Tpayneful

Muddy, You hit the nail on the head! A few weeks ago a guy asked if anyone liked the KVD, Rick Clunn or Extreme reels because he was concidering spending $80 on a reel. I responded because I had experience with all three. The next post a guy sayes that he should buy a Shimano reel for $90. Sometimes I think that this section should be renamed the Fishing Rods, Shimano Reels, leaders and knots section

Hey Bass XL, that shirt should say "My Wife went on a cruise and all I got was this shirt" Every year my wife goes on a Cruise with her friends in early February and this year they stopped in Cozumel and hit Senor Frogs. I heard great stories about the place! The trade off is that I get to fish in Florida for a week! This year I spent it at Stick Marsh and it was well worth it!

I fish clear water and really like the Smokin Shad color on a 4/0 EWG hook. They don't sink fast enough for me so I insert a nail weight into the bottom to make it sink faster. I fish it usually with a twich....sink....twitch....sink retrieve. My best use of the bait is in current. If I can find a culvert or creek flowing water into a lake after a summer rain, I will throw the super fluke in the current and catch fish! It will also work around docks, laydowns, brush and hydrilla but in the current is the best for me!

The vast majority (75%) were not white saltwater versions only about 25% of them were. Most looked like this one that is readily available at BPS:

The Chatterbait catches quality fish. I caught a 4lb on the Chatterbait to save our tournament chances last summer on the Potomac. I prefer it to a spinnerbait in a lot of instances. I caught this 4lb 10oz bass on Stick Marsh on a 3/8oz White chatterbait with a Smokin Shad Super Fluke JR trailer:

Congratulations on the new PB JC! You just fished Lake Anna more times than I will this year ;D

Extremes are $58 until April 15th.

btcprince, I have fished on Lake Weir, Lake George, St. John's River, Ocala Lakes, Stick Marsh / Farm 13, Ansin / Garcia and the canal around Okeechobee and have seen hand controls on full up fiberglass bass boats. Ranger, Skeeter, Nitro, Gambler, Bullet and Stratos. I saw a few also on Trackers and various bow riders. (Only saw one Triton and it was on the side of the road for sale) Catt, I can do the same thing you do. Point my trolling motor in a direction with my foot and take it off and the boat will go in the direction I selected. I can tap my foot on the control from time to time to correct the course. Other than that my feet are not on the control. I have a MinnKota Power Drive which allows me to do it I can also fish with both hands! Grunt, You can buy a hand controlled trolling motor with a Bow mount. (See.....another guy from the Mid-Atlantic that this surprises)

George who runs the Stick Marsh Bait and Tackle told me that he prefers the fishing in April and May on Stick Marsh / Farm 13 as opposed to February and March. I just got back from a trip there and it was THE BEST place that I have ever fished. It is definitely the best place to fish in Florida! A friend gave me an on the water tour so I could navigate the first day but I fished the next 3 by myself. I caught my PB and a bunch of 4-5lb fish. It is the only place in Florida that I have fished and want to go back and fish again. I cannot comment on the others because I have not fished them yet.

Many years ago I mounted a hand control trolling motor on the front of a couple of my boats. When I had the cash I upgraded to a foot control so I understand the economics of the hand control. The thing that is surprising is the percentages. It was a really high percentage compared to the bass boats that I see on the Potomac. Catt, I think only about 25 percent were salt water versions. It was just different than what I am used too.

GMAN! That is awesome! What did you catch them on and what was the water temperature?

A buddy of mine moved from Virginia to Vero Beach Florida. He fishes in a 15 boat club and 13 of them have a hand controlled trolling motor on the bow. I have fished in Florida each of the last 4 years and I see tons of boats with the hand control on the front. This isn't common in Virginia where you might see 1 in 100 with hand control. Why do people in Florida use a hand control trolling motor on the front? I find it hard to fish with one hand on the trolling motor ;D

Maverick974, Welcome to the forum! You will find a lot of information here. If you look at the top of the webpage you will find a fishing articles tab. Click on that and you will find lots and lots of articles on Bass Fishing. The first one to look at is the "Beginners" section. It has a good number of articles on the whats and hows of Bass Fishing. After you get through that you might want to look at the PreSpawn seasonal page. Their are also articles about depth finders as well. Check those out, try some things out on the water and ask questions. This site will help you learn big time! I would TIVO the Bass Pros and Day on the lake. Both of those shows will give you useful information not just try to sell you stuff. Your question is really hard to answer because it is so broad. What I will say is that you might want to start with a few lures and become really good with them. If you have laydowns, I would start with a texas rigged plastic worm (I like Zoom trick worms and a 3/16oz weight) or a jig with a plastic craw chunk trailer. If the water is really clear stick with watermellon or green pumpkin colors. If the water is stained go with a Black, Junebug or Black and Blue colored lure. Toss them up into the laydown and slowly work them back. Don't move the rod much just the rod tip. Jiggle it and feel for strikes. Once you get good with these I would move on to other lures. Good luck and let us know how you do!

I used to have a go to lure years ago and have been thinking about this all Winter. I have learned so many techiques and have confidence in so many things I have gotten away from go to baits. Over the last 15 years I have gone through these go to baits. Here is the evolution: Rapala Crippled Minnow (fished as a jerkbait) 4" black power worm 1/2oz tandem spinnerbait Senko Baby Brush Hog Jig Horny Toad / Ribbit Super Fluke Bandit Footloose So far this year the Mattlures Baby Bass and *** *** have caught fish for me. I only have 6 baitcasting combos and 3 spinning combos so I only have a few options to tie up for each trip ;D This spring I will probably have 5 rods rigged up with the following: Hard Jerkbait *** Jig Bandit Footloose Swimbait One other thing that I will mention is.......switch to whatever your partner is using to catch all of the fish!

WOW Thats a great catch! The fish isn't bad either ;D

Welcome to the forum UglystickAngler! Maybe after a while here we will be able to share enough information to upgrade you to QuantumAngler, ShimanoAngler, St.CroixAngler or ExtremeAnger ;D

Utahbasser, I found the same thing out last year with one exception. Some days the fish like the Horny Toad and some days they like the Stanley Ribbit. The Horny Toad is a faster bait with a small splashing action. The Ribbit is a slower bait with a bigger splashing action. I keep both in my box and try both out. I usually start with the Horny Toad first.

I use 14lb green mono for crankbaits, 50lb braid for frogs, 15lb fluorocarbon for everything else. I find that my baitcasters perform better with bigger line. They stink using 10lb line.

I have found that my baitcasters seem to perform better with bigger line. I have more trouble casting 10lb line than 14 or 17lb line.

I changed the front hook on all of my crankbaits to a red hook. Added a trailer hook to each spinnerbait. Trim the weedgard on my jigs and then fan them out. I drilled a hole in a Bomber long A, dumped out all of the rattles and epoxied the hole closed.

If they are the same reel.....10 bearings, internally adjustable centrifigal / external magetic braking system made by the same company, why would you spend $70 more? For me this is a simple question with an easier answer. I do own a Johnny Morris reel and it is THE BOMB!

Internet sale ends April 15th.

LBH, Sorry that I messed up but it wasn't a sufficient time because it was responded too and deleted before I ever logged back on. I still don't know what any of the responses were to my thread. It wasn't a rant it was surprise. I was out of town for two weeks and don't have a clue what happened here while I was gone.

Do you think I am in hot water yet?

This is a first for me......I asked what happend to a member that quit and got my post deleted. What happened while I was gone the last two weeks? Please PM me quick before this message gets DELETED TOO!!!!!