skekoam

So sad. I had just sent him a PM a few days ago asking about Toledo and if he had any tips for bank fishing. We are headed to Louisiana in a few weeks and I wanted to take my boys fishing on down time. RIP Catt

Hey guys, I will be visiting Lafayette in October for a golf tournament and was wondering if there are any honey holes around where I can get my kids on some bass after the round? I've never been to Louisiana before and have no idea what to expect. The course my son is actually playing is in Broussard. thank you!!

I appreciate all the rec's guys. Has anyone ever fished Yamamoto's farm? There are tons of courses in Texas as well and seem like fishing his pond would be a sure thing given its size.

I'm not sure this is the appropriate forum, but I didn't want to limit recommendations to certain areas. Anyhow, I'm turning 50 next year and wanted to do enjoy two of my favorite hobbies- Golf and Bass fishing. I currently reside in California and would be willing to hop on a plane. If there is a certain state or area you guys can recommend that would be great. Something like the Troubadour Club in Tennessee sounds enticing. A championship golf course where they also let players fish after hours. Thank all

Where do you live? Lucky to have a pond that produces like that. congrats!!

I think because a lot of people to use a guide aren't comfortable with a baitcaster. The guide would rather not spend half the time un doing back lashes. Also the other guide we know fishes drop shot 90% of the time. I'll drop shot too, but only if the fish aren't biting anything else. As mentioned, I love using a baitcaster and I taught my son early on how to use one and he is probably better than me now. We can go a whole day without a birds nest

That is an interesting question. I've used this same guide 3-4 times before and each time it was wide open. It was only tough on our most recent trip. Last year we went out to a lake and caught 89 fish in 8 hours. The guide only fished with us for about an hour because I asked him to. On that trip and ones prior, I wouldn't say I was really learning anything from the guide. He is super laid back guy whose main priority is to put us onto some fish and also position the boat in such a way that makes it easy for my son and I to fish comfortably. Essentially this guide is like fishing with a buddy who owns a boat. I've spoken to a few guides and they would not let us use baitcasters, which I prefer. Anyhow, when we use different types of baits I normally ask the guide which technique works and go from there. I still have a hard time working a jerk bait correctly tho. After jerking for more than 30 minutes, my back and arm muscles get super sore. I may opt for a different guide down the line who we can really reach us. Seems like anyone can catch when its wide open but when its tough out, experience obviously comes in handy to maximize time on the water.

Is it me or does BPS only sell their own brand of tackle? Its really hard to find other mainstream brands there.

The first pic is from a recent guided trip we went on. I've never experienced a trip where the bite was so tough. All in all I'd say we caught about 25 fish, but a majority were very small no matter what we threw. Pictured are the best 4. Last time we visited this lake, all the fish caught were pretty big (4-6lb) range.

Good lord she's a brute. congrats to him!! The more I fish, the more I'm understanding just how hard it is to land some bass. Even the smaller ones in the 2-3 lb range.

After a long dry spell, my son and I got out for a day with our favorite guide. It was odd. All the bass seemed like they were exactly the same size except a few in the pics. I would say the biggest was 3-3.5 pounds. We caught 30 on the day and most were on the drop shot, which is not our preferred way of fishing. Lost probably 5 more fish due to the leaders snapping at the boat. From my understanding, there are very sharp mussels on the lake floor, which slowly cuts through the line.

I drive by there quite often, but don't know anyone. I was even contemplating buying a home there just so I can fish everyday, but that didn't work out too well once I presented to my wife. ughh.

Thanks guys. Unless I get invited to a private pond (which is rare), seems like the best bet is to head out with a guide. Even though it may just be a few times a year, it it well worth it to me. I live in Orange County where lakes/ponds are rare and fish are even more rare. Either that, or I have no idea what I'm doing. That could be the case as well. LOL

Today my son and I finally got out to fish some local ponds on San Diego after about an 8 month hiatus. Don't get me wrong, I love fishing and being out in nature, but shore fishing the local pressured ponds has just become a drag. I think we fished two different lakes for a total of 8 hrs and literally only caught 1 bass between the three of us. Am I the only one who thinks this? It seems like the only way to get on some fish is on a boat.

Do you think it was more presentation or the areas the guy was casting? if it was presentation, I would of watched him like a hawk to see what he was doing that you weren't. If it was placement, after he caught 20, I'd ask him to take a break and tell you where he would cast next.

Let me know if you need any guide recs in the SD area. We have gone about 4 times with this a guy and not only is he super fun to fish with, the guy is super laid back. He lets us throw baitcasters which is a plus. Some guides only have you throwing drop shot on spinning set ups. On the trips we have gone on, we have averaged about 40 fish. On one trip we caught over 80 between my 12 yr old son and I, but nothing huge. San V is a crazy lake unless you know it well. The bottom is like a huge forest and easy to get hung up. Best of luck.

Thanks a lot guys. His first question to me after putting the order in is can we trade spinning set ups when the new one comes in? ?

We had some BPS credit to burn so I told my son to order me a decent spinning set up. In my email this morning I see he bought the following: Reel: Daiwa Tatula LT 2500 Rod: St. Croix Premier ML 6ft6 Should I hug him or never let him order stuff for me again? Thanks guys.

Thank you. I'm sure it was probably really good at one point, but this pond also gets a lot of pressure. Just need to feel the bite again. Its been a while since we have caught any bass.

thanks for sharing! I'm moving to the everglades asap

A retired military buddy is taking my son and I to the MCAS fishing pond in Miramar and just curious if any of you have fished there and can offer any tips. Appears there are 3-4 docks to fish off of. I plan to mainly throw senkos, ikas, and bring a drop shot as well if things are tough. thanks in advance

Not sure if the area is owned by the Irvine Company, but rent has to be a killer. Either way, it will be cool to see. I rarely buy any tackle or anything else for BPS. Normally we just go for the hats/t shirts.

Congrats. Having lived in Portland, I can't believe I never fished the Columbia for bass

Thanks for all the comments guys. On this trip, we were going for numbers. Next time out we will target bigger fish. My son's PB is 7.4 so far and that's going to be hard to beat.

My son wanted to go on a guided trip for his b-day so we did it. Got to the lake around 6:30 and started throwing reaction baits. Probably 50 boats on the lake so it was heavily pressured. Morning started out slow, but we were able to pick a few off here and there. Oddly enough, the bite didn't pick up until the afternoon. Caught about 20 in all on the crank, jerk, chatterbait, and drop shot. Here are the two biggest of the day. Both in the 5-6 lb range.