playmaker47

I wish I could catch 2 winter bass in Kansas... :'( its been really cold lately here in western Kansas but it was 70 degrees today, I didnt make it out fishing though. As to the red lips i dont know why they would do that. the crawfish thing makes since but other than that i have no idea :-/

What's the deal? I went to my local Bass Club meeting tonight and they were talkign about B.A.S.S. and how they are having a meeting with all of the state federations about raising prices $5 effective March 31st. They were also saying how 5 B.A.S.S. officials lost their jobs. I didnt pick up on everything clearly, but what is the deal with all of this?

1. I'm starting my first year in a Bass Club, so my first goal for this year is to win 1 of our tournaments this year. 2. Catch a Bass bigger than my personal best, which is 19 1/2" 3. Learn to "Find Fish"

19 1/2"

Here in Western Kansas all the water is frozen over. However yesterday it was in the high 50's and i checked some places and the ice is starting to melt off of them and these next few days are supposed to be warm, so i might be able to go fish a bit around christmas day or the day after.

Well i just ordered myself some new tackle from Cabela's Last night. now i didnt spend a whole lot of money, therefore i dint get the high dollar top quality equipment, but for me being a 16 year old angler it will work for me. I needed some more setups since i will begin to fish tournements with my bass club for the first time this coming year. Here is just some of the things i got. Any input would be greatly apreciated I got some Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166&id=0030185119277a&navCount=10&podId=0030185&parentId=cat600394&navAction=push&catalogCode=IF&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat600394&hasJS=true I heard about it so much on this forum that i decided to try it out for myself. I will either be using it for crankbaits and spinnerbaits on the Fish Eagle II i just also am getting or for drop shotting on another spinning reel. I also decided to try some Cabelas Pro line Co-Polymer because it is only 4.99 and i wanted to see if it was any good. http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166&id=0019320117456a&navCount=15&podId=0019320&parentId=cat600392&navAction=push&catalogCode=IF&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat600392&hasJS=true Next I got a Cabela's Fish Eagle II Tournament Spinning Reel. Last of all i got a Cabela's Black Label II Crankin' Combo. I got this because I was planning on getting the Black Label II and it was $39 but the Combo with a Cabelas E-Glass 6'6" MH Rod. I am going to take the reel and use it on my 7' Northeast Outfitters MH rod for a pitching combo, and then just save the E-Glass rod until i get another casting reel.

I was fishing a pond and was walking along the edge of the rocky dam. I noticed a tree laying strait out in the water about 5 ft from the shore. Nowi hadnt planned on fishing this pond until right before i got there and I only had 1 rod and spinning reel with 8 lb mono. I had a small jig on and i had noticed some ripples coming from beside the laydown. I Pitched the jig about a ft past where i noted the ripples and twitched it twice and somthing nailed it. I must have had to light of line and not enough line out because i set the hook and got the bass to surface and it was a good 25" and by far would have broken my personal record. well when he surfaced he turned and snap. I just stood there speechless. I still wonder about if i had caught that fish what it would have weighed.

Now i know that droppshoting is mainly a finnese technique of fishing. but i am wondering if you guys have tried or even think it might work to pitch a drop shot rig with heavier line. I have always thought that this might work but have never gotten around to trying it. I thought that having the bait hover about a foot to a foot and a half above the bottom and having the accuracy of pitching and being able to go in the thick and heavy cover put together could be the ticket to winning some tournements with nothing else would work. Also can I use soft plastics like Zoom Utails and 4" tubes or creature baits to drop shot instead of the more finnesse drop shot speacialty baits. Thanks for the help guys Tight Lines!

In 2006 I plan on using pitching as my main technique. Pitching Soft plastics and jigs mainly. I also want to try and use a drop shot more often and slow rolling spinnerbaits. I probably wont use crankbaits or toppwater that much this year.

Hey guys. Ive finnaly gotten back to these forums after i havent posted on here since late summer. with school starting in september and sports and all winter setting in with the ice over the lakes and ponds and pheasant season i havent had much time or chances to worry much about fishing but im back finally and ready to start preparing for the next spring. Tonight i am going to my first bass club meeting since i have turned 16 this fall and can now join. This is a informational meeting for all of the people thinking about joining for 2006. Well i hope to learn as much this coming year as i did last year on this forum and thanks to all who keep this going. Tight Lines.

i use really small swivels and it does let it sink a little bit but not to much of a difference from regular weightless. i also havent had much trouble with line twist using this on a spinning reel

I fish Zoom Flukes weightless. when i do this i use a snap swivel to hook the hook to the line. i use snap swivels on all weightless soft plastics. i do however retie after a couple of fish. i dont use snap swivels if im fishing t-rigged soft plastics though. only weightless ones.

weightless Zoom Trick Worm, or weightless Zoom Fluke

hey okieinoz. where at in kansas are you, and what lake are you fishing at?

it depends for me. if its a crank or spinnerbait or topwater i will use a different lure. but if its a soft plastic, alot of times i will change colors.

you can get some pretty cheap soft plastic baits at walmart.

yea this Kansas heat is somthing isnt it! i fish for bluegill all the time. i really dont like live bait, because i think its cheating. alot of people probably dissagree, but thats just my oppinion. i catch alot of bluegill when i dropshot a small 1" long crappie tube.

Drop Shot. it works wonders. the plastic bait just hovers in front of their faces. i like tubes on the drop shot.

i always just buy pre painted spinnerbait forms and then put a skirt on and then put on whatever i want for the blades you can get the prepainted forms at cabelas.

i have a couple of spinnerbaits that the hooks are still good on and they are still really sharp and really strong, but they have gotten some rust on the hooks. how should i go about getting this off?

i like roadwarrior use ponds to practice things i dont use much or havent used before. on most lakes, even if you dont have brush piles planted, just using your fishing knowledge you should be able to find fish. depending on the season and weather you should know where they might be. example would be now in the late summer. fish will be on main lake points and secondary points in coves. you dont need to have brushpiles like that to find fish. also even if you do have piles planted your fishing skills can still get better, because you can improve your catching skills instead of your fish finding skills. you can master different techniques and lures and that improves you being a fisherman

What do you guys feel you have improved in your fishing skills this year so far. i definatley think that i have improved more this year than any other year before. the number 1 reason is this is the first year that ive been on this forum. the things that i have improved are... 1. i never used to use spinnerbaits before this year. i had no confidence in them, but i forced myself to fish with them one day at a pond and had great success with them, now they are one of my favorite lures. 2. i also started using a drop shot for the first time this year. i never used it before and i tried it one day at a small city lake, and had great success and found that it helps to have the plastic bait hover in front of a fish. 3. i also improved my strong suit. pitching soft plastics. it has always been my favorited, and most succesful technique, but this year i have improved my pitching accuracy by alot. i can now precisly place it easily where i want it, and before this year i could pitch accuratly some pitches, but alot of them were a foot or 2 off sometimes. One thing i feel however that i have decreased my skills in is fishing weightless soft plastics. i used to use that as my #1 go to technique, but i havent ended up using it so far this year. every time i go out i try and improve somthing that i dont use or do somthing new, and i havent done the soft plastics weightless yet. it used to produce great for me and i caught my 2nd largest bass ever with it, but i have gotten away from it. that is one thing that i want to work on before this year is over.

i dont fish without my polarized glasses. period. they not only protect your eyes from the light that bounces off the water, but they definatly let you see things that you normally couldnt. heres what i do that you may or may not choose to do but i get a pair from cabelas that is only 20 or 30 bucks. they let you see just as good as the expensiver pairs, they just dont last very long. and also if you would lose them overboard or somthing it isnt a huge loss. with the price you could spend on a 200 dollar pair of glasses or so you could get 8 or so of these cheaper glasses, so as they wear out i just get a new pair. it works for me but do what you want to do

This topic has been moved to [link=http://bassresource.com/cgi-bin/bass_fish/YaBB.pl?board=Fishing_Tackle_ID;action=display;num=1130143984;start=0]Fishing Tackle[/link] by Chris.

well i hope everything will work out for the best for you