baxtervol

Good luck to you guys! I gotta say the fishing channels on you tube are pretty good and there is always room for more. I subbed to around thirty because I am relatively new to bassin and need to speed up the learning curve. I think you could start with whatever equipment u can afford. As long as u pay attention to focus and operate the camera steady, people will watch if the content is interesting. I do think it is essential that you be yourself. You are gonna have people like or dislike u anyway, so relax and be yourself. I think that is the key component you will find in the bigger channels. Guys just being themslves and being honest about what u know or do not know.

This is similar to a huge turtle I hooked earlier this summer on twelve pound test. The line suddenly got heavy, moved away in a straight path, was impossible to turn, and snapped the line after a few seconds. The reason I know mine was a turtle was that it was caught on a trot line a few days later by the pond owner with my rig still in its mouth. It weighed every bit of twenty pounds. The fact you were using a jig makes me wonder if it may have been a big bass. Of course you will likely never know, but I would be excited about my next trip to the pond! I guess I would try to convince myself that I lost a turtle, while simultaneously believing a new PB is definitely close at hand. I hope the battle goes your way the next time. Good luck!

Ouch. I know how it feels. It seems to be one of fishing's mysteries how a crankbait can almost permanently embed itself into anything- except the mouth of a largemouth. Lol. In my first year of using cranks heavily I have managed to embed them in a shoelace, in my boat carpet, in my shirt, and finally I had to remove two hooks from my forearm. I was rushed by an approaching storm while pond fishing, so I attached a square bill-which was brand new and waiting to be tied on- to the top of my tackle bag and then threw the bag in the front seat of the truck. When I climbed in I set my right arm down and on top of the crankbait- sinking two hooks well past the barbs. Thankfully, my fishing buddy was able to yank them out pretty quickly with pliers and provide me with alcohol and neosporin. Anyway, since that day I treat crankbaits as if they are explosives.

I have heard good things about the Okuma rods from online reviews. I also know four or five local fisherman who have bought them and speak highly of them.

I tend to agree with the overpopulation theory, but as one poster pointed out that was not the case on his ponds. If you have several fisherman utilizing the neigborhood pond maybe you could split the cost of a shock analysis. It doesn't harm the fish and it will provide you with the most accurate assessment. The results will tell you if it is overpopulation, a lack of forage, or possibly another factor that is causing your issues. Bob Lusk is an expert on pond management and would be a great resource. His website is pondboss.com I believe. If not just google his name and you will find him.

Welcome aboard. You will enjoy this site. I am fairly new myself and have found this site a great resource

Awesome. You are gonna miss your share but everyone does. After I caught my first frog fish I was hooked. You will get better with hookups with experience, but the best advice I got was try and wait until you feel the bass actually has the frog. It is not always easy, especially when you get a big blow up that startles u after several casts. You just instinctively set the hook, at least I do sometimes. I love frogging and to me it is worth the below average hook up ratio because nothing is more exciting than seeing a bass go after a frog. Keep us posted on your frogging adventures!

Seller will probably auction location of the Holy Grail, and the GPS coordinates to Atlantis during huge Labor Day sale.

You could invest in a minnow trap if you have a source to catch them. I would probably go the bluegill route that was mentioned. A pond I fish in, as well as most ponds with bass, has bluegills in abundance. When the bite is tough I sometimes catch a few on bread, grasshoppers, red wigglers, dragonflies, etc. Live frogs or lizards are another excellent choice if you have access to them. They are tougher to catch, but Bass love them.

Great story and it just illustrates how voracious a predator bass are. I never really understood this until I started frog fishing. The power at which they attack the frog is just amazing. To me, a big blowup and miss on a frog is almost as exciting as catching a dink on a rubber worm.

You make a great point about the pros using every angle they can. Bill has earned the right to not have to trek around for a week or two to get the bass needed to film a show. Besides, most every show on TV-while maybe not filmed on private water- is likely filmed on very fertile public water. Tons of shows have filmed on Okeechobee, Lake Fork, Toledo Bend, Toho, etc. Having good waypoints on these lakes is akin to having access to private water in my opinion. John Cox is now one of my favorite guys on FLW after I read he fished this year out of a sixteen foot aluminum boat sans transducer, and finished second to Martin in the AOY by less than twenty points! I would love to see the Bassmaster and FLW- for one year-ban all electronics and access to tournament waters nine months prior to tourney. It would be interesting to see who would reign supreme in this format.

Welcome Sean. Your story is very similar to mine in that I fished for other species- mostly trout on light tackle- for a long time before giving bass fishing its fair shake. Fishing for any species is fun, but bass angling is just on another level and I regret not realizing this much sooner. You absolutely came to the right site to learn bass fishing. I have already learned a great deal from the staff here, especially Glen, and the many forum members here who have years of experience with catching bass. You may also want to check out the Bassresource YouTube Channel. A great great resource for beginning bass guys like us. Tons of great tutorials on most every facet of bass fishing.

This is my first year frog fishing as well. I have just accepted that hookups are gonna be erratic at best. All u can do is use the right equipment and make sure you feel the weight of the fish before you lean back into hook set. The pros miss them on frogs and so will the rest of us. The blow ups and hook ups are so exciting, the misses are worth it to me. I try to convince myself the misses are just little ones to help ease the disappointment. Keep on froggin!

I just started keeping up with and watching FLW and BassMaster Elite videos on youtube. I really like Gerald Swindle, Andy Morgan, Larry Nixon, Michael Neal, Michael Wooley, Greg Hackney, Aaron Martens. In fact, I really haven't run across anyone that I have really disliked. My favorite older guys are Bill Dance, Hank Parker, Jimmy Houston, and Rick Clunn. I am sure my list will change as I learn more, but it seems the professional fishing circuits are blessed with some really good guys

I don't know of any myself, but there is a young man named Andrew Flair my son follows on YouTube. He is in high school and is an avid bass angler. He is not in need, but may know of a situation you are seeking. He seems pretty connected in the sport and may be able to help. His channel is Andrew Flair Fishing. What you are doing is a nice gesture and good luck.

Great post and story. We all have our stories of fish we wish would have hooked differently. Just last week I caught a nice four pounder fishing a pond. I was not paying attention and got a late hook set on my plastic worm. The fish had the 4 aught hook all the way down and was bleeding profusely. I put the fish in a cooler with some ice added to the water in hopes of stopping the bleeding. The fish lived only a few more minutes. I felt bad for the fish, but felt worse knowing this fish was never gonna grow to be a lunker to be caught by me or someone else. However,the fish was quite tasty that evening with some fries, cole slaw, and tartar sauce. My son and I talked about the fact that had we not been talking I would have gotten a good hook set and we would be eating something like spaghetti or pork chops for dinner. I think catch and release instills in all of us a healthy respect for our wary adversary. I'm never gonna cry over a fish, but I do feel a tinge of disappointment when a fish is injured or killed in the battle, especially one that has beaten the odds and grown to over four pounds.

The advice on the Great Lakes is very good advice. From what I have read the Smallmouth fishing there is awesome in quality and quantity, and it is much closer to your location. However, if you ever get down to the south then Dale Hollow Lake on the Tennessee/Ky border is a premier smallmouth fishery for those wanting size. The world record of 11.9 was caught there as well as the second largest of 10.8. In fact, six of the top ten smallies on record came from Dale Hollow- according to Bassmaster.com's list of twenty five largest smallmouths. In addition, thirteen of the top twenty five smallies were caught in Tennessee on either Dale Hollow, Center Hill, or Pickwick Lake. I wish you much luck in your quest.