billmac

Never caught a 5 lb bass. Never caught a legal sized muskie. Never caught fish using my electronics (just got it this spring). Never caught a catfish. Never caught a salmon. Never piloted a boat on the St. Lawrence River. These are all things that are do-able in my area.

I have to admit I'm not a big fan of "pro named" lures. I'll buy them if they are cheap enough but I would never pay extra because of the name. I simply don't believe that these guys have enough design expertise to make a jerkbait or curly tail grub better than the thousand or so other offerings already out there.

Jig and spinner combos like the beetle spin or meeney spin. Doesn't snag easily and even fairly weedless. I've caught panfish and nearly every gamefish on them. Can be worked fast or slow.

Look for eddies behind any kind of structure. Cast beyond it and a little upstream so you can bring your lure right through the pocket. I like jig and spinner combos like the beetle spin or meeney spin.

I just looked up the Fat 3 and it appears to be about $8 apiece, so that could be the reason ;). I do have one of the old Fat Raps, but I never used it much. Like I said, it's a silly notion, but I think fishing is much more about confidence than lure selection, and because I don't like the looks of a lure, I don't use it much. I've caught everything from panfish to bass to pike to walleye to musky on Mister Twister Meeney Spins, so I think that is one of the greatest lures ever. I have no evidence that jointed baits like Rapalas or Rebels are more effective than their stick cousins, but I think they look awesome coming through the water, so I have much more confidence in them than the unjointed ones.

I have never used many of the typical "fat" crankbaits.(I love thin cranks like rapalas) I just don't like the look of them. Silly I know, although most of my fishing has been for river smallmouth. Bucktail jigs too. They just seem like tying a rock on the end of my line.

To echo what someone else said, unless there is more information, I think you are too stuck on this one location. You need to locate some active fish. If you have a whole lake to explore, you should take a day and explore. Only fish a little, but get to know the lake better. If the fish are not feeding, I don't think there is a magic bait that will make them bite. Find some that are biting.

I watched a video of Stange fishing for redhorse (suckers).

I'm not a super confident jig fisherman, but while taking my grandson fishing today on a local river, I nailed a nice smallmouth on my first ever cast with a ned rig. It was an odd day out, caught two on the ned rig and one on a rooster tail while live worms produced nothing.

Sometimes you want the line to stretch. That's a job for mono. I've never been convinced that you should only use dark lures in murky water. I've never been convinced that fish care about color as much as fishermen do. I am also skeptical that expensive lures are better than their inexpensive counterparts.

I like catching them, and they are great for taking kids fishing, but their spines are wicked. They aren't bad eating, but like smallmouth in my neck of the woods, they are usually very wormy.

I think this may be the case of selling the fisherman rather than the fish, but I've always loved jointed baits. They have always looked more natural to me.

Do you think it's actually about the fish or the fishermen? I love curly tail grubs. I've caught way more fish with them than with paddle tail grubs. But of course the reason is that I fish them more. I have greater confidence in them, so obviously I'm going to catch more fish. Paddle tail grubs seem to be all the rage now. Have the lure makers sold the fishermen, or do the fish really like them better? Of course I know that it can be situational, but I can't help but notice that paddle tail lures are noticeably more expensive now as well.

How many of you guys use marker buoys? I don't have spot lock or power poles. Once I get the hang of using my electronics, I think I'm going to have to invest in some marker buoys to be able to keep on the fish.

Do you guys use fenders with your bass boat? I don't foresee ever having my boat docked for any significant portion of time, just perhaps launching. I didn't really see them in use at the collegiate tournament I worked at, but I wasn't looking at that time.

Sofla, I take your point, but I don't see the total species as a good rubric, or at least not the best rubric. I know that I have caught a number of fish species, fresh and saltwater, that I can hardly be called proficient in.

I guess I should clarify a little. I honestly wasn't thinking of saltwater, but that's fine. I'm thinking of the guy (or girl) who, if you drop them on a body of water and tell them what species to fish for, is most likely to be successful day in and day out, regardless of condition or type of water. I'm still sticking with Al. I think he's done more to educate people about fishing as a science than anyone else.

Who would you say is the best multispecies fisherman? My vote goes to Al Lindner.

When talking about pan-fishing, it's always perch, crappie, and bluegill. How come rock bass never come up? Plentiful and a fun fish to catch.

Can anyone recommend a good hook guide, that gives size and type recommendations for drop shotting and various plastics? Thanks.

I don't know much about using fish finders yet. A lot of them seem to have flasher mode, like really old school finders. Why? I doubt people are using them for nostalgia. What purpose does it serve?

I'm surprised this young man doesn't have more subscribers, but I think the Fish the Moment channel is one of the best, if not the best I've seen for pure instruction. I watch Roland's channel because I've been a fan for decades. I watch Scott Martin's channel mostly because of Roland but I have to struggle to like him. I'm a multi-species fisherman so I'll watch anything the Lindner group puts out. For sheer overall fishing knowledge, I don't think Al Lindner can be beat. Check out Fish the Moment. It's well worth the time.

I'm not quite ready to splurge on a navionics card for my fishfinder yet. Is getting navionics on my phone worthwhile? It's not very expensive and at least I'd have some mapping.

Sorry no, I didn't fix it. I just found the parts.

Well I finally took my new, really old bassboat on its maiden voyage up to a local power reservoir last week. The 30 yr old outboard doesn't exactly run like a top but I'm working on it, and as I've posted here, I think I have a twisted trolling motor mount, but all in all it was a great experience. Caught 4 smallies and a nice crappie. Going to give the motor some new plugs, cut out the oil injection, and maybe bump up the idle a bit, and we'll see how it goes. Had a few quarts of water in the bilge, not sure where that came from, but not too worrisome. I'm not an experienced powerboater so I'm just trying to get a feel for it.