Whopper-Stopper

Here ya go ..... http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod-wrapped.jsp?rid=&indexId=cat20344&navAction=push&navCount=3&cmCat=MainCatcat20166&parentType=index&parentId=cat20344&id=0031286 I'd actually buy one if they cut the price in half! ;D ;D

That is an awesome video. Where can I get a duck lure? ;D

I don't know why little bass hit stuff that big. Bass are agressive from the minute they are born. I have some bluegill that I keep in a fish tank. They are about 7" long. I caught a 3.5" bass on my fly rod one day and put him in the aquarium. He hid out in the corner for about a day and a half. Then everyday at feeding time he would charge the bluegill that were twice as big as him; and steal their worms. Sometimes he would even try to bite the bluegill. Eventually, the bluegill started hiding in the corner and their tales and fins were taking on a tattered apearence from the bass constantly biting them. Once the bluegill stopped eating, I put the bass back in the pond. After that the bluegill acted fine.

I thought that exact same thing the other day when I caught a seven lber. When that adrenaline starts flowing, it leaves you feeling pumped! I caught a 40+ catfish yesterday and when I first picked him up I told my buddy that I thought it weighed 20 lbs. Once I calmed down that fish was heavy. It was the adrenaline that picked up the fish. If that makes any sense. Any time you catch a big fish, you are left with a feeling that no drug can give you; because this feeling is real!

Your probably waiting to long. I haven't hooked a bass like that in five or six years. I do occasionally hook them in the gills. After being hooked either way, if the fish is bleeding excessively, and doesn't swim away strong, I usually put the fish in ice and fillet them when I get home. I never keep bass but there is no sense in leaving the fish dead and for the turtles to eat it.

I think you're right. The bluegill are probably close to cover or maybe down deep once the sun begins falling. The ones that remain in the same place will either not be there for long or are too busy looking out for bass to hit your lures. I have always been able to tell when a bass is passing through if I see bluegill minnows bunch up and rush close to the bank.

Also when using spinning tackle. Don't crank the reel when the fish peels drag. This only twists and weakens your line. Then it will be useless to fish with afterwards. It is better to lift the rodtip and imediately drop the tip as you reel up slack.

29.7 lbs. I caught them all in one day in early march on a spinnerbait.

Try a chatterbait. I fished with one for the first time today and I'm a believer. Apparently the 2 lber that I caught was also a believer. Those things really put out some vibration. I couldn't believe it when I first casted.

Water mocassins don't get in trees but chicken snakes do, and sometimes they do fall.

That is huge. :o

Bassassasin: congrats on the big fish. Didn't I say you'd get your fish in your other post? I can't wait to see the pics.

Bloomingtownie: My favorite thing to do is what you just described. I love to fish lakes that are small enough to fish from the bank. These small ponds often have very little to no fishing pressure and Topwater is the best selection on most of these. I know of a few in my area that are almost small enough to cast across. An hour's fishing can produce 15-20 decent bass on topwater. Fish Cris: Not to get off topic but how big is the bass in your picture.

I realize that you can't always see what is going on below. This is more into theory than anything else.

I didn't want to take over bassassasin's post; but I think there are certain precautions that you can take while fighting a fish Besides line, drag, and hooks. I think it also matters which angle you hold your rod, which direction and how high your tip is. For instance. By pointing your rod straight at the fish, you maximize the pressure applied to the fish and take away your rod's ability to absorb shock to prevent break-offs. When you hold your rod tip high You apply the least amount of pressure to the fish. This can make it eaisier for the fish to shake lose. You need to find an angle that balances the right amount of pressure and rod flex. Can anyone add to this? I don't agree when people say that sometimes you can't do anything about a fish shaking loose. When a fish shakes loose, it is because of a certain way it moved that changed the way the hook was positioned in it's mouth. To prevent this, we need to counter that movement with the rod. We need to develop a strategy to help land more fish. This way we can post stories and pics of the ones we caught, instead of the big ones that got away.

I was talking to bassassasin. But now that you mention it. You lost a 9 lb bass and your bummed about losing your lure, what did you do whittle with your teeth? Come on. ;D

Don't get bummed or mad when you lose a big fish. It's a learning experience. What did you do wrong? What else could have went wrong? What will you do differently next time. No matter what you do in fishing there is something to be learned. That's why I enjoy it so much. Don't worry, you'll get your fish. It may be next week or next month; but you'll get your fish.

Use the eagle claw red hooks. I've lost 10 packs in two weeks on a sunken christmas tree and I've been thinking about raising it but don't know if they will be any good. I don't want to go through all the effort if there will be nothing there. I've probably lost about $30 worth of lures on it too.

Sir catch alot, It is not a good Idea to put the bass in the creek. Almost every creek I've seen has had at least a small population of bass. So doing this could infect other bass if the bass you release have something. It is actually illegal to do that here. Those creeks connect to just about every thing.

The law here says that you can use gamefish for bait as long as it meets size and bag limits. I have a Pike swimbait from bass pro. It is deadly on bass. Maybe you could give that a try. Big tex, I don't think LBH would shoot you over a pickerel. He meant that while we cannot do anything about it, the DNR will.

I was fishing for green sunfish with live minnows when I was about 6. I caught a two and three pound bass in two casts. I had never caught a fish that big and didn't even know there were bass in that small pond. After I caught my second one I put him on the stringer and threw both fish over one shoulder and hopped on my bike to go show my mom. I've had to have a daily fix ever since.

I fish a pond that is choked up with weeds so bad that the bass have trouble finding food. There are also too many in there. Every bass in it looks like the one in your picture. When you hold one it feels like you are holding a crappie because their mouths are so thin with week jaw. The fish in this pond are starving. It is nothing to go there and catch fifty in an hour on a fly rod. But it kind of makes me feel like I'm taking advantage of them because they're so hungry.

I almost never use crankbaits. I own one or two that I haven't even taken out of the box.

Even if you don't like to kill bass, offer to fillet some for the owners. I did this once on a farm pond and the owner was so thrilled that he told me where another pond is on the other side of his property that was surrounded by trees. This pond was so small that I could almost cast across it. It hadn't been fished in 10 yrs and on my first day fishing there I caught my second biggest bass ever.

The reason that you aren't catching any is because the fish are dead. ;D (Bottom pic towards the left.) But seriously, you have got to pitch some jigs and spinnerbaits up against those bridge pilings. Punch a jig through that grass and lilies. Maybe you could also try a scum frog on that moss.