basser89

Was in a bass tournament a few years back when I had a 33" musky crush a crankbait. I somehow managed to get it to boat side and into a net. For being only 33", it was a fat one! Went right through the net and onto my front deck. I jumped on top her to keep it from knocking my rods into the water and my Dad did the eye grab. Unfortunately, that was the only thing we could do. Luckily for me now, my "hobby fishing" is for musky and I have a Rapala grip with me when I'm out on the boat no matter what I'm fishing for!

Hey Hookem, I'm here in MD. I've caught bass on the upper Potomac in late December, early January (even on Super Bowl Sunday)! I have two coal burning power plants close to me and hit them in the winter. As long as I can keep the rod guides from freezing up, I can catch them! Its really kinda nice, having just about the whole river to myself! Cause there's not too many other nuts here that would go fishing in 20 degree weather!

Great post Preston! You covered it all! Great people, great source of information and of course, great moderators and great host! Although I haven't been here all that long, welcome back!

Hey mudcatwilly, Welcome to the board! I think you made the first step already! You found this site! Awesome bunch of anglers here! KU made it easy for ya with the link! Kana and Bass Hammer hit it too, finding a buddy to fish with is a great way to learn and bounce ideas off each other! Being new to bass fishing, I'll add try not getting too wrapped up with too many different techniques all at once. Try 2, MAYBE 3 techniques and try to master them as much as possible before adding more! This will teach you where and when to fish them and not doubt yourself if the bite gets slow (and it does from time to time, or is that just for me?) Hope this helps and keep us posted on your outtings!

Merry Chirstmas to all! May Santa keep that bait monkey off your back for a week or two! Unless he brings you gift cards! ;D

From what I've read, 50 is the magic number most of the time. I have read a few articles where Pro's have said they have had luck as low as 46-48. I wanted to test that theory last spring but for some reason I was thrown a few major curve balls and really never got on much during the prespawn. > I know its not really what you asked, but you may be able to use spinnerbaits as a test. I've got prespawners on spinnerbaits in 48 degree water (according to my fishing log). When they start hitting spinnerbaits, you may be able to catch some on the surface! Hope this helps!

Wish I could say what I got Dad, but he surfs here once in a while so I can't spoil the surprise! Sorry Dad! The tackle bag is a good idea! Don't think Charlie is posting on here. From what I've seen, he's entertaining the folks over on Bassmaster (if that is definitely him).

basspro, don't feel too bad! My biggest was caught 3 years ago in a small tournament in PA on the Juniata river. It was 3 pounds even and caught it on a 3/8oz Hart Hartbeater buzzbait. Guess I don't do too much so that's not too bad for the amount of time fishing for them.

From what I've experienced, when the barometer has been stable for a few days the fishing is going to be good! If it slowly starts to fall, even better! I have to agree with LBH on the high pressure, that really throws them off! But if I do make it out on days like that, I'm going to fish REAL DEEP! The deeper they are the less affect the barometric pressure has on them. And just the opposite with the low pressure as far as location goes. Something I had noticed this year is the pressure was constantly bouncing up and down quite a bit! And in my opinion, that will really throw them off too! Kinda like driving a vehicle on a very hilly road, up and down and up and down, really not fun on the stomach and I don't feel like eating much after that either!

phisher_d, I've been trying the dropshot for a few weeks now here in MD. No luck. I've tried it on a small pond that I was catching bass on regularly with senkos before the cold really set in here. Was out on the Potomac last weekend and gave it a try there too (just below a warm water discharge plant). Zippo again. > All the techniques I've used in the past have not even produced a nibble yet. I'm missing something, just haven't figured it out yet! When I do, I'll let ya know!

Quick! What's the difference between a golden shiner and a threadfin shad! :-? Maybe that will help tame the monkey for a bit! LOL!

Stay focused Raul! Just stay here and everything will be ok as long as you stay away from the tackle posts! :

Can't agree with you more Raul! Those times are the worst for the Bait Monkey!! Luckily, I've shown him my wallet and he ran away cryin! ;D

(1) Spinnerbaits (2) Flippin and Pitchin tubes (3) Wacky rig (4) Buzzbaits, sorry just couldn't leave that one out!

I've had a real up and down year. We had a really weird spring around here and never really had a chance to figure out what the fish were doing in the prespawn except a PB (5lbs 8ozs) I got in a small farm pond. Had some mixed success during the post spawn but nothing of any size. Then summer came and for some reason, I spent WAY too much time "hobby fishing", that's what I call musky fishing. I am thankful I was able to finally catch on to plastic worm fishing and also wacky rigging! Early fall, I was able to break my PB (5lbs 9ozs), hey it wasn't by much but I did do it! ;D Had a chance to take a week off from work later in the fall but wasn't able to put any kind of a pattern together. The year isn't over completely! I still have the warm water discharge areas near me and hope to do some smallie fishing before the year ends!

1. KVD, love his style! When I grow up, I want to be just like him! Can't wait to meet him someday! 2. David Walker, I've talked to him a couple times. The first seminar I met him, we talked for at least a half hour. There were a group of about 20 guys standing around but he and I pretty much led the conversation. He share all kinds of info with us all. Have a TON of respect for him! 3. Woo Daves, Met him too! Great man with a wealth of knowledge to share! Had a question for him at one show and he didn't know off the top of his head. He asked me to e-mail him and he responded back with the information!

Here in MD, you can use any sport fish as bait as long as it is caught in a legal manner and is legal in size. Growing up, my Dad used to use rock bass for muskies up in PA. Its ok in my book.

A few years back, I remember reading an article in Bassmaster. I beleive they titled that article "The Power Dropshot".

I'm a firm believer in the trailer hook! Won't throw one without it! The rod I use for spinnerbaiits is a 7' MH Bass Pro Shops Bionic Blade and I use 14 to 20# Flurocarbon. It has less stretch than mono but I still get solid hook sets. As for the red trailer hook question, I want the bass to be drawn to the main body of the bait. In my opinion, a red trailer might draw more attention to the back of the bait and may cause more short stikes. As with everyone else, keep the hooks sharp (both of them)! Hope this helps! Good luck and let us know if our input helps!

6. But since I found this one, I don't even bother with the others except when the board was down. And man was that ever BORING!

I just started fishing with the wacky rig late this summer. What I've did this year was use Wave Worm's Tiki Bam Boo stiks (t-rigged) in the spring. Worked them around heavy cover on my flippin stick and caught some nice fish doing this. Like I said, it wasn't until late summer (I stopped catchin bass out of this small pond I hit from time to time) that I tried the wacky rig (with Kinami Flash) and it produced when nothing else was. The largest one I caught out of that pond was about 3#. I guess this goes hand in hand with what basspro was saying, when the bass are active, use the t-rig. When the conditions are tougher, use the wacky rig.

Hey LBH, I think you missed a choice in your poll! I have two warm water discharge areas that I like to hit for both smallies and largemouth in the winter! I've caught bass in these areas late in december, into january and even on superbowl sunday! It's really helped me make it through the winter!

Here's the link to Lake Fork Taxidermy! http://www.lakeforktaxidermy.com/ Check out some of their work!

Randy, Good luck and let us know how you make out! If you can post a pic, I'd love to see that hog! Whoever you go with, whenever the replica is done, I'd love to see a pic of the finished product! I've been debating getting one done of the first 5 pounder I caught (the one in my avitar). Keith, I'm 99% sure it was Lake Fork taxidermy we were on but I could be mistaken. I'll ask my fishing partner (that will be easy since I work with him!) and let you know for sure!

Hey Keith, I just finished checkin out some local prices here in MD and found that Bass Pro's shop is cheaper than most of the locals and the quality is better from what I can tell on line. A friend and I have been on Lake Fork's site and they do REAL nice work as well!