senile1

They both work. I will say that when I fish coontail nothing seems to draw a strike like the watermelon chartreuse swirl Tiki Sticks.

Is this study not hard evidence? This isn't the first study that I've heard about that demonstrates fluoro stretches quite a bit. Two or three months ago, Bassmaster magazine had an article that stated that fluoro stretches like mono as well. I agree that I can feel more with fluoro than I can with mono, but I can't deny what these studies show.

Warranty time on that Lamiglass, 4bizz. Great fish, Dude. Excellent story!

Great day, Muddy! As RW stated, go up a size and see what happens.

LBH, what's the cut-off date for sending you the stickers?

You hit the nail on the head, Cart7. What fun would it be to have all the questions answered for you, so that every time you go out all you have to do is look at a tool that tells you exactly what to do to? Much of the fun is learning the skill aspects and figuring out the pattern so that you can lure the bass in. And, as others have said, this tool can't find the fish for you.

Very true for most of the year. The spots are thick at Table Rock but they go really deep. My wife and I visited last year and didn't use a guide and we only caught a few fish on the first two days. On the third day I lucked out and discovered a sweet saddle between an island and the main bank. It dropped off like an underwater cliff on one side with numerous shelves at varying depths. The smallies and spots were living it up down there so it saved our trip. I wouldn't go back there without using a guide on the first day, though I won't forget where this saddle was located. I think it would always hold fish.

Fish-fighting-illini, that's awesome! I started doing the same thing with my Dad last year. He lives about 400 miles from me, but like you stated, I'll never have to regret failing to take the fishing trip with him. I hope you guys have a great time.

I just have a feeling that this girl liked to fish before Craw met her. How about it, Craw? Has she just been a fishing sponge since you met her, or has she been into it for awhile?

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. LBH, my wife was supposed to be keeping that information to herself to protect my ego. Regarding the PFDs, those are for my piece of mind. I'd never forgive myself if one of those kids fell in and drowned because I didn't make them wear a PFD.

Nice fish! Nice Pics! Nice everything!

Muddy, here you go. http://www.big-cedar.com/

Two weeks ago, my wife and I took our Grandchildren (my step-grandchildren) out for their first real fishing trip. We had scoped out a spawning bank that contained a number of crappie the day before, so we decided this was the perfect opportunity to introduce them to the joys of hooking panfish. Both of their biological Grandfathers died at an early age, so I'm the only Grandfather they have. As usual, I got caught up in what we were doing and I forgot to take any pictures, but my wife (Yeah, the one with the brains) took some photos, of which, I've posted a few below. We only fished for a couple of hours but both kids were reeling them in. Most of them were smaller, as you can see from the pictures, but about a third were keepers. We let them go anyway, so they could experience catch and release. They're both hooked now. They can't stop asking me when we're going again. BTW, The ugly, elusive, guy is me. My wife always avoids taking pictures of my face.

This is true. "I like the "how-to" shows but there are so few of them. "The Bass Pros" is the best show in my opinion, but I've seen them all a few times now. I'll be glad when they film some more episodes. Bill Dance gives some "how-to" info as well on some of his shows. For newbie anglers, don't be discouraged if you can't boat numerous big fish daily like the television guys. As Avid stated, "It's television." There's a lot of editing going on.

It seems that the general consensus is jigs with trailers tend to catch larger fish. The lure is bulkier than a t-rig in most cases, though these days there are plenty of creature lures that can be t-rigged and are bulkier than the tried and true t-rigged worms. I do think I tend to catch larger fish with the jig, though my personal best came on a t-rigged culprit worm a few year ago. If you know the bass in your area are feeding on crawfish, the jig and trailer, or a t-rigged craw lure is the way to go.

I don't know about New Jersey, but here in the Midwest an early to mid-April freeze pushed the spawn back by a couple of weeks. As Shad_Master stated it has been weird. Generally, under normal conditions, the spawn around Kansas City starts in April and runs into May. Then as the spawn was getting under way we had torrential rains and most of the lakes became muddy and clear as hot chocolate.

It is fun and interesting to learn and debate about the supposed tendencies of bass, the characteristics of equipment, and the performance of lures. I do agree that if we complicate things too much it can, at times, be detrimental to our success. There is so much information out there that it can blow a Newbie's mind. Newbies should stick to the fundamentals. Learn a lure or two and work the hell out of them. Then learn another lure or two and do the same. Pick up techniques one at a time. Most of us aren't experts with every single lure or in every single situation. Most long-time bassers probably could count with the fingers on one hand the lures and techniques that we can truly say we have absolutely mastered. This is not to say we can't catch bass with many lures and techniques, but how many of these are go-to techniques that we are extremely confident with? Generally, these are the ones we have mastered. And these are the ones we use the most because we know our chances of putting fish in the boat are much higher using them. And then we let the chips fall where they may . . . . . . or we try something that we haven't mastered.

Nice stuff. Let us know if you catch any big bass on that Magnum Spook.

SFC_AL, Take care, Buddy. Know that many here will have you in their thoughts and prayers. I salute you. Ed

Other than bad sunburns, hooking myself, or getting all wet, I've never had what I would call a major injury while fishing. Knock on wood.

Location, location, location. Even if you aren't an expert at working a lure, if you are fishing where bass are at, once in awhile one will bite. I would bet that this is your biggest issue. Or if you are in the right location, maybe you are not using a lure that is fishing the correct depth. This is the most important aspect of catching bass. Study and understand the seasonal patterns of bass. Ask local baitshops what seasonal pattern your local lake is in and what areas of the lake provide what the bass need during this season. They probably won't give you exact spots but they can give you enough information to find spots with similar structure to match up with the seasonal pattern.

Brookie, I'm no expert on fish anatomy, but fish do produce sperm that are carried in milt which is produced by the testes. I believe these organs are internally located on our fish brethren. I have to say, I think this is the first time I have seen this as a subject of a thread.

I haven't tried this lure, but I watched Bill Dance use it on his show. It's kind of weird. It has such a wide wobble that it swims like a lure that has the front treble fouled in your line, except that it flips from side to side. It flips so far over that the side of the lure is almost facing vertically. Then it flips back to the other side. So you can see why it would create a big wake since it is almost swimming on one side or the other most of the time. I thought it looked unnatural, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work.

Riskkid, did you buy this used boat from a dealer? If so, I would definitely tell them about the disconnected throttle linkage. Maybe a free gallon or two of two-cycle oil would make things right, huh?

I don't have a straight answer to your question. I guess it depends on the body of water you're fishing or the region. I do nothing but catch and release in the lakes I fish because that is what is needed. However, there is one small pond that I fish which is in need of selective harvest. We had a thread quite a few months back where statistics were quoted and it seems that the actual total number of anglers is far less than it used to be, though the people who are fishing, are going on more fishing outings that the average angler did in the past.