Tuckahoe Joe

I've done this 2 or 3 times and have only been fishing baitcasters for like about a month of so. I haven't gotten any serious fishing related injuries....yet (I'm sure I just jinxed myself) but a few weeks ago I was trying to pull a 1/4 oz. Roostertail out of a tree. It came flying back and caught me right in the gut. I was wearing a thick hoodie so I didn't get any hooks but I got a heck of a bruise.

I love that show! Apparently the new season started last Sunday but my stupid cable got turned off and I missed it. Whatever. It's back on now and I got my DVR set. I'll just have to watch the episodes that I missed On Demand.

I like my Fishouflage hat. I've had some hats that are really hot and make my head sweat. The one from Fishouflage keeps my head nice and cool and its really comfy too. The only negative thing I can say is that because of the way the material is cut and stitched together, it was hard to find one that actually had a complete fish on it. I had to dig through a couple stacks of them that had a bunch of fish tails and halves of fish on it but I got myself a good one with a nice whole bass just above the logo on the front. This probably wouldn't be an issue with the shirts though since your dealing with larger sections of the material. All in all, I'd say I'm a satisfied customer. Thank you Fishouflage for sponsoring this awesome site!

I'm liking my Abu Garcia BlackMax combo. Got it for like $70 bucks at WalMart.

Nice fish...the Return of the Jedi shirt makes it even better!

Welcome to Bass Resource!

Happy birthday man...cool cake!

Thanks guys...I'll try both suggestions. Hopefully it fixes the problem. I really like the idea of the Scatter Rap and it would be a shame if I couldn't get it going right.

There are some big carp in some of the lakes and creeks around here but I've never targeted them. If I go the corn/bread route, what size hook should I use?

I hit a new spot today and the water was a little deeper than the majority of the spots I fish so I was finally able to try out my Scatter Rap Crank. The problem is that I don't seem to be getting the evasive action that was advertised. I cast out and then it seems like its just retrieving strait back then when it gets about 5 feet from the bank, the evasive action kicks in but by the time its that close, its more of less pointless. I was using 12 pound line. I'm thinking that may be the problem. Anyone else have a similar issue?

Cool! There's this farm I always drive past and the owner pulls the road kill deer carcasses into his field. Sometimes I see bald eagles eating on em. Usually just turkey vultures but every now and then there's an eagle. Some of them are pretty big too.

That spot looks awesome!

Welcome to BR!

Welcome to BR!

That's awesome! I know there are cats in the lakes I fish (although I haven't personally caught one) but I'd be really surprised if they got that big.

Welcome to BR!

That's pretty neat!

Nice! I'm gonna try that next time.

Are you sure there are big fish in there? If your only fishing small ponds, there may just be an overabundance of small fish. I'd say try upsizing your lures. Most guys on here are gonna say a big jig/craw trailer. You could also try a 3/8 oz. spinnerbait or a big worm like the 10'' Rage Tail Anaconda. I've heard that bigger lures will help to weed out the dinks but that's not always true. Caught this little guy today on a jitterbug that would barely fit in his mouth and the second one came on a little 5 in lizard a couple weeks ago. So it's not really set in stone.

I have that combo in 6'6'' medium. I use it for pretty much everything. For line I use 12 pound mono. I'm pretty sure its rated for 1/4 to 5/8 oz. lures but I throw 3/16 oz. spinnerbaits with no problem. I've caught fish on it with cranks, spinnerbaits, T-rigs, topwater, and I'm learning to flip and pitch smaller jigs as well since its my only baitcaster. It may not be the ideal combo for every technique but I do just fine with it. Maybe if I get a boat I'll buy a rod for every different kind of lure but since I fish from the bank I don't want to have to carry more than 1 or 2 rods. The video posted above is a good one for casting. Here's another one showing how to properly setup a baitcaster. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/adjust-baitcasting-baitcaster.html Remember to set it up again every time you tie on a different lure and if your still having problems with backlashing, turn your brake up a little more. You'll sacrifice a bit of distance but it will make learning a lot easier and once you get the hang of casting you can back the brake off bit by bit. If you do get a bad backlash, don't start picking at the spool. You'll only make it worse. The best way to clear it is to pull line from the front of the reel til it catches. Then thumb the spool and turn the handle once or twice. Then pull line from the front again. Sometimes you have to do this a few times if the backlash is really bad but I have yet to meet the backlash that couldn't be cleared with this method. Good luck with the new baitcaster. It can be frustrating at first but after a few trips you should start getting a feel for it.

Way ahead of ya buddy!

Me and the wife just went bluegill fishing for the first time today. We were slaying them left and right. Probably caught 50-75. It was like a fish every cast. Didn't keep any but it made me think of this thread. The majority of them were pretty small but we caught a few nice ones that would have been a decent eating size. Maybe next time I'll keep a couple. Do you do something special with your bluegill sandwiches or just bluegill, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise?

Could have been worse. You could have gotten skunked after going through all that. Nice fish!

Eastside in the hizouse!

Got yourself a nice looking feast there!