longhair

I can't believe how muddy it is! The big Niangua where I am at is one brown mass of water. The rains really loaded it up. Not sure if the rest of the lake is like that though...

Yep that's what I was looking for ....very cool. Thanks

Is there a special kind of tools to get "O" rings on or changed out on crank baits for example? I have a couple where I want to change the hooks and those "O" rings just suck. There has gotta be something out there that I just haven't seen or run in too. Thanks!

Just the other day I had a cat hit my crappie jig.......needless to say that fight didn't last long....no jig and no fish! :-/

I have also wondered that about sound. We know it travels in water and bass can pick it up from a distance, but there are so many noises out there how can they tell what's what. An example would be docks. A few waves on a lake and they will creak and bang around. Yet they are a great spot to catch some big bass. Then they say to be quiet in your boat so that so don't spook them........

Me too.......

The link that RW had explained a lot with the rod setup. I think I have the basic idea down. I was setting them up more or less correctly. My only issue now I think is the type of rods that I have. Most of them are Medium and medium action. I only have 2 quality rods and that is the 7ft and 6ft baitcasters. One is my spinnerbait rod (6ft) and the other is for c-rig (7ft) or jigging. I think I have the idea though, light line, light bait, finess = spinning reel and spinnerbait, heavy bait, big cranks = baitcaster ........ which all come down to matching it all up with the correct type of rod for the situation. Thanks for the help.

Thanks RW that will help out and the link was pretty interesting too. It explained a lotespecially for rod selection.

I am trying to get a basic setup lures to have ready on 6 poles and am looking for what might work best. I have 3 Baitcasters and 3 Spinning reels. I know one baitcaster is going to have a spinner bait, and one spinning reel with a texas rigged worm. What I am trying to figure out is what works best with what particular reel. Should a crank bait be mainly on a baitcaster and not a spinning reel? What about a jig & pig, baitcaster? What about a carolina rig....bait or spin? Since I have 6 rods I was figuring 3 vertical and 3 horizontal profiles. Any suggestions, or rules to kinda live by on what reel to what lure? Thanks!

I just finished reading a book on Bass and they have all the senses including smell. I am not saying that the scents do or don't help but if your bait has a smell to it that they don't know it might be one less bite. So the scent add on factor can't hurt. And yes I smoke too.

I'm in Camdenton, Mo (Lake of the Ozarks) Just moved here last July and just got seriously going on the whole Bass fishing. So far so good! Thinking about trying to do a local tounament this year if possible. We shall see.

Welcome Frank Just moved to Camdenton MO about 7months ago myself. It's going to be a great new year fishing after reading these boards the last couple of months! There is a lot to read and soak in here!

I keep hearing about the lake that I live on is getting ready to or starting to turn. I know that this means that basically the top water being colder sinks and the bottom water being warmer rises. What does this do to the Bass fishing? Do they move to certain areas such as coves or do they go to the deeper water during this process? Also is it true that a lake wil turn upto 4 times a year?

Got one!! Just wanted to say thanks for the input and help on learning to fish with a plastic worm and figuring out what I was doing wrong. I took what you guys said and looked at what I was doing and equipment I had, then I made a few changes and adjustments. I went out and worked on it a few days and BAM! I got one. They fight a lot different when they hit a worm compared to a spinner I thought. That or thhe just wanted it. Thanks for the help again and I am off to go try again tonight. If I can I will try and upload a pic of the fish as soon as I can.

One last question.....What is the easiest to learn in fishing a plastic worm, Texas rig or a Carolina rig? And is there a particular color that "if all else fails" is usually a standard? (for example, I always fall back to a White spinner bait when nothing is working throwing other color spinners) I thank you for all the advice and I have taken it all in. I have picked up some new hooks and for the hell of it replaced the line. (just cause) Can't wait to get out there this weekend and do some practicing, it's suppose to be pretty nice in MO. The hour I had to fish in the last 2 days didn't cut it.