deep

Finally I got into some fish the last three days. I fished my local reservoir for a few hours each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (today). All the fish I caught on Friday and Saturday were in the creek channel drop near the back of a cove. No size, biggest was around 2 lbs (which is okay for this lake), but caught a bunch of them. I threw a red eye shad and an LC Gunfish on Friday. All hits on the trap came on the fall (I was yo-yoing it), and the hits on the topwater came on the pause. I missed having a jerkbait with me. The only one I had, a KVD wild shiner, turned out to be a lemon. It sank like a darned stone. Came back on Saturday with a Pointer and the Gunfish. Cleaned them up on the jerkbait, caught nothing on the topwater. Today was mighty tough. I found a few fish at the very back of the cove, in real shallow water, but buried inside laydowns. Caught half a dozen on weightless senkos.

Rob, you are too generous. Thanks for buying.

gobig and WRB, I was confident in my 17 lb line until this happened. I'll switch up to 20 lb before next trip. All my swimbaits weigh less than 2.5 oz. The hudds I have are all ROF 12 six inchers. The lake this happened at is a put-and-take trout fishery, and shore fishing only. The reason I have mono on it, and not fluoro is that I got only one SB setup, and I want to throw both hudds and lunker punkers on it. I know it's far from ideal, but I have to make do with what I got.

....or Pike or big Chain Pickerel....both pretty active in colder water. There's no way (for me) to know. Never seen or caught any of these in this lake, and I fished it pretty extensively last year.

Pretty much what I've been doing over the last few weeks. At least you didn't lose over $70 in lures. I'm sure I'll stick a big one the next trip though. Hang in there, you'll get a bunch of good suggestions.

Randall, of course you are infinitely more knowledgeable than me (I know precisely "nothing" about SBs), and before the next SB trip, I'll be respooling with 20+ lb fluoro just to be safe; but I don't think it's the line that's at fault. I have dragged the bottom of this lake (very little cover to speak of), have set hook on numerous snags, and I almost never found a nick in the line, nor did the line ever break instantly on hooksets.

Thank you. I'll check that out.

Date: today, air temp: 60 F, water temp: around 50 F, 10 - 15 mph winds. Swimbait noob here. Starting this year, I have been trying pretty hard to catch a soft swimbait fish, and put in about 25 hours fishing SBs at a local lake where they stock trout. A little background info: I caught plenty of good fish last year, on non-swimbait lures, from this lake. I never caught a soft swimbait fish, ever; or felt like I have a bite. But I was told when I get a bite, I'd know it. Today, among other locations, I was fishing the outside of a spawning flat, where the best fish (6 lbs, good by my standards) came from last year. That was in late May, and a fat female. Anyway, I was throwing a Mattlures soft bluegill, sort of bottom-bumping with jerks and erratic bursts; almost like I'd fish a Hudd, but not quite. Also, I was retrieving it about 1.5 times as fast as I retrieve a Hudd. I know what getting snagged feels like. Hell, I've lost 5 baits already to snags. The supposed bite was a tap, a slight pause, and then a tap-tap-tap. I think it came while I was steady retrieving, with about 40 feet of line out. I reeled in as fast as I could, and did a side-sweep hookset, and the line (17 lb Sufix Siege) comes flying back at me without the lure. That's strange. This line is sickly strong btw. I have serious trouble breaking the line when I snag. I'm pretty sure there are no toothy critters in this lake, other than maybe turtles. The tag end of the line was also pretty badly nicked, but I'm sure it was fine before the cast. I'm also sure the line broke above the knot. When the line broke, it felt like someone cut it with a pair of scissors, it was that abrupt. So what's going on here? And, was this a bass?

I went out to do a little shore-prefishing on the very lake this evening. I visited a couple of coves. The water was uniformly chocolate milky. I hit all the shallow visible covers I could find with soft plastics. I made several casts to the same spots, and nothing. Not a bite. And the forecast for tomorrow says 17 mph winds. My little kayak will be blown all over the reservoir. I haven't cancelled the trip yet, but it's a big IF now. EDIT: Didn't take my yak out. It was too windy. I had an interesting experience, and two lost swimbaits, while shore-fishing. Read here: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1299975720

Pelican 10 footer SOT. I bought it new (got a good deal at Dick's). It came rigged with two rod-holders. I rigged a portable hummingbird fishing buddy and an anchor on it. Looking to install another rod holder sometime soon. If you're just looking to buy a kayak though, post in the "boats" section. You'll get loads of great advice from folks who know how it's done.

I think I'm ready to take my fishing on to the next level. I'm located in Charlottesville, and I go to UVA. I don't have a boat, I fish out of my kayak. I spent all of the last year fishing alone, and right now, once in a while, I fish with the UVA bass fishing club. I'm a member of the club, but not part of the team (grad students not allowed, lol). I'm not good at these by any means, but I think I know how to throw and work the usual stuff, like cranks, spinners, topwaters, and a few T-rigs or wacky rigs, and catch a few bass. I'm not good (at all) with jigs and C-rigs; or flipping and punching. I'm probably not the guy you can pick up a few tricks from. Also, just so there are no surprises, I'm an Indian (no, not a native American, I am a citizen of the country India.)

IMO stren magnathin has horrible/ next to none abrasion resistance. Never used sunline, so can't comment on that. I don't use copolys a lot, but most fluoros are about as stretchy as most monos; check out the TT fluoro showdown. Braid with a leader might be a good fit. And no, I didn't read your other thread. Edit: The above post seems to say the same thing as mine does. Too late on the trigger

to Chris Greene reservoir, Charlottesville. I have had zero luck this year with bass. Over maybe 10 shore-based trips, I've managed a whooping total of two bass. I believe I was fishing too shallow. I'm sick of not catching anything. I'm feeling rather helpless; and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Any suggestions related to central VA bass would be great.

You could also pick up some tiger/ lindy tubes.

I have a little 10' Pelican SOT. It's nowhere near the best, but I got a good deal and bought it new from Dick's. I rigged a little hummingbird on it too.

It doesn't matter if you're in Cali or in the north-east. You just want to catch the biggest fish in that lake. If the biggest fish is 12 lbs instead of 22, it doesn't change anything. Read Siemantel's book. Catching big bass is a mindset more than anything else. Murphy's book is also awesome. But BBZ contains a lot more info about "swimbaits". As with fishing for bass in general, location is everything. The biggest bass gets to choose the best location. Read the two books. Disclaimer: I have a trout lake near me too. It's a little smaller, way deeper, much more rocky, and got very little grass as of now, compared to yours. I've been pounding it with swimbaits since mid february. And all I caught were: a foul-hooked 1.5 lb-er on a mission fish, and a 3 lb-er on a punker. But that's okay. I probably was not fishing the right location at the right time. EDIT: If you do decide to get into this swimbait thing, let me tell you as a fellow novice, it's not easy. I use only little 6 inchers. But chucking them for seven hours at a stretch is not fun, to keep chucking them when you're hoping to get only one bite a day is even more challenging, and to keep chucking them when I feel I could catch some 2 to 3 lb-ers on a crank or a jig is excruciating. I haven't got my mind into the zone yet; but I'm working very hard at it Good luck. EDIT 2: The baits I have are: 6" ROF 12 hudd trout, 7" and 8" mission fish (strictly for bottom-bouncing) 6" mattlures tournament series trout (some bottom bouncing and some slow steady retrieves) mattlures soft bluegill, ultimate bluegill (some bottom bouncing and some slow steady retrieves) BBZ 6" floater, Black Dog shellcracker (floaters) 6" lunker punker (walk the dog)

I don't know buddy. I fish relatively snag-free water. I personally use as light a line as I can. Hell, I use no more than 6 lb on my spinning and no more than 12 lb on my regular casting (17 lb on my swimbait) set-ups. That one fish (my PB) changed my leader lb test from 6 to 10. She didn't snag me anywhere to the best of my knowledge, didn't take any drag, only a lot of head-shaking, and it was early winter, so she was sluggish I guess. All I know is that a 7 feet length of 6 lb test leader, perfect before that fish bit, was literally torn to shreds when I landed her. I haven't caught any fish over 8 lbs before or after, so maybe it was a one-off affair; I don't know. I don't think I want to find out either. The set-up I have that leader on is my T-rig/ light jig rod. I am throwing that senko right into that laydown, in between the branches of the tree. Probably that's precisely where my PB bit, and the wood did that to my 6 lb leader, although I didn't feel it. EDIT: If you're pleased with a 8 lb mono leader though, I don't see how a 8 lb FC leader would hurt you. I get too full of emotions when I think of that eight pounder

I think most folks over here would tell you to get a heavier leader than 8 lb test. I didn't care for their advice initially; I should have known better; and I learnt in a while.

I never throw anything lighter than 0.5 oz on a baitcaster, because #1. I haven't got the right reel (Daiwa Pixy/ Curado 50 from what I hear) and #2. I love my spinning rigs too much. But that's just me.

Ha ha. Maybe I'm just leery of the shock strength of braids in general. I only ever lost one lure though. But that taught me to retie my knots if I get a backlash on a braid. I'm not arguing that it's easier to untangle a backlash. EDIT: I think you guys have a point. I typed before I thought. When I said braid, I meant Samurai; which is all I use, and which is very sleek, and probably more prone to backlashes than a rougher line like Power Pro. Allow me to take back my comment on the backlash-proneness, or lack thereof, of braid.

Huh? On half of the backlashes, the lure/ plug will fly off to a watery grave. Maybe I'm in a minority here, but idk why some people think braid doesn't backlash as much as mono or fluoro.

Hooligan, as far as the stiffness is concerned, I think we'll have to agree to disagree I'm, in general, not a big fan of fluorocarbons. I almost always use mono and braid and I like superlimp lines. Btw, the only reel I have fluoro spooled on is a spinning reel with 6 lb test. But, IMO Invizx is one of the most limpest fluoros out there, and it retains it's limpness over time. I only ever bought two spools of Stren FC, one in 6lb, the other in 10 lb. I intended to use these as mainline. Initially everything was fine, but it developed too much memory over time (to my liking). So I trashed the line on the reels, and used the rest of the spools for leaders; for the later purpose I really like it.

#1. Look for a used (or Ebay) Shimano Citica or a new BPS pro qualifier on sale. #2. I'd start with at least 10 lb test mono. #3. Set the spool tension and the brakes as recommended in the manual. #4. Practice with at least a 1/2 oz plug or lure .

X2 FWIW, I like Invizx and Spiderwire Ultracast FC.

I can only speak for myself. Anything that weighs less than 1/2 oz goes on my spinning rigs, whether it's a senko or a crankbait or a buzzbait; and I'll never use higher than 8 lb test (not braid of course) on my spinning reels. I get more casting distance and cranks run deeper with a lower test line; on baitcasters or spinning. The flipside is I'll probably break off more fish with a 8 lb test than with 12 lb test, but I'm okay with that considering the advantages of lighter line. And it's not like I lose a lot of fish. I like to play them carefully, and keep them out of snags, which almost always can be done. I hear in the Classic KVD was throwing his squarebills on 17 lb test to keep it higher in the water column. Another reason which probably hasn't been mentioned is that the pros can't afford to miss one single fish.