PondHunter

I fish from the bank, and I am really gonna give this new JIKA rig a shot this year.

Wait till the swimmers leave.

I'm going to say that the most underused resource is Rivers and Streams. There are alot of misconceptions about fishing Rivers, like the only thing in them are Carp and Catfish. Most are afraid of losing all their crankbaits to snags, and learning to read the water takes some time. You also need a different boat than the typical bass boat.

My FlyFishing setup for Bass is a 6wt. I just use terrestrial insect flies, as anything big, black, and buggy looking will catch them.

I will throw in a suggestion for the Shimano Symetre. I have 3, and have been very happy with them.

I use Pumpkinseed and Smoke/Black Flake grubs on 1/16 or 1/8th Black Round jigs with a Yellow eye. In Clear water, these 2 colors really produce. I only mention the Black Jig/W Yellow eye because it has consistently produced more fish for me.

Welcome!

I like the original Slugg-o. For even more erratic movement, tie it with a loop knot.

I use Mono as the main line on my Spinning setups in 4,6, and 8lb test and find that it performs as well as I could ask for. However, I wouldn't get out of the electric chair to use it on any of my Baitcaster's again. Nothing but Braid will ever go any of those reels. I got tired of cutting off 50yds of line for every backlash, and almost eliminated them altogether with braid. Even when it does backlash, it's easy to pick it out and it doesn't kink the line forcing you to remove a bunch of it.

I prefer to use a white light since it makes them much easier to see, but you cant shine it directly on them. Just use the outer edge of the light beam. 1 other tip that really helps is to keep some sawdust handy, wet your fingers and get them coated with the sawdust. It makes the worms easy to grip. If you have one and it's making it's way back into the hole, just use a slow steady pull and it will come out. Pull too hard and it will surely break.

Shakespeare Ugly Stik. Just looked at one last night at Wally World. Only 29.95.

1/8th oz. Jighead with a 4" Berkeley PowerWorm.

I search for the type of cover I want and then throw a Texas Rigged Worm into it........

My goto bait on Ponds is the jigWorm. Usually 1/8th oz Roundhead, Black w/Yellow eye, and a 4" curly tail worm like the 4" Powerbait worm in Natural or Black. Use either a swimming retrieve parallel to the shoreline and weed edges, or a lift and drop around any structure or across the bottom.

Flyfishing here too. I stripped in the slack to start my backcast, and saw something on my line. Figured I had snagged a leaf or something till it got closer. Ended up being a tiny baby Bluegill. I cast him back into the pond then brought the line in and turned him loose.

Almost all the lakes I fish are clear. Natural colors like pumpkinseed, green watermelon, and black are good colors for soft plastics. Naturals for crankbaits work very well, and clear crankbaits and topwaters work surprisingly well too. Long casts, Flourocarbon leaders, and fast retrieves will help as well.

Shimano Curado 201E7

I stopped using them years ago because they always picked up vegetation, and in the clear lakes I fish, they were very visible and cost me fish. If you tie with a loop knot, the lure will have more wobble, and if tied up tight, it will lessen the action, but will allow faster retrieve speeds without blowing out.

Gander Mountain has an excellent UL rod that would work perfectly for Trout. It's under their Guide Series brand.

The Rat-L Trap worked well for me in those conditions.

Nothing yet, but Storm Kickin' Minnow's are on the short list.

St. Croix has a rod in their Triumph lineup for Steelhead that is an 8'6" HF rod that would work very well. it handles 12-25lb line, and 1/2-2oz. lures. You can get it in either casting or a spinning version. The same type rod is also in their Wild River series. I happen to have the spinning rod and really like it. The triumph rod is $100, and the Wild River rod is $180-$190.

I just take all hooks of the same size and put a rubber band around them. They are easy to remove, and even if they all wind up in the bottom of the box, they are easily seperated. I do keep them in the small Plano boxes with the compartments though.

I have caught lots of Bass on worms, jig/grub, and jitterbugs. All in solid black. You might just have made your new favorite lure.

This is one of my favorite presentations. I use a 3/8ths or 1/2oz Bullet weight, with a Black or natural 6" Berkely Power Worm. Work it like a shakey head once its down there. The best location for me has been near the inside weededge. Bass cruise all day under that grass looking for food at the inside weededge. It may take a while for one to find it, but when it does, it is usually one of the best ones in the lake.