Mobasser

My worst habit is throwing the same old stuff at the same old places. I really need to branch out more. But, I want to catch fish when I go fishing, so I use what works.

I've always admired Larry Nixon. If you watch videos of his casting, it's magic. As he moves along, he changes up from overhead, sidearm etc depending on distance, targets, and what he needs to do. IMO, one of the very best casters.

I'd never heard of the bait monkey until I joined BR. Going through my tackle collection last night, I can see the bait monkey has taken a toll on me. I have so much fishing stuff I've collected over forty years it's ridiculous. Bags of unopened plastics, hard baits, spoons, and everything else. I've already given my grandson and his friend a good amount of these things, and I still have too much. Thing is, I usually use the same five or six baits when I go fishing, because thats what has worked well on my lakes. Would a golfer have too many golf clubs? Would a ballplayer have too many gloves, or pairs of cleats? I don't know? My wife made a good suggestion. She said I should contact the local scout troop and make a donation. They have a couple of fishing derbies each year, and would probably appreciate this stuff. She then said," your problem is that your tackle bound". She's right. Fishing, and buying tackle is an addiction.And the bait monkey is real. Anyone care to comment? Have you been influenced by the bait monkey?

My post not too long ago was " Becoming a Trashman". Lots of guys came up with good ways to dispose of trash. I'm always glad to hear that others feel it's important also. It really is important, for the future of our sport.

Ive made a couple of post about casting accuracy in the past. I think it's very important. When the season starts I'm probably seven out of ten. Moving along my accuracy gets better to probably eight out of ten. Some days better. And even after forty years, I still find a way to backlash on occasion.

Carry a trash bag with you and dispose of the trash properly. Leave no trace is a good motto to have.

There is usually good cameraderie among fisherman. BR is a big example of this.

Both will work.

As a kid I listened to Cream, Hendrix, some Sabbath. Not much now.

Fish slowly, and stick with it.

Interesting take on jig fishing, and good way to learn. I started fishing jigs many years ago, and I had a real struggle with catching fish on them. It took me quite a while to get it down.

I'll be 65 in October, so won't need a fishing license. I've been trying to save by taking my canoe out on an electric motor lake only. Fairly close to home so not much gas used.

If you grew up in the 1960s, you would be aware of Tony Dow. He played the big brother of Jerry Mathers on the Leave It To Beaver show. He has passed away at 77 yrs old. RIP Tony Dow.

I have the smaller Storm Chug Bug in shad color. I think I've had it for twenty years. It's been a great lure. The Heddon Torpedo is an all time classic also, and is a favourite. Another great old bait is the Heddon Moss Boss. I like to throw it right over moss or any weeds. Wal Mart was selling them for .99 cents a couple of years ago and I bought several. Around here, white has been the best color. We can never disregard any of these classic old baits. I'm one who thinks that there's really nothing new in bass plugs. Most were invented decades ago. They caught lots of fish years ago and will still work. I've known guys who looked at them as beginners or baits for a novice fisherman. I say nonsense. New baits have much better hooks and paint jobs, but it's the action that catches bass.

One of the best Catt. A good bait is a good bait for a reason. They work.

We all have fears. Most guys don't like to admit it. One thing I'm honestly afraid of is crawling in old crawl spaces under old houses. I've done it many times, and never liked it. I'm always wondering what's in there? I always liked this quote from civil war general Thomas Stonewall Jackson. " Never take council of your fears". It means that we all have fears, just don't let them consume you.

I've had rods over the years that didn't live up to the hype. Other less expensive were nice, at least to me. I'm not one to buy a rod based on IM ratings. It's all about feel for each angler. I do agree that newer rods feel better,mostly because of lighter weight. The lightweight rods just feel better, and are more comfortable to fish with.

Im wondering if other BR members have seen these? This solves the problems of casting minnow, swimbait , style baits. When you cast this lure, it folds into a more compact shape. When it hits the water, it unfolds into a slim minnow shape. This is accomplished by magnets in the center of this bait. There could have been other baits in the past that did this, I'm not sure. You can Google Shimano Armajoint to take a look at them. Around 43.00. If anyone has fished one, please post a report on this lure. I'd like to hear about how they work.

From WRB. If you've got soft lead round shot, crimp it on the end of your line, then slide it back and forth up and down the line about 10". This creates a small groove in the shot. Next, clip off that 10" section and crimp your shot where you need it. The small groove in the shot won't damage your line. A split shot rig inched along, can be deadly.

Standard t rig plastic worm. Various sizes colors and models.

Saw this new spinner on the TW website. The new Slammer is advertised as being a spinner for big small mouth bass in big water. It looks good. A thicker, hand tied bucktail, with flashoubou trailing in the center. The bucktail skirt is thicker to give a larger profile.Hand painted blades, and bodies and a good quality VMC Barbarian hook. They've taken the Aglia and hot rodded it to make this spinner with better components, and it comes in 14 colors. Should work well for LM bass also. If interested, you can check them out on the TW website.

I have found fish, and still not been able to catch them. Other times it seems easy. I've realized that almost anyone can catch the fish that are feeding aggressively, but it's much harder to catch those that are not.

I use some cork Tennessee grip spin rods. I would imagine this sticky residue is from some sort of cheap tape. I've cleaned mine with Dawn dish soap and warm water, and seems to work well.

When I first learned to fish soft plastic baits, I was taught to cast, pay out some line if needed to get a straight fall, then, raise the rod to 12 o clock position, and work my plastic baits with hops, between 10 and 12 o clock position. Back then ( early 80s), our rods were 51/2 ft long. This retrieve style has worked well for a long time. I just picked up my first 7ft rod, a Fenwick casting rod. I've been using 6'6 and 6' ft rods. Last night, my friend Mike and I were fishing a quarry lake near home. Mike likes a 6 ft rod for plastic worm fishing, and he's good at it. On this lake, were almost always target casting. Blowdowns, an old dock, weed lines etc. Mike was catching two fish to my one. After an hr or so, he said," I can tell what's wrong here. Your moving the bait away from the fish". It never occurred to me that the longer rod would take up slack line so much faster. It's simple, but Mike's bait was staying in the strike zone with short hops. My bait, fished on the longer rod, was probably moving the bait three ft or more away from the target. I had failed to adjust my distance, in moving the bait forward. Sometimes,( many times) the bass won't leave the security of a good cover spot, and chase your bait into open water. Many folks have started bass fishing with longer rods, but they weren't available years ago. Just an observation, and I thought I'd put this out there. It pays to adjust your lift/ drop retrieve based on your rod length. I'll get used to the longer rod in time, and, I can see many benefits to a longer stick. It's what I love about bass fishing. There's always something new to learn.

Welcome Chris. We've got some very good big bass anglers here on BR. Best of luck in your fishing!