bigbill

When the bass miss I do a pause to see if they come back. Also when you walk the dog do it slower with a longer pause. Wearing polarized glasses you may see even more as to what's happening. I would try using a scent too. Make sure you wash your hands before fishing too. The fish have a very keen sense of smell. When I walk the dog I do three even rips with three even pauses inbetween. The fish look for mistakes in our presentations. I have a stupid question and suggestion. Since your up north more in October what are the temps? I think in the cold temps the fish move slower. I would suggest slowing down your speed. I say this because when I fish in November even in the snow falling I fish a swimbait very slow. When everyone is hugging there woodstoves I'm still fishing.

I hate it when I lose my best producing crank. The next one never produces the same way. When it's slow fishing I cast out every crankbait to make sure they run straight straight and even. I have a needle nose pliers to tune them. I know it's not my knot because I use ball bearing swivels. I can't tie knots in the dark. We need to look very closely how the crank runs in the water.

I carry a few rod setups even fishing from shore. I have a 5'6" spinning rod w/6lb test for smaller lures. My topwater spinning rod is 6' 6" with 14lb test. My crankbait spinning rod is 6' with 10lb test. My carolina rig rod is a 6' spinning rod with 17lb test. Each lure comes with a suggested line size for the best action. I also use a barrel swivel on my crankbaits so I get a better, smoother side to side movement. I search for the bottom structure using my hummingbird portabre fish finder. I can location the deeper holes and flats besides the shallows too. I also look for points and channels. The smaller places I fish have no topo maps. Then all I have to do is look at my lure and bait selection and match my presentation. My buddies make fun of me with so many rods. If you only use one ROD setup I would go with 8lb test and a 6' or a 5'6" rod. Remember it's not luck in fishing, luck is at the casino. It's skill in fishing.

Is anyone fishing by the super moon phase right now??

I got into bass fishing by trial by fire. I was using cheap trout fishing rods and reels. With $0.99 Garcia river mist line. As I learned how to bass fish I had a pile of cheap reels to where I was swapping parts to keep them running. As I moved up to better equipment I started using the Excalibur line too(copolymer). Now I figure the more bearings the better. But I didn't count on reel break in time. Now I'm no longer fixing reels. I do use the 10 ball bearing reels on my other rods before using them on my spinner bait rods. They are really smooth. I also use the finor spinning reels too. My cheap reels were so noisy I seen sunnies with there ears to where my line went into the water. Our line is like a guitar string. It sends every reel noise into the water. I don't know how you guys fish with the faster ratio spinning reels to rip spinnerbaits. I figure it's time to go back to casting reels. Fishing from shore I make as many casts as the guys in boats do too. I'm worn out by the end of each trip. But I take my fishing very serious. I think about fishing only when I'm fishing and I'm on my own zone. I focus on my presentations. The past 20 years of bass fishing has been awesome too. Instead of fishing from the spring everyday till I get burned out I'm going to start soon and fish heavy into the fall.

I been buying the okuma spinning reels with 10 ball bearings. To break them in I use them on my crankbait rod first before putting them on my inline spinner and spinner bait rod. I find them on the tight side to use them on spinner baits right away. The reels with less bearings are easier to use. But the reels font last as long. Any thoughts?

I figure any lure with a knocked or rattle is a plus. I been thinking of adding a rattle to a jitter bug? I figure it's a big advantage using the correct color for the water conditions, the rattle would be a plus, and the scents would be a big advantage in our favor. I use a ticker on all my Carolina rigs. Plus a rattle in all my plastic worms. It's ringing the dinner bell. Using the scents is like walking in a restaurant and smelling what's cook in.

I throw a spook type lure first in the morning. Then it's shallow floating cranks. If I go deep it's a #3 mepps inline spinner. Or a rebel BIG crawfish crank.

I've seen a pickerel caught so many time he had slots I his lower lip. He's one scrappy little fish. I hate to catch the same fish over and over on lures. If it was on live minnows I would put a live minnow in his mouth and send him on his way.

My buddy hooked big bass bass and she went down in the weeds he lost his lure and snapped his new rod after 30 minutes of trying to free her. A year later in the same spot she missed my topwater lure turned and hit it again and down she went. I just lost my lure. But I got a good look at her. I paid the price for making a long cast cast from shore. I was cursed for breaking new rods. I went thru one new rod a year. My last ROD was a brand new fly rod I purchased on sale in Maine. It cost me a lot. Of course it's the first time I ever fly fished and had success. In the dark I caught the top 6" in the door when I closed it.

I lost my crawfish red crankbait. A week later fishing in the same spot the hook on my crankbait snagged it. I had twin cranks on the same line. At dusk just before daybreak I seen two freshwater otters splashing two fawns near the waters edge while trying to get a drink of water while the doe looked on. Another time while fishing off a low bridge at first light I had 3 or 4 otters swimming parallel right at me. I thought of the movie predator and froze. All of a sudden they stopped and poked up there heads. I can imagine one of these otters feeding on a new state record bass.

I haven't had time yet to sit and fish frogs. One day I was watching a kid throw live frogs in a bass pond they would freeze in the water as they fell slowly. Then all of a sudden the bass would come from no where and eat them. This tells me the natural looking plastic frogs should be fished this way. I have small frogs, topwater frogs and bogbait frogs to try soon. I'm thinking with the bogbait frogs, big frog big bass? I purchased there tadpoles and frog scent too.

In the beginning of my interest in bass fishing I was glued to the tv every Saturday when Hank Parker's tv show came on. I watched every show during the winter. One show stands out in my mind to this day. He was fishing the big lake in New Hampshire I'm not going to even try to spell it. He was catching smallies on a Mann's baby 1 crankbait in Brown craw. We had a snow storm here and after the show I drove down to Wal-Mart were they were in the process of stocking there shelves and I purchased the whole rack of Mann's crankbaits in the brown craw color. This turned out to be a hot lure here. I use it in all presentations, slow reel, topwater by letting it float. I caught a large salmon probably a record breaker but being disabled with no net and there was a 3' dropoff at the shore I loosened the line and let it go. My hats off to Hank Parker because his TV shows also taught me how to fish. I named this Mann's crank bait the Hank Parker special. One trick is to watch how Hank fishes the lure too. Watch what they do and say. I was doing so good at bass fishing I figured the local tornies were next to get into. I was ready to get a bass boat when my health went bad. After two knee operations I missed the boat on routine fishing. But I still hammer the shore fishing still with success. Before using lures I was spending $50+ per week on live bait. I started using two rods one with live bait and the other throwing lures. Soon after as time went on the lure setup was out fishing the live bait. I wad hooked on lures ever since. Now my tackle room is bigger than most mom & pop bait shops. I have more fishing stuff. Before I retired 12 years ago I purchased anything that was on sale and clearance figuring I wouldn't need anything to go fishing. I have extra rods and reels too. Now I like buying new and different lures just to test them. I do find that they all catch fish sooner or later we just have to stay trying them with different presentations. The only thing I do different is to wash my hands before I go fishing with big orange and I use scents. I also get dressed the same way before I go fishing too. It's not luck in fishing it's skill. God bless, bigbill

I help everyone when I'm fishing were it crowded when they see me pull in bass after bass. It's funny I'm a field salesman for fishing equipment too. The next day all these guys show up with new rods, reels, tackle boxes, plus lures too. I build up there s confidence yo a whole new level. Then along side me there catching fish too. One guy walked over and said do those lures work? (Bomber crankbait) As I casted out and nailed a 3Lb bass right away before I could answer him. Then he asks me what's that spray I was using?(scents) Again before I could tell him I nailed another bass. caught another nice bass. He said I guess all this stuff works. I did notice with senko and bps stik o worms I use them first with no scents then if I get a strike and a miss one shot of scent means a positive hook up on the next cast. They seem to hold it a tad longer. I use both the senko and the bps stick o worms. The stik o worms seem to last longer. Both seem to be equal in landing fish.

I been picking up the combo c lectors when I see them. My last one is brand new in the case. I just won a Fenwick color c lector on eBay this one only tells the color lure to use. As we're the combo c lector tells us the color, the ph and the water temp at that level. These are affordable right now. It's a handy tool on a tough day. There is a new high tech one I need to buy yet too. Bb

Fishing plastic worms we use split shot rigs. We cast it into the weeds, wait 3 minutes, move it 10" or so and wait 3 minutes and repeat. Worms are very successful.

The only thing that lasts maybe a season is the pork baits. I threw them away when they changed color.

Mister twister top props<br />Spooks<br />Mepps online spinners<br />Jitter bugs<br /><br />Don't forget the scents.

I'm trying to nail down when the feeding frenzy will happen. I caught from shore fan Casting the area 19 bass. During the light rain. Now another time 2 hours before the Rain hit it was a feeding frenzy again. We caught doubles after doubles for an hour or so. Another time in a lull between the rain I caught bass after bass again. But after the rain stops nothing..not even a nibble these places shut down for many days. I think the rain stirs up the bacteria from the bottom and it changes the ph as to where the fish are tight lipped. I wish I could understand this more timing wise. Maybe the moon phases factor in at this time too. The moon phases and The weather fronts had something to do with this awesome feeding frenzy.

Ever think about going there with a flash lite at night and look at the edge of the shoreline? I see eels at night right up against the waters edge. I figure this is why the bass are close to the shoreline at night and the black plastic worms work so good.

I use excaliber silver thread 12lb test copolymere line. I lost too many good sized bass using mono.

I like the slow times to regroup and practice my presentations to fine tune them better. The fish will interrupt me when I have it right Go back to basics like a split shot rigged black worm. I fish the same places over and over the fish actually learn our lures. It's time for a change up pitch like a baseball pitcher does. Throw something different. Change up your presentation. I wash my hands using big orange before I go fishing. Plus I use scents too. If I didn't the fish would smell our body scents. Never give up stay trying. Using my old combo c LECTOR the average Colors it pics is red, Brown or green on certain days. One color will work but on someday s all the colors work too. On other days. It changes all the time. The fish can't see all the colors all the time. Quote Bill dance.

I been using these in a redish color with gold flakes. I can't find these anymore. The BPS stick o worms are #7 and called Amber red flake. This is a very hot color here. Fishing from shore with these on a 1/8 oz carolina rig it's good for 4 to 6 bass every outing. I been searching for these all over the place. My only other option is to make them. Any thoughts??

In the fall I plow up all the piles of leaves in the street and dump them in a cool shady spot. It doesn't get any direct sunlite too. After a few years of doing this I now have a worm bed full of worms. After all its a natural compost pile of leaves. I do plan on adding night crawlers and red wigglers to it soon too. Right now I have trout sized worms. But it's free and working with no work. I may need to cover it with a tarp in the winter too. Bill

You need speed and power to make the hollow points perform correctly. But remember using hollow points were giving up penetration if the round isn't powerful enough. I pump up my 200gr JHP bullets in my 44mag to almost 1,500 FPS. But with standard 9mm fmj bullets you need to hit the vitals.