el_jewapo

i have always thought it wasn't good, thought being the key word. i don't know if it makes a difference or not. but i try to keep it cleaned off my hooks. i slap my bait in the water really hard and that gets most of it off. in bad stuff you'll have to do that pretty much every cast. i've never seen a fish of any kind swimming around with a bunch of moss on him, so it's probably best to keep it clean.

the first fish i caught on senkos was a bowfin

i guess the only injuries i get are blisters between my fingers from holding the rod. i don't fight a fish with the rod in my stomach.

i have some of the storm swim baits. the big ones, 5 inch i think. i have bluegill and shad. i'm going fishing early in the morning one day this weekend. i was wondering if they might be good for a big bass early in the morning. would it be worth passing up the good daylight topwater bite in hopes of catching a really big bass with a swimbait? or would buzzbaits or spooks be better for big bass early? i've never really spent any time using them. i can't seem to gather much faith in them.

one of the bass lakes in mexico, or cuba. they say the world record has been broken atleast 10 times in cuba. the fish were caught in nets or something that didn't qualify them. anyone else read about this? i think in a 5 day trip you're almost guarenteed a bass in the teens.

most of the lakes i fish you can't see the bottom in 1 foot of water.

that's a very good point. i catch bass without one. i just want one to learn the structure of the lakes i fish. after i've fished a couple years with one, i probably won't look at it much anymore. i just want to find the hidden hot spots.

i'm really hard on my trolling motor. i run over stumps all the time. it's a hazard of the waters around here. everywhere. wouldn't that ruin it? i saw a protection rig for it. but i'm not sure that would protect it from what i put it through. i'm surprised i haven't broke the moter. it's been a tough one.

care to explain why?

yeah, i know they're for finding depth and structure rather than fish.

how many of you have fish finders? and how important to your fishing success do you feel they really are? i don't have one. i told my wife tonight that my next major purchase is going to be one. i feel like it would be a huge help. especially in the summer. all i have is a 14 foot jon boat. i load it in the back of my truck. what kind of mounting options do i have for the transducer? i can't bolt it onto my boat because i would knock it off loading and unloading. could i put it on a magnet or something?

i went fishing with a friend of mine the other day, i got to his house to pick him up and he came out with 1 bag of red shad culprit worms. that was all he wanted to use. i havn't fished with him for a couple years. i was surprised to see that he was still in that habit. he caught a couple little bass that day. but i caught alot more with 4 or 5 different baits. it would be more fun fishing with him if he would experiment. i hope he snapps out of it like you did.

that sounds like good advice too. i've noticed in lakes that there are places where you catch mostly smaller bass and other areas where there are more big bass. i don't feel at all qualified to be giving advice to a pro (i assume by the triton shirt) i doubt i'm telling you anything you don't know.

are you talking about a lake you fish regularly? i'd think about keeping those smaller bass, if it's that bad.

i second the buzzbait idea. they always seem to produce good sized bass for me.

you should fish in them, and directly below them. you want your bait to move down the current. fish will be facing into the current looking for something to drift to them.

like others have said, hold them by the lip. but don't hold them horizontaly by the lip, you can easily break their jaw by doing this.

wow, i didn't know they could walk. i knew they had a lung to breathe air. i just thought it was to get oxegyn because of the stagnant water they tend to live in. will they walk a great distance to get to another body of water? i have wondered how they got in this lake. there is a big slough a few hundred yards away. could they have walked that far?

the lake i've been fishing is the heaviest timber i've ever seen. the routes you can take change daily. i could go 30 yards or so farther than i did today just 2 days ago. i have a hard time with worms and jigs in it. i have good success with crank baits and buzz baits. do ok with spinner baits. it's hard to stay quiet in that stuff.

i don't ever get skunked there. but i really do have to start fishing new water. it's hard though. today i got one that was between 5 and 6 to the boat and he got off. i've never felt so confident that i would catch a wall mounter as i am there. i missed another big big fish earlier. i guess it was a bass, i barely saw it. there are alot of big bowfin in there so it might have been one of those. i do need to fish another lake. all the good lakes are just so far to drive. i drive about 20 miles to this one. if anything, this lake has taught me not to count out top water in the middle of the day. that's good to know. the other lake that has really big bass is hard to fish without a depth finder. even the people that have them don't do that great. the lake record is 15 and some change. i heard a state record was shocked up out there, and 80% of the bass in the coves they shocked were over 8 lbs. i don't really believe that. i just can't catch bass there. nothing i've tried works on them. last time i was there i saw huge bass busting shad. for atleast 15 minutes. i tried 5 or 6 lures without anything. and it's not just me, i never see anyone catching much.

i'm confident that i can catch fish, it just seems that as my confidense grows in one area, it shrinks in another. i caught a few on jigs the other day. it's coming back.

east arkansas. about 45 minutes from memphis tn.

i'm sure a replica of that fish is going on his wall! awesome fish to catch period, let alone a tournament.

i lost a crank bait one time and went back the next day to find a duck hooked with it. his feet were hooked together. i caught it and cut the hooks and set him free. does that count?

you don't leave lures tied from your last trip?