senile1

Do you fish Lake Girardeau and Perry County Lake much?

Welcome to the forums! I grew up in southeast Missouri just above the bootheel. Where are you located?

You mentioned that you were tired of searching YouTube in your original post. I'm not sure what types of fishing DVDs you are seeking but if you are looking for excellent instructional videos on just about everything you can think of, you should pull up BassResource's YouTube channel. I haven't seen all of his videos like some on this forum, but the ones I have seen were excellent. I have heard nothing but raves from the rest of the members here. And it won't cost you a dime.

Jon, those are good points about how bass fishing has appealed to the common man. Obviously, the reason the word "elitism" was used is because some bass anglers can come across as thinking they are better than other types of fishermen and women. Unfortunately, the poster referred to bass anglers as a whole, rather than the few who act this way. I do get his point though.

I am in complete agreement with your point that this is a bass fishing forum and, for the most part, we should be talking about bass fishing. I think everyone seems to understand that, though it doesn't bother me if someone wants to bring their saltwater experience into a conversation. However, from reading your other posts that wasn't your exact point, but one of two or three points you made. One of your other points was that saltwater is easier than bass fishing per your quote below. From your perspective, maybe this is true. Others might not think so. You also made a point that saltwater guys dispute bass guys and gear on this forum. See below. I haven't noticed this, but maybe it has occurred in other threads. I think the OP asked about bass that fought harder, and everyone was just trying to give him some examples of fish he could go after for a good fight - freshwater and saltwater included - probably due to the fact that he mentioned that he enjoyed the fight of a non-bass, the Buffalo. I don't see any of the other debates that you saw in this thread.

That was exactly my point. I think we all should be careful speaking as if bass fishing is the most difficult to strategize and achieve success. Unless we have tried them all, we really can't know.

I think all of us who are serious bass fisherman fish for them for this very reason. The strategy involved provides tremendous fun and satisfaction. I am no expert on saltwater fishing and only get to do it on occasion, so I have no business speaking of the difficulty, or lack thereof. I do know that on my last saltwater excursion our guide had to work pretty hard to put us on some fish. He eventually did succeed and we caught some solid redfish and speckled trout. .

In my area, stripers and wipers are hard pulling big fish, that can be caught with lures. There are, of course, catfish and carp that can be caught by other means and will occasionally bite an artificial bait. If I lived on the gulf coast, I suspect I would be addicted to fishing for redfish (red drum). That is the hardest fighting inshore saltwater fish I have done battle with. A 20 - 25 inch fish on medium bass tackle can provide a 15 - 20 minute fight. The larger 30 - 40 inch fish, and above, provide battles well over 30 minutes.

I cast jigs and T-rigs a lot especially in clearer lakes where I want to stay far away to be undetected. I probably pitch and cast about the same amount. I flip quite a bit too, but I'll pitch before I flip. I like to keep my distance if at all possible.

Wow. I missed this back in October. I usually clean my reels but last year, I cleaned half of them and sent Dave the other half and they came back pristine. I was going to send the other half to him this year and was just getting ready to drop him a PM when I saw the notice on his member page. This is definitely a loss.

Nor should it stop the questions. Sometimes active threads can venture off into areas we didn't think about initially, allowing us to make connections and comprehend more clearly. If everything was at our fingertips the forums would be a much less lively place.

Fenwick HMXs are decent rods in their price range. For a few dollars more you can buy the HMGs. If you are considering Fenwick and the Ugly Stick Elite, I would expect the Fenwick to win in the sensitivity department but I haven't held the Elite in my hands so I can't say for sure.

Where are you located, Green Trout? And is the water a riverine lake or an actual river? Tell us a little more about where you are fishing, the forage, the predator species, the condition of the bass population, and the vegetation in your body of water if you can. I think we can put our heads together and figure out some way to catch a few bass in 49 degree water with current.

This isn't the biggest and probably isn't the fattest I have ever caught but she is pretty fat. At the time the batteries were dead on my scale so I wasn't able to weigh her. I guessed she might have been 6 lbs due to the short length but I think I short-changed myself. She was between 21 and 22 inches long which is the same length as the fish in my Avatar and it was 6 lbs.

Very nice fish!

Nice intro! Welcome to the forum.

Very nice boat, Blue. Congratulations!

That would be one expensive lesson.

Every time I buy additional lures, other than replacements, I spend extra time reorganizing my bags and lure supply boxes.

It is hard to beat a Boga Grip for a scale that protects the fish. They grip the lip of the fish, are compact, are very sturdy, and are very accurate. The weight of the fish causes the grip to squeeze the lip even tighter so there is no danger of the fish coming unglued from the scale. The only drawbacks are the lack of granularity in the weight markings and the price ($119 for the 15 lb). The 15 lb Boga Grip that I use only provides quarter pound increments up to 15 lbs and the 30 lb and 60lb models only provide half pound increments. It is not that difficult to make an educated guess of the 4 ounces that lie between the quarter pound markings, however. Even someone who is half blind shouldn't be off by more than an ounce or two. I've read of bogas that are over 10 years old that are just as accurate as they were when new.

Whoops. Looks like someone already caught it. Sorry.

It will be noon on the east coast at 9 am pacific time. I assume you are east coast since you favor the Potomac river. It is easy to get that backwards sometimes.

This is proof that plumbers fish.

With respect to the areas I pointed out in my previous post, I wanted to clarify that I was referring to structures used to move from shallow to deep and vice versa. I did not mean to indicate that the flats are where I would spend most of my time fishing in the summer. Paul, thanks for the info about the northern pike. I think the bass will try to avoid them and will stay close to the milfoil and coontail on the structures they use. In summer I would be concentrating on the deeper weeds and weedlines though I wouldn't ignore other areas along the structure from shallow to deep, depending on the weather conditions.

Without much detail to go on, my thoughts fall in line with Roger's with respect to the huge flat in the Northeast corner and its connection to the large deep basin. I could also see the smaller flat to the south of the dam and the basin being used to a lesser extent. The point on that flat closest to the dam and furthest to the left drops more quickly and is closer to the deepest water in the lake. That flat appears to be four feet deep for the most part. However, other details when provided could completely change my thinking. As Catt was indirectly alluding to, more information is needed. To provide a counterpoint to my first paragraph, interestingly enough, there is a lake about 45 miles from me that is very similar to this one in size (55 acres) and flat locations. A 9 - 14 foot creek channel leads from a basin (21 feet at its deepest) to the upper end of the lake. There are larger flats to the right and left of the dam which have the quickest access to the deepest water at this lake, but the greatest concentration of bass seem to use the extensive flats in the upper end and use the creek channel to make depth changes. I believe the reason for this is due to a greater concentration of vegetation at the upper end and along the creek channel, leading to a greater concentration of forage which is mainly bluegill. The flats near the dam have far less vegetation and some wood. I have a hard copy of a topographical map for this lake which I can scan and add later. I have been unable to find it online for a few years now.