KingMidas

My brother turned me on to the yum ribbon tail worm in red shad, texas rigged. I also really like the yum wooly bug carolina rigged. Can't decide between the two

So I am going to Hayward Wisc. this August. I have never been in the area. I will be on the Brule river some of the time and my family has rented a cabin on Long Lake. First off, ill be looking for a guide to take me and my brother out muskie hunting. If there are any recommendations on that front, thated be great (kinda unexpected though). What I really want to know is if anyone has any fishing experience in the area they would be willing to share Basically, what other bodies of water should I try? My family is intent on fishing for walleye and muskie but I really want to find a place to catch a nice bass. Any trophy producing lakes in the area? FYI: for me, a "trophy" would be anything 6+. Thanks

I have found the same to be true at a small pond I fish regularly. I have had luck with some weightless ribbon tail worms and other smaller profile plastics. Being weightless allows the bait to hover and float more than sink. I slowed down a lot this past week and that seemed to help as well. One other thing I have found is that throwing a carolina rigged creature bait works around dusk. I don't know, but I think that the bass in my pond are more actively feeding around then and they seem to prefer the meatier profile of a creature/buggy craw to the thinner ribbon tail i would be using earlier in the day.

I agree. You would probably want to get a guide or at least seriously study some maps before you go. You can do a lot of messing around and not a lot of catching fish out on Mich if your not prepared. Im from Illinois and as far as catching a 10 pounder here goes...good luck. The state record for LMB is 13 pounds 1 ounce. And that was caught in 1976. Im not going to say it is impossible to catch a double digit bass in the midwest, but if you want to plan a trip to have a really good chance at catching a trophy, id make the commitment to travel a ways.

If your guides have sharp edges you might be fraying your line like ppl have already said. What I thought of first is that maybe while your spooling your line it gets frayed/damaged in some way. Make sure everything is smooth.... Smooth baby smooth.... Lol

If interested, watch this YouTube video. Since starting to only use a reel set when I need to set the hook, I really don't lose fish once they strike. I don't know if anyone doesn't know how to do this but it was new to me earlier this year and it has helps me a lot. Hope at least one person finds this informative. FYI, I didn't make the video. It's from James Smiley

BASSclary, I like to fish a finesse jig/ shaky head or a drop shot most of the time. As far as price goes, $250 for the whole setup is basically my limit. I dropped a nice pflueger on a Shimano rod into a lake in the boundary waters when I was 18 and ever since I can't get myself to really take the leap to the next level of equipment. By the way, everyone's responses were great! I was afraid of being mocked for my lack of knowledge, but I guess people who fish are just as nice online as they are when they're waving to you from their boat!

Hello all. New to the forum. Though I've been fishing since I was a toddler holding a racecar themed rod n reel, I just started taking bass fishing seriously last year. My brother fishes for his high school team (we have high school bass fishing in Illinois!) and he invited me to pre fish with him before a few tournaments. Overnight I have become obsessed and cannot wait to sift through this website and forum for information on ways to improve my fishing ability. Hope to hear from everyone!

I fish at a small pond quite often. There are a few things that tell me where to go. I try to find a spot with the wind blowing towards it and as much shade as possible. Obviously shade is hard to come by mid day but i think that algae pads provide a bit and that's why I usually have success fishing their edges. My pond doesn't have perch, just bluegill and crappie. Unless the 'gills are hanging out in dead water, their presence usually means some big boys will be lurking in the area looking for stragglers. I don't know if this is true, but I also seem to have better luck with darker colored baits during the middle of the day.

Okay, so I'm new to this forum and was perusing a thread of posted rod/reel collection photos. May I just say, WOW... And why do you need all of that? I have a browning Midas baitcaster on a st. Croix triumph rod and a pflueger president spinning reel on an Abu Garcia vendetta. I find I can throw anything I want with one of these two setups. I am BY NO MEANS saying that having more than two setups is unreasonable. I just want to know what slight nuance differences in rod or reel help to accomplish what specific task. I love looking at different tackle options online and would really like to buy something outstanding. I just need to justify the purchase somehow! Hehe. Please give me a bunch of reasons to blow a few paychecks. Thanks

The wacky-o-tool as its known at bassproshops.com is a metal tube that you place the end of your senko style bait into and slide a rubber o-ring down until it comes off the metal tube and onto the senko. You don't end up stretching out the plastic and, when you put your hook through the ring, you can cast without worrying about ripping through the senko and sending two halves of it flying into the water. I never use a bullet weight when wacky wormin. If I want the extra drop rate to get to the bottom faster I'll wacky rig a senko/dinger on a finesse style jig head. And I don't believe there is a wrong way to fish a wacky worm. Just find a retrieval pace/presentation that works that day at that body of water and keep doing it.

I exclusively use the improved clinch knot. If you tie it enough, you'll eventually get to a point where the time it takes becomes a non issue. While I'm sure that a Palomar knot is still quicker to tie, I can tie a clinch in about 15 seconds. Actually, I add an extra "locking" step to the improved clinch that I learned from the back of a pack of mustad hooks. It's hard to explain but essentially it involves putting the tag through the loop made when passing the tag through the original loop made in a normal improved clinch. I guess since I learned the Palomar when I was a kid I just assumed the improved clinch was better. More steps equated to a stronger knot in my mind. After reading some of these responses, however, I'm going to give the palomar a try once again. That being said, I love the way an improved clinch balls up solidly with fluorocarbon.

If you grow impatient with the senko's fall rate, try wacky rigging one on a finesse jig head. I watched a YouTube video of Takahiro Omori using this method and had to try it for myself. Not only does the jighead drag the senko down faster, it also gives it a great action while popping and twitching it along the bottom on the retrieve. According to Omori this method this method presents more like a crawfish than anything else.