billmac

Buy a guinea hen and train it to protect you.

I think perhaps they are. They look familiar. But I honestly don't remember anyone talking about them back then.

I can't say I've ever used a blade bait. You stay out of the game for a few years and you miss a lot. Blade baits, senkos, chatterbaits. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Should I be ashamed that I don't know what a stew head is?

I don't know if such a thing exists, but wouldn't it be cool to have a virtual tournament? I've played fishing games before, but I think it would be cool to have a multiplayer game that would not only be fun, but would test any skills that could be virtualized. Not the same as real fishing of course but a lot of us live in places where year round fishing is not possible, and it could actually be used to improve some skills such as map and electronics abilities.

Too big I think. I ordered some 1/2 plugs off Amazon. We'll see.

I like the MLF format. The more I watched the other two tours, especially BASS, it convinced me that many of the anglers had no respect for the fish. However I wouldn't be surprised if MLF changes things up a bit so they don't count all the bank runners.

Mr. Twister Meeney Spin. 1/4 oz. Yellow

Knowing where the fish are is the most important. Don't break the bank buying lures you can't afford and especially can't afford to lose. Buy what you can afford. You'll catch fish. I think the fish aren't quite as sophisticated as the lure companies would like us to think.

My 88 Cajun Maverick came without livewell plugs. Can I just grab some off Amazon? Are they kind of one size fits all? Thanks,

Do you guys not have any rivers with rapids? By far most of the bass I've caught in my life have been in river rapids.

How did you catch them? What was the pattern?

Roland's wading is particularly impressive because I've seen a bunch of his videos where gators have followed his fish right to the boat, and one actually got his fish and lure.

I was reading the young man's post about not being able to catch bass, and I was about to suggest he wade into the lake or pond to get closer to the fish. But then I thought better of it. I live in northern NY. I've been wading rivers and other bodies of water all my life. But we don't have alligators or water moccasins or other such hazards. I didn't want to give advice that would get someone hurt. Do you guys down south wade the waterways? I think I remember reading about Tom Mann wading ponds. I lived in SC for a few months and took a local guy fishing with me, wading a pond, and he was jumpy and terrified that there were snakes nearby.

Go with small baits. Don't be afraid or ashamed to catch something other than bass. You have the right idea with getting some nightcrawlers. There's nothing wrong with live bait. Anyone will tell you here that everyone has fishless days (or even weeks). On one of the latest FLW tournaments a lot of the pros struggled to catch a keeper bass. Everyone wants to catch fish. Of course they do. But you need to learn to enjoy fishing, and the catching will come. Work on your casting and accuracy. Learn the lake as best you can. Work on your awareness of your surroundings. Do you see baitfish? Are there frogs around? Weeds, stumps, lily pads?

The reason I asked, is that when I was still a fishing fanatic, we didn't call them (floaters) jerkbaits. Jerkbaits were relatively new and were usually Rapala-ish, but with neutral buoyancy. I think some people called the floaters stickbaits, but now I see some soft plastics are called stickbaits and that certainly wasn't the case back then.

Is the classic Rapala floater considered a jerkbait? If not, what makes a jerkbait a jerkbait?

Do you choose your braid by diameter or strength, or both? Where I fish, unless I'm going for musky, I'm unlikely to hook any fish that will break 20 lb braid. So I tend to go for diameter rather than strength. Any other parameters that I should look at? Which braid do you think provides the best value for money?

I bought my first baitcaster in the 80s, a Daiwa Millionaire. I became very proficient with it and fell in love with baitcasters, and became even more disdainful of spinning reels. But yeah, I had some epic backlashes. ** Come to think of it, I may have bought it in the late 70s. Is that possible? Have they been around that long?

Yeah, I'm sorry to say I've had, occasionally, to cut out a big chunk of line to get a backlash out. It's funny, since I was out of fishing for a decade or so, I figured baitcasters would have progressed to be almost backlash-proof. Evidently not.

Just to start a discussion: Are there any well known fishermen that you think would have done well if they had gone down the Tourney Pro route? I'm a big fan of Al Lindner and I've often wondered how we would have fared if he had stuck with Bass tournaments. He won a couple, and then decided to devote himself to In-Fisherman (for which I'm glad). Back in those days a yankee on the tournament trail was a rare thing.

Doesn't the casting performance of a reel degrade as the spool gets emptier?

This is going to sound like a silly question, but why do so many reels hold so much line? Are most fishermen using the inside 150 yards of a 250 yard spool of line?

MrFrost: How far was he able to cast? I actually prefer short casts when I can manage it. I like to keep moving so other than fishing deep, which I don't do a lot of, I tend to move toward my target rather than standing off a long way and casting to it.

I like to use 1/8 and 1/16 rooster tails for trout and bass in the river rapids in my area. I have and certainly use spinning tackle. I have for decades. I just don't like it. Never have. Frankly I would rather use spincast tackle. But in the end, I'll use what I have to. Thanks for all the info.