Jimmy Headwound

Just to give a report, I ended up at a smallish, shallow pond. The water was choppy and sprinkling rain was constant, with some pretty annoying wind just strong enough to throw off every cast. Started bouncing a zoom trickworm off the bottom, and after about 20 minutes of no activity, decided to tie the jitterbug. Then things got interesting. Tons of small, less than 10 inch bass were crushing it. I'm guessing I had a strike about once a minute. It was nearly frenzied. I would have stayed longer, but it was getting very dark at that point and I could barely feel my soaked feet (I hear you laughing at me from your boats). So what does this mean? Is it just the cold front that blew through in the last few days, or did the full day of rain and overcast have anything to do with it? Is there any answer to these questions? Can't figure it out. It'd be nice if I could though, because I'd be a millionaire.

Thanks for the input. I'm heading out in about an hour to do some fishing at dusk, with heavy overcast and cold misting rain. Hell why not.

There are a lot of topics here lately about rain and it's effects on fishing, but I just want to note that this topic is intended to be broader than just rain, not to be too redundant. Ever since I was a kid, I've heard all sorts of this and that about weather and it's effects on fish activity. The old timers always say the fish wont bite if the cows are laying down. Others would say the full moon at midnight will bring a good bite every time. It's been my experience that these two superstitions are just that - superstition. I've also heard time and time again that a sudden cold front, like that just before a storm, will put the fish into a feeding. One of the most spectacular 45 minutes of bass fishing I've ever had was at one of these times, and it was the middle of August, in broad daylight with a topwater bait. After that incident, I considered the storm front to be a real producer, but I'm not entirely sure if the science backs that up. The question is this - without going into too much detail (as this subject could take up volumes), what weather conditions generally produce a good bite? I'm mostly curious about the summer months, since catching bass in the spring and fall is typically a different game altogether (and often an easier one for me). I've gone out in nearly all conditions, and my results are always mixed. I've fished through all stages of storms, cold fronts, heat waves, high water, low water etc and whether they're biting or not, ultimately, seems entirely random during the hot part of the year. I just want to hear your opinions, and if you guys would care to share any of your geological cues that you swear by. Thanks in advance.

When I first started playing, I never had any formal lessons, but I did find some guidance from my peers that helped me along with some shortcuts. Acoustic guitars are much better to learn on than electric because they require more precise input from the player, and you get a much better feel for the way a guitar and it's strings behave. If that's not possible, an electric will work. First and foremost, play with the strings and frets until you begin to develop some muscle memory. Find a comfortable position to anchor your wrist on the body of the guitar and get familiar with it's behavior. Work on plucking the strings cleanly. Press firmly on the frets and see what kind of sounds you can make. It's fairly easy to tell when you're making a clean stroke or a bad stroke, so just keep fooling around with it until you can consistently produce a good clean sound. Practice plucking each string independently, without looking. Once you can do this reasonably well, and in different orders accurately, try to increase your speed. When starting out, it's more about getting familiar with the instrument, and this is the best practice I found to help me do that. Once you feel comfortable with that practice, your real learning process can begin. Experienced players will tell you differently, but if you want to shortcut past the typical "stairway to heaven" drill, look into power chords. Power chords are what make up the bulk of amateur garage rock guitar playing. The music may not be your cup of tea, but you'd be surprised how many great songs consist entirely of two or three different power chords. They're simple to learn and very easy to string together. A quick google search should bring up a number of decent resources on power chords, and I don't know any place to start right off hand, so I'll leave that to you. Along with that, learn to read guitar tabs. They're much easier to interpret than sheet music, and you can plow a lot more ground with them. They're basically a graphical transcript of any given song, designed to be read quickly. They can get complicated, but once you learn how to read the more advanced stuff, you'll basically be able to look at them and instantly know how to play it. Again, a Google search should bring up a number of good resources. This is not the "right" way to learn, but it will get you there. If you practice these things, you'll develop that muscle memory and the rest will come to you. The first song I ever learned to play all the way through was Enter Sandman by Metallica. That song sure ain't as good as it was back in 1991, but it's very easy to play and sounds impressive in front of the naysayers. Good luck.

Thanks for all the great replies. I've been around to a few other forums and you guys have been the most helpful and friendly by far. I can see myself sticking around here for a long while.

Thanks for the replies. It's sounding like I just need to work with it. My (admittedly limited) knowledge of physics and mechanics tells me that a spincaster should cast further than a baitcaster simply because the bait does not have to tow a spool by it's own inertia, and is allowed to unspool freely, with no incumbrance other than friction on the rotor and guides (all else being equal, such as line, bait, rod etc). This is obviously dependent on the design of any specific spincaster, and some will perform better than others in that respect. Since nearly every serious fisherman prefers a baitcaster and claims they do cast further, there must be a flaw in my logic. If anyone cares to explain, I'm all ears and very interested to hear it. If I can't get the baitcaster issues worked out by the fall bass feed, I'll be going back to the Omega. But I'll keep working on it until then. Thanks again

Last night I was throwing a 1/4 ounce buzzbait, but I've tried everything. I even tried a texas rig with a 3/4 ounce bullet, and still got no distance. Just for kicks, I tried for a while with the brakes completely disengaged, without much increase on the range. No luck.

Hello from Illinois. I've been enjoying the forum for a while and I've finally got a question that needs answering. I've been a spincast dude my entire life. This is mostly because I simply never saw a need for anything else. I've never had much problem with them, with the exception of a few breaks here and there due to my limited range of usable lines, but nothing to get too upset about. Due to my extensive experience with spincasters, I've gotten quit good with them (even able to pitch 40 feet with one depending on what I have tied on). However, I've recently made the switch to baitcasters just to see what all the fuss is about. I purchased a Black Max because it seemed like a decent reel for a beginner, and has a very reasonable price tag. I've taken it out a couple times, and I've suffered a few backlashes as expected. Those are annoying, but I figure it just takes time and practice to work through those problems. My biggest setback, however, is that I've yet to find any advantage to using the baitcaster. The biggest selling points for me were the distance and accuracy, and I see neither when using one. Even with heavy bait, and the brakes all the way off, I only get about 30-40 feet with a cast at the most. That's hugely disappointing. I'm also terribly inaccurate with the thing, but I'm guessing that has more to do with finness and practice, so that's something I'll work toward. I'm also seeing problems with slowing the spool. Keeping my thumb on the spool only decreases the distance, no matter how lightly I handle it. I'm using a 6'4 Shimano med-heavy fast action rod, could this be part of the problem? Would a lighter rod help the casting distance? What exactly am I missing here? After two outings with short casts and splashdowns, I'm tempted to run back to my Omega so I can actually fish again. ;D Any tips are appreciated. Thanks!