senile1

Excellent, succinct explanation, George. What more can be said?

Not to change the subject but . . . . . Pujols won the National League gold glove for first base. He's becoming a great player defensively, as well. Scott Rolen won for third base. Muddy, Beltran won for centerfield.

All of us have the freedom to do as we wish, as long as laws aren't broken. Having said that, I agree whole -heartedly with Avid. I do use a fish finder. A fish finder requires skill to interpret what you see on the screen. Also, fish buried in cover often don't show up on a fish finder. A fish finder gives me some idea of the structure down below, but I don't have a perfect picture. This is as far as I will go with fishing technology (and GPS to mark areas). I enjoy the game of trying to find the fish. When I don't have a fish finder available, the act of finding fish on deeper structure is even more of a challenge. The Biosonix device is just too much for me. With lures, I have to impart the action that gets the fish to bite. The next thing you know, they'll be selling perfect electronic shad replicas that have all the movements and sounds of a school of shad without any effort on the part of the angler. The joy of fishing is made up of two major things for me: the challenge of finding and fooling the bass, and the interaction with nature. I don't want some device fooling the fish. I want to be the one who fools the fish.

Yes, I did. I wish I could take off from work but I've got to cut over some sites on a network installation every day this week. > Oh, well, I'll fish when I can.

I fished a pond yesterday and started in 6 - 7 feet of water, moving deeper as the morning progressed. I was fishing with the owner's aluminum boat, no trolling motor, no electronics, and no thermometer. After an hour and a half I eventually found fish at about 14 - 16 feet according to my countdown on my lures. I tried a t-rigged worm, a jig, and slow rolling a spinnerbait. I caught one on the jig, and three on the spinnerbait. None of the fish were bigger that 2.5 lbs. The bites were really light. I would have stayed longer, but it was really windy and I was using a paddle. I would let the wind blow me across the pond and fish the deeper water as I crossed it, using my drift sock. Then I would paddle back to the other side and do it again. I got tired of fighting the wind. This pond is only about 5 acres so, for you KC area fishermen, the fish are starting to move deeper in the Kansas City area, at least on smaller bodies of water. When I started fishing the temperature was only 31 degrees outside. It has been down in the 20s the last few nights. Water temperatures on large lakes like Smithville are still in the 50s so you may still be able to find some shallower than this on those lakes.

Oh no, there's more than one???????

I became much more proficient with using the Carolina rig.

Nice, subtle one to slip in there, GMAN. I'll stick with my Homelite retriever. Though lower in value it still gets the job done.

;D You gotta' be kidding me.

LBH, I watch your videos and I can't think of anything to say that hasn't already been said. You should be doing a fishing show. I did think of one thing. On your next video, what do you think about showing the less experienced anglers how you pinpointed the deep structure or cover on your fish finder, and how you positioned the boat relative to that structure? It would be like a mini fishing show and it could help a lot of the guys on the forum since locating the fish is the biggest hurdle that any angler faces. Just an idea. Great video and beautiful, beautiful fish.

;D I love reading The Onion. It's great for a release from all the disturbing news. Great post.

Hey, Muddy. You're going to get a lot of different answers on the brand, but I would use 30 lb test or higher on a baitcaster. The diameter is still small compared to mono and the thicker braids won't dig into the spool as much. In fact, 50 or 60 lb Sufix Performance Braid will hardly dig in at all. I believe Sufix is the best, but you can't go wrong with PowerPro either.

I agree with Roger (Rolo). In the case mentioned, it might help to go to mono, but with adjustments you should be able to fish topwater on fluoro or braid as well. If you're only carrying three rods or so, it's difficult to impossible to have the "perfect" line on for every application, unless you like to cut line and change lures all day.

Yes, indeed.

I'm similar to Cart7 but I probably have 5 or 6 baits which cover most situations that I'll fish more than others.

Welcome to the forum!!!

Cool story, Avid. I love watching the great blue birds but it never occurred to me to try to feed them.

There are enough facts to worry about in life without worrying about wearing the right hat, wearing the right shirt, or wearing underwear with one inch skid marks. I don't believe in superstitions, but I do believe in the power of belief. If you have a strong enough belief in something, even though that something has no power at all, your belief will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Forget your lucky hat, and it's in the back of your mind ruining your confidence and causing you to think about the hat, rather than the methods you are using to catch fish. If you are thinking you will fail, you probably will. It's the same concept that applies when chasing members of the opposite sex. If you think you will be rejected and dwell on that thought, you, either won't approach the target or you'll be so nervous you make a fool of yourself. Failure is often the result of thinking that you will fail.

Well, guys, I'll be more prepared next time. I've been hacking my head off for over a week due to the drainage from my head. (Is this too much information? ) I was running a fever over 100 for a few days, but today I'm starting to feel much better. Don't ever forget your rainsuit and make sure you're wearing water-proof boots. Lesson learned.

Speaking of salmon, I was fishing for salmon on the Snake River one time. I hooked into a nice salmon and then suddenly it got really heavy and the water turned into a series of tumultous, thrashing waves. A grizzly bear had swallowed my salmon. We landed him and had a big dinner that night. I did lose a couple of friends getting him into the net. :

Your jerks should be made when you have slack in the line.

nieten7642, don't give up on "walking the dog." Get the right lures and use the suggestions given here, especially what George Welcome mentions above. When bass are hitting topwater, walking a Zara Spook or similar lure has got to be one of the most fun ways to fish, at least for me. Between jerks, you will turn the reel handle to retrieve line but not much. You want to leave enough slack to allow the lure to cut side-to-side on your jerks. Also, remember that when a bass strikes, wait until you feel him before setting the hook. Bass will often swipe at these types of lures without taking them in their mouths so you'll miss them if you set the hook immediately. After 15 - 30 minutes of practice, or possibly even less, a lot of this will come to you.

Adjusting your drag from experience is nice. (When you have experience.) Laggyman, if you're not familiar with adjusting your drag during the fight, using the weights is absolutely a great idea to create a starting point for your drag settings. After you become more accustomed to the equipment you are using, you will eventually use some of that valuable experience to adjust your drag further. A MH rod should have no problems lifting the weights you mentioned. I would be concerned about the drag system on your reel. A Daiwa Procaster should be able to lock down and not slip on 3.3 lbs of weight and even more.

Be careful what you ask for, LBH. To achieve world peace, human beings will have to become extinct and that would put an end to our bass fishing.

GMAN, next week its my Chiefs against your Rams. I'm a St Louis Cardinals baseball fan but in football its Chiefs all the way, ever since the football Cardinals moved to Arizona. I know I live in K.C. but I grew up on the other side of the state and I can't leave my roots. Anyway, it should be a good game.