bigbill

I installed the full length guide rod with the 18# recoil spring. It does tame down the recoil on the 1911. It's actually more fun to shoot and accurate too.

What's your hottest plastic colors that land more bass? 1.Your hottest senko colors? 2.Your hottest worm colors 3.Your hottest creature bait colors? 4.Your hottest grub colors? Mine are; 1. Amber Red Flake, Red Shad, Pumpkin Pepper 2. Red Shad, Electric Blue, Black Shad, Green Shad 3. Black Red Flake 4. Milkturese, Chatruese, Yellow, White My problem is I'm a creature of habit, once a color works I stick with it and won't try anything else.

I been using the Bomber Bomber Model A series crankbaits with and without the Orange bottoms. Any lure with an orange bottom is a plus.

I use a 4lb. Test Copolymere line on my ultra light trout rods were I use the very light Joe's flys spinflys. On my smallest 5'6" bass setup I use the 6lb.test copolymer line. I prefer the copolymer line over the standard rubber band mono. I have less line stretch. In some cases faster Hooksets too. But one must be careful on how fast you set the hook too. If we move too quickly with less stretch we pull the lure out of the fishes mouth. But if you guys are using braid you already know that. I like the 5'6" spinning rod setup for smaller crankbaits, bass spinflys and smaller inline spinners. I never lost a fish yet with a good quality 6lb.test copolymer. I been using the Excaliber Silver Thread Coploymere Line. BPS did offer there brand in copolymere line but I don't see it anymore it was more affordable. I can make do with just about any rod and reel setup but I have To have a good quality line.

I did buy lures clearance and send them to Terry Clark who repainted them in all the bass colors for me too. I even sent him northern pike and Muskie lures to repaint Them in bass colors too. I'm thinking big bait bigger fish. I don't see any of my favorite worm colors too. The electric blue is a very hot color here. Everyone seems to be discontinuing everything. Or there sold out because others found them to be hot color too. It could be the lure manufacturer not being able to keep up with the demand with certain colors too. From now on when I find a new lure that's hot I'll buy cases of them. I have boxes of bomber cranks and Norman lures too. As well as plastic worms and senko type baits too in all my hotter colors.

The only bass I have ever transported were from the lake to the big child pond they had made for the kids to fish at the same place. We stocked it with 3lbers. I figure some little kid is going be our future bass fishermen or fisherwoman. Thell always remember there first catch.

Ok I been upgrading my line test due to losing bigger bass. I also went longer on my rod lengths for my topwater & crankbaits too. I ran into a good thought that some may not ask nor think of. When going to heavier line which can be a larger diameter do you surpass the reel specs. on the line test/diameter? I'm thinking if we go past the line specs. on the spool it can affect the Casting distance thus the way the line comes off the spool. I often wonder this when I see guys like birdnest using spinning reels. The line will come off in coils as they cast. The larger line comes off the smaller spool because of the tighter wrap. Now my question to all bass fisherman & fisherwoman is; 1. Do you follow the specs on the rod and reel for line test and diameter when choosing a line size? 2. If the rod can handle a higher pound test line do you upgrade your reel to match it if it's not up to the specs of the rod? 3. Do you pick a Rod & Reel setup to match the line test your going to use? 4. How important to you is matching the rod & reel to the line your going to use? I just thought about this when I was buying new larger reels so I can upgrade my line to a stronger test without losing anything in performance. Do I make sense?? The lures did come with suggestion on what line test to use for the best performance of the lure too. This could be a problem why we're not catching fish too. But that's another post.

I just noticed that www.buyfishingstuff.com has cheaper okumas with 6+ bearings for around $32. Look at them all for a better price. Checkout Wal-Mart too I hear there are sales going on right now. It sounds like there spring clearance is early.

I purchased so far far this month; ; 1. Baitmate Orginal Bass Scent 2. Bomber Crankbaits all colors 3. Weedless hooks for worms 3/0 to 6/0 4. New Okuma expizor spinning reels size 20, 25, & 30. 5. Carolina weights 6. Carolina tickers After being sick and on the bench Jones'n to get into the game of bass fishing I'm stocking up so I can fish more. I'm going to fish the second half of the season probably till December. I lost a big bass in November when it was snowing. There was no ice on yet. I was throwing yum money minnow in white.

To me me if your looking for a decent long lasting spinning reel it matters what lures your going to use with it. I now have a junk yard box of cheap reels. I never dreamed the bass could tear them up the way they did. Depending on how much you want to spend here's my suggestions thru experience on what holds up do far for me. Quantum spinning reels at Wal-Mart. Even the 3 ball bearing ones have worked for me. These can run between $15 to $30 on sale or spring clearance. Okuma spinning reels the exiptor has ten ball bearing and may need some wear in time before using for faster baits. Finor spinning reels with 4 bearings it's an excellent quality reel but it's not cheap. So far I been hammering these three reels with no problems. I have another brand I picked up to test out too. It's called a Viva. The smaller viva matches the older okuma exactly. The okuma expitor about $59 on the net. If I were you if your in no hurry I would watch BPS, Cabelas, Wal-Mart for sales and there awesome spring clearances. I like shopping in Wal-Mart in March thru April for markdowns. I even go earlier like right after Christmas too. You can get more for your buck too. I just purchased three new okumas from, www.buyfishingstuff.com the editors are on the bottom of the okuma page. Be careful there are Baitfeeders and regular spinning reels too. To me so far the difference between having less and more ball bearings is how sore my arm is after making 1,000 casts. It could be old age creeping up on me but the pro fishermen and woman must experience this too. I never had arm pump on the dirtbikes but there sore after fishing. Sorry I don't have any experience with other reels yet. I kind of stopped testing them when I purchased the ones that didn't break. Now baitcasters are another thing. I purchased lower priced older Baitcasters in the past that still are good today. The prices were silly back then. I got reels with brakes for $12 and up on clearance. I just don't see anything new for that cost today. For me at the time wanting to break into baitcasting these lower cost reels were perfect. I was using the Penn reels saltwater fishing with my thumb being the break for many years. So the spool baitcasters wasn't new to me. There not hard to learn. Forgive me I'm no pro but I'm a normal fisherman like everyone else.

I think this is why the younger married couples don't last today. The physical Attraction wears off in a few months. Remember beauty is only skin deep it's what's on the inside that counts. And don't be afraid of a smart gal too. I say this because I know a gal who has two college degrees, a great job, a new high priced condo and two new cars. I think the guys are intimitated by her. I see a lot of younger gals like this. What more can a guy want. My point is if she is hard working don't be intimitated. If you have a good job and she does too then life will be easy. The guys can learn from this. Maybe it can motivate them. Then you need to decide who is the saver and who is the spender between you. I say put the saver in charge of the money and let the spender work. Trust me you will have a nice nest egg in a few years.

My first lure that day caught bass was a mepps #3 Anglia silver blade,Brown bucktail. Don't forget the bass scent too.

I been looking for my favorite senko colors and BPS stik o worms in the color that works for me. I've said this before and I got a message that I may have to make them. Luckily I checked my box of them and maybe I'll have enough till the supply gets replenished. But now it's my favorite bomber FAT A crankbait crankbaits 05 in all the colors. These have been one of my go to lures that I can depend on. I found these colors are discontinued too. I bought up what I could find in any bomber crank in any size and any depthjust to have them. I just hate to see the older colors that still produce. I just dropped a lot of $$ to stock up on them. I just find it hard to change when something catches fish so well. I personally emailed bomber and they responded the sales are low on these so there being fazed out. My response was that fisherman don't present them right. I can take the bomber FAT A crank and reel it slow over submerged weeds, twitch it still on top(it floats), I can adjust the speed to make it run at any depth. I stop it and twitch it over open pickets in the weeds. I can rip it along side channel and seedlings too. For me being a shore fisherman for a lure to be that productive it's got to be good. Then there was the BPS Topnocker it's the hottest topwater lure I have ever used. I have a few extra but with no more insite it's tough using them. The only ones I lose are to big bass taking them down into the weeds. You can quick twitch this lure and it will pop in one spot if we snap it quickly. We can walk the dog, or twitch it with a 1,2,3 and pause then repeat. It's an easy lure to use. Or it was. When I go fishing I throw a ritual of lures. 1.BPS Topnocker color #25 chartruese 2.Rebel BIG Claw crawfish crank in chartruese green back. 3.Bomber FAT A in redapplecraw size 05. 4.Rapala Orginal Floater #7 in blue. 5.Mepps Anglia #3 silver blade, Brown tail 6.Joe's Fly 1/4oz bass size in blackgnat. 7.Panther Martin silver spinner, yellow fly. 8.Joe's fly 1/4oz bass size firetiger apache. 9.Spinner bait 1/8oz silver blade, blue glimmer skirt with a split double tail grub trailer with trailer hook. 10.Strike King inline spinner, silver blade, black cocktail. 11.Spinner bait 1/8oz gold blade, characterise skirt with a split double tail grub Trailer with a trailer hook. 12. Plastics next Don't forget the scents too. If I don't get any action I change the colors of my cranks. This list gives me a constant starting point. My point is I usually land fish when going by this list. I know what usually works but colors do change too, along with patterns and presentations. But it's not rocket science. I guess I'm set in my ways. But what works at one place seems to work at other places too. I wonder how the pros handle discontinued lures and colors? Maybe I'm too old school with old school colors and lures too. Maybe it's time to try the new colors?? Any thoughts about moving forward?

Let us know how it works. The Orange bottom are hotter lures here.

I tell my son's if a gal can fish, likes guns, hunts, loves motorcycles and dirtbikes you found the right woman. If she can turn wrenches that's a plus too. There's nothing like having a partner in life who likes everything we do. I have no problem with any woman who can keep up with me in any sport. Put your ego in check. Well if she is a good cook that's a plus too but we can over come that. My point is finding a partner that will always be at your side for a lifetime. If she likes boats and fast cars that's a plus too. Choose wisely grasshoppers.

Ok I was a spring trout only guy. I carried lures because everyone else did. We would get all hyped to fish every spring when the rivers were stocked then after a few months the fishing would fizzle out. We would rent a boat and fish a lake, early mornings for trout and later for bass. But not many trips per year. It wasn't until I got my dual sport motorcycle is went I realized how many hidden places we had to fish at. One night before a front was approaching we were using nightcrawlers and as I was feeling in the worm I had a strike. I thought right away the fish want Something moving. I out on a mepps Anglian #3 silver blade w/ Brown bucktail and started catching bass after bass. My son was near me and asked if I had another one of the mepps lures. I threw one to him and we caught doubles after doubles of bass till it got dark. We were hooked on bass fishing for sure. From then on every new lure I purchased and had success I purchased more for my son's too. looking at retirement I had another awesome new hobby. Then I found this site and purchased some videos on how to use different lures and presentations and I had good reading here every winter while it was snowing. I still hammer the videos today to stay sharp. I still read here too. I even go out and practice with my lures with different presentations. Now being a retired engineering tech I want to test every lure to see if it works or not. But I was very interested in the color thing too. But my main thing was to find out When this feeding frenzy happens with the front(rain) comming in. I wish I could nail down when this switch is turned on when this feeding frenzy happens. The bass are so turned on they would strike a bare hook for sure. We all are hooked on bass fishing and what else ever bites too but the bass are number one why we're out there. Plus we never stop learning. I'll never be as good as I want to be but maybe that's the challenge why I stay going too.

I don't catch anything unless I have trailer and a trailer hook. For trailer I use the mister twister split double tail grubs.(4") these give a real life like swimming effect. If you click on there double tail grubs the split double tail grubs will come up.

In the beginning i tend to read everything, then read it again so I understand it very well. I watched fishing videos over and over about using different lures and plastics. Listen to what they tell us but watch closely what they do with the rod too. Then I took some lures out to practice my presentations. Once I got the presentations down I was ready to fish. The fish look for flaws in our presentations so we must do it exactly right. I would suggest getting and trying a simple lure to start off with. Get a joesfly 1/4 oz bass size in blackgnat, firetiger apache, and a mepps Anglia #3 silver blade w/Brown tail. Get some bass scent too like the original baitmate bass. Now go out and find your Rocky points, dropoffs, flats etc to fish from. You can see these from shore too That's what I do. Cast out the inline spinner and switch them along with varying your presentations.

I think our northern pike and muskies the sharks of our freshwater could keep them in check. I think our pickerel and bass can take care of the smaller ones too. People Estimate our predators in our waters. On the other hand there suppose to eat good. So eat the snake heads and throw our fish back. I haven't seen any yet but I'll make one into two pieces when I do catch one.

I have three 9606 split roof tackle boxes. Plus more tackle boxes. I like to carry a supply of all different lures.

When I was new to bass fishing using fishing equipment for trout I lost my first 3lb. bass do to cheap line. The bass also tore up my cheap $5 spinning reels too. I had to Do a 180 on buying better fishing equipment. Trust me I don't need the high priced stuff for bass fishing even a three ball bearing spinning reel will last if we lube it. I can fish with any decent reel and cheap rod but we have to use good a a good line. I prefer copolymer.

My best fishing has been from the shore at places I have learned threw the years on how to fish them. One problem there is no topo maps on the smaller places. We were digging holes in the ice using a line and a saltwater lure to map them out. There is a much safer way now using a portable fish finder that we cast out. Enough said. Anytime we can practice with lure on any fish that's a good thing. I like to stop and test different new lures and presentations. Example my first try using senkos I pulled three 3lb. bass out of the same spot. All I thought is we have a Winner with this plastic. I see big bass in all these smaller places that are either river fed or spring fed.

Scents like the original baitmate bass scent. Do you wash your hands before going fishing? I feel the last second the fish are picking up an oder.

I find that heavy rain churns up the bacteria that's on the bottom that puts the fish in a tite lip condition for a few days till it settles down again. I say enjoy the new boat and practice your presentations from the boat a fish just may interrupt you. Congrats on the boat.

Mister twister top prop Spooks torpedo's Floating crankbaits twitched on topwater. Floating crankbaits reeled very slow over submerged weeds. Spinnerbaits reeled with the rod tip up so the blade slaps the water as it moves. Jitter bugs plastic worms rigged with no weight.