Josh Smith

Steveo, not a problem. I generally like thread drift like this. I post a philosophy and others post their fishing philosphies etc. It's great discourse beyond the normal subject matter. Josh

I generally freeze and look for the source. Lots of times it's frogs, and more than once, otters sticking their heads up to look at me! Josh

I grew up with the notion, likely from Dad (though I don't recall him saying so) that baitcasters tend to serve better in lakes and such while spinning serves better for lures in rivers and streams. Growing up, I generally used my ultralight or, a little later, my fly rod (inherited from Grandpa) when wading. I didn't get to go river fishing this year due to flooding, but in years past, as an adult, I never found a valid argument against baitcasters in moving water. Thoughts? Josh

You know, I got to thinking and I don't believe I've ever caught a lake bass with a jerkbait. In rivers, yes, the work well for me. I let them drift down to cover (usually rocks) and twitch 'em. This usually gets a nice smallmouth, walleye, sauger, or saugeye trying to eat it. But in lakes... Maybe I just don't use 'em enough in lakes. Most of what I fish is too heavy for anything with trebles. Josh

The way I fish jigs tends to be tiring. Josh

I like the Berkely Cherrywood HD a lot more than I should. Josh

I'm sitting here trying to figure out why you would post this as a first post, and why you think others would care what you think. That's the allure of this thread for me. The ego is epic... and sad, at the same time. Why should I care who you are and what you think? There was a guy went by the name of "Gunkid" (among others) on the gun boards a while back. Turns out he was a minor league IPSC shooter, but he had to feel important and came off a lot like you. Suppressors made out of oil filters, assault wheelbarrows, felonious possession of firearms -- he had it all! He felt compelled to share his "knowledge" with the rest of us, and sounded a lot like you do, Mr. Rosado. You have done nothing to make me care about your opinion. If anything, I feel a bit sorry for you. Josh

Around here when bank fishing, any place that produces is going to be out of sight of the the vehicle. The best spot for river fishing is about a mile out through a corn field. You get cut going out and cut coming in. You get to leave your vehicle by the side of a country road. If you get hurt, a mile is a long ways to get food, water, or first aid. Josh

Tagged for interest.

Might be good catfish bait if you don't want to trust them for bass. Don't see a problem, myself. Josh

Carp have been known to bite artificials. Not often, but sometimes. My biggest fish was a huge buffalo fish. It ran like you describe. Only difference was I had mono and had set the drag. It bent the hook on that old inline spinner I got from Grandpa. Josh

Sounds like a turtle or carp. Josh

I have one setting there, but don't think it's seen water yet. I just like lures that look cool. Good decoration. Josh

Dad bought me a Zebco 202 -- or maybe he already had it. I was 2 or so. I wore it out on chubs and I inherited a Zebco 33. I later learned Dad stole it off Mom's rod The rod was a fiberglass. I couldn't begin to tell you what brand. Josh

I generally prefer my line to be visible as it helps me spool the reel. The bass are too dumb to know the differnce. Josh

I will take that back. I did catch a bass on a nightcrawler a couple years ago. It was a trailer on an inline spinner. As for there not being fish... I recall this year before the reservoirs went to flood stage my boy and I were fishing a likely looking place for crappie. Bobber fishing wasn't producing, so I tied a spinnerbait on his ultralight and I put a Rat-L-Trap on mine. He got hit with a nice size crappie and I got a good size smallmouth on the 'Trap in a matter of minutes. I mean, they're there, but for me anyway, generally don't bite unless there's some action. Lots of times in the 10-acre lake I like so much, that means rattle jigs worked so hard that it would snap monofilament. Maybe live bait is used too much where I live and they're wise to it? Dunno. Josh

But the short-term memory's shot. There's always a trade-off. I also remember Mom cutting my hair on the porch of the country home they rented. Motorcycles would go by and I'd cry -- they were very loud. The horses across the way never whinnied, so I grew up thinking they just blew, you know that noise they make? Little Flat Rock River had a lot of... flat rocks. Dad made me wear a life vest and I'd fish for chub minnows while he waded for smallmouth. Some of my earliest memories are of fishing. Josh

Used to be folks would cut down rods to make them stiffer. They became jerkbait rods. Josh

Hello, I posted a parallel thread, here: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/162983-fishing-with-live-bait-my-experiences/ Posting that as a response here felt like threadjacking to me, so I made it a separate thread out of consideration for Brett's Dad, but it's absolutely pertinent. Regards, Josh

Hello, While I have been thinking of posting this as a subject for a couple weeks, the recent post by Brett's_daddy reminded me to actually make the post. I've been going over nearly 36 years of fishing memories. Dad started taking me when I was around 2 years old, and I'd fish for chubs with live bait while he caught smallmouth (or, at the private pond, I caught sunfish and he caught largemouth.)) I've tried to remember times when I've caught bass on live bait, and only two come to mind: I once found some schooling fingerling bass when I was still mostly using live bait. I tossed them a hook and worm and got a bite. After I did this the second time Dad made me stop because he didn't want them stressed. I was bobber fishing off a dock once and saw the bobber swimming around. A really small largemouth fry had managed to eat the #8 (I think; smallest I had) hook. I was also still small enough to thumb the critter. After this, I have nothing. All other bass I've caught throughout those years were on lures. Heck, even rock bass took Rooster Tail inline spinners to catch. My first largemouth of any size, if I recall, was on a Hula Popper. This is not to say that live bait has been useless to me. I've caught lots of drum and catfish on nightcrawlers, plenty of panfish on redworms, and quite a few crappie on minnows. They were fun, and still fishing is still sometimes fun. I just have never been able to get live bait to produce black bass for me. Is my experience unique, or have you experienced the same? Thank you, Josh

Birdshot is effective at distances at which it still acts as a solid mass; ie, a few feet, or as a candle catridge, and from a shotgun only. Hanguns with solid projectiles have enough trouble stopping threats. I would not want to handicap myself further by using pellets the size of sand. Josh

Originally, baitcasters were meant to be cast while on top then flipped over to the bottom for reeling. This is why the handle is on the right side. Josh

Birdshot is the dumbest thing you can use for self-defense. Best to use #4 buck and up from a shotgun, and handguns need solid projectiles with hollow points or truncated noses. Josh

When I get a new hollowbody frog, I throw it in a Ziploc bag, spray scent, then seal for 24 hours. Josh

I have sensitive graphite rods, blended rods, glass rods. Using each for its proper technique(s), I've not caught more on the most sensitive. In fact, I think the danged Cherrywood HD (the cheap rod I shouldn't prefer but do anyway!) has accounted for more bass caught by me than any other. It's my preferred jig and plastics rod. Dad has caught more bass on his (now my) '70s Lew's Speed Stick. Techniques were less sensitivity based back then from what I can tell; baits were usually moving. Since that Lew's he's gone through a few Fenwick rods and now has a nice BPS rod, but that old Lew's netted him more than the others. By the way: That Cherrywood HD I have has a cork handle. That cork handle is wrapped in tennis raquet padded handle tape, wrapped in friction tape, covered in shrink wrap. The handle is comfortable but not sensitive. The sensitivity comes through the braided line and into the reel and reel seat. Josh