Sam

It should be there along with the rod's length, power and bait size. It would read "8-16 pound test". Check it out. Sam

Suggestions 1. Look at rod's paramaters. Take the high and low line test and add them together. Then divide by 2. You now have the optium line weight for the rod. 2. Look at the reel. Note the reel's line parameters. Stay with them, even if they are lower than the above formula. 3. Use braid. Less line twist than with mono or fluorocarbon. 4. Check bait weight on rod. Do not exceed the bait's weight. 5. Are you using a baitcaster or a spinning set up? Sounds like a spinning setup. Line twist happens with spinning rigs. 6. Old line. Gland you finally changed line. Old line can fail. Always have fresh line on your rigs. 7. Baits spinning. If your baits spin on the retrieve you will get line twist. Braid cuts down on line twist. 8. Also, if I go: main line, barrel swivel, leader, spinnerbait... Will that solve my problem. - Why the barrel swivel? Can you learn to tie your main line to a leader? Or directly to the spinnerbait? Check out the knots to tie your main line to a leader. And a spinnerbait will not cause line twist but if the spinnerbait twists over on the cast you will have line twist. 9. Loudoun County. One of the richest counties in the world. As you are sitting in traffic on Route 50 just practice line to line knots. Now make an outline of all the information form each post and study what everyone tells you. After all, you have the time to read the posts over and over again while sitting in traffic.

Hey Kursten and welcome to the Forum. Please do two things for us so we can give you better input: 1. Add your location to your Avatar as conditions around the country change. 2. Go to Introductions and introduce yourself to us if you have not already done that. Now, bank fishing. Lots of fun and the price is right! But there are some unwritten rules about bank fishing that the guys have penned above and since we don't have any rules in stone in bass fishing you will have to make your own list and own rules to follow. Here are some suggestions: 1. Walk to the bank very, very, very, very, very, very and very quietly. Tip toe. Walk about 50 feet from the bank when changing locations. 2. No shadows on the water. Keep the sun in your eyes. No shadows. 3. Be very quiet. Stand still. Keep eyes open all the time for seeing the fish near your position, which will probably not happen or chasing prey. 4. Give your bait selection a lot of thought. You can carry only so much when you bank fish and you really need to know what would work and what would not work. This expands to "read, read and read." Books, magazines, this forum. Read. Study your enemy. Knowledge, or in Nebraska, Nowledge. Reading is the key to successful fishing. 5. Know the water temperature. Get a swimming pool thermometer and put it on a string so you can check out the water temperature. Remember, water temperature is one of the crucial elements to successful fishing, from the boat or from the bank. You may be striking out as the bass may be on their beds and are not eating. If we knew where you were we would have a better idea of what the water temperatures are and how the bass will react to your presentations. 6. Take three or four rods and reels. That is the maximum you can safely handle. But....take one each of a spooled baitcaster reel and spinning reel just in case you manage to get a bad backlash or you have a bad case of the line twist. 7. Use a "fan pattern" from each spot you fish. Throw left to right and then right to left. Throw a number of baits doing this. Throw about five feet apart for each cast. 8. To reach deep water you will need a baitcaster setup with some weight to it. As the guy above suggests, use a tungsten weight. And throw a Carolina rig as far as you can with the heavy weight. Or a drop shot rig. Or just the weight by itself. Just make sure there are no trees or bushes that can snag your bait or line as you cast. Always look around you before you cast, especially right above you for tree branches. Hurl that weight as far as you can. Don't lose your balance and fall in the water. Just hum that sucker with all you have as far as you can. 9. Dam. Yes, dam. The dam is the deepest part of the bank. Fish the dam areas but be watchful of snakes. 10. Experiment. Throw everything you brought in different techniques. You have to find the "pattern of the day" or "hour" and we all have to experiment. Even the pros experiment. That's how we find the fish. 11. Be patience. Take your time. Concentrate on the line between your fingers coming off the reel for any bites. Watch your line to see if it moves. Take your time. No hurry. Just remember, one of the most thrilling parts of bass fishing is to see your line move to the right or left. This is heart attack time. The bass has your bait and is running with it. Now it is up to you to set the hook and nail that baby. 11. Keep a log of every day you fish. Check out the fishing logs on the top of this page under the "Tools" link. 12. Make a map of the pond or where you fish on the lake. Show good places and bad places. 13. One day I want you to visit each place you fish and bring only one baitcaster setup of at least Medium. Medium Heavy would work best but you can cast a Medium farther. Tie a tungsten weight to the end of your line and start casting it in a tight circle from left to right. Reel in slowly with your eyes closed and try to picture what you are feeling on the bottom for structure, drop offs, humps or grass. Make a note and put it on your map. No fishing! Just you, the baitcaster setup, a half to one-ounce tungsten weight (better feel and transmission back to you) and paper and pen. It will drive you nuts but you have to map the water to know what is where. 14. Watch for snakes, alligators, beavers, otters, elephants and Chewbacca at all times. Look before you put a foot down. Wear long sleeve shirts to protect you from the sun. Spray long pants and your shoes with bug spray. Don't forget your needle nose pliers, your sunglasses and use sunscreen. 15. One last suggestion for simply fishing ponds: look at the water. Clear? Stained? Murky? Dirty? Wind blowing to you or away from you? Bass fishing is a sport where you throw something that resembles nothing the bass eats into a dark area with the hope of catching a really big one. Now you tell me, who is crazier? Us or the bass?????? Remember, read, read and read. Watch the YouTube videos. "Like" Bass Resource on Facebook and view all of their articles. Knowledge is your friend when bass fishing and you can drive your self crazy by not doing or doing one small thing wrong. Good luck and let us know how you do.

Wayfarer, is this something like when the President comes out of the White House and sees his shadow which means another year of BS????

This an excellent video by Gman where he tells the young guns how to improve their fishing to make it into the higher levels of the sport. It is from the heart and is clear and honest as to what he suggests the high school and college kids do to get sponsors. All enjoy.

Would think that sooner or later the gears would malfunction. As I once read in Consumers Reports, when you are buying appliances get the ones with the fewest features, knobs and buttons as these will not break or malfunction as often. Seems to apply to our reels, too. KISS is the rule of the day.

Don't forget your 1.5 Sexy Shad.

1st Grade math problem. Can you get it right? Glenn has 7 bass rods. Glen buys two more bass rods. What does Glenn have? (Scroll down) Glenn has happiness!!!!

Darren, here it is. Seems some of these baits are in use today. I am sure the following will help us better select our baits!!!!! Enjoy. ABOUT BAITS Of all fish baits none is more tempting than the common earth or garden worms (angle worm). If presented fresh and wriggling they are the most tempting morsels to any fish and can be dug up from rich soil almost anywhere be forced to the surface of the ground by a liberal drenching. Next to this and of equal worth is the minnow, the fish’s actual food. Grasshoppers. Even considered repulsive (but excellent bait) the maggot. Hellgrammite or Dobson, caterpillars, beetles, gnats, bugs, insects and flies of all kinds, raw liver, beef, the little mouse, fat or pork, or for all salt water… In choosing frogs the angler should remember that the smaller ones are the best. The meadow frog either green or brown is of right size but its color is too faint. The bright green tree frog of slender shape is an excellent lure, but is a poor swimmer and soon drowns; hence the best rule is to get them as small and green as possible. He then goes on to explain the best way to keep your frogs alive. Now go out and get some frogs.

A police officer called his station on his radio. “I have an interesting case here. An old lady shot her husband for stepping on the floor she had just moped.” “Have you arrested the woman?” the dispatcher asked. “Not yet” the officer replied. “The floor is still wet.”

Enjoy and laugh at what some of the suggestions are, especially regarding live baits.

Danny, colleges and universities constantly call and send requests to their alumni for donations. Wealthy alumni give lots of money to their schools. Normal alumni give what they can. So to go to the alumni that financially support the university and obtain the names and phone numbers/addresses so you can send them a letter requesting donations for their university's bass fishing team. More on this below. There are business around your school that live off the university students. They are the next level of options to consider for donations, especially if you will give them some free advertising on your shirts or boats or just putting up signs/banners with their names on it. You can also give these establishments photos of your catches so they can post on their walls. Remember you have competition for donations. Why should the alumni and businesses give you money while there are other "club sports" or activities that could use financial support? You have to have a brain storming session to come up with ideas that separate the fishing club from the other campus clubs. And you and the other club members have to dress professionally, go in pairs, and visit the local businesses asking for donations and tell them what you can do for them in return. There are other things you can do to raise money. If possible, and if you have the scales, have an open tournament for the public and the club keeps 10% of the entry fees. There are a lot of bass fishermen in your area who love open tournaments. They will fish your tournaments. We have one high school and one college team having their opens in the Richmond, Virginia area at this time. You need to look up the FLW and BASS federations so they can direct you to the various regions. The regions will inform all clubs in their region of your tournament. You can also ask local businesses to put posters in their windows about your open tournament. Consider having a yard sale or raffle off something which may or may not be related to bass fishing. Yard sales are a lot of work and you will have to ask members' families for donations. A raffle is easier with some overhead costs. You need to purchase (or have it donated) something of value to raffle and then have the tickets printed. You also have to determine the ticket price to make it attractive. The item does not have to be within the fishing industry. Anything goes. Get permission from grocery stores and set up a table with a large jar and if possible, sell things to the public on weekends when not fishing. You need a large jar for donations. In Richmond the AAU basketball teams do this and they do quite well. They just stand around looking dumb with their jerseys over their shirts and with their jar on their table along with handouts about AAU basketball. Your club can have handouts and a large jar and do the same thing wearing your fishing jerseys and looking dumb. Of course, you will speak with a lot of people who fish; who have loved ones who fish; or are widowed and had spouses who fished. They will want to talk to you about fishing which will be a lot of fun. Maybe the athletic department will give you two tickets to a sporting event to raffle off if it is legal. There are rules governing these types of situations especially if your school is a public university. Then there is the letter to the rich alumni. Go to your alumni association and speak with them about asking specific alumni for donations. Just remember that your alumni association lives off donations and they may not want to share mailing and phone lists with you. They want it all. Every cent!!! You next move is to visit the deans or assistant deans of every college and ask them for their help in getting support from their alumni. Once again, a lot of the colleges want the money for themselves and may not want to share the donor or alumni names, etc. with you. Large corporations in your area who support the athletic teams are a target. Hit them in a professional manner, dressing properly and going to their offices to discuss donations. And if any fish, invite them to fish with a club member. You may be surprised as to which corporate execs fish for bass. One more suggestion to consider: make up a budget so you will know how much money the club will need for the year. Many companies want to see that the club has its financials under control and know what they need to be successful. OK, stop watching the SEC channel and the LSU baseball games and get rolling with your club members with a brain storming session. The weather will be poor in the New York area this weekend which opens the door for a club brain storming session. Good luck and here's to future success with the club and your studies.

No, I have seen the pond but never stopped to fish it. Looks like it could be interesting to fish it. Give it a shot.

Yes. Definitely.

Snow! Yes, snow in our Saturday forecast for central Virginia, the Midwest, the Ohio Valley, Kentucky and Tennessee and up north towards New England. Not much. Only an inch or two for the greater Richmond, Virginia area. And it will be on the grass and trees, only. At least that is what they say. Who knows? Even the Shadow doesn't know. Even Dave the Weather guy doesn't know. I bet Glenn knows. But he isn't telling. Enough is enough. Cold weather has stifled the dogwood trees into holding off blooming and forcing the bass to wait longer to hit their beds. We need to tell that snow bunny to go away. Launching early in the morning in 30* wet conditions is not safe or fun. Running up and down the lake at 50 MPH in cold weather with rainy conditions is not fun. Fishing in the rain is OK, but cold rain is not fun. So I am going to stay home and watch college baseball and clean up my man cave once again. Hopefully for the last time. Hey guys, how many times can you reorganize your tackle???? Snow, snow, go away. Come on back another day. Like next year!!!!

Sean, I only use a round Ambassador for Carolina fishing. Otherwise, all of my baitcasters are of the low profile selection.

May I suggest using shrink tubing? Go to your local hardware store and look for 3/8 inch Polyolefin Heat Shrink Tubing in the electrical section. Take tubing home and cut one of the three sleeves into 1/4 inch sections. Put the section of tubing on the worm where you want it. Put one end of the worm on a table and hold the other end in your fingers so that the tubing is away from your fingers and table. Then take a bar-b-q igniter and ignite the flame and heat the tubing by turning the worm a few times. The tubing will shrink onto your plastic bait. Place hook between tubing and skin of plastic. You may have to reheat the tubing while fishing. My best performance was 10 bass on one 1/4 inch tubing around a Senko. Less expensive than other alternatives and it works. Don't thank me. Thank Ike for this tip. I have shared it with a few guys but think it is time to share it with everyone on the Forum.

Chuck, glad you joined now that basketball season is over!!!! UK doing well in baseball so far. Welcome to the Forum. We look forward to you input. And your support during football season when we can use all the SEC guys we can get. As for your setups, if they work then keep using them. We all have our own favorites and if you ask your question in the Rods and Reels section you will receive lots of input. Geaux Tigers.

Ok Terry! About time you came back!!! We can use all the SEC guys we can muster during football season. Great having you with us again. Now don't be bashful, post some questions to stump us and some great answers to our queries!!! Geaux Tigers!

I hope one day some one smarter than me would pen a book on "The Physics of Bass Fishing." There is a fantastic book named "The Physics of Baseball" which is fantastic and it explains pitching and hitting and what the ball does at different speeds and techniques along with batting physics. It would be a very interesting read on hook setting, casting, weights, rods, reels, line tests, baits and baits weights and the list goes on and on and on. Some of our mechanical engineering students may want to study some part of the physics of bass fishing and submit their data. Or maybe someone from Pure Fishing has the information that they are willing to share with us. For some reason, I don't really pay attention to where the thumb or reel handle ends up when casting. When I do look, my handles are at the noon position. So far, no problems casting or any pain from casting.

Toxic, the Potomac can become a very dangerous river if the winds pick up. The Potomac can become a very dangerous river if the winds don't pick up. I have put in at Hope Springs and had to go up creek due to the dangerous water conditions. Always keep one eye on the weather when you fish the Potomac. Better to be safe than sorry.

No. Saturday will be a rainy and cold day. Sunday will be blue bird skies and cold and the bass will have lockjaw. Wait until next weekend and give the dogwoods another week to bloom. Stay home and enjoy your family.

Yes. You are totally correct. But for him to notice the change in the bass' behavior without any knowledge of barometric pressure and bass movements it was a fantastic observation. Very interesting book and how the sport was viewed 115 years ago.

First, if you do purchase a $100 bait of any type you will be a general in the Bait Monkey army. Second, if you have the funds to purchase a $100 bait of any type go for it. Third, don't get upset when you lose your $100 bait of any type. Just go out there and see what you can catch and let us know along with some pictures.

Thanks, Luke. All is OK. Seems I may have cracked a rib moving Christmas stuff back to the attic. So far that is the only thing the doctors can assume that is causing the pain in my left flak. Expect to be well in another 30 or less days, just in time to hit the water on warm days.