shorefisher

Has anyone out there caught bluegill and then re-hooked them for large pike on a slip bobber rig? I was considering this as well as the frozen smelt method. I'm not able to get large minnows near where I live. It just seemed like a decent idea but any suggestions/criticism would be appreciated.

I was sorry to hear about this Rondef so it's great you have a local dive club. They will find it guaranteed. I'm a certified diver and would do it for you for the cost of a tank of air and a hot meal but I'm 800 miles away.

Carefully pass the stringer through the vent and out the gullet. That way you won't damage their gills. :

I practice catch and release but seeing as I fish with dynamite the release part doesn't work as well as I'd hoped.

Seems there was a moon phase during one of Beast's and _B_U_R_L_E_Y's recent outings. Not sure about the bass, but I think it might have thrown me off my feed.

Same here, it's like someone out there is really stocking up. Neither one can seem to keep the hooks in stock.

Those smallies are huge and beautiful.

As your attorney I advise you to rent a very fast car with no top.

Ha ha the little guy. I took a 6 and 4 yr. old out for their first fishing trip and while I was putting worms on the hook, the 6 yr old. (Stephanie) said "that's gross touching the worms." and I replied "You have to do it to catch the fish." and then she said "that's just the fishing life huh?" lol I could barely restrain myself. I love little kids.

My Quantum Energy PT was $94. But I would look for a Shimano Curado D on eBay. You can easily get one for under $100.00.

RW what size hook do you use for a 6" senko? What brand?

In my opinion Owner makes the best hooks I've found but they are double the price of Gamakatsu and may not be worth the difference to you. I admit I mainly buy Gammys cause I'm cheap. I prefer 3/0 red EWG for 5" senkos, that size hook seems to have the best action and fall rate and I don't believe I've yet lost a fish because the hook was "small". That being said I would jump to 4/0 and larger for larger baits or Ika's which I like to make sure that I have a very wide gap to accommodate their fat lil bodies. Conversely I would downsize to a 1/0 light wire hook for the small 3" senkos or tiny beavers because you don't want the hook to improperly weight the bait. I will hurt the action.

So in your opinion are the specialized dropshot weights worth the money? I also would like to try drop shotting soon.

Well I screwed it up big time. She threw the worm (*** Salty Stick 5" watermelonseed) and I didn't have a scale on me but here is my personal best. 22", she is over 7lbs. but I don't know by how much. I think she's over 8lbs but... :'( The story is I took my buddy who I just got addicted to bass fishing with his wife last Saturday to a private pond I know of. We were all fishing from a 17ft. canoe and while teaching her how to fish a senko she immediately caught a beautiful 4lb fish along with a beachball wad of weeds because she didn't realize she had the fish on. God bless RW and his Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra-Soft recommendation, that 6lb. line horsed that fish out of there... Anyways 15 fish and 6 hours later I spotted a live fallen tree hanging over the water making a perfect V shaped cove. I told them that it looked perfect for a fish but by that time they were kind of distracted so I cast it myself. 2 seconds after the worm hit the water my line started dropping a bit faster than it should have and I reeled down and set the hook. Immediately the drag started screaming and I thought I had a big pike on the line. I fought it for a minute trying my best to keep her out of the tree and out of the weeds and then she came up and jumped and I saw the biggest bass of my life. My heart started pounding and I started screaming at them (the poor guys lol) to move the boat because a log was in between me and the fish and I was terrified that I wouldn't land her. But somehow we got the fish close and I lipped her. She was so heavy and perfectly fat. Not a mark on her and my hookset was perfect, didn't damage a thing. She was respectfully lowered back in the water and she splashed all of us with a big swipe of her tail as she rocketed away. I will NEVER go fishing without a scale again. I know how approx. how heavy she was but would pay $100 right now to know the exact weight. Anyways she was a certified lunker for New York State and I'm lucky I had a chance to see her up close.

Great story Alpster. After all these years that fish is still your personal best?

Red worms are very effective but much messier than the other baits suggested.

I could see harvesting and eating them or giving them to someone else, but it's not good to move fish from place to place. You can introduce disease, parasites, and other problems.

It seems like a lot of people these days are infected with the holier-than-thou virus. Don't let the hate of a few idiots ruin your time here. That being said, I never keep any of my bass because I just don't like the taste. Watching some of the city folk coming to the ponds and just filling buckets with whatever they catch drives me crazy though. No matter what you do to an animal, do it with respect.

I know how you feel, I recently got some 6" floating worms and put them on a shaky head and proceeded to immediately guthook two small bass. Not sure why I couldn't feel the strike, maybe I need a better rod. I successfully removed the hooks using the method written up elsewhere here but they were bleeding all over the place. Anyways they didn't make it and even though the bait was performing excellently I put it down and started using other bait. I'm not too sad about it but my goal is to catch and release. Plus some of the waters I fish, I wouldn't eat anything out of there. In the end it is important that some fish are harvested, it insures a healthy population.

I already have a Vision 110 and it performs (see my avatar), it's also been lodged in my skull : http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1217385063/0

Has anyone used a Megabass Anthrax 100? This "upside down" lure seems really cool. The action is fascinating and on TackleTour they mentioned you can actually get it to jump out of the water on the retrieve. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewmbanthrax.html I have one coming from Japan to try myself but I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this funky bait. Megabass is quickly becoming my favorite company, their baits are unique and beautiful. Also check out their Siglett cicada bait, that's gonna be my next one.

Well in that case I would have to recommend the Shimano Calais DC or Calcutta TE DC reels, they will make it easy to learn. Paired with a nice Megabass White Python or like RW said a G Loomis MBR844C it would be an adequate setup for a beginner. If you're going to do it, why not do it right the first time?

Even better was it was dark and I thought I had gotten a strike and set the hook. hahahaha LOL ;D

follow the setting advice in reelmechanic's link. clamp your thumb down on the spool and when you cast it forward very slightly let your thumb off until the lure barely goes 10 feet. stop the spool again completely when the lure touches the water. then keep practicing until you can use less pressure and get greater distance. train your thumb

Your troll-fu is weak little one.