uiubassmaster

agreed.

sounds like a blast! watched the videos from the last couple and they look like a lot of fun. unfortunately I have school so I wont be able to attend but I plan to make it down for one in the near future! Good luck guys. Hammer em!

LOVE EM! use them a lot on the river for smallies but also on ponds and smaller lakes for largies. All time favorite combo is black and blue with a blue trailer.

might sound a lil crazy but last year i was messin around trying to make new combinations out of the baits I had and i put a baby brush hog on the back of a Yum Boogie bait (their version of the chatterbait) I took it out on the water and as borat would say..... Great success!

I'm a firm believer in both of these as my tackle box will show....

I appreciate all the help guys, after considering a few different options and talking to my professor, we finally got it narrowed down...... i think...... Im planning on doing my research on the difference between berkley gulp! plastics and conventional plastics. I was able to find a couple threads on here as well as some internet information that should help get me started before i move into an in-depth study. We are planning on performing lab tests on both types to see how they react to prolonged water exposure (bloating, shrinking, deteriorating etc...) as well as some other experiments. Once again thanx for the suggestions and happy fishing!

U caught a sting ray!?!?!? You would be amazed at some of the junk u can pull up from the bottom of the mighty mississippi river..... I've caught a number of usual and unusual things over the years, broken rods mussles a scummy old flannel shirt (luckily there was no one inside it) random pieces of metal my best friend sent a hook through the front of my shin on his back-cast once (d**n x-rap) best thing i ever remember catch would have to be when i hooked a muskrat in the tail, luckily he freed himself boatside while thrashing in the water..... :-/

Although I've been able to keep myself mildly entertained with ice fishing here in iowa, it's nothin like sling baits at fallin tree with a 7 ft rod from the front of a boat..... I MISS IT LIKE A FAT KID MISSES CANDY BARS AT SUMMER CAMP!!!! sorry for that outburst, cabin fever talkin.... ;D

1. Improve on deep water fishing 2. Improve on targeting hidden and offshore structure 3. Catch a new pb largemouth (gotta be over 8 lbs.) 4. SLOW DOWN, pay attention to what mother nature is trying to tell me...... 5. Pay more attention to everything thats going on around me when I catch a fish (printed off some fishing logs, my goal is to fill out 20 of them)

Joined both! what can i say, the groups lured me right in.... :

Couldn't agree with you more! I've gone shore fishing countless times and walked back to my car at days end with pockets overflowing with lure wrappers, used line, broken bobbers, chip bags, and not to mention empty pop/beer cans and bait containers. Makes a guy glad to be associated with so many other fine ethical anglers on a great site like this tho! ;D

appreciate all the suggestions guys, keep em coming!

Good point. I guess I can discuss that with my professor advisor. The thing is I picked the topic and it's titled "environmental impacts of fishing" in which we are to write a paper, give a presentation, and do something "hands-on". I planned on researching several different factors and compiling them into my paper/presentation. The "hands on" portion would come from the lab tests done on the lead weights as well as the conventional plastics. I appreciate the input so far and will talk to my professor to see what we can work out.

O trust me I am a strong supporter of recreational and sport fishing as both a management tool as well as a recreational activity (not to mention the money it makes to support the organizations involved in sustaining our natural resources), but I am already aware of many of the positives, I would just like some input on possible negatives as I feel that's going to be much harder to research and put into words. For example: One topic I plan to cover is the controversy over bed-fishing bass..... I'm just kind of looking for some ideas to get me going because I have 16 weeks to fully complete the project but I would much rather do most of my research early on so I don't push any of the time-consuming stuff off until the last second...

O.K. so here's the deal, I'm a conservation management and environmental science major at upper iowa university and for my senior project topic I chose "environmental impacts of fishing". In my quest to find information I thought to myself "what better place to get core information that from the fishermen themselves". It's a fairly broad topic meaning I could discuss a variety of things (dis-guarded line, chemicals or toxins present in lures, artificial plastics, or scents as they biodegrade etc) I will also be doing a couple of experiments comparing lead and tungsten weights as well as berkley gulp! (100% biodegradable) compared to conventional plastic lures. Any and all responses are greatly appreciated as I feel is going to be hard to research Internet sources since the majority of the information is localized around environmental impacts of ocean fishing. Also if you could put up any links u know of that would also be great. Thank you and happy fishing! Jacob Bruess

Just wondering if anyone knew of any good lakes or rivers to bass fish during these dates. I live and go to school in Northeast Iowa but my buddy and I are willing to drive a reasonable distance if need be. Two springs ago we went to Lake of the Ozarks and the bite was hard, we didn't catch much but it was a fun trip none-the-less. I will consider any and all suggestions so any responses are greatly appreciated. 8-) Happy Fishing. -Jacob Bruess-

got one and love it. one of the plastic oval rings broke that hold the shoulder strap on but i was able to easily fix it with a metal oval ring i found in our shop

I like to fish the 3 inch minnows on a drop shot rig with a stand out hook. I kill the smallmouth and rockbass on the rivers around here from spring through to fall. On the other hand I have used the craws a few times with no success.... >

I picked up a bottle of Mustad's "Ultrabite" when if first came out. It was talked up quite a bit so I broke down and bought some when I saw it on sale at Gander Mountain. I was just wondering if anyone else has used it and if they've had any success because I've used it some but haven't really noticed too much of an increase in bites like it's supposed to do....

Just wondering if anyone has seen these or owns/uses them. They look like another chatterbait immitation but they have a wire connecting the blade to the head. Looks like it would have a lot of action. If you want to see what I'm talking about, the link is below. http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=90362&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

I just got a few in the 5/16 size for the trip i'll be taking to lake of the ozarks next week. I got the ozark craw and molting craw, these are cool little jigs and i agree with the majority, this is going to be a great jig this year

alright, well i have the green and yellow model, and i bought it when they first came out, so i'm guessin my body is just too hard which doesnt surprise me because it does have a pretty hard body. With all of the new swim frogs on the market today, and the success i'm having with them, I don't know if I'll drop another $8 on a Spro frog if I can get two packs of plastics for the same price...

never used one, but i do have the spro frog and i have gotten more hits on that thing then any other frog i have ever used. but i have the hardest time actually hooking into a fish. i've tried waiting longer, jerking harder, jerking softer, jerking slower, and nothing seems to work, i dont know what to do anymore. any suggestions???

after hearing roadworrior talk up yo zuri hybrid i had to go out and try it for myself and I love it! its extremely strong and smooth, has low memory and retains its shape and resilliance. I have yet to have been broken off from a fish and I too use 12 lb. on my baitcasters for cranking and spinnerbaits. If you are in question at all of whether to try it or not, I would say to try it, you wont be dissappointed.

man aren't u missin out. it's supposed to be around 5 degrees (-25 degree wind-chill) this weekend, well I guess Iowa gets all the good weather...