gulfcaptain

I use a waste pack when bank fishing. I pack what I THINK I'M GOING TO NEED ONLY. I don't need every bit of tackle I own to fish a pond or small city park lake. But knowing the water I'm fishing helps me pack what I think I need. If I think there is other things I might need, well then I may put it in the trunk and take it with me just incase but only carry it on me if I need it. Same for rods, I carry 2-3 rods with me but have a few in the car just incase. Now the best part of the waste pack, that space between the pack and you works great to slip the extra rods between to keep both hands free and yourself mobile where you don't have to keep putting stuff down and picking it up. If you're fishing familar waters, pack what you use and have the most confidence in unless it's something new you want to try, then if that's the case, pack only that and go fishing.

I would say look, look, look, and look some more. Look into what you want, what kind of fishing you're wanting to do, the size of the lakes or bodies of water you're wanting to fish, and then what you're totally comfortable in spending. Mine was $20K and took 9 months to find the boat I wanted. But as mentioned above, boats cost $$$ and if you think buying new will fix that problem it won't. New boats have issues too. And ALWAYS test drive a boat before you buy it. If you buy a boat without test driving it then find it doesn't handle well, isn't stable, and basically isn't what you thought it would be, well too late, you know own it.

That's one way to look at it, but if you want to learn from someone else on new bodies of water, waiting to get asked isn't going to be as productive as just asking yourself. I've become good friends with a few in my club and we all share info. But a good point of fishing behind or with someone else is you can learn new ways of fishing which will better serve you down the line. Out of my local club I've now aquired a fishing partner who is a boater as well but fish out of mine in bigger tournaments as he wants to learn other techniques other then the ones he is comfortable with. His strong points are some of my well weaker areas and mine are his. So in combination we mesh and grow as we learn from one another. Fishing alone has its perks but fishing with someone else has some as well especially if you're wanting to learn more about fishing.

I have to say, the way I run mine may not be the best for everyone, but years of using waypoints on a large charterboat hear in S. Cal and having to find the area I'm looking for on the sounder, to me the way I have mine set it's easy for me to transit to whatever waypoint I have and find it quickly on the sounder to which I drop my marker on if it's isolated or a couple to mark an area of interest I want to fish. Rocky areas in shallow (under 20ft) I use several to mark that area as so I can cast to the area and not run it over and spook whatever fish my be holding there. Is this best for everyones set up, probably not, buy Wayne is right, a waypoint's data can be used on ANY GPS if you write the numbers down and enter them into another unit. GPS is WAY easier to use as well as accurate from the old Loran C way of navigating.

We can all write a letter to our New Pres Elect and he could always sign an exec. order not to inforce it. And it's illegal to possess pot by Fedreal law, but CA just passed a law saying it was legal. So it would be up to the state to change our fish and game laws. Bass have one thing going for them, most anglers practice catch and release, so it would be an uphill battle to tell those folks that they have to keep everything they catch. It's a big economic force in that area of the state as well. It was protested against on both sides earlier this year and the action was withdrawn. Besides we see how well it has worked to get rid of the Snakeheads in some states, good luck getting rid of the bass and stripers in the Delta because it isn't gonna happen.

Our local club we fish other tournaments as well. If they conflict well too bad. We fish one per month with the dates set and vote on the venue of where we would like to fish.....majority rule on this. If we don't like the lake or can't make the date, well you don't have to fish it. But the club is stil going to fish that location and date with or without you. I agree, can't change the whole schedule to fit a few.

I learned how to fish for salmon motor mooching, learned how to rig a cut plug herring, and how to identify which ones I was catching.....lol As for bass fishing, moved from the shore to a boat, learned to trust my gut, be confident in deep cranking, and learned that dropshot fishing in 50ft of water deadsticking that 3-4" worm all day is like watching paint dry......but it did work and caught a lot of fish. So I have a new found confedence in that I didn't have before.

I had everything organized once, then I went fishing and messed it all up. Besides if my tackle was that organized I'd never be able to find anything because it wouldn't be where I left it. But it is very nice and clean.

I installed my Lowrance Point 1 antenna next to my console(all units run off this atenna for a common position and location center of the boat) as so when I'm looking I know the mark I put will be right were I'm sitting which will put the piece I'm looking for 6ft away from the waypoint. Now you also have to know which way you were traveling as so you can get a bering on the structure or whatever you dropped the waypoint on as so you can line it up and drive over it. I also use a bow unit with it's own transducer and unit to mark the bottom and have a seperate unit for my chart next to it. I know if I mark waypoints on the bow then when I run over the top of it with the chartplotter from up there when I get on top of it the item should be under the bow. Different marks for each as so I know where I'm marking. And if I have a big brush pile or rockpile on side scan, well I try to drop waypoints around the structure or cover so it's in the middle of the waypoints as so I can back off and cast into the center of them and know I'm pretty darn close to where I want to be.

I have to say, anywhere close to where I'm at is tough fishing. But then those tough places let you learn how to fish pressured fish and let you try new things as well. So when you head out and fish a great fishery and the bite is tough you make the changes to have good days on the water and move to more productive areas or patterns. Tough fish and tough fishing conditions lend themselves to making someone a better fisherman then someone that has it easy most of the time. When fishing gets tough, the better fisherman will shine when the average fisherman struggles and wines.

jerkbait, jig, lippless baits and squarebills on sunny rock banks. Senko's and dropshot. Local club fished up there a few weeks ago and the winning fish came off of a jig, but had friends that had a good crankbait bite just couldn't run due to heavy fog.

Vegetation would be the first main difference. But then head design also plays a role depending on the cover you're fishing. Flipping and pitching around docks and rocks a regular jig or if needed football head would work better as the wider head would not get hung up in between rocks. Loose reeds, a jig again would be a better option as you can also swim it through the reeds. The punch rig is more of a dense vegetation drop it through reaction bite approach. I've had bass eat a punch rig when reeling it in and due to the way the TR bait the need to swing and set the hook doesn't work as well when they eat it since you end up pulling the bait out of the fishes mouth opposed to them eating a jig and other then the weedguard you have an exposed hook. You also have more hook with a regular jig and depending on the size of the jig less plastic to get in the way. It's hard to fish a 1/4oz punch set up with a small trailer but you can do that with a jig. Both have their time and places where they shine, but each is a different tool in the box.

I have composite cranking rods as well as a few that are all graphite. But the actions of each rod are the same......moderate. The action doesn't wear you out after fishing cranks all day ans allows the bait to stay hooked in the fishes mouth by absorbing some of the shock when the fish runs. Is there a difference between the graphite and the composites, not one I can really tell although the graphite rods tend to be a smaller dia opposed to the composites. Either way the "wet noode" you speak of is the moderate action of a technique specific cranking rod.

Watch you water temps and adjust where needed. Winter in warmer areas which stock trout when the water cools turns the bigger fish on to those larger swimbaits. But at the same time you have fish that will follow the shad around and target the schools of bait. So watch water temps, learn the patterns of your lakes (trial and error of what works and doesn't), if there is mats of hydrilla, target the "greener" live mats and stay away from the dying ones. Find the schools of bait and what depth they key in on and if you choose to try and target those larger "trout eaters" during winter, well thats a whole different topic and approach.

The rod I would suggest is a Falcon Bucco 7'6" Med Moderate or the 7'2" MH Med Fast. Both retail at $110 so the price lets you get a nice reel with I'd suggest something in the 26"IPT area. I prefer Quantum Reels and another brand which we can't speak of on here. Both of those rods fit your budget and are light and comfortable to fish.

Kaenon. Have both Grey and Amber lens, and several pairs as well. Looked into other brands, just didn't like them when I tried them on. So have stayed with Kaenon for the last 7 years.

I've fished all my swimbaits on 40-50lb braid with 20-25lb mono leader (approx 8ft) . Normally it is 40lb braid with 20lb mono and 50lb braid with 25lb mono. I have used 30lb braid to 20 mono or FC (for smaller 6" size swimbaits) without any issues as well. No need for anything heavier IMO. But that's my preference and what I'm comfortable with.

So looking at the size of that pond, I'd say it might be over an acre which would be 3-10lbs maybe 15lb. So if you removed the smaller bass under a pound (say 20 or so which isn't many), then remove 10 bluegill that are around a pound you have reached the 15lb harvest limit. I'd remove crappie before I'd remove bass. But thats under a healthy population. As I stated before, you want bigger bass you will need less of them. Now here comes the problem. We have a few ponds around where the bass were catch and release only which was great as most were above the 4lb average. Bad part, the lake had a fish die off and wiped out 2/3 of the population of bass which was only about 60 fish. That pond still hasn't recovered although there are a lot more small bass in there now then before but it's got a long way to go to get back to the size fish it had. Had another pond that had a lot of stunted bass in there (6-10") as people removed both the adult larger bass and the bluegill that were the primary forage of the bass. Someone put in some larger fish which well cured the problem of small bass (by eating them) but then also helped restart the bluegill population as the lake had a good year of weed growth without the city wiping it out. The next year fishing was great, but then the harvest of bluegill and large bass again has now turned it back into a well useless place to fish. This is why I state the forage has to be there to sustain your bass population. You remove too much of the forage base you can't keep the system healthy. Removing some smaller bass isn't going to hurt the population as bad as removing too many of the larger bluegill. The larger bluegill are the primary breeders, the 5" and smaller are food. If the population of bass are heathy and balanced you won't have a bunch anyways as the system won't carry the larger popluation.

Then no worries about joining a local club since those are the ones who normally aren't part of a fishing club anyways.

I agree with talking to someone about pond management. Now stocking Pickerel into the pond now competes with the bass you want to grow. Trout in a pond don't normally do well so unless you want to stock to feed the bass in the winter go for it, but that would be a bit costly. Remember a pond will only hold so many pounds of fish per acre. All those fish need to eat, the more mouths you put into the pond, the more food they require. Read a bunch from Pond Boss and realize to have large fish there must be forage available for them.

And what would you qualify as a "jerk"? I fish with people from the back of my boat and try and work together fishing......but pre assumed notions in a "club" tournament where you have a few members that meet every month and fish together, odds of fishing with that "jerk" in a club event are few and far between. Now if I have someone in the back that wants to be "that" non-boater, then odds are everyone of us on here that has a boat could become that jerk in the front, but it normally doesn't start that way. Fishing in the back requires you to think of other ways to fish behind the guy upfront which means you are the one that has to adjust to his way of fishing, not him to yours. Fished bigger events from the back, and yes it can be tough, but you have to adapt to what you have to work with and stay possitive.

Wrong sir, you DO NOT REMOVE THOSE GIANT BLUEGILLS!!! Those fish are the breeders. What do you think the bass eat....little bluegills. That size pond crappie are more of a problem then the bluegills are. Also there may be too many bass so once they hit a certain size there isn't enough forage for them to become larger, not to mention that isn't a very big pond so odds of having a large population of big fish isn't an easy one to accomplish without "feeding" them. Since it's not your pond, an automatic feeder probably isn't going to be an option. You can only have so many big fish in a pond, if you want bigger bass, then you need less of them. But removing the bluegill that breed to produce the forage the bass you want will end up crashing the system. I have watched ponds around where I live have the bluegill overfished resulting in the bass population crashing and become stunted. Lack of forage results in lack of bass. Bluegill do not compete with bass for food, but crappie do since thier main diet is small fish.

I've already got the reels I want.... Quantum's EXO 100's, 200's, 300's, and then the TourMG100s. No need for any of those JDM reels, these two lines although one of them isn't in production anymore cover all my needs and wants in a baitcasting reel.

We share information as well. We compete but we also share information and techniques as well as fish larger tournaments with other club members which we share information at those events too as so our club has the best chance to make a good showing.

Looking around in my tackle bin, looks like they were Berkley McManhon swivel in a size 10 which is a 40lb swivel. Might have even been the next size down, but definately not the next size up.