The Budget Angler

I had the same problem a few months back. Turned out the water was just too cold. Give it a few weeks, or try to fish when there's been several days of warm, sunny weather in a row. I did that and I've been getting on bass pretty consistently since then. Throw something slow at first, like a soft plastic (dropshotting might not be a bad idea). Tight lines!

I'm trying to get some long fish for the Googan Squad tourney in the month of April. Where do I have the best chance of catching larger fish in the central NC area, fish that are big but not SUPER hard to catch? Many thanks! Tight lines.

I fought him for 5 mins and every time I got him in and tried to grab his tail he'd take off again. I wasn't prepared for carp, so I ended up just having to pray and drag him ashore (I know you're supposed to have nets and pads for carp). I did get an official measurement with my tape, and he was 36 on the dot. As soon as I slid him back in the water he swam off well, so that's good. My first ever carp, and will likely be my biggest.

I just went out with my 6' 6" GX2 with 10 lb mono and was able to pin a 1 lber and a 3 lber. Missed another bite, but I'm okay with those odds. Also, on that old 5' rod I'd been using, I caught a 36" grass carp on a size 60 whopper plopper, natural bluegill color. The pics are too large to attach but I'm on cloud 9 right now. Thanks to your guys's suggestions, I used a different hook and pinned both fish right through the cheek. God I love prespawn. Tight lines!

That's super generous of you but we live several hours away from each other, so I'm not sure it's gonna happen. Thanks again though!

DM me and we'll see if we can set something up

either a shimano sienna or just a stock Shakespeare reel I have a 6' 6" Ugly Stik GX2, medium action, and one with either medium light or light action. Should that be my new go-to? I won't have to worry about bigger fish, trust me. Also, I feel very strongly about Ugly Stiks so be careful what you say lol Valid

I fish a lot of Texas-rigged soft plastics (what can I say, they work). Unfortunately, I miss a lot of fish. I'm a broke college student so I can't really upgrade my gear (I know it's stupid to use a 5' 6" rod with 10 lb mono, but it's all I got), but I find that as I reel up to twitch it again, there's a fish on there. I've gotten a few of 'em, so I wasn't too upset until I missed a 5 lber recently. Is this as simple as changing to braid/flouro, or is there a better way to increase my ratio? What do you guys do? I just want to stop missing fish!!! Thanks in advance bros

The water is warming up here in NC. Today was my only chance to fish (because of class and a Spring Break trip I gotta prep for), and when I got to the pond the wind was whipping at about 25 mph. Casting was difficult, but I decided to use a red booyah spinnerbait (clouds, wind, pre-spawn...maybe I was on to something?). After several minutes with no bites, I switched to a weightless Texas-rigged bandito bug, Alabama craw color. After snagging and breaking it off immediately, I tied on another one. Unfortunately, I didn't catch anything (I think the wind was a bit too strong and probably pushed them too deep for me to reach from the bank). It's supposed to rain all next week, so it may be a while until I get out again. Anyway, good luck to all y'all out there!

any specific colors? Brands? I know the wind's supposed to be 20-30 mph tomorrow, so that'll probably affect it some

I know prespawn is approaching here in NC, but I have no clue what to use. I think I've been getting bites on a weightless texas-rigged bandito bug (Alabama craw pattern), but if I am, I'm not pinning them. I plan on going out this Wednesday, when it's supposed to be cloudy and 75 degrees, a few days after a rain storm and right before another one. Temps have been mid-50s to high-60s. Water is a brownish green, somewhere between murky and stained. Lemme know what works for all you guys so I can go out and buy it today. Thanks!

use texas rigged soft plastics. I've always done well on purple and/or green soft plastics. They are probably spawning or about to spawn, so fish close to the bank where you suspect gravel would be. My Grandpa swears by a lure called the devil's horse, a double prop bait, for largies and smallies. The tiger roan and white w/ black stripe are best. I like roboworms and gary yamamoto worms best. Try around docks. I don't know much about Jones, cause I always used to fish around the antler boat renter and south of there, or centimudi from shore (probably misspelled that). I will say that the pumpkinseed population is popping, at least in centimudi, and a pumpkinseed color might be worth a try.

Bighorn lake, Kleenburn ponds, which produced the massive 11.5 lb state record, really large for this far north. Other than that, I don't know much about WY.

Lake Elmo, MT recently produced a state record. I've heard good stuff about Echo Lake, MT. Fort Peck has massive SMB (also MT).

Instead of going to the well-known lakes, go to unknown lakes and ponds. My pb was out of a brackish lagoon down in oceanside. There may not be 20 lbers, but you'll still catch some decent fish. Also try bait, where it is legal. A minnow under a bobber is honestly one of my favorite things to throw for bass.

I always used to go to a place called the buena vista lagoon, near oceanside area. It was brackish and I had seen everything from mullet to crappies in there. Caught a 10 lber out of there, too. The only way to catch them there is with a mosquitofish or crawdad under a bobber. You'll catch bass and sunfish, which is the perfect mixed bag for a child.

Hello! Unfortunately, my mom is chronically ill, and has been referred to the Mayo Clinic down in AZ. as a family, we enjoy fishing together. However, we're already going to be spending money on tests, so she doesn't want to buy $110ish of licenses. I was wondering if anyone knows of some good private ponds around the area that we can fish in, preferably for bass. Thanks for your time.

I've gone out 3 times after ice-off and the fish aren't active. Not even 1 fish in the shallows for pre-spawn, and definitely none of the aggressive feeding behaviors they are supposed to show this time of year

$0=I'm broke...Also, I dont have anything to put an "FF" on. A.K.A, I'm also too broke to afford anything more than a 5 person raft. I wasn't really planning a trip with the raft, because you have to hike to the pond, and the raft is hella heavy

How do you tell this without a thermometer or fishing report telling you the temp?

I live in a northern state and fish smaller ponds for bass. I always seem to miss prespawn, either going too early or too late. Other than temperature, are there any ways to tell when prespawn is about to occur?

My lure halves aren't completely airtight, so my two halve have a small gap between them.

I have small gaps in the plastic, so i want to make sure, you know

I 3D print lures with PETG and was wondering if anybody had suggestions for sealing 3D printed lures.

That sounds like a plan to me!