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Which will produce the most bass during a days outing, the short precise target cast or the longer less accurate cast? Not a simple question to answer. For the shoreline bank pounder who is flipping or pitching less than 30' accuracy is important. For the same shoreline bank pounder casting crankbaits or top water lures a longer less accurate cast allows the lure to be in the water longer and cover more area. For the deep structure angler sometimes fishing vertical is better then horizontal and fishing 30' straight down is a lot easier to detect and get good hook sets becomes important. Same structure angler making extra long casts with a crankbait or swimbait over 40 to 50 yards, allows the lure to get deeper or cover more area, similar to the bank pounder using the same lures. I prefer to make the shortest cast possible and still get strikes, sometimes that isn't a possibility and making very long cast is needed to reach the bass or get the lure down in front of them. Cover changes how we present lures, heavy requires shorter casts while sparse cover allows a choice. Bright sunlight changes how we target bass, if docks or weed mats provide shade we can make short accurate casts. Bright sunlight with flat calm water bass tend to be spooked easily by boats or anything going near them, longer casts may be needed. Low light and night the bass are less spooky and shorter casts are more productive. The answer is there is a time and place for both short and longer casts. Tom

I think people like to blame exterior influences rather than the deficiencies in their own program.

Well, Today was one heck of a day. Started out with my frog and switched to weight less senko and the game was on, They were loving the june bug senkos. Here's our catches of today, quick catch and release. I landed what felt like a five pound 18 inch bass and the fight was quite hard getting her into shore but i won.

I havent caught a big bass all year . This one was almost decent . I went old school . 8 inch blue Jelly Worm .

Famous-Salt Craw, Sluggo(a fluke), Senko, Rebel Pop'r, Rapala Minnow, Shad Rap, Bill Lewis Rattle trap, original SCUM FROG-Banjo Minnow(Not Joking) If they marketed that bait in BPS instead of on TV, the Lake Fork Magic shad, SPro BBZ, all the segmented baits that were selling for big dollars may have never been created. Also the concept of Nose Hooking soft baits was another Banjo Minnow exclusive which is now one of most popular ways to fish soft baits of all kinds. The Colors of the Banjo minnow were wacky and any infomercial whether a fishing lure or a Kitchen Mop are always considered by most to be a scam, myself included. I remember a buddy of mine who purchased them and used them one day and he was new to fishing, but looking back, if he would have known how to set the hook on a moving soft bait, he would have caught alot of fish before putting it down for good. It didn't help we made fun of him and going back to the culprit was obviously too easy. The first Lake Fork Magic shad was a prettier Banjo Minnow with the new technology of salt etc. I would say the Power Worms or Powerbait/Gulp was a gamechanger for scent and Power Worms replaced almost everyones Culprit worms and mister Twister curly tail worms for about a decade. Gulp and Powerbait sell in all types of fishing, they don't market like they used to. I would argue that any lure or bait that was in catalogs 30 years ago and is still in the catalog is a famous lure. Manns Jelly Worms, Norman Crankbaits, Cordell lures, Smithwick Rogues etc. First Suspended Jerkbait is a big deal, Rogues are never advertised, nor are the Devils horse etc which are copied every year, Many of the Prado lures are the same as they were 40 years ago. To me the Ned Rig is kind of just a Take off of the Slider system, small baits have been used for years in different systems like a westy worm on a c-rig, but Elaztach is kind of a big deal, same with the chatterbait, Z-Man may be just as popular in 20 years since they came out with truly innovate ideas which is rare these days. I would argue the KVD square bills were not original, Cordell, Rebel, Rapala, dozens of others created square bills. Strike King makes great stuff, I fish lots of it, But they seem to be the best at marketing/Advertising/Sponsership. There are 100's of square bills and I doubt if you polled 10 guys you would get any group to pick one brand more than 50%. They Work great, but so do tons of other brands. Strike King has done a great job of selecting bait and lures for their line up that are a good mix and all pretty much work as good as the original stuff. The Red Eye shad is not a game changer but it is special. I give the flange idea of rage tail to Lake Fork as they had that much earlier on their flipping bait, other companies had soft baits that never made it with a similar design. They do a great job of having baits for everyone, and "Tweaking" other companies designs. The original Rage Bug was first Called the "River Bug" by KVD himself before it officially came out, then BPS had the river bug the same year. You can google River bug and strike king and find the connection. Granted they are 2 different baits, but without the flange it is a beaver. Many Bass Pro lures end up in top companies line ups. Especially the soft baits which is for obvious reasons. If Lunker City were to decide to start advertising like crazy, start pushing new versions of the sluggo etc. Get Scott Martin to exclusively fish them, never speak a sentence without saying Lunker City on my Okuma TCS Rod and Okuma Helios Reel, they would blow up overnight. Remember when everything was "Riot Baits"? If KVD was offered more money by Pradco to fish Bomber, have a KVD Bomber best Crankbait, I would guarantee Bomber cranks would sell even better than they do today and really hurt Strike King. I notice Pradco seems to have all the Famous lures and Rapala the other....First Suspending Jerkbait, First Wake Bait, Spook..Heddon,Bomber, Cordell-Big O, Redfin, Smithwick, Rebel,Arbogast..Bill Lewis rattle chap is for sure a gamechanger but Heddon Sonic got there pretty early. Manns jelly worms, ou Creme worms, Salt Craws, Sluggo set the table for flukes and Senkos. If you check out Bass Archives you will notice 99% of lures we think are originals were actually modified from lures made in the past that never made it due to marketing etc... Culprit once had a punch skirt and a company actually had a chatterbait in the 40's. Eagle claw had the Eaker Shaker which gave Z-Man guys the idea...Truly Original designs usually fail and are almost all the "Fads", especially the first go round if not enough money to get them in every angler's hands and magazine. Famous to me is a lure that everyone was using at the time. I have only seen a few in my lifetime. Right now everyone fishes some type of "Senko". The stutter step is a good example of a Fad for sure, but is a copy based off the Mann's Pogo Shad. This could go on forever. I wonder what the next Original design will actually be. Even Glide baits were simply just marketed to Bass fisherman instead of Musky.

It still ticks me off that the powers that be gave that fight to Leonard!

Zman's chatterbait has got to be considered famous by now. Bladed jigs have been around forever, but far and away the most common is the original chatterbait.

All I can think of is when Arnold Schwarzenegger tells the alien in Predator "You are one ugly mother...." Fishing rods should be black or dark gray. All other colors are an abomination.

Ross Barnett Reservoir, Brandon, Mississippi -- Life is Good

Out of work at 11 pm! Fished 12am to 8 am met up with buddies at 4. Broke my 7 year curse! Felt so d**n good! Going back at 2 am tomorrow

No love for the humble intermediate cast?

Good Topic Tom and it's something that can & often is overlooked & under valued as an important skill. My fishing requires some of both. However, even with the longer casting requirements, there simply must be certainly level of accuracy. Perhaps not quite as tight as the shorter target hunting variety, but if I'm 10 feet off on a long edge, deep weedline, or small hump for instance - I'm probably not getting bit. So, I'll go on to say that casting accuracy, regardless of length is something I believe routinely contributes to success. Always trying to get better & more confident with every type - not the best dock skipper though. Fortunately there aren't that many instances where I'm doing it - but I'm still working on it. A-Jay

I have one . Too pretty to use .

I nailed this 5-5 brute at 8 PM tonight on a black/blue 3/8 Strike King Hack Attack jig w/ Rage Menace trailer in green pumpkin.

Had a nice day last Saturday. Boated 27 bass with the largest falling prey to a booyah pad crasher in black. 4.3 lb.

Boxing has indeed been in a long, slow decline for the last two decades. And, any of us who follow the sport know why. The blame can be placed firmly on the heads of the promoters. Without going into all of that nonsense, I will say there are quite a few really talented boxers out there, right now. Let me list a few, by division., guys who I think are really worth watching Heavyweights Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder Cruiserweights Oleksandr Usyk, Murat Gasiev, Denis Lebedev, Mairis Briedis Light heavyweight Ande Ward, Sergei Kovalev, Adonis Stevenson, Artur Beterbiev Super middleweight nobody interests me here Middleweight Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Canelo Alverez junior middleweight nobody here either Welterweight Keith Thurman, Errol Spence, Danny Garcia Junior welterweight Terence Crawford Lightweight Mikey Garcia, Robert Easter, Jorge Linares Junior lightweight Vasyl Lomachencko, Miguel Berchelt, Takashi Miura Featherweight Leo Santa Cruz, Carl Frampton, Abner Mares, Gary Russell I haven't seen enough in the lowest four divisions to have a valid opinion except Roman Gonzales Pound for pound, my version, who is the hardest to beat, right now. 1 Vasyl Lomachenko There is simply nobody, anywhere near his weight, who has a chance to beat this guy. Widely considered the greatest amateur boxer of all time, he made the transition to professional with no problems. His only problem is he's too good. Nobody wants to get in the ring with him. 2 Terence Crawford- Bud easily beat the best of the 135lb division, has done the same at 140. He has two belts at 140. Julius Indongo has the other two. They will fight soon. Crawford will win that to unify, and then move up to 147. There's nobody there who can beat him either. He can fight from either stance. The best switch hitter since Marvin Hagler. And has a serious mean streak in the ring. He says he wants to fight Pacquiao. If that fight happens, and I would bet good money it doesn't, Crawford will beat Pacman into a final retirement. It would be a good fight for a few rounds, then would turn into a serious beat down. 3 Mikey Garcia- Mikey is one of the most technically sound boxers you will ever see. Offense, defense, transition between the two, footwork, postioning, he does it all very well. And, he can put you to sleep with either hand. A titleist at 126 and 130, he is currently one of the 135lb champions. There are two good fights for him at 135. Linares and Easter. Both good fights, but I dont think either has the skills to beat Mikey. 4 Gennady Golovkin- Undefeated, 23 consecutive knockouts. The streak ended with his last fight against Daniel Jacobs, which had many saying he was slipping, it was over, he was vulnerable, and other nonsense. That fight proved how good Danny Jacobs really is, not how GGG has declined. It also proved how fickle boxing fans can be. And how stupid. His only issue is defense. He is so offense minded that he can be hit. Curtis Stevens, a knockout puncher, hit him. David Lemieux, a knockout puncher, hit him. Danny Jacobs, a knockout puncher, hit him. He proved he has a granite chin. All they did by hitting him was slow down the onslaught for a little bit. Nobody at 160 wants to fight him, because nobody at 160 can beat him. Which brings up the next guy. 5 Canelo Alvarez The best at 154. But, he hasnt had a challenging fight since he lost to Mayweather. Floyd outclassed him completely. Hebahs however outclassed everybody at 154 who would get in the ring with him. It seems nobody at 154 wants to fight him. He is a big junior middleweight. Henthinks he canfight at middleweight, and has stepped up to face Triple G. This may be a good fight. I'm looking forward to it, but I think he has bitten of more than he can chew. Canelo has fast hands, is a very accurate puncher and counter puncher, has good defense, but has slow feet. Mayweather beat him with superior footwork and a fast jab. Golovkin has excellent footwork and positioning, and a great stiff jab. The only way Canelo wins is by knockout, and I just dont see that happening. He will be back down to 154, and will reign there as long as he wants to. There are some great fight to made there, think Chatllo brothers, if they will go for it. 6 Anthony Joshua. An Olympic gold medalist, turned pro, he and Vladimir Klitschko just had the best heavyweight fight in a very long time. There will likely be a rematch. AJ probably wins that too. The heavyweight division is looking the best it has in a couple of decades. Some very good fighters here. Deontay Wilder, Luis Ortiz, Big Baby Miller maybe, Joseph Parker. Can any of them beat Joshua. Probably not. 7 - 10 Andre Ward, Sergei Kovalev, Danny Jacobs, Keith Thurman That's my list. Dont agree? Cool. Let's see yours. There are too many quality fighters, and too may good fights to be made for boxing to die. To all you promoters, you freaking wingnuts, make the fights.

I took some terrible photos in northwestern Ontario. I thought I had a perfect plan, which was to photo the fish on tape on the bottom of my boat. You see, I'm perspective impaired, so when a fisher poses with arms extended, I can't really tell how big the bass is. However, my two cameras just didn't want to take focused photos 100% of the time. I quit trying after three days and tried again the final three days with no more success, but here are some representative fish, both clear and blurry. More bass. More bass.

My family and I are on vacation this week at Lake Harmony Pennsylvania. I rented a Old Town Vapor kayak for an hour. I took my Kastking Sharky II 1500 reel on a 6' Daiwa Crossfire rod. I rigged a 3" Yum Dinger green pumpkin with purple flake wacky style. I did this in order to appeal to the most species this lake offers. Bluegill, Crappie, Bass and Pickerel. I concentrated on casting at the numerous docks along the lake and landed this Largemouth Bass. I can see while people love kayaking so much. The Old Town Vapor was very stable. I never felt like I was going to tip. It glided through the water with little effort. The fight with the fish was exciting as I felt closer to the action than I ever have. I will definitely be purchasing a kayak when I return home as I really loved the experience

This ties in to fishing, I swear. I happen to be a Baseball Dad and a baseball coach to my son and every now and then I look out for giveaways, especially with Wilson Ball Gloves because they occasionally give away $400 baseball gloves. One of the promotions they have is Wilson Wednesdays where you submit a picture. This week they were giving away a custom A2000 special edition All Star Game glove. This is the glove they gave out to MLB All Star players that wear Wilson gloves. Anyway, this afternoon I get a message on Twitter from Wilson. I didn't win the glove but I did win some shirts and All Star swag with the picture below that we took at one of the lagoons that we fish. It's been blazing hot hear lately and other than a few two pounders the other day we haven't caught much so the pic was truly our best catch of the day. Here's the Twitter link from Wilson: https://twitter.com/wilsonballglove/status/885597763437723648

Ironically, I once caught a person (well, his hat a least) when bass were jumping in the water and splashing around. Schooling activity can make a person forget there is another person behind hem in the boat...

I think you should read @slonezppost again. I've caught bass when people were jumping in the water and splashing around. (I was there first so I wouldn't move)

Berkley Power Bait Beast ~ and the Menderchuck Magic Minnow ~ A-Jay

Original Bill Lewis, Red Eye Shad, Xcal XRK50 and LC LV500.

This covers it for me - my PB came on a 3/4 SK Red Eye Shad in Sexy Shad. So there's my vote. The 1/2 model (various colors) may see more in the water time throughout the year than any bait I throw. A-Jay

ooooohhhhh. Me likey

@Jaderose most productive over the years! Gold/Black Back/Orange Belly Click

Please add your physical location to your avatar and we can give you more precise answers. As for temperatures, there are two: air and water. The water temperature is what is important. If you ever read about the "Hot Side of Lake Anna" which is caused by the nuclear plant's water discharge flow, the air temperatures can be in the 30's and the water temperatures in the 70's. You fish for 70* water while freezing your fanny off. River temperatures are usually lower than lakes due to the current. In Virginia we have tidal rivers so water is flowing in and out of the tidal rivers all day and night. No time for the water to sit there and get hot other than for a pit. A lake can be different, with both static and flowing water temperatures depending if there is a river feeding the impoundment. So let us know if you are fishing a tidal river. When the water temps rise the bass will go deep for the cooler and more oxygenated habitat. So pull away from the bank, about 50 yards, and throw to the bank and then back to the boat. Look for eddies, rocks, grass, boathouses, docks, submerged trees and anything that can create a place for the bass to feel safe, enjoy the cooler water, and have a good ambush point. Use your electronics to find humps and holes plus submerged structure that could hold bass. You may have to get up earlier and hit the river at day break with a Cavitron (with trailer hook) or a Whooper Plopper to aggravate them into striking your bait as they feed first thing in the morning. And in the early morning the bass will run to the bank and grab breakfast and then go deep to rest. So be in the water and ready to fish as the sun rises. Then go with your crankbaits, spinnerbaits, Chatterbaits and jigs/pigs on the bottom and wacky rigged Senkos. Always throw a wacky rigged Senko. Don't forget your Carolina Rig with a lizard and your drop shot with about 18 inches between the hook and sinker using a small worm. So let us know where you are located via your avatar and also what baits are you throwing? What rivers do you fish? Ever fallen out of your boat (just kidding)? Give us something solid to work with and welcome to the Forums

75 ..... dude where you at, the North Pole or what ?

When fishing shallow ponds from shore I never get skunked if I wacky rig Yum Dingers using an "O" ring. If I don't get anything with the 5" version I downsize to 4" and then 3" if need be. Match the colors to the local forage. In my pond Green Pumpkin is deadly.

Tombstone

I'd have to say The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Next would be Godfather 1.

I assume you meant "short" casts in the title of the thread, not "shot" casts. And by reading your initial post to start the thread, I think you did. Regardless, I believe that accuracy is more important than distance if given a choice between the two. When fishing clear water, I know its important to get your cast a long ways away from the boat to avoid spooking fish. I was floating a river yesterday for smallmouth in a canoe and we would simply cast to shoreline structure as we slowly floated by. The bigger fish were holding near wood in the shade (overhanging branches, logs, etc). If you didn't hit a spot about the size of a dinner plate one of 2 things happened: you either hit the obstruction and got snagged, or you shorted it and didn't get the lure in the strike zone.

Definitely a time and place for both. I like to straddle that thermocline line (8-12feet here) and launch crankbaits as far as I can parallel Or no more than a 45 degree to the bank. Plastics, I probably only throw 1/2 that distance but I work it back to the boat even a jiggle Or two vertically before bringing it up.

Another bass. I have lots more photos, but they take half of forever to downsize and load. I might load some more later. I do like the shape of the last one. It looks a little like a bluegill.

Thank you everyone for your tips and advice. Please be sure, I appreciate it and I will try everything you kind folks suggest. From the early fifties until 1970 I just fished for trout. Then from 1970 to 2010 I didn't do any fishing. I'm now retired. I started fishing for trout again in 2011 but now I want to learn more about bass fishing.

If you can feel the pulses by putting your hand underwater under the TD the bass definately feel it. The question becomes does it warm a very wary bass of your presence? Simple answer is yes. Does the pulse shut down a active feeding bass bite, who knows for sure how a bass will react. The simple solution is turn off the sonar if you don't need it. Hypothetical; you know the biggest bass in the lake is close by, do you risk warning it with your sonar? I don't and shut mine off, then turn it on to survey the area when I plan to leave. If I am using a drop shot or structure spoons under the boat on top of a bass school, then I keep the sonar on to watch the bass or baitfish movements. The difference is trophy bass fishing verses fishing for average size bass. Tom

If there isn't any surface activity I'll use a chartreuse 1/4 oz (1/0 hook) Roadrunner and a 3" white grub (Zoom or PowerBait) and slow roll it barely off the bottom with the rod tip down almost touching the water. This method caught most of my prespawn Bass this year. When surface activity finally picked up (postspawn) I used the same set up and had the grub wake right below the surface. You need to keep the rod tip High and shake the tip as you're reeling moderate speed. This was especially deadly at night this year. Grubs catch numbers and appeal to the 2-4 lb LMB class. Plus, crappie and channel cats frequently take this lure. I laugh at myself sometimes for paying for $20 lures that never get bit, so I'll revert back to a simple ol grub and jighead and clean up shop.

1971 ford ranch wagon

I've caught a lot of fish on Lazy Ikes and Whopper Stopper Hellbenders. As far as flavor of the month....look at pretty much any top water type lure that has come out in the last few years. They all do the same thing that Spooks, Pop-R's, Lunker Lure buzzbaits, Jitterbugs, Hula Poppers, Devil Horse's and Snag Proof Frogs do. Create a ruckus on the surface. The new ones might be easier to use (less skill involved) and look prettier...they sure as hell cost a lot more... but you will never convince me that I am guaranteed to catch more fish with a Whopper Plopper than a Jitterbug. That a $50 Megabass with a harmonicly balanced, perfectly calibrated this and that will work better than a Spook or Pop-R. Not really saying anything against them. We like what we like and have our own confidence baits....I just believe that a bass is a primitive animal that does not care what kind of paint job a lure has or how much you paid for it. It's about right bait at the right time for the conditions you are fishing...not how much money you paid for or how new the lure is on the end of your line. With all that said...I like the bait monkey, too! Just a lot less as I've progressed in this sport.

You can't go wrong with black when fishing ponds, I got a black Jitterbug so scratched that it's almost no longer black to prove my point. Do you need FC ? ...... whatever rocks your boat pal, I fish with nylon and unless somebody scientifically demonstrates me FC is superior to Nylon for that application I see no reason to change.

Alphabet Baits Bomber A, Bagley B, Norman N, Cotton Cordell O, Rebel R These set the standard for crankbaits & are still unmatched by todays crankbaits.

I just bought 2 Falcon BucCoo Micro Casting rods in 6'6" MH from Walmart for 16 $ each! Thats 87.3 % off! Thanks to walmart and its lazy workers!

I experienced this on Mille Lacs too. Did well catching bigger fish earlier in June and then I went around the 4th of July and it was all smaller fish. For being ranked #1 in the country, I think most people just automatically assume that its easy to catch bass out there. River fishing for smallmouth is really good right now. I caught 26 smallmouth and 3 pike in about 4 hours today. Slowly drifting along with the current in a canoe, throwing mostly shallow running crank baits to the shore line produced some great fishing.

Fished and early shot. Off the lake by noon. Jay and I had almost two dozen.

I think as far as famous baits go, the age of the fishermen might have an influence on your choices. If you are under 50, you may have never heard of a Creek Chub or Bass O Reno. I'm over 60 and had to look up what a KVD 1.5 was. It's not much different than Cordell Big O which I have and was catching tons of bass when KVD was still in first grade. Not a lot of baits are still popular that were once very hot. Lots have been copied to the point where few remember the original. Spinner baits, buzzbaits, lipless cranks, plastic worms and skirted jigs are some of the must have baits in every tackle box but the memory of the first versions is pretty fuzzy except to the old timers who were around at their birth. In my mind, The PopR, and the Mepps Aglia, should be in the fishing Hall of Fame. They may not have been the originals, but they are some of the most famous.

The start of a fine day on "Golden Pond", Squam lake

Now you are hooked not that fish, hahaha