Josh Smith

I'd love to try a retention pond; never have. The places I fish tend to have lots of weeds, and though that's my element, it does spread bass out some. Because those retention ponds you fish are fairly featureless, my first strategy would be to find anything out of the ordinary that breaks the monotony (structure) even if it's a rock. Bass will associate with whatever's there. I'd tie on a jig or Texas-rigged worm and fish slowly with lots of action (shake the rod tip) to keep the lure in the strike zone as long as possible. Josh

Hello, The Ambassadeur 5000 and 5500 (and the "c" versions of these models) use the same body, color aside. The 5000 has 3.8:1 gears and the 5500 has 4.7:1 gears. You are describing a "c" (bearing) version of the 5500 made in 1973. If it has a thinner or smaller diameter spool, though, it could be a 4500, 3500, 2500, 1500, etc. (As you get smaller than the 4500, my knowledge progressively runs out.) Look on the left-hand (non-handle) side of the reel. It should have a model number, like 5000, 5500, etc, below the tension knob. Regards, Josh

I used to fish with mono only because that's what we had. I got out of fishing for a while and when I came back 10 or 15 years later, the game had changed. I'm really diggin' my braided line with fluoro leaders. Under certain conditions, the refractive index seems to help. No, not completely invisible, but helps (it seems!) In grass/weeds/etc, I can't find any advantage to fishing it vs straight braid. Josh

I promise, the bass have not spawned. I go to this lake almost daily. Ice-out wasn't too long ago. And that's the messed up thing. Something has changed in this lake big time. Josh

Evan, I did not catch fish on it, but I was using it in a heavily pressured lake with green stained water. I switched to moss green and it worked well. I have a feeling that in clear lakes, the Invisibraid would work very well. Last year (2013-2014) was the Year of Spiderwire Stealth and Spiderwire EZ Braid (different reels, same models). This year (2014-2015) is the Year of Suffix 832 (on Ambassadeur 5000/5500/5500c3 reels). Berkely Fireline stayed on one reel for one month last year. I didn't get along with it well at all. I've not tried Power Pro yet. The standard Power Pro seems a bit rough to me and I'm afraid it'll be the same as the Fireline. Power Pro Super 8 Slick is some good feeling stuff. I'm waiting until I need to replace the line on one of the reels before I buy it, though. Regards, Josh

Hi Folks, I have been trying different braids over the past couple years. I've not kept detailed notes, but I have tested the following and found them to have very different "personalities". 1. Spiderwire Invisibraid: I liked the feel, but I'm not so sure about its visibility. Supposedly translucent, it looks white to me. I don't trust it to catch fish. 2. Spiderwire Stealth Camo: This is the second stuff I tried. Very limp. Excellent knots, excellent casting from a modified Ambassadeur 5000. The camouflage actually made quite a bit of sense to me simply because it breaks up the outline. Some here color the first few feet of standard braid with a sharpie for the same reason. In the end, I just didn't like the way it looked on my reel; kinda' tacticool if you will. That's a very subjective reason for dumping it, but it also didn't match the weeds in the lake I usually fish very well (too many tans, for example.) 3. Spiderwire Stealth, Moss Green: I love this stuff! Tough, quiet, and limp. No memory. 4. Spiderwire EZ Braid: I actually like this pretty well. It's pretty smooth. I can't find any data as to strand count. To me it feels like 8 strand, but I could be wrong. 5. Berkely Fireline: I hate this stuff. It's rough and noisy. 6. Sufix 832: I don't like this as much as the Spiderwire Stealth. It's stiff and seems to have some memory; if I strip a lot of it from my spool it will tie itself in knots. Spiderwire Stealth doesn't do this. Regards, Josh

I'll tell ya'... been running braid for a couple years now and although I've switched to Sufix 832, I believe I like Spiderwire Stealth in moss green best. Josh

I have more friendly talk than not at the lake, and sometimes end up fishing with complete strangers. Now and again I'll get an a-hole, but usually it's some punk kid who isn't fishing. Look, I live in Indiana. A lot of us carry guns. We're polite. Jersey has strict gun laws and that breeds loudmouths, I've found. The rudest parts of the country are the ones that have the most totalitarian governments. (Not going political here... don't take it that way.) Just ignore it and move on... or better yet, move from Jersey. Josh

Hello, On the top: I wrapped the cork handle with the rubberized handle replacement for tennis rackets, then wrapped that up with some grippy, non-tacky tape they sold beside it. It's my favorite feel now, and that's saying a lot. Thanks to those who recommended this in another thread! I did this mostly to beef up the grip as I have large hands, but it's much more comfortable and slip-resistant. Josh

Learned on a Bronson. I can still cast it well but it's starting to wear out. The up-geared Ambassadeur 5000 Dad gave to me when he went to one of the first low(er) profile reels (Quantum 1310) was an eye opener. I got good with it. Now I do not backlash... well, hardly ever. Wind is not a problem. As the lure is going out, your thumb senses fluff and eases the spool slower. I listen for whacks on branches and immediately thumb brake if I hear one. I can't get used to the low-profile reels. I'm very thumb dependent, and if the feel changes much my thumb just doesn't work right! I love my Ambassadeur 5000/5500s with 4.7:1 (21-23ipt) ratios. I also love my 5500c3's and am using them much more than when I first got them. All have been modified to varying degrees and all are supertuned. The more tuned out a reel, generally the more effective the braking and the fewer the backlashes. With the 5500c3 (modified) reels, I require this test to pass them: 1. Install white brake blocks (old style) or turn on three brakes (new style) 2. Install on a 5'6" to 6' MH/F rod. 3. Tie on a 3/4oz steel sinker 4. Back tension off so that the spool fluffs one coil only when dropping the weight from four feet high. Using these settings, I must get 40 to 50 yards of casting distance (depending on rod and overall "feel") and the reel must not backlash without thumb when the weight lands. Now, the no-backlash without thumb thing might raise some eyebrows. Here's the thing: The trajectory of a 50 yard cast is such that the spool slows around the same speed as the weight. When the weight is ready to come down, the spool is barely turning. The weight test I use is anecdotal, though. Wind changes things on the water. So does type of lure. The furthest I've cast when fishing is while using a Bomber 3/4oz on my Cherrywood 6' rod. Jigs and other "fluffy" lures are generally 25 to 30 yards. I might get another five yards if I'm feeling frisky and back off the tension a bit more (the line will fluff on a four-foot drop, but not overrun at all), but I generally backlash at least once doing this and I don't use it unless I absolutely need five yards or so more. It's rare that I do. I tried all this above with a Black Max II (Walmart stuff) and couldn't get any appreciable range from it. My casting style requires a round reel and centrifugal brakes to give me just enough time to get my thumb on the spool. Regards, Josh

I really couldn't care who won. Playing football is fun. Watching it is not. That said, if somebody won something and cheated in the winning of it (whether or not the cheating had any bearing on the actual winning of the thing), then that person or team should be stripped of all winnings and titles. Josh

Figured It Out! Hi Folks, I'd posted a couple weeks ago looking for info on bluegill behavior because they're the main bait fish. Got to looking around very closely, and found this: I took that picture through my polarized glasses. (Sorry for the poor pic; used my cell phone and it's old.) Those are bluegill nests. You can't see 'em in the pic, but bluegill were sitting atop 'em. The bass were on the edges hunting the bluegill. This is very odd; the bass have not yet spawned but the bluegill have. Isn't that working in reverse??? At any rate, I took three bass. The first one, which was 13.5" or 14", ate a jig. The second one took a Spittin' Image. The last one hit a jig as soon as it hit the water! All three were between 12" and 14". Not huge at all, but good for that lake. Too, I'm sure there are bigger ones hidden in some inaccessible-from-shore coves. First jig was blue and black; second one was red and dark blue. I left while the bite was still on. There was a feller I'd seen catching nothing, so I showed him where to move and what to try first. I wanted to go to the river and try for some smallies as this was a very good day for fishing. Now, I need to figure out why the bluegill are spawning so soon, and also where they hang out for the rest of the year. They are definitely not the only forage in the lake (crawdads are plentiful, for example), but they are the only baitfish. Josh

Yes, Sir, that's what I was doing last year with quite a bit of success. This year, other folks have the same idea. I've not talked about it except for on this board... so I must assume Hoosier spies. Josh

Oh, c'mon. There's forage that we don't generally duplicate with artificials! <grumble> Freshwater shrimp, for instance. Or those miniature leech looking things I found in this year's first bass's mouth.

Thank you, Paul. I've been fishing since 1979 or so (I was like, 2). I'm the son of a '70s bass fisherman. This is the most challenging lake I've ever fished, which is why I fish it! I usually pull fish out when others aren't. Never had considered whether fishing pressure could totally kill the bite, though, and this seemed to be the time to ask. Most of my reels are slow to moderate. 23ipt to 26ipt or so. One is around 31ipt, but I hardly ever use that. Thank you! Regards, Josh P.S. I plan to have the boat back out this year, and it will help my frustration. I know where the bass are but can't get to 'em without the boat. Good news is others can't, either! J.S.

Hi Folks, That lake I was studying last year has gained a HUGE number of people this spring. It's mostly folks going for panfish (which is a problem in and of itself. There's a limit, but all I see taken are small.) Now, I've not had much luck at all this year. I'm wondering if it's possible for fishing pressure to be so high that bass just stop biting... period? I've been trying different techniques. One technique I believe I'll have luck with is thus: 1. 3/8oz to 1/2oz football head jig 2. 1/8oz to 1/4oz trailer I didn't have much time to play with this so far. The jig is fished by tossing the jig out, letting it set for a few seconds to a minute, and giving a bit of slack to the line. I then snap the line hard, short and fast... and I mean hard and fast enough to snap mono, so this is a super braid only proposition. What I think this is doing is playing the line like a banjo string and the low frequency should attract bass. The day I came up with this idea I ended up with something in that lake biting and fighting for a moment before it let go. It didn't commit to the hook. Either it was a large bass that had learned to avoid traditional presentations, or it was a catfish. No carp in here. But I dunno. Is there such thing as so much fishing pressure that the bass just quit? Regards, Josh

That, Sir, is the million dollar question I've been trying to figure out. From what I can gather, it's mostly small crawdads and other invertebrates. I have been fishing this lake since I was 10. Lots of things have changed, but one constant is the (comparatively) simple ecosystem. Figuring out what's at the bottom of the food chain, however, has been a challenge. Regards, Josh

Yeah, man, I tried that. Was using swimjigs, football jigs, jerkbaits, and even a baited hook about 10' down. There are no shad in this lake; the bluegill and redear are the baitfish for the bass. I should dig out my fly rod (never use it) and go back. Maybe it's bugs they're after. Lots of water bugs were swimming on the surface. I don't see why that would preclude hitting something else, though. Josh

I'm in Indiana. We're not exactly close neighbors, but Indiana does get your weather patterns about a day after you experience 'em! Josh

Thanks guys. I'm talking about reducing splash at the 50 yard mark. Out to 20 yards or so is pretty easy to reduce splash. It's just that arc that I have to deal with that puts it way out there. Regards, Josh

Hi Folks, My 7-year-old boy and I went fishing this evening. It should have been an excellent night, but we got skunked. Fish were feeding topwater. I'm not sure if they were bass or if they were sunfish. We both had bobbers out as well as trying several different artificial lures. We got skunked. I mean, nothing. I've seen this before. There will be fish feeding all around, but can't get 'em to bite on anything I offer, and I've never figured this out. This lake has LMB, various sunfish (mainly bluegill and redear), and catfish. There are no carp or anything else I'm aware of. This was Sunday night after heavy fishing pressure all weekend. There had been a warm front and looks like the barometer is dropping slowly, anticipating rain. I believe it's a full moon, or just was. On paper conditions were perfect, and fish were obviously feeding. In fact, it should be about pre-spawn time. Still, nothing took 'em. This is one of the few patterns I've not been able to at least halfway work out. Anyone have any advice? Thank you, Josh

I sometimes like to finess/pinpoint fish at range and don't always like working into the target area, or it isn't feasible to do so. Sometimes this is brush close to shore. A technique I use here is I pick a limb and cast on to it with a weedless jig; I land the line on it and it helps land the jig gently like it's a critter that just jumped off the limb. The lake I studied last year and am further studying this year is heavily pressured, and long range gentle techniques are what get me the fish. Regards, Josh

Leo, I have. Or in my experience, it's more of a splash and they hit on the first twitch (which also sets the hook.) Josh

Hi Folks, I'm always adding new techniques to my casting arsenal. I love initial presentations casting technique is critical. I don't have much trouble landing lures softly with sidearm casts. I just sort of skip them across the water. This takes some practice to keep from backlashing, but it works. It's sort of like casting into the wind; my thumb does the same thing. However, when I'm casting overhead and really bombing them out there, I get more splash than I want unless I'm using something hydrodynamic like a worm Texas rigged with a bullet sinker. Bombing, say, Bombers way out is a problem with regard to splash. (Sometimes the splash attracts bass, but more often scares them off.) Not sure what to do with this. Thoughts? Josh

Thanks, guys! I usually swim a football jig a few feet and let it rest, or shake it. I'm imitating a bluegill colored crawdad and it works well. I guess I class most large jigs as swim jigs (as opposed to traditional Malibou or curly-tailed jigs.) Will read up on this. Thanks again! Josh