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While I had always fished with my dad when I was younger I had taken about a 35 year hiatus from the sport. Career, family and other things just seemed to get in the way. About 5 years ago my work brought me to Bloomington, IN. Long story short, I don't do a real good job meeting people and what not so I have spent quite a bit of time sitting around the house basically doing nothing. Wife works a lot, kids are grown, golf kinda sucks when you play by yourself just basically spending my time putzing around the house. About 6 weeks ago, an old friend called and said they were going to Linton to fish what he called strip pits and asked if I wanted to come along, so I did. I had a great time fishing these electric only lakes, we caught a ton of bluegill, I learned how to fillet little pan fish (the fact I didn't know how to fillet wasn't getting me out of cleaning) and later we had a fish fry at the camp. All in all one of the better days I've had since picking up and moving to the new town. When I got home, I happened to be looking at Craiglist and I happened to see someone here in town selling a Bass Raider 10E with trolling motor, life vests and anchor for $350 so I ended up buying it. I can load it by myself in the truck, fish a lot of spots I normally couldn't get to and it is near perfect for a little 130 acre electric only lake close by my house. Since I have modified a little 5x8 trailer I have so that I can just pull the boat on with no lifting. Since that fishing trip with my buddy, I took my boat and fished small ponds and lakes with my dad in Kentucky for a couple of days. Didn't take my boat but went back to my previous town and spent three days fishing for crappie and bass on a larger reservoir with my buddy and I use my little boat and probably fish 3 or 4 evenings a week at the little lake down the road. I have spent a bunch of time reading this site and it has been a great time for me. I learn a lot every time I log in and using some of the techniques I've learned here I even catch a few bass..........and I've been having a ton of fun. So, thank you to all that post and respond. Honestly, it's pretty cheap therapy......lol.

My Shimano Collection... 1. Alde Mg - Zpi Offset CF Handle, Zpi Knobs & bearings, Hedgehog Air Bearings, Yumeya Cast Control, Reel Weight - 5.22oz 2. Core 51 - Zpi Offset CF Handle, Zpi Knobs & bearings, Hedgehog Air Bearings, Reel Weight - 5.22oz 3. Bfs XG - Zpi Offset CF Handle, Zpi Knobs & bearings, Hedgehog Bfs Air Bearings, Avail Drag, Hedgehog mech brake, Hedgehog side cover i repainted to match reel, and Ktf shallow spool. Have a purple Avail spool & Mag brake on the way... - Reel Weight - 4.72oz 4. Conquest 51s - Zpi Offset CF Handle, Zpi Knobs & bearings, Hedgehog Bfs Air Bearings, Avail Drag, Avail Shallow Spool & Mag Brake. Reel Weight - 6.34oz Next thing will either be a shallow spool for the core/alde mg or try out a megabass/daiwa...

Baitcasting for beginners can be a bit tricky, made harder by some inexpensive gear. Might want to save up until you can afford better equiptment. Many here can give you some good suggestion, but I would caution against going too cheap.

2 trains of thought, medium power fast action rods will allow you to work the bait properly with full control while allowing enough forgiveness for fighting the fish. The downside is that you will lose a few more fish but when you use a cranking style rod you have a slight delay in working the bait as you have to wait on tip recovery and you don't move the bait as far as the rod moves. That gives you a lot less control but you will land the majority of fish hooked due to the moderate action but you may end up getting less strikes, it really is a compromise. I subscribe to the fast action rods, in cold water the cranking rod is an asset because you don't want to move the bait all that much, but when it warms up and they get aggressive, well the fast rod will make the bait dart back and forth and it will generate strikes at a much higher percentage, at least it has for me as I've tried both style for quite sometime. So, yes, you can use a cranking rod for jerkbaits, and by that I mean the suspending kind, I'd never work a floating style bait with a rod that is too soft, a medium heavy with a moderate fast action that has flex but not quite parabolic, that is perfect for floating style baits.

Jig trailer. They're pretty dang sturdy.

To become a better, more successful, more consistent bass angler you have to know what you are after, once you know how your prey lives, reacts, where it lives you´ll know where to find it, when to find it, how to catch it and with what. Watch and learn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybopUwSuiS8 One of the best documentaries ever.

This past weekend I fished Lake Vermilion for the first time, my GF's family has a Cabin on Big Bay. The walleyes were pretty elusive for us (except for off the dock) so we decided to cast shorelines and structure for Smallies and Pike. My GF, Kerri, got her PB Smallie (first fish of the day) on Saturday and on Sunday while casting docks I was able to set my new PB - 17 3/4" and healthy.

I use a 35 and a 40 they are good....Gotta watch out for those typos 0019 lol

You can´t reel in steadily a Hula Popper and expect it to gurgle, you can´t jerk a Jitterbug and expect it to pop. There´s no such thing as Hula Popper VS Jitterbug, it´s Hula Popper AND Jitterbug, they are completely different animals, if a ´Bug don´t work for you it means you are not fishing it in the right conditions and locations, the same applies to the Hula.

some bass from the last few weeks me and the crew pulled in in Jacksonville

You can rage rig them with a weighted screwlock swimbait hook too...

I took a Skoda for a test drive, but the Czech engine light kept coming on. Lol.

Hello zillion rods!

You can look up largemouth bass tracking studies, several available. It's a myth thinking LMB stay within a small area, they move around, how far depends on the ecosystem size, the nature of the individual bass, the prey they prefer, they are not all the same. LMB rely on their swim bladder to maintain neutral buoyancy at a particular depth range, so they tend to travel horizontally within a comfortable depth range. During the summer there is usually several groups of bass at different depths, all moving around from location to location, staying close to their food sources. If the food is good in one specific area, the bass tend to stay in that area until the food is gone or moves. Where I fish the LMB go into feeding areas and move back out over deep water and suspend there to rest. Our reservoirs tend to fluctuate several feet in depth (10'-50' or more) seasonally, the bass must move and they do. In small quarry lakes I use to watch bass cruise around the perimeter in small groups of 2 to 3 bass all about the same size in each group. These bass would stop at a good ambush area and stay there for awhile, then move on to another area, other bass would come along and repeat this behavior, they shared feeding areas depending on size of the bass. This was a daily routine. I believe bass set up similar routines on big reservoirs, traveling within a "home range" that could be a few hundred yards or a few miles, depending on the prey source, seasonal period, density of the population and fishing pressure. Tom

Patterns are determined by the fish, not the fisherman. Roger

x2 for cussing. If I get a hookset but then he spits it, I just count it and move on.

I prefer a little faster action than the typical crankbait rod for jerkbaits. When I move the rod I want it to impart action on the bait, not the drag of bait flex the rod. I balance this with proper drag settings and line. As most things fishing, it will depend largely on what you are most comfortable with.

I want my swim jigs and squarebills to act like a drunk baby running into and through anything and everything.

Just a heads up but it's nowhere near a heavy power rod. As with all the bucoos they are overrated. Plus it's a mod/fast taper. I use my 2 for traps and square bills.

Good luck man. I have been riding my bike a good bit and not really doing much else and while i am not looking to lose weight per se, I have knocked off about 7-10 lbs. I need to start supplementing though and see what that does as all I have been doing right now is egg protein powder shakes after a ride for recovery purposes.

If your losing baits that much I have two for you Lure Retriever lol tight lines Andrew

As light as I can still feel on the bottom... oe

Yea we can cheerlead while sitting back eating subs and drinking some ice cold Sam Adams . Would that help motivate you? Pour Bleach on that leg... Or let some maggots clean it out for ya, you will be fine!!!

Well I have spent more money on Lucky Craft jerkbaits than any other bait. Color doesn't matter but yet it does.

Hot August night with a full moon on the horizon, temps in the mid-70s, winds light & variable from the south west, mostly overcast with moon peeking out occasionally. Deep water structure, outside grass line, in 15-25' of water. Texas rigged something & a Jig-n- Craw!

Used a 500$ giftcard today I bought for father's day at 10% off in combination with the current sale. To say I stocked up is an understatement...

d**n...my wife is gonna be mad

I stocked up on a bunch of stuff.. I need to sto buying stuff LOL. I've spent over $300 in the last 2 days.

Yeah, hwg handles are really great. Ive got 6 straight, and I need 3 more to be where I want to be. Theres such a huge difference now when I pick up a reel that has a short (Shimano) handle.

They literally taste identical to the grass or weeds that they live in. No thanks. Smallmouth are different, but LM taste like grass.

Shimano did make some improvements: 1.- Starting at the D series the incorporation of HEG in all their reels, prior the only reel with HEG was the Calais 100A ( have to point out that the 100 size reels of that series didn´t have HEG ) 2.- Super free system in all the line up. 3.- Progressive reduction of the reel size and weight. In Daiwa the improvements come in the form of spools however those improvements did not reach the lesser priced reels, and in certain versions ( Type R editions ) the "improvement" is questionable. The braking systems are the same: Magforce, Magforce V and Magforce Z, those have been around for over a decade.

yea its possible just like its possible to use a pair of pliers to loosen a nut but its likely not going to give you the best rod for a wider range of lures you could present and adjust to conditions yer gonna be stuck with what that rod can do best sometimes that can be fine.. other times you will wish you brought so and so other rod as well so you could throw so and so other lures I have a wide range of lures and weights from 1/4oz on up to 2oz.. there is no way one rod can do it if I bring them all.. and without them all ya may go home skunked cause u couldnt adjust Alots said about locating fish as being most important (and theyll bite anything if you find em.. ya right).. sure it is important tossing lures into an empty bucket isnt gonna catch u any fish but many times I seen other fishermen say theres no fish in there and I go over the same spot with a different lure or presentation and nail quality Gotta have yer tools with ya

What do you mean before you knew better? Even if you prefer bass fishing now, there is still nothing wrong using a cheap combo and catching crappie and catfish all night lol you make an excellent point here that ive made in the past myself. Fishing can be as simple or as complicated as a person wants to make it...

You'll get different opinions on this but I'm going to say Very Bad Habit. I used to do it and I snapped Off Way Too Many Fish ! If a decent fish is heading the opposite direction - you can pop you're line a lot easier than you think. Additionally, any fray, nick or weak point in your line has less of a chance of survival to begin with but less chance to hold if you thumb the spool. Set the drag correctly and let it do it's job. Short story ~ one night after a fairly frustrating day on the water, I was complaining to my Dad that I hadn't landed many big fish that season. He asked me - "How many fish have you snapped off on the hook set ?" I said "5 or 6 I guess" He replied "Those were your Big Fish" I never thumbed the spool again. A-Jay

Yesterday (Jun 28), Lois & I celebrated our 50th Golden Anniversary. It's actually closer to 51 years because I asked her to go steady on Oct 11, 1963 I asked Lois where she liked to go today (Sunday), and told her the world is her oyster. You guessed it, we're going fishing this afternoon. How lucky can a guy get? (I'm not worthy) Roger

Someone more adept with the 'search' function than I will have to chime in with some links.....But I've seen a couple links posted here on BR to studies about bass released from tournaments; one in OK and one in Northeast somewhere, I think. I found them fascinating -- what I took away was that some bass are homebodies and some are Magellan. I think one fish was caught 10 miles from release site. Most stick around. What I found most interesting, however, was a conclusion that while bass might haul bass up and down the shore, the vast majority don't ever seem cross the main channel. Afraid of heights, maybe? Or they just stay on their own side of the tracks, I guess.

You can throw practically any bait with your spinning gear, so you don´t "need" a baitcaster. I have more baitcasters than spinning reels but baitcasters aren´t always the ideal reel when you fish from the bank, the bank has stuff growing on it and a baitcaster requires you having enough room to swing the rod to make the cast, with spinning reel you don´t need a lot of room to swing the rod to make the cast, just a Little and you´re ready to go. So as you can imagine when I´m on the foot patrol what type of reel is what I use.

Huddleston 68 Swim Bait. A-Jay

With a swim jig I'll cast and retrieve it back after letting it fall to the depth I want first. Then about 1/4 of the way back let fall, give it a 2 to 5 count and bring it back, stopping to let it fall 1/2 then 3/4 the way back to the boat. With a sq bill crank bait I wait for all the ripples to subdue after it hits the water, give it a few sharp jerks, let it rise to the surface, then reel it back. For a mid to deep diver, I start reeling when it hits the water, then periodically burn the reel or give a few short pulls of the rod. Mike

Congratulations Roger. I have only managed 38 years, but like you I married up and am a very lucky guy. I wish you many more!

This is gonna freak everyone out, but..... A SENKO!!

Swindle noted in a seminar that KVD wins 6% of the time, this is the most losing sport you will ever participate in! To break that down, that would mean IF you were as good as KVD you would win 6 out of every 100 you fish.

Yes in parks or public land, but never trespass because I respect the property of others as should you. You can get shot doing that.

I don't know about you but I think getting college credit for fishing is just about the smartest thing I've ever heard haha

Unless it was belly hooked chances are the fish will be fine

I'd say there's a good chance the fish survived then. It might shake the hook loose. And if it was a decent sized fish, or as huge as you say it was, then it could easily still eat with a 3/0 offset hook in its lip.

And your smarter than all of us because.......

No I didn't. You know exactly what I'm saying. And I say it because I care Raider. If you are serious about modifying your body composition, resistance training (even low weight high reps) is not your best tool especially for a man who is looking to eliminate 50 lbs of body fat. Distance Running means something different to everyone, but at your present body weight, you are just asking for trouble. Why risk injury? Running has it's benefits, but you'd be better served by modifying your diet and not beating yourself up by running. Select an activity that will safely allow you to burn calories. Speed walking works well, isn't a macho as running, but it's just as effective and a whole lot safer. And a Heart monitor is your friend here as well. A-Jay

I would strongly encourage you NOT to run; on the road especially. At your stated body weight, exercise of no or low impact would be much safer and something you can & will be able to be faithful to. A Bike, a treadmill or a pool comes to mind. And btw - NOW is the time to modify your body composition. It doesn't get any easier as you get older. You're eventually discover that as your life progresses, lifting buildings isn't really that important, but being able to get up and down the stairs is. Good Luck A-Jay