rboat

Let him throw a small yellow rooster tail spinner. It is not snagless, however it is easy to fish and will catch almost every freshwater species. In one day, I personally saw a guy catch 5 species out of one small farm pond.

Avid, you are dead on. I try to use cranks or jigs, but after an hour the senko is on the line. My limited time on the water is precious and I want to catch some before I have to wait for next weekend.

selective harvest may help in some cases, but I believe nature takes care of it better than we do. Around here we have an abundance of natural predators that control bass populations with precision. If you want to eat fish go for pan fish they are more abundant, taste better, easier to catch, and also eat bass eggs and fry. I also agree with replica mounts. They are awesome, last forever, look great and let that trophy live to reproduce and let others have a shot at catching a big bass.

She looks bigger, if I didn't know I would have guessed 6lbs even.

I once caught a chain pickeral (like a small northern pike) on a purple texas rigged worm. That seemed a bit odd to me.

I agree with you all on the fact that some small ponds do become stunted with small bass. We had one here that was loaded, however, in 2 years it has corrected itself. I don't know if people started keeping fish or if nature did the deed. Now some 5lbers and even some larger are caught on a consistant basis. I did read recently that the control predator on small bass in most areas is large bass. An estimate was stated that 70 to 80 percent of fry from each nest will be consumed by bigger bass. I guess that is why you see many bass colored baits. It does make you think. I still prefer catch and release, it just makes me feel good to let them back, but to each is own.

If you do catch a wallhanger you don't have to kill her either, those are good genes for breeding more big uns. Just take a good picture and some measurements then release. You can get an exact replica size and color that will look great and last forever, skin mounts look bad after a couple years. Plus you get the satisfaction of a release to insure the future of our great sport. JMHO.

I am strickly CP&R. I do not think we need to be killing any bass. Mother nature takes good care of herself if left alone. Around here we have more than enough predators to keep the bass population in check. Hawks, Osprey, Eagles, Herons, Egrets, Gar, Pickeral, Mudfish, Gators, Etc.. I was out on the water today and saw a pair of osprey pick up small bass and bluegills one after another. Worst part was, I didn't even pick up one. I guess some days talons are better than hooks. ;D

Does everyone use a trailer hook on all of their chatter type baits, or isn't it necessary? Just curious, I still have not had any luck on those things.

Did anyone see what lure Timmy Horton caught the double on during the second day of the Classic? Just curious, it looked like a red rattletrap or something.

I got my new Cabelas master catalog and was disappointed because there was only 2 pages of lures. It looked like the whole catalog was clothing, hunting and camping gear. Have they changed their focus or inventory? :'(

Thanks for the info. I was just looking for a couple of proven baits to try and see if I can get bit. I am not ready to jump into swimbaits, fully, where I need a special rod and the whole works. Soft swimbaits are definately proven fish catchers especially out west. I just like the looks of the hard baits. The fit and finish is really outstanding. If nothing else, when I get too old to fish I will have some great looking lures to display or pass on to my son. Thanks again.

I have saved up some extra cash and would like some help on picking 1 or 2 of the best of the hard japanese swimbaits. There are many out there and these things are so expensive and I want to make sure I get a proven winner. Please help with kind and color and best place to order. Raul and several others on this site are experts on the japanese stuff, so please help a guy get started. Thanks.

Anyone tried the slidejack? It is sold by lobina lures. It looks interesting, like a wacky rigged hard bait that darts under structure and moves erratic. Expensive though. any thoughts?

I usually throw them in this order; green pumpkin watermelon junebug red shad (motor oil is great at times when nothing else works) Floating (white with some red I add myself with a marker) for worms (gray and white mix) on flukes

Raul, do a search for Brannan's Bass Shop. On their home page at the top under manufacturers, look up Mark Pack's lake fork trophy. In the center of the column of baits you will see the Live Magic Shad 4.5 inch. That is the one I got. I have not tried it yet. Thanks.

Anyone tried this yet? How do you use it? Any success? How do you rig such a thick chunk of plastic and still get a hook through and into the fish? I ordered some of the lake fork tackle version after seeing that awesome action on that video and know I will need help. Thanks.

We all know mono has a tendancy to twist using spinning tackle, some say they use a braid on spinning gear, my question is does braid also twist, and if so how bad and how does it compare to mono? your thoughts?

I have been to several of these and thought they were great. Each one was full to capacity so they must have made some profit. They were great for new anglers and also gave out some advanced info for veterans. I was upset to hear they have been discontinued. I looked forward to it every year. I hope they rethink this move and bring back this valuable seminar program.

Split ring pliers do work, however sometimes they are a bit large and awkward for smaller lures. I use a small folding pocket knife. It works great, just be careful so you don't get cut. My knife is kind of dull so that has not been a problem.

I use and like the norman speed clips. They do take some getting used to. You have to squeeze them hard and straight for each lure change. They will not work on some lures that have a thick wire tie loop, like jigs and such. I have used them for many years and caught many nice fish and never had one open up or fail. I am not sure what KVD uses, but I would be interested to know. Most of the pros swear by their own hand tied knots, which they can tie perfect and much more quickly than I can.

I have tried this bait and love the action, however, I can not get a good hook into a fish. I use 4.0 EWG Gammy hooks but the bait still seems too wide to get a hook into them. I run the hook through and skin hook it on the other side, rigged skirt up. Is this correct? Any other hook work better. please help.

I truly think standing does add more concentration, But ole Bill Dance catches a bunch sitting on those pedestal chairs. Of course in those stocked private lakes I think he could catch them standing on his head. ;D

I was just curious, for you bass boat guys how many stand and fish all day and how many sit on those pedestal chairs and fish all day? I personally stand, in fact I do not even keep those chairs in my boat. I feel I can concentrate better standing and if thats what those pros do then it must be for a reason. Your thoughts?

I fixed it. I replaced the little black box converter in the truck and that did it. I noticed that I was getting 8 volts to 0 volts on the working side blinker and only 4 volts to zero on the non working side. The 4 volts was enough to light the LED tester but not enough to light the actual trailer bulb. The shop told me these little converter boxes are full of diodes and are made to short if the trailer experiences any short or spike. This protects the tow vehicle from any back current that could damage wiring or vehicle lighting. Thanks again for the replies. On a related note. Does anyone use the sealed LED trailer lights. They look great and are supposed to last much longer with fewer problems. I am thinking of an upgrade, but they cost twice as much. your thoughts?