kllrbee

do you guys use nets when fishin from the bank? If not, how do you land? Just curious.

Hey guys, Not sure if this goes in this section. Ive got a couple questions about whether or not Im using my gear properly. Ill explain. First off, I fish out of a kayak so I have limited room for gear. I usually only bring 2 rods with me. So I like to have a game plan before I hit the water so I know what to take with me. I have 4 rods and I would like to know if the lures I am choosing to use with each rod would be the most suitable choice. 6'8" MH-XF Bass Pro Johnny Morris Baitcasting Elite rod w/ JM signature 6.4-1 reel w/ 14 lb mono. Was planning on using for jigs, spinnerbaits, and plastics in heavy cover. Maybe some heavier cranks along the edge. 6'6" M-F BPS Extreme Spinning rod w/ Pflueger Pres 5.2-1 reel w/ 10 lb mono. Cranks and topwaters. Smaller (4" or less) worms texas rigged or wacky. 6'6" ML-F BPS Bionic SP rod w/ Pflueger Pres 5.2-1 reel w/ 8 lb mono. Smaller cranks and topwaters. 5'6" Light BPS Megacast SP rod/5.2-1 reel combo w/ 4 lb mono. Whatever small stuff I use for panfish. Will not be using for bass fishing. Im only asking cuz I just started fishing this year and I would like to know if I am using the right gear with the right lures in the right situation. I have been just taking stuff out with me and testing it out with everything, but I would rather have some input from guys who are in the know. I dont like bringing more than 2 rods with me on the kayak. It feels like too much. I was just bringing the 2 bigger spinning rods, but I just picked up the BC so I know I will want to bring that. Can you guys give me some advice on whether or not I am using the gear correctly. Thanks guys. This forum is great!! ;D

Hey bruther, I just got my first BC on Saturday. I also wanted an all around combo, but I mostly was looking for something that was better than my spinning combos at getting the fish out of the weeds. I wanted something that I could jig into the heavy cover, but also work a crank along the weedline. I got alot of really good advice and suggestions from members on here. But I live only 3 miles from BPS so I went there. I ended up getting the Johnny Morris Elite rod and JM signature reel. 6'6" MH-F rod and 6.4-1 reel. If you buy the combo together, they will knock off like 50-60 bucks. I paid like 210 or so, but I also negotiated a little for that price. Its a long story, but it should have been about 250. Definitely within your price range. Anyways, I finally got to practice casting the other day and it feels really good with this combo I got. I dont have anything to compare it to tho, but if its working good for me (another BC newbie), it might work good for you. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

Thanks guys. Ill definitley keep practicing and challenge myself. By no means do I think Ive got it mastered. One thing I was also thinking that has probly helped is the fact i have only started fishing recently. So I havent had years to get "stuck" doing things a certain way. You know the whole "cant teach an old dog new tricks" thing. Everything is new to me so I dont have any old habits to lose. ;D I will say this tho......Man, I love fishing!!!!

Yup...that makes sense. Im sure it would have been somewhat tougher if I hadn't had someone to talk me thru it. Still need to develop a "second nature" for the switch from right to left. But that will come with time. Feels pretty natural tho, so Im going to stick with the RH. Thanks.

Thanks alot guys for all your tips. I finally got to go out to the water today and practice casting. Pretty simple. Didnt take me more than a few casts in order to get the feel for it. My first cast went about 10 feet in front of me. So I realized I needed my release point to be sooner. I started out with short casts and a heavy lure. Made about 10 overhand casts, then sidearms, trying to go a little longer each time. Then I went to a lighter lure, did the same thing, then lighter, more casts. Ended up with a F3 rapala. No backlash at all. I had 2 brakes on and the setting set to 3. So, not to be a smart ***, but am I missing something here? Whats so "hard" about it? Basically, I hold the spool, push button, cast, and catch spool just as lure hits water. My left hand is right there, so I cup reel with left and start to reel with right. Doesnt seem to be very complicated. It feels like Im doing it right, so am I? Once again, Im not trying to be a smart guy or a "know it all", but if thats really all there is to it, then I dont know why anyone would be intimidated by the learning curve, cuz its about 10 seconds. Thoughts? Thanks guys.

Thanks alot Bassclary. I didnt have time to go out last night and practice casting, but I will today. One thing I didnt even notice (brainfart) is the whole "switchover" from right to left. I think Im used to right cast, left retrieve from spinning gear. Ill try out the right cast, cup reel with left, retrieve right method with BC before I go exchange for lefty model. I havent even tried it yet, but it seems that the lefty model would seem "unnatural" somehow. Ill give it a shot later and see how it goes. Thanks for all the help guys.

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the input and advice. I realize that I probly wont be catching 10lb bass in my area and I probly could get all my fishing done with spinning gear, but as Bob wrote, I might be missing some of the fun. And thats why I got into fishing. To learn, try new things, and of course, have fun while catching some fish. ;D So I figured I would add a BC to the arsenal. I ended up going to Bass Pro (again) cuz its only about 3 miles from my house. I checked out the Pro Qualifier, Carbonlite, Extreme, and Bionic rods. My spin rods are extreme and bionic so I already know what they are like. No complaints with them, but I really felt like I wanted to spoil myself and get something top end (if anything at BPS can even be considered top end). I wanted to get a rod/reel combo, cuz they are discounted if bought together. I liked the Carbonlite rod, but not the reel and I liked the Pro Qualifier reel, but not the rod as much as the Carbonlite. So as I was debating on what I wanted to do, I strolled into the Johnny Morris aisle. I picked up one of the rods and I instantly knew that was the rod I wanted to get. It just felt right. A little more expensive, but I actually ended up getting a good deal. Funny story. The JM signature rod is 170 and reel is 120, so thats 290, but if bought together, its 240. I actually liked the Elite rod better than the Signature, so I had the guy swap in the Elite and give me the same deal. When he was writing all the stuff up for the cashier, he wrote on their to take $25 off the rod and $25 off the reel. the cashier must have read it to mean 25% off each. HEEHEE. I ended up getting the JM Elite rod and Signature reel spooled with 14 lb mono for 210, when it really should have cost 320. Nice. Sorry for that long story, I just love when stuff like that happens. It makes my day to get a good deal. Anyways, back to the point. Anyone have experience with the JM stuff? Is it a good choice for me to learn on? Any good or bad input is appreciated. Also, Its a 6'8" MH-F and the 6.4-1 reel. I didnt put too much thought into the line, but I wanted to get something at least a little heavy so I could practice casting. I might go thru a spool just trying to get the hang of it. But is 14lb mono a good choice to rip out of the weeds or should I go 17-20? Id like to use something thats a good compromise b/w spinnerbaits and jigs in the cover and cranks along the edge. Any tips anyone can give me about how to setup the reel would also help. I will go thru the instructions and do a little research on the web, but I figure you guys could tell me better than anyone else would. Thanks alot for all the good info and sorry for the long rant. Im just like an excited kid who got a new toy tho. ;D

Hey all, Sure this "debate" has been done to death. > So Im not going to ask which is better, I just have some basic newbie questions for you. I just started fishing about 5 months ago, so Ive been doing alot of reading and experimenting on my own. I decided to go with spinning outfits cuz I figured it would be easier to learn with them than with baitcasting. I have yet to use a baitcasting setup, so I have no comparison about which is "easier". If I have this right, I understand BC is more suited to heavier conditions and bigger fish, while SP is more for finesse fishing. Im sure there are more variables, but is that the basic jist of it? I have been sorting thru the articles and videos on the site (very informative, btw) and it seems like many say that SP is not good for spinnerbaits and jigging in heavier cover. Why is that? Cuz heavier line is needed for the heavy cover? I have 3 rod/reels. 6 1/2 M-8lb mono 6 1/2 ML-6lb mono 5 1/2 L-4lb mono (use this just for panfish) All BPS rods and pflueger president reels. Not top of the line by any means, but not crap either, and I seem to be doing okay with them. As I read more on this site and learn, Ive been progressivley catching bigger fish tho and I do fish in heavy cover. When they run, they are going right for those weed beds and lilly pads. And lately Im having a hard time getting them out of the junk. So is my gear too light or should I go with heavier line? Maybe the 8lb to 12 and the 6lb to 10? (obviously leave the light gear alone) Thanks for halping out a newbie. BTW, I fish only small to midsized lakes if that helps.

Thanks for the help guys. I went and got a gripper today. Econoscale. Cheaper version of a boga. Man, those boga's are like 120 bucks!! Too spendy for me. Anyways, if I was just fishing from shore, Id probly just grip the lip harder and do what I need to do if the fish flails. But, Im a little nervous in the kayak that the fish will flail right into my lap and Ill have trebles in my.....you know what. :'( Thanks for the advice tho about being 100% commited to the grip. I think that might have been my problem. I was grippin him like he would break. Ill practice that when shore fishing. This forum rocks!!!!

hey all, Havent been fishing too long, but Im getting the hang of it and catching bass regularly. Mostly 2-4 lbs. but I love how they fight. What a rush!! Anyways, Ive been having a hard time on my last few getting the treble hooks out. They are really in there. Should I mash down the barbs? Or is it just cuz Im new at unhooking them, I havent gained the knack for it yet? Also, I got myself hooked pretty good for the first time yesterday. Hooked up a pretty good one in my kayak, tried to play him and tire him out, but when I went to lip him, he started flailing and I got one of the treble hooks caught in my hand. I got it out with a needlenose so no ER or anything like that. I realize its bound to happen every so often. Nature of the beast. But is there anything else I can do to try to have it not happen? Should I get lip grips? Thanks guys.

Haha!! ;D Thanks Bob. By no means am I looking to sell or find some kind of antique collectable. I want to fish them. I guess Ill just toss them out there and see what works for me and what I like to use. Thanks guys.

Okay, thanks for the reply. But, dumb question, what makes a certain lure junk? wont track right? rusted? paint chipped? I have heard that some of the most beat up crankbaits are the ones that catch the most fish. Not trying to start an argument here, I just really dont know what would make it something to toss. Thanks

Hey all, I recently inherited about 75 crankbaits, plugs, and topwaters from my uncle. There is a little bit of everything. Rapalas, rebels, heddons, poes, bombers, deep divers, shallow divers, floaters, poppers, big ones, small ones, some very old and worn, others brand new, all in different colors. Few questions... 1. They were given to me in a garbage bag, so how would you guys go about "sorting and categorizing" them? Im a slave for having things in the right place when I need them, so I dont want to just chuck them in my box with no rhyme or reason. Sort by types? colors? brands? 2. How would you guys go about testing them? I was going to head over to the small clear water retention pond and tie on a snap/swivel for quick changes and just toss them out and retrieve a few times at different rates to get the feel of each one. Sound like a good plan? 3. Along with the testing, Im sure many of them will need to be tuned. Can anyone give a quick explanation of the proper tuning method or a link that explains it? Thanks alot guys. ;D

Same exact thing just happened to me about an hour ago. Just as I was getting ready to grab the ol boy and get my jig out of his lip, the line broke and away he went. I was bummed for all of 10 seconds. S**t happens man, nothing you could do about it. The way that I look at it is that I DID catch him. I just didnt get a chance to dehook him. Another 5-10 seconds and he would have been back in the water anyways, but without my jig. I did head home and grabbed another of the same exact jig and hoped to get the same fish. ;D Wouldnt that be something!? Catching the same fish and retrieving my original jig? LOL. BTW, that brings up a good question. When do you guys consider your catch fully caught? I would say after I grab him by the jaw, I consider him a catch. Sorry to hijack, just curious.

Excellent. Thank you very much for the quick responses guys. That is actually a relief that the fish ID is useless and picking up just about anything in the water. I was starting to think that I must be doing something seriously wrong. At least now I know that I was probly at a bad location. When I first got the unit, I entered all the settings and put fish ID on with alarm just to see what it would do. That alarm got old in about a minute. It started going off like mad the first weed bed I went over. Turned that off, but left on those silly little cartoon fish. I guess they amused me. Mostly, I have been using the FF for depth readings and then trying to incorporate what I have learned about structure to find good spots. So that leads me to believe that I have some work to do on structure, but at least I can rule out the FF as a reliable source and just concentrate on using what I learn. Thanks again guys. Very helpful. BTW, good idea about keeping a log kms. Ill start to do that.

Hey all, After reading and reading and then...reading some more, it seems to me that the key to catching bass is location and presentation. Im still very new at this so Im still trying to find out what types of baits I like to use and what colors. So far spinnerbaits, top waters, and jigs are what I like cuz my lakes are super weedy. I caught a few with cranks right at the dropoff and I dont have the skill yet to work plastics even though I did get lucky on a 4" crly tail a few times. Ill stick with the recomended colors for different conditions until I find what works best for me. But am I wrong in saying that the lure and color dont make as much difference in the big picture as finding the fish and making them want it? So here is where my question comes in. I fish off of a kayak that I rigged up with an Eagle Cuda 300. It is the first FF I have ever owned so I am not familiar with any of them. So when I go out to my lake, I try to find some good spots and usually the FF will start going off as well. But I get no bites. So its either my presentation or Im in the wrong spot. Can I actually trust the FF when it shows fish? Are they there and Im just presenting wrong? Just curious what your thoughts are on this. I know I still need to work on recognizing structure and cover as well as presentation and thats probly why Im not catching that many fish. Thanks

Awesome!! Thanks very much guys!!

Hey all, Got some basic questions for anyone that would like to help out a newbie. Tried searching, but not sure exactly what to type in. Ive been mostly fishin 4" plastic worms texas rigged under a slip bobber. Pretty slow going. Ive got a bunch of spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and poppers that my uncle gave me that Id like to try out. Should I remove the bobber and just run straight line to lure? Also, Im going to a lake thats pretty murky with lots of weeds and lily pads. Kinda cloudy today too. What do you recommend for lures? Thanks guys.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys!! Was out today and got a few. Little guys, maybe 16-18 inches. Not sure, I dont have a tape measure on my yak. Reeled one up to the yak and was just about to grab the net from behind me when he jumped up and almost cracked me in the face. LOL. Tried a bunch of different things today, but basically caught the fish with 4" dark speckled plastic worm with med light rod with 6lb mono. Sat in about 5ft of weedy area and cast out to deeper area and slowly reeled in trying to bounce off teh bottom. Read that on here from someone. Not sure if I did it right, but it worked. Lots to learn. Never knew this was so complicated. LOL. ;D Thanks guys. Look forward to learning and sharing with you all.

Newbie here from about 10 miles south of the Fox chain of lakes. Lots of good fishin here. Just sayin HI to the IL guys. ;D

Hey all, Wanted to introduce myself to the forum and say thanks to all of you who have made this site so informative. I will be spending plenty of time reading thru the "Best of" section. Looks like lots of good stuff in there. Anyways, a little about me. I am 35 and was born and raised in the inner city of Chicago. So not much to fish where I was from. Of course, there was lake michigan, but none of my friends were into fishing and the lake was kind of far. I fished once on a camping trip to Wisconsin when I was 8 but dont remember anything. I moved out of the city and up to the IL-WI border about a year ago. Plenty of fishing here, so I wanted to start taking advantage of all the water and see what Ive been missing my whole life. Went to Bass Pro and got one of their 6'6" med-fast extreme rods, a Pflueger presidential reel, 4" soft plastic worms, 8lb. mono, split shot, clip on bobbers and some hooks and off I went. I actually thought casting would be tough the first time, but it came real natural. No birds nest or hooking myself. LOL. As it turns out, I was out there for about 10 minutes, just casting and reeling, getting familiar with the equipment, when BAM!!!, bobber goes under and I got a bite. Ill be honest, I didnt really know what to do, so I just reeled in a little while pulling up, then lowered the tip and let the fish run a little, then reeled and pulled up. After I did that a few times, the fish was pretty tired out. Came to find out later that I used a pretty good technique there instead of just reeling in like a madman. So I guess that came kinda natural too. Turns out I hooked a 3 lb largemouth on my first day, in 10 minutes, without even trying. Well, I was hooked. I figured "Wow, this is easy!!". Man, was I mistaken. I must have had beginners luck or something. That was about 3 months ago. Since then, I have inherited alot of tackle from my uncle. Lots of lures (rapala crankbaits and plugs, hula poppers, jitterbugs, spoons, spinners, more soft plastics, and a bunch of sinkers, swivels, snaps and hooks). I also picked up 2 more rods. A 6'6" med-light and 5'6" light. Both have 6lb. mono at the moment. If that wasnt enough, I got a Perception Caster fishing kayak that I got in trade for some machine work I did for a guy. I outfitted it with some rod holders, anchor, anchor trolley, and an Eagle Cuda 300 fishfinder. So it seems like I should have all the gear and I would be bringing home coolers full of fish, right? Wrong. :-? The problem is that I still dont know what Im doing. Ive gone out the last 3 days on the yak for 4-5 hours a day and Im lucky if I get any bites at all. I try to go into weedy, shrubby areas, channel openings, and dropoffs. Just places where I would think fish would hide. I know they are there, cuz I can see them sometimes. Also, I have tried soft plastics, cranks, spinners, and poppers. All different colors. Nothing seems to work. I know a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work, but Im starting to get a little frustrated with myself now. I feel like Im doing everything that Ive read, but getting no results. Is that just the way it goes sometimes? BTW, Im not just going for bass. Ill go for some panfish too. I wouldnt mind something to throw in the frying pan. I just want to catch some fish. Can you guys give me some advice? maybe just the basics, so I can re-evaluate what Im doing right and wrong. Sorry for the long post. Wanted to just introduce myself and it turned into a rant. LOL. Thanks in advance for helping out a newcomer to the fishing world.