arul

Hey gang, I just have a little geenoe (sp?), and am tired of fishing the small lakes around the house. I would love to get out on some larger water like Harris or Kissimee chains, and expand my knowledge base of the sport and just get better at it. If you got room on your next outing for a friendly laid back guy, please fee free send an invite my way. I will gladly pitch in for gas, will maintain perfect co-angler etiquitte, and will stay out of your way. Click my name to send me a private message, if your up for a tag-along. thanks!

Without a doubt, Preston Clark- who fished the Bassmaster Elites up until this year. He is local, and a GREAT guy, with more experience on Rodman that anyone.... Go to: www.prestonclarkinc.com tell him Aaron in Orlando sent yah!

correct- I am a little confused whether or not BASS took into account Langill's Marshals. Perhaps that is why he got so hot and bent out of shape- felt railroaded perhaps?... Did the marshals tell the truth, or do you think they are intimidated to take sides against their boater? If the marshal account is accurate, then I would have been equally as peeved as Langill was. Now- can someone tell me how 1 fisherman claims a spot or cast his and another can't fish it? Say there is a grass patch the size of a big rig. If another angler is off to one side casting to it, can't I pull up off to the other side and cast into it as well? As long as I am not hindering the other guy from making his casts, I can fish it too right? I know that if I am in a BFL tourney and have a specific spot, I am going to ANCHOR, which then igives me a buffer that another boat can't come in on.

If you guys get together and check it out, PM me and let me know how it goes...

Have you ever heard of a bass being caught in there? If there is one, then there are plenty of others in there somewhere... If I lived up in NJ, I would gladly go check it out with you, because it sounds like a fun mystery to crack... but alas, I am in Florida. Try the corners of the south side rip rap- Looks like there might be some outfalls or culverts there, which I always like to target. Try to cast that senko a good 100 ft. from shore and count to 30 before you start working it back, so you are sure it is getting down deep enough. Now that I see that water, a Lipless Crankbait, might be a decent Idea to throw around so that you can find where that submerged grass is (if there is any). Toss that around and try to find some grass with it too...

also- I just checked out the lake on local.live.com I suspect you are fishing along Osbourne Terrace? The problem I see with your lake on that south end is lack of shoreline cover. If that rip rap doesn't extend into more than a few feet of water, and if there is no vegetation offshore, the bass are going to not have much to relate to. Bass want to ambush their food, so they will hang out where they can hide. You might want to try that north end with those two narrow prongs. That area would probably give more cover with all those trees along the bank, there are probably some decent submerged branches that have broken off (laydowns). Try to find some submerged grassbeds, and you will find the bass.

how big is the pond? where in the country is it? How deep can you cast out to? What is the water clarity, and what colors you using? Does the lake have any submerged vegetation in it? Or is it just a sand pit? Make sure to give your senko a few quick twitches, then let it die for a few seconds. Just don't lift it up and let it fall like you would a ribbon tail. That twitch, twitch, twitch, pause, makes it look like an injured baitfish. You want it a little erratic, then it kind of shimmy's when it sinks like a dying fish.

With all those panfish in there, I am sure Bass are there too. Ditch the spinners for now and go with natural plastics. From what you describe, you are just targeting the wrong species with your lures. You want lures that mimic larger baitfish. For your spinning rod, I would suggest 2 types of plastics. Get a 5 inch "senko" type worm. I like the YUM Dingers. Next get a pack of Zoom Super Flukes. If your water is on the clear side, get watermelon red flake or natural looking colors. If the water is dirtier, go with a darker color like junebug, junebug red, or black/blue. Each of these lures, rig Texasposed - check Youtube on how to do it if you don't know how. Use a 4/0 Extra Wide gap offset hook. Don't add any weight. Just cast it out as far as you can, let it sink a few seconds. Give it a few small twitches, and let it sink again. Repeat, reeling in the slack. You are sure to get bit- I bet on it... let me know if you have questions. FYI - I fish from the bank a lot and don't like throwing treble hooked stuff because it gets hung in the littoral grasses.

Yeah- I also forgot to add, I heard an extensive interview with Boyd Duckett where he says Langill showed up the day after the DQ to confront Boyd at the dock, and then followed him to the fishing spot and proceeded to do donuts around Duckett and followed him around all day harrassing... I find that HILARIOUS and bizarre! If this is the case, that is some crazy stuff. Drama on the High Seas... I would like to see that go down on ESPN, but I doubt they would ever show the footage... :'( :'(

Did you catch the controversy this week? another site has a decent article about it. It goes to the age old question- when does fishing near a guy's spot become a rules violation versus just a sportsmanship issue. I know in the FLW BFL's I fish, they tell you that you only get that 50 ft. buffer when you are anchored. Is it the same for BASS? It seems like there are 2 sides to the story in this case, but I am not sure BASS took into account Langill's marshall testimony. Here are Langill's marshal's quotes: "I think he was railroaded and he doesn't deserve to be DQd," said Mike Youtsey of Columbus, Ga., who was onboard Langill's boat for day 2. "(Duckett and Langill) were standing there talking and Boyd's boat just drifted into Kevin's it wasn't an intentional deal. I'm disappointed in the way it's been handled." Said Jim Beach of Ponchatoula, La., who was Langill's day-1 marshal: "I can only recount what happened on day 1, and they were fishing, I'd say, within two long casts of each other, and they fished like that for a good while. They were never close enough where I felt it could be considered unsportsmanlike. A lot of times you see guys almost touching each other." I would like to know how BASS came to the ruling they did in light of this testimony... very interesting....

I am wanting to use braid for fishing worms in fairly clear water. I have some 65 lb test which seems very noticable in the water. I could do a leader, but I hate having that not tick through my guides. I can easily downsize to only 12 lb test, to get a very thin diameter. Do you think bass can see the braid? And if so, won't it affect the bite? What kind of braid is less noticable in the water? Light green, moss green, black, red, yellow,....who knows!??? thanks!

Hi there, My pitching/flipping experience thus far has been just throwing to standing timber, laydowns, docks, sparse pads, medium thick grass. So far, I have been able to do just fine with a 1/4 ounce weight, 4/0 ewg offset wide gap hook, and various plastics. However, I was in a tourney this weekend, and my Boater went to flipping HEAVY pads and grasses. My bait would constantly get hung up, and everything just felt awkward. I have never flipped this heavy a jungle before, and the first thing I noticed was that my traditional skin hook method of my EWG hook was impossible to not het hung. Any suggestions on what type of hook,weight, pegs (he had a thing called a sinker/bobber stopper?), bait, that I shoudl get. He was using the Reaction Innovation BMF hook, but it looks like they don't make em anymore? Any suggested alternative setups and rigging advice would be very helpful. Thanks!

Put the fish in the BOX! Those vests are sweet! Better than the Classic trophy. I wish I could fish for one.

So why in the world does FLW Tour cut their entire field down to just 10 guys after day 2? Don't they have like 150-200 boats? Only having 10 guys fish for remaining two days (half the tourney) seems kind of lame. Why not cut down to top 50 or top 25 for day 3? How long has this cut method been like this?

So, I am needing a more heavy action rod for flipping hydrilla. I am just learning this technique, and haven't had a "flipping stick" before... I am probably going to be using 1 oz to 1 1/2 oz weight. I see that Bass Pro has its extreme combo on sale, and I am happy with that combe at $109. My question is, what kind of rod should I get for flipping? What Length? What action type? Is heavy good enough, or should I get an xtra heavy? What kind of handle? Here is the link to the rods: lemme know which one you would choose- thanks! http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_59070____SearchResults?ordProd=Y&CMID=TOP_selectitems#itemDetail

Just to make my point- Watched this weekends Bassmasters- Ike sitting there talking to the camera, while fishing, talking about his pattern, the bluff ledges, the corner of the dock where he pulled as fish out of sawdust, etc. Also, I noticed Bassmasters builds great drama by letting the catch play out without commentary. I mean when Kito Kariyama (sp?) lost that fish in the bush, there was no voiceover commentary, but the coverage/production played out perfectly to tell the viewer the magnitude of what just happened. (I saved that on Tivo to make myself feel better when I lose fish) Good stuff that Bassmasters. FLW take notes please-I have such high hopes now that you are spending some money on the Camera work!

I have been complaining about this for a long time. I give them credit for filming in HD. It looks beautiful and they have some great camera shots. Now they just need to step up the commentary, and get the pros to talk to the camera and talk about what is actually happening with the cast or pattern. STILL, the only thing I am learning from their telecasts is how to say "He's go one hooked up here". gawd...stop saying that :'( :'( All the show is, is watching fish landings. Show us the in between stuff, when they are working casts, or the bait. Are none of these guy's trained like the Elite's to give a rundown of what is going on to the camera while fishing? Or are they just not showing it. PLUS there is no drama in what is going on. It just needs help... Hey Producers! Private Message me, I'll get that thing worked out for you in no time... Heck, even Bill Dance sprinkles in some pointers between his replay reel of fish catches.

Let's just say- they move so fast, you would be amazed. Check out the National Geographic Channel. They keep showing a episode about the LMB, and follows Van Dam, the record chasers, and a family, BUT they have INCREDIBLE footage of bass attacking prey. Crazy footage which will amaze you at how they just anihilate things they want to eat.

Love ZONA! If I had the choice to fish with any pro or celebrity fisherman, Zona would be my pick without a doubt. Long Live Littlebabycub!!!!!!!! -and the schwam episode! hilarious!

Yes- how the heck did this make it on ESPN? How about some new Day on the Lake episodes????? INSTEAD. So incredibly annoying and bad... I watched for 10 minutes and have never returned.

hehehe... Yeah, probably going to have to go get more colors, and a couple backups, in case I lose one! hah!

So in a previous post (linked) I posed the question, "why fish another bait, if my worm does everything I want it to and catches the heck out of fish"? http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1237235440 Well, this weekend, I went to Bass Pro to stock up on my go to plastic, and at the advice of some of the responses, figured I would get a lipless crank to try out. I hear of guys catching fish on these things, but I haven't had much luck on the few casts I have made with them. I tied the crank on 1 rod, and my swim worm on another. Left my other rods at home, and hit the water DEDICATING myself to actually give the lipless crank a chance and fish it significantly along with my swim worm, to see which once produced best. At the end of my 2 hours, with probably throwing the lipless 70% of the time, the results are as follows: 6 fish on the Lipless 6 fish on the worm BUT, the key was the lipless fish were all 2-3 times bigger than the worm biters. The catch rate was a little faster than normal (6/hr). Normally it is around 3/hr. I will try again when the bite is slower and more normal, but it looks like the worm gives me more #'s (only fishing it 30% of the time), but significantly smaller fish. Thanks to all who advised on trying different baits. The lipless bite is sure a lot more fun than a worm bite... Anyways, I am now at least of the opinion that I can actually catch fish on a Lipless crank. I will let you know how it goes under different conditions...

No Doubt about it- GET A BPS EXTREME BAITCAST COMBO, medium heavy rod, fast action, 7 ft., with a handle style to fit your liking. Best setup for the money in my opinion.

So I pose this issue: It seems my swim worm might end up being the only bait I ever need. It seems to fill EVERY role in my tackle box, and never fails to catch me fish. I can fish at any depth, at any speed, completely weedless. It can act like a traditional worm, or swam like a swimbait/crank bait. I can bounce it off rocks, rip from grass, pitch, flip, deadstick, twitch, etc.... Why would I opt to use any other bait? Maybe I would need something with more flash/vibration in stained water, like a spinnerbait, but under decent conditions... I am starting to think my whole box of other lures and other rods are a waste, because when I go out, the swim worm is the only thing I need. I guess I am looking for some more general guidance on what situation do you know where say, a crankbait, will just flat out catch more fish than my swim worm (other than really stained water).

Not sure about the boat thing. I am surprised that boatclub.com doesn't have a bass boat. Toho would probably be 70 degrees by the 21st if not higher.