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Short rods were the norm when I started to bass fish. I can't remember the exact year but I caught my first on a red and white jitterbug and if the little reservoir still exists I could show you the exact spot less the wood that was in the water since that stick up is gone. My first bass was either in the spring of 1946 or 47. My rod was probably 4'6" maybe 5" it was solid steel with a hexagonal cross section. I can't remember if the cross section tapered from the reeel seat to the tip but I would guess it didn't. Longer rods cast farther and are more forgiving to surges from the fish. In those times there was no graphite and little fiber glass and fiber glass rods were solid not hollow. If they made longer rods then I think they would have been much to heavy to use all day. So the rod length was in keeping with weight issues and manufacturing technology. Today rods, reels and lines are so much better that when I see somebody dis a modern product I just smile. I have several old reels and I would bet that most of you would switch to fly fishing or golf before you took them to the lake. Line was even worse.

I've been out a few times lately and have lost a few good ones (a couple brutes lost due to butterfingers) and landed a few ok ones. Today I went to BH over by the stickups near the beaver dam and the largemouth bass were going nuts ambushing baitfish in the shallows. I hooked up with one by swimming a craw near the surface but as soon as it hit I got hung up in cover. There was a lot of stuff on the surface in the shallows and you could almost follow them as they made trails in the debris as they were hunting and when they boiled up they'd create a clearing and I could see some big shadows under the surface. Add to that when they went in for the kill often there were fins flying everywhere. The bass were leaping over cover and everything to get those bait fish! What a thrill! Hopefully this is a link to a video of the last ambush I saw before I left. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/aLC63S_aOsJeCuH3cC2HnBuQspP_UHFPnxRswqs7lnY?feat=directlink

I am a little different than most and prefer to throw the lightest weight I can get away with - 1/4 -3/8 oz in shallow cover.

Not sure if this is in the right section or not, please move if needed. Thought you guys might want to know my local walmart had Owner, Mustad, and Gamakustu hooks in there bargain bin, everything from skip gap to wide gap worm hooks for $1.50 per pack. Tyler

She is at her prime in OLD age and still FULL of FIRE!!! I call this "WELL SEASONED" Most all of these older gals have bulging eyes, and I enjoy seeing exactly that when they surface beside the boat! These are the TRUE MATRONS of their species!!! She ate a Rage Rooster on the Edge of a rocky Bluff And refused to return it peacefully Got her on Film too... The footage is WHACKED OUT GOOD and I'll post it up soon St. Croix Rage Rod, 65lb Suffix Braid, Moaner Stick'r Hook, 3/4oz Tour Grade Tungsten, Smokin Rooster - JUST ADD WATER www.ragetail.com

My home lake is pretty clear, and I swear by black/red jigs on that water. I have a lot more confidence in black/red than black/blue.

That's one way to start a party

Since darkness is the absence of light, a brighter lure would be darker anyway.

I am going to call you "deep pockets" from now on

jesus, he could help me get over 100000 bass a day

Do it, document it, and share it then.

A few years ago the heater fan on my car started making a noise and I though it might be a bearing or the motor was just going out. As the temperatures got colder it started making more noise and so I decided to take it. Dropped off the car and got a ride to work. As I walked into the office, my message light was blinking, it was my mechanic and his question was 1) Do you have a dog? and 2) Do you leave near an open field? When I answered yes to both questions, he told me that the fan housing was completely packed with dog food. Apparently the field mice that live behind us were getting into the dog food and storing it up for winter. He poured about 2 pounds of dog food out in the trash can, I bought one of those plastic bins to store the dog food - problem solved.

Those freakin power worms will catch anything!

English Bulldog and Boston Terrier.

Don't waist your time, make it a point to do so !! Good luck, I know how stubborn fathers can be lol ! A trip with the boys I think will help him say yes, let us know how it works out, sounds as if it would be a great day wether you catch fish or not.

I got my wife a Weim for a wedding present when we got married that dog is so goofy and hyper and crazy and did I mention hyper. She loved to go fishing with us i had her pointing smallmouth in the river lol. we ended up moving and having to get rid of her so my in-laws took her and now she lives there with the horses. She was to hyper for the kids though she had a problem with that was never mean just to hyper and clumsy always stepping on them or jumping on them we could never put the boys on the floor or in a bouncer when she was in the house We have a German Shepard now my wife got him when I left for this deployment hes 10months I think now and great with my boys. I met him when i was home on leave hes a big old shep and super friendly and amazing with the boys hes super protective of both of them wich is nice with me being gone.

Big Worm Bite is ON! A friend, Ashley Wallace caught this LOVELY on a 10" Rage Thumper worm in 9ft water. I think she's got this "Big Worm Fishing Thing" down pretty good, huh www.ragetail.com

My wife and I have two Italian Greyhounds, both are rescues from the areas IG rescue. Before work schedules got in the way we used to foster also. Was fun most of the time, got busy with 4 of them in the house at times, some came with sad backgrounds. Enzo is a 6 year old male, was abused by his orginal owner. Punched, kicked him and made him sleep in the shower at night in case he had an accident. Was less than a year old when turned into rescue. He is still afraid of people, takes awhile to get him comfortable with people after he does he is extremely loving. Vita is also a 6 year old male, we do not know any of his background. He was dropped off at the pound at 5 years old. Beautiful IG who loves attention, is the exact opposite of Enzo in loving everyone.

I would fish everyday of the week but I have a job and it keeps getting in the way of my personal life.

Homie cheap rods work as well as highend rods for catching these fish. I actually kindof prefer them. Then if one breaks on a stripe I'm not out 200 or more dollars.

Yeah we're pretty lucky to have a good group of guys on here willing to share their info but I think it helps we have everyone willing to share, not just a couple guys sharing then everyone else crawling all over their spots. I'd be up for Melvern for sure, or Perry or any other lake really. I'd like to talk to all you guys an BS a bit but I don't know if I want to be elbow to elbow on a little lake like Atchison. I think it would be really fun to do it at somewhere like Melvern or Perry, pair everyone up in teams and have a bragging rights paper tournament. No weigh in just add up your total length for each team's biggest 5. Fish from like 6-2 or 6-3 and have a "measure in" and BBQ afterwards.

Don't give up on it because the fishing can be awesome, and there are some real pigs in there. Think of each trip as a learning experience. If you're not getting the result that you want, try something else. If you know that fish are there, it's often a change in presentation or color. If you aren't sure about fish being there, try a different spot, either a local change (like a deeper spot) or a big change (a different part of the lake), etc. There are no secret spots on the lake from shore, so for every area, there should be a trail to get you along a fishable shoreline. You can't go wrong with plastics of some sort, so if hard baits aren't producing, go with plastics. Have some for different presentations (surface film like flukes, slow sinking like Senko style baits, plastic worms of varying lengths used with matching hooks - and vary the weight from no weight, to not much weight, to more weight to get the lure to the fish either suspended or on the bottom, wherever you think they are). For this lake, the vast majority of the time the natural colors will work nicely, although all black can be very good too. If the fish are aggressive, go bigger, if they're finicky, try a 4" worm. Tube jigs also work well, and I like to Texas rig them, but whatever works for you so that you can fish into the cover and not hang up. Everyone has their favorite brands, so I won't go there. That's my approach for catching numbers of bass. Now, if you're after that one big bite on that one big fish, think big baits, and expect to get skunked once in a while, but when you do get bit, it will be a good fish. So, what I try to do is achieve a balance for having fun and catching numbers while also looking for big fish. During prime bites or when it's good, I'll catch a few then go to a bigger bait to try for a big fish. Now, of course, if I'm having a lot of fun catching decent ones, I will just have fun and keep on doing it. It all depends on the mood of the fish and my mood. Bottom line is, BH is a good lake...and well worth figuring it out.

X2 I've used pretty much all of the different brands. Each one has their pros and cons. Personally, I've found that Owners have never given me a reason not to like them.

Good luck with that notion. You won't find too much consistency there. As far as shaking off, sound more like an issue of the way you play and land the fish than a hook problem. For extra wide gap worm hooks, I use Owner Wide Gap Plus. For some deeper bodied baits, like fat bodied creatures and flipping tubes, I'll use their offset point Rigging Hook.