rocknfish9001

Out here on lake michigan, there is a big marina near me that has close to 50 docks, maybe 100. I am going to see if they let me fish there this year. Im not sure if theyll let me.

i know what you mean. The bass do that here as well. The only thing that really worked for me was to swim a tube by their face, they usually hit it. Cranks, spinners, jerkbaits, worms, and whatever else didnt work.

I had good luck yesterday, and the temp was in the 40s! Earlier this week it was 20+ degrees warmer. I caught 5 and missed twice as many on a 1/4 oz. smoke and red jig with a plastic crawdad trailer.

Has anyone heard of doing this? I know true trophy hunters do it. Is it really practical, or is it kind of a waste of time? I think it would be tricky to get the hang of. I guess you just put your hand on the line, and hook it with your index finger and rollit over you had, then reel up slack. So you bring in just a stitch at a time. Sure hopes she doesnt run with it in your hand.

Bring something really big, see if there are any monsters lurking the deep.

never mind, check my tournament/ outings section.

I really have an itch to scratch, and just want to do something. Im going to my fishing hole later today, but things are really tough. First of all, it rained the last 2 days. Before that, it was almost 70, around the mid 60's. Since then, its been in the low 50s. Also, there is not wind or clouds. When i went out just before it started raining, the fish were just moving up, and you could see a couple every now and then, not quite in the spawn, still prespawn. Any help is welcome.

Chris, there are some freaky similarities here..... topwater- super spook jr. med. crank- fat free fingerling shal. crank- rapala dt 4 spinnerbait- booyah counter strike jig- all terrain rattletrap- xcalibur h. jerk- rouge s. jerk- mr. wiggly frog- bobbys perfect frog buzz- strike king stick- senko Great minds must think alike.

I usually catch them on the weeds. Look for the most obvious weedbeds, and the deepest. Fish the edges and holes with weightless senko style worms, tube baits with 1/8 oz. insider heads, and i have recently had good luck with sweet beavers t-rigged, 1/8 oz. bullet weight. I also live in MI, so our weather should be fairly close. Where in the state are you? I live in eau claire, which is in berrien county. (very southwest corner)

About 90% finesse. i dont really try to, its just what im more comfortable with. I dont have a lot of confidence in cranks, but i do manage some on topwaters, spinnerbaits, and whatnot. But when i do fish these fast reaction power type baits, i usually do it slower that most. I never go hardcore finesse with 5 minute retrieves, i probably fish most finesse baits faster than other people.

The weight calculator on this site is right on for my 20.5" 5.5 lb. fish, my neighbor's 20" 6lb. fish, my 20" 5 lb. fish, and his 21" 5lb. fish. All come up on weight.

from that pic, he couldve claimed almost any weight and it would be believable. Looks like its 20 lbs.

that pond is loaded with bigguns. My neighbor caught one 20", 6lbs. I caught 2 that were 20" 5.5lbs, and 19" around 5lbs. (the one on my profile pic) These fish are really usually healthy, so this is weird. A fish witht this much lenght could go over 6 if it was built like the others that come out of here.

smallies. Simply they are scrappier, and definatley a lot less common for where i fish. They just seem like something new and exciting

If you are in open water with no weeds, put the trailer hook on upside down. The hook up percentage is outrageous.

My biggest 5 1/2 lb bass didnt have that big of a mouth. Neither did my neighbor's 6 pounder.

I went out yesterday, caught a bunch, all were healthy, stout bass, including 2 running 2.5, 1 was 16" 3lbs. and some really chunky little guys. But when i hooked onto what looked like a monster in the water, i was kind of urked to see it weigh in at 4 lbs. 4 oz. It looked like a 6 lber in the water since it was over 20" long for sure, and i stuck my fist in it's mouth with over and inch to spare around my hand. Its head was HUGE!! Im curious if this was a spawned out female, since we just had a warm week (60-70) that i think might have triggered a couple fish.

Another thing, downsize lures. Youll ALWAYS get fish on small lures. not always big fish, but it gives you an idea of where they are and what they are doing.

It probably goes like this. A fish does not strike because of a lures appearence so much, i mean look at how spinnerbaits and stuff are shaped. They really act on the motion or other things that remind them of food. Sure your jig might be twice the size of any crawdad they have seen before, but they nail it because it moves and behaves like what a crawdad would. There are lots of triggering factors that are imprinted into a fish's memory. Mainly movement, but color, not so much as they prefer colors they have seen, just so much as they can see it, and what it looks like in the water. In algea stained water, your lure will look much different in the water. Same with yellow, red, or whatever tint your water has. THey may not hit your lure, although it looks like exactly 100% like a live bluegill cruising around, and you put it right on its face. That fish may not feel like chasing a healthy fish down. Have you ever seen a bass cruise through a group of bluegill. How often doesnt he eat them. Make a realistic impression of your lure being an easy meal, or an annoying little thing. That should put fish in the boat.

I would buy that if it was half rotted to death. Well, maybe not. But boats like that usually go around 2500, not 250.

my tiny test pond had a thin layer of ice in the shadows, and i was slowly jerking a husky jerk. I felt weight, set the hook, and reeled in a crawdad. The must be up and about pretty dang early.

Im gonna fish it, dont know what its like, what they are biting on. Where should i start. (temps are around 38-40)

To get my 21 1/2" fish mounted, it cost me $150. Although it was a friend of ours. Most places are about $10 per inch on a skin mount, and $13 an in for a replica.

I have a skin mount on my wall and am not ashamed of it. I caught that fish, and that is what makes it special. That is my fish that i worked for, and it is really the actual fish. I have no problem keeping fish to eat, or mount. Since when i get a mounting fish again, it wil be another speciese, and its only 1 fish that i have caught and kept that i wont eat in several years. I only killed 1 fish for a trophy purpose in 16 years. But i will probably get a replica next time because now i have the money for it with my new job. They are more expensive than skin mounts.