RichardJarel

Better late than never! I've seen this thread before, but it just never sank in seeing old sales that I had missed. So I started coming here more often and just now subscribed... THANK YOU! Discovered the Academy sale and bought a bunch of H2O items along with a few others that have been in my list. The prices (even those that were not on sale), were pretty good, so... Now I just have to wait by my door! LOL! My wife's is taking me up to Ten Mile lake here in Oregon for a "mini-vacation". She's even springing for a boat rental so I don't have to get mine in order and have to tow it up there. (How lucky can one guy get? She loves fishing and comes from a heavy fishing/hunting family.) She's planned for us to both spend most our days up there fishing! =D Thanks for all who post here! Just save me a bunch of $$$ (I don't think the "bait monkey" had anything to do with this purchase... I'm pretty specific about my "wish lists" I keep on my computer and only purchase what I really want to use/try out... LOL! (rolling eyes)... Thanks again! Richard

Thank you both!!! I understand the getting addicted to Senko... Kind of like the Ned rig for me.... I've really been focusing on the more traditional rigs, but when nothing's biting AND I'm getting close to throwing in the towel, I pull out my Ned rigs and my spirits soar... except... I then feel like I'm cheating! LOL! At least I know they're there, so I focus on my presentations. I also appreciate the education I've been getting. Honestly, if my boat were ready to go, I'd probably be trolling, using my electronics and not learning a thing! Bank fishing has gotten me to slow down, take a look around, project topography and how it most likely transits to under the water's surface. Feeling my baits on the bottom (even if I'm loosing gear getting snagged on rocks and such, I'm still appreciating the education... In three months, I've gotten to the point where I can tell the difference between, bumping into rock, wood, a "bite" (and the difference between pan fish and bass bites and most recently, how to tell a "non-bite" That moment when there's un, self induced slack in my line. I've caught two that way and proud that I pulled my education out of my hat to think that slack line was a bite.... Pulled back as far as I could go and just kept reeling thinking the bass was swimming my way... it was! LOL! I know I'm doing well with all of this... I'm definitely harder on myself than should be and work 'real hard" to be grateful that I get to go out fishing mid week and that My version of getting skunked,, is a dozen or so small ones... LOL! Laughing at myself and slapping myself in the face to "wake up and realize how good I've got it.... My wife is great at that... she doesn't slap me, but she's my greatest fishing supporter... Funny when we go together and I pull out another "dink" and frown... She'll look at me, **** her head to the side and look slightly down, giving me the body language of: "really? You're going to tell me that's not a bass? Wanna go home instead? (That's a taunt to get me to see what I'm complaining about... she loves fishing!) I guess this was a little letting off steam.... Seeing that guys 5lb bass yesterday left me with that "Why can't I catch one of those" feeling... and we all know that once I do catch "one of those".... I'll be wanting a double digit bass! LOL! Thank you too for the list of alternative Senkos (See... I'm trainable! I "think" i spelled it right this time... LOL!) I've been looking at the groups of Stick-O baits and they're cheap enough for me to try a bunch out and see what I like... I've read a lot of good things about them. Again, many thanks guys... You've lifted my heart back up. So comforting to know I can come here with questions and met with positive reinforcement and great information! Finished cleaning up the studio, retooling the equipment and ready for the new projects coming in. Best Always, Richard Almost signed off... Another question? Any suggestions on what size? I've been using 7" trick worms (3" Ned) TRD, and was thinking about 4" stick baits, but now thinking I should move up to 6"? Thanks again! (And no, I'm not going to ask about colors... I've red TONS!!! Enough now that I feel pretty comfortable choosing between 3 - 4 colors to match my fishing conditions LOL! (but... (Totally laughing at myself here!!!! Wouldn't mind... The biggest thing I've learned and proven to myself switching colors is going from opaque colors to translucent (not white, just not solid colors), when the sun is high and water's clear (very clear). made a big difference within one hour... Actually the first cast of my color change. LOL!

Well... be careful what you ask for! LOL! I've read TONS of the suggested threads and have learned a LOT (to much? LOL!) Defintely more info than I bargained for BUT TOTALLY grateful! OK... need to get some work done today. MUCH better informed now! Thank you all! Richard

Thank you so much! (Especially regarding the spelling. LOL!) Like I said, I'm new and always eager to learn. I'm going to go on line, find the Yamamoto SenKo, get the specs and then see who makes copies and learn enough so I can decide how to find what i want. From what I've read, watched on YouTube and now seen in person, I want to give these a try. I do see many used wacky rigged without weights. Can I T-rig them without the use of a weight too? Or do they work better wacky rigged, or.... like most answers I've seen here: Just have to try and wee what works for my local? Thank you! Richard

Thank you! What you shared fits what I "think" I've learned so far... I guess my main question (?) would be regarding the thickness of "senco" style worms... All my trick worms so far have been thin and offer great movement. (and I like them for that.) But I'm wondering if the thicker worms (sencos?), offer actions that are different from what I've been using and more beneficial regarding attracting larger bass?

Hi, I'm pretty new to bass fishing (Like 3 months?), and I'm doing pretty well. I've been focusing on plastics: T-rig, C-rig, Shaky Head, Ned etc... Most of what I have been using are Zoom Trick Worms. I fish from shore and so far, haven't been skunked. Last day fishing was 20 plus bass but they were SMALL (Really small!)! My PB so far is 1.75lbs but most are about a pound if that. I've had to do research to learn the terminology, bait names, trying to learn the difference between "popular names", nick names etc, versus the actual product name so I can go out and buy what I'm reading about. The "name" i keep reading the most is "SENCO". I "think" this is referring to the Yamamoto senco, but I read about anglers substituting with other brands and names but unsure if they fall into the category of Senco. Yesterday, my wife and I went fishing a small lake/pond and say a guy fishing from a foat and saw the largest LMB I've ever seen (in person... 5lbs). When I asked what he used, he said a black and green senco. Other kids were fishing from the shore throwing wacky rigged "Sencos". My question is: What makes a Senco, a "Senco"? Defining characteristics (size, length, thickness etc)? Can you give share specific brands, names of substitutes so that I can go to my local tackle shops and know what I'm asking for (The service people I've encountered so far seem to know less than I do! LOL! Thank you! Best, Richard

thanks for that one! I didn't think same brand style might interact with each other

My wife is planning a fishing trip up to Ten Mile Lake in Oregon to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday. She knows ten mile lake, but from living there, not fishing for bass. Hoping to take our boat, but unsure. Any advice regarding hot spots (bank and boat), would be much appreciated. Thanks! Richard

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones... My wife is my BEST friend... EVER! We got married late in life (7 years ago). She TOTALLY supports my fishing whenever I can get a chance to. She grew up fishing and we love to go together. I work at home and some times have "days off" during the week. Last time I completed a project I was having problems with, I emailed her to share the relief... Her reply: "Have fun Fishing"! Don't get me wrong, we love spending time together doing anything including just talking... But she has gotten really excited that I have gotten this excited about Bass fishing and is the first one to suggest that I head out to the lake. She reminds me to bring my cell phone in case she wants to ask what time to have dinner ready when I get back, but not to rush... Honey, stay out till dark, cause that's when they really start to bite. Geeze! How lucky can one guy get? I get to have her AND go fishing!

Thank you everyone. I'm going to go the cautious route and keep same baits in same bags. I'll transfer to smaller sandwich zip locks, but keep the same baits, same colors, etc in one bag at a time. I'll mark them so I know which original brand/bag they came from so that when I find one that I like, I'll know which one they are so I can order more. Thanks again, Richard

Thanks again guys! I think I was so mentally excited, that I wanted to try everything at once! Reality is, with only a few hours, I'll be lucky to try out a half dozen at a time! LOL!

Thanks guys! Since I'm new to this, I think I may just put a few of the same baits in small zip lock baggies and not take so many with me, saving others for following trips. Didn't think about residue from previous bagged baits! I'm thinking that once I get my boat running, I may get another Bass specific tackle box and transfer my plastic bait bags to the bank fishing bag/box I'm currently using (They'd fit perfectly), or get one of those plastic bait "folders". I just don't want to risk damaging these things. Thanks again! Richard

Hi Everyone... I've got a question: Just bought a bunch of soft baits here on BR. I'm a bank angler (new to Bass fishing), and don't have enough room or want to carry a bunch of different bags of baits. I know that mixing Zman ("Elastic" ...spelling?), with other soft baits can raise havoc, but can I mix other baits in a single bag? I'd like to carry two or three of each just to try them out without having to carry too much as well as not damaging the baits. All insight/experience, advice and ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Richard

Thank you Glenn! Richard

Ditto on the above question: "It that a "ZOOM" trick worm? I'd like to try additional FLOATING worms on my NED, Shakey head etc, but want the worms/plastics to float. Being new to this, I've had a hard time trying to figure out which plastics float and which don't. I've done the taste test (salty= non floating), but still not sure. Even some of the Zman TRD's don't float. I pull them out of the bag and test float at home before going out to fish. THANK YOU! Richard

Thanks for the input regarding craw-fish! In my reading (yes, I read a LOT! LOL! ...Kind of obsessed? LOL! In the YouTube category, it's now hard to find any that I haven't seen LOL! I still watch some of them I saved to review for details. LOL!) I read (note, I NEVER take one post as the fact... I look for patterns of posts having the same answer.), I read that even if the bait isn't matched to the hatch, it just has to look a live and if the bait is different, the bass's curiosity is heightened. I actually already bought a few craw baits (including the strike king rage bug), and I'm looking to try them out. (I've never tried anything black, so I'll add the black and blue (I've read a lot of people preferring that color combo), to my shopping list for today's bait monkey indulgence (I'm actually pretty frugal though). Going to add one more Lews spinning combo to my arsenal so I'll have three of the same rigs strung up with different methods. I decided to hold off on the new casting combo until winter so I can practice casting with dummy weights at the local park (1/2 block down the street), over the winter. I have a a couple of older bait casting rigs (short rods), that I'll bring onto the boat once it's running. Just completed figuring out how to create my next toy prototype project, so my confidence level on that is up and I'm ready to start. To "celebrate", I'm going fishing tomorrow! (It's supposed to be cloudy with a little wind and the lake should be fairly empty! =D

Went fishing yesterday (I finished my client project the day before! Yeah! I'm "free"! =D it was "free fishing weekend" here in Oregon, so I chose to continue exploring my google maps, looking for spots where there were no people. (The wake board boats sure didn't help... Going to try another lake about an hour away (Emigrant is less than 20 minutes) Covered most of the other side of emigrant reservoir. Found some good spots and some dead spots. most were inaccessible by land (Gotta get the boat running!LOL!). LOTS of bites and caught/landed 9 LMB. Most small (10" to 13"), but had a good time. (From what I've been reading here, catching 9 bass in a day, isn't half bad, so I've totally thrown out my comparing my "success/failure to anyone else here... focusing on realizing I'm lucky to just be fishing! Had a good time, a few nice fights... I focused on my hook set techniques and other "tips" I've been learning here... feeling the bite etc... Decided to try the small dock I started at (floating dock to serve the university's rowing team. One angler, a guy I met before was there and he was happy to have me join him. I wanted to try the drop shot but my flouro/braid knot broke I JUST learned the Alberto knot on You tube and I like it! I'll have to see how it holds up. My uni to uni knots were breaking at the knot. Yes... I wet the knots while cinching! LOL! I was using uni to uni and it just took me too much time, especially with such light lines (10lb braid to 6lbe flouro), I'd get frustrated breaking off getting stuck on the bottom with most of my rigs. T-rig were texposed or buried in the bait.. By late afternoon, the dock was CROWDED by the most inconsiderate anglers I've ever encountered (Don't want to talk about it.... at all!) we both decided to leave and hope to meet again during the week. Going to focus on drop shot and hook setting next trip and seeing how my new knot holds up... I've turned my fishing trips into "school lab" after "lecture (reading threads here and watching more YouTube videos and applying what I learned... focusing and practicing on only a few items at a time, trying to get better at those before moving on to other subjects. LOL! OK... new project started today... back to work. Hoping to go fishing Thursday (partly cloudy!) Richard

"What lures/baits were you using that were not working just before you switched to worms?" Totally and really laughing my head off out loud!!!!!! (Not at you! At me!!!) Let me explain a little: I'm 64 now. Started fishing when I was 6yrs old (Salt water in the Florida Keys.) Moved up to Oregon 17 years ago. During that time, I lived in Los Angeles and I always traveled south to Baja (Sea of Cortez), towing a 14' aluminum boat with an outboard (two weeks+ at a time, at least four times a year.) My lightest line was 40# all the way up to 150#!!!! LOTS of steel leaders!) The ocean bottom can drop down to 3,000' within a mile of shore in places. Bill fish, Dorado, Yellowtail, tunas etc... (Personal Best down there was an almost 6' Dorado (not sure how much it weighed but it took both arms to lift it up for a photo.) MANY of my lures are bigger than most of the trout and bass I've caught (until recently). (After fishing a few times when I first moved up here, I've wanted to make a T-Shirt with a 12" bass/trout and underneath write: "This isn't a fish... It's Bait!" When I moved up here, I just bought "miniature" versions of what I fished in Mexico (Rapalas etc... I bought small garage sale spinning rods/reels and I then just trolled the lakes (like in Baja), and hoped for the best. Catching mostly what I used to consider "Bait" (8" to 10" bass)...LOL! I was sick over this winter and spent two months in bed... I started watching youtube videos and got "hooked" on bass... It's hard for me to find something I haven't already seen. I found Bass Resource a few weeks ago (I'm up to page 317 in the fishing forum and I've read ALL the pages/posts in the tackle section.) Yeah, I can be obsessive and I'm TOTALLY gotten into bass fishing!!! My boat needs a little work (O/B bottom end), but I wasn't going to let the lack of a boat get in my way, so I started looking at videos focusing on bank fishing for bass. Went out and bought two 7' Lews Medium fast action rod and reel combos and spooled them up. For $50 each, they're not bad. I like the action and the reels are smooth with great drag. After reading and watching, it seemed like plastics Mostly worms), was where I needed to start learning as I knew NOTHING about them. I basically tossed out almost everything I knew about fishing and have been freshwater fishing for trout and bass. My wife and I have been doing great on Trout, but I wanted to get going on Bass. Read some great advice here about focusing on a few baits/techniques to LEARN them thoroughly, so that's what I did: (T-rig, C-rig, NED, Drop Shot, Neko and recently, I bought a few cheap Jigs at wall mart (NOTE: Whenever I sit watching videos (Bass Resource, Tactical Bassing, Informative Fishing, and many others, I write down what I'm learning and have a LONG list of lures and I want to get two bait casting reels/rods... much heavier to buy... ) I wasn't sure about Jigs, so I started off cheap... After one day, I'm ready to buy a few better ones (Dirty Jigs, and another company that I forgot the name: (Sielbert?). So... There you have it! I'm a three-week old Bass veteran! LOL! There wasn't a "before" history of bad luck with tackle... There just wasn't any! LOL! Funny as my last trip to the lake I "only" caught four (mostly small:10" and one that was 12" in three hours and thought I was doing bad.... I now realize, I'm ahead of the game if I only catch one! Especially being a new bank angler. And besides, getting out to the water, gives me a great release from a stressful job. When I get the boat up and running, there are SO many spots where I caught bass.... trolling! I knew where those spots were, but didn't realize why they were so productive.... Now I know! I know how to get to those locations by boat, but not from shore. Again on advice I read here, I goggle mapped the lake and printed out a bunch of sheets... So far, I've covered (bank), one half of the lake and plan on checking out/testing the other half after I get my client projects done. Thanks for asking... Hope this long story makes sense? I'm a TOTAL NEWBIE!!!! LOL! Richard

Thanks! I played "hooky" from work today... added jigs to my arsenal (trying to stick to bottom plastics...). Now I'm seeing that something appropriate to the season would be much better. Caught three today. I should be grateful that I didn't get skunked, but I was hoping for more, or larger LOL! Don't we always? LOL! I'll have to do a search here and learn what a chatter bait is! LOL! Richard

I just read every post in this thread taking notes... in ONE LONG SITTING! LOL! THANK YOU! Been fishing since I was 6 (now 64, but mostly salt water). Just got serious about bass and chose to focus on plastics (Texas, NED, Drop Shot and Carolina). Been doing fairly well. I'm ready to order and start fishing jigs. Because I've been focusing on the bottom, I thought I'd stay there for a while (Yes? No?) I created a smaller tackle box (I have five), just for bottom plastics using the rigs I mentioned above. The question I have is: The reservoir I fish, I've never seen traces of crawdads and the bass I catch have share teeth with no red lips (Chasing after bait fish?) Most caught on a Texas and NED rig... Most of the trailers I see people using here are "Craw" style. If there aren't any crayfish in my lake, does it matter? I'm located in Oregon. Thank you! Richard

Just got back from fishing with Tresa. I brought our main tackle box for her, but I only used my new "bass only box". I started out with the NED, but after catching a lot (mostly small), I decided to go with my Texas rigged Zoom Trick worm (watermelon/blue speck). Took longer to catch them but I was catching... Then, they started getting bigger! I had my first OMG moment and laughed out loud... A little later, another even bigger! I was shocked! I was applying what I've been learning here and on YouTube and... It was working! Tresa was going for trout (she loves to eat trout), but was watching what I was catching... "Wanna try my NED?" "That's OK...." Kept bringing them in and she finally gave in... She caught a few, mostly smaller, but she was enjoying them a lot more than her trout! LOL! I cast my "OK, this will be my last cast before leaving-Cast" and got hooked.... At first I thought my rig hooked wood, then thought, OK, it's a bass, but maybe not that big... Then it just took off and my rod was bent into a "U". I kept my tip up, loosened the drag a little to keep tension on... This thing took off like nothing (freshwater anyway), I've ever experienced.... Longest freshwater fight I've ever had (med/light/fast action, spinning, 10lb braid with 6lb Flouro)... The closer I got it in, the more I was amazed! I couldn't believe what I was bringing in and just praying I could land it... NOTE: This was my first time using this kind of gear, hoping for larger bass... Most of what I caught before (trolling and with the NED), were about 8" maybe 10" at best.... Seeing what others are catching, I feel a "little" embarrassed that I "finally" caught my PB.... But it was MY personal best and before studying posts in this website and info on YouTube the past couple of months, I knew NOTHING about bass fishing! LOL! (This one was 15", 1lb, 9oz) So I proudly share MY, (current... still working on a "larger" one... It's all relative though), Personal Best! No matter what, I had the time of my life! Right up there with much larger saltwater angling.... My Personal Saltwater Best, was a 5'11" Dorado caught in Baja from a 14' aluminum boat.... Thanks for the help guys! I really feel like I've "Come Home"! Richard

Hi Glenn, I love and had learned so much from your videos. The welcoming that I have received here has been so heart warming: I DO feel like I've "returned home"... Spent yesterday in the rain exploring the lake using printed maps from Google Earth. Found 8 new spots, fished two in the rain before it started pouring... I forgot my parka! LOL! Tresa and I are going back today (Cloudy). and then up to a mountain lake for trout (her favorite). Thanks again, Richard

thanks for all the well wishes and welcomes. Also thanks for flagging my post for moving. Drop shot has been on my list from the beginning. Watched tons of DS videos, but have yet to try it. I have a few packages of DS weights (long thin wire shaped with line release clips), and appropriate hooks. Definitely something I'll be trying. Shipped project out yesterday, so today, I'm putting together a much smaller tackle box with NED, Shaky Head, CR and TR and plastics (Bass specific so that I can walk around easier (My new (birthday gift from my wife), office chair snapped on me and dropped me to the ground hard! (Sure didn't need that. Still hurting.), looking at where it snapped apart, it was definitely defective... a lot of air bubbles in the castings where it broke. Amazon already gave me the return label.). Also, with this smaller bass specific box, I won't be tempted to divert away from the rigs I want to learn, but still have a variety to choose from. I also want to figure out how I can print segments from close up views of Google Earth maps to bring with me. (No smart phone, so I need paper... for now.) I've got at least four great looking spots in mind to investigate. I have a great Garmin GPS that has an internal battery so, I'll bring that too. We use it on our sailboat and car and I'm hoping the same marine mode will show the lake. That would be GREAT! =D When I last fished and caught bass, I kept two to eat. My wife and I had them last night and we both loved them! I don't mind keeping a couple smaller bass for food but will release most if not all, especially anything over 2lbs. Best, Richard

took me a few seconds to figure out" in from the front porch"... I think I got it? LOL! "Returning to the party"? I somehow totally forgot just how much I LOVE fishing... WAY too much work... My wife has always begged me to go "play" in between projects... With my bot out of commission and winter here (a few months ago), I figured fishing would be the last on my list... Well, being sick really reminded me of my mortality and my wife and I are always saying: "If not now, then when?" Decided lack of a boat (for now at least... It's on the top of my "to do" list), was not enough of an excuse to keep me from fishing... Had to dust off, take apart, rebuild the reels and check/repair rods, then began digging around for tackle boxes... (still missing my freshwater box)... I bought two new rod/reel combos and I love them... spent a bit on tackle (mostly soft plastics) and we headed for the lacks around here... Yeah, I guess I did come back to the party from the front porch! LOL! Thanks! Richard

So, I'm still reading pages here. up to page 84 of threads and I just found the "Introductions" area... Is there anyway a moderator can move my thread there? Who can I contact to have it done? I see now that this really should be there. Thank you! Richard