HoosierHawgs

Some of my personal favorites!

I enjoy catfishing as a way to spend summer nights w/friends. We go out before the sun rises, catch some cats, and have a little fish fry!

100% xl for management reasons. I can't cast very well with really hard line. I don't fish to many rocks or woody cover either.

Tesla Live Extended editions. Or anything by Dokken... I guess I'm an old soul...

Look good to me! I would see if you can find some glasses somewhere and try them on as well. The most important thing for me w/fiahing apparel is comfort. Great thread btw! Even I have learned a lot here I can add to what I already know about how I fish w/out electronics!

Why thank you! Also, I've caught a lot of cokdwater dish, including the big one in my profile pic (my pb) on a silent sqairebill crank. Seems when it gets cold and the skies and water are clear, they can't get enough of it. I caught like 10 fish total on silent cranks that trip.

If they are polarized they will help. I personally like ones with amber lenses. take a look at these http://www.amazon.com/Berkley-Lynx-Sunglasses-Black-Amber/dp/B00EVHL9XA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1416935653&sr=8-5&keywords=berkley+sunglasses

Most people these days are fans of fluorocarbon. I personally like 12# mono. It's thin, has a good amount of give with treble hook baits, and allows you to make long cast to give your crank more time in the strike zone. Just my opinion.

Finesse jigs and weightless stick baits have caught small stream bass for me this year. Double Indiana blade spinnerbaits have caught some as well. Finesse casting jigs w/a twin curly tail caught the biggest ones for me this year.

I use $15 sunglasses and they work just fine. Learning your local patterns helps too. I've learned all this information form fishing from the bank or a kayak w/out a fishfinder or GPS or other fancy equipment since I started. Being a highschool kid I don't exactly have an unlimited amount of funds, so I learn to make do w/what I can get, and I think that helps make me a better angler.

MH is the heaviest I would use. If you are fishing stickbaits I don't see why you would need a stiff rod. I use a medium, and fish w/braid and do just fine. But everyone's situation is different. I would recommend the Medium Heavy though.

I just don't buy stuff from dicks anymore. I just don't like them. A good low cost reel would be a BPS spinning reel, or one of the low cost Lew's spinning models. A good quality low cost spinning rod is a Berkely Cherrywood or Berkley Amp.

Polarized glasses. I use cheaper Berkley ones, but you can buy top quality ones from Costa and Wiley X. The Costas are my favorite because of scratch shatter resistant. They are pretty clean lenses as well. Look for clues, like shad breaking the surface, birds feeding (especially in the backs of creeks) shadows, and isolated cover. Don't just fish a big stretch of cover, but identify a piece of cover where it "shouldn't be". Find things in the structure and cover of the area, and look for something different. Fish usually find some sort of change (cover, structure, shade, water clarity, current, ECT) to hone in on.

Considering I'm a student by day, that doesn't make much sense. But I'm largely interested in becoming a lawyer, but I don't see it translating well to the fishing industry. I mean, businesses need lawyers, and so do bass clubs, but I'm not sure there is a huge market for it. Interesting question.

Flat sided cranks or rattletraps. I know they make floating traps, but if they make suspending ones those would be the best winter hardbait.

Lew's Reels: Feature filled, affordable, durable, smooth, lightweight, and castability is great. Berkley Rods: for $40-$50 they are extremely affordable so I can afford to have 10 (Tackle Monkey's got me when it comes to buying rods) Stren/Berkley Line: Affordable, reliable, XL, XL Fluoro, and Performance braid cast and handle great Lures: Big Bite Soft Plastics, BPS XPS Hardbaits, and Savage Gear Finesse Hardbaits

Shimano gear is rarely part of Tackle Warehouse sale. They sell anyways.

Welcome to the Forum! Most of my family lives in Florida, and I enjoy fishing in Florida when ever I can. I've gone bass fishing down their, as well as surf casting and deep sea fishing. I've also done inshore salt for redfish, but the the bass and surfcasting have to be my favorite. I love surf fishing! It's tough, but you earn every fish you catch!

More baits are made to hook fisherman than to hook bass. It ain't right. Mr. Bass may get used to a lure, but he sure hasn't evolved to get any smarter. I still trick more bass on cheap baits then I do on expensive ones. I can't justify paying $16 for a lure when we have been catching 5-7lb bass on a $3 crankbait. Just my opinion.

No. It's always in my box. I never take it out so I don't lose it. I did hear a story about one guy sitting next to his friend who was fishing and had his license, but he did not, and he was holding a rod, not even a line in the water, and he got fined big time.

First, start w/finesse techniques so you are not spooking the fish. Plastics like stick baits and tubes, and then to cover water use a rattleles square bill in a shad color, and a double willow leaf spinnerbait. Make your cast parallel to the bank, because when there is an absence of cover the fish will hold tight to the bank.

A bunch of Hart Tackle Jigs and spinnerbaits. They are my new favorites now over Booyah. I still like the Booyah, but the Hart Tackle baits have better Blades IMO. The Jigs were a good price and came w/a chunk trailer. I will be using them mostly for flipping shallow cover, but I will also ad a swimbait trailer to one and swim it when their is a good bluegill pattern developed. This year I have bought much more than I have in the past including 4 reels, 4 rods, numerous crankbaits, soft plastics, and topwater lures, and my dad has bought quite a bit as well. We have also fished this season more than we ever have before, instead of shooting as much on weekends, partially due to 22 shortages still having effects. We plan on fishing much more next season, and I still have about 20 baits I am looking to purchase, as well as 2 more rods, 2 reels, and a fishing Kayak. The good thing is I have plenty of time in the spring/summer/fall to play with my new toys. Most of my time suck comes in the winter, so I am one of the few who "uses everything in the tackle box".

1 6'6 Spinning Setup w/30# braid for finesse baits. If you fish the Tennessee river chain a good 7' medium casting setup w/a 5.4:1 reel for cranking is a good idea too. That and a braid ready rod and reel setup if you plan on throwing umbrella rigs.

The greenies excel at throwing lures over 3/8 oz due to its heavy spool. Not great for lighter lures though. I am a fan of the old Shimano Bantum line though. I have a Magnumlite and a Coriolis I still use.

This article talks about how they see some colors but not all. Says they cannot say blue/violet hues well, and says they can see greens and oranges extremely well. By definition if they cannot distinguish blue/violet it would make them colorblind. Also, water clarity and light play into their vision. All color is is light refractions. http://www.bradwiegmann.com/fish-biology/39-fish-biologist/119-characteristics-of-largemouth-bass-vision.html