GADawgs

I caught a new PB (length) the other day at 19.5" where i live in SE PA. I took the length measurement and girth was about 12.75" give or take a .25" as I didn't want to keep her out of the water for too long. My guess is that she was just shy of 4 lbs. She doesn't look that big in the picture but it was the best I could do as I was fishing by myself but the measurement are pretty spot on. What do you guys think?

SE PA here. In have been having luck in 5-15 fow (fishing from shore) in a lake that goes to about 60'. I am tossing soft plastics. Zoom lizards and Yamamoto cut tail 5" with no weight or only a 1/16oz. Bullet weight both Texas rigged. Slow retrieval with small hops. Also had some luck on 6' crank baits.

Cool, thanks guys!

Great, thanks a lot guys!

That's where my confusion comes into play. How can you keep in contact with your lure while letting it fall on a slack line?

I am reading about jig fishing and senko fishing and lots of the articles say to let it drop on a slack line but keep in contact with the lure. Can someone explain what this means? Thanks in advance! Chris

Fish was caught in about 8-10 feet of water No hinges or rattles Natural color - watermelon seed Caught near the new moon

I just posted the other day that I got my first baitcaster at BPS (Carbonlite rod 6'6" mf with the PQ reel in a 6.4:1 gear ratio). I had them put on the free bulk line since I wanted to practice and I didn't want to have to cut out any expensive line if I got a bad birds nest. I have been fishing a few times and practicing a bunch and want to put better line on it. I use braided line on my spinning combos with a flouro leader but I was unsure if that would be a good choice for my baitcaster or if I should go with flouro. My local DSG is having buy one get one on line and I think I am going to pick some up to put on the new setup. Thanks in advance for the help and input. Chris

I live in the Downingtown/West Chester area and usually fish on Marsh Creek or French Creek. I have just got back into bass fishing after about a 8 year hiatus. I am a shore fisherman primarily and will be looking into buying a small boat in the next year or so. I am trying to locate other spots to fish but I am not really having luck figuring out how to locate new areas and small ponds that are close to me. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to start finding different areas to fish or does anyone know any places in the area to fish? Thanks in advance for any help! Chris

Thanks everyone! Small lie, I will take you up on that if I am in your neck of the woods, I appreciate it.

I posted yesterday regarding bait casting vs. spinning. Today I went to BPS and decided to try out a bait casting setup. I ends up getting the carbon lite rob and pro series reel setup Ina left hand retrieve and I really like it so far. I bought some practice plugs and threw it around in the yard today and was able to pick up the sidearm cast in the first few minutes and I didn't have any bird nests (yet, I'm sure I will get one soon haha). Tomorrow is the test and will be my first time ever using one on the water. Thanks for the advice and for the posts the other day, I am glad I gave it a shot and really like the setup.

First for me! That's a big sucker too!

I think you did the right thing, I would have done the same. I know lots of people in a tough spot financially who do the right thing and pay the $25 for their annual license if they need to fish to help put food on the table.

Hello all, I am new to the forum but not bass fishing. My name is Chris and I have fished freshwater since I way a young kid with my dad and have recently got back into fishing on a more regular basis. I fish in southeastern PA mostly on spinning rigs from the banks and a kayak. In addition to fishing I enjoy hunting, cooking, barbecuing and gardening. I have really enjoyed stumbling upon this site and all of the knowledge.

Thanks for the welcome and input. I am willing to learn to baitcast but don't neccesarily want to fork over more $$ if it didn't offer much in return. Here is another question to throw into the fray then. What would be a decent setup for $150 (rod and reel total) for spinners and cranks? I am heading to BPS tomorrow to pick up another spinning rod for a new reel I got and may check out some baitcasters to see what I think. I will also see what they have on clearance to see if I may be able to get a steal on something. Once again, thanks! Chris

I have fished spinning setups for my entire life. I have been thinking about looking into getting a baitcasting rod and reel but I don't necessarily want to relearn how to fish the reel. I have been able to catch bass using cranks, jigs and soft plastics on my spinning setups and I know that many people swear by baitcasters for power fishing presentations. Is there a noticeable difference between a spinning setup and a baitcaster, or it is mostly personal preference? If you think there is a difference, what is it and why is one better than the other? Thanks in advance! Chris

So, a follow up question. I am going to go to BPS or Cabela's this weekend to look at rods. Which has a better selection? Both are about 1.5 hours away but in opposite directions of me so I can't make it to both. Thanks for all the advice so far!

Call me ignorant, but who makes the Premier?

I know the topic has been beaten up pretty well on baitcasters (some spinners too) and I did use the search function but I wanted to get some input before I make my final decision. I am looking at getting a new spinning rod. Something around 6'6", medium power and fast action. I will be pairing it with a Daiwa Legalis 2500 reel. I am looking to keep it in the $100 or under range. Also, I just bought a Abu Garcia Veritas rod for $80 on sale today at Dick's without knowing much about it and am a little worried by the reviews on breakage I have been reading as this will be the first rod that I shell out more than $50 for. I fish mostly from shore and kayak so I don't want anything that is too fragile. Thanks in advance for the input. Chris

I was just up there for the first time July 3rd-5th. I was doing pretty well using a Zoom watermelon lizard with black flake and a 3/16 oz. bullet weight. Did even better with a Zoom junebug lizard with the same weight. The bass seemed to be in 15-20 ft of water outside of the weed line. Weather varies from sunny to overcast. Fish size was good based on what I am used to, I was on the lake for about 12 hours total across the three days and brought in 18 bass 1ft or bigger. 5 or so we 14-15", 3 15-16" and the biggest (that day and my biggest bass ever!) was an 18.5" largemouth that was 3.5-4lbs. Only one was a smally and it was just over 15". I didn't have any luck with spinners, cranks or top water but that may have just been me. All were caught from a kayak.