little_stephen

my expierence led me to try bright hyperactive colors. they failed me. ive stuck to blacks, i second the grape as a good one. and colors like green pumpkin. i like tossing a jig with a chunky enough profile to move some water and a few rattles on it. work it slowly. a black jig with a few strands of blue in it and a half a berkely power worm in elec grape is a goto on a few of my local lakes/mud puddles. but this is ohio. ur in NC. i have no idea what the bass wanna see down there. last thing to say, my oppinion on chatterbaits is to leave them at home. i hate the things. i can get similar noise and vib off a spinnerbait with this blade that has a colorado and a huge willow blade for the main blade. theyre riveted together. its this ugly thing, which the name of it is escaping me! (Sorry) but it puts out tons of noise and thump and its not as prone to snaging as ive found chatterbaits to be. hope this helps some?!

welcome from ur north east ohio counterparts.

this is all i fish....... lily pads and the MESS that they have under the surface. i love it when people tell u to toss a weightless senko into the holes..... if ur like me, nothing but heavy braid, and weedless lures work in the tangle. i try two things. one- horny toads, the bass love to bust up to the top in that kind of mess. find a hole or structural irregularity and just buzz over it with ur favorite frog or toad. and two- lots of fliping jigs. i like mine with a beaver bait trailer of some sort, rattles, and a nice full skirt to increase the outline, and the attention itll get...... and if all else fails....... ive used a speed worm tech. as a last resort. but it can be difficult to work thru those weed stems! but the one thing i insist, fish on a heavy rod, with a tough reel, and strong braid! the combo i use is capable of pulling whole weed clusters out of the lake...... and it doesnt have to be expensive gear, but i just hate losing all the lures i toss into the pads.

having changed my schedule at work to increase my productivity but knowing it cuts two hours out of my evening fishing every night (once it warms up) on the bright side i can wake up earlier and go sunrise fishing. but i am NOT a morning person

cool stuff!

I thought this was interesting. and now I want to know what you guys have! The only stipulation is this, DONT POST SOME FISH YOU CAUGHT OR YOU EARNING A TROPHY! Weve all seen that before. lets see what you guys caught on camera this year that was Bass Fishing related but really off the wall!? heres my entry...... found this sticker stuck to the inside of my dads old tackle box this summer. sad, from days long past, now he doesnt even admit to fishing for bass at anypoint in his life...... now lets see what you've got?!

i have no idea. but im not a parasite expert. but i have done a tiny bit of homework about the fish louse. and i dont think thats it!? here. i butchered this pic from someone else. but i do believe this is a fish louse on this pike. its an external bug. not under the skin...

based on thtrue premis of an all tackle record. NO......... but living in ohio. I think itd be nice if there was a different class. a 10lber up here is a monster of monsters. but isee why it isnt possible or reasonable. but i dont know. mixed feelings.

my votes for smallie. ive ran into such a variety of looks for largemouth on my lake that ive accepted that two fish from the same pad field will be the opposite ends of the coloration scale.

I second the snapping turtle comment. theyre brutal! watched one slaughter a carp up shallow once. not pretty! thats FREAKING hilarious and i too have caught fish that are beaten up. but never missing a tail! i did catch a little bass once..... and a monster northern ate the back half of it off.... bass died and the trashing unbuttoned the hook (thank god... thats one bass i dont want to land) and the pike got a good snack! does that count!? (I dont want people to think that where i fish is the little lake of horrors..... but i just spend alot of free time watching the wildlife as well as fishing! lol)

and one more comment. If any of those ladies read this.......... ID GLADLY TAKE A CHANCE TO GO FISHING WITH ANYONE OF YOU! lol. bust i still think it sucks!

three points 1. if you think its a waste its about time you catch up to the times...... females are one of the fastest growing demographics in almost any field! 2. i think that it is kinda silly that they needed a seperate tour. i get that they dont feel welcome. but then id just recite the same comment above to any professional angler. - to put it bluntly...... fishing isnt a sport where other than the willingness of a sponsor to jump onboard (which they have every right to choose to endorse a male over a female-welcome to free market system!) there really isnt a need to have a seperate division..... - its not like where looking at college womens basketball versus mens...... where there is obviously a physical gap to overcome. last time i checked, most of us here would get our a**es handed to us by those ladies...... -i think they should be more than welcome on the elite trail..... 3. If you think its ESPN pulling the strings then you dont know jack...... go do you're homework and see who owns who. ESPN is not the top of that foodchain..... the fate off everything bass lies alot higher up than that! but besides the fact. it still sucks. noone has the patience to wait anything out. it takes at least 2-4 years for something to get to its fullest level! and on top of that the female fishing population is just now getting a rolling start towards booming. that just got shot in the foot (well maybe just the big toe. itll still take off)

if you live where the waters hard right now. then spend all winter studying. its the best way to learn. then get out as soon as its warm enough to comfortably operate a rod and reel. and start casting to buckets. tree trunks. whatever you have. PRACTICE! oh and welcome!

tourneys. outtings. anything but mostly tourenys that people think are worht going to watch to learn a few things.

id actually take a different angle on it. my answer.... Sexy Shad. it became the fastest fad ive ever seen. next to that....... the hollow bellied swimbait and the shakey head.

I was wondering if anyone here was planing on going to, or knows about any events in the northern part of ohio. more speciffically, north east ohio. Im not looking to compete. but id like to go check it all out. but i one, dont have a boat, and two, dont know what to watch for or do...... just wondering.

While im an avid bass member..... mind u a non-tournament angler, but still an avid member non-the-less. its obvious that BASS is still in existance becasue of the showmanship. Its all about making it interesting to the person watching. it has little to do with people on site when the fish is caught. everything to do with the "highlight reel" that they put together for the T.V. shows. and i doubt that the safety of the fish is seriously in question. as long as it lives to weigh in they could care less. otherwise, they would have switched to a "paper only tourney" setup. drop the "marshalls" from the boats, put a tourney personell on boat, weigh the fish when its landed, mark it down on paper, and let her go...... same amount of trauma as a catch and release weekend angler. and they can still get the dramatic boatside landing without the net. just my off the wall point of view.

i take a different angle all together. fishing is my stress reliever and and anti-depression activity.... so when winter rolls around i get in trouble. started cooking a few years ago as a hobby! its an awesome alternative for me to fishing! And as of this last monday Ive combined them..... I cooked fish for the first time in my life. Made walleye cakes! My boss gave me three HUGE fillets he got from a fishing trip to lake erie and those cakes came out AWESOME! past that. the general reorganizing of my tackle boxes works sometimes.... ;D

is it sad that Ive never caught a bass on a spinner bait!? lol i dont even own any inlines.

Thats a nice october smallie! I really need to go target the football smallies up on lake erie. Ive got no reason not to....the lakes 40mins away from my new place and Ive got the gear to do it now. just gotta find a charter.

i will forwarn you. u look young. younger than me. and i obviously have no idea how well off you are finacially, but generally speaking, bass fishermen are pinned down by the bait monkey. so you should keep in mind that ocean kayak is not a cheap comapny. lol my personal oppinion, look into canoes. for me, i find theyre easier to fish from. hold more gear comfortably. sometimes cost as much as kayaks . maybe a hair more. and can be tricked out really nicely..... they alsoget back to where kayaks go. they can be alittle more difficult to transport. but for me, I think the benefits way outweigh the drawbacks. As soon as i can get one, im buying a flat stern canoe. (and the big plus.... you can rig them with a trolling motor if you wanted to and you can stand up comfortably)

As kind of a sub topic from the thread about who taught you to fish, I was wondering if anybody remembered what they tied on to their line the first time they cast something that wasn't a bit of live bait?! I think, or atleast I'm guessing my first was a grub..... i used to loot my dads old (&dust covered) takle box for bits I could use to bass fish. (most of his stuff was for big northern pike or musky & was the same size as the bass i was targeting)..... I remember my first hook up..... I was reeling a mr twister G-Grub back to me off theside of a pier (knowing nothing about cover and where bass might be) and the fish starteled me so much I almost dropped the rod. Lost that fish becasue it wrapped itself around a post on the pier. First bass I ever caught was a tiny little bass that TRASHED my horny toad one random summer day. i was shaking so much I almost dropped the little thing smack in the middle of the canoe....

I was taught by Bassmaster magazines. Bassin magazines. Infishermen magazines. and lots of trial and error. I was never an outdoors type(Dad took my bobber fishing for bluegill maybe 1-2 times a summer until I turned 10 then he stopped). Until in college when I started suffering from depression. It was a really dark stage of my life. One day I said to myself, "I think I want to go fishing!?" And never looked back. I stared back on nightcrawlers..... and slowly switched to artificials. I actually dont know what the first artificial I fished was.... probly a grub. But I taught myself to fish with my dads old AbuGarcia baitcaster and trial and error. Now I try to talk fishing with him and he gets frustrated and walks away from me becuase he has no idea what I'm talking about. lol The one thing I really had going for me was that the lake i learned on is GREAT! Its small, bout 90 Acres. Has a boat house with canoes, rowboats, bait, ect. Great shore access! Mud bottomed with tons of lilypads and Bluegill galore! And its where the Berkely Ohio Fishing Team hosts childrens derbys! Its the ideal teaching lake.

ive been using a variety of jigs. my favorite is just a generic booyah jig..... and the trailers are again. what ever i have around. i use alot of gander mtns version. my issue is that each time it gets bit the trailer seems to take a bruising and slip off the keeper built into the jig. but my tackle box is a mix of odds & ends of different kinds and styles of jigs and plastics

i know its unorthadox but i like using a jig with a big profile....... ive caught my biggest bass yet on a crappy cold day where i didnt want to put my hands in the water out of lily pads in water that closely resembles chocolate milk with a jig. ive found that its practical for the pads...... and can be worked slowly but constantly.