BrianSnat

If I can't find a sheltered cove sometimes I use the wind to my advantage and let it push the boat along and I troll with one rod or two rods and cast with another as I'm blown across the lake. Sometimes I've used a drift sock and sometimes I battle the wind with my trolling motor. In the latter case I usually get frustrated after about an hour and head to shore.

I gather his quarrel is with the rule against "targeting" bass out of season. I agree that it's silly. It is a rule that is hard to enforce. Bass lures and tactics are often similar to those used for pickerel and pike. In NJ we simply can't keep bass when they are on the beds. Nothing says we can't target them. If I lived in Minnesota I'd share Rookiesmallmouther's annoyance with the rule.

I like the Skitterpops

I'd add a crankbait like a Bomber, Rapala DT or Rattle Trap. A popper of some sort like a Rapala Skitterpop or a Hula Popper. Also a spoon and a few Mepps spinners.

I was doing some evening bassing and was supposed to meet a friend. He said he'd call me when he arrived and I'd go to shore to pick him up. I had just tied a popper on and was holding the lure in my hand with with the rod bowed when my cell phone rang. The sound startled me a bit and the lure slipped from my hand flinging it into the forefinger of my other hand. One look at it and I knew it wasn't good. It was buried deep. I went to the dock and picked up my buddy and he gets into the boat and says "How ya doing?" "Well I was doing good until a few minutes ago" I replied and showed him my predicament. He took one look at it and said "You should go to the ER" "Nah, let's fish" I said, so we did. The lure was buried in my left hand so casting wasn't an issue, but retrieving was a bit of a pain. I got home and my wife was just going to bed and said hello and I kind of hid my hand behind my back so she wouldn't see it and panic. I went into the bathroom with a pair of pliers to see if I could push the hook all the way through and cut the barb so I could pull it out. No deal. The angle of the hook wouldn't let me do that. By this time it was 1 am and no way was I going to wake the wife up to go to the ER, but the question was how was I going to sleep with a popper with 2 treble hooks hanging out of my finger. I grabbed some duct tape and taped the lure to my finger so it didn't flop around while I was sleeping. First thing next morning I went to the ER and had it removed. Doctor said he got a hook in the hand nearly every week during fishing season.

For many years I used to use the Texas rig exclusively because at the time it was the only rig I knew. Once I learned other rigs I stuck with the Texas because it produced and I was comfortable with it. Mind you that I essentially fished only one lake for close to 30 years. When I bought a boat to use at my local lake I found that the Texas rig didn't produce very well and I eventually went to the Carolina rig. Now I fish the Carolina about 90 percent of the time because it produces in that lake and its where I fish 90 percent of the time. The former lake where I used the Texas rig was generally shallow lake (mostly 5-10 ft with the deepest spot 30 ft) that had numerous weed beds and weed choked coves. The lake I've been fishing recently was drained and completely dredged 12 years ago, so has little structure and not much in the way of weeds. It is also deeper averaging about 15 with the deepest section about 50 ft deep). Now that I have a boat and a trailer I will be sampling a variety of lakes and it will be interesting to see the difference.

7 pm to about 11 pm. Usually using poppers, Zara spooks or jitterbugs.

Most of my fishing is done in evenings, after dinner, so about 2-4 hours. Now that I have a boat that I can trailer I'll probably do some full day trips now and then.

For smallies I've had pretty good luck with streamers like wooly buggers, muddler minnows, mickey finns and grey ghosts. The wooly bugger seems to be the best though. I probably get close to half of all my smallies on the wooly bugger.

I usually lip land bass, unless it's a really big one with a lot of fight left in it or I have a lure with a lot of exposed hooks that might wind up in my hand if the bass starts to shake before I can get my thumb in his mouth.

Pack of plastic worms - black or motor oil Worm hooks slip sinker assortment pack pack of assorted hooks pack of assorted split shot 2 floating Rapalas 3 1/2" silver 2 countdown Rapalas 3 1/2" silver Mepps Killer kit - Bass 2 deep diving crankbaits of your choice Pack of lead jig heads 2 spinnerbaits - chartreuse 2 Jitterbugs 2 poppers (I like the Rapala skitterpop) 2 red/white spoons That's about $100 there. Might even be over

I was a big Texas rig fan when I first started fishing worms, but the past few years I've almost exclusively used the Carolina rig. With the Texas rig most of the bass I caught would be on the initial drop. Rarely did a bass bite on the retrieve. I get fewer bass on the drop with the CR but many more on the retrieve.

I've had great luck with the Skitterpop in the evening/night. Other than that the basic, floating Rapala in about 3 1/2 inches has been a standby and I use it about half the time I'm fishing.

No light. You can usually see the shoreline easily, particularly if the moon is out so it's really no different than casting during the day.

I only use live bait in the winter for ice fishing. Last winter shiners ran $6.99 a dozen for the large and herring were $7.99 a dozen.

For most of my bass fishing life I've adhered to the noisy surface lures (poppers, Heddon Torpedoes, Jitterbugs, etc) after sunset rule. I've largely done so because it seemed to produce, but there are some nights when nothing hits. How do other people fish at night? Do bass hit well on plastic worms, spinnerbaints, crankbaits, spinnners, spoons, jigs and other underwater lures at night? If so does the presence of a rattle in the lure make a difference?

I know a casting reel can throw farther, but in most cases in bass fishing distance isn't really an issue. As I mentioned, I get pretty good accuracy from my spinning reel. Years of practice. But how is working the lure different? I always saw working a lure as a function of the rod and technique, rather than a function of the reel. I'm seriously considering adding a few casting outfits to my rod quiver if I can justify it. My local tackle shop has a good selection of rods, and 80 percent of the better ones are bait casting rods. My purchase took me quite some time to find a decent spinning rod of the size and action I was looking for. I would have had a ton of choices if I was buying a casting rod.

Most serious bass fishermen use bait casting reels, but I've been spin fishing for 40 some years. I do own a casting reel, and I know how to use it, but I just prefer spinning reels. A lot less to think about and I find that it's more comfortable to use when fishing all day. I know the disadvantages of spinning reels, particularly when it comes to line twist, but I can cast them a long way if necessary and I can usually place my lure to within a foot or two of my target (and often less), so accuracy isn't a problem. Someone once told me that I can't be a serious bass fisherman if I use a spinning reel, but I wonder what I'm really missing out on by not using a bait casting outfit.

I've always had good luck with Shimano reels, even the cheapies. I never saw the need to spend a ton on a spinning reel. To this day however my favorite spinning reel is the Garcia/Mitchell 300. You can pick them up on Ebay for a few bucks and you'd be hard pressed to find a better made reel anywhere today. Heck, some of these things are 40+ years old and still work perfectly. As far as casting, distance comes mostly from your line/rod/lure combo rather than from the spinning reel. As long as your reel is suited for the rod and line it has very little affect on your casting distance.

I keep them if I'm ice fishing (the only time I use live bait) and they are gut hooked and bleeding. I'm not a big fan of the taste of the bass I catch in the summer, but bass caught through the ice taste pretty good. Last winter I tried a new lake and was pulling in quite a few bass, mostly in the 3-5 lb range. If they were lip hooked I threw them back. The rest I felt kind of bad watching these nice sized fish die on the ice, but they did make for some nice meals.

I just received a 9.9 hp Force outboard motor. It's about 15 years old but has no more than 10 hours (all saltwater) on it. It's been sitting in a garage (salt air) unused since 2001. My question is do you think it would hurt anything to try to fire it up as is, or do I need to get it lubed/tuned up first?

I thought that might help but it doesn't work for me. I wonder if it's a spinning vs. bait casting thing? Is it that the people who don't experience snags are using bait casting reels?

Just don't think they are a replacement for real worms. You don't fish a plastic worm anything like a live worm.

Has anybody in human history ever casted one of these 5 times consecutively without the the hooks tangling with the line?

Shimano reels (or the old Garcia-Vega 300) Fenwick rods Rapala lures