Bass Turd

From what I have read the bass move into newly flooded areas right away to look for new bugs that just drowned. I remember the adage "Rising water fish shallow". When the water starts to fall the bass move out quickly for fear of getting trapped. "Falling water fish deeper." If the water is staying up in the newly flooded brush I understand bass will use them for cover until the leaves start to turn brown. I cannot verify this but the bass will move out of the rotting brush... lack of oxygen? spiked acidity? Not sure but the bass will return when the leaves have fallen off and the decomposition is mostly complete. Maybe in this time period algae grows which attracts bait fish which attracts the bass. All this is a good jumping off point for more research. Please verify what I have said. To the best of my knowledge everything is correct but I could be off base on any point.

Don't make it harder than it needs to be. OP said he has not caught fish on a top water bait. Many are suggesting highly productive baits that have small learning curves. Once he is confident catching fish on top water he can experiment with baits that require a longer learning curve.

Not cool.

The only reason I didn't recommend the 130 is that it weighs almost an ounce and a half and that exceeds all but the stoutest rod weight recommendations.

Whopper Plopper 90. It's a fish shaped buzz bait that floats.You can start by just casting it out and reeling it in in a steady retrieve. If they don't hit that add some pauses into your retrieve. If still no action pop it and make it look like an injured bait fish then pause and let it just float there. If still no action move to another spot and repeat.

Hillbilly Gopher Trap - 12 gauge, fishing string, rat trap

Thanks for your input Wayne. I guess I just need a second job so I can afford adult size electronics....

Do you think I can run both units at the same time with both transducers on my transom? Or will the transducers produce signals that will confuse each other?

Cats

What brand and model reels?

Right Wayne. So it that good or bad? Better or worse than the Raymarine chirp downvision?

I just saw the Raymarine Dragonfly 4DV on sale below $130. I know this is downvision only and chirp I believe. I currently have a Humminbird Helix 5 SI GPS. The downvision on this unit isn't that great and I believe it is a computer simulation and certainly not chirp. I would put this unit right next to it and use it just for downvision and put a full screen side imaging or map on the humminbird. Does anyone have the 4DV only? I can't find many screen shots online. Is it big enough to see? Is this an old discontinued model? Is it worth the price? Any other input?

Can the line be slipping on the spool?

Set the hook with everything you think is a bite. Eventually you will catch the fish and then you'll know exactly what a bite feels like. Most of the time if feel a tick tick tick of the bottom and wooomp of a bite. Imagine the fish sucking in your lure and it hitting the back of its mouth.

It is very hard to see with much wind. Might fish another technique in the wind.

You have to watch the line very closely where it enters the water and look for anything out of the ordinary. Jumps, pops, twitches. Sometimes the line will swim off a different direction. Anything unusual set the hook.

Is the spool in the reel when this is happening? Is the end of the line left loose? If so... yes it will unspool. Always have the end of the line attached to something. Tape it down to the spool or make a loop and slip it around the foot or handle. Always keep tension on the line.

Is the spool in the reel and the reel on a rod and a bait tied on the end of the line? Just trying to understand the whole picture.

... and you wouldn't consider this a "backlash"? How is it different?

The only thing I have heard is to spool a bait caster with the line coming off the top of the line spool then over the top of your bait caster spool. Is this what you did?

The best I've seen is "Hook n Look". He fishes for a while then sends his son down with a camera and they figure out why the fish are there. They get some great shots of hook ups. It looks like full episodes are on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/KimStrickerProduct

Yes.. thank you. Good points I hadn't considered. I'll be looking into insurance next week. Thanks everyone.

Question on this topic. I have an older boat from the early '80s. Tri hull fiberglass with a 50 HP Mercury. POS I paid $2000 for it ten years ago. I have about $1000 worth of electronics on it. Do I need to insure this boat? I've always thought it just wasn't worth enough to insure but now I'm curious about what you guys think.

Very nice! I just have no experience with any other brand so I can' t speak for them

I learned on an older Shimano Curado 100D. I bought it used on Ebay. $100 right now seems to be a pretty good deal for a well cared for but not perfect one. I always suggest going the pre owned route for a first bait caster for several reasons. You get a better reel for the money. Better reels are easier to cast well. The finish is already pre dinged so he won't feel guilty when he puts one in it. If he doesn't get the hang of it you can sell it pretty much for what you paid for it. Glenn has a very good video on how to cast a bait caster and he details the different braking systems available today. Look for it in the video section of this site. I like the Shimano. It is very simple and forgiving. Some say set it and forget it and in the older reels like I am recommending that is pretty much true. My last tip will work with any bait caster and will take a lot of frustration out of learning. After you spool it up with cheap mono pull out a decent casts worth of line and put some masking tape on the spool. The inevitable back lash will stop at the tape and not ruin a whole spools worth of line. When he can cast to the tape just move it deeper in the spool. I even fished with the tape for a while. Good luck. You didn't mention if you yourself know how to cast with a bait caster and can teach him or if he is learning on his own. Just curious.