Upnorth

I still don't have alot of confidence with a jigging spoon.

The 1oz. black and blue jig in the grass mats and a dropshot on the edges were the two techniques that took the most for me.

The in-fisherman series of books are loaded with info. For fun, check out Sowbelly. I just read that and thougt it was great.

Those rubber Peg-it strips are a must have. You can peg your bullet weight without damaging your line or whip up a quick carolina rig on the fly.

I had that problem with a batch of plastic. I was told that I was not mixing it enough. I mixed the heck out of it and still the same problem. I ordered a new jug of plastic, no more bubbles. I have heard that sometimes you will just get a bad batch.

I personally do not keep any bass, just a few salmon and panfish per year. Just about everytime I'm out on St.Clair I see a charter boat loaded with people, using live bait, catching trophy smallmouth and throwing them in a cooler. These are large fish with great genes and they are just pounding them, day in and day out. Keep a few smaller ones you will eat in a reasonable amount of time, and let the big ones breed. There is no reason to stock pile the freezer with bass filets.

I got my best a few weeks ago, Oct. 10th on Lake Guntersville. She weighed 6-10 and hit a black/blue 1 1/2 oz. All Terrain jig while pitching clumps of grass. I'm sure that will be my biggest since I'm now back in Michigan and the decent weather is winding down.

kbj, I'm a firefighter. I work about 10 days a month, but those are 24hr shifts. Averages out to about 56 hrs a week.

I love the Bandit 100 series. My favorite color is one called "mistake".

I also use pyrex and the microwave. There are some companies that make large pots, such as sta-warm and lees. del-mart.com and bobstackleshack.com make great aluminum molds, but I think a 10 cavity mold will be a custom order.

Time on the water. I am lucky that I work about 10 days a month. That, coupled with no kids, gives me lots of time on the lake.

To not have the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers on there is crazy. I could not believe the Tennessee river system did not make the list.

Mike Long or Dickerson would be my guess. i have no idea how big it was.

Sounds like your technique is right on. I would recommend using a 7' to 7'6" heavy action rod for pitching jigs 1/4 - 1+oz. You'll like the extra length for more distance and the stiffness for moving fish away from cover.

Fishing hotspots maps has a website, do a search for them. They have great maps and are priced around 7-10 bucks. The Michigan DNR website has topo maps of most of the public lakes here, but they are not all that detailed. Check the DNR website of your state, if they have them, they are free.

I am looking into doing same thing. I don't know what climate you are in, but if the lakes in your area freeze during winter, I think you might need to dig a deeper pond than 4-6 feet.

Unless you fish up here in the Great Lakes, then the best bait ever has to be a tube. But they sure will smack a jerkbait come spring!

That first fish would probally not break 3 lbs. I'd say 2.8.

Just another gimmick by BASS and ESPN to get more of your money. A standard membership used to get you all the privledges. Man, BASS has gone downhill fast.

RW, try a full sized RoboZipper worm on your flipping stick. It is far from a small fish bait.

If you want to use flourocarbon line then give Seaguar a try. Berkley vanish is not even in the same league as this stuff. Also, flourcarbon does not do well with many common knots such as the palomar. Try a california jam knot. It is easy to tie and solved my breaking problem. do a google search, there are instructions how to tie it.

Avid is right about roboworms. They are a robotically "hand" poured worm so they will have a flat side and are super soft.

I have Oakley Unknowns with amber lenses and a pair of Oakley 5s with grey. They are both great lenses. A buddy of mine owns an outdoor shop and gives me a pretty good discount.

Try a hand poured worm. The plastic used for hand pouring is much softer than injection plastic.

2003 Dodge Ram 1500. No, it doesn't have a Hemi, what a mistake.