hoosierbass07

I agree with most of what you say. It's nice to see a show that doesn't go to the boat motor "money shot" in the first fifteen seconds of the program. The program seems more about getting out in the outdoors and enjoying it more than anything, and that is a good thing. I did watch that "Cletus" episode and thought fishing at a fish feeder was just a little too much and rather distasteful.

Two year ago I got into RC flying. I love flying electric gliders. Then last year I got into bass fishing and did not fly much last year. Now I'm trying to do both, fish for bass and fly.

Since you are new to soft plastics I would go for those that work and are cheap. One bag of Yum Yum-Dingers in five inch, one bag of Berkley Powerbait ribbontail worm around seven inches, and a bag of five or six inch plastic worms. Texas Rig them or Split-shot rig them and away you go to catching bass! I love love love soft plastics!

I bought a pair of those Rapala scissors (only $3.00) but I will check out those Boomerang tools too. They look cool.

I'm looking for a pair if scissors or something to take with me to cut fishing line. Right now I use a Swiss Army knife that has a small pair of scissors but I would like to buy a dedicated pair of scissors. Does anybody make fishing scissors that go in its own holster and you can carry on your belt? Something small and being able to carry on my belt would be nice. Any recommendations? Thanks!

I'm trying to keep a small fishing journal on my PC using wordpad and I look up the weather for the time I went fishing on the U.S. weather sites.

I caught my personal best yesterday while bank fishing and reeled in a two pound fifteen ounce bass! I was and still am pumped up about this catch. If you were around were I was fishing you probably heard me screaming out loud and yelling because I was so happy. Two pounds and fifteen ounces, almost three pounds! Oh, and that bass I caught had teeth! Yeah, I had to curl my thumb over those teeth. But I could feel them for sure.

Over the winter I picked up two packs Jackall's Super Crosstail Shad, three inch in size. I was waiting for a good time to break them out and I have decided now is the time. So for those of you who use them, how do you rig them? I want to rig them weedless. Will a simple 2/0 offset worm hook work? In the videos I see, the lure wiggles back and fourth. That's what I want the lure to do when I use them. Thanks!

I had the chance to go fishing this afternoon and I smashed the barbs down. I hooked two small bass in the mouth and both times those hooks slid out nicely! I think from now on I'm smashing down the hooks. I remember last year (my first year of fishing) that I had problems pulling the hook out of the mouths of some bass because of the barb. No more barbs for me! I also am carrying some extra long, long nose pliers in case I do get another bass in the throat.

Does smashing the barb down on the hook help get throat hooks out?

Yeah, I figured throat hooking is part of the sport. Thankfully most of the bass I catch are mouth hooked and I catch and release. If I get another one throat hooked I'll be a little more prepared and have a game plan on getting it out. What happens if a bass dies in the water? Do other fish or water animals eat it?

I went bank fishing for an hour this afternoon and caught two small bass on a four inch plastic worm and 2/0 worm hook. The first bass was caught in the mouth and quickly released. The second one was throat hook and this was my first ever throat hook bass. I had trouble with it so ended up cutting the line, taking the worm out, and pushing the hook down the throat a little, and letting it back into the water. I tried to get the hook out but I did not know how. So who do you guys and gals get a hook out of a throat of a smaller sized bass? Is this common and does this go with the territory of bass fishing? Thanks

Last season all I used (99% of the time anyway) were Texas rigged soft plastics. So far this early spring I've caught all my bass on the split-shot and I think I'm in love with this lure! I've thrown some Texas rigged worms this spring to no luck but then try a split-shot and finally caught some bass. In fact Iv'e caught four bass this spring and all have come on the split-shot. I'll admit I've been throwing smaller finesse worms and grubs on the split-shot and larger worms on the Texas rig so that could be a reason why I've had more success on the split shot. I know one thing though - the split shot is supper easy to rig, just like the Texas rig, and I really enjoy using it. I've been putting a split-shot above the hook about eight inches. I'm finding anything much longer is sort of hard to cast easily. Any others out there that are split-shot fans? If so, how do you fish it and what soft plastics do you like to use while using a split-shot? Also, what size of split-shot do you like using? Right now my favorite is the SS-5 size.

Caught my third bass of the year bank fishing at a city park/pond. Cast in a Berkley four inch black power worm on six pound mono and reeled in a nice (maybe a pound) bass. I do love bass fishing and even though I have a canoe and kayak I love bank fishing and soft plastics! And I'm becoming a big big fan of the split rig. In fact, all the bass I've caught this year (three) have been on the split rig and six pound mono line.

I watched an eppisode of Nova and they did a program on how smart birds are. Wow! Crows and ravens are very smart, even smarter that dogs. They made me think of bass. My new thinking - bass are a little smarter than a Venus flytrap, but not much.

I don't know if mono knots will weaken over time. I don't have reason to doubt those of you who say they weaken. But I did creat some pre-rigged carolina rigs (8 and 6 pound mono) and put them in small plastic bagies and labeled them for future use. They've been sitting for a week or so. Since the bass are starting to bite I'll use those riges some and see if the knots hold up. I suspect if I tied those knots correctly they won't weaken much but I will experiment and see.

I'm going into my second year of fishing. Last year I didn't use any tubes I kept hearing and keep hearing how good tubes are for bass. So this year I want to start using tubes. I picked up some Yum F2 tubes this evening. I got out my 4/0 and 5/0 hooks and these tubes being four inch seem like 5/0 WG hooks are perfect for these tubes. I can't wait to try them out. I also have a big box of Bass Pro Shops soft plastics and it came with some tubes too and they look nice. Anyway, is spring a good time to use tubes? What about pre-spawn and during the spawn? Do you use bullet weights with your tubes? I tried one of my Bass Pro Shops tube a few weeks ago (no bites) with a bullet weight and it was more heavy than I expected. Are tubes heavy enough to be used without bullet weights? Finally, how do you work your tubes when going for bass? Thanks!

This year I want to focus on Texas Rig fishing, Carolina fising, and Split-Shot fishing. Texas Rigging and Split-shot rigging is simple. But I've noticed the Carolina rig takes a lot more time to set up because there are three knots to tie! I saw a video a kid who said he pre-ties his Carolina-rigs and put them in little siz-lock bags, the kind that can hold maybe medication or small hardware nuts/bolts. I went to Walmart and found some of those small bags in the medical department. So I was wondering - do any of you pre-tie your rigs and day before or even longer? I'll be using eight pound and six pound mono for my Carolina rig leaders. I'm wondering - if I make up three or four pre-tied rigs and don't use them for a month, will they weaken over that time? Thanks!

Been trying to keep a small journal of my fishing with air temp and barometer. So far, fishing from the banks, I've been writing - no bites, no bites, no bites. I'm going to put down "no use fishing from the bank until very end of April!"

Yeah, I know about those removable ones but I'm trying the round ones and see how they work.

OK. I tried a different way, holding them with my pliers then trying to pry them open. It worked! Cool. I look forward to a lot of split shot soft plastic fishing this spring.

This spring I've been playing around with using round split shots along with regular Texas rigging with bullet weights and Carolina rigging with egg weights. I've noticed once I use a split shot I can't open it again. I usually cut the line or slide it down the line and off the line. But then I try to re-opening it so I can us it another day and I find it hard so I throw it away at home in the trash. My question - do most of you who use those round split shots pitch them when you are done or do re-open them somehow and use them again? Thanks

Buy a pack of five inch Yum-Dingers in watermelon color and a pack of seven inch ribbon tail worms in a grape/bluish color. Then get some 2/0 or 3/0 hooks and bullet sinkers and go Texas rigging fishing. With you being down south I assume you will have little problem catching bass.

Zero bass. One trout.

I had the chance today to take out my new Ride 115 kayak for the first time. It was very fun except the wind was blowing and I had a workout paddling back to my starting point. Anyway, I paddled into a small cove area in a lake/pond and quietly paddled near some limbs in the water near shore. I was looking for big fish like bass but did not see any. I did notice to my surprise some small fish around four to five inches or so. I'm not sure what kind of fish they were. So, since I saw those small fish swimming near shore is it safe to assume bass are nearby looking for dinner? Is it safe to assume, because I saw those small fish near shore, bass are also near shore/shallow water? Thanks