Max-in-Mn

"Start fishing tournaments if you want to claim greatness, you may find out you're just and average Joe" I'm not trying to debate you but I highly disagree with that. Why? because of the luck aspect. Think about it. There are "pro's" who may win 5 big tourneys in a row and than for the next five years they can't even make top 20. To me I believe it's more of an "understanding" than a skill. Sure you could go "by the book" and use all that techniques and tactics that are proven to work. But beyond that you need an understanding of how fish live day to day and what there world consists of. And over time you just "know" what to throw and when. It's basically like hunting. After many years of experience you gravitate towards the same cover as the animals do without even making a mental note of it, you almost become one in yourself. And the same applies to fishing, imho.

FLW all the way! better rod or better reel?

Oh and can't forget Super Black Bass for the snes, I still play that game lol.

Well, for dock fishing you probably wanna go at morning or evening. Up here in Mn we catch muskies, largemouths and smallmouths from docks so they do work. I've had good success from docks using live bait. I will either use a slip bobber rig or a big slip sinker and floating jighead equipped with your bait of choice. A medium sized shiner on there will catch just about anything. Try that slip sinker rig and I'll bet you catch something!

Sega bass fishing was the best forsure. But I was also into "Bass Strike" for PS2, it's actually pretty good.

Look for current breaks. Examples of these could be a protruding point, large boulders, tree's, tributaries, etc. Basically any spot where fast water meets slow water is a good place to look.

Yea probably. I still think experience on the water is the best education there is, and I have 22 years of that But I do also have my share of education in the subject, just not a major degree or anything.

I agree with that earthworm. Maybe I did rate to high but like you said, how can one really rate fishing skills? I don't believe in the word "pro" either, it's a joke imo.

"Oooh Grasshopper, If you want to fight, do not pick the 600 lb gorilla as your opponent." What's that supposed to mean rw? If your implicating me as a "grasshopper" I can assure you my knowledge of fish and the science of it is much more than that of a grasshopper You'd be amazed at what I've taught the local geezers.... 8)

7-8 But I grew up on the water so I better be that good

Yea I think I'm gonna take your word on this one But I'm still confused as to what the original posters answer should be. Should he stock it, being as theres already 10lb fish in there, and if yes, how would he manage the distribution? As in, what size, how many, etc? P.S Hey Raul, it's obvious your well educated in the science of fish. I'm curious as to what type of degree/s you have and how long it took to get it/them? I would love to follow the same path, or at least something to do with fish science/managment.

Hehe, but in fact you are basing your opinion on somebody elses findings, am I not correct? But than again, I am basing my opinion between 4 or 5 lakes in Northern Minnesota. So there is other factors that play into my theory like, ice, very cold fall, spring, and winter months, etc. And I'm sure this Greg guy is right in what he speaks but I'm not sure it can be used as a "universal" theory. You said this..."If smaller bluegill were deterimental to bass, your scenario would produce a sparse population of older,very well fed bass,not dinks." On paper, I would agree, but my real time, real life, experience completely disagree's. I mean I have fished these lakes religously and never in my life caught a bass over 2 pounds. But the lakes that have the jumbo 1lb+ bluegills, always produce healthy dosages of 3lb+ bass. I think this is one of those cases that is just "open" as in, there is no right or wrong answer because there are so many other factors involved. Heck, I'm just more confused now than anything hehe.

First tip-find rocks. Smallies relate to rocks more than any structure there is, they seem to like wood alot to. As for lures you can pretty much use what you do for largemouths, just downsize a bit. For spinnerbaits I drop down to a single colorado blade, rapalas down to 3-4 inches, etc. But my biggest and best smallies always come from jigs. I use a 1/8 ounce non painted jighead. I equip these with 3 inch twister tails and colors are mostly clear brown with black dots, brown, black, or clear blue with black dots. I caught mine without any live bait on the jig but you can tip them with anything from leeches to fatheads. A crawfish colored crankbait bounced on the rocks or fished near the rocks is also a good technique. Topwaters work excellent for smallies in low light.

Hey there Just keep it all simple, you don't want any fancy crap for now. I would say to just go to your nearest tackle store and buy a few spinnerbaits, a few crankbaits and maybe even a few topwaters like poppers. I would wait a while to start using jigs and stuff because they require some kind of different techniques that take a while to get down. If your using a spinning setup don't get big lures, I've seen alot of new guys using big spinnerbaits on spinning tackle and there rods are like half bent. A smaller, single blade spinnerbait will do just fine. And for minnow baits just get a few floating rapala's and some suspending models. Again, not to big, I'd say nothing more than 4 1/2 inches on spinning gear. For colors I say to keep it simple, a blue/white, a black/white, and either black/gold or a bright color like chartreuse or firetiger. Just feel free to ask questions if your confused.

I don't think anybody meant that bluegills were "bad" for a pond. But his pond is only 5 acres you'd have to keep a pretty tight balance. And I was basing my opinion on experience not some article I read, no offense though. The lakes I have fished that have sparse populations of bigger panfish always produce good numbers of quality fish, 3+ lbs. While the lakes that have absurd amounts of dinky bluegills seem to produce nothing more than dinky bass. Could just be coincedence yes, but I believe it's not. So I stick wholeheartedly with my theory, a small amount of larger bluegill is your best bet.

Hey but read that site.."patent pending"...And I did some reasearch and it states, "However, until the patent actually issues, another party can make, use, and sell the invention." ;D

Never had much luck with those plastic leeches. I lost my biggest bass ever fishing a live leech and slip bobber though

Yeap, he is right, in my opinion of course. You have to understand that what really matters in a fishery habitat is the eggs and hatch fingerlings. Now picture any lake with a large population of sunfish and what do you think of?, little ferocious rascals that eat anything that comes in the water. Now picture one large bass trying to fight off a school of 100 them little chowhounds, impossible! The best idea might be a small population of larger bluegills, since one or two large bluegill would be easier for a bigger bass to fight off. But like he said, bass also eat there own so keep that in mind as well. And if you havn't already, I would suggest planting trees that will overhang into the water. Tons of insects fall off overhanging trees providing just that much more food. And obviously create any structure in the pond you can. I would sink some christmas trees in there if you havn't yet, they are excellent, as are giant boulders. Good luck and have fun with it.

Your right about those rats, they actually really work. I always prefered the smaller white mouse type ones though, those things were so overlooked. The duck type one is killer for muskies in wisconsin, as this is an actual prey for them believe it or not. One minute you'd see a stray duckling swimming hastily, than splash, nothin' but feathers. Now back on topic. For this river, being as it's so clear, your best bet is night or low light fishing. Also try to wear some clothes that match the background you'll be fishing from. And stay real low, like almost crawling low, and cast FAR away from the bass you know are there, than work it to them. Try a small ribbon or straight tail worm weightless rigged. The uber slow presentation may do the trick. Try colors like see through blue flake or see through crawdad. They seem to produce best for me on clear rivers. Good luck!

Thats great your back into it. You'll pick up all the lingo faster than you'd think. But to be "cool" these days you have to own at least one shimano reel over 100$ and you have to say you use "senkos" alot as well. You might even want to go pick up some "power pro" line just to have around, and you have to learn that palomar knot, it's a must! Might as well get some Mann's "minus" series crankbaits to, and a bomber long A of course. Don't be confused, it'll come in time.

That's awesome! I've only seen 50 inch fish, never got one in the boat. But had that been a musky tourny, well, I think you would have taken the cake

Hey chris, I have that same problem on this lake with northerns, they eat anything, anytime.This makes it hard to use some of the conventional techniques. And your right that alot of cover "Should" hold fish but due to the pikes there just not there. I also agree that they have become open water fish. I just never knew where to look. I'm gonna go up next weekend and I'm gonna hammer them. I can bet right now I will find those fish. So thanks again guys, I super appreciate it. P.S. Any size to those muskies you catch? Musky fishing is my second love hehe.

Thanks alot basswest, that advice about the flats is the ticket I'm thinking. They are just so vast I never knew where to look, but now the wheels are turning. Never thought about matching the hatch like that either, good stuff! You guys helped alot so I will definitely give you a report. I never really tried fishing deep with cranks on this lake, so any tips on fishing around those drops will help. Like, do I position on the shallow part and cast deep, or vice versa, etc,? And since it's so weedy on the drops should I maybe focus on ripping through weeds instead of bottom bouncing as my triggering effect, or stop and go, etc? Alright sorry, that's alot of questions, but this will be it

Hey thanks chris. I just have a few questions about that hard bottomed area, mainly, how to fish it? Like I said, it's a bullrush island that is 6ft deep on top and drops to 12 feet on all sides. All sides have submerged cabbage that follows the slope down to the depths. I've tried in the actual bullrushes with spinnerbaits and buzzbaits but only caught small pike. Jerkbaits on the edge of the rushes and above the submerged cabbage have only produced small pike as well, so the bass must be deep. I'm guessing they hang along the drop or maybe at the bottom of it, I just don't know how to get to them. Any more advice on that would surely help me, thanks.

First let me tell you I live in Minnesota. And as you know, most bass tips and articles aren't written with northern lakes in mind. For example, I have never caught a bass in water more than 6 feet here, and they are always isolated bass. On a good day I'll catch 2-3 3lb+ bass, either under dock's or in slop. But these fish are so scattered and isolated that it may take 5-6 hours to catch one. I need to find those schooled up bass! Now, the lakes I fish are usually no more than 20-30ft deep max, and consist of mostly mud/clay bottoms. They are usually visible to about 3ft down but some have algae in the hot summer months. The lakes breakdown basically of 2 or 3 shallower mud bottomed bays and than a main lake area. The main area has scattered patches of coontail and milfoil on the flats and a few islands of bullrushes that drop off on both sides. The areas near and under the bullrushes are hard bottomed with sand and rocks. There is also a large ridge in the middle of the lake that runs straight across, its 5ft deep on top and 15 feet on the edges of that ridge. I usually catch walleyes on these ridges, no bass though. So with that in mind, I could use some advice on where bass might hang out in these types of lakes. And my biggest question is what to throw and when, cause like I said, bangin' a crank off rocks or stumps, flippin' in timber, etc, etc, doesn't really apply to these waters.