BIG B.

Culprit 7.5" ribbontail worm in black.

I fish a public county lake a lot during spring and fall, and my personal best from that particular lake (about 5lbs) came off of a zoom lil' critter craw rigged on a shakey head. It's still one of my favorite rigs in that lake.

I've always had this problem also. Like Mr. Munster said, read, read, read. It's also gonna take alot of trial and error. I've been trying to figure this question out for a long time, so don't feel like you're in that boat by yourself. I'm anxious to see how everyone answers this, but my advice is to read all you can.

I've done a lot of plastics fishing in my life, and always read and heard about "pegging the weight." I've never really done a lot of this and was just curious what the purpose was, and the pros and cons?

Enjoy being outdoors and observe your surroundings; birds, animals, sunrise, sunsets and stop worrying about catching the biggest bass in Ohio and focus on sharing quality time with your partner. WRB

BERKLEY POWERBAIT SHAKEY HEADS!

I'm gonna have to defend Gamakatsu on this one. Been fishin' 'em for 16 years and never had a problem. I will have to take a gander at the owner, though. Sure do seem to be causin' a fus.

I've got the "t-rigging the tube" down. Now I need know what kind of hooks and weights are best for flippin' and pitchin in cover and around docks. (keep in mind I know absolutely nothing about tube fishing and am open to any advice, opinions, and instruction.) Thank you all for your help.

I've always looked for a good buzzbait that I like, and can't really seem to find one (I'm kinda picky). Where can you buy a Cavitron, or can you order direct?

BOOYAH!

Yeah, I'm almost ashamed to say that I've never heard of a "hydro" map or water chart until now. But you are right. Someone else either replied or pm'd me the same info, and it proved to be very helpful in a web search. I just can't believe that as much as I read up on this stuff, I've never heard that. Everyone always refers to them as "topo" maps. Thank you though, I learn something new every day.

Wow! I found a website that had a few examples of the Navionics Hot Maps. Those look awesome. Exactly what I'm looking for, Just didn't have Lay or Bankhead. I wonder why they only make those maps for certain lakes? Oh well...the search continues. website was omnimap.com

I'm gonna touch a little bit on the confidence part. I truly believe that to be successful on the water, you HAVE to have confidence in what your fishing. I think everyone will agree that they have some form of a "go-to" bait or lure that will get a bite almost every time it gets wet. But ask everyone what that lure is, and you'll get a thousand different answers. I always relate that to CONFIDENCE.

I'm just starting to get into crankin' hot n' heavy and really love it. There sure is a huge selection of 'em though. Kinda tough figuring out which ones to buy. Anyway, my question is: I've seen a couple of people using those "quick snap" swivels when fishing cranks to change baits quickly and easily. Do these hinder the bait or the action at all? Are they worth buying to be able to change out without re-tying every time?

I've had a few situations fishing after the rain, and it seems like I've always done pretty good. One evening sticks out really well in my mind. I had fished for about 3-4hrs one evening without catching hardely anything when a bad storm came up. Long story short, I ran for cover and thought about going to the trailer. I didn't, the storm passed, and when it did it was game on. I caught 9 that evening with two going over four pounds.

The video really helps, Thanks.

I do the big freezer bag thing. I have a soft sided bag with nothing but soft plastics in it, and I usually have my freezer bags labeled as to what they contain. This works pretty good, except that I find sometimes the individual containers that get towards the bottom of the freezer bags sometimes don't get used or touched (it gets aggrivating doing all that digging). When I go through my bag sometimes I find worms or soft plastics that I didn't even know I had. But overall, I think it's the best route.

Sure do appreciate yall's time and advice. I haven't tried the fish and wildlife office yet. On the worldwind program, is that something I have to download to be able to use, or is it an online thing? (not very computer literate, but I'm learning.)

Hello everyone. I'm kinda new here and this is actually my first question since I've been on this forum. I did a search to make sure someone hasn't already asked this question and I don't think they have. I do alot of reading, especially on fishing and hunting. It seems like every book, article, magazine, or webpage always gets on the subject of a topo map. I know how to read these maps, but finding one for my home reservoirs has proven to be a huge task. (bankhead and Lay lakes in central AL). I feel like I could make myself a much better fisherman just by having these. What advice do yall have for me? If I can't find them, What do I do? Thank you for your time.

Welcome. I'm a newbie too.

Howdy, New here and don't really know what I'm doin' (not very technologically advanced). I sort of stumbled on this website and fell in love with it. I'm from the Tuscaloosa area (Vance) of Alabama. My home waters are Bankhead and Lay lakes. I've been fishing since I was about 7 or 8 years old (24 now). I joined this forum because: I've never joined a forum before and was very interested in this particular one ; I have a few pretty good questions that pertain to bass fishing and was hoping this would help to get an answer or two ; I love learning different things, especially when it comes to fishing, and have many weak points that I need to work on. Hope some of you guys can give me a hand, especially in the forum world. Any advice is much appreciated.