lectricbassman

Close the bail with your hand right as the bait is about to hit the water. Or make sure you give the line a tug after closing the bail and before your retrieve. Im fishing braid on my president too and have had no problems so far

quote BassinLou I just cup my hand over the spool if I see I am going to over a shoot the target area. This is how i do it. It takes practice but you've got to get both hands involved in the cast.

Awesome! Ive snagged abandoned lines before and found myself hoping a giant fish is on the other end. Hasnt happened yet though!

I see this a lot. Why they do it? I don't know. Every time I see this happen however is when I see a big bass and the same bass sees me. Instead of swimming off, the bass yawns with its mouth really wide showing me what I am missing. Then the fish swims off. Fwiw every bass that i saw yawning i could not get to bite. One was a large female on a nest and the others were smaller, not on nests. I even saw a few 6-8 inchers doing this. The funny thing is, i didnt even see some of the fish until they yawned. The whites of their mouths and gills gave them away.

While out today i noticed alot of the bass i could see occasionally 'yawning' theyd hold their mouths open very wide for a second or two then close them and flare their gills. I dont think bass yawn so what are they doing when they do this? I know its irrelevant to fishing for them but the biologist in me is curious. Any thoughts?

This year my goal in fishing is to catch something every time I hit the water. So far I have been successful with 4 trips under my belt and no goose eggs! My biggest issue i have found is confidence and focus. Im the kind of guy who gets discouraged when I see others catching fish while Im not. I tend to focus on what they are doing rather than my own game and I get distracted and frustrated. Today almost turned out to be one of those days. Early in the morning the bite was tough and a storm was moving in. After an hour or so I had no bites and I saw another guy catch one within minutes of showing up. I could have gotten upset and tried to mimic his lure but I resisted and continued focusing on my own technique. It paid off and soon after I began catching fish. Nothing huge but a few keepers and more important, no skunk. I guess what im trying to say is what everyone on here has always said, Keep your head in the game, dont lose focus, and dont be distracted by things going on around you. Id like to say thanks to everyone on here and the informantion and knowledge gained, BassResouce is the absolute best group of people in the world!

Another thing ive found is once ive found a place to start fan casting i try to remain as still as possible. I dont even move my feet if i can help it until im ready to move on to the next spot. Ive found that sometimes a spooked fish will come back to the area.

I try to match my clothing to the environment and i sneak around like a ninja.

Way to go man!

The big one! I hate to ask but any guesses on the weight? I estimate 18-20" long from the pic with the rod. She was a healthy fish but not full of eggs or anything.

Jig fish out of cover

Headed out to a little hole close to the house this afternoon. I usually get skunked here so i wasnt expecting much. I am trying to really focus on my jig technique this season so i always have one tied on. For an hour or so nothing, then i decided to try something new. Pitching a jig right into the holes throughout a bunch of dead cattails. 2 pitches and wham, nabbed a nice one. First on a jug pitched into heavy heavy cover. Next first was a bedding male i could see from the shore. I threw everything at him with no luck. Hed gingerly pick up the lure and move it off the nest. He was getting angry and me frustrated but he wasnt taking it. I then remembered that someone on here said bass hate lizards. So i put one on and bam, first cast he slammed it. That was the first (and possibly last) bedfish ill get. I felt bad because as soon as he was gone a bunch of bluegill swarmed the nest and he never returned. Something about that bugged me? Finally i caught a toad on my way to the truck. Threw the lizard and she fell for it. It was a great day and my confidence has been significantly increased!!! Ill throw some pics up in a bit.

I recognize that grin. I had one too on my first fish of the season too! Congrats

Wow this is great!

Ive never been so jealous of a gnarly thumb like that! Way to go

Is it april 1st already? Surely this is a joke? Thats alot of work and nastiness just for bluegill.

Nice way to start the season, congratulations!

Congratulations!

Buzzbaits and spinnerbaits still, i dont get it but they work!

Number 2

Went out this evening not expecting much. I threw out a white buzzbait and got this little guy on the first cast! I caught one more on the buzzbait after that then the bite died off. They were dinks but a bass is a bass, and on a buzzbait at that. It was an awesome and unexpected way to catch the first one of the season, im ready for more!

Is that fish red or is it the light reflecting off your sweater?

Thanks for the help everyone.

Anyone have experience with either of these reels? I am relatively new to bait casting and have been using a black max. I feel that I am ready to step up to a better reel. That being said I only have limited experience with braking systems. The black max and SX have the magnetic while the S has the Centrifugal pitch. I feel like the centrifugal system would give me more flexibility in the long run but I could be wrong. What are your opinions or experiences with these reels? Are either of these good step up reels or can I do better with a different brand or reel?