bigbill

BPS sometimes, mom n pop local fishing store, over stocked bait & tackle, fish n save,

My older brother who took me fishing when I was just six years old in 1956 in the pouring rain. on tv it’s gadabout Gaddis, Jerry McKinnis, Bill Dance, Lindy brothers, Hank Parker, Jimmy Houston, etc. Nonesence? Ever see Roland’s helicopter lure I have some still new in the package.

Inside a blue fishes belly we found a spark plug. Kind of tough to chew so we tossed it.

I soak my topwater BPS Topnocker as far as I can throw it to get the scent trail out there. It’s like din din is coming can you smell it? then I skip fan cast the whole area. Then I have my ritual of baits to go through. I work the area over good. I have a rocky point I fish every which way I can. Up it, across it, parallel to it, cast farther down it into deeper water. Work it over good. The point has a river flow on one side and a backwash slow flow on the other. I find the bass on the slower side. I work the back side of the point with a jig n pig. Again slowly.

Bass have a keen sense of smell. Like 200 ppm. Maybe better. i was constantly using the baitmate orginal bass scent at my favorite usual spot. It’s been a hot scent to use all the time. This one day I caught nothing. I know the fish are there in the shade plus there’s cover too. I switched from the orginal baitmate bass scent to the baitmate garlic and the bite was on again. dont be afraid to pull out all stops, break the norm, change lure size and color, change scent flavors. The fish will let you know when it’s what they want. I find the game can change at anytime so be flexible with it to stay in the game.

I need to go soon. I told my md nothing grows on a busy street.

Spinning reels with ten ball bearings can be smoother but also tighter. I tend to break in reels with ten ball bearings with non cranking baits, worm fishing, etc. my reels with lesser ball bearings I use on crankbaits, spinnerbaits etc. now the faster gear ratios by the end of the trip was like going to the gym. On the spinning reels.

Culprit 12” worm. castaic 9” trout swimbait. I use a inshore heavy spinning rod to throw it. topnocker 5/8oz im mainly fishing from shore where heavy baits can be a problem. I use a 1/8oz Carolina rig with a 24” leader.

Revive a 2016 Post....... now wow I never thought of this, what about my manns 1/4 oz classic spinnerbait with double Indiana blades plus the mister twister 4” split double tail grub with the trailer hook. I know it’s heavy.

It depends on how much your fishing. Usually the spring clip on the locking snap swivel will be deformed first. That’s the time when it no longer locks up correctly. Don’t be cheap and try to bend it back to its orginal condition put a new one on. i was fishing from the post spawn for three months everyday. I inspect everything when I get home often. I retire knots. Check out your line for tears and burrs. Replace it. Fishing in rocky or heavy structured areas can tear up line.

On all my topwater, crankbait, spinnerbait(closed eye) rod setups I been using ball bearing locking snap swivels. They allow a more smoother side to side movement. On my Carolina rig setup I use the standard locking snap swivels. I been doing this for many decades. Cons, the standard snap swivels must be changed. I have seen the cheaper ones come apart. I use the Walmart standard locking snap swivels now. The ball bearing locking snap swivels I buy from Cabelas. i also add split rings on my baits where I can’t get the locking snap swivel into the lure eyelet. dont forget to retie your knots often. Don’t tie your knot near the end of the split ring. the rod setup and line test determines what size snap swivel I’m using. I use the smaller size on my ultra lite setup. I go up one size from that on my medium action 5’ to 5’6” setups. I go up one more size on my med to med/ heavy setups 6’ to 6’6”. Small baits use the smaller locking snap swivels.

I do about $2k to $3 k a month spending on ebay on motorcycle parts for years now no problems yet. But look at the pictures closely. I have seen the sellers who didn’t know what they were selling. I purchased a as advertised 250cc cylinder that was what I thought was a 390cc cylinder by the picture that was a rare 420cc cylinder for only $39. I’ve seen these as high as $750. You need to know exactly what your looking at and buying. If not happy with your purchase send it back. you must know what the going rate is for what your buying. Is the price a fair price or too high. If it high I make a offer to the seller. Search the net for what your looking at on eBay get the prices. Know what your doing. Shop smart.

I’m your pro shore fisherman here lol, kidding. But here’s my tips on being successful. 1. Stealth is the key. Walk up slowly, don’t step on roots or rocks sticking up out of the ground. This sends noises into the water like a alarm system. Put your tackle box and rods down softly. Make no noise. I fish at 4am in the dark and keep my one cell flashlite in the roof of my tackle box. I don’t shine it anywhere. Keep the glow low to the ground. 2. I can’t tie knots in the daylight but at night I use the ball bearing, locking, snap-swivels. I can change baits very quickly plus I get more side to side action out of my hardbaits. 3. Keep your tacklebox very well organized so your not making noise looking for things. Label your little plastic containers. Night fishing in the dark till first light taught me a lot. 4. Wash your hands before you go fishing. I use big orange soap. Do not touch gas or oil when going fishing. 5. I avoid masking noises. I use only spinning reels. I open the bail slowly, cast it out, close it slowly. I don’t use baitcaster because of the click when the spool locks in. Bass can hear any little noise that’s out of there norm. 6. Wear dull colored clothes or camo in the daylight. If you can see the fish, they can see you too. I fish smaller places that are exceptional healthy eco systems. They have big heathy bass. (Fish). Never go out without a hat and polarized glasses. I watch for movement behind my baits like short strikes. I scan the droppoff I fish from for bass swimming by me. 7. Keep the location of your hot fishing spots to yourself. Never, never, ever tell anyone. You tell one person next your spot is crowded with people taking fish to eat. Thank the lord they can’t catch fish like we do. 8. You can catch decent sized bass from shore. Skip fan cast, cast parallel from shore were you can. Cast into the shady areas. The bass can hide in the shade too. I like spinnerbaits and in-line spinners in these shaded areas. learn everything here from videos to articles, remember it’s skill that catches fish not luck.

You want the garlic scent with red wine vinegar on your salad....... You constantly surf the web for sales, clearances and close outs. The money you save keeps you above the dollar menu at mcdonalds. you go out to eat and ask to bring home the left over salad dressing to use as attractant. . You already have 10 of your hottest baits in stock but you buy ten more of each. Id rather work on filling my new tacklebox than going out to a dinner and a movie. You go to sleep thinking about that first cast of the season. paying too much attention while bass fishing could get me mugged someday. It’s not good to get completely zoned out. Look around often to things going on around you.

I’m fishing off a low bridge in 9’ of water and the current is moving away from me carrying my scents with it. The fish follow the scent trail.

When I first got into bass fishing heavy I wanted to test all the brands of scents. baitmate, orginal bass scent worked. crawfish scent worked livebait scent worked worm scent worked i used less baitmate scent because everyone around me caught bass too. megastrike caught nada, nothing. Snake oil scent another good attractant. yum garlic worked yum shad worked bang garlic worked bang shad worked bang shrimp used saltwater blues worked i mainly use baitmate because it works.

My son was 4yo when he caught his first trout. my older brother took me fishing when I was six years old.

Using a UL setup for bass make sure your hooks are very sharp for a better hookset. Make sure your Drag is set correctly. The next important thing is line test.

I fish from shore all the time, five spinning rod outfits. From ultra light to heavy. Different line test. Line test does influence how your bait runs and reacts. A baitcaster for a jig n pig. Lighter line test for smaller lighter baits with a lighter rod setup. Five tackle boxes. One with all crankbaits of all brands, sizes, colors. Second all topwater baits of all sizes, styles and colors. Third topwater with newer style baits, frogs, in-line spinners, spinnerbaits, propbaits etc. Fourth plastics with rig setups in zip lock bags, from worms, creature baits, minnowbaits etc. Fifth, weedless baits. i probably look silly with everything but since I fish near the car now I fish out of the car. Or set it up and park the car. I can’t seem to limit my tackle. I’m using Plano 9606 hip roof boxes filled to the hilt. Plus I’m a decaded serious color freak. On a slow day, I know the fish are there just not biting. Is it the color of the bait that matters the most? Sometimes, we’re like a baseball pitcher we need to toss a change up pitch. Plan A i start off with a variety of baits, sizes and color till I get action. Plan B second pass I go with different presentations. I’m in no hurry to figure it out. I take my time and stay motivated and focused. It can be as little as changing from a orginal bass attractant to a garlic scent that triggers them. Never give up there’s always that split shot rigged plastic worm. Don’t put all your fan casts next to each other. Skip fan casting, move your casts away from each other. I also like to cast past my targeted area and work my baits 10’ from where the fish are. Make the fish come to your baits don’t spook them. Your hot baits can change from place to place. Even if there a mile apart. Everyday in the same spot baits can change. Even when the bite slows down I up size my baits first. The scale down if larger sized baits don’t work. The more knowledge we learn it works at different places too.

Back in the late 60’s my uncle and cousin were avid field & stream magazine readers. I think that’s we’re they learned about the split shot rigged 6” black worm. We would fish from a row boat and row off a droppoff from the shoreline till the weeds disappear from view as the water became deeper. We would then cast into the shoreline and work the split shot rigged worm very slowly towards the boat. We caught some nice 3lb bass doing this. At another local spot from shore. I tried fishing the same split shot rig again with success. First cast I thought I hit a log. The second cast I had a hookup. A nice four pound lmb. one night while night fishing I seen the freshwater eels up against the shoreline. I’m thinking that’s why the bass are feeding near the shoreline. note, years ago all we had was black, natural, red colored 6” worms. That’s almost 60 years ago. I save the used plastics in a seperate zip loc bag. I always use the used plastics too.

Found out a problem. The smartcast pod that we cast out has a battery life. Since it’s sealed we can’t change it. Which raises the question of what’s the shelf life of the new pods.

It was Gadabout Gaddis with his flying float air plane on Sunday nights and Jerry McKinnis on Saturday mornings. He actually build his own boat one per year. He promoted and started bassmasters I believe. He is in the bass fishing hall of fame because he did so much for the sport. i wish espn would show fishing shows in the evenings or have a whole day of fishing shows. They have them on Saturday mornings and we’re are we on Saturday mornings. I have recorded Bill Dances shows but I wish I’d a done that with Jerry K too.

I have a very early bass fishing game somewhere. Haven’t played it in decades. I left fish in the livewell I hope their ok. Lol

I was on eBay looking for a smartcast fish finder and came across vintage reels. I time traveled back many decades looking at the old reels. It was awesome to see what they are selling for today. If you can’t sleep or just want to look at vintage tackle it’s worth the trip back in time. Some of the high tech reels look funny today. i still have my D.A.M. Quick spinning reels made in Germany back in ‘73.

I got lucky I found some on an auction sight. I purchased a new one. I have two now. We towed one pod behind the boat very slow and it worked.