Again read carefully it's only 5 hooks per pack. Please read all of it carefully before bidding or purchasing. Fully understand exactly what we're buying. Don't get caught in a miss use of words. Some of these sellers can be very tactful. Bb