hit

Hey all, hope everyone is well. Thought I'd post an update, hope that's ok to stay on this thread. Anyhow, took today off since school was out. Went out to the lake this morning, 3rd time in 2 weeks. Still having a lot of fun even though I'm still trying to figure a few things out. We were getting quite a few bites but I'm still trying to get the hang of setting the hook and setting my drag. I've lost several due to both of these issues but I'm sure it just takes time. Also learned the hard way that I probably need to check my line after 1 "gets away". I was trying out a new rooster tail this morning and I had a hit but didn't hook him. Next cast I saw my new lure sail out into the lake and my line just fluttering in the wind. My son had a little better luck. He caught a water moccasin. It was rather funny. He was about 15 feet down from me fishing and said he caught a snake. I didn't believe him at first so when I walked over I was rather surprised. Makes for a good story for him to tell anyhow. Hope everyone had a good weekend. I'll be sure to post if I ever get my 1st. So far my 9yo is winning 1-0 in Bass and 2-0 in perch.

Ah, went back out yesterday with no luck. He was up at 6am again and to be honest, I was awake already. Was sort of hoping he'd get up and want to go and sure enough he was. Only went for about 4 hours. Fish weren't biting at all but it was still fun. The barometric pressure started rising late Sat. afternoon here and the wind was between 10 and 15 mph as opposed to 5-10 on Saturday. Correct me if I'm wrong please. From what I was reading high pressure=deeper water. More wind only really effects the ability to tell if you are getting bites, right? We were fishing in an area that was around 3 foot deep. Might should of gone to the other side where it's 5 to 6 feet deep, not sure. Still trying to learn all this. This stuff's like a science with a little bit of luck thrown in.

Watermelon Senko with a Wacky Rig. Yeah, he was super excited. Caught it around 9:00 this morning. By the time it was 4:00 this afternoon he still didn't want to leave. Thanks again for all the help guys, it is very much appreciated.

Great day! Went out about 7:00 this morning. Dad didn't have much luck. Had 1 and it broke my line. I kept trying for the same 1 and got it to hit a few times but I just couldn't get the hook set, kept missing him and then finally he stopped going after it. My son got this one. 18 inches long if I measured it right. Had a blast, may go back out tomorrow. The lake we were at is only about 20 minutes down the road. He also saw his 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th copperhead.

Thanks guys, The wacky rig is pretty neat. Watched a few presentations on it. Was thinking about doing that for my son and use a bobber with about a 4 foot lead...we'll have to see what he likes I guess. After I read your post last night, catfish, I was up another 2 hours past my bedtime reading. Wife finally got up, came in my office and asked, "Are you still reading about fish?" 1 more day. Even if we don't catch anything it'll be a nice day to get out and have some fun. Thanks fatbass, I called my wife this morning and told her we'd be taking the camera tomorrow, she laughed. We're expecting another son in July so I think she's grateful we're getting out of the house. I'm a huge sports fan and this time of year is a bit slow with the exception of the Final 4 and the Denver/Jay Cutler stuff so she's looking forward to not having to listen to the TV on ESPN all day tomorrow or the fishing shows that are on early in the morning.

My son and I just got back from the store with some tackle. He got his tackle box of course and some polarized sunglasses, he thinks he's a hot shot now. Anyhow, decided to play it somewhat safe. Got all plastics for now, still have quite a bit of reading to do before I start buying Rat-L-Heads, Cranks and such. Bought mostly 3" and 5" Sinkos. Watermelon and Watermelon with the red flakes. Got a kit of 3" with different colors too. Pumpkin, Chartreuse, and a few brighter colors. Went with bullet weights and some 2/0 and 3/0 Gamakatsu hooks, red and the standard color. Think this should suffice for our first outing and let us get our feet wet. Also found quite a few good videos per Miller's recommendation. The ones on presentation are very enlightening. I never realized how lifelike you could make your worm look. Very interesting stuff. That, along with the Texas/Weedless rig should help a ton. Thanks guys, Hit

Helps a ton, thanks so much for the links. -Hit

lol, yes, he's very excited. After school he rides to his friend's house to stay the afternoon until my wife or I get off work. Usually I'll call when I get close to home and tell him to head home and he's a bit somber about it as he wants to stay. All week he's been calling me before I get off to see if he can head home, it's quite funny. Last night and today I read quite a bit about Texas and Carolina Rigs. So glad I read up on these, wish I had known about them when I was younger. Plastics it is. Think tomorrow night we're going shopping so the info will come in very handy. Thanks so much for the help Catfishking, I'll be sure to report back on Saturday.

Been looking at some of the bait kits and was wondering if there's any downside to this or if anyone had any suggestions? From what I'm reading and based on previous suggestions I'm thinking maybe I should just start out with some Lipless Crankbaits, Rat-L-Traps and Tube Baits. I think you can get 5 piece kits for most in assorted colors. Color depends on water condition and weather, right? Cloudy/mirky=natural colors and clear=bright colors? The other thing I'm still sort of unsure about are the hooks, weights and swivels for Tube Baits. Read up on checking hooks for flex and what not but I'm a bit unsure abt size. Are swivels only needed on spinners? Do you put weights on the Tube Baits or just when using plastic worms? Had to drag my son inside to eat dinner. He was in the backyard for 2 hours straight trying to cast into the coffee can I put in the backyard for him. We're planning on going out Saturday morning around 6:00 to see how much damage we can do at Granger Lake. Thanks guys,

Makes sense. I was sort of surprised at how fine the line seemed but then, the only experience I have was from 20+ years ago when I used to fish for perch in the Colorado River here in Tx. A lot has changed, standing in the Fishing section at Cabela's and Academy today my head was swimming. I thought I had an idea of which worms and baits to look at but after a bit of looking I decided I'd better do some more reading first. I'm glad I did too, now I know I need to get swivels, weights for worms and a few other things.

Ok, just spooled the reel. I got the 8# line like Bassakwards said but, and I'm just realizing this now, I didn't really look into what brand I should get. I got the P-Line Floroclear. When I open the bail it doesn't go looping off the spool so I guess I got it right. The reel spins clockwise and the spool was wound clockwise with the label facing up, which makes sense. Used a paper napkin to hold the line tight while I wound it and stopped about a 1/4 inch from the rim.

Haha, thanks catfishking. Wish the owner's manual link for the reel on the quantum site would work. : I'll be sure to ask more questions. Trying to get my head around lures and such in the beginner's section.

Thanks guys. Just got home with the rods/reels. Ended up getting the Zebco 33 for my son, he picked it out and I figured it was a safe buy for him. After some help at the store I ended up getting the Quantum AR-30 Rod/Reel Combo for about $55. I looked at crank baits, worms, etc. and figured I'd better read up some more before I just start buying stuff. We won't have time to go out until next weekend even though my son is in a frenzy abt it. Best I could come up with was putting a coffee can in the back yard to practice casting with. Make a game out of it I guess.

Ok, let me make sure I'm on the right track. Probably looking for a spincaster for my son, who's 9. For myself I'd be better off going with a baitcaster? Used to fish some when I was young and I always had problems with spinning reels. Not as expensive as I originally thought. Figured I'd be spending around $100 for 1 rod/reel. I'm not sure what the 2500 series is. Still looking. Looking through some of the biginners articles and lots of good info. I guess I never realized how much skill and know-how was involved in fishing. Interesting stuff.

Thanks guys, really appreciate the feedback. Price-wise I figured I'd need to spend up to around $100 for mine. For my son, I'm not really sure what would be best for him, the same I guess. I told him we'd go to Cabela's tomorrow morning, he's really excited about it. Thanks for the advice on the article roadwarrior, I'll be up reading some tonight. Out at work there's a couple of tanks on the backside of the property that, from what I understand, have quite a bit of bass so we're planning on going out there on Sunday and see what sort of damage we can do. It'll be good quality time for us at least.

First time poster here with a few questions. My son, who's 9, has been asking about going fishing. It's been years since I've been fishing myself so I don't have any gear, poles, etc. I was wondering if anyone had any pointers on what sort of rod I should get him and myself. I read somewhere 5 footers were good to start with if you were interested in bass fishing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Hit