FrogFreak

I want to catch a bass on a fly rod Fish more on the lake where we stay instead of running all over the Northwoods. Not worry about new techniques too much, just throw topwaters all day (and some dropshotting when I have to). I'll be starting my masters program tomorrow so maybe I won't do any of these but I'll sure try.

Good point, I was using a St. Croix Triumph so I really just assumed. I suppose we could set up a machine to measure the frequency of a Bass fart vs. a Bass sneeze and then we could figure it out once and for all.

I once felt a Bass sneeze my rod was so sensitive!

Daiwas! Every other reel is total junk and should be thrown away. Did that stir it up? The reality is I've never owned a Quantum so I can't say. I have a 3 year old Abu Premier that seems to backlash too often (I'm guessing it's the outdated breaking system) and a BPS Pro Qualifier that's rock solid. Two Daiwa Lexas that just feel right and work well and a Pinnacle (not sure of the model) that seems to work just fine as well. I think they all work well in the right application.

I have enjoyed my Daiwa Lexa 100. I can throw weightless Senkos with it quite well. I have it matched with a 6 ft 6 in. Pro Angler MF rod from Scheels (I think *** makes the rods for Scheels these days). That's a combo that you can get for about $180.

1. Teaching my children to fish. I first brought them with me at 3 and 5 years old. Now they are 22 and 24 and they still love it. 2, This year my wife has started fishing with me. Teaching her and seeing her catch her first bass has been amazing! 3. Building my own lures. In particular, I build a Hula Popper replica at my child's request and he caught two bass at once on it this spring when I was fishing with him! 4. Teaching others. Recently I taught a young man (a friend's grandson) how to fish for bass. The next day he went out and caught a 5 pounder!! I'm with A-Jay. The older I get the less it's about how many or how big but about the time spent in the outdoors. I thank God for every opportunity I get!

Look at my avatar, that's pretty small. That's a Sexy Dawg Jr. she hit. Pretty aggressive little bass. Dwight, that picture is hilarious.

Sometimes when I fish out of my Kayak there's this other green Kayak with this gal in it that seems to always get in my way and out fish me. It really ticks me off....I guess I shouldn't bring my wife fishing with me anymore.

I usually plan ahead but I admit there are times I've wanted to.

Hmm, not too many huge fish this year but the ones I have caught in the 5 lb range (big for up North) have been on a popper in 2 ft of water next to lilies, a frog in 3-4 ft of water right in the middle of the lilies a Sexy Dawg in 4 ft of water on a weed edge, and a popper in 1 ft of water under a bridge.

My humble opinion on the matter is that I love thinking about what strategy I will employ on the water. I don't think of it as over thinking but as preparation. I think all week about what the weather will be, what the seasonal patterns will be, what lake I'm fishing, what I want to try etc. etc. I then go out and execute my plan. Now, I do understand that if my plan doesn't produce, I need to have a fall back. And my fall back is normally to slow down my presentation. Once I'm done fishing, I then analyze what happened and what I can do better next time. Heck that's why I love fishing so much. It is so cerebral. Take that away and I'll go try something else.

X2. same here Ron. I spend the time in between eating and napping. What a life!

It's amazing how this advice is still great after all this time. It's also a true testament to the success of the Senko that it works across the country. It reminds me of a video I watched awhile ago. Ike was showing his "panic box" that had some old tried and true methods that he goes to when the bite is tough (inline spinner, ball jig and twister tail etc.). I think we all get caught up in the newest and greatest lures and presentations and forget what got us there. The point is, this thread isn't just for the new angler. I think it helps us that have been doing it for awhile as well. To that end, I went out and bought some more Senkos and the 4/0 Gammys. Gary Y should pay you for this thread RW!!

How about the old Jitterbug?

How about the H20 models from Academy? They are nice and cheap. Anyone have any experience with them?

One other thing to add here. I have tried poppers on a variety of rods and I keep going back to a 6 ft 6 in. med with a fast to moderate fast tip. I like how that rod loads up on the fish so I don't yank the popper out of the fish's mouth. You can get away with using braid if you have the right flex. Up here the Northern Pike kind of make it a necessity to use braid. When I tried a MH with braid, I kept pulling it away from the fish. I can't help it, those top water strikes are exciting!!

Wow! That's a beautiful gal. I need one to look at for the long winter ahead.

Nice job! Geez 2 in one day!!

Your story give me hope of finding a 6 pound plus fish. That's been my goal this year but so far just a couple fives and a bunch of dinks. Way to go brother!!

I've had some days like that this year. I keep remembering a video I watched awhile ago about schooling bass and loaner bass. If I can't catch the schoolers, I go looking for the loaners. I just pitch a popper or a t-rigged plastic into likely ambush spots. It seems like that has saved the day for me this year on numerous occasions. I will say last weekend was pretty tough though. The weather up here has been weird.

First outing of this year I was throwing a homemade wake bait. I tossed it into a hole in the reeds, let the ripples settle and on my first crank a large bass exploded on it and ran right at me. I reeled like a crazy man to catch up to her. She got to the side of my Kayak and I was trying to figure out how to lip her and BAM, she broke off with one final head shake. There went my homemade wake bait and my PB. I'm guessing she was 6 lbs easy but probably pushing 7 and that's pretty big for up north. What did I learn? Well, I am much more careful cleaning the epoxy off of my line ties now after I finish my homemade lures. I believe that was the culprit. I suppose I could use a net but in my yak that would just be one more thing to get in the way.

How about this baby? http://www.amazon.com/Vexilar-SP100-SonarPhone-Transducer-Pod/dp/B00CJJBM66

I like the back. No worries! My buddy is a very courteous boater. And if I don't catch as many as him, I just complain that he back boated me again! Seriously though, I know how he likes to fish and I just adjust accordingly. It makes me expand my techniques.

My humble opinion is that when a person fishes on private property without permission, they are making it quite difficult for the next person to get permission when they ask. I understand the temptation of the honey hole but put yourself in the shoes of the land owner. It's easier to just say no after you have to go out and ask people to stop fishing time and again. Where I live we have excellent duck hunting but in recent years it's become difficult to get access to private posted land because of folks who have hunted the land without permission. Yes, I know it's posted but people have removed signs and hunted anyway. In North Dakota you can hunt land that isn't posted but most of us ask permission anyway. We are going to be on someone's property shooting shotguns so we usually ask just to be sure. All in all, I think it's best to air on the side of respect and caution. It's just fishing for goodness sake.

Just to clarify my earlier post, I'm just saying there are some great anglers out there that don't get the recognition because they don't want it. I have the utmost respect for the pros. They have to fish in horrible conditions and it's the ultimate test. Catch em and keep fishing or don't and go home when the money runs out! I don't *** them on those cold days when they go hours between bites. Heck I'd just go home and watch football at that point.