RoLo

She's a beauty! The Rage Lobster is tough to beat. Roger

The fact that you've caught adult bass is evidence that your pond has survived several dry seasons. I wouldn't rush to judgment, because Florida is now entering the rainy season (Jun - Jul - Aug) and if anyone has a magic wand, it's Mother Nature Roger

Holy Smokes, you guys did it again! Lee, we now have one more thing in common. You and I are both being soundly trounced by fisherladies, and that’s as good as it ever gets Roger

Below is my own proprietary approach, and not something that you'd likely read elsewhere On every new lake, whether it's in the United States or Canada, I'll begin with a "Chart Survey", This requres GPS cartography that's interactive with your personal computer so that the coordinates are directly acquired. If GPS hydrography is not available for that lake, I'd select another lake because life is too short to waste on blind-fishing. With good cartography, the Atlantic Ocean is no harder to pindown than a 10-acre farm pond. Begin the Chart Survey by pinpointing all the best "compression points" in the waterbody. A compression point is a localized spot where the contour lines strongly converge. In the fish's world, it's immaterial whether compressoin is due to a Drop-off (declivity) or a Ridge (aclivity) because the value of the holding site is determined by the gradient of the slope (steepness). Slopes that span over a broad depth range provide a year-round habitat, but the current depth of fish will vary with seasonal periods and pool levels. A compression point is greatly enhanced by a "Corner" or turn in the depth lines, which is a powerful structural asset. Here again, it's immaterial whether the corner is a Point (male corner) or Pocket (female corner). When you're physically on the lake for the first time, the "Field Survey" can be performed. While the Chart Survey deals with "contour", the Field Survey deals with "cover". If suitable 'cover' exists, then the Depth Sounder is used to confirm the accuracy of the Chart Survey. Last but not least, an "onsite save" will finally provide the real-world coordinates for the holding site. Roger

Fear not the Shimano Posse Our Sheriff is currently looking for new members

There is no 'best' line, but my favorite line is Berkley 30-lb Fireline Tracer Braid. Roger

Welcome to the Bass Resource forum I've done a good deal of fly-fishing for bass, but haven't done so in years. My most productive lure by far was a floating "deer hair bass bug". Unfortunately I got sidetracked by catching bull frogs on bass bugs, which have highly acidic saliva. By the following season my bass bugs fell apart and the hackles were lying in my tackle box Roger

Holy Cow, that looks eerily similar to the Creme rigged worm that I began with in the early 50s Roger

I can only speculate Lester, but I believe that any game fish in distress may undergo involuntary regurgitation. When fishing for bluefish, the floor of my boat was routinely paved with regurgitated anchovies or sand launce. Back to bass fishing. Right after a bass has been boated, a shiner or shad will commonly be seen floating in the water, which is a recent capture that's been regurgitated. A baitfish in the mouth of the bass is likely due to 'partial' regurgitation. Roger

For many years, it's been a tight race between Shimano and Daiwa (both fresh and saltwater). Then about a year ago, I dismantled a Daiwa Advantage, and since that day I gave Shimano the keys to the city Roger

I have a high regard for St Croix blanks (especially their saltwater line), but St Croix does not offer a freshwater spinning rod with the backbone I seek. As to "Best bang for the buck", you'd be hard pressed to beat Quantum or Shimano (my vote went to Quantum, but it's a toss up). Roger

Bass are sight-feeders. Until bass grow barbels like a catfish, I remain disinterested in ANY fish attractant. Needless to add, that's one man's opinion. Roger

The midday hours between 10 am and 3 pm and not well-noted for numbers of bass, but in my experience at least, they often produce some of the "largest" bass (other species as well). Differently put, when I hear about a 50-bass day, it invariably conjures the image of four dozen 1-lb bass. On balance, Quantity and Quality make odd bedfellows and for this reason, whenever my wife and I are experiencing midday doldrums, I'll usually remind her that we may be on the brink of a wall-hanger Roger

The "Lucky Craft LVR" is a $17 lipless crank, while the "Red Eye Shad" is a $5 lipless crank. That cheap 5-buck crank has never put a dent in KVD's take-home pay. If success were based on initial outlay, all my Rat-L-Traps would be replaced by Yozui Rattlin Vibes Roger

I agree with 'Catt', spincasting is better suited to panfishing. I also agree with 'Jigfishn', who recommends a crank-type bait. I’d rig’em up with a roadrunner or roostertail, which puts no demands on patience or finesse, as would a senko for instance. Roger

I have a hunch that sugarcane is more profitable than angling Roger

Although I grew up in a New Jersey suburb, I was in my teens during the 1950s. That was an era when fishing, hunting and drinking all enjoyed tremendous popularity. Without exaggeration, nearly every one of my neighborhood buddies both hunted and fished. During the months of October, November and December, the cars of hunters were strewn throughout the countryside, everywhere you rode. Thanksgiving morning was mayhem! Today if you see a car parked on the side of the road, you suspect foul play. Yup, times they really changed. Roger

Using kernel corn on spinning gear, I've caught some mammoth carp in New Jersey's Paulinskill River. In short, I can fully relate to the ball you had battling a 25+ lb carp on a worm rod! Roger

Ya know, I think you've got something there. I was thinking that it might've resembled a salmon egg, but berries is much more credible. I wasn't smart enough to look up, but I was probably standing under a berry tree Roger

That's great to hear, Lee I considered listing the differences between the two units, but that would be a major project. Roger

I don't think you're making any mistake staying at Black Lake. I haven't been there in many years, but as long as I can remember it's been one of New Yorks top-rated waters. It's been a great bass and pike fishery, and Black Lake was also a very good musky fishery, but I don't know if that's still true today. Roger

I concur On one hand, I much prefer Garmin hardware to Lowrance hardware (I own both and they're like night and day). On the other hand, since the last couple of software upgrades, I much prefer Navionics software to Garmin software. To get the best of both worlds, I use Navionics cartography to establish my waypoints, then enter the coordinates into my Garmin unit, which is totally PC interactive. To keep an uncluttered slate and facilitate waypoint recall, I always delete everything in the Garmin unit, then load only the waypoints for the lake de jour (the whole process takes about 60 seconds). Roger

I never caught a carp on a plastic worm, but I have caught carp on a naked jighead. One day I beached my boat to walk the shore of an island. I was fishing for smallmouth bass and was rigged with a 1/8 oz orange ball-head jig. While walking the shoreline, I came upon a large wad of closely stacked carp in about 2-feet of water. It was something I've never seen before or since. They were not big carp, maybe 3 to 6 pounds. They were so closely stacked that I decided to have a little fun and try to foul-hook a carp with a naked jighead. Much to my surprise, as soon as the jig hit the bottom, a carp sucked it up. I caught one carp after another on that little orange jighead, and every carp was hooked in the trumpet-shaped lips and not one was foul-hooked. To this day, I still don't know what that was all about. Roger

That is remarkable Steve! :blink: I wouldn't call you 'lucky' though, because now you've made it mighty tough to beat your own performance Roger

Chris and Nikki, kudos to a great day on the water Roger