senile1

kevinator, are you located in the northern half of Indiana? I'm in Kansas City and we still have some bigger lakes with water temperatures in the 50s, though the air temperatures are getting into the upper 20s this week for lows with highs in the 40s to 50s. We are at about the same longitude as Bloomington, IN. I would bet the Southern half of Indiana is still in the Fall to late Fall bass season. If you're down there, don't put that boat away.

kevinator, are you located in the northern half of Indiana? I'm in Kansas City and we still have some bigger lakes with water temperatures in the 50s, though the air temperatures are getting into the upper 20s this week for lows with highs in the 40s to 50s. We are at about the same longitude as Bloomington, IN. I would bet the Southern half of Indiana is still in the Fall to late Fall bass season. If you're down there, don't put that boat away.

As a Chief's fan, my hat is off to your Raiders, FBL. They have surprised me with their domination of their last two opponents. Next week should be a good game. I'm a bit worried.

GMAN, I see the bullet head jigs are available in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 ounce sizes. Do you expect to have larger sizes later for mat punching?

Hello, MikeinFresno. Glad to have you with us.

I bought a few of their baits just to try them out. I like to support the local Missouri lure manufacturers when I can. I haven't used them much but I'm not impressed with the action of the baits I have used. The plastic isn't soft enough in my opinion. I have used the beaver, the grub, and the shad/minnow swimbaits. The beaver is so stiff there isn't much action to speak of as it comes through the water. The grub is OK and the shad/minnow baits may have a place but I need to use them more before I can give a fair opinion.

GMAN, I just sent you a couple of PMs.

Nice little football there, Paul.

Welcome to BR!

Incredible! Those are some nice fish.

Seriously, GMAN, your regular Widegap jig heads don't do too badly in grass. I fish some thick weedy areas and catch a lot of fish with them. These will just be better. I will be ordering soon and I see you have the heads on the site. Cool.

Wild. That would put your heart in your throat.

There are differences in density, buoyancy, and action. Find what makes you happy and use it. I also think David P has a good point. On busy lakes the bass see every lure known to man numerous times. Less common hand-pours may be the ticket to more fish on these pressured lakes.

not twinkies, but you'd be shocked if i told you. :-X Hey, Paul. It's good to hear from you. Come on, Dude, spill the beans on what you're feeding them. When I retire I plan on doing the same thing and I need some tips from the master.

Sorry to hear this. I give my condolences to you and all who were close to him.

Welcome to BR, Matt.

Wow. You guys obviously smoked ém. Nice pics.

Beautiful fish. That is a large girth on the fish in the second picture.

The good ones outnumber the bad ones by far. I've let this type of stuff bother me at times, but life is too short to spend time much time in anger about it. It happens so rarely that I have to be thankful for all of the polite people I meet on the water. I know if one is fishing in open water areas some skiers and jet skiers will come into your fishing area though I often wonder if it is more due to ignorance than purposely invading fishing space.

You'll notice we Missouri fans are laying low on this one. We've had our hopes deflated before by Missouri teams that looked hot and then fizzled. So we're always ready for the disappointment. I can say this. This team is different. We have a decent defense, a decent offensive line, and good players. Past Missouri teams had some big offensive stars who put up big stats while our defense was lacking. We don't have that this year. It's like Coach Pinkel has stated. We have a lot of good players but no really great ones. I think they play good team football and that was a solid team win over Oklahoma. But we'll just have to see what happens this week in Lincoln. Nebraska is a good team and was favored to win the Big 12 North. Missouri will have to play a solid game to beat the Huskers at home.

From your description of this very small pond the baitfish of choice is probably Bluegill or sunfish. You can bet they feed on crayfish also. If your highs are only hitting 60 regularly the water is probably cool, possibly in the high 40s to 50s depending on how cool it is getting at night. I would fish much slower using cranks, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits with bluegill colors or chartreuse and blue. I would start at the cuts and points in the pads or weeds and then work my way out to deeper water. If you're not getting bit within 30 minutes, I would be trying a slower presentation like a jig and RageTail craw. Throw it into the cuts and points and let it sit for 10 - 30 seconds. Shake it in place and crawl it, letting it sit for a few seconds now and then between shakes and crawls. Watch your line very closely, because you will often see it moving off without feeling much of anything. Work your way out to deeper water if there are no bites near the weeds.

I use jigs as well but I use 1/8th down to 1/32nd ounce jigs. I don't strictly fish for small sunfish very often. That 1/100th size sounds like a pinhead or smaller.

I use jigs as well but I use 1/8th down to 1/32nd ounce jigs. I don't strictly fish for small sunfish very often. That 1/100th size sounds like a pinhead or smaller. ;D

Bluebasser, did you go to Stockton, and if so, how did was the fishing?

I have 5 Powells and they are very nice rods in their price range. When Powell first started making their bass rods the 683c received an editor's choice award on TackleTour's website. This is the 6'8" mh/xf rod. Check their archive section if you want to read it. There are better rods but I don't think you will be disappointed with a Powell. Your choice of rod and line depend on what techniques you plan to use it for. Provide that information and we can give more precise recommendations.