VTFan

Just something that makes one wonder about the finickyness of bass. Lets say two anglers in the same boat, both fishing...lets say a drop shot, same set up, same lure...everything. Or lets say they are both throwing the same color crankbait, same setup...line, reel speed...everything but only one of them is getting bit. They are fishing the same depth water, same everything but one is getting bit and the other isn't. Got to be something there the bass don't like.

Being a recreational and somewhat of a budget fisherman I fish everything but wacky's and ned's,..stuff of that nature on the same rods. Usually I'll have a couple M/H casting rods and at least one medium spinning rod in the boat. I have one 7:1 casting reel that I do use for topwater. Just me.

Crankbaits, spinnerbaits and beetlespins were the ticket for me this year. I caught my new PB...8 lbs, 8 oz... on a KVD 1.5 in sexy shad color. It had been years since I had any sort of luck on cranks. Same for spinnerbaits. Black or white willow leaf spinners worked great for me as well. Sometimes the bite was better if I down sized and threw a beetlespin, again in either black or white. What did not work for me this year was wacky rigging. Over the past 2 or 3 years the wacky had been my go to bait but not so this year. It just wasn't happening for some reason.

Personally I had to go to braid with fluro leader using an FG knot. Don't have to worry about line twist anymore. Longer cast, more sensitivity. Love it when using wacky rigs etc... If I do happen to occasionally get a wind knot I just make sure the knot is wet and pull and it will come right out. Just what works for me.

I'm a firm believer that bass become accustomed to baits, colors, retrieves. For the past two years in my local pond I was tearing them up with a wacky rig. This year.....I bet I haven't caught 5 bass on a wacky rig. I remember one year the bait of choice was a super shallow running crankbait, another year it was a chatterbait. JMHO.

I heard Bill Dance say 'Wind out of the east, fish bite the least' but as someone else said, an east wind isn't going to stop me from going fishing if I have the time to fish. JMHO.

I used to be a tackle junkie. Now a days I stick to a few basic colors of the baits that work for me that I carry in a single Plano box. Not carrying that big Tackle Warehouse tackle bag with me on every trip anymore. I enjoy Matt and Tim but they do go very in depth and get a bit lengthy sometimes. JMHO

I personally never used them. Don't know why, just didn't even though my brother used them and caught the heck out of bass and did until he picked up a wacky rig and a drop shot rig. My humble opinion is that people try new things and the old stuff sort of gets laid by the wayside. I myself went back to some old school Beetle Spins this year for bass and..yep...they still catch bass like they did thirty years ago. JMHO

Problem solved. Too much line on the spool. How I made that bonehead mistake I do not know. Cast like a dream now...and I knew better!!!

I have a Abu Garcia Max STX baitcaster spooled with 40 lb Power Pro braid, that is actually my newest reel, about a year and a half old. I had been noticing that it would backlash slightly...or so I thought from time to time. I know all of us do that occasionally so I didn't think anything of it until yesterday when it was doing it on average 2 out of 3 cast and I also noticed that it was doing it at the same point in the cast which was roughly 15 yards out. I thought it was something I was doing wrong so my brother tried it a few times and the same thing happened with him. Once you pick the little backlash out there seems to be nothing catching from within the reel, the thumb knob has remained pressed while picking out loops. I'm going to pull all the line off today and take the side cover off just to see if I see anything obvious. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Thanks Padon, I'll give it a shot.

I don't use leaders with casting gear, only on spinning and use the FG knot to connect the braid to leader. JMHO

I can catch bass on weightless flukes, no problem there but I have yet to catch a single fish on a hard jerkbait. Seems you work them both...pretty much the same but hard jerkbaits don't do it for me. What am I doing wrong?

Congrats man!!! I too caught my new PB this summer. Awesome feeling. Tight lines my friend!!!

I caught a small largemouth on my last fishing trip, it was hooked in the top part of the mouth. As careful as I was unhooking it I tore the top part of its mouth...really bad. I felt so bad it almost made me sick! It swam off but it just broke my heart to mess up that fish. I pray it makes it.

I'm with you on the Hi Viz yellow braid and old eyes. I'm currently using 30# Power Pro but have been thinking about trying Sufix 832. I'm a leader guy too and usually keep leader length to +/-6 ft. JMHO

I use 30# HI Viz yellow Power Pro braid with a 20# fluro leader on my spinning stuff. Thinking about dropping back to 17# leader. Anyway, I don't know if the bass can see that yellow braid or not. Some say yes, some say no. Kinda like Ford vs Chevy. Personally I think I get more bites using a leader. Key word...'Think'. Like most guys, I use the Hi Viz so that I can see what my line is doing. JMHO.

I also grew up with 5' 6" rods and eventually went to 6' and finally 6' 6". Each time there was a learning curve with accuracy. My brother and son got me to try their 7' rods and I knew it was not for me. I finally settled on 6' 9" Abu Garcia Vengence rods, medium heavy. About a month ago I caught my new PB, an 8 lb 8 oz largemouth.

I was cleaning out my tackle bag one day and found the broken halves of two plastic stick worms. One was a red shad color, the other was baby bass. So...I got the idea to meld to two halves together using my lighter. The next time out the bass were killing it fished wacky style! Then the question was, which color do they really like, the red shad or baby bass. 1

I'm almost 68 years old and been fishing since I was a child. I was in my early 20's when I caught my first big bass..a 6.10, in my mid 50's when I caught my next 6+ lber, and just recently caught my new PB, 8.5 lbs. There is no telling how many cast I made to how many different ponds and lakes over the years. As Catt said, patience is the name of the game. It could happen on your next cast.

Great job cleaning it up. I found a Black Max on a Ugly Stik rod at work one day after we had lowered the lake level for some maintenance work. It would have been in about 7 feet of water at full level. I cleaned and lubed it up and it works pretty well.

Does anyone remember the Stren Clear Blue Florescent line from years ago? I don't know if they even still make the stuff. I just remember using it and it seemed like we caught just as many bass then as we do now. With all the talk these days about how bass can see colored line it just makes me wonder. I'm not going back to it even though it was good line, just a thought about color.

I use 30 lb. braid to 20 lb. fluro on my spinning reels and use a fg knot with 20 wraps with a couple half hitches pulling them really tight. Then pull the tag end and the mainline of the braid REALLY hard. Yes, as someone else said, you'll see the color of the braid change as it bites into the fluro. Once that's done I'll do a couple more half hitches, clip the fluro tag end and use the braid tag end to finish with a Rizutto (sp) finish. I don't retie often enough but so far using this method hasn't failed me....yet. Oh...and by all means use something to wrap the braid around when you pull hard. Braid will cut your fingers and hands. Just what works for me.

As far as hooksets, if I'm not mistaken I saw a Bill Dance question and answer show once and someone asked him about hooksets and drag. As per Bill, you want your drag to slip just a little when you make your hookset. I sometimes forget to check my drag and it sometimes cost me fish. As Catt said, I too want to get that fish turned towards me asap. I always feel like if I let it run I'm taking the chance of it wrapping me up and loosing it. JMHO.

Lately I've gone back to beetle spins and spinnerbaits. Just because it's old school the fish don't know that. IMHO.