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Several guys here that I'd love to fish with, although I think we'd be talking, laughing and drinking more than fishing.

Cemetery. Nice, quiet folk, hardly ever complain. You might even come across an old stone that says "gone fishin'."

First fish of the morning. Had been working down a bank with a Rio Rico in bone when she crushed it. Sounded like a toilet flushing, literally. As soon as I was sure she was hooked, I rushed back to turn on the camera. Just in time to grab the net and get her in for this video and a quick glamour shot! Jeff

Not that I've been to a lot of places, but of the places I've been SC was the friendliest by far. I loved the diversity there too. Everyone was just another person there, nobody seemed to notice color, gender, any differences, they all smiled and spoke to each other the same regardless. It really confused my wife coming from a place where everyone looks out for themselves and that's about it. Small towns are usually a good bet. Since we moved out of the city, everyone smiles and waves when you pass them on the road, our neighbors look out for each other and help each other when needed, very different from what I've grown use to and I really like it. Of course, the 3 of us make up .01% of the total population (225 people), so you kind of have to play nice with each other. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane,_Kansas

You & I are on opposite sides of the warranty fence. To me, Manufacturers Defect means just that and nothing more. I would never expect warranty service on a product that I damaged. I have no problem accepting responsibility for my actions; accidental or otherwise. I have used a few other companies "Warranty Service" when appropriate and have had Very Good Experiences in every case. Your mileage may vary. A-Jay

I got to share my passion with my daughter who turned 6 yesterday. For her birthday she wanted to fish with dad. We've tried a handful of times from shore without any luck. Yesterday was special. She really enjoyed catching two fish.

Looks like the fish are here today, gone tomorrow. Caught 30 or so Friday afternoon on 2 spots and could not get a bite on either Saturday morning or afternoon. Looked around the area and its like they just vanished. the area was full of bait and fish friday but could not even find suspended fish or even bait. I did catch 6 between 2-3 lbs saturday morning shallow but Sat afternoon I struggled to catch 4, and 2 were spots. Packed up and came home Sat night, probably get back at them next week.

Hello, Glaziers L.U. 1087 here. 29 years and counting.

For those that have asked about this technique I refer to often for catfishing. I made a rough video showing how I do it. I wasn't prepared to do it but the fish feeder went off and looked like the water was boiling from all the fish so I thought I'd take advantage of it. I accidentally said baitcaster when I'm obviously using and always do use spinning gear for this technique. Otherwise, it turned out okay with a very nice channel that never should have made it to the boat.

Don't know what BFS means but from the light weight lure discription of less than 1/16 oz bait casting reels are marginal. The problem is line diameter verses lure weight verses air resistance causing the lure to stop in mid flight. You need a rod approaching ultra light to flex with 1/16 oz. 3/32 oz is possible with 50 size baitcaster, 6 lb /.008D line using ML or M moderate or fast action rods. Tom

At your local Walmart. They're called greeters.

A shakyhead with a black or redbug magnum finesse worm.

First off, the pros re-spool with new line after every tournament. So line twists are eliminated. Most of us don't have that kind of coin to swap out line that often - especially with fluorocarbon. Second, here's a video I made that discusses how to prevent line twist. I even talk about winding against the drag. The second video is how to remove line twist when you don't follow my instructions.

Water Temps are in the mid-60's here now. Perfect "Football" Weather and today they came in Pairs. A-Jay

I used to use the term Rubber Worm all the time, I laughed when I read your question because I have a friend who I used to fish with a long time ago and when I run into him, he always says "You still catching Bass on the Culprit Rubber Worms" Essentially they are still Rubber, PVC all the same I guess. I still think the 2 best worms are either a Senko weightless, or a Culprit ribbon tail or Berkley Power worm. I also like to use the Zoom Ultravibe Speed worms over weeds or instead of using a buzz bait to cover water..You can do so much with it and the price of Zoom worms is really good. Speed worms are good for every type of rig to be honest. Trick worms are super Popular because they work, and of course the senko.. Check out TW and click on Top selling baits....The variety today is insane, for fall you may like using a swimbait instead, Yum has a new one out called the Pulse that is priced well and works great, same with the Havoc Grass Pig....Havoc is a good line of baits or the price, easy to find etc...

My first choice for fishing rocks in 15ft. or less is a craw colored crank. I will follow up with a worm or jig

You want a true challenge? Try sight fishing for carp. With a fly rod. I requires the right conditions. Clear water, and little or no wind. Then it takes stealth, finesse and real casting skill.

OH,.. Contraire! The more you learn about bass fishing the more you "will" need. More lures, more rods, more line, more tackle boxes, more boats (as in ,... puddle jumper, canoe, bass boat, kayak, etc:). and yes ,.even more knowledge,.....The "needs"???? are almost endless. Ive been bass fishing for 50 years, and im still learning, as new techniques evolve, and still buying, to apply those new techniques. Although some like the senko, and ned rig Ive yet to jump in on, Im sure I'll get to them some day.,..Its more like I have older techniques that do much the same.

Bluebasser86: Also great way to get full use of Gliss by flipping it over.

Being a retired member of the Military I had the opportunity to visit many of the States in our great Nation. The friendliest people that I personally have met as a whole reside in South Carolina.

Cool! You da man buzzy! i got to take an all expenses paid trip to both Spain and Italy (among other Mediterranean countries) while aboard the USS Hermitage in 1981.

Not Indiana. Heck, I live between cornfields & people still seek me out to cast stones.. I always loved Tennessee folk..

Speaking of that, I left a hotdog pack in my catfishing tackle box a month and a half ago. Didnt go fishing for a while. A few days ago I went to go check to see if I ever did take out the hot dogs. To my surprise, there were these little brown dots on the outside of my blue plano tackle tackle box. I open it up, the most rancid scratch that PUTRID smell I have ever smelled in my life erupted from that small tackle box. I dawn the black grime buster gloves. I prepare for bilogical war. All hands on deck. Now or never. I lift up the trays, the nucleus of the infestation, nay the heart of the evil seeping from that plastic box. I take out the Carolina Links package with one dog missing that I used. Half the hotdogs are turned to a bio-hazard mush of frothing, pulsing, maggot filled decay. I make a grave mistake, I take a whiff. Instant gag, I throw up in my mouth. I put the the dogs back in box. I decide to take the loss on the rapala filet knife and fish grip scale along with some other odds and ends and some lures for bass. Im probably out like 55 bucks. But the death smell, the indescribable putrid smell that permeated everything rendered everything insavlageable. That folks is why you nee to clean out your stuff.

I bought a pack of soft plastics at the beach a few years ago to try for trout and redfish called Trout Tricks. I never used them because I was able to catch founder on Gulp Mullet and quickly gave up on the other species. But I made note that they looked like something a LMB would bite. Well, the bite has been slow at the local reservoir and my buddy told me the bite was very slow and to try a "do-nothing" presentation. I put one of these on a short Carolina rig with a 3/16 oz tungsten weight and the bass ate them up! They weren't responding to reaction baits but they liked these on a finesse C rig jerked off the weedy bottom.Just goes to show you you never know what they'll like on any given day. Sometimes you just show them something they haven't seen. The ones I used were an opaque purple color called mood ring.

Black or dark colored tiny jitterbug and torpedos fished shallow and run parallel to the new shoreline. Black and chartreuse beetle spin with a gold blade. Many good recommends mentioned so far.

Last year I caught bass on topwater on every outing in the spring, summer, and fall. It didn't matter if the sun was out, cloudy, night, or day. This year I could count the topwater bites I've had on one hand.

Where you buy rubber worms?

Only caught one fish today, but man it was a beauty.

I have no idea about the stripers. So this is off topic I suppose. But I love when the water becomes high and muddy. I often do the best with shallow shad raps(I guess that's not finesse either) With a sweeping retrieve. I find largemouth up much more shallow than usual checking out their new territory.

If they are using braid it doesn't matter as much as mono or flouro. I think it's because braid is so soft twist doesn't matter until it really gets "excessive." At least in the lighter tests of braid, like 10-15. I don't really understand reeling while the fish is taking line against the drag. It accomplishes nothing and most likely is causing twist-don't see how it couldn't. Sort of like sucking your thumb when hungry. No nutrition, and your thumb gets yucky.

You are currently involved in the sport of fishing. This involves one outfit and catching fish. Most of us started where you are now. The question you pose suggest that you are considering entry into the world of tackle buying. You will never again find the enjoyment you now have if you take the plunge into the world of finding a better rod and reel than what you now have. It becomes never ending and all-consuming. Eventually you wind up with a room full of tackle while spending endless hours on the internet looking for a great deal on a better rod and reel. If you're lucky, occasionally you will find time to fish and evaluate your purchases, but the pure love of fishing will have been replaced by the love of buying better tackle. Embrace the rod and reel that you can't see yourself abandoning, and spend as much time as you can on the water catching fish.

I was kinda surprised with the tip. I haven't fished it yet, but I've felt plenty of rods with a similar feel labeled "fast". It has a TON of backbone.

There's some pretty nice folks down here in the Lone Star State

My wife has always wanted to go to Italy as her grandparents were both born there. So after much hard work and planning, we left on Sunday 9/4 and got back yesterday 9/13. We went to Rome, Pompeii, Positano, Florence, Venice and then jumped over to Barcelona because i've had many friends say it was a great place to go. We did it all too! If there was a site to see in one of those places, i'm pretty sure we saw it. I have to admit i was pretty skeptical at first, but afterwards i will say it was one of the greatest experiences i've had yet! I've been out of the country a number of times, but only in North and South America, Europe was totally different on most every account. Food was FANTASTIC, both in Italy and in Spain. And the best thing was honestly the produce! I ate sooooooo many tomatoes, peaches and grapes it was insane, but they were so much better than back home it was unbelievable! I highly recommend the trip if you ever are afforded the opportunity to take it! A few pics from the trip: Positano Florence Fish Market Pizza (OF COURSE): Florence at Sunset Venice from a boat: Barcelona beach: Barcelona fish market:

Mail me some, you're secret is safe

Something with a rattle in black/blue.I like a t-rigged black and blue Hula Grub with a black glass bead between weight and hook. That will click if you retrieve it with jerks off the bottom. I know this isn't "finesse" but my best buzzbait is an old black and blue Strike King and I have a black Midnight SK Colorado blade spinnerbait that works in muddy water. The Rat L Trap works in off color as well because bass can hear and feel it coming.

Punch a trick worm with a 3/8-1/2oz weight if you have finicky fish in pads.... Trust me

It occurred to me that these might work well wacky rigged too.

They look similar (in shape) to my favorite GYCB Shad-Shape Worm baits! I love them for drop shot and/or wacky.

Price isnt the concern. Time on the water reviews /likes/dislikes are what I'm after.

Okay let me reveal more information now that I have way more replies than I was expecting to get... I, too, picked up that exact same Aetos from Fenwick's website as they had a pretty nice clearance event going on for the HMX and Aetos. 185 dollar rod for 100 bucks. I'll take it! The HMX was only like 45 bucks, too. I got this rod in 7 foot Medium Heavy / Moderate Fast with intentions on using it as my middle-of-the-water column moving bait rod. Paddletail swimbaits, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, & 10 foot or shallower crankbaits. I have a Tatula CT in 6.3:1 spooled up with 17 pound Seaguar Invizx 100% fluoro (as I fish the rocky Mississippi a LOT, I went a little heavier for more abrasion resistance). I didn't want to go with a 7.0 or higher gear ratio as I would likely over-reel the bait and keep it too high in the water column, and a 5.4 or lower is better suited for deep big cranks. Verdict: So far, I've taken it out 2 times on the river and fished a 1/2 ounce chatterbait, 1/8 ounce paddletail 4" swimbait, and a KVD 1.5 size 3-5 depth crankbait and it feels great. I have no complaints yet. The gear ratio seems about spot on for keeping the bait in the strike zone and the rod feels strong enough to get a good hookset on single-hooked baits and feels "bendy" enough to not rip crankbait treble hooks out of the fish's mouth. I am yet to take it out on a lake and fish deeper water (~15 foot) but I can't see my opinion differing too much after fishing that. We'll see.

I watched pelicons herding fish and the Herons knew in advance what was about to happen and positioned themselves to take advantage of it . I was amazed and got some decent footage of it .

Using an old Ugly Stick works perfectly fine with the technique, and is why Ned himself uses and prefers $20 cheapo bargain bin graphite composite rods (from Shakespeare). "No feel" is a pretty self explanatory term. Keep in mind the majority of the retrieves are performed with the lure off bottom where you want your rig to perform and swim along more like a neutrally buoyant jerkbait or a weightless wacky rig than a Carolina rig Many bites you will still feel regardless, but many others will simply be your line moving off or your rod starting to load a bit more than normal (think spider-rigging crappie). "Feel" in the traditional sense is over-rated with this technique, and more a matter of personal preference. Yes, it works, but no better than the traditionalists. -T9

Hungry fella.

What they said, lol. The thing is, all of the different techniques, lures, presentations, etc are tools. They can all be effective when fished in the right conditions, or useless/frustrating when fished under the wrong conditions. Learning those conditions is part of what makes this sport a different challenge every day. My .02 on top water... I've caught excellent numbers on all of the baits mentioned above, and have generally found that top water fish tend to be bigger than average fish. I guess it might be helpful to ask where, how, and when are you fishing poppers and frogs? There are plenty of folks here capable of giving you pointers and upping that success rate.

What is it truthfully know as?

A recent long but not very fat smallie:

A-Jay