Marty

I'm just a simple recreational fisherman and I keep things simple, carrying just a few colors. Most of my fishing is done in clear water and I generally use a translucent pumpkinseed when it's bright and black when it's cloudy or in darker water. I'd certainly try some other colors, but my gut feeling is that your recent failings are more complicated than just the wrong color.

That's why there are so many head cases here, yours truly included. :'(

Well, well, well, look who our latest newbie is! 8)

If you're talking lakes, smallies generally are in cooler, deeper water, often rocky-bottomed, than largemouth and are not as cover-oriented. They'll take a full assortment of baits. Burning a chartreuse spinnerbait can be good. So are jerkbaits, crankbaits, jigs with grubs and don't forget topwaters.

A lot of people talk about the need to "grow the sport." Maybe they're referring to the professional aspects because they'd like to make their living that way. As a recreational fisherman, that has no meaning for me. But as far as getting a lot more people involved, I share your concerns. It's not like there are too few anglers chasing a fixed bass population and it's not like our lakes and ponds need more boats out there on Saturday and Sunday mornings. For selfish reasons, I don't want this sport to grow wildly in popularity. They can build more bowling alleys and golf courses if those sports grow, but new lakes won't be that easy to come by.

Are you fishing your topwaters at the highest percentage time, which would be warm water during low light, such as sunrise, sunset and cloudy days? If you fish them at these times and are in the vicinity of bass, I think you'll get the hits that you say you're not getting.

I'm sorry to hear that Glenn. What a terrible tragedy to befall a family.

I'm with KU. I much more enjoy FISHING FOR largemouth, but much more enjoy CATCHING smallies.

Go here, http://bassresource.com/fish/bass_fish.html , scroll down and on the left, click "Beginners." See how much that helps, then come back and ask what that section doesn't answer. Good luck.

Welcome. Make sure you check out the articles. There is a very comprehensive selection, the biggest selection I've seen on the 'Net.

I think it's natural to want more when you find a lure that you have success with. You want a spare or two in case you lose one and you want different sizes to probe different depths, cast farther, present a different profile or whatever. I wouldn't go crazy with colors. My unproven opinion is that you probably won't catch more fish with 10 colors than you would with just a few. But that's just me, I have confidence in that theory. There was a Yamamoto staffer who always used to say you just needed three colors: dark, light and something in between.

In my case, virtually all bites are detected by seeing the line move off, at which time I set the hook. I rarely feel a bite, even with a sensitive superline. Be a line watcher and stay alert so you can detect a bite by either sight or feel.

Remind me not to borrow any of your friend's lures. : But as far as the superstitions, no, I don't do anything nor do my partners.

All those worms and both brands of hooks will work very well; the only catch is that you have to be working them where bass are. You might check out the beginner's section on this site's home page. Lots of info. Welcome and good luck.

You might see if Stamina can fill your needs. http://www.staminainc.com/spinnerblades_clevises.html

I get out boat fishing about 20 times a year, but spend the rest of my time bank fishing, usually twice a day.

I respectfully disagree with this conclusion. The problem is much more likely to be something other than color. You can fish ANY lure successfully from the bank if the cover will permit use of the lure. Try Texas-rigged worms in a 6-7" size. Don't foget other texas-rigged soft plastics, such as jerkbaits and tubes. I obviously know nothing about your water, but there are ponds and lakes where shore fishing is most productive when fishing parallel to or at angles to the shore, as opposed to casting straight out and fishing from deep to shallow. Don't forget to try topwaters during low light periods. If you have visible cover to target, fish it thoroughly, otherwise, cover a lot of water until you learn what's going on with that body of water. Good luck.

Is the pond public or private? Either way, I'd check with the owners/authorities to find out if it would be legal and/or advisable.

Good post Ceph.

I don't fish tournaments, but I have at various times, carrots, hard-boiled eggs, sandwich, sodas, yogurt and apples. Usually a thermos of ice water, too, often in lieu of the sodas.

Sounds somewhat like a perch (a very good one), but a perch has more than three vertical bars. But the round mouth sounds more like a sucker than a perch. You might try a search for the fishes of your state and maybe something will look familiar.

Doesn't sound very dumb to me. I would have to do something like that, as the garage is not an option. What do you do with the canoe during the season?

Thanks for taking the time to explain and post the pics. If I had that option, I might be more willing to buy. My garage is very small and there's no way I could get a canoe in there. If I get one, it's gonna have to stay in the back yard. Thanks again. (Good looking bikes).

I'm assuming you're fishing from shore, in which case I don't know how to find out except by the old-fashioned way. Put in a lot of time, cover a lot of water, fish different seasons, weather conditions, times of day, and use a variety of lures. I have a pond I've just fished for little more than one full season. Out of more than 200 bass caught, I've got only two that were over 14". I think it's reasonable to assume there's not many big ones. Another pond I regularly catch good-size bass. If there are big ones and you fish enough, chances are you'd tie into a few.

Sorry, but glad you have the insurance to ease the pain a little.