Pond-Pro

Ive always been scared to try and weigh them by their gill plate, but i might try it. I think I like the plastic bag idea though. Ill make sure ill have plenty of water in the bag as not to harm the bass. I dont use a net so the other idea wont work for me.

The fish you seen rolling might have been carp. As far as baits, I would through a yellow spinnerbait around those lilies, GOOD LUCK!!!

I hate it when I hook them like that!! Somtimes I just get my plyers and power the hook out. Im not sure if would pay off to be more gentle, but take longer, or not. I also would be intrested in knowing how long is a safe time to keap them out of the water.

LOL!!

Nice job!! Those are some nice catfish.

There is somthing called side-strain. Side-strain is where you pull your rod sharpely to one side or the other in order to try and turn a fish. I think the fish has a tougher time continuing in the same direction when a horizontle force is put on him rather than a verticle force. I read about it in an old fishing book. Also as others have mentioned, heavy gear will help. Braid is strong, thin, stretchless, and sensitive, I think you should try it. I use 20 pound sufix and have had no problems with it.

Probably my most memorable catch was having a 9.5 lb. catfish crush my buzzbait. I thought I had a monster bass, but no such luck.

Welcome!!! Glad you found what you wanted!

That had to be a good fight! Im suprised that line held up as long as it did! I can't imagine how hard a four footer would fight! Ive seen several before that looked to be 4 feat or bigger. I plan to catch one sometime.

Ok, this may be a dumb question, but how do you guys put the fish on the scale to weigh it? If the fish is big enogh, I put the hook thing on it's lower lip. I havent had one fall off yet, but it seems that just barely holds them. I use to use a trailer hook that i slipped over the hook on the scale to weigh the fish with. But with that method, id always have to put another hole in the fish. Is there a more efishent way? Thanks for any response.

BK, did you land that carp? That thing is huge! Nice pics. I had one once about that size that was 3 feat from shore and the hook popped out. I had hooked it on just some leaves and a hook! ;D

Way to go Muddy!!!!

I think it would be great if everyone would do this. I always try to throw away some trash if I find it while fishing. Lets not make fishermen have the image of litterbugs. Your first post Muddy,

If the U.S. would just go ahead and claim the middle east we wouldnt have this problem!

I wear a pair of plorized fit-overs that I got at walmart. I think they were like 30 bucks. They fit pretty well over my glasses, but Im not sure how UV resistant they are. They also look ridiculus. :-[

I also leardned this from these forums. I would have never known!

Ive never used an ugly stick. I have a BPS Extreme (very nice rod) , a berkley lightning rod, and a Shakespeare Tiger.

I seen a bluigill swim violently along the surface upside down, and then later I found out it was doing this because it had part of it's tail bit off. As far as the carp.... maybe it has somthing to do with their spawning rituals? :-?

Nice job adjusting to catch the bass! Yeah I think topknockers are fished like spooks, or any other walking bait.

I always use a little red bead betwean the wieght and knot. I think the red might help trigger strikes, they might think it is an eye or somthing. I also fish it unpegged.

Yeah, he just had a plain hook and a dandilion and caught about an 8 inch bass. It was a pond where there are too many bass and they are all small. Thats cool that bass can become conditioned to a certain bait even though they can't recall past expeiriences. Im not sure if I fully understand this but I guess it doesnt matter. I doubt that is true.... kinda reminds me of "let not your left hand know what thy right hand doeth" ;D

Yeah, they were spawning bass. I relize that bass can't actualy think the way we do and were just acting off of there instincts. These insticts are what help them survive somtimes and other times makes them easier to catch. Im pretty sure the 2 pounder I was talking about was not spawning. This is because he was out about 4 feet deaper than the ones that were spawning. This gives him no escuse for getting fooled by the same bait twice in an hour.

Bass are so dumb somtimes!!! I recently hooked a bass and had him on for like 5 seconds till he jumped and got off. Then I cast right back where he was with the same bait(tube bait) and caught him. On the same outing, I caught a bass that weighed exactly two pounds. Then about 30 minutes later my friend caught the same bass on the same bait I was using. Im pretty sure it was the same fish because it was in the same spot and weighed exactly the same. That is not the only time ive caught the same fish multiple times. Some more examples of bass being dumb; -Ive caught bass right after spooking them off the bank -My friend caught a bass on a dandilion -I caught a bass on a crappie nibble -We have all caught 3 inch bass on 5 inch lures. I guess I nead to find some florida strain bass.... Does any one else have any storys of bass doing not so smart things?

Wow, your scale was really off! The weight calculater puts the fish at 10 pounds!! Nice catch!

Thats a big Crappie!!!! I caught 1 that was 12 inches on a spinnerbait this spring and thought it was huge, yours is even bigger!