bp_fowler

Thanks!

One more question if you don’t mind. How much backing do you spool on?

Does it matter what lbs test the backing is is?

Even with all the money I’ve spent on gear and tackle, it’s still cheaper than therapy.

I’ve been fishing with my 15y/o son before but never specifically for bass. Started taking him this week and he did great the first time out!

So this is probably a dumb question but how big is “big”? Does it have to be 10 inches or larger?

Yes, I have one of the bodies of water. It one of three reservoirs within a 15 minute drive for me that I fish on a rotating basis. I’ve caught my share of fish there the only problem is that they are the tiniest lil’ things you’ve ever seen.

7 1/2” Yum Ribbon Tail Watermelon Seed & Junebug 6” Zoom Trick Worm Green Pumpkin & Black 3, 4, and 5” Senkos Green Pumpkin, Watermelon Red Flake, Black Blue Flake Zoom Finesse Worm Green Pumpkin Zoom Z-Drop…wait for it… Green Pumpkin

I’m happy to hear that since I was kinda hoping I could use it for jigs/worms, more specifically football jigs and Carolina Rigs. Also the versatility is a big deal since I’m new to this so have room to grow into other techniques as I learn them is a value add.

I was helping my dad clean out his garage recently and we came across a St. Croix Mojo Bass casting rod he didn’t use anymore. He said I could take it if I wanted it, which I did. The rod is a 7’4” heavy power fast action and is good condition. My question is what would be the best use for this rod? I already have a multi purpose baitcaster but this would be an upgrade I believe. If it wouldn’t make a good multipurpose rod, could I use it as a technique specific rod and if so which technique would it be best suited for?

Haven’t seen any carp in this lake, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there. Two other lakes literally down the road have them so I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised. I guess the thing that shocked me and prompted my question is how dramatic the change was. I understand that with the changes in season and spawn/post spawn there would be some movement but the fact the bass are now almost completely absent from that area and the catfish had moved in made me wonder if there was a connection. Turns out there very well might have been.

Ah okay, that makes sense and explained what I saw today. One of them even hit my swim jig, didn’t hook ‘em just clamped down on the trailer and held on right up the bank and let go once I started to lift him out of the water.

I went out for a few hours this morning to a spot on a local reservoir that’s been very good to me this so far this year. However it seemed like today the bass very few in number and small in size. I did notice that there were quite a few catfish that appeared to be spawning. So my question is will the catfish run off the other fish in the area if they have beds nearby? I did find some good bass later on, still shallow but in a completely different area of the lake. Not a catfish in sight though.

As long as it’s not fraying your line and you can still cast straight I wouldn’t sweat it. If you’re still concerned I’ll tell my experience for what it’s it’s worth. I had one pop out on me and get lost. I bought a kit that had different sized inserts for $10 online and fixed it in 10 minutes.

It truly is one of the worst feelings. Especially how quickly you go from the elation of catching the fish to the painful realization that you’ve gut hooked them.

I have mixed feelings about it. Last year when I started out all I had was a $50 Walmart spinning combo. Still caught fish. Not a lot of fish, or very big fish. This year I bought my first baitcaster as well as an upgraded spinning set up. The reason being the old saying big baits catch big fish. And if you want to throw big baits you need a baitcaster right? It’s proven to be true in my case so far this year. I’ve probably caught 80% of my fish on spinning gear, but all of my bigger fish were on the baitcaster. However “big baits” is a relative term and since the waters I’m fishing are mostly clear and pressured so what I think is big reasonably could be handled by somewhat higher end spinning setup. That being said I’m still trying to learn the art of pitching and flipping jigs. I’m having a ton of fun doing so and for that reason alone I’ll probably always have at least one baitcaster in my arsenal.

I always like to give a special shout out to the folks that served in Vietnam. My generation was fortunate, we came home to standing ovations from complete strangers in the airport. For all my Vietnam Vets, welcome home.

I am almost exclusively a bank angler and I use them. Some of the spots I fish require me to hike through some pretty dense brush and after about the umpteenth millionth time getting my line caught in a bush or wrapped around a tree branch I decided a few rod socks were a good investment.

It’s a funny thing. I’m relatively new to this and not too long ago I was thrilled to even catch a bass, any bass, no mater how big or small it was. Nowadays I know there are spots where I could go I know I’m almost guaranteed not to get skunked, but I still find myself frequenting the places that are tougher for me more and more often. Just trying to crack the code can be half the fun.

So a lot of folks have pointed it out and I’m starting to get the vibe that what I thought was lightweight really wasn’t light enough, at least not for the task at hand. It seemed counterintuitive to me at first but after thinking about what y'all are saying I’m starting to see the light. Of course this means I now have a good excuse to buy more tackle. ? I think the other big take away for me is how broad the category of Finesse fishing really is. Here I thought it was just Shaky Heads, Neds, and Drop Shots. Before this week I’d never used a Neko and had never even heard of a Mojo rig but they both worked well for me. Seems like one could spend years just getting proficient at the different techniques and their little variations. But the mats one of the great things about Bass fishing there’s always something new to learn or something old to tinker with.

First off, I’d like to thank everyone for their replies and help. I was able to get back out to the same spot yesterday and this morning and tried out some of your suggestions. We had some weather roll through last night so the fish weren’t biting like they were the first day I was out there but I still did pretty good by my standards. After throwing the football head jig around for a while I tried the Neko rig in a little pocket on the one side of the dam. This has some vegetation and weeds growing up between the rocks so it was pretty nasty. However, I didn’t have too many issues getting hung up with it and what’s better I caught a pair of nice fish. This morning I fished the main part of the dam but I didn’t see many fish up shallow so I threw a swim jig out past the ledge and tried different retrieves but I struck out there. Tried a small soft plastic swim bait (at least as small as the tackle I had on hand allowed) and same thing. I was starting to worry so I decided to give the mojo rig a try. I never used one before but I tossed it there in the same area as the swim jigs and dragged it up the ledge. It ended up bagging me a couple fish and saved me from getting skunked today. Again thanks for all your help! (P.S wanted to add pictures but it’s telling me the files are too large?)

I never thought of that as the Neko Rig is one of the finesse techniques I’m not really familiar with. However I do have the things I need to rig one. If the weather holds out I’ll give it a try tomorrow and report back. Also swim jigs and soft plastic swim baits are also something I have on hand and will give a try. I’ve never seen one of those but sounds awesome. I’m not sure if it’s the size or the shape of the football head that keeps it from getting hung up, probably some combination of both I’m guessing.

So fished a new spot today. Had to hike 30 minutes through some thick brush but it was well worth the effort. Started out throwing a football head jig and was doing very well. After a while they stopped biting on the jig. So I grabbed my spinning outfit and started throwing a shaky head (1/8 once with 4 1/2” finesse worm), and starting catching fish again. Started getting hung up a lot though. Switched to ned rig (1/4 ounce weedless with 4”senko) caught fish just as well as the shaky head but frustratingly kept hanging up. I understand that dealing with hangups and losing lures is the price you pay when fishing rocks, but is there a better choice out there as far as finesse setups go that might minimize hang ups? Or should I just get used to packing extras?

I’m not from this part of the state originally, but my wife is. In my opinion if you enjoy the outdoors in general and hunting/fishing in particular, it’s arguably one of the best spots to live in the entire state. I feel like I have my pick of a lot of solid fishing holes all within a 30-35 minute drive or less.