ironbjorn

I'll be combining some things that share similarities. 1. Snags, mud, and algae/slime. Losing lures and fouling presentations is aggravating. 2. Inclimate weather. High winds make fishing miserable and in some cases dangerous, and winter holes me up for months. 3. Trash and pollution. This one is self explanatory. 4. People and modern society. Disrespectful people who invade your space and cast right over you and next to you. People throwing rocks. People letting their dogs jump into the exact area you're fishing. On and on it goes. Modern society that has seen so, so, so much water bought up, fenced, and posted as private. Shoreline access being bought up and posted. Can't hardly find a place to fish anymore. A boat and a public lake is almost a must anymore. 5. Being skunked. Pretty self explanatory. I fish because I like to catch fish. I can enjoy nature without fishing, and I do. That's not why I'm there. I'm a good angler. I don't know everything though. There's still a lot I could learn. But I don't care to become the best. I like the casual fishing environment. If I get skunked it sucks because I have many other hobbies that I could have been putting time into instead.

If Shimano and Daiwa suddenly evaporated, sure.

Can't use a drone when hunting, but you can use FFS when fishing. Make it make sense.

A MH heavy can do anything a M can. I don't care what anyone says. So a MH and a H. Any size that suites you. Being in the north I'm guessing you won't use the H a lot, but you'll be happier you have a H in the right situations than not having a M.

Good write up. I especially like the part about taking your time and being patient. People move too fast these days. Someone loading and unloading at the ramp and taking a few minutes longer isn't going to change a single thing about your day. But your bad attitude and anger will have already ruined it.

I currently do all of that on 6'10" MH/F Shimano Zodias when I hit the banks. Pretty much any MH or 4 power rod will do all of this. I used to do all of that on a Dobyns Champ XP 684.

Sure, if you're actively polluting the water where you're fishing with any of those chemicals or getting them on your baits. But bass smelling your cologne while you're in the boat or on the bank??? No dude.

I never had any luck bouncing them off wood. Despite what people swear, they always get snagged real quick. A spinnerbait or swimjig is much better for me here. Where I LOVE squarebills is in shallow water with a rocky bottom, letting them grind across the rocks and bounce off of them. Works great.

That 2012 is "old" makes me feel old and I'm not even old.

Dislike: Texas rig, but also most bottom dragging/hopping baits. Just gathers gunk and does nothing and needs 50 lbs of crap cleaned off every cast. Probably would not be the case in different water. Dislike using: Flukes, but I do use them successfully. I just don't like to because it's a chore to get them to depth and to not break the surface regularly. Catches nothing: Chatterbaits. Never again. I quit.

Either I guess, but studies have shown that humans see shades of green better than any other color, so maybe a lime or otherwise bright green would work better here. Thankfully I just feel the bite.

Ah the old ways are truly dead, eh? Water, shade, taking a dip, and weather forecast aren't sensible things anymore I guess. No idea about these. Just get the ick with technology anymore though honestly.

10 years ago it was common for people to say 6 was the best all around ratio. Now it's common for people to say 7 is the best all around ratio. The take away from this should be ... It all works fine, and people change like the wind with time.

I used to fish a little half acre park pond in a small farm town (population of 200~ people). Nobody ever thought it had bass in it. Hardly anyone fished it at all except for little kids bobber fishing for bluegill every once in a great while. I used to catch a plethora of 2 and 3 lbers from it. Many of them several times over. I got to know the individual fish pretty well. At least a couple dozen were unique bass. Any time anyone saw me catch bass they were surprised. Thankfully nobody ever fished it for bass that I saw. One time a sheriff's deputy stopped and asked if I really catch fish from here. He said he'll have to start keeping a rod in his car for when he passes through town. I don't know if he ever did. This was many years ago. I'm a few hundred miles away now. Often wonder if that little pond still produces. Also wonder if any of the old gals are still alive. Some I would still recognize, I'm sure of it.

I would say that the vast majority of fishermen do not spend nearly as much on equipment as the vast majority of the people who post here. I know several bass fishermen and none of them justify spending what I spend on the sport, and I'm very modest compared to most here, usually spending $100-$150 for reels and $150-$200 for rods. That's nothing for so many of you, but makes the eyeballs pop out of the heads of the men I know, and they're all better off than I am. Any time I'm on the banks and can see what others are using, it's almost always what most here would consider cheap.

If I happen to see a nice bass on a bed, I'll take some swings at it. I won't stay for long though. I'll either catch it in a reasonable amount of time or I won't. And I move on. I don't specifically waste my time searching for beds. Also, for ME PERSONALLY, stumbling on a nice fish on a bed is one thing, but specifically searching out animals who are breeding and messing with them isn't my cup of tea.

I fish from the banks a lot. Anytime I have ever gone to bomb a cast and caught something (bush, tree) it's an entire blown up spool that needs to be cut out. I feel like when you get into scissor or knife territory it's all the same. Can't really backlash worse than that. It's not like the reel disintegrates and the rod explodes on a backlash.

No, 110s are a nose down bait.

Probably most recently has been with Senkos. I'll be pitching them around on a baitcaster weightless T-rigged on a 3/0 EWG and if that isn't doing it for me I'll just take it off and put it on wacky style with quite literally no difference in performance. The fish don't care about the hook, the 12 lb line instead of 8, and they cast and work just as well on the BC. Saves me money on hooks, time, and space on the banks.

I'm good at bass fishing. I know this to be true and it's backed by my experiences on the water. I'm not delusional enough to believe I'm a pro, or vain enough to call myself a hammer or whatever else. I just know how to catch them. Everyone can learn baits, pattenrs, whens and wheres. I became good when I became one with the lure, the action, the water, and the elements. You may see my fishing on a partly cloudy 78*F day with 9mph winds, standing 6'0, 210 lbs, staring at water with my polarized glasses. That's not where I am though. I am with the lure and the water. I am envisioning, seeing, and feeling everything going on underneath. Only those who know .... Will know.

How many bass I'll catch. Size is secondary for me. I fish because I like to catch. Catching plus size is a bonus. I have many other hobbies and I enjoy nature just fine outside of fishing. So, I don't fish for nature nor is it my only hobby, so if I'm to catch little or nothing, let me know so I don't waste my time. I'm not a pro by any means, not even close, but I know how to catch bass just fine. Chalking a bad day up to a "learning day" doesn't work for me. Those years have long past. We're catching in good weather or we're simply doing something else I enjoy.

1.5 acres is really small and there might not be a bigger bass in there, especially if there are a lot of smaller ones.

It's too strong when I'm not enjoying myself

I don't use ultra realistic baits. Like many others, they don't work for me. I've always guessed that it's because it's run of the mill. They see it all the time. Bass don't just munch on each and every living creature they can fit in their mouths at all times, else there would be no food at all. They eat when their clock says to eat, or when they're triggered to eat. I think the less realistic baits with unique actions get bit more because they trigger that trigger instinct. They look funny and act funny, and they eat it up out of either curiosity or irritation, or both. And then when their clock says it's feeding time, I don't think anything really matters - it's feeding time, so eat. The thing about feeding windows though is that they don't last for long and can be hard to track, so triggering reactions always becomes the priority.

Sometimes I won't fish for a few months (outside of winter when it's impossible for me), but I always go back. I have a few hobbies just as important to me as fishing so not being obsessed with just one thing kind of keeps things fresh and interesting. Breaks are healthy. Obsessions, not so much.