Bankbeater

Happy New Year, BR. Later today I will be heading out to get some line and check out a couple of lakes to see if they have turned hard yet.

Mine is the same as last year. Fish more.

I always pick up tackle, line, lures, and bobbers that I find when I walk the bank. The reason I do this is because a few years back I saw a great blue heron hanging upside down in a tangle of fishing line about 30 feet up in a tree. I don't even want to guess how the bird got into that position or how long it lasted like that. At the start of 2012 I began to put all of the stuff I found off to the side just to see how much I actually did pick up. Most of the stuff like line, plastics, and hooks were ruined so they went into the trash. I attached a pic of some of the items that were still in pretty good shape.

Practice. You have to get experience using them. Try going fishing with someone that knows how to use them and watch.

In the summer it is a wide brim hat. Keeps you cooler than a ball cap and buff, and it does the same thing. In winter I like anything that will cut the wind on a cold day.

I like topwaters in the morning. Plastics and jigs during the day, and into early evening. Spinnerbaits and topwaters at night.

Way to go, nice smallie!

I fish pressured lakes probably 90% of the time. You need to find out what kind of structure and cover is on the bottom of the lake, and what kind of forage the fish are feeding on. Don't be afraid to ask another fisherman what bait they are using. Try using a bait that the others aren't throwing. One more thing is to make a mental note of when the most people are out on the lake and then try fishing when things have slowed down a bit.

Around here, this time of year, I would use a jig or a senko.

Just don't drop it overboard.

I always use green line. Even in clear lakes.

Another vote for the president.

It depends on the water I am fishing, but a fluke, baby brush hog, or senko type bait are my confidence baits.

If you can catch the bass when they are hungry you can catch some nice ones in the winter. I think the coldest temp I ever fished in was 37 degrees.

What ever the size, that is a good looking fish!

The cause may be something you have no control over. What is going on with the body of water you are fishing? Is a front moving through the area?

A few years back I was sitting at a red light and something gross looking started dropping down on my windshield. I rolled down the window and looked up. Turns out I was sitting under a hawk that had caught some small animal, and was eating it.

I knew I was hooked on coffee and caffeine when I went to the Dr. for sinus problems and the medicine he gave me was caffeine based. I didn't even feel it. I called his office about it, and the first thing the nurse asked me was if I drink a lot of coffee.

I think it goes back to all of these kids thinking its cool to be a gangsta.

Keep a lot of tension on the line as you are putting it on the reel. I tighten down the drag more than when I am out fishing, and then I run the line off of the spool and through a couple of phone books. You might also try and make sure that the reel is level when adding the line.

My main bag has 5 boxes. I load the boxes up with jigs, plastic worms, creature baits, tackle (Hooks, weights, etc.), and soft jerkbaits. My second bag has 4 boxes and I have 3 of them them loaded with shallow running cranks, lipless baits, and deep divers. In the fourth box I keep small stuff for panfish.

I will use any plastic I have for a jig trailer. Once the bait gets too banged up to be used on a t-rig, or a c-rig I put in in a plastic bag and keep it with my jigs. I have never seen a skirt melt before, but I guess it is possible if the conditions are right. The scent depends on the bait. I have some plastics that have lost their scent, but I have other that still smell up the box if I don't put them back in their package.

The best lures I have used over the past three years has been jigs. I have caught more on them than anything else.

Glad you had a good time!

Anytime you can catch a bass in cold weather, you have done a good job.