Mswen

Had to rush to finish that post and go to work (I work nights), but what I was saying is that you might email the clubs in your area, and ask about female members. See if one of them is willing to contact you. Clubs with couples events are probably a good place to start, because, like you, most women who join a club want to meet other women who fish. I'm not a member of a Bass Club, but I am a member of a Muskie Club, and they have a lot of events aimed at getting new, or potential new members involved. I would guess Bass Clubs do the same, or would be happy to have you attend a meeting. This gives you a good chance to check the club out, meet and talk with some of the members, and get a feel for the club. Are the tournaments ultra-competitive, or are they, and the dinners afterward, mostly social events? Are the women serious anglers? Or are they working on their tan while their husband/boyfriend fishes?

I typically throw back any fish that have any grubs showing in their fins. I assume that if there are enough that they're living in the fins, I don't want to see how many are in the meat.

I'm not a member of a club yet, but I'm looking to join (I'm in Kirksville, though). I'm guessing most would be happy to have a few girls join. In fact in the Truman/Lake of the Ozarks area, I'm sure there are a lot of clubs, and some of them are sure to have female members. You might start with clubs that have couples tournaments, or just email every one until you find one you like.

Something else that I forgot to specify, when I say bass will sit next to shore, I mean they may be as close as they can get without being on dry land. It can be hard not to spook them, but I have still caught bass that were right in front of, or within 10 feet of me. Try making long casts parallel to the shore, especially along the dam, or in shallow expanses, and work a topwater, frog, jig, or soft plastic just a couple feet from shore. I like to use CLU's Zero Gravity Jig, or an unweighted soft plastic, because they won't sink into a soft, or mossy bottom. If you have a steep dropoff next to the dam, you can try throwing spinnerbaits and crankbaits to a little deeper water.

Think about your approach too. I fish a number of small ponds. In small waters, bass tend to rely on a larger variety of foods, bluegills will be the primary (possibly only) fish in their diet, while amphibians and terrestrial species (frogs, snakes, mice, insects) play a larger role in their diet. I've seen bass sitting right up next to shore in 5-6" of water, or less. I've cut 2-3 pounders open and found they had been gorging on insects. Also cover in a pond is different than cover in a large lake. A single stick in the water can be surprisingly important. And pay attention to nearby cover like trees, especially those that hang over, or shade a significant or important part of the lake. Even tall grass can be important. Trees and tall grass mean insects, which attracts bluegills. Bluegills attract bass. One question: You say there's no cover, what about weeds? And how about moss/algae? But some of the best advice might be to follow the example of other anglers, at least to start with. Throw some crankbaits or spinnerbaits, and topwaters at dawn or dusk. Concentrate on covering water, and pay attention to the areas where you catch fish regularly. Once you've gotten familiar with the ponds, work those areas where you know bass hang out with jigs or plastics to try and catch some of the bigger ones.

I'm looking for a club in NE Missouri (I live in Kirksville) or SE Iowa. I would like to find one where I can get an introduction to tournaments without spending too much. I will likely be interested in more serious competition later, but for now I would just like to get acquainted with it. I would also probably need to enter as a non-boater, as my boat is 12' with an electric motor and no livewell. I know there are clubs in the Kansas City area, Lake of The Ozarks/Truman Lake area, and in southern MO, and I wouldn't mind hearing about some of these, but I would prefer to start with a club that requires less traveling. I would, however, be willing to travel for an individual tournament (and maybe check out the club) provided it fit my schedule and met my other needs (low cost, non-boater openings).

I'm also looking for something in SE IA, NE MO area. I live in Kirksville. I just started looking, and I would prefer something just a little bit closer, but I had a few questions. I'm looking for somewhere that I can get an intro to tournaments, but all I have is a jonboat with a trolling motor and no livewell. Is it possible to enter as a non-boater and ride with someone else?

Thanks for the tip on the redears. I still eat them if they're not too bad. It's a little unnerving at first, but they're easy enough to spot, and these all get fried. If our ancestors had thrown away every fish with a worm or two, and every apple with a few spots, we wouldn't exist. However, if I can see grubs while they're alive, they go right back in the water, which may not help. While we're on the subject, I've seen videos and pics, but haven't personally found long red worms in fish. The links above discuss it as if it mainly affects yellow perch. But in Missouri very few lakes have yellow perch, and I've been warned about finding them in crappie. Does anyone know any more about this?

I see them mostly in bass from small ponds. They're a parasite that lives part of it's life in the throats of birds like herons and cranes (which is how it's spread, and why it's common is shallow ponds), and another part in the flesh of fish, obviously. As stated before, they're not harmful to humans, and cooking kills them, but I typically remove any that I can see, and give really bad fillets to my cat or my neighbor's dog. Sometimes you can spot really bad cases without killing the fish, because you will see worms in the fins. The first link posted by MIbassyaker has a good picture, along with some great info.

Unfortunately the water clarity is too poor where I fish to actually see it, but I've heard of fish hitting either the follower or the prey as a competitive response. Crappie fishermen will sometimes put out a small minnow, then throw a slightly larger crankbait, spinner, or jig and crank it so it approaches the minnow, hoping to convince another crappie to hit the lure, minnow, or both before the "competition" grabs the minnow. I've heard of trout fishermen putting a tiny jig or fly about a foot in front of a spoon, and some fishermen think that schooling bass often hit lures like lipless crankbaits because they think another bass is chasing it. I've wondered before about putting something like an 1/8 oz Rat-L-Trap, or a small jig in front of a swimbait in baby bass/baby pike or even crappie, and seeing how it works for musky or larger bass.

There's a guy on eBay that makes and sells them for $20 plus shipping (link below). His standard size is for big swimbaits and muskie lures, but he will make a smaller bass sized retriever if you send him a request. I have the big one, because I also fish for muskie (those lures aren't cheap!), and it weighs about 1.5 lb, plenty of weight for knocking a crankbait loose, and it comes with some 4 long chains for snagging the hooks if you can't knock it loose. You have to provide your own rope, which might be a good thing. I've heard some stories about other retrievers, mainly the Bass Pro version coming with poor quality ropes that rot or break. The telescoping poles are nice too. As others have pointed out, you can't use the knockers when you're stuck in a tree, and they're a lot more convenient when you're caught on a stump two feet below the surface. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lure-Retriever-Musky-Muskie-Pike-Bass-Swimbait-Retriever-/231539264958?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35e8d0cdbe

I bought a brand new Abu Garcia Vengeance 7'0" MH rod this week, to replace a rod that broke. I went to use it today, and noticed some problems with my line breaking. Then I noticed that the guide at the tip of the rod was chipped. The chips are in the insert, and there are sharp edges that have already cut my line twice. Exchanging the rod shouldn't be a problem, but the store is 100 miles away, and it could be more than a week before I can make it down there. I would prefer to use the rod in the next couple days, maybe even tomorrow (Mon. 4/27/15). Is there anything I can do to fix this on my own? I could even settle for a temporary fix, so long as I was able to undo it and give it a permanent solution later. My town has a Wal-Mart and two Hardware stores. The nearest Bass Pro, the store I where I got the rod, or anything similar is about 100 miles away.

Check out this thread. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/151265-sk-kvd-squarebill-80/?hl=%2Bkvd+%2Bsquarebill I just got one from BPS, and my scale seems to agree, 1.5 oz.

Just so you know, some sites list their weight as being 1.5 oz., which my kitchen scale seems to agree with. I'm of the opinion that If a rod works and is comfortable, go ahead and use it, but I would use at least a MH. If you look around, you can find a pretty good fiberglass crankbait rod without spending too much. I have an 8' Heavy glass rod that handles all cranks over 3/4 oz., and even swimbaits/musky plugs up to 4 oz. easily. I got it for $30, because I was in a pinch, and have been surprised at how well it's worked.

Which will hold up better for fishing Texas rigs, tubes, jigs, etc. in brush and standing timber? Braid or fluoro? I would like to fish as close to the bottom/structure as possible, which means the line will make a lot of contact with trees and wood. Thanks.

Thank you, that was exactly what I was looking for. Let me know how they work for you and which colors work the best.

I'm sure it would vary from fish to fish and situation to situation. It would mainly depend on how hungry, active, and aggressive the fish is. There have been times, fishing in small lakes and ponds, when I could swear I caught the same fish one or two casts after releasing it, on the same lure! Anytime I take a fish home, I cut the stomach open to see what it's been eating. Not surpringly, many are empty or contain a single, partially digested baitfish or crayfish. But a surprising number have stomachs that are packed, like they had been caught in the middle of a feeding frenzy. For instance, fish caught on topwaters in the evening are often packed with dragonflies and other insects. You would think the empty ones would bite again soon, while the ones with full stomachs would take a break, but it may be the other way around. The hungry fish might lay low, while the feeding fish goes straight back to crashing shad or sucking down dragonflies, either to take advantage of conditions (the help of the school, the cover of darkness), or because instinct tells him/her that this is the time to feed.

I have this problem bad. The water is 50 degrees, what should I throw? A boring little plastic, or that new topwater that I was drooling over? I also have a problem where I will keep throwing a lure, even though I know I should change it, because I just want it to work. My real weakness is crankbaits, and eBay is my biggest enabler. I have a weakness for anything unique or cool, like vintage crankbaits and especially handmade crankbaits. I have boxes of baits that have never seen the water, and others that I would like to repair but haven't gotten around to it. I've spent more than I care to admit on jointed swimbaits, especially considering, A: the number of baits it's gotten me, and, B: the number of fish they've caught.

I'm looking at this bait online, and I just want to know what size it is. No one seems to agree. I've seen lengths of 3.5" (BPS), 4" (another site), 4.5" (Tackle warehouse), and 5" (SK website). It's the same story on the weight. It's either 3/4 oz. (TW), 7/8 (BPS), or 1.5 oz (another site and SK). It would be nice to have the actual weight, but I'm mainly concerned with the length of the body. Can somebody clear this up?

Industry standards for hook sizes. Something that kills green moss (algae) permanently, without affecting fish, or more desirable plants. A baitcasting reel that can be used either left or right handed. A solar charger that will charge my battery faster than I could ever hope to drain it. A strain of bass that grows to 20+ lb., in northern waters. A portable X-ray, or other sensor that can check the contents of a fish's stomach without harming it.

It wasn't exactly a Lindy rig, but I caught that bass in my profile pic using a bottom bouncer with a smile blade and a leech. I've been trying, without luck, to catch walleye at a local lake all summer, but I don't know anyone locally who knows much about them. I have however, caught plenty of bass, crappie, perch, and even catfish every single time. That one hit when I was trolling past one of my favorite points, because I had caught a 4.5 pounder just a month earlier (pretty good for northern MO). I'm not sure if it will help, but both fish hit right after I had stopped the boat, the first time because my other line was snagged, it grabbed a sinking crankbait. And the second time I was getting ready to turn around, when I went to pull in my lines, there she was. So you might try pausing near likely spots and letting the bait sink for a moment. Typically I only use live bait if I'm planning on keeping my catch, because of the possibility of hooking them deep, and I rarely keep bass intentionally. It's mainly because bass don't tend to be as finicky as crappie or walleye, and live bait is a pain to keep alive.

I would be a bit less worried about the Calappa, because I would have no reason to ever remove it, like if I were to flip it around on the Vodka. Still, that's good to know.

When I learned to fly fish, they told me to practice casting in the yard, without a hook. I was doing this one day, and I tried to pull forward from the backcast, but it was stuck. My sister's cat had snagged the end of the line and had it pinned to the ground. If you cut the hook off a marabou jig, it makes a great cat toy. I had one kitten who would play with one for hours, while I would pitch and cast to him in my living room and yard. Afterwards, I would have to hide my fishing gear in the closet (it was a small apartment) or he would get into it. I woke up in the middle of the night one time to this "Thok, thok, thok, thok," sound. I had left the rod in a corner of the living room, and the line wrapped around the tip, to keep the jig in place. Angus had climbed my desk and could just reach it, and he was swatting the jig against the wall, trying to dislodge it. What do you use to keep from snagging on the grass? Lead weights don't cast the same as most lures. Cutting the hook off of a cheap jig is another option, or removing the hooks from a crankbait. I know they make practice plugs, but that seems like an unnecessary expense.