sal669

HECK YEAAAAHHHH !!!!

WELCOME !!! Raul is right ! Brush up on finess tactics and techniques. Might want to learn some tricks from TROUT fishermen/ Fly fishermen. There are lots of books, magazines, websites dealing with trout. If you learn how to deal with trout in a 10ft wide cristal clear creek, you 'll have no problem dealing with any kind of bass in clear water. You don't have to actualy start fishing for trout, just learn the ways to aproach spooky creatures in gin clear water. Good luck and tight lines!

Good lesson, RoLo. Thanx! I would add that I'm fishing double blade SBs (willow+ colorado)in clear water in shady situations, weeds, and deeper water (like 4 to 10 ft)

When I started bass fishing I had a Shakespeare combo (fiberglass rod, Synergy 35 reel) with 6lb Stren original line, 2/0 mustad hook, 6" worm T-rigged. And I was catching fish !!! After a couple of outings, I went to a new lake.At that time I was only fishing from the shore. At this new lake I had lots of bites in a certain area (weady shallow flat, with some wood and rocks), but I couldn't catch any.I got frustrared and I asked a friend of mine to come fish with me on my next trip. My friend climed a tree on the shore(about 15 ft high) and watched the "action". I cast out my worm , got a "bite", set the hook and... nothing! My friend was loughing like crazy up it the tree. When he calmed down he told me that the moment my worm hit the water a couple of big bluegills dashed at my worm, one of them grabbed the tail of the worm and started swimming away when I set the hook... My $0.02: Your tackle is fine, just make sure that is BASS that bites, not other species !If you have lots of bites, one after the other it's probably not bass( or very small bass) Set the hook ASAP! A decent size bass sucks in the whole bait with no problem and than starts swimming away.

Good advice here!!! I'll second!!!

May God bless your rods, reels and tackleboxes so you will catch more and bigger ones. HAPPY EASTER TO YOU ALL !

I give. The rod I'm using for spinner baits has dual purpose for me: it also serves as a deep crank(or bigger crankbait) rod. It's not a dedicated SB rod, and it's a MH/moderate rod. As a dedicated SB rod a faster action is better.

$0.02 MH power, Moderate or M-Fast action

I think you'r guessing wrong !!! Go to Roadwarrior's sticky post called "Rods: Power and Action defined" (or something similar) to understand rod classification. What is "small plastics" for you??? A medium light rod would strougle with the bigger senkos/knock-offs.Senkos are preaty heavy by themself, I'd go with a MH for senkos. For other SMALL plastics, a ML would be better. A fast action would be better as it would give you more sensitivity. Also, for Small plastics I'd use a spinning combo and for senkos I would use a baitcaster. I'm affraid there is NO rod to work equaly well senkos and small plastics !!! A compomise would be a medium power fast action spinning outfit (but will strougle with realy light small plastics or big senkos/knock-offs)

Sales gimick gone sour !!! ;D Green/moss Power Pro or Sufix. Forget the rest of them ...

No snaps for me, unless I'm using a wire leader. I use the silicon tubing for trailer hooks on the R-bend.

Yeah . I am a Daiwa guy, but I own a Symetre (old design) and I love it. It's worth the couple extra bucks !!! I have 3 Daiwa Regal Z-s ($49.95) for about 6-7 years now, and I have NO complaints (model 2500 and 2000) And 2 Capricorns(2500 and 2000), but they are a bit higher priced. The Regals (2500) landed carp up to 16lb for me, drags worked geat. I don't know if the NEW Regal XI (39.95) are as good as the old ones ...I prefere the 2500 model for bass fishing !!! Front drag only. You should go to a store, see how some Shimanos and Daiwas feel in your hands. Look for Clearance/ Sale/other discounts or on e-bay for a better deal ! Hope that helps a bit...

Your set-up it's way to heavy for most of the crankbaits. Try a medium power, moderate action rod (doesn't have to be expensive), teamed up withe a GOOD reel, 8-12 lb SOFT line. My crank combo is a Dick's brand 6-6ft med/mod rod with a Daiwa TD Advantage reel, 10 lb P-Line CX.

Welcome !!! I started by picking a technique/ lure/bait and fish it until I was doing well with it. I picked soft plastik worms and I T-rigged, C-rigged, split shotted, weightless fished them until I felt I could catch them preaty much any day. Then I started Using Crankbaits... To speed up the process gather as much info as you can (DVD, tapes,magasines, ask people you meet on the water to help / guide you, go fishing with knowledgeble guys, etc) Go on forums and ask specific questions, but only after you did a search on the topic ( if the issue was discussed a week ago, you will not get many responses) GO AND FISH ! Nothing replaces practice on the water !!!

Yes... and I dead stick it... and I swim it... and I slowly drag it and short hop it... and what RW said. B

Excellent job, Raul ! I went through a couple brands and ended up using Gammys. I think they have the best compromise between wire gage(thickness), out of package sharpness and durability. Yes there are sharper hooks but the wire is to thick or, they dull to fast, or break easily(to much tempering) or a combination of the above. Think of it this way: a strait blade razor is for shaving, a cleaver is for chopping up a deer. It would be a pain to try an shave with the cleaver or chop up a deer with a strait razor. But there are hunting knives that could do both reasonably well. Gammakatsu is the hunting knive in my book. Just my $0.02

I'll secodn this !!!

I have confidence in braids, but I'm not an "exclusivist". I use mono, copolymer, fluoro and braid depending on fish species, technique/lure used.Right now there is another thread going regarding "braids+leaders". Check it out, it's good info !

Being that the braids are about 3- 4 times thinner than the equivalent fluoro/mono, I use an "Improved blod knot" (I think this is the proper name )See if I can get a link... http://www.marinews.com/Improved-Blood-Knot-215.php Hope it works! Why do you guys use similar diameter fluoro leader with braid??? Like 30#braid with 8# fluoro ??(About the same diameter) Most of the time I use 15# braid and 10# fluoro/mono/copoly on spinning outfit. On BC reel I go 30# braid mostly strait to lure. Rarely (very clear water) I use a 15-20# leader . I start with a 5-6 ft leader and keep cutting/retying until about 2-3ft

I use anywhere between 4# mono to 30# power pro (different aplications,different species), but most of my BASS fishing is with 10# . The bass in MI don't grow as big as in southern states.

I was kind'of wandering about this issue miself: Is there a certain factor that will make a "swimming jig" better than a spinnerbait ??? When? Where ? Why ? Also, why swimming a jig and not a T-rigged 6" curly tail worm, a grub or other soft plastic ??? Thanx, Alex

Good going! And I bet the fish in your waters haven't seen anything like those before ! You might just have a nice surprise when trying them out !!!

Right on, MUDDY If it doesn't work, try some shower curtains !

With all this new and fancy baits, people forget about the old clasic T-rigged lizard ( watermelon, pumpkin, junebug, black/blue). It's the first thing I cast out in spring. I have a lot of good results swimming a 4" grub( white, glow in the dark, chartreuse, yellow) on a 1/4 oz jighead, and small sbinnerbaits. Rattle-traps are good too.

I would live them alone. Let them make "babies" Maybe try catching the prespawn or potspawn bass in slightly deeper water. If you realy have to catch bedding fish, you could try a T-rigged lizard, tube, crawfish imitation(jig, tube, plastic craw), or even a worm.You want to pick a colour that you can see well. Try to find the "sweet spot" in the nest. You might have to cast quite a few times. If they go off the nest while you approach, back off. Wait a couple minutes(5-10), and cast from greater distance. If you have a "bite" se the hook immediately, because most of the times bass just picks up the bait and spitts it out of the nest. Good luck.