Jerkbate

This was an almost catch so it may not count. This happened to my brother. He and I were wading the backside of a pond when he catches about a 1 pound bass. We were standing only a few feet from each other in about knee deep water. His fish ran towards me and was almost between my legs when a much larger bass (I'd guess about 6-8 pounds) nailed it at my feet. I thought I was going to have to clean out my pants. The big bass finally let go of the small one after a few seconds. The little fish was bleeding and looked like someone had thoroughly scaled it.

hey.... does MS mean Mississippi? (did i spell it right? i doubt it! ;D) Yes

Josh, I am a college instructor, and I one of the courses that I teach is Entrepreneurship. I recommend that you do a business plan. Be sure to be realistic with your numbers when you do the financial portion of the plan. The plan takes some research and time, but it will allow you to make very informed decisions about your guide business. It will help you layout your finances, set prices, obtain permits & insurance, & also help you make the decision as to whether or not guiding is a realistic career for you. After doing the business plan you may decide that the cost and effort may out way the return or maybe not. However, those are the types of decision that the business plan will allow you to make. Here is a website that should help. http://www.sba.gov If you have any questions send me a PM, and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

MS Woods & Waters, Bassin, & MS Game & Fish

Tubes and jigs. I've never caught a fish on either one of them. And believe me; I've tried.

I can be at Grenada Reservoir (40,000 acres) in about 10 minutes from my house and 5 minutes from my work. My house is about 20 minutes from Enid Reservoir (28,000 acres) & about 40 minutes to Sardis Reservoir (34,000 acres). There are also seven lakes (20 to 50 acres) on the national forest that are all within 15 minutes of my house. As you can see a fishermen of any kind could not ask for a better place to live. I consider myself pretty fortunate. I feel bad for you guys who have to travel to fish. It would kill me if I had to drive an hour everytime I went out.

Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall When there wasn't even any Hollywood They heard the call Steely Dan - The Caves of Altamira Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good. Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest, But they should never have taken the very best.

Thanks for the replies. I went to Grenada Rez. today, fished a main lake rock point that drops quickly into 8 - 10 feet of water. I then fished a line of cedar trees that extend from 3 feet into 15+ feet of water. I also fished a creek channel that passes between two bluffs then into the river channel. I fished up into the creek, the points formed by the bluffs, and the junction of the river channel & the creek channel. I fished these areas with jigs, C-rigged stickbait, and crankbaits. I only had one strike with the fish running with the jig before coming off. However, I haven't caught many fish on Grenada the past couple of years using any technique. So, I wasn't expecting much. The biologist says the largemouth population is healthy, but no one is catching any. The lake experiences over 400,000 man hours of fishing for crappie with about 90% of those hours coming in March & April. I think the extremely intense crappie fishing pressure has hurt the bass fishing. I spoke with one crappie fisherman who said he had caught nearly 400 crappie, but could not recall catching one largemouth. Also, in a tournament a few weeks ago I was told that 28 of the 35 boats did not catch one fish. This is at a lake that used to produce a lot of 8 & 9 pound bass with daily catches of 10 - 15 fish being average. I've caught most all of my fish this year at a few local forestry service lakes. These lakes range from 20 to 60 acres. I'm going to fish those lakes again this next week. I plan to try some ideas of my own and some of the things suggested here. Any other advice will still be appreciated.

I've almost always been strictly a visible creek channel, cover, bank fisherman. I live in North MS. Most of the fish in the local lakes have spawned. I was catching fish in the shallows and creek channels, but those areas have pretty much stopped producing; especially the shallow flats and cover. I've been wanting to improve my structure fishing. So I've challenged myselt to fish these types of areas almost exclusively the rest of the summer. Therefore, I've been fishing on the main lake points, river & creek junctions, road beds, etc. out in more open & deeper water. I know the fish should be moving out of the flats, creeks, & ditches into these areas for their summer pattern, but I'm having almost no success. I've mostly fished with Carolina rigs & crankbaits. Any of you guys who fish these types of areas have any tips?

I was thinking the same thing.

RR lives in south MS & I live in north MS. We also have a lot of 7-9 pounders caught with 10+ being the magic number.

Bigtex, I'm with you. Keep as many as you like as long as you are within the legal limit. I don't care if your fishing public or private waters. It's been said before, but I'll say it again the biologist set the specific lake limits for a reason. Keeping fish within those limits will improve the fishery. I think the C&R has gone overboard. Some of the smaller lakes in my area used to produce a good many double digit fish. Now I'm lucky to catch one double digit a year. The reason, people refuse to keep fish that are within the limits set by the mdwfp, and you end up with overpopulation. The older fish are caught or die off naturally. Then your left with a lake full of smaller fish because competition for food is so severe. Don't get me wrong, I have released every double digit fish I have ever caught, and don't remember ever keeping one over 5 lbs. But the smaller ones that are within legal limit better beware. You never know when I'll take a notion to fry up a good mess or have some family or friends wanting some fish. Also, I've eaten crappie, cats, bream, and bass. Crappie is the best, but bass fillets are pretty good too. It's all in how it's prepared.

I've caught 306. The fishing has been tough lately though on my local reservoir. I started fishing the 3rd of March.

Blanked I'm a college instructor. I get off Mon. - Thurs at 3:30, and noon on Friday. With the long days I can fish almost everyday. From my home; I can hook to the boat, drive to the lake, and be in the water in about 20 minutes. If I carry the boat to work, I can be on the water in about 15 minutes. Oh yeah, the chauffuer washes the boat. The butler cleans the fish. LOL

I mainly fish Grenada Lake in North MS. I have been fishing this lake for over 20 years. I average fishing the lake about 2-3 days a week once the water reaches the 205 mark and some of the crappie fishing pressure dies down. The lake level fluctuates because of winter draw down. At summer pool the lake is about 40,000 acres with 200+ miles of shoreline. Although I have been fishing the lake for many years and know several areas pretty well, there are still areas that I have not fished.

Congrats on your PB! As AmBASSador stated the weight depends alot on the physical make up fish. I have caught a couple of larger fish 5+ lbs. that did not fight that much. I've also caught 2 & 3 pounders that tried to take the rod from me. So, I think that size is somewhat irrelevant to the amount of fight in a fish. Environment also plays a role in the amount of fight. A river fish will usually fight harder than a lake fish. Also, a five pound river fish will usually be smaller than a 5 pound lake fish because the river fish is usually more muscular. The key word is usually. There are no set rules. As for your question, a five pound bass is a trophy fish, but it isn't a giant. Take a scale and weigh all of the fish you catch big and small (maybe not the dinks). This will help you develop an idea of the general body size of a certain weight fish. By doing this you will also develop a "feel" for the weight of the fish.

I agree a scale is very humbling. I have weighed many, many fish & all of the 10+ lbers until this year. Because of this, I'm pretty good at estimating weight. I'm amused by the inexperienced anglers who claim to have caught a 10 lber and then show me a 5 or 6 lber. Like I said before the lake is a good walk, and I carry only what I have to. Therefore, I have not been taking a scale. I also fish alone 99% of the time. Therefore, I don't have pictures.

In MS you can be prosecuted for trespassing - posted signs or not. Here the fine is about $300.00. So, you better check you local laws if you are going without permission.

I've never purchased nor used a senko. I have a few tiki sticks. I've only used them a few times and only caught one fish on them. I prefer to fish the zoom trick worm.

11.45 lbs (length 25.5; girth 18.5) caught on a black & white H&H spinnerbait. I also caught one 8.68 lbs.

How did he train you to take his fish off? Please let me know, I've got a couple of buddies I'd like to train. But seriously, my 6 year old niece will touch her fish. I remove the hook, but she will hold them by the lip. He may need to cry to Dr. Phil. It sound like he's got some type of love/hate thing going on. :'(

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately due to weather my trip was cut short. I fished most of the day Friday but came home Saturday morning. Friday I did catch a couple of spots and two largemouths.

Thanks for the suggestion. OK, I'll try again. I guess I should have worded my questions differently. I have fished for largemouths all my life, but I've never caught a smallmouth. My local lakes don't have them. Based on the time of year and lake location (Northeast, MS just below Pickwick). What seasonal pattern do you think the smallmouths will be in; spawn, post-spawn, etc.? Based on their seasonal pattern what type of structure or cover should I look for? The water is clear with visibility 6-8 feet. What lures do you prefer for smallmouths?

The share a lunker fish was 25.5 inches long with a girth of 22 inches. The SAL website said that the fish weighed 15 pounds. However, if the guy had put those numbers into the calculator he would have came up with a weight of about 12 pounds which would have been totally wrong. I realize that the calculator is only an approximation, but after my observations I have lost a lot of confidence in it. I do not have pictures of any of the fish. I don't have pictures of any fish I have ever caught for that matter. I have carried cameras with me before, but they don't seem to last. I had someone with me when I caught all but one of the 11.5 lbers and one of the 10+ lbers. I am aware of three 10+lb. bass that the small lake that I'm fishing has produced this year. I caught one of the fish. My pastor caught one, and a friend caught the other. The lake is only about 15 acres, and is public. Because of limited access, it is not fished that often.

Thanks for the replies. I have been fishing strictly for bass most all of my life. I have caught a few bass that weighed between 8-10 pounds. I cannot count the number of bass between 4-8 pounds. And, I have caught six bass over ten pounds. Two of those were 11.5 pounders and one was 13.4 pounds. All of them were weighted. I know that my fish was around 11.5 pounds. Also, I know that my pastors was right close to 10 pounds. My questions was why is there a difference in the weights given by the different calculators. I guess I should have worded it differently. By the way, I have a very good scale, but to get to this particular lake you have to walk over a mile and half one way. That's means a three mile walk. Therefore, I usually only take just a handful of lures, one rod and reel, and nothing else. And yes, I have a four wheeler but it isn't allowed.