jax

Trout or bass... A chance at a 10lber... even if it is a remote chance... only $15... bass... 10lber... Is that even debatable? Where do I sign up again? Even if your friends caught all the trout they wanted and you didn't get a bite, I would still call it a good day of fishing. Add in a chance at a 10lber and I would call it a vacation!

OK. I can't resist. I want everyone's extra tackle that you haven't used in the last 8 months. I will make good use of your tackle. You aren't using it. It may begin to go bad before you use it again. If you haven't used it by now then you have too much tackle and need to lighten the load. Send it to me. I guarantee that I will use it. The fish are asking for different tackle than what I am offering them. That tackle will help me catch more fish. When I catch a fish with you tackle I will tell everyone that I got the tackle from you. There. How was that? I was assertive and confident. I explained who I wanted it from. A time frame for sorting out the tackle. Why you should give it to me. Why I want it. I even offered something in return. No begging. No sob story. Thats worth a crank or two. Maybe some of them pink wormys I keep hearing about! ;D So who's sending me their extra stuff?!?!? I even added smileys to add some emotion to it!!! Just for clarification I was kidding. I'm in a good mood. That is unless you are really going to follow through and send me the stuff you haven't been using. Then I'm not kidding!

Spaceballs will always be one of my favorite movies. It is to corny not to like! They breathe air out of an aluminum can! Who in their right mind can to that?!?! And combing the desert? I dont think that movie will ever be topped for shear stupidity or brilliance (depends on how much beer I have drank!).

It amazes me the garbage that some software companies pass off as games. It is a shame that xbox cant do a better fishing game.

I thought the same thing when I seen that episode. They boarded that ship just like pirates. I was amazed that they had the audacity to claim that their crew kidnapped. I was amazed that they did not throw him back overboard. I understand what they are trying to do but the way they are going about it is ridiculous. I cannot believe that they get away with it. Who donates to those idiots? After watching one episode I wanted nothing else to do with them.

Shoot every time I catch a bass it makes my day. I agree with what Glenn said earlier. For me actually catching a big fish is great but catching any fish means I did something right and finally found where they are and what they want. I get excited over every fish every time. Now I don't fish tourneys so I try and be respectful on the water and try to keep my volume down. But I personally do not know one person that does not get excited when they catch a fish. A big fish is a whole different ball game. That being said I also know guys the purposely cause a big ruckus to demoralize their opponents. They catch a fish EVERYONE hears them yelling on the water. I do not get the feeling that Ike does this though. He seems to be like a lot of us and just enjoys fishing. I can only assume that getting paid for catching a bass adds to his excitement!

I noticed that it turned my line a bright chalky white. It this normal? I Love the stuff when it is wet but it makes my line show up more when it is day. Anyone notice this or do I have a bad bottle of it?

That tears me up just thinking about that. If something like that happened to my daughter I don't know what I would do. Hell I don't know what I would do seeing someone else's little girl like that. That is a very sad story.

I would love to learn to find fish and structure without having to use electronics. The problem is I know of no one around me that can even come close to fishing like that. It isn't from lack of wanting to learn. It is the lack of someone to teach. Most people I know aggressively power fish anymore. They hit a spot a few times then move on. It is hard to learn when you are constantly moving. The reason I am always told is why waste time trying to catch fish that are skittish and don't want to bite. Drives me insane. That is my rant for the day. I swear I wish some of you guys were in southern Indiana. Anywho. Any advice is more than welcome.

I agree. Not enough Hoosiers in here. Seems like Hoosiers are awfully quite. I started playing on another Hoosier specific board and it is quite there too. I finally caught a bass over 4lbs last Sunday at Patoka. Largest bass for me yet!

I can't wait for it to stabilize. We were on Patoka lake over the weekend and the fishing sucked. The shallows were on in the lower 50s on Saturday. Looks like it may be the next weekend before fishing gets really good.

Thanks for the help. I had never thought of looking for bass beds. Now I just need a good reason to leave work to go find bass beds... ;D

If there is anything I have learned from this site, watching the pro's movies, talking with other fisherman, and from my own experience is that finding fish and catching fish are two entirely different things. If I remember correctly KVD stated that he doesn't mind fishing behind others. He will try and throw something that they are not throwing or try the same bait with a different presentation. Just because they fished that spot doesn't mean the found the big one. Often is it mentioned to never give up to soon? Unless they have a title to that piece of property then it is fair game to fish. If you feel obliged to let someone else fish it first then that is up to you. But to say you can't fish it makes no sense. Move in and fish it when they leave. I caught my first 4.5lb yesterday on Patoka lake. The bite was off. Way off. There was a big tourney going on that we were not in. We always let the tourney guys fish thru our areas and tried to stay out of their way. We were just fishing for fun. There was a nice area that alot of guys were complaining should have held fish. The gusy I was fishing with was complaining about the same thing. People went up and back down with no bites. We went up with throwing everything. No bites. People went up and down and around us with no bites. I finally pulled out my favorite bait. A jointed Shad Rap with an orange belly. I was more playing around with it than anything else. The guy I was fishing with hit the same stump that another guy had just hit a bit earlier with nothing. The same spot alot of guys had already hit. I had hit this spot early with a jig and nothing. I hit the same spot again and nothing. I hit it again from a little bit different angle and WHAM!. Nice big bite. You can only imagine how happy I was and how unhappy all the guys that were in the tourney were when I caught that fish. We proudly backed out of the spot and let the tourney guys have that spot. Again they caught nothing and moved on. We moved on ourselves to make room for more guys. For me being still relatively new it was my moment in the spot light. Especially since I have never fished a tourney! I caught a nice fish from a high pressure spot. I took KVDs advice and hit the same spot more than once with something different. I know this was a stump and not a sunk brush pile but to me it still is the same. Lots of people fished it. Just because someone else fished that spot doesn't make it is theirs and doesn't mean they caught all of the fish or the best fish. It is up to you when you fish it and whether or not you fish it. Not someone else. If you think the fish are there why not fish it?

Ok. I'm still new enough that I have to ask. A guy fishing a tourney asked me this yesterday as he was puttering by. He asked me if we had seen any beds. I feel like an idiot asking this question. It is one I have never thought of. So canyou actually find bass beds? How can you see them if they are in water that is not clear? Is this a learn to read your sonar thing or a visual thing? I realize that if you find the fish you more than likely have found the beds but he was specifically asking if we had found the beds. Not the fish. Is this one of those go find the paper stretcher questions... Thanks

Jointed Rapala Shad-Rap. This is my lucky go to bait. It has caught fish when nothing else would. The one with the blue stripe on top, silver middle, orange stripe on bottom. Best bait I have ever owned.