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I try to do much more reading than typing. I'm here to learn. But I feel compelled to put my humble two cents in on this one. I've spent a large part of my life outdoors. I've spent my entire life believing that I, (and you, and bass, and the moon, and the weather) were all created by God. I've seen some things and I know without any doubt that everything in nature has an effect on other natural things. I've been a police officer for 26 years and I can absolutely guarantee you that a full moon has an effect on living beings, including people. Does that mean that the moon will decide when we catch fish? I don't know. But I know that nature also counterbalances itself. If you have the perfect solunar date/time for catching fish but the Lord decided that at that same moment you are going to have a bright, sunny day with water temps in the 90's then perhaps the moon doesn't matter so much. Why does it have to be so complicated? So we can have forums and internet videos and books and really experienced people like @Catt and @WRB and @scaleface @Team9nine @A-Jay @J Francho @deep that can help us sort it out. If it was easy it wouldn't be any fun.

It was a long day, but I gained a newfound respect for the Pre-Rapala Wiggle Warts. After classes I hit one of the local spots for steelies and got the hit I was looking for, but couldn't get the right hookset so no dice. Tried another shore spot and still nothing. Went home, dug through some plugs I had and found one that I'm not even sure where it came from. It's a pre-Rapala Short Wart in the prizm gold shiner color. Never fished it before, but figured it'd be good. Brought it and some of my other lures to a different location that allows for shore fishing over a set of rapids. Basically you fish off a bridge into the rapids downstream from you. Within seconds I hooked into a 5+ lb chromer on the 1 oz spinner. It was unreal. I watched in disbelief as it threw the hooks on the surface. All around I could see steelhead feeding on the surface though. No one else was even fishing, so I realized things could get great. I tied on the short wart and began casting, but it was out of tune so I began making the adjustments for it to run straight. When I finally got it running true, I bombed it where I had seen a steelhead sipping. I started twitching it in fast erratic sweeps back to me when this 5 lb male didn't want any of it. Struck so hard, my drag was screaming before I even realized I had a fish on. Managed to battle it in and get it in the drop net. Came out to be 24.5 inches and an even 5 lbs. Also hooked into another 2-3 lber in the same spot on the same lure, but it popped off as I attempted to land it. Finished the afternoon 1-4 but I'll take it. Looking forward to Sunday's Dinner. Steelhead are in full swing now. Water temps a touch below 59 degrees.

I've been fishing out of an old 16' Bass Tracker for years now, she's served me well, (in fact, I'll be keeping it) but I've been wanting to try out a glass boat for a while now. So, after combing through the craigslist adds and facebook for a couple months, I came across a pretty nice 2004 Skeeter TZX 190 and ending up taking her home: Got my first trip out in it yesterday, ran like a top. Way different to drive than a Tracker! After a little porpoising, then swamping the back after slowing down, I started to get the hang of driving it pretty quick. So far, I'm very happy with it.

There was a recent discussion on plastics storage and I found an idea that works just great. Thank You to Jim Sutter for turning me on to it. I picked up a plastic storage box with 16 discrete 4 x 6 boxes inside. Got it at Michaels, $40 but on sale for 40% off, came out to $23 and change. Haven't had it out yet but works great in the garage. Most plastics, especially Senkos fit just right. Here are some pix: The box Box showing the 16 compartments Perfect fit

@PAbasser927 I didn't know bass could fly, Today i learned something. I've been rainbow trout fishing for the past day and not so lucky catching them so i went back to bass for a bit. I got to try out some new lures and had a blast caught a huge bass on a lip less crank bait on something i have never caught anything on. But he got off my lure maybe the hooks were to small/powerful fish/etc. But we did catch a few nice fish on a lipless and square crank bait with my sister. I caught something before heading home, I believe it was a pickerel and i lost my red lipless and all i could think of in that moment was taps, I think i need to invest in steel leaders.

On a day where the bite was tough, this was the ONLY fish landed. It came on a cast where my brother rainbowed his line over a branch and this little guy jumped out of the water to grab his senko as we were trying to undo the mess. Unconventional, but kept the skunk away nonetheless!

A few from the last week:

Dobson and Greene 30.31lbs in Monsterquest today

45+ yrs & thousands hours of night fishing from April through October during every possible moon phase I've logged no distinct advantage of one phase over an other. While I absolutely believe that the moon affects all life on earth and it is what causes tidal movement in all bodies of water regardless of how small. Moon phase is but one part of the total picture you still have to take into account bait fish activity, weather, seasons, water conditions & your ability to locate fish! Each trip out I strive to control the things I have power over; boat control, lure selections, techniques, locations and so forth.

I think you have mis-read previous advice. Braid will slip on a spool if it has no mono or fluoro backing, or a bit of tape to keep it still. If you've got straight fluoro on your spool it shouldn't slip, so it might be a problem with your reels drag mechanism. Have you tried tightening the star wheel behind the reel handle to tighten the drag?

All I can point to is my personal experiences and catch records that prompted me to create my Cosmic Clock and Bass Calender back in May of 1974. In the early 70's seasonal periods were unknown and revolutionary, only the spawn was recognized. I sent my presentation to Ray Scott in 1974 and wrote back that it's impossible to predict bass behavior. Doug Hannon came up with very similar conclusions based on his observations as did the Linders during the same time period. If you are looking for sceintific proof regarding fresh water black bass behavior around moon phases it doesn't exist that I know of. Mike Lembeck a San Diego fishery biologist performed a monumental 4 year tracking study that was published in 1974 on several San Diego lakes that may help understand bass behavior, however didn't focus on moon phases specifically. Tom

These are the culprit for more lost lures in my local lake than all others combined. At least this guy gave me satisfaction of getting him to the boat without cutting my line!

This is my favorite. Its a Cosmic spinnerbait. My favorite colors are the Chartreuse white, Sexy shad, or bluegill flash.

You know you're old when...... wait. What are we talking about again?

Tied my black and blue chatter bait back on today and used a 4" watermelon red flake Yum Dinger as a trailer. Went to the smaller pond over by the trees in the back. Made a few casts and nothing happened. Went to make another cast and as my luck would have it draped it 20' up over a branch in that tree. My bait still landed in the water near where I was trying for. So I slowly reeled it back in hopes of being able to get it back without snagging it on the branch. As I continued to slowly reel it in it barely broke the surface of the water on it's way up the tree when this almost 1lber jumped on it and hooked himself through the roof of his mouth. Of course not knowing he was hooked that way til I got him in, I set the hook in a downward motion since my line was still draped over the branch. Anyways I reeled him up the tree and kinda popped him over the branch and he did a high dive into the water. I quickly reeled him on in, unhooked him and took a couple pics. Fortunately he didn't get hurt during all that, I released him and he darted back out to the deeper water of the pond. I can honestly say I've never treed a fish before today's episode...lol. ?

Yeah I couldn't get so much as a surly look with these last night. Tried a full size lunk3rhunt frog and nothing as well though so it could have been poor timing. The action honestly looked really good but one thing strikes me as not such a good idea... Head shape of these snakes. There's two main shapes for snake heads profile-wise- there's a tiny head that's in line w body size ie corn snakes and garters which are harmless. Then there are the arrowhead shaped big headed snakes- vipers, rattlesnakes etc which are venomous. Why these have big fat arrowhead viper-like head profile is beyond me. Common sense and natural risk assessment of a bass would almost absolutely dictate that to be a venomous snake if they see the profile. Not sure if it would make a difference but why?? So it floats? No idea really but just just seems counterproductive when designing something that's supposed to look like an easy meal IMO.

You'd think if this lure had any merit.. Strike King would have copied it by now

I just use the "Big Worms" 10" and 12"- replicates the snake action.

My charger is almost identical to that one

Is that what the pups wear when they're not pulling the sled?

Just got an email from DSG. Tomorrow and sunday is 20% off entire purchase. Time to order the savage gear 6" line thru trout and 7" real trout swimbaits.

I fish mostly small (100 acres and less) ponds from a kayak. Baits really depend on time of year for me here in maine. I typically start off in the morning with a topwater (spro rat, whopper plopper) along weed edges and channels. If that doesnt produce ill go down a little deeper with a square bill. All depends where the fish are. Right now they are out 30 to 50 feet off cover. I hammered them last sunday with a sexy shad square bill and 5.8 keitech. If they are up close to shore in vegetation im tieing on a TR worm or lizard, mixing in a swim jig. Find em first, then pick area apart!

Can't really help with the inflatable boat questions. As far as livewell goes, you can use a 50 quart ice chest(or any size you prefer). They make portable aerators that will attach to the inside of the ice chest with suction cups. I got one for my dad a couple years to use for live bait. It works well and if I remember right it only cost about $30-40.

I use this battery- http://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-xps-power-series-12-volt-marine-starting-battery You can buy a marine battery charger at walmart, they're pretty cheap. I've never come close to draining that battery. After a full charge and 6-8 hours on the water it's usually around 60-70% battery life when I get home.

Had that happen before a few times. Once I got hung up in a tree . When I jerked it loose it went over me and went the same distance on the other side of the boat. When I started reeling in a bass had got on there,and I caught him. Way to stay with him Mike.

Welcome Amateur. I'm also in San Miguel, very close to where 1215 hits the water. I'm unable to see your pics because the company offshore has me blocked. I also fish Clear Creek, especially out by Patroon bayou. I'm still trying to learn how to find fish on my electronics also. My Lakemaster card isn't too accurate in San Miguel.

Don't know how the fishing would be but I'd bet you could do some serious frog gigging.

Have some specific lure tourney days. One day only spinnerbaits allowed on another day only senkos on another day only paddletails

Your brother sounds like he had some of my luck. We should go fishing some time...lol. ?

Well my long week of hunting and fishing has come to an end. Started off fishing last Thursday with @ww2farmer and like he said we started and ended with fish, but the midday slump was a grind. But the weather was great and the time went by with pointers taken to improve my fishing. I am now maybe a 3/10 on the skill level of skipping jigs under pontoon boats, trees, and docks; but at least I can do it now! I spent the remainder of the week fishing and hunting and did very well with the same patterns on Silver lake with the morning bite being very good and then about 10-11 am it shut down hard. The algae bloom was really present most of the week with only "clearing" on the really windy days, but most of the mornings was casting topwater through the pea soup. It did lead to the advantage of being able to see exactly where you cast and where the fish blew up at it! I have to say the whooper plopper really shined on the top water all week. Each morning it put four to six fish in the boat on some great top water action. And a few 30"+ pike as well. Each morning yielded at least one 4+ lbr (I caught a few right at 4.11/12) and several 3's, but no dinks. I did make it out to Conesus later on Sunday and it was VERY windy. Never fished that lake and with the conditions, we made the best of it. Managed to put a few in the boat shallow, and had a buddy with me who had very limited fishing experience so he was chucking the bluegill whopper plopper all over, and beat us all. He got bites with it near docks, off both the outside and inside weed edges and just about everywhere he chucked it. And this was pretty much all day. Hunting was great, but started with my new Amish neighbor walking around "turkey hunting" my property close to dark. Spent a lot of time hunting with a buddy who has a managed farm and didn't really see anything that I wanted to harvest quite this early in the season. BUT, as I was leaving last night to travel back down to Maryland, I got about 2 miles from my cabin and smacked a very large doe with the truck. Dented the bumper a bit, but the Ram definitely won the battle. Call the State Police and got a tag, my Dad swung by and picked her up and I headed back down to reality of work. This was Tuesday morning on Silver:

Take your experiment exactly as written above and you're stuck in everyone's own interpretation (opinion) of which is more sensitive. But change your experiment ending, instead putting those rods in the hand of a lab who could analyze which one transferred vibration/impulses faster, at higher amplitudes, and had higher resonant frequencies combined with specific action angles, accounting for any dampening effect and you'd have my definition of which rod was most sensitive. There would be nothing arbitrary about it. I'll tell you which one is more sensitive. Whether any of us can tell that difference or not by feel is a completely different question to ask, to me

T9, I am sure you are one of the more experienced anglers on this site though. What I'd like to see for myself is: build 3 identical rods (just as an example) using the exact same handle and guides, etc. on three identical 7 foot, fast action blanks in the same price range - Loomis NRX, Kistler Z-Bone, Phenix K2 (again, just as an example) - using the exact same FC line and blindfold anglers while they work a jig back to the boat. I might believe an experienced, seasoned angler might be able to feel a difference but I am betting the average 'weekend warrior' angler wouldn't be able to tell the difference?? In that sense I'd agree with you, it's not subjective. But slap the sticker of a rod maker (Loomis) on the rod and then that introduces bias = subjectivity. I know first hand that's why researchers are supposed to be blinded when analyzing data since there is definite bias introduced when the experimental and control groups are not masked. I guess what I'm saying again is IMO, rod sensitivity and feel don't much factor in to a bass Elite pro's thinking such that they know it's way down the list in terms of contributing to their ultimate success (or failure). We non-pros (myself included) pay way too much attention to wanting the lightest, blingiest, most sensitive rod out there. It definitely increases the fun and excitement factor to feel every twig and weed stalk and magnifies the bite such that we can feel it with gloves on. But we should focus on a rod's other, more important characteristics.

t rigged worm will work anywhere. best pond bait ever. i have to give some warning that i haven't fished a pond in a few years. but when i did, the worm was hard to beat. couple of hooks and weights in your pocket and a pack of mann's jelly worms and your good to go.

Not necessarily bottom baits but I tend to fish them low in the water column but they are pretty versatile and can really be fished at just about any level.

great day! nothing better than a hand holding up a whopper! congrats on the new P.B.

I'm in PA and have done well into November. The above post about watching water temps is really important, just like early spring through the spawn. It dictates virtually everything. Smallmouth will bite well after largemouth most years, but as the year progresses, I tended to find that I really sacrifice numbers of fish for quality of fish up until they stack up in wintering holes usually around the 40-45 degree mark. Once that settles in, it gets very, very hit or miss.

I've tried running splits on my 7's and it's a friggin' joke, at least for me. If you wish to run splits a lot then my advice is go big.

Ok, folks. Another fish X-File. Fisherman nearly dies when catch jumps down his throat http://nypost.com/2017/10/12/fisherman-nearly-dies-when-catch-jumps-down-his-throat/

^^^this^^^ Speed clips are one of the most difficult snaps to use. I have been using Owners Hyper a welded snaps the past 2 years and like them, in the past I used both Dual Lock and Cross lock snaps. The OP is using Rapala original minnow balsa lures and the Rapala loop knot would be a good choice, adds no weight. Loop knots weakness is wear and can flatten the line at the knot, if not tied with care. Tom

You know your old when: You you can't trust a fart. You wake up twice to pee at night. You GO to the garage at 10:00PM, and when you get there, you have no clue! Its just wonderful getting old! Lol By the way, I have a 1964 Mitchell 300, my first serious fishing reel.

I would add a medium powered spinning rod

I feel something on the end of my line . It is both a bass and a twig . Only after I set the hook does it actually become a bass or a twig .

Got ahold of a good one today on the Chattahoochee. 6lber, green and red seiberts jig

Buddy wanted a fish fry so I took him marsh fishing, we 20 caught in 4 hrs all the same size!

I understand that, my Golden has been my steady fishing buddy since she was just 4 months old. She just turned 5 last month so she's a seasoned vet now and my good luck charm.

We have a pond in our yard and I've witnessed a water snake get smashed by a bass, so yes a lure imitating a snake will work. I don't have it with me at the moment but I have a really old hook with a spoon looking thing on it and you retrieve it on top of the water and it makes your worm go side to side like a snake PERFECTLY it is great in shallow water when bass are active. 12" Mann's jelly worm Nuff' said

I used to fish the Snatrix worms pretty often and did well with them along with the Mann's Augertail snake and Hardnose snake. They all work but I doubt the bass sees them and thinks they're going to eat a snake. Probably just looks like any other worm to them. Lucky Craft makes a 10" snake swimbait that seems to have kind of a cult following.

I hate to be one to tell you this but that video is complete BS, they spliced 3 videos together. the strike is not the same shot, and after the strike their like "where did he go where did he go?" , you can hear the audio skip just before that. Also when he cast that snake he was around a bunch of cover and it was sunny but when he reels in the fish he is in open water adn its overcast. old tricks used to sell snakes to fisherman .

Surprising, I have never heard a positive comment on the snakes from anyone that wasn't sponsored. I would think some of our Florida members might have something to say if they ever had any luck with this bait.

A 12 inch worm texas rigged weightless can be deadly around weeds and lilly pads . Work it like a snake in the sense of laying it across sticks , halfway on a lilly pad the other half dangling off the edge etc . Watch for boils on the water , STOP AND HANG ON . Anything you can perch it on DO IT.