John J.

pretty much anything and everything that works from a boat will work on a bank!

My favorite memory was when I was 7 and I caught my first bass! Me and the family went over to their friend's house who lives in Stafford (Virginia of course!). And they had a pond that we use to go fishing in. I never had caught a bass before, only bluegill, crappie and catfish, so I wanted to try for a bass. I remember I walked down to the pond with my dad's ugly-stick rod (that he uses for catfishing) and my little two sided tackle-box that had I think only beetle-spins. But anyway, I tied on a beetle spin and threw that bad boy out into the dam of their pond that was only about 5 foot deep lol! And they had the drainage pipe that stuck up out of the water. Well, when I was reeling it in I didn't notice that there was a big bass right next to the bank (about 6 inches from where I was standing!) and when I reeled the beetle-spin right next to the bank I remember the bass nailing it! I fought that thing with pride! and The entire time it is splashing water on me! By the time I got it landed I was soaken wet. I grabbed the bass by the lips and started running towards their house (which was on top of a huge hill and was about 100 yards from the pond). The bass was huge for me! I held it up with two hands. When I got to their house they had a scale and weighed her! I remember the weight like I caught it yesterday! 3 pounds 10 ounces! I will never forget the fight and the huge hit that bass delivered. It will be a memory stuck in my mind until my grave. I remember taking it home in a five-gallon bucket (it died of course from being out of the water so long from me running it up to their house). And took pictures of it...I can't remember what I did with that photo....I still got it...I need to find it. Anyway, since it died we filet it out and had us a bass supper Since then I've been hooked! 8-)

Moral of the story: set all cooking utensils (knives, forks, spoons, spatulas, etc.) beside the stove on the counter. Good story though! You are doing a better job than I. The only thing I can cook is breakfast stuff. As far as dinner goes, I help my mom with my fav. dish: Chicken and Dumplings, she boils the chicken and I work on the dumplings But as far as steaks, tenderloins, ribs, and other BBQ or Grilled items go, I leave that up to my mom and dad lol!! ;D

Making me crazy with all the afros...

I agree, wooden pallets are the best! I took three of them and stacked them on top of each other and nailed them in place, then I took a bunch of limbs, brush and pine boughs and tied them on. The only drawback with the pallets it takes more than 3 concrete cinderblocks to sink them (Believe me I know from experience ;D). I sunk one in my pond and like two days after I sunk it I was pulling bass off of it! Another drawback is that when it rots, it takes up the available oxygen in the water. but as long as it is a big lake or a lake with running water to mix in the oxygen it should be fine. My pond is about an acre and a half, but it is fed by a constantly running creek which me and the family stacked stones and blocks to make a waterfall cascade effect which would allow the oxygen to mix well with the water before it fed into the pond, and also it looks nice too!

lol, "Charlie bit me! That really hurt!" ;D

Well geez....I am a little jealous of everyone lol! This is my little bass getter... I wish I could afford nice looking rigs like you guys have!!

I fish all soft plastics with spinning tackle and with this equipment am "reasonably" adept at the technique. There is no reason for me to change and no particular reason for you, either! 8-) Amen to that RW!

A old man just had his 50th anniversary, and his best friend asked him: "Hey man! Congratulations with being with your wife for 50 years! How did you manage to keep your marriage a success?" The old man looked up at his friend and said gently: "I travel with her all over the world!". His best friend then said "Wow! Great idea man! Where did you take her on your 25th anniversary for example?" The old man responded: "Well for our 25th anniversary I took her to Bejing, China". His friend then responded, "That's nice! Where are you taking her for yall's 50th anniversary?" The old man then smiled and said: "I am not taking her anywhere! I am going to pick her up!" ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I personally like the skitter-pop and the rebel pop-r. I generally fish them in summer mornings around vegetation, over a point or sunken flat. I also sometimes use them to draw bass from deep water.

I usually catch and release. But I will occasionally stock my pond with the bass I catch from local lakes. Either than that or I will keep them if I feel they won't make it and they will be made into "bass sticks"

I use CB's Hawg Sauce or Yums Garlic Spray.

wicked :-? Alien lure ready to catch bass! : ;D looks good though!

looking good there buddy! All my jigs are made from a single color skirt material... Keep it up!

Robo-Fish? :-? PETA needs to get a life...I think we need to yank a hook into PETA's . PETA = We as sportsmen/women should stand up against PETA

LOL! yeah I hear you Dean....Mr. BM...

yep dink...

u woild thunk so....ut woild almost be luke we were speakung a new langiage.... :-?

Yeah a finishing nail. My best friend and fellow bass fishing competitor Randy Beasley does so with his ZOOM Finesse Worms. I am unsure my dad will be willing to donate his finishing nails for me to fish with lol! ;D But I agree

That and also try throwing a rattle-trap. I've had luck with the rattle-trap so far. My model is the Bleeding-Shad Series. I've also heard and read that jerkbaits are good too!

Hey all, I am not sure specifically where to put this, but I figured it would belong here... Anyway, I am searching for a contour map that shows points, creek channels and many other structure at my home lake (Lake Orange). There is a map available on the VDGIF website about it but it doesn't really fit what I am looking for.... Could you guys locate fish just by this map? If you can (pretending like you are going to fish this lake) please tell me good areas to fish (using your experience/knowledge)... And if this isn't a good map to go buy, can you guys provide links to where I can find a good contour map? Thanks!

A good way to practice them is to watch videos online or go to someone you know to teach you different techniques, strategies, best places to use them and best times. I personally use the crankbait when fishing gradually sloping points, flats or deep water. With plastics there are many different rigs and presentations. Read in the articles about the different rigs, techniques and presentations and practice with them on ponds or in areas where fishing is easy. With senkos and wacky rigged weightless worms, it pays to watch the line as the lure sinks, a strike will be a sudden twitch and/or running of the line. The best advice I can give you is read the articles and practice, practice, practice!

Hey all, just wondering what everyone's strategies, lure choices and goals you are all going to try this fishing season. Mine include the following: 1.) learn to find and fish deep structure (I am more of a bank fisherman). 2.) Catch me a new PB (obviously everyone's goal!) 3.) Learn more about what my sonar is showing me (structure, cover, etc.) 4.) Find some new hotspots 5.) Try out carolina rig and drop shot rig (Haven't had much experience with these). 6.) Start fishing main lake and secondary points (never done before...) 7.) Increase my trust and technique with the jig 8.) Learn some more patience 9.) Spend more time on the water 10.) Learn more about patterning bass and fishing schoolies. To accomplish this I plan to search and locate deep cover/structure such as points, flats, creek channels, drop offs, etc. and fish them with either deep diving crankbaits/rat-l-traps, or weighted worms or heavy rigs (drop shot, carolina). I also plan to start my season off in either Late March to Early April (spawning time for Va is April), fishing points and deep structure. Then this summer I plan to hunt for me a new PB by fishing in places I never covered before, and with presentations and/or lures I've never used before. I am going to find these by getting me a contour map and the map with the help of my sonar will provide me with the information I need to hunt my new PB! What's everyone else's goals? and how are you all going to accomplish them?

lol yeah I agree. I am also trying out different combinations of lure color and glitter color. And you are right, it doesn't matter how it looks as long as a bass likes it. Good thing about pouring plastics: If I am not satisfied, I can always remelt them and pour em again! Thanks guys!

Yes it is normal. In my pond (private pond) there are 1/2" - 1" bluegill resting up near the shore. This is smart because the bass go for the deeper water or they hang around the creek channel or the feeder creek in the pond. And since the temps are cold the bass are too lethargic to be chasing the baitfish, minnows or bluegill fry around the shallows. One thing I would try, would be a small rattle-trap (lipless crankbait). I used the bleeding shad seriesyesterday down at my pond when the water temps was probably in the mid 30s and caught a decent bass in the mouth of the feeder creek that enters the pond. Give it a shot, the retrieve should be a slow presentation, but fast enough to keep it off the bottom. Also a few twitches will help, this causes the lure to jitter and from the sunlight a flash is given off which attracts fish. Another thing you can try to use is a jig, perferably a small jig about 1/8-3/8 ounce model will be good. I caught a bass from my pond before Thanksgiving (07) on a peanut-butter and jelly 1/4 ounce jig in the same feeder creek that I caught the one yesterday.. Work the jig extremely S-L-O-W. 1.) Cast it out 2.) Let it sink to the bottom. 3.) While it is on bottom keep the line semi-tight and let it sit for 10 seconds. 4.) Give a slight hop or drag. 5.) let is sit for another 10 seconds 6.) Repeat. Good luck