CyBasser

Thanks for the input guys ! Needless to say, I have already ordered the book ....

Hi everybody! Has anyone read "Sowbelly: the quest for the world record" book? If yes, what are your comments? I'm thinking about ordering it, but I would like some authoritative reviews or comments from the passionate members of this forum!

Merry Christmas Yiannis! You do get short (1-2min) downloads through Bass Insider membership, including footage from tournaments and how-to instructional animations. I just wished they made some of their programs available on DVDs, there was a thread on this subject in the tournament section... p.s. I will soon answer your pm, I only saw it tonight...

Hi there, I use powerpro braid for all my soft plastics fishing. Until recently, I was tying the hook directly to the braid and have had no problems with it. Having though faced some clear water situations lately, I did try to use mono and fluoro leaders. As I fish from the shore, often at long range, I was afraid that there would be a loss in sensitivity, but this was not true. I guess one foot of mono does not affect sensitivity in any extend. On the other hand, I did experience an increased number of missed strikes, but with only a few attempts I am not sure if this was due to the leader or due to finicky bites. The length of leader I use is only 30-40cm (12-16"), so it is not a problem to cast with all the leader and 3-5" of braid hanging from the tip of the rod - hence no damage. I will experiment a bit more in this respect, but, especially if you face clear water conditions and high fishing pressure situations, I would suggest giving the leader a try. On the other hand, I recently fished after a long time with mono line throughout. Well, there is a marked decrease in sensitivity, not only for bites, but also feeling the subtle details of the bottom - it was as if starting fishing with soft plastics all over again. I guess it's a-getting-used-to-it thing (I know many of our friends here use mono for soft plastics) but I reverted back to braid as my main line immediately.

Jitterbugs REALLY work... They are among those topwater lures that can get you fish even when there is no serious topwater bite. Black work really well at dawn and dusk, chartrause if the water is muddy or stained, frog with white belly in clear water. Best size for me has been the 5/8oz, though I have also been using smaller and bigger ones. As mentioned above, play a bit with the retrieve. They hit them on a steady retrieve, but but they also hit them well when you make a pause or two (5-10 seconds pause) once you start retrieving them again. Also: When you cast it, let it sit until all ripples have disappeared, then give it a few seconds, and then start retrieving, for quite often they hit it as soon as it starts moving. Get the original (Arbogast) ones - they are deadly...

Late April 2004. Fishing just after sunset in an area with flooded Eucalyptus trees (Asprokremmos for the Cypriot members). Using a 1/2oz Nite T1 s/b on a Cabela's TXS mh rod with 14lb XL, from the shore. The s/b got stuck on the bottom, about 25ft away. Tried to pull it free, no luck. Then suddenly the bottom started...moving, and I felt the typical movements a hooked bass initially does. Tried immediately to apply some pressure, before I knew what hit me, a HUGE bass exploded out of the water in front of me, shaking her head, and throwing the s/b. Water flew all the way to me as she landed back free. I have caught 6lbers and seen 7lbers, this was way bigger. I joined the elite few who have connected to those mysterious 4kg+ bass of Asprokremmos that somehow never come out (two such sized fish were hooked and lost only in the last month by some friends). Was totally my mistake losing that fish. Because I thought I had hooked the bottom, I don't think I ever performed a simple strike to hook her well. As I told you, the "bottom" started moving, I don't think she ever realized that she was hooked. The way the fish first moved, it gave me the impression that she just kept doing her "usual" bussiness, moving slowly along. The s/b did not have a trailer hook as I was fishing in heavy cover. Then once I realized it was a bass, instead of striking I just tried to bully her as I was using stout equipment, causing her to jump and throw the lure. Two and a half years later, I still haven't gotten completely over losing that bass....

Hi Tugabasser! Welcome to the forum, good to see another southerneuropean guy joining in Bass fishing here in Cyprus starts on January 1st and extends through December 31st............................................................................... It is only the phase of bass fishing that changes (ie prespawn, spawn, postspawn, summer, early fall, late fall, and the cycle goes around again....)...

Hi island bassin, Accidentally hit the "post" before writing the reply! Anyway, excellent choice! Before switching to braid for my spinning equipment early this year, I was using solely Trilene XL for four years and was very very happy with it. Very soft, easy casting, manageable stretch, and quite good abrasion resistance. It never failed me, even when using it in the thick shoreline bushes of Asprokremmos. Best of all, it is available here at very reasonable prices. The importer is H&A Strovolos, but I am pretty sure it is available in some of the shops near you (I think I've seen it at "Green and Blue" behind Orfanides)...

Spinnerbaits work well when the water temp drops below 60 degrees. I have had the most success using large profile 1/2oz s/b with the addition of a twin-tail 4" grub, retrieved s-l-o-w. Use s/b and grub colors that match and of course use colors that match the prevailing light/water conditions...

Painted blades will work wonders especially on cloudy days or low light situations. On heavy overcast with clear water, give a try to white blades. On cloudy / low light conditions and stained or muddy water, especially if it has a greenish tinge, go for chartrause painted blades. In sunny/bright conditions and stained water I have had excellent results with holographic-job blades, especially chartrause or firetiger ones... Vyron knows: One of the most succesful lures for me during 2006 has been a chartause double willow s/b with chartrause blades, handmade by Vyron himself (thanks buddy )

You guys are so lucky to be able to visit the actual stores! For us living abroad, it is an internet order by necessity. Here are the "results" of more than six years of shopping from both BPS and Cabelas: Cabelas beats BPS on clothing choices and (I'm told by other guys) hunting equipment. BPS has a larger on-line selection of bass equipment, especially lures. There is hardly any lure (except of course Cabelas brand) that is available at Cabelas but not at BPS - and there are several that are only available at BPS (plus the BPS own brand). In the past I ordered several rods from both. Both Cabelas and BPS brands seem to offer identical models at identical prices, and all seem to be good quality and value for the price. Both companies also offer spectacular sales and you can get really good quality stuff at very reasonable prices. Shipping and handling: Here BPS wins hands down by a large margin. For international orders both stores offer courier service valued at 40% (Cabelas - UPS) or 35% (BPS - FedEx) of the total amount of the items ordered, or a minimum of $40 (Cabelas) or $35 (BPS). BUT: BPS also offers the option to send items via USPS Air, at a cost determined by the weight of the package, provided the package is small. Instead of arriving in 5 days, the order arrives in 10 days but at a significantly lower cost. But perhaps, even more important than the cost, is the fact that if I need say $30 worth of lures I can order from BPS and get them with about $7 shipping. But if I was to order the same items from Cabelas, I would need to pay the $40 "minimum" cost - for $30 worth of lures! Cabelas, despite many emails to this effect by customers, is still maintaining its "40% shipping" policy and as a result it loses many international customers to BPS just because of this. Also, I was a bit disappointed in the handling from Cabelas - I have received packages (that arrived totally closed as sealed by Cabelas) with missing items and they have been slow to replace the items (they send them via surface snail mail taking 5-7 weeks to arrive). With BPS I have yet to have any missing items issue. But overall, I believe that both companies offer a high standard of service. I shop more from BPS than Cabelas due to the reasons stated above - though as I was writing this my phone rang - it was UPS to inform me that my latest Cabelas order arrives on Monday!

Great job! Well done for both of you!

Cool! Awesome as usual! 8-) Hopefully by the 8000 members vid we'll be able to send some footage instead of stills! : You are welcome buddy! And of course... Thanks for including us Russ!

Hi everybody, Has anyone used (or caught) rainbows on soft plastic lures intented for bass? I am considering to use Yamamoto Senkos (4"), Fat Ikas, or Hula Grubs for trying to catch rainbows in the 1-4lb range. I know that occasionally trout do attack such lures, I even caught a 1lb trout three years ago that had a tube in its stomach. But do you think that their use would be worthwhile, or should I stick to my usual in-line spinners and spoons for them?

As other people said, buzzbaits work by starting the retrieve as soon as the lure hits the water. With their propeller they create a huge wake that allows bass to locate the lure and home on it from a big distance. Buzzbaits belong to that category of lures that can turn a bass "mad" and the buzzbait bite is almost always a huge explosion on the surface with unbelievable adrenaline rush for the angler. I have had wonderful moments with them. In one case in 2003 I remember fishing an ultra-clear reservoir (Kalavasos) near midday, with no bites whatever since sun-up, and I put a buzzbait just for the fun of watching the wake and hearing the gurgling sound. As I was pulling it I could see the bottom clearly well beyond the lure - and then slam! Out of nowhere a 5lber hit it with such a strength that I dropped the rod! In another memorable occasion I was reeling a buzzbait when a large bass jumped right above it - without attacking it. I continued the retrieve and another (possibly the same!) bass jumped again and landed with an open mouth on the lure - it weighted 4lb 10oz! The ideal colors of a buzzbait seem to be white, white/chartrause, or chartrause, though unlike other baits I have not seen a correlation of the colors with light or water clarity conditions. After sunset a dark buzzbait also works. I have tried adding trailers to them, again I did not see any improvement - but I have never tried replacing the original skirt with plastics. One thing I ALWAYS add to a buzzbait though is a trailer hook - often the bass attack but miss the hook, with the trailer hook you are more than likely to get the fish. Another thing to keep in mind is that often you will see bass following but not attacking the buzzbait. In this case it is either a size or retrieval speed thing. Play with these two variables until they hit it. The ideal locations for a buzzbait seem to be areas with dense underwater structure reaching very close to the surface, or the outside edge of weedlines. But sometimes they will catch bass independently of cover! Also, they seem to work best when there is some ripple on the surface. If you really want to catch bass on buzzbaits you have to be persistent with them. Don't put it down if you don't get hit immediately. Give it a decent time and will eventually reward you! I have tried many buzzbaits and all seem to work, but my top favorite is Bill Dance's triple buzzbait by Terminator in white/chartrause. I think this particular model caught me more bass than all my other models combined!

It boils down to what capacity the reel has. In theory, you can use 80lb mono on a 3000-size reel but it will only take 20 or 30 yards! With spinning reels, keep in mind that for optimum casting range you need the thinnest line possible. The reason for that is that with a thicker line, once the first few meters fly off the spool, the friction of line with the lip of the spool slows (for use of a better word) the rate with which line leaves the spool and consequently you get less distance. With an identical rod, reel, and lure, and with the spools filled to the same level (I fill them to 1/16th" of the lip) I get at least 10-15 yards more range on the 10lb line rather than the 14lb! What you need to consider is the capacity of the reel in relation to the casting range required and how heavy the structure you are fishing is. I use 2000-3000 size spinning reels for bass fishing (various models). The line capacities on these reels allow about 130 yards of 12lb mono. When I was using mono I would fill one spool with about 150 yards 10lb for long range open water fishing, another with 80-90 yards of 14lb for heavier structure fishing (such as flipping in shoreline bushes) and an all-around spool with 120-130 yards of 12lb mono for intermediate situations. Unless I knew from beforehand what sort of fishing I would encounter, I would start with the 12lb, then move up or down by changing spools as conditions warrant. I have solved though most of these problems in regards to spinning equipment by switching to braid. With 20lb braided line I get lots of abrasion resistance, lots of power, and significantly increased casting range as the line diameter is equal to 6lb mono. OK, I'm loosing in respect of using a more-visible-to-fish line, but in the rare occasions when this could be an issue, I opt for a fluoro 20lb leader.

An issue when attacking stickbaits wacky style is that the worm gets quickly torn apart if you get a fish, quite often if you only get a bite. This can become a serious problem if you have a limited number of worms with you, especially if you are using a soft worm variety like the original senkos. This can be rectified easily if you insert a split ring that fits snuggly around the position of the worm (halfway or through 1/3rd) that you intend to pass the hook. By carefully passing the point of the hook between the worm and the inside part of the split ring the worm can take much more beating before tearing apart. An even better solution I discovered is a sort of clear elastic o-ring that is used by carp anglers in Europe for attaching boilies to the hook. I run accross these neat rings in a local store. They come in various diameters and a set of 12 o-rings costs about $2. I got the smallest size I could find (remember, they are elastic) and they worked wonders. They are completely invisible once attached around the worm, they hold the hook between the worm and the elastic very well, and they are not causing any damage to the worm...

Well, I am not sure that bass perceive creature baits as crawfish, at least not most of them. I can see a sort of similarity to crawfish in the case of lures such as the sweet beaver or the powerbeast, but then you have the brush hawg and powerbait hawg sort of lures that look more like mutant salamanders or lizards with extra appendages. Maybe the image they present to bass is enough to instinctively attack something that looks like a more intimidating version of an animal they are geared to attack. Or perhaps the image perceived is still that of lizard (or crawfish in some cases) but the extra paddle-like appendages create such a different vibration signal that the bass, with their noxious character, just can't resist to attack....

These are the days that can never be erased from our memory! Great job RW!!!!!

Well, I do support as much as possible the local stores. But in my corner of the world bass fishing equipment is available in very limited quantities. I was single-handedly responsible for the appearance of Berkley and Yamamoto lures on Cyprus, so that I could obtain my stuff directly rather than order them from the U.S.A. Still, out of the many U.S. internet retailers I have ordered stuff, I have to say that I consider BPS by far the best. They have the laregest selection, especially concerning bass lures, and their service to me as an "international" customer has been outstanding. Also, they give me the option of getting my orders mailed to me via regular USPS Air at a very reasonable cost without a minimum shipping fee. In this respect they beat their main competitor for international customers (Cabelas) hands down. Cabelas only sends via courier, minimum shipping charge $40, or 40% of the total order cost - which means that if I need some items worth say $50, I have to pay $40 shipping fees to have stuff delivered in 5 days. With BPS, a $50 order sent via USPS Air would get a $10-$12 shipping fee (depending on the item's weight, not value), and would arrive here in 8-10 days. In addition, the 40% minimum charge for shipping that Cabelas charges is ridiculus in another way - a friend who is mostly into big-game sea fishing (tuna, amberjack, dorado, barracuda) tried recently to order a $700 reel, and of course Cabelas charged him $280 shipping, and they refused to change that. He ordered the same reel model from BPS instead and he paid less than $40 shipping - that's 1/7 the cost for an extra 3 days to deliver. I also had some truble with Cabelas finding missing items in the (unopened) box, though they do replace them - but sending them surface snail mail instead! Unless Cabelas change their shipping policy to international customers, it will be a long time before I order again anything from Cabelas, and then it will be a case of their having something I really need and which is not available at all from BPS or other retailers. For all my regular needs, BPS is by far my choice...

Creature lures have the knack of being able to get bass when most other lures (including finesse worms) fail to work. This of course doesn't happen all the time, but it has happenned to me on occasions when because nothing worked I tried them for fun - and now I have seriously started using them. Zoom brush hog, Yamamoto Kreature, and Berkley Powerbait hawg have worked well here, as well as the Sweet Beaver. Berkley Powerbait Bungee Hawg has also worked, but for some reason I have only caught bass below 2lb with it (maybe it's just a coincidence). Just obtained Berkley Power Beast, these ought to work, but I have yet had to have a chance to use them. It's kind of funny, bass attack savagely these things that look like a very disordand mutant hybrid between a worm, lizard, and crawfish. But then, bass are fish with a real character, so...

Lures, spools of lines, extra rods and reels, accessories, etc stay in two plastic cabinets (the ones you buy as kits from do-it-yourself shops) in my kitchen. The rods that get regular use (about 10) with their reels stay on a round rod-rack in my living-room, where they also act as a nice piece of furniture!

Hi Pond Hopper, I know we gwt a bit off-subject here, but I guess it depends on the sort of lakes I have to deal with. I have been fishing almost exclusively for bass for the last five years or so (save for two or three trout fishing trips a year). Until about March I was using 6 1/2 to 7ft rods myself, all spinning equipment - and I was quite happy. One of the reasons I was using the shorter rods was that when I was checking for bass rods on the internet (no specific bass equipment was available in stores here) I could only find rods up to 7ft. Last March a friend gave me as a present a custom-made 9ft medium / fast spinning rod (3/8-1oz) - it was one of 5 he ordered to his specs especially for bass fishing from the shore. I immediately noticed I could get a significant increase in the casting distance, but the eye-opener was a particular day in April when we encountered a line of bushes parallel to the shore. That line was well within the range of my new rod, as well as of one of my buddies, but however I tried, I couldn't get to it with my 7ft sticks. That particular day, all the bass we caught came from exactly behind the line of bushes - not a single bite in front of them! In the course of the next few weeks again and again the advantage of the extra 10-15 yards of range was proved. Additionally, a longer rod has helped me a lot in fighting larger bass and manuevring them around shoreline thick brush. With my 7ft rods I would occasionally fail to steer a good fighter from some shoreline bush on time, but the longer rods have given me plenty of extra control. My go-to collection now basically consists of two 9ft spinning rods (the one I described above, as well as a Talon med/hvy fast one), and over the last one month the Shimano 8 1/2ft baitcaster. The baitcaster switch was made mostly after handling some baitcasting equipment from some friends and enjoying it as well. Not 100% necessary, but why not master both ways! Plus, I realized that baitcasting equipment is much better on fighting bass in heavy cover, and in flipping / pitching situations. The bottom line, it all depends on personal opinions... As it has been proven so many times in this forum, there are some basic ways to catch bass, but the little details on how everybody does it gets down to each individual! As long as you enjoy the sport it is really irrelevant whether you use baitcasters or spinning, long or short sticks, Shimano or Daiwa, Zoom or Yamamoto...