Sam

Me, too. I thought the reel just fell apart with parts flying all over the place. Glad to find out that everything worked great.

So far I have lost eight baits this year. And the year is young!

In southern Virginia, along the North Carolnia border, we have the Nottoway River. Living in the Nottoway are Shellcrackers, a/k/a Redear Sunfish. Shellcrackers grow to be large in the Nottoway River. I was fishing with a friend in a tournament on the Nottoway when he landed one that we weighed-in at our tournament weigh-in and he weighed one and a half pounds. I think he was caught on a finesse worm fishing along the shore. Fishing for Shellcrackers is one of the methods guys use on the Nottoway. It is a lot of fun and you will be surprised at the size of these Redear Sunfish.

P.S. Sorry for the typos. It is still early on the east coast and I just woke up.

PWE, Welcome! You are now a member of our family and you will learn a lot so don't be concerned if you get skunked every now and then. We all get skunked sooner or later. The guys are asking you these questions so that they can determine the bass' mood. If the water is cold then the bass will not be as aggressive as they would be if the water was warm. There are so many variables that you have to put the puzzel together and then hope the fish will strike your bait. May I suggest you read, read and read some more about bass fishing within the articles on this site? You will learn a lot from the articles. And the guys will be posting all sort of good and bad news so read their posts. There are many good books and videos/DVDs on bass fishing so please check out Bass Pro Shops (BPS) or In-Fisherman. And the best magazine on bass fishing is Bassin so pleasse suscribe. I learn new techniques and other valuable information from each issue of Bassin Magazine. To throw my two cents into your query as to why you are not catching any bass I offer the following. I will be using bass fishing jargon so if it does not make any sense try to "search" the words or phrases you do not understand. The "search" area is in the upper right hand corner of the "posts" section. And Google subjects that you want to learn more and read those articles, too, especially on the web sites of the pros, such as Mike Iaconelli, Woo Daves, Hank Parker, Jimmy Houston, Bill Dance and others. Add the sites to your "favorites" list. 1. Scale down on bait size. Throw Roostertails, small grubs, small spinnerbaits, small buzzbaits. Throw finesse worms rigged with or without a small bullet weight. And try to find the "weedless" hooks by Eagle Claw or Gamakatsu so you will not get hung up in the cover and structure in your body of water when you plop your bait into a bush or a tree, etc. A 1/0 and 2/0 size hook are good for ponds; 2/0 and 3/0 are good for rivers; and a 2/0, 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 are great for lakes. And use a lower test line, such as 6 or 8 pounds. Once you start to find the fish you can then go to a higher test or a braid and start using larger baits as the water temperature heats up and the fish become more aggressive. 2. Try your luck with a Senko either rigged Texas, wacky or shaky head style. Go out early in the AM or late in the evening and throw a buzzbait or a Pop-R or a frog when the water warms up or if there is grass, lilly pads or slop on top of your body of water. A small (1/4 ounce) black buzzbait can be dynamite. A pink trick worm (no weight) is fun to fish, too. 3. Purchase a small thermometer and check out the water temperature. Bass will start to move when 1) the water temperature gets into the high 50s and then into the 60s. If the water temperature is in the 40s or low 50s then the bass will not be as aggressive to strike your bait. 4. Watch the Dogwood trees. When they blossem the bass on are their beds. This means that they are coming out of their winter hibernation (being deep) and heading for the shore. When you catch a bass check out their color. If they are silver then they are still "deep" and have not moved up to spawn. And remember to practice catch and release. 5. If nothing works then go out and buy some Nightcrawlers at Wal-Mart or your local bait shop and throw them to find out if the bass are around. You will also catch any other types of fish in the area such as bream, bluegill, Crappie, catfish, etc. Using a small bobber and a number4 or 6 gold hook, cast the Nightcrawler out and see if anything hits it. You should catch a lot of bream to see their color and weight and over health. You may even hook up with a catfish or a bass or a Crappie. 6. Ask your local tackle shop what is working and what is not working. Take a peek at what types of lures and colors have been purchased by other fisherman to gain an idea of what the guys in your area are throwing. 7. Match the Hatch. This means to find out what types of baitfish or crawfish are in the body of water and minic them in color and how they swim or move around on the bottom. 8. And read everything you can on this site, in books and magazines, watch ESPN and Versus on Saturday morning, speak with other bass fishermen, join a bass club to learn from the guys and purchase some DVDs or videos and watch them. I could go into so many variables that your mind will be mush. So try to keep it simple and remberber to read, read and ask, ask on this site and within 24 months you will be catching bass all year long. And if not, you an always "fib a little about your fishing exploits (like the one that got away) like the rest of us! ;D Welcome. You have just started back to school.

And he does it without cracking up. Great. Super talent to pull it off.

What is your bite ratio and hookup ratio on the lures you make as compared to the manufactured lures? Have you done any comparisons?

Dan, LSU crawfish boil is on May 17 in Richmond at my house. You can always go to www.lsuva.freeservers.com and sign up to join us. Lots of great food. Hey, you can eat like a bass and enjoy it.

Darn, May 10 is the date for the Bon Air Days Hysterical Day Parade and I have to man the LSU Mardi Gras float. I have a bass club tournament on Lake Chesdin that day too, but the LSU Mardi Gras Float trumps the bass club tournament. After you all fish the Pony Pasture drive down River Road to the Huguenot Bridge and head West, away from the bridge, and go down to Buford Road. Turn left onto Buford Road and find a place to park on a side street and see the parade which starts at 11 AM. Look me up. I will either be on the float or driving the SUV. If you show me your XXX's I'll throw you some beads.

One guy in our bass club uses Big Game. He likes it. I have never used it and am trying Yo-Zuri this year. But the guy in my club does well so I guess Big Game is OK.

Good job. Now, after you graduate college and start your career you will be telling us that you went to the Ranger dealer and got a new trailer to go with your new truck to pull your new Ranger boat and you paid cash for everything. Of course, this is BEFORE you get married! ;D

Don't put it in the water. I looks like a chrome Rat-L-Trap! Bass will hit it and sink it. But nice job with the shine!!!!

Blue back is for bright days and black back is for cloudy days although I have caught them the opposite way, too. Chrome ones work fine and work them like a crazy shad like the guys said. Start out with the 1/4 ounce and work up in size depending on the size of the fish. Now, a word about the hookset. Don't get frustrated if you lose some fish on the Rat-L-Trap. The hooks don't set right, although the newer models claim the hooks are improved. My friends and I have lost many a nice bass at the boat or the shore when they come unbuttoned. So this is what I do when I get hit. 1. I use a swinging motion to the SIDE to set the hook. 2. I put the rod tip in the water to stop the fish from jumping. 3. I yell at the fish to "stay on." Friends change Rat-L-Trap hooks. Some to a Number 4 and others to a Number 6 treble hook. Usually they will use Owner or Eagle Claw or some other leading brand. But, I don't do well with split-rings so I leave the original hooks on the Rats and keep yelling, "stay on." And get a few of each color and size as you will lose them in both structure and cover. Have fun.

OK Dave, so what do you do with it now? And will it attract fish? Or is this a ploy to have some nice young coed come to your home to see you make water drops? So let us in on the secret. P.S. Dogwoods are getting close to blooming.

$75 for that tackle bag! Some guys just have money to burn. I use a gym bag when I bank fish. The only problem I have had is that when I go back to a pond to fish again I have caught bass with jock itch!!!! ;D ;D ;D

Being a bass fisherman means you have many weapons within you weapons platform to consider when fishing. One of these weapons is a spinnerbait. Learning the best conditions and techniques to throw a spinnerbait is critical and I suggest you consider reading the spinnerbait posts on this site; the articles about spinnerbaits on this site and other web sites; and purchasing Gerald Swindle's "Teaching Success with Spinnerbaits" by Eagle Productions. Eagle Productions P.O. Box 2455 Jasper, Alabama 35502 Hank Parker has a video out on spinnerbaits, and it is very educational although the overall production is dumb. "Hank Parker's Utlimate Guide to Spinerbaits." You may have to go to Parker's web site for more information on this video. I have caught bass using spinnerbaits in ponds, lakes and rivers. I have caught big bass and small bass. I have caught catfish, bowfin and pike using spinnerbaits. Basspro48 has me sold on the War Eagle brand which I am going to throw this year. They are beautiful spinnerbaits. So keep your entire arsnel of weapons available and when the wind starts to make a little turmoil on top of the water consider throwing your white and chartreuse spinnerbaits. Just read, read, read; watch, watch, watch; experiment, experiment and experiment. And you will fall in love with your spinnerbaits. ;D

Patience. Being Type A makes it difficult for me to let the bait just sit there or work it slow. But I am working on it, slowly!

Paul, Welcome to the forum. We can always use another Virginia guy. As for fishing, the guys are right on. However, do you own a bass or other boat you can use to fish rivers and lakes? Down south from where you are is Lake Anna and the Rappahannock, Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers plus the Chickhomoney Lake and River. And don't forget the James River, too. Check out the apartment complexes and commercial parks as they have ponds with fish, too. Let us know how you do, too.

Did you all get your Green Top sales flyer for the April sale? I think the date is the week of th 14th but the flyer is in the car so please double check it with them by callnig or chekcing out their web site if you have not received the flyer. Not any really great deals but a lot of baits and hooks and tungston weights are 10% off the retail price. But a sale is a sale.

Do you stock the pond with minnows or crawfish or bream? Just wondering.

I reached 300,000 miles on my Volvo on Monday. I am shooting for 500,000 but my wife is have a fit saying that I need a new car or SUV that can pull the boat. I can pull the boat OK with the Volvo (quite a sight to see) so I think I will keep the car for a few more miles. Anyone out there have or had a high mileage car? If so, let us know and the miles you, a family member or a friend have now or have reached in the past. Anyone out there can beat 300,000 miles???

And "hi" back to you. Ask your questions and read, read and read. Then, as you find posts that you would like to retain just copy them and paste the data on a Word document and save it in your fishing folder. Be sure to let us know of your fishing adventures and post some pictures, too. You aren now a part of our family and the best site on the web

Super report. Sorry about losing those big lunkers. I know your pain. Now, let's get down to some serious baseball so you can get a full-boat ride to the college of your choice.

April 15 is tax day. I never look forward to April 15 even though my federal and state taxes have already been sent to the respective locations in March. I am glad someone is looking forward to April 15.

Welcome. It is always nice to have another Virginian on the site. I like Sandy Creek as it is a nice, compact body of water with a great ramp and it seems never to be busy. Looking forward to sharing info with you in the future.