hollandbass

to thetr20one and everyone else; what would you guys recommend for a guy smallie Erie fishing without a larger boat? I live 30 minutes away from the lake but river fish for smallies on the Maumee all the time just never seen any guides or headboats target smallies on Erie, its always walleye/perch/white bass. Erie can be rough and all my pards have smaller river/bass boats surely not equipped to make long Erie runs. I hear of all this great smallies lake fishing but don't even know where to start and who to ask? Any help is appreciated, ive been fishing for them on the river for years, will be a bit weird trying to hire a lake guide ;D

$50 rod with a $170 price tag, a bunch of hype IMO. Cheap components, sloppy finish, so-so warranty. Ive had them all, go Loomis or Croix.

The kittens thing is just plain retarded. I am betting the guy was joking around, how many muskies would eat a floating kitten? But if its true that just messed up, thag guy has problems.

I dont condone the use of live mice, but hell back in the day giant bass were hooked on live ducklings amongst other cute things. I have gotten big bass on live frogs and fake frogs, never tried mice. Sorry i am not much of a treehugger.

I don't think anyone was advocating torturing any fish or sticking him in a tiny tank, buts its funny how some people will only accept a live sized pond in your living room to make the bass "happy". I think i will go and get some smoked salmon from the fridge now, I am sure it died a horrible death and i think i even saw a single tear fall down as it was being hooked. :'(

So now we are comparing bass with humans? :-X I think i am done with this.

ok, go make some room in your closet, hop in, we'll bring you food and water. If you do your research, chances are you won't be keeping a bass as a pet. As for your "Oh well" attitude regarding if it dies or not,....you're not gonna make many friends here with comments like that one. You're kidding right? Tell me honestly you have never eaten a fish in your life? How about killing one? Ever gut hook one? Several people have come in here with actual experience that have kept Bass as pets and have said that they are not much different from other pet fish. All I see so far is people who haven't done it telling the OP not to do it because they "think" it might not be a good idea. How the heck is someone who hasn't done it for himself is going to teach someone who has? I C+R all my bass, yet I enjoy tangling with steelhead and salmon, and OHHH they taste so good! If bass tasted as good you better believe I would only release the big ones, the rest would be eaten. Or is that too cruel also? How about millions of naturally dying salmon, should we save those too? Is bass easing other bass cruel as well? Someone call PETA! Bass are NOT people, they are cold blooded fish your analogy with the closet is highly flawed. I won't loose any sleep over one dead bass fingerling, knowing that there are millions of them out there dying by nature's hand every day.

What a great thread! 8-) Love reading Fish Chris's posts. But lets get real people, we stick bass with hooks, muscle them out of the water, lip em, etc... i dont think the bass cares one way or another where he is at as long as he has food and some cover. So get a small bass, do your research and if he dies or well. Some people on here make it look like your taking a child from the mother or something, bass are fish they even eat each other, remember? personally i want a huge mama, like a doubledigit bass in a huge tank ;D

all lures combined average about 1.5lb fish jigs and frogs... 5lb average ;D

That's what I have been concluding as well. These are all private ponds so no game warden would know anything about them and like I said the fishing pressure is very low most days the fish are all alone. Its funny how some ponds have a hot lure, I went through 15 lures until I found where/what jig the bass liked in pond C. You can read all the books in the world but all seems worthless sometimes until you try it for yourself.

Well i am thinking pond B is just full of stunned bass, they cruise in large packs around the shore and just eat anything you throw in there, so they are always hungry and overpopulated. Too many small bass, not enough protein to consume. Pond C seems just perfect, tons of spots for big ones to hide out and just eat the cray fish that come from the river rocks. Pond A i have no clue, i have fished this d**n pond alone for 100's of combined hours and only have 1 7lb fish to show for it. I dont know why the big fish just refuse to bite on a normal schudule. It has a LOT of golf course chemical drain off so maybe it messes with the fish?

Let me start by saying that I fish mostly from the shore due to many small ponds around here, just not worth taking a boat to. So here we have 3 ponds that I have had experience with lately. Pond a) Small, murky green from the runoff and vegetation, quiet, very weedy lots of bass most are 1-2lb variety but large ones are there as well. I have been fishing this pond for over a year and usually catch 5-10 fish within an hour or two, mostly around 1lb mark. I have tried every lure I own and everything works more or less. Now, I have pulled out a 7lb hog on a topwater frog from here as well as a few 4lb ones on a frog as well and quite a bit of 3lb ones on senkos/jig/etc. Getting BIG fish takes a LOT of work and hours, I can be throwing the frog for 3 days with no big fish and on the fourth get a hit from the lunker. Not easy for sure. Pond Long but still small, about 300 yards in length and 50 yards across, fairly deep. Very little structure, the bottom is mostly muck and dead sticks and leaves, very clear water. Bass fishing is on FIRE anytime I go I catch 10+ fish an hour. All fish are 1.5lb and UNDER. I have caught 7 or 8 fish in a row on every cast on a senko, other lures work great as well. I have tried to catch bigger fish with no luck, even a 3/4oz jig gets taken by 1lb fish! So I have over 200 fish out of this place with nothing over 1.5lb mark. Pond c) Recently discovered, located by a big river also small and looks like a bass haven. Lots of rocks, fallen trees, weeds, drop-offs, heavy and nasty stuff. Throwing anything with trebles gets snagged on every cast. Second time out I work the jigs and produce the following fish within 4 hours: three 4lb fish, one 5lb fish and a 6lb fish! Also got two 2lb fish not worth mentioning. All fish came on a jig-craw combo, all hit softy (watching the line!) within 4 feet of the shore, basically I was flipping and pitching the jig into the heaviest cover I could find along the shore and it was awesome getting a hog with a few feet of line out. Fish were sitting in heavy cover by the shore easy to find. Now, all 3 ponds are located within 20 miles of each other, all are secluded with VERY little fishing pressure so these fish have not seen too many lures and I fish all of them the same. I have my own thoughts about all of this but would love to hear from others who would have some more years on me. How the hell are the fish in pond B so little and why is Pond C producing monsters on command while pond A has monsters that are near-impossible to catch?

Thats amazing Chris. You do everything a typical "bass" fisherman would not! 8-) I dont use UL for anything bigger than a crappie!

Chris, I have read a lot of your posts now, but haven't seen you list your rods/reels anywhere. I am sure everyone else is very curious on your setups as well. From what I gather you mostly throw BIG swimbaits on braid, just can't imagine throwing a 7oz bait all day. Do you do any frogging or large jiggin flipping/pitching much anymore?

This is an amazing story and FC is DA MAN! ;D

Its about 10 to 15 feet deep at the deepest portion, the banks are shallow, maybe 3 feet.

I have been fishing my local small pond for a year now, largely because it's basically in the back yard. The funny thing is that I just got back from a 4 day fishing MI trip on 3 different lakes and only caught 1 dink the whole time! The LM action was DEAD in MI. Got back, fished my local 2 ponds and came out with a dozen fish. Now here is my dilemma. I can hammer up t 2lb fish all day using cranks, senkos, and a popper once in a while. The fish are NOT taking jigs and spinnerbaits; maybe I just suck with them. All the fish I catch are along cover by the shore, I just fish off a bank since there is really no need for a boat. Now, the only way I have pulled the big boys (a few 4lb, and 5lb) was to use a whole live bluegill on a bobber in the middle of the lake. I let his swim around and wham a huge LM hits him, every time. I can't catch anything with lures in the middle of the lake. So I know the big ones are there but they won't take lures. Any suggestions?

cart7, i also own a "few". If you think that the record is as smooth as a calcutta, haha well ok nice joke. I own both, and even got a cardiff which is miles ahead of any abu. Abu stated that they do not cover "wear and tear"; the drags need to be replaced (i assume they are burned up, the whole drag froze up), the relase spool button jammed up and they stated that some internal gear broke. An excuse for a weak reel in my book. This happened while fighing a fish.

Purchased an Abu Record 50 (for pike/musky) about 6 months back. The drag froze up while fighting a fish, almost broke my rod because of the reel, and lost the fish! Anyway, I call Abu they say send the reel in. Few weeks go by, today I get a Bill from them saying the reel has been repaired and they won't ship it unless I pay $37. Wow, didn't expect this one! So I give them a call, they state that their warranty does not cover "wear and tear". I guess fighting a fish and having the reel FAIL on you is considered "wear and tear" AKA excuse for making a bad weak reel and then not covering it. I am a bit surprised because I own many old ABUs for catfish which have all been great. They are not very smooth but they work. This Record 50 was a mistake from the get go, the thing started making noises and getting rougher and rougher within a few months. I did not know about Shimanos when I got it, would have never gotten it in the first place, Calcutta's from now on. Just got a new Cardiff and its miles ahead of any ABU, amazing. Just a warning about their warranty for anyone considering ABU. Cliff notes: Broken Abu Record 50 reel now costs me a grand total of $210 (with shipping and everything) just get a Calcutta or Cardiff in the first place and it will last a lifetime and will be covered no matter what.

What's your preference for switching lures fast; just tie the lure to line and cut/retie every time (slow but better demonstration) or just use a CROSS LOCK swivel and snap them on?

Thanks for the reply guys, i will stick with 12lb yo-zuri so 100 is fine

For those who have used both, whats a better heavy bass/light pike reel the cardiff 100 or 200? This is going to see heavy topwaters for big bass and once in a while pike/musky on a med-heavy 7" rod. I picked up the 100 because its lighter/smaller but wondering is its too undersized for the big boys.