logan9209

Oh, one other thing. Setting the hook is a judgement call. Sometimes I would set the hook when there was a thump thump (or my line started tightening up). Other times I would wait to see if the bass would take off with it. Both work and both have disadvantages. Sometimes when you set the hook too early it could have been a bream (sunfish) or the bass just had it by the tail. But, if you wait too long sometimes the bass practically swallows the darn thing (including the hook) which can potentially harm the bass (as far as I know of all of mine lived but you never know).

Worms are by far one of my favorite soft plastic to fish. You can dropshot them, wacky rig them, shaky head them, you bounce them along the bottom (my favorite) like a jig, weightless some worms can be used like a jerkbait, ribbon tail worms can be swam fast or slow, my buddy crawls it across the bottom with a slow but steady crank, you can pitch them, flip them, or even skip them. Oh, also carolina rig them. With weights I wouldn't go too heavy. Sometimes a heavier weight will spook the bass when he picks the worm up. Also, the bigger weights tend to get hung up (like in the fork of a submerged branch or roots). My standard weight is a 1/8oz bullet weight. Since I have a lot of slop in my lake it's not to heavy for it on an 8lb test line, but it's light enough to give me the option to swim the worm. Senko's and the alternatives, on the other hand, are always fished weightless by me. The reason is that most of them are salt impregnated which makes the lure heavy enough to cast while still having a slow fall rate. Lizards are just like any other soft plastics. You just have to figure out what color they want. I've actually had them pulverize a fire orange lizard one time. It was one of those $1.96 trial packs made by Yum that I got at Wal-Mart.

LOL! Roadwarrior, I was afraid of that. It's what I'm better at anyways. I actually got a hit on a dropshot a few days ago. I'm gonna keep tinkering with that (weight needs to be further from the hook) and also the usual texas rig weighted and unweighted. I wanna mess with jigs but at the moment my stoutest spinning rod has a really really fast tip.

Sam and ClackerBuzz, within the last few weeks I have been working with topwater (Spook and poppers). Strangely, due to the heat, my window is much bigger in the morning (6-11) than the evening (8-9). I am fairly proficient with texposed rigged soft plastics, but I feel that to be a better fisherman I really need to start delving into jigs, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and whatever else is out there. My baitcaster is broken at the moment (everything works but the spool won't wind in) so I think spinnerbaits are out at the moment. From what I've seen personally and heard from others, this lake pretty much breaks the mold. For example, the bass will hit a black worm no matter what the conditions or seasons are. They will also hit a chartreuse soft plastic on a sunny clear water day. So, I figure that if I can catch with spinnerbaits, cranks, and jigs on a consistent basis, then I should have a much easier time on other lakes when I finally get a chance to. Simply put, this lake is my training lake. LOL! I am really trying not to get stuck in a rut like some fishermen do by being chained to a small selection of "trusty" lures. The more I learn other lures and the more proficient I can get then the better fisherman I will be. Oh, and right now we've had some unusually hot weather so I was looking for different ways to get to the midday deeper suspended bass. So, I guess in that regard lipless would probably be the better choice since it is far easier to raise my rod to get over the weeds in the closer range.

I've always done it with spinning gear (3 different kinds). The one time I tried with a bait caster I had a "professional overrun" and quickly decided not to try that again. Bare in mind, though, I'm skipping under small trees or bushes that are about 3-5ft away from me. Got this one tree that I am always guaranteed a bass 4 days out of the week. But it never holds more than one bass. Sorry, didn't mean to go on and on and on.....

crankbait2009, for some reason I have a hard time breaking away from soft plastics. Not saying I've mastered them, but I know that on a hard day I can always pull out 1 or 2 bass with them. So, I tend to bring all of them with me and then have just one plano3600 filled with the hard baits that I might practice with if I have time (spinnerbaits are my bane).

Goose, I do that sometimes too. I have a tendency of not counting those as crankbaits. I don't know why. Tom, I wondered about that and have actually used that technique. But, would I miss out on any potential bass in that area? I've watch some pros literally get a strike within the 5 ft range of the boat if not right at the boat.

I do have a firetiger shallow minnow crank made by cotton cordell. 1-2ft. dive and i've caught 2 bass on it.

As I've said in other posts, the lake that I fish at has a no boat restriction and a majority of the accessible areas are covered in nasty moss (not sure what the technical term for it is). I know the center of the lake isn't deeper than 18ft. I can cast the crankbait within two blocks of it. The problem begins when it's within 15-0 feet of the bank. The average area however is no deeper than 4-6ft deep with the moss growing fairly high in the water column. I do have about 4 "shallow" running crankbaits that average 2-4 ft diving depth. But would I be wasting my time with them considering that there doesn't seem to be any areas that allow it to kick against rocks or dirt and such?

That's what I was thinking too. No matter my reel stopped reeling a couple of days ago. It will turn and will kick the button up, but it doesn't move the spool. I took it apart three times and I can't figure it out. I think getting my lure out of the tree like I did damaged it somehow.

The last few weeks I started using a Zara Spook with my b/c since it's getting hot so early in the year where I live. Could be a line guide issue, but for some reason after a few casts almost a foot or so of line (mono 12lb) was being eaten up. I had some 30lb braid (8lb mono diameter) left over, so I took roughly double length of the rod of braid and tied it to my mono with a albright special knot. The braid was my leader. Braid a relaxed line where mono is stiff. My walk the dog retrieve was much smoother and it never dipped under water (braid tends to float). I have caught 6 bass and I lost one because I didn't play the bass right. Also I got the spook hung up in a lay down (still working on accuracy) and both lines withstood the beating that began and lasted for about 10 minutes. Hey at $6 a pop I can't afford to lose lures like that. This lake where I live at has already swallowed almost $80 worth of lures in the last 6 months. Anyways, I got my Spook back and like I said the lines were perfectly fine.

It's funny, I essentially hold spincast, baitcast, and spinning the same way. With b/c and s/c I palm the reel with forefinger and middle finger in front of the reel while my ring finger and pinky finger grips the rod underneath resting on the trigger. On spinning, my hand basically splits the reel. F/f and m/f in front underneath the handle and r/f and p/f in the rear underneath. My thumb sits on top in line with the rod. I am right handed, but could never get used to casting with my right and reeling with left. I cast with right hand and reel with same hand. Some say that you lose valuable time that way, but I actually switch hands fairly quickly and have never lost a fish due to the switch. Also, despite being right handed, I have more power setting the hook and controlling the fish with my left hand/ arm. Makes no sense I know, still.

See this is one of the reasons this website is so important and also why I badly wish there were people here where I live that I can learn from. I never knew that you needed to back the drag off when b/c isn't in use. Mine just stopped reeling today. I've taken it apart 3 times trying to figure it out. Grant it, the rod and reel was bought at a pawn shop 5 months ago for $20, but I expected it to last a little longer.

My b/c is broke at the moment, but I use it for top water (spook, buzzbait, and frog), jigs, and spinnerbaits. Everything else I use my trusty favorite spinner rod/reel combo. It's a shakespeare bass kit rod w/ 8lb test mono. It has brought in 2 20lb cats and over 80% of my bass have been caught with it. The reason I prefer b/c for the others is that it has more power on the retrieve. Especially with spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. With spinners the reel can really burn them in and with the buzzbaits I can get them to the surface quickly. Alot of ppl use spinning gear because b/c reels take some time to get used to. You have to think about 3 brakes: your magnetic brake, your fine tuning brake and your thumb. While learning can be a pain, once you start getting the hang of it, it can be very rewarding.

welcome. so far these guys have been great. they all seem to have positive things to say and are really nice. have you fished lake allatoona yet? i'm looking forward to the day i can fish a lake beside my community lake.

Tom D., I don't have a bike and while it is possible to cut some of the trip or walking time, I could drive. But that would leave my wife without the car. I'm not to big on that. That particular point I only go to once in a while while there's 2 holes (one where I got that 8lber out of) and there's one spot that the bank has a small curve, but what's great about it is that about 10 feet out it drops drastically. It's a great place for bass in midday heat. Keep in mind guys (or maybe I should have clarified earlier LOL), I brought the subject up to hopefully give new guys and some more experienced guys something to be aware of. While I am sure that no one here would act like that, sometimes we pull a reaction strike (like the pun?) rather than thinking about it. In other words fishing, or anything else we do, is so much better and enjoyable are considerate of others. I haven't seen that guy again (that was almost 5 months ago), but if he acts that way again then I will do like I did last time.....nod my head and went back to what I was doing.

Yep. Yep. I can't tell you how many days that it wasn't about how many I get, but rather just being there. It's beautiful, quiet, and I'm away from the wife and kids........Ahem, just kidding I love my family but everybody needs their own little bubble for a little bit.

Grimlin, I can tell you from first hand experience that it doesn't always matter what the other person is using. There's a guy I fish with once in a while who seems to have the gift of Jimmy Houston (or just pick your favorite pro). He will throw a weightless worm, let it sit and then shoot the breeze with you. Next thing you know he's got a bass on the end. One day he was casting a spoon and caught a rock bass, a smallie, a crappie and a bream. I would try the same exact thing and nothing doing. Just like your signature says, a lot has to do with your confidence in you lure. You can take most lures and fish them at least 4 different ways. It's all part of the fun.

Oh, Sam, the few times I really wish I had a camera either the batteries were bad or I'd forget. I caught 2 20-25lb catfish on trick worms (1 black and 1 junebug with chartruese). Caught an 8lb lmb, left everything there and ran over to a friends house (half a block) to get it captured on their phone. but for some reason they never could figure out how to send it to my email. and yes the bass was still alive. I am very careful about that. if nothing else, i would like to catch it again and it maybe bigger. LOL!

Well what makes it bad is that particular day was one of my good days, meaning that i could get around. I was actually on my way home from a spot 25 minutes from where he was at. Also, there's no tourney on this lake so it's not like he was aiming for first place. On this lake I am my own competition. I keep track of how many bass I get each day/month and if I got it on a new kinda lure. There's at least 4 covey holes that I can hit from the bank and all of them hold bass (though now that it's reached summer 2 months early getting hard to figure out). So he doesn't bother me. I was just hoping to get others to think about things like that. Thanks for the positive replies.

thank you. thank you. this morning my trusty baitcaster went on the fritz. was hoping to get some good topwater in. well.

I watch enough bass fishing shows on youtube and other places to learn how to fish. I've only been bass fishing for 6 months and fishing all together for a year. I'm smart enough to understand that the best fishermen don't stay in one spot for hours. They move around. I get that. However, my lake has a no boats restriction, so I am stuck bank fishing. I have kidney problems. Some days I can move around a bit and others not so much. There's a particular point that's really good to fish almost year round. Problem is it takes almost an hour to get there. Needless to say, once I am there I will be there for at least 5 hours (usually sitting while fishing). One day I was fishing and this other fisherman was ranting about how you can't stay in one spot and if you're in a tournament you can't sit still. I mean he was real angry and rude about it. First, I wasn't in a tournament (looking forward to that). If I was, then the boat would actually be moving and not me. Second, I am happy to take suggestions and often try to study other people to broaden my understanding about the sport, but I'm not big on listening to bitter angry people when I'm not doing any thing that will affect them. If I decide to use a texas rigged shoe string, then that's my business. If I decide to squat the whole time I am fishing, that's my business too (although that would be painful). Point is this: There's a difference in trying to help some one and just being rude to them. Not everyone is on the same experience level, the same budget level, or even the same health level. I got into fishing because after 2 1/2 years of not being able to work and being stuck in the house, I felt imprisoned and depression was taking a major toll. Since I've been fishing, I feel better mentally and physically (although I still have a few bad days). Being courteous will get you further in life and will lengthen the list of friends that you can count on and have fun with.

i try to keep mine organized. try. i bank fish (no boats allowed at my lake) so i don't wanna carry every thing i have. since i tend to use soft plastics in the end, i just carry all of them in the book bag in original bags (or a zip lock if one isn't available). my cranks in one case and jigs and spinners in another. problem is that i get lazy sometimes usually put them in the wrong box on the fly or i'll put the soft plastic in one of the other pockets of my backpack.

I tie directly to spooks and my heddon hula popper came with a split ring. i've only caught 5 bass on the spook but i found something that helps with walking-the-dog technique. i tie 8ft of 30lb braided line to my 12lb mono. the braided line gives it that slack that's needed. plus my mono was being eaten up from lure up (about a foot). with the braided line i eliminated that problem.

i've yet to get a bite on one. i bought my first pack a few days ago (june bug color). the problem i have (i think) is that i can't cast it very far like i can other plastics. even with my bait caster it always cast short. i have to bank fish which leaves out alot of pitching/flipping. i am not giving up on it though. those cost $6 where i'm from so i will find a way to use them.