Bassun

Personally, I think my favorite is wading creeks for smallmouth. There is nothing more peaceful than getting back in the woods and hearing nothing but the sound of water running by. Catching a big ole' bronzeback is just a huge bonus! Having said that, I tend to spend more time and focus on lakes. If I had a nice aluminum boat too, I would probably spend more time on the river since it is an awesome fishery here. Now, I'm not opposed to fishing ponds - in fact the biggest bluegill of my life (16" circa 1985) came from a farm pond - I just don't have any locally to fish.

While I am a CPR fisherman in most cases (I will catch and use livebait at times), I don't have a problem with people harvesting legal fish to eat. I would rather see slot fish ate then a trophy slapped on a wall... Especially with the better replicas out there now. I don't suspect that legal non-commercial fishing would have a major impact on most of the fish. There are surely a few scenarios where it could, but as a whole I think a regulated fishery is capable of supporting a good harvest, so long as they are havesting within the limits of the regulations. Honestly, selective harvest can even help a fishery - notably smaller ponds and lakes with too little natural predation. It's my opinion that the damage to most fisheries comes from commercial over-harvesting and polution.

I've never fished for bowfin, so my input is based on other fish; but, I can say that when I first started using circle hooks and didn't trust them, I didn't catch much with them. Why? Because I kept setting or at least "half" setting the hook. I finally got lucky and hooked a fish on one rod, when a second rod got hit. The one I half set on, was hooked but not in the corner of the mouth, it was basically strait up and down. BUT the on that was just pulling on the rod was a perfect corner set. I vowed to just reel down and fight from then on, and since then my hookup rate skyrocketed using circles on any live bait. I use them almost exclusively for live bait, save for the smallest of fish.

I'm with the fallfish or even common shiner camp, but if the pond doesn't have running water feeding it, then it's not likely that either of those would be able to breed. Google up some different pics of both and you should find some with red trimming on their fins. From what you've described it's most assuredly something in the minnow family.

I've always heard you can catch just about any inshore species on any bait, as long as it's a white bucktail...

I've caught more hybrids on Red/White Cotton Cordell Red-Fins, deep divers, fished just about as slow as you can go than on any other bait. I've caught a bunch off the shallow running version as well. One of our biggest actually came off a shad rap though.

Not that its really relavent -- but I just killed a Juenille Black Widow on our COFFEE TABLE two nights ago. I didn't realize it was a widow at first as their markings are different as they grow.

If I'm getting good follows but not strikes, I consider myself close but not on. So I would make a few little changes not a drastic one. Adding a twitch or any significant cadence change would have been my first try - anything to make it seem like it was trying to "escape". At night, I would have jumped to black, then changed sizes if that didn't get them to hook up. I also keep a worm ready if I'm fishing topwater and either me or my partner will throw it in at a fish who just missed a top water hit. May could have tried that, pull em up with the buzz and get lucky on the worm. Haven't personally tried it on waking fish, but it does work on fish that miss spooks, poppers, etc. They don't call it "bait and switch" for nothing, lol.

Along the lines of pressuring yourself for quick catches, or on specific lures, etc. Something we often did when wading creeks, to help keep it interesting, was scoring our fish. I don't know if it counts as "practice" per se, but you did learn to target fish so I guess maybe it counts... Anyway - it works like this, and while it sounds complicated to explain, when your doing it it works great and if you have three people it gives everyone first shot at different targets. So you start wading in a staggared line, person A up front, B in the middle, and C in the back. Smallmouth and Largemouth (spots would count too) count as 1 point. Redeyes count as 0 and bluegill or any "junk" fish (chubs etc) count as -1. Most points at the end of the day, wins. Now, as for the order - every time you catch a bass, you go to the back of the line. For a bass to count, you have to "touch" it. I know it sounds goofy, but man does it help you target the bass. We're all super competitive and I found that doing it like this not only gives everyone a better chance at good structure, but it really made you focus on getting to those prime spots on your first cast. We would constantly be walking forward so you didnt have but one or two chances before someone else could cast in on you.

If I could ONLY fish one lure ever again, it would be a silver and black broken back Rapala. J-9. I don't do as well in the lakes with it as I do in the creeks and rivers, but absolutly my overall favorite. If it's purely lake fishing, then a Zoom Super Fluke in Smokin Shad (I think that's the color).

I learned this years ago on a spinnerbait it had modified for night fishing. I had put a bigger black colorardo blade on a blue and black spinnerbait. I stopped by the river to eat lunch one day and thought, hey why not try it. On like my third cast a really nice smallmought slammed it. I agree, you can catch fish on spinnerbaits year round. Of all the things I've read in your posts, I think this is the best advice yet -- especially for novice anglers. Immediatly I thought back to plenty of hard days where I starting throwing things that I never throw, and have no confidence in, just trying to get bit instead of backing up - rethinking - and reapplying what I knew. I've learned over the years to trust my gut more than a lure but even now there are times I will still catch myself swaping lures instead of rethinking the situation and adjusting my approach.

I am first going to assume, we're talking a small residential sized lake, nothing big. Something where bank fishing is the norm. If that's the case, then I actualy have no problem with this. Introducing kids to fishing is a huge thing to me, and if there is a place that I can take neices/nephews/cousins/friends kids/etc fishing where they have an opportunity to fish a largely unpressured pond, then that's a nice advantage for them. Having an easily accessable, local pond is perfect. I'm less stoked about the 62 and over side of it, but if you follow the logic that they 'may' be less amblitory then again I can understand the reasoning and again an easilly accessable fishing area would be nice. I personally think it would make more sense to designate it a catch and release only fishery, and manage it as a handicap accessible, town maintained pond. But, that's just my opinion. **EDIT** As for the OP, that just sucks... We had the same thing happen to a pond near my house where as a teen I fished a lot. Was going to take some family photos down by the old "lake" and my sister who still lives in the old neighbor hood quickly let me know they have stopped anyone from even going to the pond. Now, if you step on the land, they just call the cops.

I wish I had seen that before the first time I tried to back my boat down the ramp. lol Heck, I wish I had a camera to watch me try to get that boat NEAR the water lol. I had never backed any trailer on my truck before, and thought meh, I can do this... Well, I have to admit, I struggled. In fact, I got so mad I ended up asking my partner to back it down, who refused *partly I think to continue laughing at me, partly to force me to get it right lol. I remember when I first realized how easy it was to keep strait just by watching those side mirrors vs trying to look over my shoulder lol. The local ramps are very tight, so you have to watch both sides the whole way down for sure. Admittedly, I do still struggle with judging turns in reverse. Small corrections I have locked down, but navigating an "S" or something would be tough for me. I shoudl probably go practice more in a parking lot, just in case...

I was about to add a second comment about knot tying. I have spent a lot of time working different knots. What's bad, is that I still end up tying the same knot 99% of the time. That's something I need to proactively work on.

My learning was a mixed bag. Early on, (like 4-5) I learned on a cane pole (or long stick) how to catch bluegill from dad. Then shortly later had my first hookup with a big farm pond bass with my snoopy rod with my aunt and uncle. Cannot say that I learned a whole lot then, but I did get the bug which I think is the key for a kid. I fished with my dad as a kid and began to learn how to sein for hellgrammites and fish creeks from him. It took me a while to figure out how we could both be fishing worms, etc. side by side, in the same creek, and he would catch more fish. He taught me the magic of structure and cover. I still remember, plain as day, my first "a ha" moment as I watched my bobber float about 3 feet further from the bank than his, and when his came up to this bush growing out over the water his bobber got yanked under while mine just kept floating. Next cast, I was in the right spot, and it was a game changer. I went from that moment of catching redeyes under a bush with my dad to fishing J-7 Rapalas waist deep in a creek within a coupe of years on my own. Basically from there on, I learned creeks and rivers myself. And, to be honest, I still think wading a creek with a little J-7 is my absolute favorite fishing to do. 20 inch smallmouth on 4-6lb line in the current of a nice creek is hard to beat. As for lake fishing, watching Bill Dance etc. as a kid introduced me to some techniques, then reading magazines all the time helped. But, when I finally got out on "big water" I struggled. I've since learned that part of the problem was obviosly me, the other part is that the lake I was trying to learn on is notroriously hard to catch lots of big largemouth on. And while I felt like I was doing horrible (obviously compared to TV shows) I was actually doing ok. I've continued to learn all the time, still reading magazines, and more recently reading a ton here and by watching videos on you-tube as well. If I had access to a lake as a teen, and the internet resourses we have now for learning - there's no doubt I would be a much better lake angler today.

Time on the water is #1 for sure... nothing competes with experience. BUT -- Time BEFORE the water is highly important, especially if you are fishing new water. So my #2 way to improve fishing would be research. Putting in due diligence, before fishing new water especially, is key in my opinion. Approach your day on the water with a solid plan based on research of the lake (internet, old magazines, tackle shops, friends, and map study) and appropriate for the seasonal pattern, so that when you get there you're not trying to figure out where to start. Being able to get good start based on the map, and where the fish "should" be is a great step towards a great day. Practicing that when it doesn't matter will help when it does. I also do the whole "yard fishing", and it's a good way to improve certain skills. I've also done the "only take one type of lure" fishing, but I think that kind of get's tricky. If the conditions and bite are right for lure x, then you will have better success then if they aren't regardless of technique, etc. If you want to work on your topwater skills, but it's a bluebird day, no wind, high sun, clear water... chances are your success will be worse than trying early A.M., on a foggy morning, with a litte wind out of the west. I would suggest practicing how to effectively fish structure vs how to fish a lure. Take a dock in 12 feet of water, for example. You can learn so much from that first doc you come to IF you can fish it effectively. You can spend a lot of time trying different techniques to throughly examine that structure, and even if you don't catch fish, you will be learning "how" to approach it for the best coverage. Where as if you are just trying to learn lure "X" you are giving up a lot of opportunity to find fish quite often. Replace doc with offshore hump, or secondary point, or inside creek channel, etc. etc. Yeah, I know that not every (insert place) will be full of fish, but I think you can learn more technique by learning how to throughly vett structure then you learn by only throwing lure "X". So I guess my practice suggestions are research and to spend time practicing specific structure.

I know, right?! Hopefully some of the folks new to fishing get a chance to read over this thread as there are a ton of great suggestions I think. Heck, some good reminders for the vets to be honest...

I love going to BPS Outdoor World, but it's a couple hours away and I don't go often. Really though, when I'm there I usually don't end up buying too much. I think I spend more time just looking at goodies vs buying what I need lol. DSG is ok locally. I tend to swing in there and a local outfitter (where I buy all of my flukes from) most often. But honestly, for terminal tackle I've probably bought as much at Wal-Mart as I have anywhere lately. I think the fact its like 10 mins away vs 40 for DSG and that I always swing through the fishing section when I'm there for whatever else, has gotten more of my money. When I think ahead and actually plan a purchase I generally use TW and get it all online, or occasionaly BPS online.

I will have to defer to someone with their logs to make a more accurate responce, (WRB probably has the data) but I would suspect that at least in the AM the bass would be higher in the water column generally around a Full Moon +/- 3 days. I can't imagine that it would be a significant difference, but I think it could potentially help to find fish early. I am purely speculating though, as I have never tracked that.

Tom or others probably have better data to refer to as I've lost all of my logs from years past, (and honestly haven't started a new one mostly because I was pouting about losing all my old stuff - but I digress) so I can only base my response on what I remember and conjecture. Here is my thought about how the moon could position fish differently. The light of the moon alone can drive night fishing as stated above. We know that moonlit nights offer better night fishing where as moonless nights generally become harder to catch bass at night. (Intersetingly this kind of fits in with the conversation about light and fish placement in a different thread too, lol.) I would assume that nights with more light make it easier for bass to feed as they can see their prey better. Given how light attenuates in water, that would position them more shallow during nights with a bright moon so they could best utilize that light. If they do in fact stay more shallow during those "full moon" nights (I'm thinking Full +/-3) then it would seem reasonable that they would naturally position themelves not only more shallow but also on shallow structure. I think that if a fish moves shallow during the night, and there is nothing to push them back deep, it would seem reasonable to expect them to be positioned more shallow during the following day, especially that morning. If a fish is able to stay in one area and have all of it's needs met, why would it move? In retrospect, this (in my opinion) may actually explain why we see more success around a full moon. Sure, there will be more fish caught at night which would help the numbers statistically; but also, there could be more fish shallow (where the bulk of anglers fish) just hanging out in that area from the night before. That turns it into a pure numbers game, and the more fish there are to catch, the more fish will be caught. Now, conversly, one could argue the exact opposite and say they could stay deeper since there is more light and that would position them deeper. But, in my experience - I have always caught more night bass shallow in the light of the moon than under a completely dark sky I think we could add more science to support why bass would stay shallow vs just being able to see better. So to answer, yes, I feel that the moon phase does help position fish on structure, all other factors being even. However, I think that a seasonal pattern will be a bigger influence over all. A full moon in a lake nearing ice over, I think, would have less impact than a full moon during warmer months. Again, this is all just a mix of conjecture and my experiences. I'm sure someone else can offer their experience and shed a little more light on the topic. (pun intended lol )

WRB -- I obviously agree that the absolute heaviest fish will be caught around the spawn, for the obvious physical reasons. I wonder, though, how the size corelation mixes in the rest of the season -- IF -- you look at size potential. What I mean by that is, suppose a female LMB prespawn was 26" and weighs 15lbs, we know she wont way the same in August. But, it's the same 26" fish. I was wondering, if in your experience / logging if you ever noticed a length increase of fish caught during the spawn thereby showing a "bigger" fish being caught versus the same fish, just heavier. I know I have caught some long fish mid summer that looked more like a trout than a bass, lol. I wonder if you haven't really been able to catch giant fish all year, only they were lighter because of the season. I know most of us tend to focus on the weight, not length, but if we consider length and look at the potential of that fish in spring we may see a slightly different picture.

WRB - I agree with your logic - hence my research - but T9's data does convey a different picture than what I found in VA. I agree a larger sample of trophy catches is really needed if we were to make a confident claim one way or the other. I found it interesting that in VA we had more Records set on the New Moon while KY was exactly the opposite. Either way, I still plan on taking off time around the New moon every year

Yeah, I agree that your numbers would tend to be within tolerances for just being weighted by the number of people fishing on said days / periods. I will have to dig though my old issues of IF and see if I can find their article, as I don't remember reading it. Course it may have been at a time when I wasn't getting it too...

Cool T9 -- did you happen to notice any relation to being directly on the New or Full moons? That was the biggest outlier I saw. I absolutly feel that spring is going to be you biggest "record" time given the added weight of heavy females, angler pressure, and location. It all makes perfect sense.

I can't agree on the net thing. I personally love using a net, especially with anything more than one hook. It's not always just about the fish, but about protecting yourself. A nice fish on a bait with multiple trebles hanging around its mouth is just asking for trouble when you go to lip it, especially if its a smallmouth or green when you land it. Sure if you have a jig, you're less likely to get stuck, but if you have a jerk bait with three sets of trebles flopping around...yeah, I'll take that net please, lol. No point in adding extra risk to yourself if you have a good net right there. I find it even more important on steep banks and especially if you are fishing light line which I usually am if I'm on a bank. You may look funny with a net down by the bank, but the first time you don't have to worry about landing that big fish, it's all worth it. Now, if you are fishing for dinks that you can lift with the line, then maybe go ahead and skip the net. But, that's just my opinion.