tbone31

Holy cow, I'm throwing my kids stuffed alligator this weekend!!!!

Hey Hibachi, I also fish very clear lakes, I always try to hide the weight with a tube jig . You can expose the hook and get better hook sets. Always try to use natural colors, watermelon, green pumpkin with a gold or silver flake. Good small mouth bait but large mouth will hit them also. Try to snap your rod when fishing it make it very erratic. hope this helps

Thanks Triton 21 Oh you too Moe and curly.

Ok here is the situation I pre fished for a tournament today, the main lake temperature was 52. I started looking in some big channels were the temperature was about 57. I caught a few small bass with a finesse worm, but nothing big. But I saw many big fish 2.5 to 4 pounders just crusing around and they wanted nothing to do with what I had to offer. I saw no beds so I assume these fish a just staging to get ready to bed. IS THERE A WAY TO CATCH THEM??

I agree with Catt. My partner always gets caught up in the fishing calander, he starts out with a bad expectations. I try not to let it affect me, because in tournaments I have to catch fish no matter what. 8-)

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Tneal I agree with the ribbon thing, happens to me also. As for the question Spinner bait works great just under the surface. If the fishing is slow you can use a c-rig with a couple of beads to get alot of noise.

There has been many a day that my partner in the back of the boat has kicked the tar out of me fishing. Just goes to show you a good fisherman can catch them no mater what. Don't be afraid to throw on the opposite side he is. 8-)

Awesome job!!! Makes you wonder why it's ever so hard to catch fish sometimes. Keep it up and you will be wearing a shirt with alot more patches.

Hey Walkingboss I have heard of the lake but I have never fished it. I don't get over to that side of the state to fish. I was just over in portage at the new Bass pro shops two weeks ago, now I'm broke!! The lake I fished last weekend was Hamilton. The pike were biteing on a pig and jig ( to bad the bass wern't). If i hear anything about Willow Slough I will let you know. go Irish

You have to remember you have only been out twice. I can still remember my first year in a boat. I thought the boat would make it so much easier, I got skunked alot. Remember the only way you are going to learn is to be out there fishing. I'm not sure but I think the pros probably fish no less than 300 days a year, and if it was that easy to catch bass eaveryone would be doing it!! Good luck hope you catch'em

Welcome, I am also new to this sight and I can already tell if you want to learn this is the place!

Rods and reels are pretty much all the same as in the more you pay the better they get. A good place to start is wal-mart. They have some decent stuff at an afforable price. Look for a rod with a little bit of back bone, fairly stiff from the handle to about the middle of the rod. Then from the middle to the tip look for something that is not to flimsy. Start with the low priced rods and work your way up you will see what I am talking about. As for a reel I personaly like Qauntum and Shimano, look how many bearings are in each reel, the more the better. I hope this helps

ND all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good News 60 degrees by wednesday!!!!! WAHOO

I just thought I would post this to see If It could help anyone. We had our first tournament yesterday, it's was in northern Indiana where the weather is still #$%$&* cold and crapy, 32 degrees and snow. As you can guess fishing was slow,but there was a few good bags brought in and they were all caught on silver buddies. I threw a silver buddy almost all day and did not catch a single bass. The guys who won the tournament also threw silver buddies but they did not yo-yo them, they cranked them with a varying retrieve of fast then slow fast then slow. They had over 14 pounds of fish. I fished the same area as them and caught nothing, just goes to show you somthing a simple as a difference in a retrieve can be all the difference. By the way my hands still have not warmed up!!!!

I have used the wacky rig quite a bit ( live up north around clear water) It can be deadly. I never use a ring. I just hook it through the center. Also sometimes if I want it to get down deeper i will put a short nail in the center of the senko,or put your hook all the way through to the shank and then take the barb and put it back in to the senko worm to make it weedless, Do this so the hook is at a 45 degree angle to the worm. This will make the senko worm fall a little faster but not to fast.

It probably depends on what you want. BPS has some good lures and rods. I have even used a few of there rods there not to bad. But now I use St. croix and would never go back. So it all boils down to what you are looking for. They do also have some good crank baits.

I am fairly new to jig fishing also, there are a couple things a friend of mine tought me, One is put your index finger on the line, this will help you feel the bite. Also next time you go fishing take nothing but pigs and jigs, this will make you learn without the temptation of picking up onther lure. Happy hunting

Just remember fishing is a hobby unless you fish B.A.S.S. and are getting paid for it. I would fish every day if i could, but I'm not addicted because i know it's a hobby that is so much fun!!

I use a watermelon zoom double ringer T-rigged but i also put a nail in the middle of the worm so I can skip it farther.

I agree with avid. Fish the conditions for that day. As long as the rain has not brought a cold front through and the water is a little muddy, useually something noisy or with more vibration, chartrusse and white for a spinner bait. Or something a little darker for a jig or a worm like junebug or black and blue. Hope you catch'em!!