The Budget Angler

Duly noted. If I ever get to see that kind of a topwater bite again, I'll be ready....

Okay, I'm interested... I will most definitely try to find that lure and see if I can get some topwater fish next time around

I love fly fishing but there is absolutely no room for a back cast at this pond. I seriously have trouble casting with 6' casting rods. Not even roll casting would work. There's not an easy way to get a boat in there, either. What are some "small, non-ploppy" lures, then? Poppers? I was dropping poppers and whopper plopper 70s (smallest size) right next to blows, lightly twitching, and pausing with nothing. How do you control how hard a lure hits the water?

@ChoporozInteresting, I never thought of using them as trailers. I seriously want to up my creature bait game but I also don't want to waste money so I'll have to give them a try. Weighted or unweighted? Also, what rod are you typically using?

I woke up at 5:00 this morning to get to the pond early and hopefully find some fish looking up. Funny enough, It wasn't until well after sunrise that the bass started blowing up. I'm not sure why, but the 'gills in this pond like to form loose schools of 10-20 that just kinda swirl around on the surface, picking at midges and stuff. I can tell fish are not forcing them up at this point because they're not fleeing and there's no splashing. Anyways, the bite turns on. I'm watching bluegill get smacked 3 feet in the air by what I can only imagine are quality bass. I tie on a popper, no dice. Zara spook, nope. Whopper plopper, sorry, no. A frog, close, but no cigar. A devil's horse, too bad. A jitterbug, still nothing. Mind you, these are in various different colors, everything from a natural bluegill color to the gaudiest color I could find. I tried ripping crankbaits past them, I tried rattletraps, I tried swimbaits, with and without underspin. Finally, I threw on a ned rig and caught a bass and a crappie in back-to-back casts. What are you doing in this situation? I was using 10 lb mono, so I don't think it was the line (yes, I know it was the wrong line for most or all of those lures). The water is really brown, though it was clearer than usual today. The closest I came to hooking one was when a bass blew up on something less than a foot from my frog. I wasn't sure if he had just missed my frog, but he didn't come back for it. I know the popper was the right choice (I was targeting specific fish), any guesses as to why it didn't work? Tight lines!

That's interesting. I got mine in a kit at Walmart (Rage ned bug or something like that). I was out a few weeks ago and caught several in the 2 lb range on them. Do you suggest the full-sized ones as a good creature bait? I've only ever used bandito bugs and I hate them (fishing them weightless feels gummy and they slip off the hook constantly).

I really wish this was true, but the weeds, water depth, and shoreline is just right for me to actively watch fish spook. I have seen some easy 4s cruising and then spooking as soon as they see me cast. I'm hearing this advice from a lot of people. What colors would you suggest for clear water? I like putting the smaller rage bugs on a ned rig, it absolutely kills the bass (crappie and big sunfish too).

Nothing is simple in fishing, that's what makes it so fun XD. I once challenged myself to build a rod and find all the stuff on the side of the river. Found a long stick and 10 feet of line connected to a fly, tied the line onto the end of the stick, and crawled across a beaver dam (my feet fell through twice) just to have the stick immediately snap in half on hookset. The fish that broke it was about 8"

I once got a bite and reeled in nothing but a split ring. Brand new rattle trap just gone

It is for sure but I hate frog fishing because I never catch anything. As soon as I posted this I remembered wakebaits. I might be making a trip to Academy Just simply a matter of cranking it in, huh? I'll give it a shot! Man, I really hate frogs! How do you fish them?

There's this beautiful spot in a place I like to fish where there's half an acre of 2-foot deep water that drops off to about 8, and most the time (especially earlier in the season) some giants are cruising it. Problem is, the whole thing is choked with milfoil and scum (with only a few open spots). Bass and bait love it, but it's a pain to fish. If I don't want to use topwater, what's something that will slip through (or over) the grass and also not hit the bottom? I know a lot of people throw chatterbaits around grass, but I was under the impression that these work better on weedline as opposed to actually in the grass. I just got brave enough to start throwing squarebills into woodpiles, but I don't think the trebles would be good in grass. Anyways, any advice is welcome! Tight lines!

VERY good to know... Perhaps I'll hold off on big swimbaits and stick to my 3.5" swimbaits, ned rigs, and texas rigs.

Yeaaaa.... gonna be a few years until I can do that. The reason I keep asking if I can just use what I have is because I'm in college and can't afford new rods and stuff. But, for the future, do you any good guide services? Andd which is better, TX or FL?

That's what I like to hear! I'll beef up my current setups a little, buy some 6" swimbaits to start, loosen my drag, and see what I can snag!

Is 7' medium action apporopriate and 30 lb braid? Even if it's not preferred, would it work? I like this advice... so is that advice to not buy giant swimbaits?

1. fishing rods 2. lures I forget plenty of other stuff I need but I never care to make a list. I should bring water more often cause I keep getting heat exhaustion. I bought a hat and some cool long sleeves to keep the sun off, but wouldn't you know I always forget them. Never thought of making a list...

I'm trying to prepare now for fall '24 and prespawn '25 to hook a double-digit bass. I know you can catch 10 lbers on senkos and squarebills and the like, but I've been eyeing the 7" swimbaits and wondering if they're worth buying in pursuit of my next pb. The "bass pros" on the internet swear by them. Are they worth it? If not, what's a tactic that you use to get double-digit bass in the boat or on the shore? I have a decent shot in NC because we have Florida genetics in our bass (especially closer to the coast). Any help would be appreciated! Tight lines!

Yeah, I've gotten free stuff over the years just by asking questions and actually being engaged

I pulled up to one of my favorite ponds with very low expectations. There was a light but steady breeze that I figured would flush the bass out deep. As I cast around a culvert that typically produced fish, I was correct. Just up the shoreline from me was a leathery old man with a single rod and no tackle box in sight. He hooked something as I walked by him to get to another spot (I don't want to crowd him, after all). This man pulled out the biggest bowfin I have ever seen. It was probably close to 30" "Aw, hate dem things," he said. He seemed a little wary of the teeth, so I offered to get the hook out. "Shucks, he mangled my worm. Feisty li'l bugger for his size." I turned to him. "They get bigger than that?" "Oh yes, I done caught bowfin outta here that was a foot longer." He walked to his truck and grabbed another worm, of the very prestigious Ozark Trail brand. "This here's the only color I use. I been fishin' here 11 an' a half years, never failed me once," he continued. He also told me about the pond's other inhabitants. "There's some mighty big carp in here, I reckon about 60 lbs." I was pretty skeptical at this point. "Y'know, I was out here one time and some guy caught a ten-pound bass offa that drain pipe over yonder." Now I was desperately hopeful. "I've seen some good ones in here," I replied. He continued telling me about this pond and that pond and where to go to catch big catfish, and I left the conversation with a spinning head and one Walmart senko. Long story short, I got skunked, but I watched as the old man pulled in several bass in the 2 lb range. My best for the lake was maybe a pound. As I was fishing one particular spot, however, I saw the tell-tale roil of a carp before a dog-sized fish came into view. It was well over 40". Maybe not quite 60 lbs, but monstrous nonetheless. Perhaps there were larger carp in the pond? I left after a few pleasant hours and stopped by Walmart to restock. And I'll be darned if I didn't buy a pack of Ozark Trail senkos.

Depends on state/region/area. It's completely legal in NC. And I usually bring another pole with lures on it, just in case

For me, it was my first bass. I was 5 at the time and had been soaking worms for sunfish since before I could remember. The family was visiting my grandparents in northern CA and we were staying at a place with a tiny pond out back. My dad broke out his rod and started casting a t-rigged senko (I didn't know what either of those meant at the time) (knowing him, it was probably Green Pumpkin). I just kinda looked at him while he fished and then watched him catch a few bass (I was still busying myself with the bluegill), and suddenly I wanted nothing more than to catch a bass. My dad tied on a bullet weight and a hook before threading the soft plastic onto it and instructing me on how to retrieve it. Sure enough, on that very first cast, I felt a thump. My dad started hollering at me to set the hook, which I did. A very short fight later let me meet my first bass, a spunky half-pounder. I don't think I fished for bluegill again that trip. From that point on, I fished almost entirely for bass (and mostly with a senko until recently), until I moved up north where there weren't many bass. Even then, I made absolutely sure that I had places in mind that held bass and made sure to coerce trips to them out of my parents. Now that I can drive myself to my fishing spots and can afford a little bit more gear, I still cut my teeth for those bass, always hoping for that big one.

A lot of northern states don't allow live fish as bait. I used to live in Montana where most places near me didn't even allow live worms, so I've done it both ways. I've also sat at a lake and thrown around every lure I had and gotten skunked just to tie on a worm and pin one first cast. The main reason I am so cavalier about him using a small bass as bait is that it's no different than using a sucker or a panfish, except that more people target bass. In today's culture, I feel that bass are generally over-revered. That fact is, they're just like any other fish and if people want to harvest them or use them as bait, they should be allowed to without feeling guilty. Nobody feels bad about hooking small mackerel up as bait even though people cut their teeth to catch the big ones.

^This If there are enough bass in the lake for them to become a preferred target of the big fish, you may be doing the big bass a favor, because those 12" bass will eventually get big enough to compete with the big mommas. People use live sunfish all the time, so why not live bass? Seems completely fine to me.

maybe a 3.5? I have 8 or 9 rods and a whole bunch of lures (even though I only use two of them). I also have a 5 man raft with a trolling motor and a foldable kayak. You think I'd have better luck but I can't get out of dinksville

Five things I dislike: 1. Cost Gear is super expensive, and it seems like every lure needs a different rod. Like, why? 2. Noobs that cut line and leave it There's a laydown at a pond I fish at a lot that has basically just turned into monofilament at this point. I understand cutting the line if you're using 30 lb braid, but most of the line is thin mono and it's easy to get most of your line back if you break off. This premium spot has just turned into a massive lure magnet. 3. Big Lakes I hate bass fishing at big lakes. I know they hold big bass, but it's hard to fish from the shore and a little raft with a trolling motor (my current on the water setup) isn't much for getting to hidden spots. 4. Pond scum Need I explain myself? 5. No trespassing signs If you can't fish much on big lakes, small ponds are about all you've got. Every time I fish I have to decide if it's worth walking into the adjacent neighborhood and getting in trouble just to catch a couple bass. Especially since I'm not there to damage anything or hurt anybody. NOTE: this is not an admission of guilt