Bluebasser86

Loaning them to friends Don't lose them hardly ever but I have them break at the bend from catching too many fish pretty often. This usually happens when being reformed after catching a fish or when a fish jumps and shakes real hard and I just get the arm and blades.

1097 on the year so far with the biggest being a 6.1 pound largemouth last Monday. Going to be padding those numbers at Table Rock Sunday-Tuesday though

New water.

This is what you caught. They are longer and have a much bigger mouth than most other panfish, similar to a warmouth or rock bass. And yes they make great catfish bait, especially for flatheads and big channels. I use them alive on a slipsinker rig near catfish holding areas. Green sunfish like to hide under stuff so they will swim very hard trying to get to a snag, those vibrations draw in hungry catfish. http://www.google.com/imgres?q=green+sunfish&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1024&bih=673&tbm=isch&tbnid=Fp3e5kcMXg7QeM:&imgrefurl=http://www.kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/Fishing/Fish-ID-Gallery/GREEN-SUNFISH&docid=mapQ9lHpsJ4pKM&imgurl=http://www.kdwpt.state.ks.us/var/news/storage/images/fishing/fishing_image_gallery/green_sunfish/9885-2-eng-US/green_sunfish_imagelarge.jpg&w=360&h=206&ei=45G2T4fGJ8is2gXHlNmkCQ&zoom=1 This is a warmouth, very similar size, shape, mouth size, and coloration, they even live in similar areas usually, but the warmouth will never be as brightly colored as a green sunfish. They tend to be more camo colored than the greenie. http://www.google.com/imgres?q=warmouth&um=1&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=673&tbm=isch&tbnid=1RAUPg9CrnthFM:&imgrefurl=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/war/&docid=08zLxH-wr2LJ2M&imgurl=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/images/inland_species/warmouth.gif&w=563&h=303&ei=RJK2T_KfGIrO2AWH7uTOCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=74&vpy=201&dur=767&hovh=165&hovw=306&tx=200&ty=85&sig=114154650419075929530&page=1&tbnh=96&tbnw=178&start=0&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:112

Green sunfish without a doubt. They get various colors on their chest but are usually yellow or orange. I catch hundreds of them every year to use for catfish bait.

Once in awhile if I'm fishing somewhere were the chances of getting a big one aren't too good. Don't like getting big fish on UL gear because you have to fight them so long. 6' St. Croix Avid with a Symetre 750 and 3.5lb DAM Techtan line with a 2" grub catches about everything.

I looked for that trade in you're talking about and can't find anything about it. Do you have a website or link for it? I've got a couple Premiers and a few Mojos I'd like to upgrade if they'll give me a good trade in on them.

I use them mainly in colder water for a little more subtle action, Dt flats and Bandit flat maxx are my picks.

IMO, not really. I've watched his show several times and can't remember him catching anything other than dinks, even doing shows in Florida and other known big fish places.

Good spots will hold fish more often then not. One of the local lakes I fish has a culvert that is almost completely submerged sticking out of a rock bank and covered with shoreline weeds. I can almost always catch a fish out of that culvert. It has fresh water flowing in, offers good cover, holds lots of baitfish, so it attracts bass to it. In your case I'd guess there are probably several fish on a spot like that which increases your chances of catching a fish each time you come to it.

They are a difficult lure to learn. They are very simple once you get them down but tough to learn. I'm still learning them after fishing them for years. They are about my favorite way to fish now though. I had to go out with nothing but a jig and make myself learn before youtube was big so I was just reading up what I could and running blind. The lakes around here get lots of pressure so the bite is pretty soft a lot of the time so you really have to weigh your bait every time you lift it. Some of the biggest fish I've caught on a jig it just felt a little bit lighter or heavier than it should so I set the hook. Worse case senerio you set the hook into a tree something and lose a few bucks if you break off your jig.

I've owned both of them and they both will cast that size lure very well. Couldn't say for sure which one casts further but the Cardiff is a nice little reel. It actually felt better in my hand and was easier to palm than the Curado, just fit in my hand good because of the recessed reel seat it sits pretty low on the rod. I like the Cardiff really well for traps because it would fling them out there a long way and I didn't fish them too fast because of the 5.8:1 gear ratio.

I tried fishing with my father-in-laws Zebco Omega one time when I didn't have my stuff, I couldn't do it. I spent more time in the trees or way short of my intended target it was a waste of time. I did hook something big but I was so undergunned that it was a pretty short fight before it broke me off, probably wasn't even a bass.

That's why you put your foot in the hole first. Pretty easy to tell the difference between a snapper biting your foot and a catfish. As long as you have good shoes it won't be much more than quick pressure and most times it's just a quick tap and they won't even get a hold of your foot. Some guys do the same thing with sticks but I've always used my foot. Always a good idea to watch a hole you're going to noodle for about an hour or so to watch for big turtles. Sounds like you might be dealing with alligator snappers. We just have common snappers around here that are huge if they get up to 40lbs, most are between 5 and 20 it seems though. They'll put a hurting on you and maybe take a chunk of skin, but aren't going to take your finger off. There's some good videos on youtube of people getting bit by snappers, haven't seen one yet of someone losing a finger.

So right now it looks like myself, Hi Salenity, retro basser, joefish, and ks cranker would be interested in a paper bragging rights team tourny at Melvern on the 10th from 6am to 3pm with a cook out afterwards? Lets get this off the ground, anyone who wants to be there send me a PM and I'll get a list put together. If you've got a boat you could bring and would have room for someone else let me know and we'll pair everyone up. You guys that I listed go ahead and send me a PM too just to verify you want to/can be there.

Good shooting! I need to put a new sight on mine, broke one of my pins hauling it into the tree one of the last days of the season last year.

We are only allowed to work 6 12 hour days a week and we must have 8 hours between each shift we work, not a rule that I feel is a bad thing at all in this high stress, low appreciation work environment I deal with.

Can't grow one because of work, and it itchs like crazy! I use a Mach 3 and so does my wife so we only have to buy one kind of replacement blade. I can use the same one for a couple months at least but my facial hair doesn't grow in really quickly or really thick so it isn't having to work as hard for me as it probably would be for some of you guys. I think a 25 or 30 pack is around 40 dollars. Not really that bad considering how much a smaller pack costs.

We have 3 shelties, Keeli, Kylie, and Cheyenne, a mutt named Trooper that's 1/4 black lab, 1/4 yellow lab, 1/4 chow, 1/4 german shepard, and Crash, part German shepard, part something else. All good dogs in their own way and all very entertaining most of the time. Trooper is my dog, had him forever and I know now that he's 16 years old his time is growing short but that old dog still thinks he's a puppy some days.

My grandpa used to noodle for snapping turtles. He'd walk in the water up to about chest deep poking with a stick and feeling with his feet. When he'd find one buried in the mud he'd stand on it and feel around with the stick until he felt the "tap tap" of the snapper's head biting the stick. Then he'd go under and grab the tail and haul him out. Haven't done it for years but I'd be up for going again if there wasn't a special permit and limited areas we could do it here. As far as what to worry about, snappers and snakes are bad but beavers are way worse! Regular snappers probably won't take a finger off, it would hurt like crazy though. A big beaver around here is upwards of 60-70 pounds and will remove your fingers real quick, just like the twigs they chew up all the time.

Depends on the lake/water clarity. Some of our lakes just don't produce big fish and get lots of pressure, I fish a 5/16 or 1/4 most of the time at those lakes. Other lakes with bigger fish it's a 3/8 or 1/2 oz, only go bigger than that with football heads in deep water.

If it really is a limp, easy handling line it shouldn't need line conditioner though, especially in a 10lb test. The stuff I got was seriously like trying to fish 17lb fluoro on a spinning reel with a shakeyhead.

Stick with what you know before a tourny, not a good time to experiment with different things. Wait until you're fun fishing and then try out some Vicious. I'd suggest the Vicious Elite, it fishes very nicely.

Once you get to that price point a lot of the differences are pretty slight. Personally I prefer a split grip for my "feel" baits like what you're getting the rod for. I like the guides on the LTB better too. I don't know if the LTB is going to be any more sensitive but personally I prefer the LTB, and personal preference is really what it should come down to for you in this case. You can't go wrong either way really though.