Brian6428

For me it would be the bait that would catch fish in the most situations. No bait can catch them all the time, but the one that does the most is my favorite.

Honestley the trailer sliding down is the reason I stopped using rage tail trailers Hopefully some of the things in this thread will let me be able to use them again, they're great trailers!

Not gonna lie, bass fishing can be difficult to get into. For your circumstances, I would suggest either getting a guide, or just some good old bluegill fishing. A guide would teach you a lot and get you on the fish, but at a price. For bluegill you could just buy a few cans of worms and have a pretty good day, likely with a fish fry if you want. Now, if you do want to get into bass fishing, I will throw out some basic lures/terms. Edit: it appears most of the links aren't working. I will try to redo them, but just google search the name of the lure to see what it is. Worm- pretty straightforward. Rubber worm, put on a hook, normally fished with a weight (T-rig). Ex. http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Reco-Worm/product/12080404462511/ T-rig-(Texas rig)- Most common worm rigging. (google search texas rig) Senko- great for beginners. Fished weightless on EWG hook. http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-StikO-Worm-6/product/36703/ Tube- (Aka gizit). Fished on EWG hook with a bullet weight or jighead. http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-DoubleDipped-Tubes/product/90802/ Crankbait. 2 types: lipless crankbait (rat l trap) and regular crank bait. Regular http://www.basspro.com/Gary-Yamamoto-Chikara-Crankbait/product/1307110706125/ lipless http://www.basspro.com/Cotton-Cordell-Super-Spot-Lipless-Crankbaits/product/44610/ Rapala- very common and expensive crankbait brand. I would not suggest for a beginner. Jig- normally Jig-n-pig. Jighead, pre tied skirt with rubber or pork rind trailer. Jig http://www.basspro.com/Strike-King-KVD-Swim-Jig/product/73171/ trailer http://www.basspro.com/LuckEStrike-Rick-Clunn-Jig-Trailers/product/15761/ Spinnerbait- normally saftey-pin type. Very effective, easy to use. http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-XPS-Enticer-Spinnerbait/product/44622/ Popper- topwater lure, cupped mouth to make pop on surface. Good on summer mornings and nights.http://www.basspro.com/Gary-Yamamoto-Shibuki-Popper/product/1307110706126/ EWG hook- used to fish worms, senkos, sometimes tubes. Weedless when properly rigged. http://www.basspro.com/Lazer-TroKar-EWG-NonOffset-Worm-Hooks-with-Z-Bend/product/10205306/ Hook size. The larger number the smaller the hook is (#32 is tiny), all the way to zero. Greater than zero begin the "aughts" 1/0 (one aught) is bigger than #2 but smaller than 2/0. 5/0 is normally biggest. For bass I like 3/0 to 5/0. Structure- permanent changes in bottom composition/depth in a lake. Examples are ledges (like a stair), points, humps (underwater hill) sunken bridges, roadbeds, riverbeds etc. I doubt you will fish much of this since you wont have a depth finder. Cover- Non-permanent changes in a lake. Ex- fallen trees, sunken weedbed, visible weed line, etc. You will most likely fish this as you can see it w/o depth finder. Where to find fish. Bass fishing is all about location. Depending on the time of year bass will be in different places. Look under the seasonal articles on this site for seasonal info. In general though bass relate to structure and cover. Rarely if ever will you catch a bass when they have nothing to relate to. Think of the lake as a desert- the bass will naturally attract to trees or an oasis rather than wandering aimlessly. Rods and reels: I would suggest a spinning rod and reel combo to start, like this. http://www.basspro.com/Pflueger-Trion-Spinning-Rod-and-Reel-Combos/product/1306060741407/ Line- Start with monofilament. http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Tourney-Tough-Monofilament-Fishing-Line/product/16526/ How to fish- Most common approach is to fish from shore. Cast in fan pattern (parallel left to straight out to parallel right). From boat most troll near shore casting towards shore. Land lure as close to shore as possible. Bottom bouncing lures: (t-rig, jig, tube) cast out. Let hit bottom. Lift lure off the bottom and reel in slack. Repeat until lure returns to shore/boat. Fish slow and always be ready for a bite. Spinnerbait/crankbait- cast, let sink (spinnerbait) and begin reeling (spinnerbait and Crankbait). These lures provide action inherently. Popper- Fish on surface with short jerks of rod with long pauses. Watch Glenn's videos on youtube (search bassresource) Read articles in the beginners section. **Do not automatically buy the things I linked to here. I'm in a rush (procrastinating Homework lol), I just searched the name and clicked the first one I saw. Look for similar lures that are cheaper** If you need any help, shoot me a PM (personal message). I learned to bass fish on the internet a few years back and remember how hard it was (and still is!). Tight lines. Brian

Booyah are my favorite. Cheap and they catch fish.

Is there any particular reason you want to use hard baits?

Some of the members here are very successful fly fishing for bass. I tried a little this past summer and from what I learned topwater is the most popular, but there are many other flies that work, like streamers. I would suggest posting this same question in General Bass Fishing Forums for more replies, or just pm one of the Mods (roadwarrior is the first to come to mind) and they could move it there for you. Brian

You might want to look at this bad boy for the new phone http://www.otterbox.com/armor-series-iphone-5/armor-series-iphone-5,default,pg.html I have a friend who has one and it seems pretty close to indestructible.

Glad it turned out ok. I wear a PFD 95% of the time, and that 5% that I don't is hot summer days when I'm out with my brother. I always wear it when fishing alone. Thanks for sharing and glad you're ok.

This is what I have always wanted to know. The few times I have fished spoons they got stuck so much I just couldn't fish them!

I always have fun fishing, this is why I will never enter a tournament. My most fun fish was a warm summer morning fishing from shore. Only had an hour or so to fish so I got there while it was still dark. On my 5th or so cast, when I could barley see my buzz bait, I heard a loud splash and set the hook. Reeled in a ~4lber. Took pics but they're all too dark. That was a fun morning.

I was in a similar position last year (minus having a kayak). I explored my options thoroughly and decided on a Bass Raider 10E. There is a whole thread (its huge) on them in the bass boats forum here. I really like it. Room for two to fish (me 5'11" and brother 6'1"), very stable (we both stand). We put it on top of our suburban, but a truck would make it easier. Only downsides are that it sights high in the water so anchoring is often necessary, but for the same reason it can get to some spots the big boats can't! Give the thread (http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/25442-any-pelican-bass-raider-owners-out-there/ ) a look. Hope this helps! Brian

Thanks a ton for the help. I cant wait for the ice to melt!

I agree with Rippin-Lips. Skill is the main factor to success, but there is definitely luck involved.

Thanks all for the advice! Here are some pics of jacomo. Only reason I don't fish there is that I haven't ever had much luck there, but it is supposed to be a better lake.

Hey guys, this winter I got my first ever fish finder and have done a lot of reading on structure fishing and pre-spawn fishing for the upcoming season. That said, I am still stumped where the fish will stage, and where they will spawn, especially on my home lake. I will link to a topo map of the lake but any info related to pre-spawn/spawn fishing in general is welcome! Thanks, Brian

From what I have read, you should rinse it down in clean water. That said, my abu garcia silver max has been submerged ~6 times with no special care taken afterwards and it still works just fine.

Rage tail- Love them now. Megastrike- Every jig has some on it before it leaves the boat. Swimbaits- Caught a few quality fish on them, but I am not comfortable fishing them because of fear of snags. May sell them soon but that feeling of a 4lber hitting a huddleston was unforgettable!

It took a lot of thinking, but there is one thing I don't like about fishing. All my local lakes only have one or two boat ramps and they all open at 8am and close at sunset. It's like they don't want me fishing when the fish are biting! We have a dock we have access to on one of the lakes and in the summer if i cant take my boat i will get there around 5:30, or go fishing in the evening till 9:30. Sometimes we carry my boat (Pelican Bass Raider) down 3 flights of stairs and launch it from the dock so we can be on the lake before 8!

I hardly feel qualified to answer this, but you asked for every member so here it goes: 1. Spend more time on the water 2. Fish lakes where there is a better chance of having big fish 3. Know where big fish like to live in your lake. Big fish get to do whatever they want, so they get prime locations. In some lakes this is deep water structure and in some it is a few feet from the shore.

If it were me it would be no question, I'd be going to baccarac. Good reviews from all the guys here who have gone and some monster fish!

My most thankful moment was when I was fishing on a cold, windy day in late october. I was wearing gloves and had been doing fine fishing with them, when the rod slipped from my hand on a cast. It didn't go far, hit the side of the boat and was about to go completely underwater when I managed to grab the line running from the reel to the first guide. All this happened in about a second, and it scared me a little. Granted, this setup cost about $60 new but i really don't want to waste money on another when this one still worked. My other one is catching my PB in mid spring. 12 lb mono, medium rod and a long cast isn't the ideal jig setup. One head shake and she was gone, but luckily I landed her to see that my jig's hook point had barely penetrated the top of her mouth. Close call!

Great advice here by Felix, especially the part on the color black. It is subtle yet has a great outline, even on a 5" finesse worm.

Just got back from Bass Pro and it went great. Arrived at 6:15, no line or anything. Immediately found the BPS PQ combo in the fishing section, and they had easily 50+ and were bringing more out every 10 minutes. Most were righties but i found a lefty that I ended up buying. Had to wait in a 30 minute line to check out, but overall it was't bad or crazy at all and I saved $90 on a reel I was going to get anyways! Not all black friday stories end bad here i guess! Thanks all for the advice, Brian

Nope, I'm going to the Independence store. Amazing what some people do for a good deal!