JCrzy4Bass

Hey guys. I'm in Northern Virginia. I work normal hours 8:30-5:00pm and I was wondering does anyone know when these tournaments are televised and if there would be any I might be able to catch with my work schedule? I hear about them all the time but what like to watch some to see if I could pick up on some of the fishing lingo and maybe get some tips. I don't have a boat yet but me and my dad are planning on buying a jon boat with a trolling motor in the next couple of months so I can start boat fishing more. Right now I shore and bank fish mostly, sometimes from piers, but not alot around here in my area. Anyway if anyone has any info in my area I'd be grateful if you'd share it (in regards to the tourneys). Also what channels you can normally catch them on or if I may have to order a channel with my cable company. And if so which one. Thanks for any help. Sorry if this is a totally newb question. I've checked ESPN and ESPN2 regularly and haven't found much of anything.

I've tried Senko's 4-5 times with no luck fishing about an hour to two each time. But last night I landed my first with it being weightless on a pond texas rigged. I let it float top water in a spot where they had been hitting a couple times and it grabbed it as soon as it hit. I think it just depends on the mood of the bass, cause I throw it in topwater spots all the time when they hit my crankbait but don't take it to see if they will bite. I just haven't had success much with them. But after last nights catch I will probably try weightless at ponds and lakes more because before I was using 1/16 and 1/8 ounce bullets with no luck. I prob wasn't fishing them correctly though. I'm a newb so. Just learning the ropes and I want to cover all the bases. Good luck with the grubs if you decide to use them. You may also want to try scents on your worms as well (read that in a few postings here). Don't know exactly which ones but I'm sure someone else will chime in on it. Later man. Hope my rookie knowledge was worth something. If anything maybe try the weightless senko depending on where your fishing?

My smallest dink came last night at a local pond in Northern Va.

Thanks Bob. That's real helpful. One last question though. If you have to keep the line tight do you recommend when playing the fish keeping the rod up solid eye level after the hook set or returning it back down and just pulling? I figure you'd have less slack if it's up and you can pull back to keep tight if they jump. Am I wrong?

It's cool man. Yes the only reason I use a medium power is because I like the fight the bass put up with that. I was actually looking for a light pole when I bought it but the sports authority I went to didn't have one. I think I just need practice and I am going to try sharper hooks on the spinners though. Thanks for that link I may check those out since I already use Mustad single snelled hooks on my cat pole. I my just go out and buy some to add onto my spinners I buy this week. Talk to you later man. I appreciate all the info.

This was my first and only fish weighing in at "at least" 1 lb even last week at Occoquan. My first real accomplishment.

So just thought I'd throw an update not that it's a big deal. But after missing those 4 bigun's this week I hooked up tonight at my local pond with a dink haha! I only fished an hour kinda scouting around the shoreline near the lilly pads a bit. It had just stormed so it was muggy and there were a lot of bugs. But I tried my rat l trap for 20 mins with no hits or action, switched to a rooster tail but it was pulling in moss wherever I worked it. So I went weightless senko texas rigged and finally got a solid hook set when I felt the tug on the line. I waited a minute for him to take the whole 4" worm and then hook set hard pulling up to about head level. After I returned the tip down low and played the fish, letting him go in the direction he wanted just guiding him to the shore. He even barrel rolled out of the water once but I had him good and he stayed on. I was pleased just to finally pull another in. Keep in mind it's only my fifth one and I'm happy just getting experience at this point. Anyway, here's a pic of the little dude. Let him go right away cause he bled just a bit from the mouth and I wanted to get him back to the water. When I rig my texas style setups I use Gamakatsu worm hooks. I love those.

Thanks for the advice man. Spinners won't work any differently with a treble hook on them? I don't want to sacrifice presentation and workability of the lure. Just making sure. If it will work, I'm willing to try it. But the hooks on my spinners are also pretty big right now, what size trebles would you recommend for mini-strike king or matzuo? It doesn't really say the size of the hook on the spinners boxes, least I don't remember it saying and I'm not good at eyeing yet. Is there an average size to use on those? I do use those mustad triple grips on my rapalas. I just bought them at bass pro two weeks ago in Hampton, I'm in the process of changing out all my floaters and rat-l-traps to those right now. I'm going to put them on my rooster tails soon after, I just have to buy more because I only bought an 11 pack.

Thanks for pointing that out. I forgot that the action is also in the rod and not the reel. My Scimitar is M Power and F Action. My Sonora Reel is 5:1:1 Gear ratio and 17lb max drag. Is the higher the drag the better?

Hey guys, I'm a newbie. Using a Shimano Scimitar Rod Medium Action with Shimano Sonora Reel 4500 Fast. I use 8lb Spider Wire, Mono. I had success on my cat pole with spider wire so stayed with it for my bass pole. I don't have money for many more setups but it was recommended (in the southeast bass forum) that if I want to use jigs I should get a med/heavy action pole with higher pound test between 14-30. Any suggestions as to the validity? Just checking. I want to get an overall census instead of just one person so I can be sure what I'm looking for. I started two weeks ago and caught 4 so far. 3 under a lb and 1 weighing 1lb even (smallies). I mainly use spinners right now Matzuo (2 blade) Yellow and Mini-Strike king (1 blade) white and bleeding. They seem to work very well in the ponds and reservoirs I fish at. I mainly fish light cover in shady areas. Grass and weed beds at ponds, and fish docks and boating docks at the reservoirs I fish at. Sometimes I try under log cover but I'm not that good at it yet. I've lost 4 bass in 2 days due to probably my hook set with these spinners. 3 of them I just reeled and never set the hook. The other one I set it but still lost it. All the losses came when they barrel rolled or flipped out of the water. But anywayz I find I like the setup I'm using for this right now, I'm just trying to start using jigs and wanted to be sure before I started using them. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks guys. JAson

Is there any specific way to do that? I haven't had a hard look at how they are attached on spinners yet, but I can check my tackle box when I get home. What kind of hooks would you recommend if I did that? I normally use Gamakatsu for my worm hooks (texas rigged), and mustad or lazer sharp eagle claw for my catfish pole. Any that are better for bass? Certain kinds of shape? Just trying to get all the info I can on catching these crazy guys. Thanks man.

Hey guys, I'm a newbie at bass fishing. Started seriously about a week and a half ago. I caught three my first day fishing the occoquan in va. All dinks, biggest weighing in at a whopping pound. I caught two on min-strike king spinners and had no trouble as they were sluggish. The other was caught on a rapala f-5 fire tiger. Anyway, I caught two at Lake Ridge boating last Sunday in Va with my father. Fought one to the boat to have him jump out about two feet away from me and release the hook. The other I caught from the dock after we returned the boat, fought him about four to five feet from the rail and he exploded through the water releasing the hook. I figured it was bad luck that day and called it that. But then I fished a local pond at veterans park the very next day and caught two lunkers in the open water during feeding time around 7pm. They were hitting topwater hard so I was skirting the spinner so the blade was almost splashing the water as it does not get bigger than 3 feet deep in the middle. Anyway both of these suckers had my lure for about a good 10-15 seconds. I wrestled with the first one without a solid hookset. But the second I was sure I hooksetted and he exploded out of the water letting go again like the first. One can imagine my frustration. IT is certainly a different fight than a cat or carp. You have to constantly worry about that explosion that will release the hook. My guess is I'm not getting good hooksets in. The second one I had the rod tip at about 90 degrees while I was reeling straight in front of me cause I thought your suppossed to have it low when reeling a spinner. When I saw the line go tight and move to the left a little with the run I snapped the rod upward to about my head level in front of my eyes. I thought I had it. Four loses in two days. Is that common with spinners or is there another technique I should be trying to hook set? Anyone who could supply any help, I'd appreciate it. If anyone is curious I used a Yellow Matzuo 1/4 Ounce Spinner yesterday to catch the two big ones, and the day before I was using white/bleeding mini-strike king spinners. Does anyone have any thoughts on the quality of these spinners? From what I hear they are rated pretty well. Thanks for any help in advance. BTW I'm not positive if they were small mouth or large mouth because I didn't get a close enough look obviously but the ones I caught at occoquan were all small. Jason