IdahoLunkerHunter

Tubes, Fat Ikas, Creatures, Sweet Beavers, plastic shad, and Senkos are my arsenal of choice. Either rigged drop shot, weightless, shaky head, or S-carolina. I hook them wacky and Texas.

Yes I am in advertising and I have been thankful enough that I have been pretty successful the first year to allow me to fish as much as I have. I spend a lot of time fishing and catching large fish in our area. I have pictures in my office and a lot of people hear the stories of me catching large bass. I have had a couple friends and clients ask if I ever thought about becoming a guide. That is where this post derives from. I don't plan on anything in the next couple years because I first need my advertising business to become more self supportive where I don't have to be there every day. When I was speaking about the trolling issue, I wasn't expressing thoughts that I didn't like it. As long as I'm on the water, I usually catch fish. I just went out with a buddy on monday, he owns a charter company for Mackinaw and Rainbows. We weren't catching anything off the bat with his lures. So I made a suggestion to change some baits after looking through his boxes and we had fish on right after another. I have been fishing Lake Pend Oreille for about 10 years now and am still amazed by its topography. There are 141 miles of shoreline and countless tributaries. After I get a couple more years under my belt and buy a better boat, that is when I was going to become a little more seroius about it. Right now I am working about 60 hour weeks and when I am not working I am usually out fishing. I love teaching people how to fish. I have about 5-6 friends I have taught how to become a better bass fisher and what lures they should be using. They are now pulling more fish and better size fish. Removing fish for people and getting hit by lures . I know from experience how to do this and remove hooks from fish and clothing. My wife and her friend fishes with me alot and they don't touch anything bigger than a pound or so. So I have become pretty good with removing hooks, moving around the boat, and removing the occasional bait in the back. I just wanted some opinions and your opinions are great. I am just looking for other avenues that I could be out on the water more and teaching people how to fish. I think one of the coolest things in the world is watching someone pull in their PB and the result was because of you. I guess maybe I should take a couple trips with some guides down south to see what their lives are like. We don't have many if any in our neck of the woods.

I have recently been asked by a couple people around town if I do any guide services. Mostly from tourists or clients that I meet through business. I have been pondering this idea because there are no bass guide services in our area. It would most likely be something in a few years once my advertising business established itself and employees can handle the load when I am not around. Has anyone had or operated this kind of business before? Does it deter the enjoyments of bass fishing because you could be teaching people how to fish that may have never fished before, and bass fishing is a complicated sport. Its not like going out on a 22' cabin cruiser and trolling for 8 hours. I would not be giving up my money holes so I have been fishing a lot more areas that are generally open to anyone and most people know about them. There are a lot of things to think about and I am looking for more input.

Had a great day Mack fishin with Pend Oreille Charters in Sandpoint, Idaho. 5 Macks, 1 Rainbow, and 1 Cutbow. Awesome day! The photo is of the two bigger ones. We had on one huge fish but ran the line out. Probably 25+. These two weighed in at 11 & 14lbs.

I don't think i have ever has a day with more than 15-20 bass caught. I also don't have a boat. Most days its about 5-10 fish. We don't get very many fish up here in North Idaho bigger than 7-8lbs. I don't even know what I would do if I caught bass over 10lbs, seeing my PB is 7.4lbs. Any day I don't get skunked is a good day for me.

Fathers day picture today... Rained like cats and dogs... Only one fish caught

Well, the smallies haven't been huge lately but the wife hooked into her PB yesterday, 4lb2oz

I bought the Bass Baby this winter from a marine supply store and it has worked out great for those small ponds you are looking to throw a little jon boat onto. The bass baby has wheels on the back side so you can wheel it anywhere. It is light enough one guy can load and unload into the back of a truck. A 4 horse electric motor scootes the little guy around. It makes a great little boat for two people and a smaller lake. http://www.basshunter.com/boats2.html

Congrats, Im saving for mine...Hopefully this winter when prices shift

I have found the dark colors work the best. During the day a fish can see much better. It can inspect the lure you are using a little bit more carefully before striking. As humans, fish don't have perfect eye sight either and the lure presentation isn't as much as a factor as fishing in the day time... At night, if you are using the right combination, you are guaranteed a good fight night. I have been pretty successful on black tubes and senkos with cloud cover and during a full lit moon I will fish my plastics with some speckle. Black w/silver speckle works great at night with a lit up moon. Blues and greens fade with the lake color at night.

Another attempt that I use when fishing river is fish with the direction of the water flow. Fish will most likely be swimming in the direction of the current, I would rather have the bait swim in front of the fish than come at it from behind. Both work through.

There is no definition between the two except a lake is considered larger than a pond. I have always considered a lake to have no vegetation at the deepest point in the lake. Ponds have vegetation growing all through the bottom. If it's deep enough to have no vegetation growing it could and should be considered a lake.

welcome aboard

I have been fishing senko's and tubes mostly for smallies. I have been rigging them texas rigged S-Carolina on a 1/8 oz bullet. Black with red speckle and watermelon chartreuse have been working very well for me. Its a slow retrieve with a couple jerks. We don't have a very little crawdad population in my lake, if any. I only know of them down by our dam. Try to imitate what the bass are feeding on and go from there. One moment I'll be fishing the watermelon chartreuse and then I'll see some shad skipping around the top of the water and i'll throw on a gold/watermelon shad bait and fish it along the top... works everytime.

I know I need a boat... I am thinking about selling my motorcycle. I don't ride the thing barely anymore.

Welcome Aboard

The best color/lure is always a preference by the fisherman. I do have to say though for a beginning fisherman, every bass fisherman says three types of lures. A chartreuse/white spinnerbait, a 5"-6" watermelon senko, and a dark colored jig. These three types and colors of lures will catch fish where ever you are. They might not produce the quantity or size of bass you want, becuase it might not be the best imitation of the bait in the body of water. I tell anyone who want's to get into bass fishing these three lures are something always to carry with you.

I'm always ready. I have all my rigging stashed in my car. I have my 5 poles and 4 bags of gear ready at a moments notice. It's great having all your gear ready to ge because I always drive past lakes and spots, gleaming "Fish Me, Fish Me!"

Here are some pics from yesterday. Fun day, nothing too big. That's what I wanted to get some suggestions about. The bite has been steady for the past month. I haven't pulled any pigs though, for about 3 weeks. Late April and May I pulled 5-6, 5+lbrs. Every time I go out I catch about 10 or so ranging from 2-4lbs. I'm definatly not complaining, trust me. I bank fish so catching these kinds of numbers has got my hopes up for finding people with a boat to fish with. I'm using senkos and tubes rigged S-Carolina. Everytime I throw on a crank or spinner the numbers drop dramatically. Plus I like throwing plastics better than hardbaits. There are a lot of docks and rip-wrap around the lake I fish on. I have been fishing the rip-wrap at about 10-15 feet I am guessing, or atleast that's where the fish are biting at. I am thinking about exploring different places for rip-wrap because my spots are kinda getting fished out, from other people, or spawning season is starting to subside to summer months. There is a lot of docks in my area and I haven't really fished any of them yet. On the hot days should I be looking for cover and deeper waters for the pigs... I'm just getting frustrated with not catching any big fish anymore.

Great fish! Welcome... Read the beginners sections. It has some great information.

Welcome to the forum. My favorite lures are plastics. I thow the occassional spinner, buzz, and cranks when I can't get anything to take the plastics. I will say my best used are 5"-6" senkos, fat ikas, shads, sweet beavers, and tubes. RW posted back a thread about grubs and I've been throwing them every once in a while with a little luck. Dark colors on dark days, and lighter colors with refelctiveness on sunny days seems to work pretty good. I have been killing the smallies on a watermelon/chartereuse gold flake shad and senko on sunny days, and a smoke/silver reflective senko on cloudy days. I rig most of the time T-rigged weightless or s-carolina. You can use the shaky head method but you must fish a lot slower.

The riparian rights issue has been circulating around my area, northern idaho, for quite some time now. It mostly is being dealt with in the court system due to real estate development issues, "Who owns to the high water mark or under", etc. Riparian rights and state legality water rights are very complex issues because a lot of it in Idaho also has to deal with navigatable water. I gues what I'm trying to say is always check with your state fish and game department if you are unaware of the law or need a question answered. That's why it's there.

yesterday I had been fishing a spot for about 15 minutes and a hog kept toying with me. So, of course, my wife strolls down the beach a little bit closer to me. She hooks the fish I had been working for about 5-10 minutes. Low and behold, it's a little under 5 lbs with a $10 Crank in its mouth. The only thing that would of been better is that I woulda caught it. Gotta love fishing with the wife, you can't get mad at her for walking up on ya, atleast I got a $10 crankbait off the deal.

LBH... Do you believe this true for pan fish etc. There is a moderate over population with crappie in our lake. Year after year for about 5-6 years, me and a couple of friends go out in the spring and harvest crappie. We will fish 4-5 weekends and pull about 70-80 a day and keep about 50, there is no limit on crappie in our lake. Practically every cast you have a fish on. We don't keep any under 10", the filet isn't very big if you do. I know many people that do the exact same thing. When you can throw a jig out every single cast and hook something there is an over population issue that pops up. Our lake also has over 120 miles of shoreline and I don't even know the acreage but it's the second biggest lake on the west coast. I know there are over 50 sloughs just on the river and only 10 or so get fished during this time, the prime habitat for crappie during the spawn. A farm stocked pond which is probably on a couple arces, pulling these kinds of numbers I do have a problem. The issue of hurting the spawn and overall habitat of the pond is definately at risk. People that do these sort of things, and then plea the "I didn't know card" should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. There is a reason why there are state fish and game departments for this exact reason. If there is always a question, always ask before you assume. Now bass, I catch and release everything I catch just as many people from this forum do. The following post also raises a little insight: We don't think that we are removing them from the food chain. It's just how our psyche is. We, or atleast I do, believe the fish I catch will get bigger and I would rather have the opportunity to catch him later or have another angler have the same enjoyment that I did when I caught it. It is simple fishing ettiquite when speaking about bass fishing. Bass fishing is great and the best fish to catch in my opinion. Friends ask me why I don't keep the fish I catch, the simple explanation is to let them get bigger and I want someone else to have the same experience that I had when I caught it. I have turned about 4-5 friends into catch-and-release fisherman when speaking about bass. Or "there are many more fish that taste better than bass". Well thats my opinion, I shame on the guys for pulling that many bass out of their habitat. You should have Known your laws and regulations and I hope the right actions are taken by the court system. Ignorance is no excuse for poor judgement.

Thank god I don't have anything like that up north. All we gotta look out for is the occassional moose and bear. Unless there are offspring around, they don't give you any trouble. More skittish than anything.