PondHunter

You could go to City Hall and reqest a Platte Map of your area. It will show all of the property and who owns it.

So what's the rant? Exactly my thought!

You mean someone has a working xbox :-?

My preference is to tie directly to the lure. I use a loop knot for more action, especially on a slow retrieve, and the Trilene knot for a tighter wobble, or to keep the lure from "blowing out" on a fast retrieve. On the clear waters that I fish, a snap swivel is definitely more visible and my catch rate went up when I got rid of them. They also tend to make the bait nose heavy. On a suspending jerkbait it ruins the action. Snaps make changing lures easy, if a lure isnt working, but it will probably work if the snap is gone ;D

I was a long-time user of Trilene XL, but recently I did some strength tests and found Stren Original to hold up very well. Specifically, the clear version. Ive used braidw/flourocarbon leader and had good luck with it, but felt it was time to simplify things a bit and just use some mono instead. My gear was starting to get too complicated.

The old Johnson Silver Minnow spoon with a twin-tail grub trailer glides over the worst slop you can find. Be sure to sharpen the hook.

Water clarity figures in heavily here I would think. I fish on some pretty clear lakes, and I used to use snaps and swivels because it took too long to change baits. When I left all that stuff off, I didnt need to change baits because I finally started to catch alot more fish.

Replace the hooks with Mustad triple Grip trebles, and add a split ring to attach them with. If you dont have any choice, at least sharpen the stock hooks.

I bought an UL setup last year that has worked very well for me. Its a 7' Gander Mountain rod, 4-8lb test, with a Mitchell Avocet reel spooled with Stren 4lb clear mono. This rig was less than $100 and has accounted for plenty of 2.5-3lb Bass. A longer rod will cast further and be much better at landing a fish. I use Eagle Claw Aberdeen hooks in #8 and #10 sizes. I tested the #10 to find out how much weight would straighten it out, it took 7lbs I also use the Trilene knot. The line will break before the knot will.

Thanks for the tip guys! I think I will try it on a rod that is broken just to get the hang of it first.

What is the best way to remove a reel seat and guides. I am making a Noodle rod from a Fly rod and want to keep the blank in the best condition. Thanks in advance.

I like the idea of the beef livers. I will have to try that.

Chickn livers are my favorite catfish bait, but keeping it on the hook can be a challenge. That is why I am wondering about the cow's tongue. As long a you remove the outer skin, the soft center should stay on the hook and attract plenty of cats.

Has anyone had any experience using a piece of cow's tongue to catch catfish? Sounds like it would stay on the hook really well. What do you think?

I tie directly with a loop knot or a uni-knot. The loop gives more action than tying tight with the uni-knot. I don't even keep the split ring on them. The lakes I fish on are usually very clear, and when I took all of that hardware off the front, my catch rate went up alot. I used to use all kinds of snaps and such when I was always worried that I had the wrong bait tied on.

My favorite lure is just the simple jig/minnow combo. A 1/4oz swimming head jig with a 3-4" minnow will catch Pike, Pickeral, and Bass. I use a chartruese or flourescent orange jig head, and the new swimming jigs have much better hooks than the old ballhead jigs come with.

Perch and Bluegill are tops with me.

Right handed Left retrieve here also. Like many others I started out with Spinning equipment with the handle on the left. The main reason I stick with it though is because I learned all of the rod actions like twitching and popping with my right hand. If I had to hold and manipulate the rod with my left hand it would be like learning to fish all over again.

There are others more qualified than me to answer this, but I will give it a shot. It sounds to me that your lure might be on the light side and that you are casting a little too hard to try and get some distance out of it. Try using a 1/2 oz weight, and let the momentum of the lure and a light amount of wrist action cast it. The dial on the side controls the spool rotational speed at the start of the cast, or, at least it tries to. Turn it up to 10, and that should help to start with. I usually turn the spool tension down for pitchin. With a heavy lure and low tension on the spool, this rig will almost cast itself. It works for me. For some more info, go to the top of the page, go to Fishing Articles, and under that to fishing techniques. There are 3 good articles on pitching that can help you out.

Hello from Auburn! My name is Steve and I am just north of Ft Wayne. The clear lakes up here are fantastic. I primarily fish for Bass, but have accumulated rods and reels for Pike and Musky as well. When I worked in Indianapolis I used to fish in a creek near Brownburg and there were LM and SM Bass in it, and some good sized Green Sunfish. Would love to go to Patoka, Monroe, and Salamonie also. There is alot of good fishing in this state.

You will be kicking yourself for not trying it sooner. ;D

I like using a 1/16oz mushroom head jig with a 4" Power Worm in black. A slow lift and drop retrieve works well, and usually gets hit on the fall. If you can fish froma dock, casting parallel to the inside weededge works too. Different colrs work also, although I havent found color to be the determining factor on whether or not the fish will stike it.

The new split style grips. At first glance they kind of looked funny and thought they were just some new fad. A "fashion" kind of thing. That is until I tried one. What a difference! I have always had a hard time getting a grip and reel setup that fit my hand right. My hands are smallish and it always seemed that my hand and thumb were in the wrong position when casting overhead, which would cause casts to go to unintended areas and backlash could be a problem as well. I cant wait to get out there and try this new rod and reel!

I just paid $89 for mine. Maybe I got robbed

Since I learned to pitch and flip to cover near the shoreline I dont cast to the middle anymore. Even when I could cast that far, I never caught any fish way out there, they were always closer to shore. Many times I haves seen some of the biggest bass in a lake cruising the shallow inside weededge. Its kind of funny that I always see guys on shore casting to the depths, and the fisherman in boats usually casting to shoreline cover.