FivePoundBluegill

I see we are now back to the classic avid pics. This one is a much more clear pic than the old pics taken in that style though. Glad to see you had a good day. I didnt even get anything over two pounds today....

What kind of rattletraps did you end up getting? Also what colors?

Here is the other reel they make. They make these reels in ultra light size as well....

I was just looking on the rapala web site. To be honest it is the first time I have ever looked at their official site and I found so many lures and patterns of lures I did not know they even made. I also saw they make their own line of spinning reels and rods. Are these rods/reels any good? Anyone tried them? I know the rapala lures are great lures for the money and I am wondering if the rods/reels are the same. Here is a pic of one of the rapala reels

Hmmm he seems pretty high up on the bank. It might have been caught and then left on the bank by some irresponsible idiot. Some people just kill fish for the sake of killing them. Too bad. Anyway I hope that was not the case and that the fish died of natural causes then was removed from the water later....

The water is getting colder and fish are preparing for winter. The fish are usually deeper and I have noticed they have been harder to catch recently for me as well. I usually fish small lakes just like yours and it is harder for me to catch the numbers of fish I used to catch in the summer. Try throwing lures that run deeper in the water. If the water is cloudy I would suggest throwing lures that make noise such as rattle traps. I have noticed I have not been catching as much on the senko recnetly as well. However I am still catching decent numbers of fish on finess worms that I work realy slowly. I have been haveing the best luck with weightless finess worms. The thing I would suggest most to you is to try some rattletrap type baits right now. They have been by far the most productive lure for me in the last few weeks and I fish small lakes and ponds most of the time just like you.

Is this lure a good fall lure? I have been haveing success with rattle traps and was checking out these jointed shad rap rapalas today. I noticed they do rattle like a rattle trap yet have different action. They look more like a distressed bait fish than a rattle trap. I was wondering since they rattle will they also make a good choice for a fall/winter hard bait? Just wondering?

Just cranking those baits I posted pics of in at a average speed. I seem to get reaction strikes. The water in my local lakes is very murky right now so the rattleing cranks are working. I have also caught a few on the black and silver rapala X-Rap and roboworms. These baits are not working as well at the rattletrap crank baits though.

I have also been haveing luck on the rapala version of the rattle trap. This is the one that has been catching the fish for me. I think they like it because it looks like a bluegill with the stripes....

I have been haveing great luck with rattletraps. I have not been useing the actual Rat-L-Trap type of rattletrap because they seem to be to heavy for the shallow lakes I fish and catch too many weeds. I have been useing these baits.....They are a pretty expensive type of rattletrap bait and are usually about $9 each. However they cath loads of fish. I have both this one and a baby bass pattern one

I read somewhere on here a while back that if the fish is a big fish it is better to support its belly when holding it horizontally. Holding a large fish horizontally by the mouth only could result in doing harm to that fish's jaw. I dont think it matters much with small fish 2 LBs or less though.

Great pics

Using a net would just lead to other unfortunate habits like fishing with live bait, trolling, or using spinning tackle for all your fishing. Start using a landing net and the next thing you know you'll be headed for shore lunch. It's a slippery slope. Yeah I dont get what you just said. I also dont see anything wrong with useing live bait as long as its legal, trolling, or useing spinning tackle? Nothing is wrong with any of those things. Useing a landing net is just something that makes sure you are able to get those big fish in the boat. It also makes landing the fish much less painfull when it comes to reduceing bass thumb or getting hooked.

I honestly do not get why so many fishermen do not use landing nets. It baffles my mind. There are so many fish lost each year by anglers that would have been caught if the angler had used a landing net. I also see that bass fishermen are the fishermen that use the landing net LEAST of any kind of fishermen. I do not understand this at all. For the reasons I listed in my earlyer post I bring a landing net with me every time I go fishing and use it on fish too big to deadlift out of the lake no matter what species. Yes I have head that landing nets can damage the fish's slime however the nets that do this are the ones with ROUGH thick material with realy big gaps in the netting. I used to use a net like this but a couple weeks ago I bought myself a nice big fine mesh landing net that would not be nearly as harmful on the fish. I also get that fish out of the net as soon as I have him out of the water.

My Scale was $30. It goes up to 15 pounds and is made by rapalla.

Oh when i said "keeper size" fish I did not mean that I kept those bass. I released all of them. I just said "keeper" to mean they were decent size fish.

I tried throwing my X-Raps thismorning and had decent luck with the XR-8 size in the black and silver coloring. I ended up catching three bass within about two hours fishing with the bait. Two of them were keeper size fish but just barely. Still it seems the rattle traps are working much better yet the X-Raps are working right now as well. I was fishing the X-Rap with the jerk-jerk-pause retrieve which is probably the most common way to work the bait.

Buy yourself a landing net and use it for all decent size fish of any species... Dont even bother lipping them. Useing the landing net will reduce the number of fish that come unbottoned at the side of the lake or boat. It will cut down on "bass thumb". You wont have to risk getting impaled by a trebble hook that is rattleing around in the fish's mouth.

Yeah man i think those two bass are at least 1.5 pounds. I posted about a 15 inch bass on the last thread you made that was 1 LB 7 OZ. Il put the pic of him on here too. My fish is about the same size as your two fish so I think your scale is off. A realy fat 15 inch bass could weigh well over 2 lbs I know that for a fact so your bass is at least 1.5 LBS. My 1.7 LB bass weighed on rapalla digital scale....

What exactly was the weight of that bass.... like 1.7 or 1.8 LBS? I just think he looks bigger than just over a pound from the pic. He was 15 inches and looks quite fat so i would guess he was closer to 2 LBS.

From what I have noticed the only real difference between a largemouth and a spotted bass is the spotted bass have more distinct patterns on them. They are usually a much more attractive looking fish. That and the fact that they are usually smaller than largemouth. Are there any other ways you can tell a spot from a largie?

Great catch.... I dont know if this is true or not but maybe that fish was an older, weaker fish that did not have much power left in him to put up a good fight? I know people lose strength in old age and maybe fish do as well... I dont know if this is true though since usually the bigger the fish I catch the harder the fight.....

"nothing big"? Those fish you just posted are very good size largemouths

Low_Budget_Hookers often posts cool videos in the outings section... He puts up a new one every few weeks. Always worth watching.

I have been catching lots of bass recently on rattle trap like baits. The water is starting to get abit cloudy and the bass are hammering them. I am not getting any real big ones though....