Bluebasser86

Looks quite a bit like my Supreme XT only with red accents instead of orange. It's a Pfluegar, so I'm sure it's good.

Tubes or regular ribbon tail worms. Neither gets talked about a whole bunch but both will catch fish in nearly every condition.

I've caught bass on fresh and frozen cutbait fishing for catfish. The biggest bass I caught from one of the local lakes was on a bottom fished chunk of cut bluegill. It wasn't being moved or manipulated in any way, she just flat ate a chunk of cutbait off the bottom like a catfish. It may not be common, but it certainly happens. OP, maybe try a bigger livebait and see if those bigger bass will eat that instead or keep another rod rigged and ready so when you hook the smaller bass you can toss another bait at that fish. We catch lots of nice smallmouth every year throwing baits at hooked fished when other fish are following them in.

I think it depends mainly on the individual fish, sometimes the body of water. One of the power plant lakes I fish all winter, the big fish fight crazy hard. Both the 8.5 pound fish I caught in Mexico fought really hard but my 10 pounder didn't fight much at all, probably because she was so skinny.

Yeah, it's pretty common really. I've had it happen dozens of times, oddly enough never on an A rig though.

Both on both questions. At times I do really well flipping the laydowns and weeds. Other times I do really well on traps and squarebills or spinnerbaits. I prefer the bridge on back but sometimes they'll be from the ramp to about the island. Usually it's a find the big shad, find the fish deal.

DEET is one of very few chemicals that has been proven to repel bass. I only use it when they're really bad and then I use it mainly on the bad bite areas like my legs, feet, ankles, and neck. When at all possible I prefer to wear clothes that cover me up instead of using bug spray, it's not good for you anyways.

Yep, I wish there was more in our area and the lakes were better. I've said it several times that any member that wanted to experience first hand just how bad the fishing actually is in Kansas, I'd be more than happy to take them fishing.

One of those things that I let the bass tell me. It's not all about action either. A regular chunk style trailer also allows the bait to fall faster while a Rage craws action slows down the fall of a jig. A lot of the time if I'm getting bites just dragging I'll go with the chunk because it gets to the bottom faster and stays there.

A couple weeks back I was fishing one of my favorite smallmouth lakes, tossing a Ned rig on a 6' 10" ML/XF St. Croix LTB spinning rod when I set the hook on a fish and the hood on my foregrip popped loose and slid up the rod. I was pretty disappointed as it's one of my favorite rods as well as one I use a lot on this lake but it was done at that point. Not a big deal though because I knew I could get home and ship it to St. Croix and get it replaced. Got back and shipped the rod out with my check to replace it. A week later I got a letter in the mail from St. Croix to call them because there was an issue with my claim and I'd sent no contact information minus my address So I called and spoke with Vicky at customer service. Long story short, she went on to explain that they'd received my check and explanation of what the issue was, but the cap was missing off one end of the tube and there was no rod inside I'm not going to say I think that someone at FedEx stole my rod out of the tube, but I dropped it off at their store with both ends capped and duct taped shut with enough tape to keep a rabid honey badger from being able to get out, it didn't just fall out. So she gets my information she needs and says she'll talk to her manager and see what they're going to do and give me a call back. I was just sure I was going to get a call back to tell me that I'd have to pay the replacement fee like you do if you break a rod and want it replaced when it's your fault, something I just don't have the money to do right now. Much to my relief I received a call back 20 minutes later and was informed they'd be replacing the rod like I had originally intended for them to I knew they have great customer service, but I also understand they had no obligation to replace my rod at that point, doing so was going above in beyond in my book. Makes me really glad that most of the rods I own are St. Croix

If I could fish every day, 200+ a week wouldn't be that difficult except during the winter months. Not discounting the accomplishment, just saying it's very attainable if you get to fish enough.

I fish a pond that is all reclaimed wastewater and it doesn't bother the fish. Some of the healthiest, hardest fighting fish around actually. Seriously, I wouldn't be too worried about it, even the dead fish. Mother Nature is unforgiving and the stresses of a long season and hot weather takes it toll on the fish and will be too much for some of them. Unless you start to get a mass fish kill of all species, then you can be worried.

One of the greatest things about this forum. I don't get to travel much, but when I do I've never had a problem finding members that are willing to put me on some fish and even loan tackle if I don't have my own.

Welcome!

Lots of good suggestions here. I'm pretty laid back and easy to get along with (at least I think so), but even I have my stuff I like done. Help out unloading and loading if you can. Like another member said though, if you don't know how to do something, then tell me instead of breaking something. Learn to back a trailer if you can't already, it's so must faster at the ramp that way and you won't feel like a little kid holding the boat while dad parks the truck. Bring gas money, how much depends on the length of the trip, how much we run. One of those things that's good to discuss ahead of time so you don't have to pull the old "Oh I don't have any cash on me". Don't bring the whole tackle shop with you. Again, ask what your boater plans on doing the next day to help you cut down on what you need to bring. Treat the boat with respect (don't track mud/sand, step on seats or sit on the top of the backrest, spill dye or drinks in the boat, stuff trash between the seats). Offer to net fish and like was mentioned how the boater likes their fish netted. If you feel like you need to cast past the centerline of the boat, ask first, this drives some guys crazy. I don't care unless I'm fishing slow and my partner is fishing fast and casting across my line so I have to cut my retrieve short. Casting way back behind the boat is not a good idea unless you don't want that bait anymore. If you're going to do that make sure it's with a bait that's very unlikely to get snagged and if it does I'd suggest breaking it off without even saying anything. Finally, if you fish tournaments where you get paired up, it's just a matter of time before you get "that guy". It sucks when it happens to you, but when you do, just fish through the day and cut your losses at the end and vow to never be "that guy", when you get your own boat. It sounds like a lot but once you get use to it it will become second nature.

Those Cerros are great reels. I love the one I have paired with a Okuma Scott Martin TCS rod. That combo has been a real workhorse for me this year.

I haven't fished Perry this year but had one nearly 4 pounds out there last year. The crappie guys are catching them very regularly though, some big ones too. I had some success on one early this year and lost a real big one on it too.

La Cygne is a fickle lake man. I would probably still be avoiding the areas close to the outlet until it starts to really cool off. Last time I was out there I drove through the outlet just to look and it might as well been the surface of the moon, not a sign of life anywhere. Like Brian said, the river can be really good right now. The main thing back there is bigger shad, not the tiny ones that are everywhere right now. The big fish won't follow those little guys back there but once you start to see the 5" and bigger shad back there, then the bigger bass will start to show up. They'll get crazy shallow back in that river too. Last time I was out there I was doing best in 2-8 feet of water on the south end of the lake.

I'm taking the new yak out this morning. I got to watch the eclipse before work and the bright moon while I was at work. Now it looks like a bluebird sky day out that will probably prove to be pretty sorry fishing but I'm still going

You'll have to go back a few pages but I fished it a couple weeks in a row and did okay. It should be getting better every day with the water cooling off. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/41660-for-us-kc-area-guys-fishing-reports/page-379

If there is, it should be very minimal since they're the same shaft length and the mount appears to be the exact same. FWIW, one of the KC area guys has one on his pond hopper and it gets him around very well.

Didn't get any video of the big girl unfortunately, but I did get the following day when I caught the other two fish. Enjoy the cat-like reflexes at 5:38. The 2 bigger fish in the video where caught on a Havoc Pit Boss dipped in chartreuse JJ's Magic fished on 50lb Seaguar Braid with a Okuma Scott Martin TCS "Matt Daddy" rod with an Okuma Cerros Reel.

The viddya from Miola last Friday. I think you'll all appreciate the cat-like reflects at 5:38

If there's hanger hooks on the roof, like there is in every car, you could always run a bungee cord from each side and put your rods on those. Take the reels off and run the rods the length of van with a couple cords and you should be good to go. A simple PVC pipe would work very well also if you take the reels off, just cut it to the length of the longest rod you're taking and you'll be set.

You can probably contact your local DNR and find out if they're safe to eat from the body of water you're fishing. The catfish you posted is a bullhead, pretty common in small ponds and backwaters in some areas. Not the best eating catfish but certainly edible. Bluegill are pretty easy to clean but you don't get much off of them. Them and bass tend to be pretty wormy this time of year but they won't hurt you, but the gross factor deters a lot of folks.