FatBoy

I fished a new lake tonight. Looked really promising with lots of brush, blowdowns, and grass near shore. I only caught bluegill (on 7" Berkley powerbait worms!), but that's another story. Anyway, I saw lots of smaller baitfish and bluegill (like 1-3") near shore. Would you consider that a good thing or a bad thing for the presence of bass? I can see it both ways. In one way it seems good since there's food there to attract the bass. On the other hand, given that there were lots of them swimming around happily with seeminly no worries it could mean that they know they're safe because there are no predators (bass) around. So how do you see it? Thanks!

Those bloopers are hilarious. But are they for real? I mean are those real outtakes from the show or did he do those things on purpose to make the bloopers? To me they have the feel of one of those old Tim Conway Dorf on Golf videos. Either way, like I said, very funny stuff. But if they're for real, Bill is just plain dangerous! ;D

Well, the scale determines the weight by measuring how far the hook, and the rod it's attached to, is pulled downward by the weight of the fish pulling against a spring (above the rod/hook). If you don't have the weight of the fish centered on the hook, the rod will be torqued a little bit (in other words, it won't be pulled straight down). On a mechanical scale with a spring, that can cause the rod or spring to contact the sides of the device and therefore have some resistance against the downward force of the fish. So if the fish is centered, it should give the maximum (and correct) weight. If it's off center, you'll get something less. I imagine a similar thing can happen on a digital scale. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

You said: Does it make sense to cast the same type lure over and over in basically the same place -- or do you have to keep moving around the shore? As RW said, I would keep moving. Go to a good looking spot and make a few casts in each direction trying to hit a variety of distances from shore. If you're catching fish or getting bites, keep fishing there until that spot is fished out. If you make three or four casts on either side of you and you're not seeing anything, move down the bank to a new spot. Keep doing that all the around the pond. After doing that a few times, you'll get a good idea of where the fish are going to be and you can start hitting those sweet points right off the bat. You also said: Does a bass that sees a lure go by once realize that he's being tricked when he sees it again or is he too stupid to think that way and will strike it eventually, if you put it right in front of him? I guess they're pretty stupid, at least in that sense. I know that when I fish buzzbaits around sunset a fish will often strike and miss. So I'll cast in the same direction and when the lure gets to where he hit it before, he'll almost always try again. Sometimes a fish might strike at the bait and miss three times before I get him on the fourth pass. The same thing sometimes works with a plastic worm. If I feel a bite but miss the hook set, I'll toss the worm right back to the same spot. Often the fish will still be there. But it seems with the worms if I miss him the second time, he takes off cause I rarely get another bite in the same spot.

That was pretty much how it went. To make it worse, I called out to my buddy that I had a big one. He hurried over to watch the fight and then had a good laugh. My question now is does this count as my PB? ;D

Man, I'd be afraid to try any kind of pond management myself. I see what you're saying. I just don't enough about what I'm doing. vtbassin, I don't know what line/hook he was using. Good point about the fall rate, though. I was using 10# mono and a 4/0 Gammy offset hook. I did go back tonight as promised and tried out both the watermelon/red flake and black/blue flake worms. Unfortunately, though, the bite was really slow. It's been really windy all day and a bit warmer out than the past week or so. I think that had something to do with it. Anyway, I only caught one fish on each of the worms and they were both the typical size, about 12 inches. That's clearly not a big enough sample size to draw any conclusions. I'll keep experimenting... On another note, I did catch a 6 lb catfish on the watermelon tiki stick (by accident). I didn't know catfish would hit a plastic worm. But he put up a great fight!

Nope. Catch and release only. I want to be able to come back in a few years when some of the 14" fish are 20". I'll be back...

Thanks, ouchitabassangler. One correction to my original post, though. The worm I was using was watermelon/red flake (not pumpkin/red flake). So it's darker than I made it sound, but still not black.

First off, please excuse the newbie questions, but I'm learning SO much! I've asked a couple questions already about this small farm pond I've been fishing (about 2 acres). I catch anywhere from 6 to 10 bass everytime I go, but I can't get the big ones (and I know they're out there). Well tonight was the same. I caught a bunch of 12-14 inchers. But a guy was coming along behind me and he apparently caught a 4.5 pound fish. He also said that a buddy of his caught a 8 pounder out of there a couple weeks ago. Tonight we were both fishing plastic worms. Both rigged weedless, no weight. Both of us were fishing from the bank. Both throwing into the same weeds. The difference as far as I can tell was the color. I was using a 5" pumpkin/red flake tiki stick. (In the past I've used a 7" motor oil Berkley power worm with same results.) He said he was using a blue/black worm (don't know brand or size). so my question is can the color of the worm make a difference in the size of the fish? Does it make sense that the larger fish would hit his blue/black worm but not my lighter colored one? I just went to Walmart and bought some black and black/blue worms. I'm going back tomorrow after work and I'm going to try the experiment, so I guess we'll know the answer then. But I've GOT to catch one of the big ones. It's KILLING me knowing that the bigger ones are out there and I can't land one!!! Thanks for sharing all your wisdom.

I'm no expert, but to me lily pads and heavy cover scream for a top water frog assuming frogs are part of the existing forage. Just my $0.02.

Oh yeah. Almost forgot. My big fear is that some bonehead has (or will) catch her and decide she looks too tasty to throw back. Anybody else worry about that?

I've been fishing this little farm pond near my house in Central Illinois for the past few weeks. The first time I went there, my friend pulled out (and threw back) a 4-9 girl. (I realize this isn't that big to most of you, but for this newbie it would be a PB.) So I know she's out there, but I can't find her. I keep going back even though all I catch are dinks. Someday I'll get her....or her big sister. 8-)

Good advice RW. What if the fish takes off with the worm, esp moving away from you? She's pretty much taking out the slack for you, right? I had a fish do that two casts in a row the other day but I couldn't get the hook set either time. If a fish starts moving with the bait, can I assume she's got it all in her mouth, or will they sometimes start to swim off pulling the bait in as they go? eat and run?

Thanks, everybody. Especially scwildbill and fishingrulz! I didn't expect to get help on technique with this question, but I think you might be onto something. A lot of times when I feel that tick tick, I try to set the hook...probably too early...and I miss the fish. I'll try to be more patient, but it's hard! When I feel that tick and I know a fish is there the adrenaline goes through the roof.

So it sounds like a plain old bass could be my worm cutting culprit. I guess I was hoping for something more exotic. But I wasn't looking forward to messing with a snapping turtle either. BTW, I tried the Storm swimbait in the same pond tonight and got skunked on it. As the sun set though they were hitting my black buzzbait really hard. I caught about 8 but none of them were of any size. Ah well....there's always tomorrow. ;D

Hey all! First, thanks for all the great responses to my first question yesterday. This place is great! Now, another "dumb" question. Fishing in this small farm pond, both me and a friend have had a fish bite a bait right in two. In his case, it was a Storm swimbait. Something bit the tail off. In my case, it was a 7" Berkeley worm t-rigged. I felt the tug, set the hook hard, and came up with half a worm. And it looked like a clean cut. It's not like the bottom was somehow snagged and I pulled it in half. Can a bass do that? Or is more likely that somebody threw some northerm in there? Or is there another likely fish it could be? btw, I'm in Central Illinois (Champaign-Urbana. Go Illini!). Later! Dan

Thanks, Raul. That makes a lot of sense. I guess what I'm trying to figure out, though, is whether big bass think differently from little bass. I know the little ones are finding cover and food in the weeds near shore (cause that's where I'm catching them). My question is would a bigger bass necessarily find the same place to their liking? Or would they be looking for something better? Maybe the big girls hog the best spots (which in my pond might be some structure further off shore) and force the little ones to poorer places, like near shore? The alternative, I suppose, is that the big fish are in the same weeds, but they're too smart to take my bait. D

Thanks guys. Sounds like the consensus is that I should fish a little further out. RoadWarrior, you say to target cover and structure. Well, that's mainly why I've stayed near the shore; cause that's where I know there's cover. I suppose there must be some grass/weeds or brush on the bottom, but how do I find it? Is it just a matter of throwing out the lures and looking for places where the fish seem to hit it? Thanks again! D

Hello all. I'm a relatively new angler and new to this board. But I've already learned a bunch reading some of the old posts. Thanks! So...my first question. I've been fishing a small farm pond (in Central Illinois) the past couple of weeks. I've caught bass every time I've been there, but only small ones (8-14 inches). I've been fishing the weeds near shore (no boat) with a variety of lures (buzzbait, plastic worms, spinners). Last night I tried a Tiki Stick, t-rigged weightless, for the first time. I caught 6 fish in about 2 hours (and had a blast doing it). BUT, a buddy caught a 5 pounder in there last week on a Storm WildEye minnow. I also saw a guy catch a 1.5-2 pound fish on a similar lure last night. In both cases, it seems like they were fishing a little further away from shore, like 20-30 ft. My question is this. Is it possible that the bigger fish are hanging out further from shore while the little ones are in the weeds? Or do big bass and little bass tend to be in the same place? In other words, do you think the difference between me and the other two guys is where I'm fishing or the type of bait I'm throwing? Thanks in advance! Dan