bhos

When I first got serious about targeting bass, I googled "bass behavior" and read a lot of info... for weeks. The nice thing about doing that is that info is beneficial to both bank and boat fishing, where you fish from becomes merely a factor, not necessarily a sole determinate or perspective. Once you understand a little more about your prey, the techniques/baits/etc begin to fall in place on their own. The info given in thread so far is great, but don't forget to "know thy quarry" too. A lot of people and/or groups have spent good money studying bass, take full advantage of it :for free

Mono doesn't sink. It floats. Braid will help you get deeper if you are using the same strength braid vs mono because the braid will be thinner in diameter. I can't argue with that, I've seen test results from magazines that agree with what you're saying. All i can say is that the 10 lb mono seems to sink a little faster for a deep diving crank than braid for me in non-scientific, real world scenarios. I use powerpro 30 and 50 lb, so the higher rating and diameter might be the reason for the discrepancy. I've tried 10 lb powerpro, but it seems to break too easily compared with the 10 lb mono. Maybe I got a bad batch, but I've relegated that spool to slab fishing. When I get some free cash, I really do want to try flouro. I bought some Vanish flouro a couple years ago and absolutely hated it (too stiff, broke easily), so I'm trying to decide on a brand of flouro to try next. I'm leaning towards trilene at the moment but am open to suggestions

Walmart now carries a plastic box for storing line spools with little openings on the front for spooling a reel from it. I think they're $3 or $4 dollars. I use that to spool, then I tie a swivel to a tree and walk most of the line out and reel it back in to remove most of the twist.

Absolutely concur, I have one and love it, just grabbed another for myself and one for a family member. Now i just need a reel to go with it , maybe next year, I think I've blown my fishing budget for 09.

"Yard fishing" When I got back into fishing a few years back and bought my first baitcaster, I started trying to get the plug into the 8-foot diameter kids pool in the back yard, slowly increasing the distance, and have since progressed to 5 gal. buckets (like those orange home depot pails). The kids (4 and 6) join (and sometimes demnd) me now too, with their zebcos with just bobbers, to go out for a round of "yard fishing" before dinner. We all have a blast and it's good practice. I hear some folks practice with coffee cans, I'm not quite there yet

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Congrats! That's the kind of fish that makes all the hours fishing without a catch worth the time and effort. I've caught a (small) number of 22" fish and I don't recall any (that I've weighed) being under 5 lbs., so I would concur with 6-8. Go check out cabela's, they have a rapalla kit that includes a mini 50 lb digital scale on sale for $15 (down from $50), the scale itself has decent reviews. I just snagged one since my only other scale is too bulky to carry around bank fishing at ponds all the time. Then go back and catch her again to weigh her, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Wow, neat calculator, but definitely not over 9, I'm going to stick with a guesstimate of somewhere between 7 and 8, but yeah, won't ever know, but it was a nice peaceful day fishing regardless. She was out of the water for all of 30 seconds since I didn't have to weigh her, and she swam back to her hole just fine giving me a bit of a shower on the way out if it makes you feel better. I didn't have a tape measure either, so I felt compelled to line her up next to the rod to use as a gauge in the pic. But seriously, I didn't realize laying them on the grass was more abusive or detrimental to their health than contact with boat carpet, landing nets, hands/clothing, or bumping around the inside of a live well for a few hours (you fish tournaments?). I'll take your criticism into consideration next time I go fishing. And nice to meet you too, sir.

I use the BPS tourney tough 10 lb mono for deep cranks and have been happy with it the past few seasons. I use braid for almost everything else, but the mono lets me cast further and sinks faster, helping the cranks get deeper. I'm thinking of trying trilene flouro in 12 or 15 lb, maybe the next gift card to bps...

This... and I only buy fishing gear/tackle if it's used or on sale. But, fishing is a hobby for me, not a profession. If you're fishing for money and already have skill, the monetary return on investment in the best/newest equipment and tackle is probably worth it, and so it is justified. Or if you're one of those who has the money and would not be happy with anything but the best regardless of functionality or cost/benefit, the expense might be worth it to you and that is all that matters (your happiness.) No one gets hurt if you pay more for nicer stuff.

Oh well, nevermind

Persistence . Also, use bigger baits to target bigger fish, I've caught crappie on a DT22 and bluegill on 6" senkos, really changes your perspective on bait size when those kind of things happen. Bigger fish are going to be smarter and, in summer heat, probably less active (conserving their energy) than the smaller bass, so you'll have to find out where they are (deliver the bait to them) and then try switching baits until you find something they can't resist (or just annoy them until they can't take it anymore ). If I suspect a big fish is in a spot (from a graph or bite), I don't have a problem casting to the same spot for a while, trying different baits and different techniques/speeds or trying to bump off a particular object on the bottom, just takes a little patience. Doing all that should get you into some bigger bass eventually, but you have to make sure you have your end covered too. That means better knots, line to match the conditions, strong hooks, good hook set, etc.

My lunch-time rig for unfamiliar water is a weedless jig & pig, dark pumpkin or white skirt depending on the water color. It's fast enough to afford swapping out trailer colors to find what color the fish want and still cover a lot of water. If there's not a lot of weeds/brush, I might use a lipless or shallow-dive rattle crank.

St.Louis, MO and surrounding area ramps maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=102243463336698199833.0004592521344f1064ec1&z=8

Cranks thrown to the shore side corners and fished along the sides is good, spinners or jigs too. For skipping, I usually use a tube bait with internal weight, but other softbaits work for skipping with a little more practice. I keep a spinning rod with a tube in the boat just for dock skipping. Try to give whatever you're using some time under the dock, don't burn it back to the boat, let it fall and linger, twitch it a bit.