Bama55

This thread got me to thinking... will a bass go a day, or more, without eating?

I'm still fairly new to bass fishing, but 90% of my fishing to this day has been with soft plastics, which is how I learned to catch bass. Like what fstr said, a smaller bass may feel like a blue gill when it hits your bait. When I feel a lighter tap, or tap tap tap... I usually wait a couple seconds before setting the hook so I know it's taken the whole bait. I've always heard that hook sets are free, so when in doubt go for it, but like to wait a bit to see if I have one on. A bass will usually hold on to soft plastics long enough for you to see that its on there with all the salt/flavor added. When I'm not sure if it's a bass that has taken my bait, I'll raise my rod tip up to just over a 45 degree angle while reeling in the slack in my line. If it feels heavy or the line is moving at all I'll drop my rod down below parallel while reeling my reel about half a turn which will create a semi-slack line. Then I jerk it back up over my head. The semi-slack line seems to help with a better hook set. One more thing that has helped me a lot while fishing soft plastics and I'm not having much luck... SLOW down to the point that you let the bait sit 5-10 seconds before giving it a couple twitches, only moving it 6 inches or so then let it set again. That's just a couple of things that have helped me. The more experienced guys here may have different/better advice. edit: Seems Matt has the pretty much the same technique, lol.

Ouch!

This! I saved a 4lber last week! I would have been there this year had I come back to the site a little sooner. I'm only about 40 miles from Pickwick. I hate to admit it, but I've never had the chance to fish it. :/

Thanks! Didn't realize I wrote so much...lol.

After reading a couple different threads here yesterday I went to the local tackle shop to pick up a couple jigs so I can start learning. The owner of the shop suggested V&M jigs. I'd never heard of V&M. Do any of you have any experience with them? Either way, I picked up a couple. I'll let you all know how they do once I learn to catch some fish with them

Hi everyone! I've been welcoming other new members in their intro threads and realized I haven't made my own. I'm originally from Clanton, AL and now live in a small town about 45 mins south of Pickwick. I joined Bass Resource back in 2007, but shortly after I had to quit fishing for a few different reasons so I quit vising the site. Not long after I forgot about it all together. I just started fishing again this year and I've recently got access to a local private pond that's loaded with big bass! The first time to the pond my buddy out did me 3/1. I'm a competitive guy so I went home and starting thinking of ways to get better so that won't happen again. All of the bass I'd ever caught while actually trying to catch bass had been on soft plastics, so i knew I had to figure out a way to learn some new techniques. I got on youtube to search for bass fishing videos, then I remembered Bass Resource and the wealth of knowledge shared among all of the awesome members here! A quick story on how I started bass fishing.... I grew up catching big 1.5lb bluegill from my grandfathers pond. Pulling in those "monsters" with ultra-light spinning gear is still some of the most fun I have fishing! There were (still are) a few bass in his pond, but the bluegill are bigger than the bass so what was the point in trying to catch them?... lol. One summer, in the late 90's, we had several days of 100+ degree weather and no rain. Saying it was REALLY hot and dry was an understatement. My grandfather has a smaller pond about 150 yards away from his larger pond and it started to dry up. My cousin and I noticed several 10-12" bass swimming around in the little water that was left. We knew if it didn't rain soon they all would probably end up dying, so we thought we would save them by catching them out and running with with the 4 wheeler over to the big pond. The only problem was either of us really new how to catch a bass expect for the few we had caught on crickets while bream fishing...and we didn't have any crickets. We went to our grandpaw and that's when I learned about fishing with soft plastics. The thrill of throwing a bait out in front of the bass and watching it engulf it was like nothing I'd ever experienced. Needless to say, after catching and moving all 20+ bass to the larger pond, I was hooked!!! I'm looking forward to getting to know each of you and learning more about the one thing we all have in common... our love for catching fish! Glenn and all the mods, thanks for making this place the best fishing site out there!

Meaning he's actually from west GA. jk, jk... my brother is an Auburn fan. All of you aren't too bad

Welcome Panic! Sure are!

I just started bass fishing this year, so I'm sure others here may have some better suggestions. The only thing I've had is my Plano Magnum tackle box which barely has enough room to carry the few baits I have. Since I always fish either from the bank or the back of the boat, I'm ordering one of these... http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Extreme-Qualifier-360-Backpack-or-System/product/10204414/ with 3 360 boxes and one http://www.basspro.com/Plano-Elite-Spinnerbait-Organizer-360704/product/10210353/ to go along with it. That will give me a box for hard baits, one for terminal tackle, one for plastics and the one for spinners. Then I'll have the top part of the backpack and side pockets to carry a extra spool of line, misc tools, a few snacks and another box or two if needed. One thing... I just read in the reviews for that Plano spinnerbait organizer that buzzbaits don't fit every well in it. :/

I got on here to ask the same question. Trailer, if you haven't seen it already, read through Jig Fishing Questions when you get time. There's a lot of great info there!

I've fished for bream and crappie most of my life with my dad.. just recently got into bass fishing with my brother and I'm loving it. We both caught our PB last week from a local private pond. I pulled in a 5lbs 6oz on a Bandit 200 series crankbait. A couple days later my bro caught a 6lb 01oz on a 6" Zoom U-tail worm t-rigged. I caught the one in my profile pic from the same pond 3 weeks ago... I didn't have a scale so not sure what it weighed. It was just over 20" long so I'd guess 4- 4.5lbs.

Nice fish! Did you each them all on a frog?

I've been planning a fishing trip with some friends and we are considering camping at JP Coleman. There are motel rooms on site with about 15-20 rooms. I bet that's what Kerri was talking about. I haven't ever been up there so I'm not sure about restaurants. It's sad that I'm only about 45 mins from there, but never fished Pickwick :/

Welcome coots! Roll Tide from the western side of the state!