senile1

If I had a lake only 5 miles from my house, there would be no excuses. I would be out there. Get your rods and gear prepared, stay prepared, and it shouldn't be too much trouble.

The only reason I have never received a warning point is because I keep my mouth shut too often.

It depends on the rod. A medium or light rod with a parabolic bend isn't affected much by losing a couple of inches and replacing the tip. My shallow crankbait rod is like this and it works fine. However, if I lose a couple of inches on a jig or worming rod that is a different matter. I would replace those rods, but that is just my take.

The ultra light noodle rod is garbage. You should be using the Spank-Me-Hard Medium action rod. And by the way, I've found that Uranium line is much better than the lead core lines. I believe the fish can sense the radioactive particle emissions with their swim bladders and it draws them to the lure. Does anyone know who makes the best lead suit for fishing this rig?

Like Slone, I agree that most debates about subjective material aren't useful; though, in some cases an OP is actually looking for advice. I guess some people find these things interesting and it is their prerogative to talk about them. If I don't find the post interesting, or if it has been covered ad nauseam, I don't participate.

I suspect that the majority of bass anglers respect Bill Dance for his contributions to the sport and his fishing ability. It is a small, but vocal, number that complains about where he fishes on his show.

I couldn't have said it better. If the results from "micro" guides are only "micro" improvements, then it isn't worth it. I would like to see the actual statistics to make a comparison.

I like huge lakes. I like small lakes. I like everything in between as long as a body of water has a balanced population of bass. I tend to stay away from lakes where I know there isn't a chance of connecting to large bass. Huge Lakes: Pros Big lakes with good balanced bass populations tend to have a greater number of large bass. While bigger lakes can be busy, especially those that are near large human populations, you can still find some secluded areas though you may have to travel farther in your boat to get to them. Huge lakes present a pleasant challenge to locate and find bass. To me, more thought is needed to determine bass location in a large lake. Huge lakes contain more scenery and more places to investigate. Cons In a big lake, bass can be more difficult to locate than in a small lake. If the bass are located on main lake points, main lake humps or any other structure related to the main lake you will have to deal with boat and recreational water vehicle traffic. Seclusion is not as easy to find. If huge boats are allowed on said lake, the rollers created from those boats can present a very rough ride that can, at times, be dangerous if one doesn't take precautions. Small Lakes: Pros One doesn't have to deal with recreational boaters and jet skis. Traffic can be less if the lake is off the beaten path. Bass are easier to locate because there is less water to cover. Some lakes are small enough that much of them can be covered in a day of fishing. If lake is off the beaten path, bass are easier to catch due to less pressure. There is no danger from large boats and careless pleasure seekers on recreational craft. Cons Less water acreage means fewer big bass compared to a huge lake. It is easier for a small body of water to become out of balance with too few forage fish for bass to eat, resulting in "skinny" bass with big heads. Small lakes that are not off the beaten path can be just as crowded as a large lake. On a small lake, once it is crowded there is no place to go to get away, if desired; whereas, on a very large lake, if you want to get away from everyone you can always find a place. However, the location of the fish may require you to be in the most crowded places on the lake. That's fishing.

Being a negative Nellie makes for an unhappy life all the time; however, history is proof that a naively positive attitude is not key either. People and children have been murdered and raped, countries and people have destroyed each other over differences in religion and creed, native peoples and races have been subjugated, etc. Good attitudes don't make these things positive. To me, a realistic attitude with the discipline to keep trudging on even when things are bleak is what makes for a happy life. Happiness is acceptance of the bad things, while making sure to keep an eye out for everything that is good. Trying to turn every bad thing into a positive minimizes the pain that this life has dished out to some groups of people. Having said that, A-Jay's post is still really cool.

Bead and the beast! I think it has a nice ring to it. Nice work and even nicer fish! What was the weight, or did I miss that?

Every now and then we have a thread about Vanish and there are a number of anglers who continue to state the same complaints about the line. I tried Vanish 9 - 10 years ago and my experience wasn't good either. What surprises me is that after all this time the product still appears to have the same problems with a significant percentage of anglers. Per the Berkley site in the description tab for Vanish, it has been on the market for 15 years. There must be some good spools of the line or it wouldn't have been on the market for this long, but the number of complaints I see in multiple forums has convinced me to not buy it.

I think I'll pass on the line welder until I see some solid evidence of its capabilities. That line cutter they have for $119 surely looks like the real deal though. I think I'll have to get one of those.

Very pretty fish! Congratulations!

That's the way I see it. I tend to use junebug and black/blue interchangeably in murky/muddy water due to contrast. In clear water, I usually use green pumpkin/watermelon type colors, though PB&J/brown sometimes works best on particular lakes.

It depends on your definition of deep and the type of lake you fish. I fish some lowland reservoirs where 20 feet would be deep fishing. I fish some highland reservoirs where 50 - 60 feet is deep fishing. For lowland reservoirs, I favor a football or brush jig depending on the bottom. For highland reservoirs, I like a jigging spoon with a dropshot not far behind. These aren't the only lures I fish deep but I seem to have the most success using them.

That's a nice looking bass. Congratulations on the new PB!

Many ponds are like this around the edges. Punch rigs, jigs and T-rigs dropped into the weeds are good. T-rigged weightless Senko type worms are good. If you can get an old tin boat and get out beyond the weeds you will probably have more success. You can then fish the weed edge, up in the weeds, and over the top of submerged weeds providing more choices of techniques to try. If you hang a big one from the bank and you have to pull it through those weeds the probability of losing it rises. If it isn't too deep on the edges, I would walk in and get a big one.

I'm a bit late here so maybe you have already visited the lake, but are you sure the big fish that your Grandparents see are bass?

Is the OP saying he started with 12 feet of water and has lost 7 feet of depth? With three weeks of temperatures like he mentioned and only 5 feet of water I'm surprised there hasn't been a fish kill due to low oxygen levels. Or . . . . is he saying that after losing 7 feet of water due to the drought the deepest water is currently 12 feet?

Kansas City's urban ponds and small lakes managed by the city parks department do not have bass. There are lakes in the metro area co-managed by MDC and the city/county where they are located and those contain bass. I just assumed it was this way in every large urban area.

I was at Table Rock Jun 15th - 18th. This was before the 5 - 7 inch deluge that came at the end of that week. The lake was up and drop-shots with the bait at 30 feet, more or less, on long gravel points seemed to be the best for spotted bass and a few smallmouths. If you found a group you could catch 20 or more in a day. You had to get out early to find the fish and get you a point though. I went out late one day and it seemed every good point was taken. I improvised that day and found smallmouths and spots hanging off an underwater bluff end that dropped around 30 - 40 feet on the initial drop. I was catching those fish with a half ounce spoon. I would swim it off the bottom and sometimes I would drop it straight down. Both seemed to work at times. The drop-shot wasn't as successful for these fish. I did not catch any fish on topwater though the water surface was perfect for it early and late. I read a report from a guide who said the topwater bite was dying off now that the water was around 80 degrees but he said a few fish could still be caught on topwater very early and very late. As for jigs, I have a couple of jigs tied on at all times and I didn't catch any fish on them; however, when I saw the jig bite was going to be tough and found other methods to catch fish I didn't go back to them. I'm sure I could have caught a fish here and there with a deep football jig. There were a lot of pleasure boaters as well so the lake was rough. Be ready to trim down and take it slow in places. Since the big rains on June 18th - 19th, things may have changed, although a drop-shot usually works in the summer on Table Rock if you find the fish. Oh, I was fishing in the Long Creek area all the way around to Indian Point. The James River area and further up the White will probably fish shallower since that water will be more stained. I hear the Kings River arm is muddy in places so it will be shallower still.

I appreciate this thread. "IBTL" is a mostly useless post and provides little information or benefit to anyone. Sometimes I see "IBTL" posted on threads that are actually legitimate. I'm glad a moderator has addressed it and provided a more beneficial response.

Of course, this is true. I'm confident the OP was concerned about the difficulty of pitching and flipping while sitting in a small boat and wanted some answers on how to get around that. Some answers were provided.

I usually fish from my big bass boat, but I have a 10 foot "no frills" Tracker that I use for small lakes and ponds. If your 10 footer is anything like my Tracker you can stand up in it and fish if you have no physical disabilities. Keep your feet wide and wear a life jacket in case you fall in. I haven't fallen in yet.

I liked the dry stout too. And the Amber that they made for a few years was good as well. I was sorry to see them stop brewing it.