Sam

Heavier sinker or bait. Hold rod at 11 o'clock position to help take slack out of line. Reel, twitch, reel, twitch, let sit, reel, twitch, twitch, etc., etc., etc., to keep as much slack out of line as possible. You will have some slack in line most of the time. Your job is to take as much of it up without damaging the bait's action. The wind will blow a "slack bow" in the line. Nothing you can do about this situation. Have fun.

Are you throwing any Texas rigged Trick Worms WITHOUT a weight on 8 pound test line? Try bubble gum (pink), yellow or white to see the strikes. What about a finesse Zoom worm without any weights or a Senko? Use Watermealon as your first color of choice for your worms to match the grass color. Grass will get on the head of the worms, etc., but you can still pull the bait over the grass. Pull - let it sit - pull - let it sit - pull - let it sit - etc. Watch for the grass behind the worm to start to move if a bass is following your bait. Do the Scum Frogs, Horney Toads, Barinsky's or Spro's also pick up the grass? Inline buzzbait (straight line with no closepin head) with two props pulled over the grass could be productive. Just remember to remove the grass between the props when you clean off the bait. If you fish this pond you will just have to realize that you will be picking up grass on each cast; take your time to remove the grass; and throw back. The guys will have other ideas, for sure, but you probably need something that floats and is weedless. Unless....you want to punch through the grass and wiggle a Texas rigged with pegged 1/2 ounce or heavier bullet weighted worm. Can you take a pole and use it to make a "hole" in the grass along the shore line or out a few feet to have someplace for the bass to have an open area? You take your push pole (or broom handle) and use it to make a hole about one, two or three feet wide and as deep as you can get it. Wait one to two hours and then go back and fish the hole both on top by swimming bait on top of the grass and letting it fall into the hole or by fishing a worm or jig and pig directly into the hole. Jiggle the bait up and down to attract the fish. Use a rattle inside the bait if possible. Make a number of these holes along the bank and set up your "milk run" among them. If possible, wade out into the pond and make the hole a little farther out. You will get all "mucky" and your shoes will need to dry out but otherwise it will be fun! Just wait an hour, two hours or a day and go back and see what happens. Good luck.

I am going to the hardware store today or tomorrow and purchase two long nose pliers with the longer nose. One for the boat and one for the pond (bank) fishing. It is difficult to remove the hook with a short long nose pliers. I had to go through the gills to save one large female and it really stressed her out. She was OK, but she moved through the water very slowly for a few seconds after I released her. I have pushed the hook through the bass' mouth or skin and then cut the line to remove a hook. I get very upset when I have to leave the hook in the fish so I will do all possible to cut the barb or remove the hook as best as possible without harming the fish.

I wear my college tees and sweats and even have a fishing shirt with my college name on it so I advertise my alma mata. I also wear my Big Johnson tees (only place wife lets me wear them). You can wear what ever you want as the guys above have stated. Just make sure it is in good taste and not offensive. Oh, by the way, my school is LSU. Geaux Tigers!

Cliff, you have just asked the $64,000 question. Sometimes I don't think color matters while at other times I just have to throw that shad color. I try to "match the hatch" with my crankbaits. I will be fishing a river next week so I went on the internet and found out what types of fish are in the river that can be baitfish for the bass. Shad and white pearch lead the list so I will throw a shad colored crankbait. I love to throw the Firetiger color as it has always produced. And the Chartruse with Blue Back is a winner in my local waters, too. Some guys love Salad Bar; Root Beer; and Tennessee Shad. Others swear by the green tints and dull yellows and my friend only throws shad colored crankbaits. So what do you do? Experiment like the rest of us and add to your collection of crankbaits. But try to remember to "match the hatch" when possible.

Look at each bait from the front towards the back to make sure the front wire is straight and in line with the hook. This also includes making sure the wire is not bent to the right or the left, but straight on towards the hook. Then, look at the angle of the props to make sure they are not bent too low or too high, which happens when you catch a fish and the wire gets out of place. Some buzzbaits do run on their sides, as said above. This is normal. As long as the biat swims straight back to you then the bait is tuned correctly. I like the double bladed in-line buzzbaits as they make a different sound; come through the grass and pads easier; and produce just as good as the normal buzzbaits. If I am catching fish on a buzzbait I will take time to reposition the blades so the bait runs true and not to either the right or left. However, with that said, I will still throw the bait if the bite is on and allow it to run to the right or left just to let it be different from all the other buzzbaits that have been thrown or to work it around some structure or boat dock.

Of course fish the area. Flip and pitch your plastic worms and Senkos both Texas and Wacky rigged; throw your crankbaits and spinnerbaits; use a jig and pig; and just fish the area. Run a trick worm above and through the grass, without any weights. Use bubble gum (pink), white or yellow so you can see the strikes. Make the worm swim like a snake. Fish the grass lines, too. And don't forget the buzzbaits, topwaters and the various frogs that you can throw. I fished a friend's pond this past Monday and caught 7 on a buzzbait between 1 PM and 3 PM. The pond was very shallow and the fish were not interested in anything plastic on the bottom. Remember, a largemouth bass does not need a lot of water to cruise in search of food. I caught a 19 inch female at a pond in less than a foot of water. Your five foot shoreline sounds like a great place to fish and then move off the bank into deeper water to try to find where they are staging. I would love to have a place like you described around where I live.

Hey Burley, On Saturday my wife and I went to Old Town Petersburg to tour and have lunch. On the way back home I stopped at Castaways as she had never visited the store and had heard me talking about it many times. So what did I do? I took all of the Zoom Mocassain Blue finesse worm packages (5 of them) and checked out, telling the manager that they were out of the Mocassin Blue finesse worms and they that they needed to get some more. So you are not alone. You can never have too many plastics!

Catt, accoridng to Fox News today all of the refineries are up and running now. The last refinery that had the big leak (in Texas) is now at full capacity. Gasoline has been shipped in from other countries for the last few months on tankers. I had no idea this was being done. We need more refineries. We need to start drilling our own oil. We need to protect our boarders. We need to avoid tax hikes that will kill our economy. Have I lost my mind or what??? I need some Etouffee.

Green Top in Ashland, Virginia, gave me their sticker for free. Hope you have received it. Sam

Cajun, You have been eating too much gumbo. Saints in the Super Bowl? I would be greatly surprised to see them make the playoffs this year. I hope they do make the playoffs, but I just can't see the Saints as a real contender this year. Of course the teams I pull for (Patriots, Raiders, Redskins, Steelers and Packers) may not do all that well, either, with the exception of the Patriots. And I just don't like the Colts as I am not a Manning lover. Any of the Mannings. (Remember, the greatest play in the history of Ole Miss football and Eli falls on his ***.) I usually wait to see what LSU players are on what teams and then follow those teams very carefully. I will also watch Brady Quinn since, according to the TV broadcasters at the NFL draft, Brady was the Number 1 Overall Pick this year. ;D But for now...Geaux Saints!

We don't go to K-Mart in Richmond as they are located in geographical areas that we just don't venture, if you know what I mean. It is not safe, even in the daylight hours. We go to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart service is usually poor during the day. So what do I do? I go at 5:30 AM on Saturday mornings and the staff is so helpful it is downright embarrassing. They will actually take you to the location where the items you are seeking can be found. One time I asked a Wal-Mart associate (lady) for help when I was looking for Moth Balls to sprinkle around the house to chase the copperheads away. The lady had never heard of Moth Balls so I told her that it was the only part of the moth that you could eat. I left her standing in the asile with this puzzled look on her face. I thought it was funny! ;D

When the University of Notre Dame won their last National Championship they had one loss that season - to Ole Miss in Oxford in September. The Fighting Irish players did not do well in the Mississippi heat and the Rebels won the game. From that day on the Irish will not play any team down South in September. When LSU plays Notre Dame it has to be in October or November and the game must be at night. So I can understand the problem with the heat; and so can our Irish friends in Indiana. Of course, playing in an air conditioned dome on New Years Day did not help the Irish, either. LSU 41 Notre Dame 14

Fished a friend's mother's pond today and the buzzbait bite was on, too. It was a lot of fun so I know what you enjoyed. I only caught 10 but it was a fun time for two hours. And by the way, they were also not interested in a Senko or Zoom finesse worm or a spinnerbait. I did nail one on a Mann's Minus 1; but all others were caught on buzzbaits. Super photos. Thanks for sharing.

Gasoline prices will continue their downward movement towards the Fall with the refineries back to full capacity and the removal of the Ethanol requirement. Go for the job at Gander Mountain. Then, when the BPS is open you will have sales experience and can see what BPS will be paying their employees and for that matter, Green Top, too. You can hop on I-295 and be at the store very fast and economical in your truck. Get that position. It will look great on your resume after you finish college and it can turn out to be a full-time summer job once you are in college. And you can let us all know about the sales!!!!

You may want to post your query within the geographical areas in this forum pertaining to areas to fish. Maybe someone has fished the body of water and can offer you some suggestions.

Fished a client's pond in Maryland today and must have caught at least 40 largemouth bass. They hit everything I threw except for the spinnerbait. I have some two (2) inch Smoke with Black Flake Senkos so I put one on a #1 hook (not a 1/0; but a #1 gold hook) to try to catch the little buggers who were driving me nuts hitting the Zoom finessse worms. Must have been Bluegills or small bream. I put a small PSS-3/0 removable slip shot sinker about a foot above the hook; rigged the two-inch Senko Texas style on my 14 pound AN-40 line on my spinner rig and threw it out. As I was reeling it back in (it went only 10 feet into the water) approaching the bank where I was standing the line took off so I set the hook. She was 19 inches long and just beautiful. I had to go through her gills to get the hook out as she inhaled the Senko. I also had to sit down for a few minutes to get my breath back. What a sight. That big mouth; those big black eyes; all that water splashing around; and me knowing that I had her on a #1 gold hook with a two-inch Senko as bait. (You have to order the 2-inch Senkos driect from GY via his web site.) It just doesn't get better than that!

I am starting to use more and more of the Berkley Trilene XL Smooth Casting line in 10, 12 and 14 pound tests. I also have it in 17 pound. I like Vanish, too, and have had good results with the Vanish line. The Berkley Trilene XT Extra Tough is a heavy line and I will use it when fishing in a lot of wood or grass but so far the XL Smooth Casting has worked very well. I have not been happy with the Stren products as I have had too much line twist on my spinning rigs and too many backlashes on my baitcasters. AN-40 has served me well so that is another brand I like. A couple of friends use Big Game and I am thinking of trying that one day to see how it performs. So please continue with your tests and let us know how you do.

Welcome to the forum. As said before, you cannot go wrong with any of the major brands. I like Shimano and all but two of my spinning rigs are Shimano. The two spinning rigs are Bass Pro Shop modles and have served me well. I have an old Ambassador baitcaster but all other baitcasters are Shimano. But you can't go wrong by staying with the major brands.

George, Another wonderful post by you. Thanks so much for the information. I will go out and get a bag and try them on the James River this weekend. I had a bass chase down and take my regular Senko as I was reeling it in so I bet this swimming Senko can produce strikes. My only problem is that we do not have 12 pound bass in the James River. ;D

This is terrible news. I read his article on fluorocarbon lines in the July/August issue of Bassmaster Magazine and the article was excellent. I also remember seeing him on TV. This is a terrible loss to all of the bass fishing industry. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Disneyworld! ;D

Yikes! Don't spray either JJs or Spike It. They can stain and it is almost impossible, if not impossible, to get the stain out. I either dip the tails in the bottles the dips come in or use an eye dropper to put the clear JJs Magic scent on the plastics. I went to Wal-Mart and purchased an air tight food container in two sizes. The first size is for all of my JJs Magic as it is very powerful stuff. The second container is smaller and handles the JJs and Spike-It nicely when in the boat. I keep the jars in the container to catch any drippings and to make sure the stuff does not escape into the world. As I said, be very careful as the stuff will stain your clothes, boat seats, carpet, shoes, etc. When I fish on someone else's boat I use Mega Strike or Carolina Lunker Sauch in the jell containers.

I use a 1/0 and 2/0 in ponds. A 2/0 and 3/0 in rivers. A 3/0 and a 4/0 in lakes. A 5/0 on baits like the bush hog or large lizzards. I also use straight shank and EWG hooks for all plastics. My friend uses a #1 on his Wacky Worm rig and he does great. I used a gold #1 at the local pond last week and caught a nice 1 and a half pound bass with no problem on a Wacky Worm Senko. Just make sure you "cross their eyes" when you set your hook. I think a good hook-set is more important than the size of hook you are using.

Bass can see red in the water and the red hooks are to look like either an injured baitfish or the rear view of gills. As for me, I do well with both but use the regular hooks as I am more concerned with the actual bait than the hook. Other than to make sure the hook is sharp. I agree with the guys that a red hook does not improve the probability of a hook-up. Your bait, its size, technique and if the fish are in the area will improve the probability of a hook-up. But like scent, if you like them and they strengthen your confidence then by all means use them although I doubt they really will make a differency.