fishva

So, a bass snapped my *** Black snapped today. It looks like *** offers a nice warranty, so I'm going to send it back in. Only problem is, I have no idea where to find a 7 foot shipping tube (the rod used to be 7'3, but now I only need a 7:) ). Unfortunately, I threw out the one it came in, not thinking that I might need it again... I checked all the usual office supply stores and called a couple local retail shipping stores, but with no luck. Any ideas?

Thanks, that's great advice. With the nightcrawlers, do you thread them on the hook or wacky rig them? I've never really fished with live bait before.

Another day, another story. I hit up the same pond again today, this time with wildly different results. I fished for only 45 minutes, and caught 6 nice bass. Not to mention, they were all my first jig fish (1/2 oz), so I have a new confidence bait for the arsenal. I would have kept fishing, but the last one snapped my new rod. It jumped when I had it right up against the bank, and I was making the transition between moving my hands from the rod to the line. I'm hoping *** has a good warranty policy... Here's the culprit, broken rod dangling from its mouth: Same fish, different angle. I literally could not find a way to take this selfie and get the entire fish in the frame. Some more fish:

I'm taking my son (7) camping for a couple days next week. He likes fishing in short spurts (usually 30-60 mins at a time before he gets bored). I'm not going to push him, but I'd definitely like it if he got more into it as he gets older. I figure the best way to get him more excited about it at this age is to help him catch a lot of fish, no matter the type. In addition to bass and catfish, the place we're going has bluegills, crappie, and sunfish. I've never really fished for panfish before. Is it best to use live bait? If so, do you prefer nightcrawlers? Small minnows? Are there any particular structures I should look for, or do these fish just hang out everywhere and anywhere? Thanks, guys.

Yes. Just a couple weeks ago, I lost four nice fish in a row right at my knees. I was wading (this wasn't planned, or I would have had a net), and couldn't figure out how to position the fish / rod in a way where I could keep the slack out of the line without dropping my reel in the water. I failed four times in a row, and it was infuriating. I felt like throwing up, to be completely honest with you. But I learned something, and finally figured it out on fish 5. It only took one nice fish to take away the sting of the losses. That said, the losses sure do stick with me a lot longer than the ones I land. I remember nearly every fish I've lost, but relatively few of the ones I've caught...

I spent my lunch break fishing today at a local pond. Male and female bass were on their beds together, within 5-10 feet of shore. In addition to the bass, the beds were occupied with lots of bluegill, which I thought was interesting. The bass would tolerate the bluegill for 5-10 minutes at a time before chasing them all off, only to repeat the process again 5-10 minutes later. I'm assuming that the eggs aren't there yet, which would explain why the fish were so tolerant of other things being around? It really was a half-assed effort on their part to keep things off. 'Fine, you can hang out here -- but not for long! Ok, you can come back now' I threw everything I had at them (which wasn't a lot, since I was just bank fishing during my lunch break). Jigs, senkos, and crawfish. I couldn't even get a look, even when literally bouncing things off their noses. It really got to be comical after awhile. It definitely wasn't a loss of a day, as it isn't too often that I get to witness bass behavior with my own eyes. The spawn period makes for some interesting lessons -- and plus, I learned that there are some nice size fish in this new pond I wasn't sure about.

The video that aprw posted is good. I also found this one really helpful, and still revisit it sometimes:

Whiskey, mostly.

You're right. I meant to say a pretty big fish. Didn't mean to imply it was a monster.

I went camping at Kerr Lake, NC this weekend. The water level on the reservoir was very high because of a big rain storm last week. Bank fishing was difficult, on account of there not *being* a bank anymore in the area around our campsite. Basically, we were fishing in the woods. To give you an idea, here's a pic of the best spot we found (the water was only fishable while wading, which was equal parts cool and frustrating): By mid day, the water temps in the flooded areas really started to rise. In the flooded cove above, the surface water temps reached ~60 in the afternoon, compared to ~48 in the main lake. The cove was completely void of life in the mornings (no minnows, frogs, nothing), but as the water warmed in the afternoon, everything would start to move in. I caught seven bass in a span of 3 hours on Friday. I was wading, so I couldn't take pics or weigh the fish without dropping my rod, phone, or keeping the fish out of the water for too long, but I'd guess not one was less than 3 lbs. The biggest was probably 5-6, which is a really big fish for this part of the country. All fish were caught on wacky rigged black senkos and 1/2 oz black and blue jigs. The rest of the weekend followed the same pattern. Lifeless in the mornings, and filled with big bass & bait fish in the afternoons. What I learned Interestingly, there was a tournament on the lake. Fishermen kept coming back into the cove on their boats, and they were all completely skunked. They'd ask me if I'd caught anything, and I'd say no (since this was the only spot I could really fish, I didn't want them hanging out longer than they had to). But from my vantage point, I knew that they were fishing it all wrong. All of the bass were staged behind trees, waiting to ambush bait fish coming in from the main lake. The people on boats couldn't see the bass, because they were on the wrong side of the trees. They kept casting at the front of the trees and inbetween the trees, but the bass wouldn't move for the baits. If they'd cast behind the trees from an angle, they would have had a chance at winning the tournament, as it sounded like everyone was having a hard time hitting their limit. Just something to think about next time you're fishing an area like this from your boat.

Based on the perspective, he's approximately one adult human leg long. Which probably makes him a world record. Congrats!

I was a lot like you. I'd get on a chartered boat and stare at the horizon for an hour telling myself "don't get sick, don't get sick, don't get sick." Of course, I got sick. After many tries of this, I figured it out. Kind of. Drinking lots of water and eating salty snacks (like saltines or potato chips) really put me at ease. And instead of just staring at the horizon, I would try to keep a conversation going (as best you can on a fast moving boat) to keep myself from focusing on "don't barf."

Seconded. I just read both of these books in the last couple weeks, and both are really good. I learned a ton.

I'd recommend you start with one bait that will work pretty much any time. If you can get over your hatred for senkos, that would be a good one. But there are others too. Gain confidence with that lure, then start working on another one. Maybe it's a crankbait or a spinner or a jig whatever. Just pick one, and use it until you have confidence in that one too. You don't need a huge tackle box starting out, just do some research and find some all purpose colors for each lure and you'll be ok. Repeat over and over again until you have a feel for what works for *you* in different situations. Nobody knows for sure what will work on any given day. There are certain assumptions you can make, but they aren't always right and there's no substitute for just throwing stuff out there that you have built confidence in and seeing what works. Edited to add this: Don't get angry or frustrated, no matter how angry or frustrated you might feel. I've never caught a bass while mad. Embrace the failures.

Cool, thanks man. I've been seeing some active crawfish in the shallows for the first time this year, so it's probably the perfect time to give this a try.

I'm not familiar with swim bait hooks. I assume the 1/16oz refers to the weight that's attached below the eye? Is it 3/0? Thanks for your help. I'd like to give this a try.

That's what I'm hoping. If I have to lose a few to save a few, then that's alright.

Thanks, guys. I'll try removing them from a few hooks to start and see if I lose many fish.

Do barbs help you keep more fish on, or are they just there so they *look* like better hooks? I ask because I'm thinking of removing / flattening mine to make things a little bit safer for the fish and for myself.

I hate those guys. Some fish just want to watch the world burn.

I'm not a sponsored fisherman, and never will be. But I've worked in marketing in other industries and I've worked on sponsorship / endorsement deals, and the number one question you need to answer is this: How are you going to help a potential sponsor sell more products? Do you have a website that gets x visits per day, and you'll review their products and run ads for their products on it? A popular YouTube channel? A fishing club? You need to have something to leverage. Otherwise, from a business perspective, they're just throwing money away. In any sponsorship situation, you are basically a member of their sales force. So how are you going sell more stuff for them? Answer that, and you'll have something. Edit: I don't mean you need to be a salesperson. But you have to have something to give in return.

As expected, the trip was a failed exhibition of self control. You know how they say never to shop for groceries when you're hungry? Well, I say, never shop for tackle with a fishing trip coming up.

This fishing report for Buggs is updated each Friday. http://www.kerrlakeguide.com/charlie-taylors-kerr-lake-fishing-report Edit: Also, here's water level & temp info: http://www.kerrlakeguide.com/node/37

Lake Anna in VA. When I was a kid, my grandparents lived on that lake and I would spend 1-2 months there each summer fishing and swimming during the day and playing dominos at night. I'll always love that lake, for no other reason. I have so many good memories of that lake.

Thanks guys, this gives me some really good stuff to think about. One good thing I've taken away is that I should probably walk the bank in the opposite direction I probably would have if I just went in blind. Tom, I have a nice collection of plastics, and a very modest collection of crankbaits, jigs, spinners, top waters,and jerk baits. Even though it's small, I do have at least one lure for most situations. I'll likely be walking with three rods: one for plastics, one for the treble hook lures, and an ultra-light in event of dinner sighting (ie: crappie).