jwo1124

I've never caught anything out of the ordinary while fishing, but I did see a kid catch a couple turtles out of a pond while fishing with night crawlers. I also saw a dead freshwater eel on the bank of one of then ponds that someone must have caught and NOT released because it was all rigamortised.

I never though about the "C" or "S" thing but its true. I see it in rainbows too. it seems they can contort their bodies as well. That's probably why a 1.5LB stockie fights like a 4 lb. bass.

I don't know if this is the mainstay for stockies, but in the local stocked pond (70 acres) that I fish, I heard that the trout will school and just circle the pond looking for food. It seems like when the bite is on you can get a few trout in a few hours. But other times you can cast your lure or let your bait sit for hours and not get a bite, which is very boring when bottom fishing Powerbait. But, I must say I have had the best luck catching stockies with Powerbait/Power eggs. What also works is hooking a mini marchmellow on the hook and then a small mealworm. I caught my first few stockies like this. But the Powerbait set ups are easier to work with, and more durable than live bait and a marshmellow that will get water logged and sink or tear off easily. Lures that have worked:Rapala Husky Jerk, Floating Minnow, In-Line spinners, small spoons.

What is the differences in rods with higher IM ratings than their lower rated counterparts? My understanding is that the higher IM rating, the more sensitive and light weight the rod will be, but the more brittle it will be. Is this right? What is the best type for different situations?

I saw this and I had to share it with the forum. I'm new to baitcasters, but I have heard the names Curado and Citica. Cabela's is offering $30-50 rebates with the purchase of these reels. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/category/category.jsp?id=cat20166&cmCat=MainCatcat20166&navAction=jump&cm_re=store*left*cat20166

I would say a dink is anything under the legal size. It's 12" here in Massachusetts

How are the BPs brand of lures? I have looked at the Cabelas fisherman Series hardbaits, and have read the reviews, and they aren't looking so great. The main thing I here is that the hooks are cheap and they straighten easy, and that if you change the hooks they are good baits. But for me, personally, I would rather spend a few more bucks per lure, than get one with cheap hooks, have to go buy new hooks, and then take the time to change all of them. That's just me though. A few of the Cabela's, i think the livin' eye series, come with Gamakatsu hooks.

I love the x-rap, i got a rainbow to hit one, and i would have though it was too big for a 16" stockie trout, but you never know. Unfortunatly, since the bait is heavy, and rainbows go nuts after you hooks them, it shook the hook after its second surface jump. I can also contribute it to their soft mouths.

Luckily I, or anyone I have enver fished with has ever gotten injured while fishing, but I have came close one time. I was fishing with my younger brother out of my 12' boat, and since he is not really tha tmuch of an angler, more of a tag along when i go fishing, we was mindlessly casting and on one of the casts we hooked into the hood of my sweat shirt that I had up over my head becasue it was windy that day. Thank god I had that hood up because if not, I could have had a husky jerk stuck into my cheek. By the way, those are some horror stories some of you have told. I hope I never have to get injured while fishing...I mean how do you make that sound cool?

I am not familiar on fishing in rivers, so I don't know how the role of the current will come into affect, or if this will even be a problem. It seems that during these water temps bass probably won't be in their usual summer spots. This was the case the past couple months up here when the cooling autumn weather caused the bass to school up. Now it's early december and the ponds are starting to freeze over. Anyway, 55-60, I'd try some susupending crankabits and jerkbaits. You mentioned a suspending slashbait, which I am willing to say means an X-Rap. I would say this would be an excellent choice since bass are looking for easy meals to fatten up for the cold weather. Try to use a color that matchs the main minnow population of the river, silver and black should do well if it's sunny, but if the clouds roll in and you are forced to fish overcast conditions, try a bright color bait. Silver will just blend into all the gray around. I would stay away from the spots holding all the dinks, usually this is a sign of poor holding areas. The bigger more dominant bass are going to bge able to dominate the best spots, so most likely where you see smaller bass holding, you are better off going else where to find worth while bass. This isn;t to say that big bass won;t some into these areas at feeding times, but bass aren't always actively feeding, they're mostly holding somewhere. Do some homework researching bass fishing in rivers and maybe you'll learn that bass may act a little differently, and maybe you'll be able to learn prime holding or ambush spots. As far as lures go, i think suspending lures will be best, but also try your favorites like a spinnerbait or a ratl trap. I am just going from what I have read on various articles. 55-60 is far enough out of the LM Bass's preferred 70-75* temp range to effect their behavior. Also try some soft plastics like flippin into that hydrilla or working a heavy carolina rig on the bottom. Best of luck to you. Hopefully some other guys can give you some better tried and true advice, as I said I am just using what I have read to give you these pointers.

My brother just saw a commercial for this, and showed me the website. Do they actually think anyone is dumb enough to buy this thing??? http://www.fishpen.com/index.html?directLoad&uid=AF1EBE961F34B52F2E7F5CCA30F727EF

Is it just me, or does this forum have a new set up. Look at the bass fishign resouce guide on the top of the page and some of the thumbs look different. Plus, it says My Perl YaBB forum at the top of the site instead of bassresource... Then when I went to pull this site up, I', usualyl always auto logged in because I set it that way, then it asked for my name and password.

I think that most crankabit's diving depth is either based on 10-12# test mono. So I would reccommend staying with one of those depending on what areas you intend to fish. I always heard some people like fluro becasue it sinks and gives them more sensitivity. Since it's a spinning rig and moderate action, probably opt for 10#, I like stren, haven't had probablems. i heard XT is good, but the diameter size:pund test ratio is larger than other lines, so this could take away from cranking depth. If you have had good experiences with XL, stick with that. If it isn't broke, why fix it?

Last year I pulled up to a local pond I fish, a there was a guy there fishing with his two young kids. His son and daughter were using some cartoon spincast rods and some worms, and he was using a senko type bait called Wave Tiki-Stiks. We were pulling our small aluminum boat down the hill and he saw we had a bait bucket full of shiners. He told us that he doesn;t use bait anymore, and he gave me a pack of the worms he was using. That day I caught my PB out of any of the small MA ponds I fish. A 3.14 LM. I was so freakin happy that guy gave me those worms becuase there was a chance I wouldn;t have caught that fish. So, I guess in my books it always pays to help someone out. Just image if someone asks how the fishing is going, and you tell them, "It's great I'm really killin; them with this spinnerbait, I already caught three nice bass." And then that guy changes to a spinner and catches his PB. I think it's the right thing to do, I wouldn't lie to someone just to get them from coming over to my spot, but if another angler did come cramp my spot, I'd surely tell them that I don;t think it's right for them to come fish right next to me and take away my fish since I was there first.

Yeah, I'm just learning a casting reel, and I've been out practicing a couple times this past week, and here in Mass. the High temps are in the low to mid 30's. The first day i was out it was 25* and the second it was around 35* but the wind chill brought the temp down. I have my baitcaster spooled with 15# Stren High impact, which I'm guessing is silimar to big game, and it started really kinking up in the cold weather. I'm hoping it was just the weather and not the quality of the line. But since Catt and Shimanogloomis mentioned Big Game, maybe I'll use that. I'll probably even through some on my Striper rod if they make a moss green version.

Jus tgot done looking at the LTZ models, and I saw the Parabolic Actions. Who ever thought it was listed as Parabolic and fast were mistaken. The Actions are Fast, Moderate Fast, and parabolic. In my opinion The Mod. Fast would be better for topwaters and jerkbaits since it will have more of a faster action to work the baits, and the parabolic action would be better for the cranks baits.

It looks to me after checking out that link to the site, that the MFAST Action rods are crankin rods. Since they are mostly M powered. I could be wrong but that's the way it looks to me. I was looking a the Boyd Dukket Gold ones though.

Although the double drop shot seems like it would be effective, make sure you only use two hooks. Going crazy and adding more could be lillegal. In massachusetts you are only permitted to fish two hooks at a time. Hook being defined as any device attached to a fishing line designed to take one fish at a time. I think fishing a drop shot with more than two baits on the line would be awkard anyway.

baboo, I have a small 12' aluminum that's ok for the ponds I fish. It can fit two people, and needs two people to load and unload out of my truck. It does the job and is actually quite fun to fish out of unless the wind is pushing us around.

Thanks for those threads RW. I really found this above quote helpful. I liked the part about taking the technical side away from bass fishing. As much as I would like it to be cast a line get a fish, it's not. And there will always be a degree of technicallity, but i do agree and plan on finding a happy balance and not letting the bait monkey ruin me and my credit I like the idea of getting one set up and working from there. I am just now in the upgrade mode. I have been using Ugly Stiks for a few years now, and have caught fish on almost every presentation: weightless plastics, tube jigs, crankbaits, jerkbaits, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, spoons, and topwaters. I have used 6# test around lily pads in ponds and caught 3# bass. So there are degrees of lienency in bass fishing. Rules and standards are good for guidelines, but I wouldn;t follow them to the "T". I'm sure I'll end up with more than a couple rods for fishing as I mature and evolve, but I am living in the present and i must act on that. For now, I can start to upgrade one at a time, while still using my older rods liek my Ugly Stik Lites for cranks, topwaters, and maybe even spinnerbaits until i get better suited rods. I also like how RW brought up "Who do you think invented Technique specific rods?" I'm guessing it first crossed the minds of tackle companies before it was ever in the brain of an angler. The dark side is sly isn't it...

I am sad to say that this question is only relevant to one of the three ponds I mainly fish due to the use of chemical treating to kill of a lot of the vegetation in the ponds. I guess people found them to be a nuscance and dangerous. I guess the city is really trying to ge these two city ponds back into shape for boating and swimming, and the weeds were responsible for a drowning a few years ago when a guy who couldn;t swim went in the pond after a soccer ball and got tangled in the weeds. I feel remorse for him passing, but don;t go into the water if you can;t swim. Anyway, back to the question. I fish this other small secluded backwood pond on a dead end street were a relative lives. this pond is only a few acres, but it is loaded with bass and cover. lilies, mangrove type timber. Me and my bro got our small boat specifically for this small pond, and for awhile we wished we could fish this heavy wood structure. i would like to get a H action flippin rod to toss jigs and plastics into the pockets of this wood where I am guess holds bass due to the safety it presents for them. My question is, what is better braid, or heavy mono. I know braid will proabably more sensitive because of the low stretch and probably be mroe abrasion resistant, but how is it to actually work with. meaning, does it lay on the reel as good as mono, does it create more backlashes, how is knot tying with it?

I just need some help clarifying something. I have learned the importance of having the , I don;t want to say perfect, but the correct set up for certain presentations, for example a jig/plastic rod, a crankbait rod, a pitching/frog rod. But I am sort of confused, mainly because I am new to the whole techn. specific rod thing. Should I base my set ups of the presentation or the location, ro a little of both. I mean, I think they sort of tie in together. i.e. Heavy cover-lily pads, grass, timber- you are going to need a H stout rod, fast action, heavy line, possibly braid, and the lure choice will probably be a jig, t-rig, or maybe a frog. But let's say we are fishing moderate cover, not anything heavy and overwhelming, but not open flats. Say we have a choice between a jig, T or C rig plastic, spjnerbait, buzzbait, do I really need a seperate rod for each of these. I was hoping no, I'm sure they answer will be yes, so would it be smart to have a rods for MH(1/4-3/4) jigs and plastics, another for MH spinners and buzz's, and one soley for Carolina rig? Is it necassary to have a C-Rig rod? I know you want a a long stiff rod, yet sensitive rod to feel the bottom or any stikes or pick ups. I will admit I am sort of ignorant to the whole arsenal of set ups. I don't want to go overboard with rod combos, but I don want to have the right stuff to be sufficent in my tasks to catch bass. I'm all ears, hopefully someone will send some quality information my way. I currently read this article on ebassin.com it's the Bassin' magazines web site, and they said have 5 set ups is sufficent, but then I am reading guys here say that they have upwards of 12 or more. I need some help before my head explodes.

I think that this thread has sort of opened my eyes that it can be more beneficial to own more technique or task specific set ups than it would be to have a few genral or multi pupurpose set-ups. I appreciate that a few guys understood the boat I was in, being mainly a shorebound guy for now, and my situation just couldn't handle carrying around a bunch of rods. Maybe for now, due to my financial limits and angling situation, maybe I will purchase a couple technique specific set ups, master those couple techniques, and as I have the means and/or need for more set ups, I'll purchase more technique specific set ups for other techniques to master. This way I'll always be learning new ways to catch bass, I'll have a better arsenal of equiptment, having the perfect set ups for certain times, instead of a few set ups that will broadly cover various techniques. Am I'm sure that there will be times, when I am only going to need three technique rods on a given day depending on what type of pattern the bass are likely to be on given the seasonal, environmental, and biological circumstances. This way if I am beating hte banks or out on a small craft with limited room, I can still have the freedom of only a few rods that are easy to transport around, but I will have exactly the right gear to execute a gien task on that given day. Kind of the best of both worlds. it seems liek discussions like this are the places where things are learned and eyes are opened. I know it's the case with me.

Well looks like this thread went absolutely the worng direction it was intended to go. I was giving my opinion on not needing lots of tackle to be a successful recreational, shorebound fisherman, and obviously this was the wrong place to make such a statement, being all these bait monkeys around

I probably should have named the post something different now that I think about it. I don't know if it's a recreation vs. competitive thing. But I do feel that guys that are more into the whole tournament trail and tournament fishing are the ones that have a different rod for every type of lure. And maybe it's jus tignorance on my part since I haven't been fishing as long as some guys here, and maybe I'll evolve into someone who has a spinnerbait rod, a jig rod, a worm rod, a flippin rod, a finesse rod, and buzzbait rod, a skippin rod, a crankbait rod, a swimbait rod, a deep crank rod, etc. It's just too much money and too much tackle for me at this point in the game. I guess it's like sports. As a kid you have one view of playing for fun down at the park with your friends. Then you get involved in organzied town league and practice once a week, then for high school and practice every day, then once you go on from their its an all day every day thing, it seems to take over your life. I think I'm some where in the middle there. I want more out of fishing than just tossing out a bobber hoping a hungry fish swims by, but I don;t have the mind set of the higher levels yet. It seems I liked fishing because it was an escape from the daily grind of everyday life, but now it seems it has turned into it's own stressful grind in it's own twisted way.