HesterIsGod

Here is a couple of links: http://www.ihsa.org/announce/2007-08/2008-02-11.htm http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/02/14/scholastic/doc47b3cd2fe6f02790489679.txt

Well, it finally happened. The IHSA (Illinois High School Association) sanctioned a state bass fishing championship for the spring of 2009. Various high schools of Illinois will compete. The only thing left that can stop this is if Illinois does not get adequate sponsorship. Illinois will be the first and only school to do this. So in a lot of Illinois high schools bass fishing tournaments will be right up there with basketball, football, soccor, etc... I am a junior at an Illinois high school so I will have an opportunity to participate my senior year if my school gets a team going. I am pretty excited. I think this is a pretty big step for bass fishing. What do you guys think?

Your post reminded me of something funny I read in the bassmaster 2008 pro guide magazine. It was a story about Skeet Reese, and one of the things he said he used to do when he was a kid was: "A buddy rigged up a lure without hooks, but it had loops of 20-pound line around it. We tied them on flipping rods and would pitch the lure around bushes and under cars where neighborhood cats would hide. The cats would grab the lure, get its claws tangled in the line, and we'd jerk them out and stuff them in gunnysacks. The guy with the most cats at the end of the day one." I thought that was pretty funny. ;D

I have had a problem with that. Last year I was burning a rattle trap all day from shore, so I was making a lot of casts. I was also standing in pretty thick plants most of the time. Well one of those time the lure got hung on one of the plants on a backcast. The birds nest was so bad I had to put that rod/reel away for the day and completely cut all the line off at home. I learned my lesson though, just be carefull on the backcast and you should be fine.

30 lb braid, 8 and 12 lb fluorocarbon, 10 and 17 pound mono

Jhoffman, Red is the first to disappear underwater, but it does not dissappear for a while, you have to go pretty deep, i dont know how deep but probably too deep for crankbaits. The cajun line is translusent that is why it disappears. Also, if you replace the front hook with a red hook then I noticed that the fish tend to swallow it more. Also, just think about it. if red disappeared at a depth of a foot, red worms/tubes/any other lure would be invisible and would never catch any bass. ;D

Its a new rig where you take two flukes and rig them in a way that makes them both dart around and sometimes chase each other. Here is how to rig it: http://fishing.about.com/od/basicfishinginstruction/ss/aa050805a_2.htm Mark Menendez popularized it when he caught a bunch of big fish using this rig and two strike king z toos. Haven't tried it but I cant wait to give it a shot.

3 inch Kalins grubs.

I agree I havent used it for that long but I do like it a lot. Before that I used Berkely Vanish but only because it was the cheapest.

Deer die for shure, bass may or may not. You can 't practice C&R in hunting. Very true. Unlike in hunting, in bass fishing you can have your trophy and release it too

I have also heard that they are good carolina rigged in current. Peter T catches a lot that way. I will give that a try come spring too.

The worst? IMO they are one of the better soft plastic frog baits on the market. You really need to give that bait a second try before saying it is the worst. Okay, they are not the worst, not even close to the worst. I just worded that badly. I just think their are brands out their that will outperform the horny toad. Give mann's a shot, they are very good

I usually fish them with just a simple wide gap hook and fluorocarbon line. I just twitch them back and let them sink slowly every now and then. Come this spring though I am going to try them on the "Donkey" rig.

Peter, That is absolutely crazy! I've never caught a double and would love to catch two dinks on one lure much less two of those pigs

Yep, Current River is largely fed by Big Spring and cold year-round. The above is right on the money. Small tubes, jerkbaits, jigs, worms, or Senkos in the slack water JUST off the current breaks, behind rocks, and eddies. The largest Smallie I ever caught locally was at the downcurrent edge of a riffle. She was laying in wait of some morsel getting washed thru the fast water. Good luck and let us know how it went. Yeah I frequently fish the current river and other rivers similiar to it, in Missouri with my dad and that technique produces almost all winter.

You're going to roll your car over a cliff in a week? No, you said youre buddy got leg cramps and died a week later. Hope that doesnt happen to me . Besides I live in Illinois, the closest thing to a cliff here is a gentle rolling hill, maybe 5 feet.

When did I say any of that stuff??? I think you have me confused with someone else.

Polamar knots are great for monofilament and braid, but it does not work well with Fluorocarbon line, it tends to crimp the line. I suggest using a trilene or san diego knot. I know not a lot of people will agree with me on this, so I did a little research. Aaron Martens on Fluorocarbon knots: "Many fishermen have tried fluorocarbon line, but quickly ditched it, complaining that it's brittle and breaks easily. Martens knows the solution. Most of the breaking problems is the knot," he said. "You have to tie a San Diego Knot or some kind of cinch knot, like the Trilene Knot. A Palomar is not good because it crimps the line. It crimps on top of itself and it will break." and here is the link where i got that quote: http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/columns/story?columnist=tipofthemonth_tt&page=b_col_bt_pro_tip_0211

Oh, OK.

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Hey, I gotta post about leg cramps, according to Burley Im gonna die in a week

amen

I get cramps REDAING your posts too.

All right thanks for the positive feedback Burley!!! I am very young, only 17 years old, pretty healthy. I dont think its anything serious. It just lasts for a little while and it usually happens around basketball season.

I've never heard of a 15" fish weighing 6.3 lbs. Looks like 14" and 15" to me. And going by this photo from Gator Grip's website: The 25" Golden Rule is graduated in 1/4" increments. The Golden Rule pictured is graduated in 1" increments. http://www.gatorgrip.com/golden-rule-measuring-boards2.html It's a nice little toad, but there's no way it is 24" and no way it's 6.3 lbs. Wow, more investigation there than a csi episode. Whats next, forensic shots. Just kidding, I do agree it appears to be a 15 inch ruler.