Shakes

Wow dude. Sounds like my fishing paradise. On the deep side, its all about the Lipless Cranks. Oh my god I'm getting aroused just thinkin about it..... oh! Sorry. The shallow side is just a spinnerbait Mecca. Timber and lillypads? Spinnerbait all depends on water clarity. White w/ double nickel willow blades in clear water. White/chartruese tandem willow in lightly stained. Chartruese double gold colorado/indiana in heavily stained. Firetiger double gold colorado/indiana blades. Run that spinnerbait right into the stems of the lillypads. Oh my god, dude. Lillypads are like awning to bass. Great cover. Great place to bull the beasts out. The clearer the water, the faster you reel the spinnerbait. Make it look like the stupidest fish in the lake. Have fun man, enjoy it.

You're not weird. I cast and reel with the same hand too. Its pretty common if you haven't noticed.

I'm gonna be catchin spawnin bass all day long. I don't what you were talkin about. I'm throwin 'em right back, and I don't catch em, somebody else will.

Black Buzzbait. I have nothing else to say to you.

Always, always, always, always start with a spinnerbait. Based on water clarity, here are the best options: Clear Water - White or Translucent Skirt, Double Willow blades in silver Lightly Stained - White or White/Chartruese Skirt, Tandem Willow, silver colorado, gold willow Heavily Stained - Chartruese Skirt, #3 colorado, #6 indiana, both gold Dirty - Firetiger Skirt, double gold colorados, or colorado/indiana combination. Silver puts off a much more natural flash then gold blades, which makes it best for clear water. The clearer the water, the faster you reel the bait. Gold blades put off a much more intense flash, and are best for stained to dirty water. Good luck buddy. Happy fishing. - Aaron

Did you get the memo? One lure buddy.

Spinnerbait - White/Chartruese. Blades - #2 silver willow, #4 gold willow. Best overall lure out there.

It should never been difficult to locate bass in a small pond, that is... if there is any left for you to catch. At certain small lakes I've been to, fishing pressure is so high that people actually keep all the small bass they catch to eat them. It makes me sick. Depending on fishing pressure, its possible there's nothing left in that small pond. Now if there is, a spinnerbait is definately the way to go. I've discovered a great spinnerbait that seems to work in all types of water. Its a Kevin Van Dam Spinnerbait. I bought it at BPS with an all chartruese skirt, number 3 colorado, and number 6 indiana blades both in gold. After a little bit of fishing, i switched the skirt to a white/chartruese to make it more versitile. Cost me around 4 bucks. I caught a 7 pound hawg yesterday in clear water. With double golds, and chartruese in my skirt. Give it shot, you might like it. As for searching, if is murky water, throw something that attracts the fish a little more and something they can see. I'd try a firetiger or bright chartruese spinnerbait. Either way, throw double gold blades. If that doesn't work, try a chartruese rattle trap. Small ponds are the best spots to fish because you circle the whole lake and cover the water 3 or 4 times before you leave.

Blades are the most important part of your spinnerbait. The blades you choose should depend on water clarity. Willow Blades - Leaf looking blade. Provides max. flash with minimal vibration. Lure runs faster in the water column because it has less lift. Willow blades are the best choice in clear water. You don't want the fish getting too good of look at your lure, run it fast, and high in the water column. Colorado Blades - Round looking blade. Provides max. vibration with minimal flash. Lure runs slower, and has more lift in the water column. The only time I ever use colorado blades are in a Tandem/Willow spinnerbait. (large willow, small colorado) Best in semi-stained/heavily stained water. Indiana Blades - A compromise between the two. Tear drop looking blade. Provides a decent amount of flash, and a decent about of vibration. These blades are alot better in stained/dirty water. Blade colors - stick to gold and silver blades. Gold puts off a much more intense flash then silver. But silver is alot more natural of a flash. Silver is best in clearer water, and gold better in dirtier water. Skirt colors - stick with white, white/chartruese, chartruese, and firetiger. White for clear water, white/chartruese for semi-stained, chartruese for heavily stained, and firetiger for dirty water. Hope this helps, good fishing. - Aaron

I think the worst place to fish is a lake so publicly known and fished, that people line the bank with rods. Imagine how much fishing pressure is on that lake. My advice is to find a small pond/lake and fish solo. No more troubles.

Yelling distance.

I'd knock somebody like that DOWN! I couldn't take it... that'd tick me off so bad.

Strike King! Stick with the best, man.

Hey guys. I don't know if any of you have thought of this or not, but Google Earth is a great way to find ponds and lakes in your area. Just search your city/town, turn on geographic features, and scan for bodies of water. You can turn on road names too, makes it really easy to find what you're looking for. Just letting everybody know in case you didn't already.

Wow. That was fun to read. You need to run to the sto' and get yo' self a Rapala DT-4. Spend the cash and forget about it. Doesn't matter what pattern you get. Once you get it, take it the lake you want. Run it until you feel it bang into something. Cast at the spot again until you figure out what it is. Develop a mental picture of the bottom and what structure is there. Don't worry about hangin it up. If you do, bow your rod like your shootin an arrow and it will send a shockwave down your line and pop your hook free of the timber (all Rick Clunn on that one). If you lose it, so what. Thats the trick to learnin cranks. You'll learn what you can and can't do.

I want to start by saying that what you're doing is a great thing. It's great that he loves it too. My son is 10 months old and I can't wait until he's old enough to go with me. I hope he loves it as much as your little one. Cherish it. I think a buzzbait is the way to go with him as young as he is. With the blade as big as it is, its difficult to hang it up. He'll really enjoy fishing with it, and watching it go across the water. Hook sets wont be a problem, and he can make a lot of casts. It'll improve his skills, and land more fish. Have fun and love every minute.

About 90% of the time, I set my hook to the right side really hard. Its at about a 45 degree angle. I don't really keep the rod high or low. I'm just neutral. I really don't think it matters as long as keep the line tight. In a spinnerbait situation (which I fish more then anything else,) I've noticed that a 1/0 trailer hook basically guarantees my hook set. Fish can jump all they want but I got 2 hooks in em, and they're not goin anywhere.

I'd throw a spinnerbait in all that mess.

Do you fish from the bank or a boat?

First off, you didn't make a very good decision. In my opinion and experience, the hard nose frogs produce the least. Zoom Horny Toads blow all other frog imitations completely out of the water, just for future reference. Stanley Ribbit Frogs are probably your #2. Zoom Hooks aren't neccessary, but its good to have one rigged on. Little screw into your bait, basically turns any frog into a "hard nose." I hook into the back about an 1/8 inch and bury the barb to make it weedless. Great baits. - Aaron

Choose one lure. You can only have one. If you had to fish every day for the rest of you life with just ONE lure, what would it be? Me, I'd say a 3/8 oz. White/Chartruese Spinnerbait with a #3 silver colorado, a #6 gold indiana, and a red 1/0 trailer hook.

My god thats a lot of bass in that shallow little area! Get me a rod, reel, and spinnerbait it looks like heaven!

Hey, hey. Welcome to the best bass site out there.

VMC

I think straight tails are to imitate bottom feeders, and curled tails are for swimming.