hooah212002

Yep, I got ya.

From your OP in the other thread: Now from your OP here: How do these differ?

You seem to be contradicting yourself here. Aren't you equating stained/darker water to a black t-shirt and saying it stays warmer longer? "murky and stained water attracts heat and retains it too" followed by "bass in clearer lakes may still be in their "summer" pattern"? Or was there a simple transposition of descriptors for water?

I use 20# red Power Pro on my baitcaster and it seems to get the job done and not give me any problems. The coating seems to make it easy enough to pick out backlashes and I've had a few doozies lol. However, I've not had any big hang ups (or big fish for that matter) to really test the strength. I don't notice that I've lost a dramatic amount of distance from my casts compared to the mono I had prior. All that said, someone somewhere will recommend just about every brand line. A buddy of mine even uses the walmart brand braid (omniflex or something) and likes it. It comes down to personal preference and what you are willing to pay. IMO, if there was a brand that plain didn't work as advertised, I can't see that it would stay on the shelf.

I had a smallie take my lunch money once. Another time I had one take my seat on the bus. It was a tough school.

Thanks. Right above your post, I posted that I confirmed they were bluegill. Chalk that up to good intuition on your part lol.

A gift...from medical science and the doctors that fixed it. Thank them.

It also depends on what part of the country you are in as well. There are more big bass down south than there are up in the northern part of the country. 4-5 pounds is a good size fish here, but is probably average down south (at least in decent bass lakes, anyways). Forget about Florida: average for them is probably 15 pounds lol.

Well, i stopped at Dicks and grabbed some red worms 'cuz they were out of crawlers, and headed over. I tried the round jig first and got a few bites bit no commitment. Then I tossed a worm on a bobber but got the same thing: something stealing my worm lol. Yep, it's panfish. Then a bunch of fog rolled in so I couldn't even see the bobber so I took it off and just fished a worm on a hook. First cast I got one. Decent size bluegill. I took a pic of the first one, but after that my hands were filthy and little old gills aint picture worthy lol. If I used small hooks, i gutted em, if i used a bit bigger hook, they wouldn't take it all the way. I landed five or six, but pretty much got a bite on every cast. I hooked into a few bigger feeling ones that jumped and shook loose. I've never had bluegills jump on me like these did; it was pretty fun even though I don't much care for bluegill fishing. All the fish i caught were at least the bigger than my hand. On a side note: 6# suffix elite is REALLY good, strong,smooth line (this was my first time using it since I spooled it). I got a snag and tried to break off but my line wasn't having it. I pulled in a big ole stick that had my rod bent over nearly in half lol. I got line twist once, but I'm pretty sure it was due to throwing a practically weightless hook. All in all, it was a good outing, but one that I won't be making again any time soon. Thanks to all for all your help.

Make sure it is straight when you hook it. If it is off kilter at all, it will spin and not have natural movement. It should hang straight down when you dangle it from the line.

Welcome! This place is great and contains a wealth of information. You'll like it here.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, my buddy gave me one of these and I just so happened to use it for my plastics lol. It is already close to overflow so I will be buying another soon. It's great if I know I will just be using soft plastics because it has a shoulder strap that is long enough for me to sling it cross ways over my body and wear it while I fish so I can just walk around without worrying about leaving gear behind.

I had the same "problem" with my 5 year old. I barley get to fish because he constantly reels in his worm and bobber. However, it is far more gratifying to see his face when he catches a fish than even for me to catch a world record. I try to find places for him to cast where he is less likely to get hung up. He is pretty darn accurate so after just a few times taking him he hardly get hung up anymore. Plus, I've got him practicing in the yard to increase his accuracy and better his technique. Even better is when my dad goes so we can switch off on helping him. Keep reminding yourself that he will remember fishing with dad for the rest of his life.

That is a good possibility. If they are, they seem like they are good sized ones because the brief time I had the bite, it was good. Not muskie or smallmouth good, but good for tiny-pond-are-there-any-fish-in-here good

When all else fails, this is what I will resort to.

Good point. I'm not very well versed in catfish, so I wasn't sure if they were likely to find out it was plastic and spit it out immediately.

It seemed like anything with any bit of weight immediately picked up a ton of moss, but I'll give this a shot.

I stopped by a small pond after work tonight that I had never seen before. It is right off the highway next to a baseball field. It is VERY small: I can cast from one side to the other width wise and lengthwise it is maybe 75 yards or so. It is very murky with only a few inches of visibility and LOTS of moss. I pulled over just to see if it had potential for fish and as I was walking around it, I saw a number of swirls indicating fish presence. My fishing poles are like American Express: NEVER leave home without them (my wife does not like this since we have a small car lol). I already had a weightless 5" green pumpkin senko rigged up so I tossed it in. I had a bite very quickly, but either the fish didn't commit, or I set the hook too hard too fast. And so this went on for a bit. In total, I had 4-5 good strikes in less than an hour, but I couldn't get the fish hooked. I did not see any fish jumping out if the water, but merely rolling. Usually indicative of carp, but carp would have no interest in a senko (would they?). I mean, when they would take the bait, I felt it tug and fight for a bit, but when I would set the hook, it was gone. One time I even whipped the senko right back at my face. Question 1: should I try a smaller senko? I tried some cheap looking craw thing I had and got nothing. I tried texas rigging (with weight) the same senko and got nothing. I tried a T-rigged 7" finesse worm in green pumpkin with watermelon flakes and got nothing. I tried wacky rigging the same senko and got nothing. I tried a couple other colors and came up empty handed. Question 2: does this sound like it could be a catfish? I've heard plenty of stories and seen a few videos of guys catching cats on senkos, so it doesn't seem too far fetched. Plus, I'm not certain how much fresh water flow is needed for bass. I know cats can live in just about any water though. The reason I'm asking and not just trying it out is because I won't ever have much time to fish there; it will be an after-work-don't-let-the-wife-know trip (she's already on me about fishing too much and I barely get out that often). That, and I'm the rookies rookie. As I've said ad nauseam, I'm still learning this whole "catching" fish thing, let alone being able to feel bites. The sensitivity of braided line and a decent rod/reel is a whole new ball game for me. All that said, I'm not looking for answers for you all to tell me what exactly to fish; no, I still plan on going and just trying different techniques even if it means picking up some crawlers and slapping on a bobber lol. I would just like for some critique, perhaps. If it helps, here are the google maps coords if you want to see the pond. 42.693388,-87.956838

Powers lake has DIRT cheap boat rental and isn't much farther than Geneva. 24 hour row boat rental for $20. Just drop your cash in the box and take it any time, day or night. No need for anyone on duty. Integrity and all that. I'm looking into getting my a trolling motor so I can fish there since I've heard good things about it,

It was my first time on Delavan even thought I've lived here for going on 6 years or so. It's near impossible to fish ANY lake around here without a boat.

CRAP! I got Eli Manning riding the bench and it's too late to move him! Dangit AAANNNDD I have a Dallas receiver riding bench. Bah, horrible time to leave work early.

It pays to be a Bears fan sometimes. I got ALL the picks that I wanted.

I think if you first learn about the bass themselves, like where they live and what they eat, choosing lures will be far easier. Secondly, I would recommend learning somewhat of a finesse technique first because, IMO, it should be much easier for a person who starts off with finesse to power fish than the other way around. I personally have a lot of trouble with finesse because it seems boring. Productive, but boring. I haven't yet learned the patience necessary to fish slow lol. So do yourself a favor and start with soft plastics and learn those rigs. Then, when you are ready, crankbaits and such will be fun and you'll be twice as effective. This is just my humble opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

But then who would watch the kids?? But really, she does like to fish I think, just not near as much as I do.

I'll play