90x

JIMMY HOUSTON!!!!!!!!

knowledge is the catalyst for prevention

why don't you try to look for other forms of structure. I don't have a clear picture of the place. usually when you have another form of structure leading to weeds, hit that spot. Take advantage in spring and fall when the weeds are growing and dying. Look for rip raps, docks, timber trees. Keep fishing the area. Eventually you will catch a couple of fish. Just like math when you gotta find a formula to a set of inputs and outputs, attempt to put two and two together and eventually you will be able to put a pattern together. You might also want to try search baits as spinnerbaits. Continue hitting spots with the spinner over and over again. Maybe try a buzzbait. Create a little commotion to attract fish. Upload a pic of the pond.

I have been absolutely dying to buy that bait!!!!! :o Whenever I go to tackle shops I limit myself on what I buy. I always leave with a couple of hooks, zoom plastics, and a jig. I have never got around to actually purchasing them because they are so expensive. I have seen pictures of them and think that they would make a hell of a fishing trip. I heard alton jones won the bass master in 2008. All he did was texas rig it with a weight of your choice and jigged it back. Flip it into heavy cover as well as trees and grass. Try using the yum wooly hawg. I brought this bait out of impulse and had it in my bag for 2 years. When I started using the texas rig it worked phenomenal (used the same method as the chigger craw.) When I got my first jig kit, i matched it to a jig and had fun the whole day catching bass while no one else with me did. Man that was an awesome day!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

I know exactly what you mean. From time to time I would just rip my rods forward when casting and all you would hear was a snap. I myself am very careless. The last couple of years, I was losing 5-10 baits per trip (lots of money to replace!!!!!). I started paying more attention to my rod and line when casting. I think within the last year I have lost 3 baits. I don't blame myself, just the dam trees.

as much as as I would like to, I live in a pretty fish less area. I live on the border between Chicago and skokie. When I fish in skokie there is only one store. They are overpriced and don't seem to know that much. I wouldn't call them bucket heads, but they certainly do not know that much about artificials. Much of the areas I fish, people tend to use live bait. Artificials take more time and effort to work. Therefore not many shops sell the baits I want. When I do go to into Chicago, again the area is dominated by inexperienced shore fisherman who have no idea what the hell they are doing. I haven't fished down there much. Most of the tackle shops lack the experience. I hate to contribute to the ridiculous prices of commercial stores, but they got what i need and know what they are taking about.

a couple months back i went to bass pro. They had 20 percent of zoom. I completely pigged out ( my favorite baits). Other than that I think that most stores have relatively the same gear for the same price. Think I went to meijer in some nowhere town in Michigan. It was like bass pro shop but the prices were incredibly low. booyah, strike king jigs for like a dollar. Soft plastics 2.00 a pack. 25 ewg hooks any size $4. Amazing.

I am a bass pro guy born and raised. It is my go to store and has awesome baits and equipment. Love the store layout and the aquarium, however when going to Gurnee we usually make a day out of the trip in the mall because it takes forever to get there! In the same direction about a half hour shorter is Cabelas! 20 minutes from me is Dicks sporing Goods! I personally do not like DSG very much as it is way over priced and never has the gear that I am looking for. Cabelas is a shorter distance yet I have never been there. However, looking online and on catalogs as well as fiends who are customers, I have seen that the prices are more than at any other store. Bass pro is my all time favorite store but the time it takes to get there (depending on traffic) is ridiculous Which store do you recommend for the best gear and the best value? (Forgot to mention walmart. They only have limited amount of baits and is only a place I run into to get terminal tackle and the occasional jig. Also, I usually go through alot of bait. ;D

that's the most beautiful fish I have ever seen :'(

I once had some ducks try to know my minnow.i was reeling it up when these ducks just landed on the bait. Thankfully the bait sank just before the "attack". I'd love to fish and hunt at the same time!

hey thanks. these were my first pair. don't wanna screw them up.

A few weeks back, I was at my cousin's house and we were fishing at his pond. The pond was made up off water run off with some "chemicals" in it. There are bass and a relatively healthly population of fish. While looking into the pond to see if i could find any fish, my p. sunglasses fell into the retention pond. I managed to get them out with my rod. I am not sure if i should be wearing them after they had fallen into that pond. I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to clean them. I was thinking about just washing them with detergent. I am afraid it will do something to the glasses. Is it safe to even use them again? I wear contacts and my chemistry teacher does not allow us to wear them in the lab as chemicals can lodge themselves in your contacts resulting in a lot of pain and eye damage.

today was the one day i left my camera at home > :'(

learned how to fish the jig. wanted to learn the shaky head but never got around to it.

ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM

Today was not exactly the best weather in Illinois. The weather was rainy and humid. Guess what, I was going fishing today. My two cousins, my grandfather and my dad went fishing with me today. The day started off slow. I targeted my regular spots with a xps rattle shad and with a buzz bait. No hits at all. The first few hours were very quiet. Nothing but the sound of bass jumping in deeper water and the whines of my group wanting to swim out and grab them. I had just lost my baby brush hog trying to cover some fallen trees, when i came across my black and blue jig with a yum woolly craw bait. Grab the bait and tossed it into some flooded brush. Felt the bite and set the hook. Landed about 4 bass the 3 hours I fished while nobody else managed to catch anything else. That was not the end of the trip. We rode back to my cousins' house and just hung out there. My cousin and I then went to the pond in the back of his house. We could not get enough fishing. I told him to try a t rigged lizard because he never used them and I had my eye on them (zoom lizards, the best). He did not seem to manage anything. I took the rod and casted into some more flooded brush. I pulled out two bass none above 12 inches. The 11 incher turned out to be the pond record. Let me mention that the pound was about 50x50 feet. anyway, had a good day. Caught my first lizard fish and mastered the jig bite. The jig is now my number one bait and my favorite.

yeah i will. i wanted to start a bass fishing team in my high school. Illinois was the first to have a state competition. Problem is, I have no idea how to set it up. Gotta find anglers and somehow fund boats and the extracurricular activities. A car will be a godsend.

we got them here in the Illinois river. They are called flying fish. They fly through the air and have actually injured people. Also, lake Michigan has gobies which I believe are a type of Asian carp. If you catch one, you are required to kill it. This invasive species consumes much of the ecosystem and leaves very little resources for other fish. They never stop eating and create great competition for food. Many fish die or are stunted because for a lack of resources.

I rarely get anytime to fish. Balancing high school and other things, I have a very short time to fish. During the summer I got at most 1 day a week to fish. Because I am a first generation bass fisherman in my family, nobody else seems to have enjoyed it. They think its boring and a waste of time. They always get skunked and when I try to help them they never listen. Because everyone on this site is great at catching fish, how often and how long do you guys go out to fish? For me rarely one day a week and an average of 2 hours per outing :'( :'( :'(

wish Chicago had bass like that.

wonder how many 1/2 pound crappie could fit in his belly.

that last one dwarfs you.

dude thats awesome. which i had my own private lake. as long as no one is messing with those fish, your the only pressure.

caught a bluegill on a swimbait.

Man you should be pleased no matter what. I would kill to catch that many fish a trip and to be able to fish that many times a week. As long as you are catching fish don't call it a slump. Call it a slump when you are not catching anything.