Bankbeater

50+ here. I have been messing around with computers since 1986. I love new electronic gizmos.

Fishing around here is hit or miss this time of year. Either the bass will hit any bait you throw, or you'll have to work your tail off for a bite.

Nice looking bass!

I don't fish when there is lightning. When it rains I wear rainsuit. That's what they are for.

When the bass stop biting I bring out the ultra lite. A chart colored 1/16 oz. marabou jig under a floater is what I use. I start shallow and every couple of minutes I'll run the floater up until I find the fish.

I prefer to fish alone unless I am taking my daughter fishing. If your fishing style and your partner's fishing style do not mesh together, it makes for a long day.

Oh man, those look good!

I have come across some Lucky Craft baits in the water, but I tend to find more baits up in the trees.

A couple of years ago my Dad was fishing a shallow runner on mono line. He hung up about 10' from the bank and broke the line, but he could see the bait under the water. He tried unsuccessfully to snag the first bait with a second bait, which broke off too. Then a third, fourth, and fifth bait. When we left there were 5 baits out in the water all tangled together with their hooks buried in a tree limb. The sad part was a couple of weeks later the water level had dropped enough to where we could walk out to the snag, but the baits were gone.

When I have been using crankbaits and spinnerbaits for a while, the big problem I have going back to plastics is that I want to fish them too fast. I tend to want to move them along, and I have to make myself slow down.

I check the weather and try to learn as much about the new lake as possible. As far as hitting the lake with a plan, I usually just wing it.

Sometimes I leave the same bait on all day. Sometimes I change after 20 or so casts. I change baits when I feel it in my gut. Sometimes it pays off sometimes it doesn't.

I never take a picture until I catch a bass. If I get skunked then I take a pic of the lake as I am heading home.

I see the same thing at the BPS near me. Most of the guys behind the counter are fishermen with experience, but the reps on the floor couldn't tell you the difference between a baitcaster and a spinning reel.

I have hooked myself just once where I had to go to the ER. Got the hook between my fingers and it wouldn't move forwards or backwards.

I was pumped for a couple of days, to say the least.

One more "no" vote here. A weight will make the fluke lose that death spiral as it sinks.

I want to move!

My Dad would take me catfishing with him, but I didn't have the greatest attention span and got bored easily. Then one day a got a 2 lb. channel cat on live bait and I was hooked. Somehow over the years we switched over to bass fishing, and that stuck too.

Thanks Scott, that is some good advice.

Go out and have fun, and hopefully not get skunked.

Good Job!

So far this year I have not been skunked. I think I am balancing out from last year when I got skunked like every other trip.

It is either a jig or a jitterbug. I can't decide.

Try using a lipless bait and letting it sink down before you start your retreive.