Hyrule Bass

its not complicated, and ugly stiks are just fine. theyre plenty enough sensitive and theyre strong and durable. a lot of people here dont think they can catch fish without a $150 rod and $200 reel. I have 3 ugly stiks(regular one, catfish version, and lite-pro, all spinning rods) and i infact happen to love shakespeare rods in general. the regular ugly stik i have is 7ft M spinning paired with an abu garcia cardinal 104. i use it for everything basically. i fish plastics with it, cranks, jigs, top water, drop shot, spinnerbaits, and even rig it up for bottom fishing for catfish. the catfish version is an 8ft MH and i rarely fish anything artificial on it unless im going for stripers, but i will use it mainly for a heavy carolina rig with live bait for catfish and whatever else wants to bite, its paired with a penn captiva cv2 6000. My lite--pro ugly stik is a 5'6" L rod paired with a pflueger trion gx-7. i bought it to go trout fishing, which i was skunked at, but i use for a few other things. its great for throwing lightweight lures and weightless plastics. i had a blast a few times throwing a rebel tad fry catching blue gills and other pan fish. its also just fun to catch some nice bass on a light rod. i also love to use it for fishing with minnows under a bobber in shallow water around docks and other cover. if you want the ugly stik, go for it. im happy with mine and see no reason to spend a ton of money on a rod. pretty versatile rods if you ask me. because of my regular ugly stik, i see no reason for me to go spend $100 or more on a rod that really has no major differences from an ugly stik. i wouldnt worry about sensitivity either, the main people that bring that up are also the ones who think they can tell a huge difference between a reel weighing a half a gram lighter or heavier than another reel.

the way i see it, i dont know why someone would want to limit themselves. i enjoy live bait fishing just as much as artificial if not more. and it certainly can be challenging, ive seen days where bluegills wouldnt even hit night crawlers...

VA is nice, but Northern VA is kind of an expensive place to live...

wow, id love to catch a muskie like that. the only muskie i ever caught was a fingerling in smith mountain lake some years ago

i saw the spro swivels for like $9 for a small pack at gander mtn, they can keep them for that price, ive had no problems with my laker and BPS swivels. but then again if i use a swivel on a drop shot its attached to a bass casting sinker via a split ring, the swivel and the sinker rotate. and since its below where the fish is hooked i dont have to worry about losing the fish because of a failed swivel. id also like to add that i prefer to use a M or MH rod for dropshotting. i will use anywhere from 12-20lb mono. and often ill use live bait on it. for hooks i like the gamakatsu 2/0 octopus hooks or the real small drop shot/split shot hooks by gamakatsu, i also love to use the 2/0 eagle claw gold abeerdeen hooks on a drop shot. i guess i really dont fish it as "conventionally" as others, but what i do works for me and landed me my PB LMB. i will vary the distance between hook and sinker from between 12-36 inches of line...

texas rig weightless is killer with rage tail craws, pretty versatile and can be fished in all depths of the water column. i swim them, drag them along the bottom, and fish them on top with the claws making a wake and i catch fish either way i use them, just depends on the day as to how the fish want it...

sometimes you dont have to wait long with a live bluegill. something about them jerking on your line draws in the bass rather quickly, atleast in my past experiences using bluegills for bass. the key for me is the size of the bluegill. 3-5 inches works good for me. ive seen a lot of bass ignore the bigger bluegills even though they looked rather interested in eating it, ive seen 4-5 bass just sitting around my bluegill watching it and wanting it but knowing it was too big for them...

well said, i like that. though i also like a little competition sometimes, but nothing serious and no major ribbing. every now and then though me and the people im fishing with might have a simple $1 bet for the biggest fish or first fish.

i remember an episode of city limits where ike was casting and hooked the cameraman or someone in the back of the head with a lure

crawlers are pretty effective for bass, ive only met one bass that wouldnt eat a crawler, i swear its the same bass the last 3 years at smith mountain lake, hangs around my uncles dock and wont bite nothing. the bass is a little bigger every year. ive thrown everything at it, it has three holding spots along the bank there. i thought a crawler would work, been turning its nose up at the crawler for 3 years now, seems down right offended by it lol. with shiners i set pretty quickly, as most fish are going to be able fit the entire shiner in its mouth, dont want to wait and gut hook it if you can help it. for bluegills i prefer to wait a bit, but its tougher the larger the bluegill. the bass will often take a larger bluegill in its mouth and start to swim off with it before swallowing it

i keep them in the original bags and stored in my tackle bag.

its overrated...

Bill Romanowski? i remember him telling a story about how he intentionally snapped a couple of dave meggetts fingers in a pile up. former Redskins LBer Lavar Arrington has a radio show here and refuses to talk about on air what goes on in a pile up

ive never thought fluoro and spinning reels were a good combo together, and that fluoro was more suited to baitcasters. try using another line with a fluoro leader and see if you still have the line twist problems, though im not big on using leaders that often either...

welcome to the forums, glad to see you enjoyed yourself. i would estimate that first bass is around 2lbs, though its hard to tell from photos. as for your rod and reel setup, its just fine. if you like it and it feels comfortable to you, then keep it. if you stick with the bass fishing, youll find yourself thinking you have more rods, reels, and lures than you can possibly use, and then youll go buy some more anyways lol

it was the rage tail baby craw that made me a firm believer. i havent tried all of the rage tail products, but i also really love the lizard and the toad.

if you do any out-of-state fishing where lead is legal, then you could save your old lead tackle for then.

pre approved means nothing, make sure youre fully approved. my mom and her husband have been looking to buy a house and got "pre-approved". then when it came down to it, they had to compile a ton of stuff for the credit people to go over and ultimately they rejected the loan even though it was "pre-approved". a big waste of everyones time... i wouldnt go putting a bid in, putting down earnest money, and paying a for a home inspection and all that crap until youre fully approved. youll be upset if you pick a home and go through the contract process and find out ultimately you didnt get the loan that you thought you were approved for

nice, but could you make the picture any smaller? its waaayyyy too big

have to agree with most everyone else here so far. there is no magic lures. the best thing for you is gonna be to soak up all you can about fishing and apply it to the situations your facing in each tournament, and to also spend time on the water. Lets say IF there was a lure invented to draw in bass and entice a bite on every cast, what good is it if youre fishing where there are no fish at the given time? its much more than about what lure is on the end of your line

whats the point of using a fluoroleader, or any leader for that matter, on a drop shot if your hook is still connected to the main line? sounds like it defeats the purpose. in fact, and maybe im ignorant here, but whats the point of a leader on a drop shot at all? i just use my main line and leave a long tag end for the weight. of course i use mono for everything except for one reel that has 17lb fluorocarbon on it...

i never keep a total count and usually when i try to keep a daily count in my head i end up forgetting how many ive caught while still fishing. i really have no use to keep a count or log or any of that. i fish for peace of mind and relaxation more than anything, logging seems too much like work which is what im trying to get away from when fishing. numbers and size are great fishing stats, but its not why im out there. if i catch a notable(to me) fish i will take a weight and measurement and a pic or two, but thats it.

go easy on the hookset with braid, crappie have soft lips

give them a try and report back to us. if not a lot of people are throwing them down there you could have success in presenting something different to the bass.

SML is a beautiful place, im hoping to go back atleast one more time this year. i caught my PB largemouth there back in the middle of September. have no idea what the lake is doing now, probably in or close to the turning over stage so it could be tough, as its usually tough to begin with. back in september bass were busting baitfish on the surface all day. i caught my PB just off a point near a tree stump using a dropshot in shallow water. right now though id probably focus on creek channels with cranks and jig n craws, deep water points and humps with a carolina rig or t-rig or a jig, and id also attack rocky areas with a jig or crank, also try wacky rigs and shakey heads around docks, and try flukes around ledges that are holding fish. you may also want to try lipless cranks and chatterbaits.