Tokyo Tony

I agree with Holland to a certain degree, though I wouldn't put it so abrasively. Bass are not people, they're not smart, they are not rational, so they don't deserve anywhere near the same respect that people do (bass aren't even capable of knowing that they're being deprived of a natural life). That being said, there's still really no reason to torture a bass or take it from the wild if you're not gonna really try to care for it. But if you want to take one, put him in a tank and have fun with him for a while, go for it. Just don't do it with a trophy bass that's gonna die, because then you WOULD be doing something wrong by possibly depriving another human of the pleasure of catching (and releasing) the trophy in the future. I think we need to take the middle ground here, somewhere between a tree-hugging PETA environmental wacko and the ignorant bully who is gonna torture a bass for the heck of it. Think about the whole concept of catch-and-release. Whatever you may want to believe, the reason for the policy is not for the protection of the bass species - it's for the benefit of humans so we can continue to enjoy good bass fishing in the future. I admit that I have what may be considered an irrational love and respect for bass, but at the end of the day, they're really just little slimy creatures trying to survive, and they don't even know it.

Best day as far as numbers go that I can remember was earlier this year, went float-tubing on my favorite smallie lake in NH, got over 70 fish, 95% smallmouth, 4% LMB, 1% slimedart. Biggest LMB about 2.5 lbs, biggest smallie 1.5, but a great action-packed day. They were hitting everything and anything without regard for their safety or health ;D

In that order. A perfect day: buy nice equipment, catch good fish, drink good beer, then hang out with a good woman for a while 8-)

Another note - I "took time off" after college - meaning it took me a while to get my act together and find a job. That's when I fell back in love with fishing. So from June to October I was fishing pretty much every day. I started out using just minnnow baits, retrieving them with a straight retrieve, then a friend recommended Senkos, and the rest is history. Anyway, like I said before, you'll have plenty of time to fish in college, summers off, etc. Plus, don't neglect to consider the ladies.

I bought one almost two years ago, and it's a piece of crap. I knew for a fact that a lot of the depth readings were incorrect, and if there's any kind of a chop on the water, forget it. If you're going to be fishing from shore on glass-calm conditions and want to see if there's any obvious structure underwater, it would probably help. But for anything else, especially if the water isn't glassy-calm, don't get it.

I like chrome for day, black for night, although this year I was doing really well with a black one during the day. I also have many colors, and it doesn't really seem to make much of a difference with topwaters. I did just get a clear Super Spook Jr, so I'm looking forward to trying that baby out next year.

Go to college man. You'll have just as much time to fish as you would if you were working part-time, but you'll be getting an education. Freshman year at college is amazing - you're around a bunch of freshmen, - NO PARENTS! There will be a lot of females there as well, in case you were wondering. Go straight to school, get your education, then worry about your career, even if that might be bass fishing. These bass fishermen who are the most successful did not make their money in the tournaments. They make most of it with their business mindset after they gain a name for themselves, and a college education will give you some of the tools necessary to become successful in the business world, whether it relates to bass fishing or to anything else. Plus, you'll have time off between terms, and the whole freakin' summer off! Man, what I wouldn't do to get summers off again. Now that I work full-time, the summer is nothing more than a time of year that it's warm. Go to school, and live it up for the rest of us ;D

One thing I always do, regardless of the temperature, is keep my cell phone in a little ziplock bag. I decided to do that after I ruined two cell phones on the water, but it's also a good idea for safety reasons. Cell phones aren't too helpful when they're in your pocket and you're in the water, unless they're in the little baggy.

I also replace all my hooks that don't come attached to a split ring. Just cut the hook eye with pliers or wire cutters, attach split ring to hook, attach split ring to screw. Odds are, if the bait doesn't come already with split rings, the hooks are crappy anyway. Plus, I think split rings will reduce the number of fish that throw the bait because there's a little more flexibility when he's jumping around.

When you spend 5 hours last night finalizing the transition in your tacklebox from 3700's to 3701's (and some Falcon's) so you can divide your lures into more specific categories, and also replacing some old trebles and adding feathered trebles to some LC's. When you're looking forward to getting out of work so you can go home and spend another five hours organizing your soft plastics into a more effective system. When you know that before spring you'll probably reorganize your tacklebox 10 more times, but you're ok with that. When the last three nights you've gone to Dick's, Cabela's, then Cabela's again, each night having to go back to the entrance to get a basket because you couldn't hold the things you realized that you needed, and feeling happy as a clam after leaving with a big bag of goodies and an empty wallet (even though there'll be ice on the water soon). Instead of going to your trout honey hole (where you would have caught several good trout) last Sunday you go to your local favorite bass pond with a jig and pig just to try to get a strike or two, get skunked, but still feel pretty good about it cuz you fished well.

If you get a good guide, a guided trip is well worth the cost. Last summer I went down to Florida "for my cousin's wedding", but my brother and I looked at it more as a fishing trip (caught the Peacock bass spawn, went deep-sea fishing, LMB fishing, and backcountry fishing in the Everglades - and still caught the wedding). The highlight of the trip was a guided trip in the Everglades for snook/tarpon/redfish/seatrout. I think it was $500 for the day (plus a $100 discretionary tip), 7 am to 3 or 4 pm, and it was well worth the cost. We caught a bunch of fish of I think 7 or 8 species. But the point is that shelling out the 3-600 bucks a few times a year will be well worth it. I know that my brother and I will NEVER forget that trip, and we talk about it all the time and have some great photos to show for it. I read a fishing story and I remember the author using the phrase "earning memories", which I thought was beautiful. Most memories can be earned, but they can also be bought ;D By the way, the guide's name is Capt. Doug Lillard, and if you're in South Florida (he'll take you anywhere in that area you want to go), look him up. Great guy, and he freakin' knows his stuff and will put you on a bunch of fish.

tin2win - thanks for the info. I didn't know Pachaug had smallies - I've fished there twice and there are some nice LMB and pike (and crappies) in there, but no smallie action. I'll definitely be fishing the CT River a bunch next year though.

This year I caught several LMB and smallies that were close to my PBs on a black/blue Chatterbait, most of them at night time. In my opinion, a black/blue Chatterbait is the best lure for nightfishing in the summer. My brother caught his PB LMB (6 lbs even - pretty decent for CT) this past spring on a white/red Chatterbait. I think the Chatterbait brand is the best of that style of baits, with the Booyah a close second. I've tried the Gambler swimblades and they suck. For trailers I use the ones that come with the Booyahs and the ones that come with the Chatterbaits. I haven't had any problems with these baits falling apart, and I've used them a lot. Last spring when my brother was killing 'em with his white/red Chatterbait, I was still too stubborn to tie one on - they just look so stupid and the action underwater just looked to weird for me to feel comfortable using them, but after a couple of days of getting my arse whooped, I sucked it up and tried them out. I really think that Chatterbaits are amazing baits, but it does take a lot to get past their looks and gain some confidence in them. I have a feeling that anyone who says that Chatterbaits suck haven't given them a good shot. My favorite technique with them is very slow, just above the bottom, ticking them off of structure while giving light twitches and kind of pulsating it. I've also caught fish on these burning them as fast as they would work without popping out of the water.

I use 3700 boxes, but I'm slowly transitioning to the 3701's. Those things ARE true space savers - I can fit almost twice as many of those as 3700's in my soft case deal type thing, and it keeps the lures tangle-free, as luckyinkentucky said. I use a Falcon box for hardbaits when I'm going shore fishing or in a friend's boat, and I also use a Falcon box for my terminal tackle. The higher quality of the Falcon boxes is noticeable, although I'm not a huge fan of the 4-clamp system.

BBVVWWWHHHAATTT?? Never owned a zara huh? Well I guess you're not missing out if you have Sammys, but I didn't think there was anyone who never owned a Zara. I also prefer sammies, but sometimes when my target fish are smaller than usual, I'll tie on a Zara Puppy (after replacing the hooks with Gammys - this is important) and have a blast. And I do have a live Sammy - the thing is amazing, and definitely a big fish bait. Love it.

Bassbum where do you fish for smallies in CT? I live in CT and am always looking for new smallie waters. Thanks.

Rapala makes a smaller-sized rattle trap that is a little larger than the mini Bill Lewis one. They are really beautiful and perfect for smaller-sized bass. I picked a couple up at Cabela's the other day but haven't had a chance to try them out yet. I think the Bill Lewis mini ones are too small.

Hey guys, wondering if you can help...I have an interview soon and I'm gonna be presenting a product to the interviewers as kind of a sales pitch, and I decided what better than to present a senko? Anyway, just wondering if you guys have any, or know where to find any video clips of the senko's underwater action. I've been trying to find videos of the subtle wiggling action underwater when it's sinking (or really any good videos involving senkos for my powerpoint presentation), but haven't had much luck. I'd really appreciate any links or help you all could provide. Thanks! ;D

Thanks Tin - I'll try Amos. I've been meaning to fish there but just haven't gotten around to actually fish it yet.

They're great baits - when the fishing is really tough, or if I have an hour or two after work and I feel like messing around, I'll throw one of the beans on my UL trout rig and just catch a bunch of little fish of all species.

I like using the little GYCB ones (pumpkinseed especially) t-rigged around lily pads. You can work them over the pads then let them sink once you get to the edge. I've had some really good days with this method. I prefer chunks for jig trailers.

The Falcon organizers are the best. I wish they weren't so expensive, but they definitely waste the least amount of space. I'm slowly moving from the standard 3700 boxes to all Falcon-type boxes, but this will take all winter probably. I also need more lures ;D

One thing no one has mentioned is confidence. Personally, I have more confidence with a bait that cost 20 bucks as opposed to a 5 dollar lure. There may not be a valid reason for the increased confidence, but it's confidence nonetheless. On tough days I'll tie on the expensive boys and really believe that I have a better shot at some decent fish. I believe this to be true, but I can't say, and I don't think anyone can say, that it actually is true. What is definitely true is that you will catch more and bigger fish if you're confident than if you are not confident, and if you are more confident with a certain lure, then you will tend to catch more and bigger fish with that lure. So more expensive, higher quality lures may, if not directly, at least indirectly catch you better fish. If fishing more expensive lures doesn't make you more confident, then you may not catch more fish with them. However, I do believe that the higher end lures actually do perform better on average, especially on difficult days (which, come to think of it, is probably why these lures give me confidence...). Plus, I hate tuning lures on the water, so this is yet another advantage. Did I say before I'm not a bait snob? Edit: I'm not a full-fledged bait snob yet, but will probably get to that point soon, especially with the huge rack of LC's at the new Cabela's 15 mins from my house.

I think you guys are being a little tough on the rich guys who get all the expensive stuff (I'm definitely not one of those, for the record). If you have the money, by all means go buy all the most expensive equipment if it makes you happy, even if you're a lousy angler. However, if you're a lousy angler with all the toys, once you start bragging and running your mouth, you lose your right not to be made fun of 8-) Personally, I'm not a bait snob, but am slowly gravitating towards the more expensive baits. I just like how they look, and the quality difference is definitely noticeable in the action and durability.

Any of you CT guys know of any lakes/ponds with decent fall action? I'm looking to go out Sunday, and I'd rather go out for bass than pike, but if you have advice for either I'd appreciate it. I'm just figuring out where I'm gonna go. It's supposed to by windy/rainy Saturday so I'll probably go to the casino, but Sunday looks like a decent forecast.