cdaggett

Congrats on finding the fun of lure fishing!

I get so much crap for not liking fish... I think I have been scarred from my elementary school!

Post on Lure section and you will probably get more responses. A bass will eat pretty much anything if its a free meal that doesnt take a lot of energy to chase down.

Its mostly the environment that they spend most time in. Now by environment I mean where they are located in a body of water or even multiple bodies of water across a wide area. Fish that I catch around rip rap or rocks usually are very dark and solid in color with some stripes visible, while other fish I have caught located around light sand and gravel bars have been lighter with more visible stripes. I think it is all about adaptation. I like to think that fish have their preferred locations to call their own, and stay close to them throughout the duration of their lives.

I scrolled down and saw that they make fly rods in that model. It looks to me like thats a fly rod in the picture too because of the reel seat. I say get a cheap combo that already has the backing and fly line on it. I have a $150 combo. Its a 6wt, 9ft, 2 piece rod and I love it!

Tree branches always worked well for me

I know this is a little late, but tie on a zara puppy in pretty much any color. They are nuts over these things!

Try out the Heddon Moss Boss in a dark color

Dont bury the hook as deep in the plastic, and wait until you feel the weight of the fish. Sometimes little guys will swim off with just the tail end

I have spros, sexy frogs, and pad crashers. They all keep out water reasonably, however the hook up varies I think. I had the best luck with pad crashers because of how soft they are. I think they walk a little easier the the spro and kvd because its a little lighter. The spro is heavy as hell but looks great and is very durable. The same can be said about the sexy frog. KVD has a rattle too.

I have really been wondering lately if it's even worth having gigantic barbs on EVERY single lure I own... Jigs, cranks, poppers, EWG hooks..... everything. I have had several close calls with hooks and fish (lipping smallies and having a treble hook almost barb deep in my thumb, supporting the weight of a flopping fish etc.) When the time comes, I want to be able to remove a hook easily If I stick myself. Sure you MIGHT lose a few fish, but it's called fishing for a reason. Keep pressure on the fish and you'll do fine... Who crushes their barbs, on what types of lures do you crush them, and have you had any experiences with landing fish without barbs, and do you have any stories about hooking yourself?

I have use both Siege and Elite. I prefer Elite because it handles better than siege. The Siege had pretty good abrasion resistance, but the crap had terrible memory and coiled up every cast. I know how to put line on a reel the right way, and I know I did, but the stuff was not for me. I took it off and it looked like a powdered wig that I could stick on my head. I managed to use the whole spool, but I cant really say I enjoyed it....

Braid for buzzbaits, frogs, jigs sometimes Fluoro for most everything Mono for cranks and jerkbaits

The best thing for grass that's 1 - 10 feet down is a lipless crank. Whenever I use billed cranks it's around rocks and wood so I don't have to bother taking small grass off my bill and my trebles. I have fished grass and lipless with mono, fluoro, and braid. Braid is THE best in my opinion because you feel a lot. If the grass is a little deeper than 5 feet than switch to mono. You will feel a mushy type of pressure whenever you hit the grass. When this happens just rip it out with your rod. 9 times out of 10 all or most of the grass will come off. Sometimes you think you have grass and rip it, and there happens to be a fish on the end of your line. That's the fun about this lure type for me... I set the hook before I even know a fish hit it!

Have you seen those Trokar hook assortments? The trays that they come in look nice, and kind of reminds me of a fly box. Im wondering if I could get a tray like that.

I was wondering how I could help stop the rust. I have lures/hooks/split rings getting signs of rust after a single trip. I just open up my 3700s and let them dry. I have not really checked to see how long it takes to dry everything while in my garage. Do you do anything else after the rain? Do you think they dry out faster? The only thing im concerned with is if I drop it in the water it wont float, but im willing to compromise.

I have fished in heavy rain, and even purposely submerged my reels to clean them off. as long as you let them dry after they will be fine, unless your in salt water

Where do you live? Ive recently fished the last couple of days with no avail. I was fishing with a dude that pulled out 3 of them in 15 minutes dragging a jig on the bottom with a trailer. Both the jig and trailer were black and blue. I did the same thing on 2 different bodies of water and didnt catch a single thing. If it's cold where you are (40 degrees and below) than it will be difficult for you to catch them...

At least your bass are up shallow... I have been fishing since last Friday and have not caught a single fish. I am beginning to become so frustrated with the fact that I have not caught a single thing. The water is below 40 degrees and the bass just wont bite. Im waiting to go to florida oon, and hopefully I can fish some beds!

20-40 lb braid!

In the Kennebec river sometimes they wont bite anything besides an inline spinner or spoon. Run it in contour along structure and you will get bites. They literally attack it!

I have read that a bass' eye is able to detect at a much higher rate of speed, the detail in a bait for example how the blades of a spinner bait turn and how a crank wobbles. It was in a bassmaster or In-fisherman magazine, not some jo-shmo redneck website. It was back by scientific research and studies. It also said that a bass can see further to the left and right while its looking forward than one might think. I was relatively convinced by this article, so I firmly believe that having a semi-realistic paint job will help produce more fish.

Yesterday a guy was casting a black and blue jig with a dark blue trailer and was dragging and popping it on the bottom and caught three nice ones within 15 minutes that I talked to him. He was pretty much blind casting it out into the open and retrieving it. If only I could catch em that easy. BTW here in Maine the water is freaking cold.... like mid 30's

Yesterday, after fishing for pike for 4 hours with no luck, (probably due to the fact that I was limited it a relatively small portion of open water on a frozen lake) I started to head home. I should mention that on the way there I saw people in bass boats even though there was still ice on the water in some spots... Lucky b******s..... Well on the way back, there were two men fishing from a little cement platform from the same lake that the boats were in. One was relatively old, and the other young. The young guy knew what he was doing... St. croix rods and reels that looked much more expensive than mine... Well, he was throwing jigs. I had been doing the same the other day trying to catch some largemouth with no avail, however in the 15 minutes we chatted he landed 3 nice fish, and the other guy landed a really nice fish. Probably 4-5 punds or so. I asked the guy throwing jigs if he was dragging it or hopping it. He replied with a lip full of dip and a Maine accent, "Im draggin' it a poppin' it" He was using a black and blue jig with a dark blue trailer. I was using brown with a brown and green paca trailer. I was not using a very large jig. More of a finesse type of jig. My question for all of you experienced elite bassmaster pros is this.... WHAT IS THE BEST PRESENTATION, AND THE BEST COLORS FOR WATER THAT IS LITERALLY LESS THAN 40 DEGREES? It is freaking cold here in Maine despite the fact that it's almost April. One other question is how the hell do I tell if a fish has taken my bait or spit it out. I can tell the difference between rocks and logs and such, however I cant for life of tell when it takes it. I am not very experienced with jigs but have seen firsthand what they can do. I was using a 6-6 Cabelas IM7 and a daiwa viento. The problem I believe is the line that I am using. I was using 20 lb Suffix Mono. Should I be using braid, flouro, or other line? Thanks guys!!!

From MCS to me "Bitters Bait and tackle. they offer 10 or more per bag and are 2 for 5 bucks. Lots of colors and have some great baits, knockoffs with some improvements."