Rob G.

I use a Hydrilla Hacker on my 82lb motorguide. My partner runs the stainless and it works also. The Hydrilla Hacker has more power and is more weedless than the stainless, but both are good props.

I have a TecH20 rainsuit, the bibs and coat. This is Gander Mountain's own brand. I love it, it does not have Gore Tex, but does have a water proof, vapor permeable liner such has Gore Tex or Sympatex. I have had mine for at least 4 years and have used it a lot. It is good stuff and has never let me down. The price you stated is a steal, might buy 2 at that price. Keep one for the truck and the other in your boat. Just remember if you wash it use a soap such as Sport Wash that completely rinses out. If you use standard laundry detergent it will clog up the pores in the membrane and will no longer be waterproof. At that price you might want to hurry, they will surely sell quickly.

No

You are absolutely correct about the increased number of short strikes. This is caused by the recent increase in lunar pressures caused by the proximity of Mars to our Moon.

I live in the Quad Cities also. I happen to like the River here, not as much as north of here, but it is a good fishery.

First of all, how could you possibly not like fishing the Mississippi? In my opinion it is the greatest fishery in the world and has a high population of bass, both brown ones and green ones. And Senko's do work and work well in the River, but no bait works everywhere all the time. Give it a chance. I do sometimes use Senko's in high current, but in heavy current there are probably better baits. Your problem is probably related to not being able to get your Senko deep enough. Try either a texas rigged bait, not necessarily a Senko, or just using lighter line.

Seems like a waste of time and money to me. If you are fishing from shore you might be best to save the money you would spend on one of those fish finders and purchase a float tube. I bought my first one when I was 16 years old. My world of fishing expanded. I was no longer stuck on shore. I could fish those areas that I could not from shore. You also do not spook fish from a tube like you do when walking the bank. I have now owned float tubes for 18 years and although I have a bass boat I still use my float tube on small waters. Just my 2 cents.

The sores you see could be a few things. Before the females lay eggs they rub on stumps and rocks and stuff to help stimulate and to loosen the eggs inside of them. Here on the Mississippi three or four years ago in one area in particular I caught a slug of bass with sores or lesions on them. One fish actually had a hole completely through it just under the spine. This fish fought well and appeared nourished and healthy outside of that. The DNR attributed it to a bacteria. I have also heard the LMBV can cause lesions. Could have been a lot of things. If you have lampreys or eels that could also be the culprit.

The monkey is not a bad thing unless you get caught spanking it.

6.5 on a quarter oz rattletrap.

There are lot's of good books out there. I have read two by KVD, one by Bill Dance, Shaw Grigsby's is one of the best books that I have ever read--although not just about fishing--about life, will not read Ike's book about the poor repressed bleeding heart liberal dork, and am now reading a book by Bassmaster called Advanced Bassfishing Skills or something like that. DVD's books are both good-I hear there is a third, Bill Dances is probably the most educational although somewhat dry, and the Bassmaster book is ok-although seems elementary in most regards-but keep in mind read enough books-fish enough-and information gets repeated. All good reads except Ike's that I have not and WILL NOT READ. That man needs therapy. Do not get me going. Anyways, keep reading, keep fishing and you will learn. I have! One of the best tips I have for any fisherman is to regularly fish with a fisherman beter than youself. You might get outfished, but you will learn.

My advise would be to only take those baits with you. Seriously, it will MAKE you fish those baits and will make you learn. It takes practice and experience, especially the jig, but once you get onto it you have accomplished something that will catch you many, many fish. Let us know how you are doing with this. One more piece of advise, do not make this more difficult than it is. I only say this because I have a real propensity for doing that. Have fun! I almost forgot, hook sets are free, so if you think you have a strike, set up like you want to cross the fishes eyes.

Celandra, You got lots of opinions here. They also say blue is the last color to be filtered out. To be honest, I do not buy into the "red" reaction theory. I do not think red hurts your chances of catching bass, but I am not convinced that it really helps much either. Just another fishing fad. People site studies and stuff, but if you dig deep enough you will find studies that contradict them. Simple thing is that these fads or theorys cause us all to go spend money on new baits.

Thanks. I gotta say this, Weakley is a true sportsman. 99% of us would have killed that fish to have it mounted or sold it to Bass Pro, Cabelas, or somewhere.

Sounds like cheating to me. Chumming is not legal in most states.

Tubes are basically my go-to bait. I fish them a lot. Just texas rig with the smallest bullet weight you can get away with. Like jigs, sometimes fish want a slow fall, sometimes a fast one. I usually start without pegging the weight. If in really heavy weeds I will peg it. Rig your hook, I use a #4 EWG for 4 inch tube, tex-posed. If you find that you are missing fish, inspect your weight. If there are small superficial grooves in it, you are opening the fishes mouth upon hookset with the weight. In that case I rig the but with the weight inside of it. There are commercially made weights for this but a cheaper way to go is to get a bell sinker. Insert the brass line eye into the top of the tube, then insert your hook, making sure to put the point of the hook through the sinkers eye. Then rig texposed. I also rig like this anytime I want a bit of a slower fall, or want to the tube to fall horizontally. Sometimes this is what the fish want. It is also very easy to skip a tube with the weight inside of it. I can accomplish this with baitcasing reel, but is easier with a spinning rig. When up north in clear lakes I use a jig head. You can texas rig a jig head, but mostly I rig it with the hook exposed. And lastly, tubes can be great surface baits, expecially across the top of slop. Fishing tubes as surface baits does cause considerable line twist, but is very effective at times. Hope this helps. PM me if you have other questions, I am sure I forgot a rigging technique or two. Just thought of one, sometimes I will insert a glass or metal rattle into the tube prior to texas rigging. Is not always necessary, but does produce more fish sometimes. I almost always rig with a rattle during tourneys as I know it does not hurt anything.

If it was partcularly smiley and stinkey then assume a big Shad. If not, then be thinking drug/skipjack.

I started using a Kipawa last year on my motorguide. It really has made my motor more weedless and it is a tough prop. Note though, if you have to take your motor in for warranty work, remove your Kipawa. The manufacturers might not honor their warranty if they know you have been using an aftermarket prop.

Are you certain that the hits you miss are bass? Sometimes I find that bluegills and crappie will just nip the end of the tubes. Try changing color. Also if you are using a heavy 1/2 oz bullet weight to punch through hydrilla, try using braided line. No stretch means direct hook sets. Cross their eyes!

Four or five years ago on Easter Sunday I had enough of my in-laws and went fishing at a local club that I belong to. The lakes on his club are old sand quarries. No weeks grow to speak of but there is lots of timber on the shores and drop-offs, holes, etc.. The water temp was in the high 40's. I began fishing the typical jig and pig very slowly and really worked hard for a couple small fish. I was acutally getting bored/frustrated and thinking that I should have waited a couple weeks until the water temps rose a bit. The skies just started turning gray and the wind was picking up. Obviously the barometer was dropping and a storm was on it's way. I had just bought my first fiberglass cranking stick and wanted to play with it. I tied on a Storm Wart and hung a four pounder on the first cast. I caught fish on almost every cast for over an hour. I caught 5 fish over 5 pounds that afternoon. That is respectable for this club and in this area of the country for that matter. I left before the rain started, but when it did start, it really rained. I have experienced similar things may times since, but that day taught me something. Sometimes just because the cows are laying down does not me anything.

You should be able to catch bass now.

I forgot to add, try fishing the ledge from shallow to deep, and also from deep to shallow. If the ledge is long enough and you find the sweet spot, you might run right down it fishing parallel to it. I would be careful however if I was going to fish this multiple days in a row. You might spook the fish running right over the top of them with the boat.

Heck with water that warm you have many choices. A regular crankbait might just be dynamite. In the shallower water a 200 or 300 Bandit is where I would start. In the deeper water use a 400. Suspending jerkbaits may also work well, but if you do not have to work that hard, why do it? If these fish are active, they will rise to a bait. Tubes and jigs might be dandy if the fish are less active. You really are not too limited in water that warm.