hatrix

I would say try a jig. Pitch/flip/cast to where ever you think are the hot spots the big girls might be at. Work it like you would a jig while its in the strike zone/hot spot area then I like to swim it back the rest of the way with a slow medium retrieve while giving it a little hop the whole way back.

I also was also told or read somewhere its no big deal to leave a hook in the fish. I guess there digestive system is supposed to have no problem passing or dissolving the hook. That seems possible with like a crappy eagle claw hook from wal mart or something(probably rust out). I find it hard to believe a fish could digest one of my gamakatsu 4/0 EWG hooks. Hooks like that are so much stronger so unless maybe the fish was part goat lol I dont know if it could pass something like that but im not expert on that matter.

I cant really comment on the tournament pro series but I did just buy the speed spool version after all my tackle was stolen and I must say it is a nice reel. Its super smooth casts great and I can comfortably palm it. I took the guys advice at my local tackle store after he convinced me you cant really get any better for under $100. I figured who else might know better then a guy who repairs broken reels all day long and lews came highly recommended from him.

I do use spinners there every so often since they are basically weedless and I do agree that willows seem to deflect more weeds for me then my colorados. I already run baits over the tops of weeds(flukes kill it) but if its not weedless and you touch that pond weed its going to grab a ton of it and it becomes really hard to shake it no matter how much you try. For some reason fish wont bite a lure with 2 pounds of pond weeds hanging off it so I am trying to make some of my other baits as weedless as possible so I can actually use them there. I don't always fish with what is the most productive lure at the time. Sometimes I like to fish how I feel at that time. I am not always in the mood to use slow moving weedless baits. Some times I just want to make a lot of casts and use baits that cover more water even though it might be less productive if you know what I mean.

There is a local pond I like to fish often but the problem is that it is basically covered in curly leaf pond weed. This really limits what i can throw to things like any thing T rigged or a jig. For the most part any hard bait unless its top water is out of the question even if it only runs 1-3'. I have been thinking about replacing the hooks on cranks with weedless hooks. I have never tried to put weedless hooks on a crank bait so this would be new to me. I have looked at both singles and trebles and it seems like singles would offer the best option for weedless. I think trebles might work but when I rip it it seems like the guard might just bend and it will grab the weeds any ways so I am not sure that is the way to go. Like I had said the pond has some serious heavy cover and any pointer on how to make hard baits more weedless would be much appreciated. On a side note just messing around I took all the hooks of a lipless crank just to SEE what I been missing and they where nailing it. I even caught one with no hooks. Somehow it got it wedge sideways just right in its mouth so that I got it all the way in and actually had to pop the bait out. It was pretty cool to catch one with no hooks since that was a first for me and probably a last.

I have a couple uncles who are notorious for fishing while they are on the course. They carry those telescoping push buttons reels in there bag and are always making casts when there by a water hazard. Generally they try to stay on the low while they are doing it though. There are tons of really nice fish on golf courses who have never really seen a lure and in turn are really easy to catch.

Yea I usually do use barrel swivels but I had one of the kids rods. It's a lot easier for them to change lures with a snap swivel. Plus then there not bugging me to tie something on for them

Yea we really do have a lot of ponds out here. Im basically surrounded by them from all sides. Just counting only my neighbors like adjacent to me there's like 8 i think. Plus my pond well mine is actually 2 cause there's like a 1/2 acre maybe a little bigger next to the 10 acre one. Also behind my house in the woods are 2 ponds next to each other that are decent size. So I guess for ponds I could walk to in like 5 min or less there's 12. Now if i actually got in my car and drove for 5 min its endless how many there are. I am actually right around the corner from spencer lake if any one knows where that is.

The only flukes I ever use are 7". I still catch dinks sometimes with them. But I probably catch less of them then if I used a smaller one. But im not out to catch 12" bass so that's not a issue. If I see a dink actually bite a bait im using I generally don't even set the hook.

We had a nice sunny day here yesterday it was around 80 so I decided to do some fishing. I had been using a fluke and my snap swivel kept opening up from getting hit so hard. So any ways I switch to a senko rigged weightless of course. I get a hit set the hook play it back to the shore about a #2 go to unhook to fish and turns out my senko is still skin hooked and i caught it on the swivel. It didnt actually hook the fish I guess just keeping my line tight and being lucky was enough to get it in. I know it sound unbelievable and after thinking about it seems impossible but somehow it happened.

Well I think I am going to have to just get a Curado 200E7. I have not really heard anything bad about it and seems like one of the best reels. I would like to get the 300E but it's already going to cost more then I intended. I look at reels and think well if i spend 30 more I can get this... then if i spend another 30 i can get this one. It's a never ending cycle.

I am looking to get a new baitcaster and am not sure what one i really want. I currently have a Rick Clunn and it works pretty good but im looking for better. The reels I have been looking at in my price range are Bass Pro Shops® Johnny Morris® Signature Series Baitcast Reel the Shimano® Citica® E Low-Profile Baitcast Reels and Abu Garcia® Revo S Low-Profile Baitcast Reel. I am kinda leaning toward the revo. I am looking for something that casts great and has good durability. Some of the reviews on the revo says it casts light baits really well to so that's a plus. Let me know what you guys think since im not really a expert on baitcasters and could use some advice on what to get.

That's the only way I have really have success with swimbaits. I kinda fish it like a jig but faster and pick my rod up a lot higher. They usually grab it on the fall as usual.

I just landed this one today using a black/blue eakins jig. I didn't have a scale or any thing but I am putting her around #8.5 or more. I wear a 10.5 shoe and that's all I had to measure it by. On a side note it was caught from my private pond so that makes it even better. If any one has pics of there PB so far this year i would like to see them

Well my first fish of the year was my biggest so far. It was about 6.5# I got it on a pearl fluke. It was still on my rod from last year and the ice just melted so I made a couple cast just for the heck of it not really expecting much. The weather here cant make up its mind. On Thursday it was sunny and 80 then Friday it drops to 50 :'( now its almost freezing at around 40 ohh and yesterday it was so cold the rain was freezing and coming down as hail.

I never reel mine. I only jerk and twitch it back. It doesn't look right to me when i reel. I only use zoom super flukes maybe other ones you can reel but I dunno since zoom is all I use. Sometimes I wish I could reel them when im not trying to spend a lifetime each cast twitching it back to me.

Well when I was in my teens all I wanted was to be sponsored and go pro. But my dream was to be a pro skateboarder not bass fisherman. I spent every minute I had getting footage and going bigger then the next guy so I could send it to companies and shops. By the time i was 18 I had plenty of sponsors and was considered a amateur. they sent me tons of clothes shoes boards you name it but no $checks$. Eventually it became more like a job then a hobbie. I had to produce new tricks and footage for fear of loosing all my free stuff. In the end I lost sight of why I even started skating and it seemed more like going to work then going out to play and have fun. No matter how good you are nothing is free just cause your awesome at it.

I have never tried it and want to give it a shot. I dont have any of the special stuff they make for it now but the guy who came up with it didnt either im sure. Any ways I have tons of senkos and was thinking about using those. I was thinking about using my old wacky ones that are ripped in half. I also have a lot of normal rubber worms but figure senkos would be better.

If you have a boat Lake Erie is amazing for the smallies. If not pick one of the thousands of ponds you see driving around and kindly ask to fish it. Chances are it has not been fished in over a decade and its loaded with nice bass.

My names Jack and im from Medina Ohio. I mainly fish farm ponds since there is like a hundred of them within a couple minute drive. I also regularly hit Erie for perch and sometimes walleye.

You should really try and spool a rod with braid. Ever since i started using it the amount of lure i loose has dropped dramatically. Last night i did loose a little 3" suspending minnow to about a 10lb or more catfish using 20lb braid. I got bold trying to horse him in and didn't let it wear it self out enough. It was cool though cause it jumped when it grabbed the bait since it only run about 1' deep. I never seen a catfish that big break water.

My favorite is white pearl with a 3/0 EWG rigged weightless. The pearl makes it easier for me to see so I know when to twitch it for a better presentation.

I got a super shard rap in bluegill thats really letting me down. Im sure when the water really warms up it will start to produce.

White 3" grub with a 1/4oz head. It almost impossible to not catch fish. You can fish them faster then finesse baits or jigs to.

I have had good success teaching people to fish with little grubs and a 1/4 or 1/8 oz head. The more fish you catch the faster you learn. Being able to catch bluegill and crappie along with the bass will help.