basser89

I feel your pain avid!!! Last summer, I had a musky thrash after I landed him. I was just getting ready to take the treble hook out when it kicked its head up and drove two of the three hooks on one of the trebles into two of my fingers! So not only was the fish still hooked but I was too! NOT FUN!

With flurocarbon, you can get extra depth with it because of the density of the line. It is not as buoyant as mono, so it sinks. That's how you'll get the extra depth. Hope this helps!

If tonight is any indication of what tomorrow is to bring. OUCH! I tried fishing a small farm pond this afternoon. I thought maybe the bass might feed up before the front comes through here. Boy was I wrong! I managed two dinks! One on a 7" worm and one on a spinnerbait. Thinkin about taking the boat out saturday. Hopefully, they'll turn back on then! I do have to agree with Reb and nwga, if you get the chance to go, go! Try fishing deep and slow and tight to cover! Good luck if you go and let us know how you do!

Hey Booty0, I've been using flurocarbon on my spinnerbait rod for a hand full of years now. I've been using Vanish and have not had the problem that I experienced with the Transition. And I have actually gone back to the Vanish and have not had the problem since! And I can agree with the use of fluro when throwing plastics. Two weeks ago, I landed my PB (5lb 9oz) on a Zoom Brush Hog!

My Dad, uncle, step-brother and myself have poppin frogs. All of us have had the same type of problem. From what I've experienced, if you cast it out and start you retrieve right away, you can keep the bait on top. I've managed to be able to get away with short pauses. The bait seems to sink about an inch or two per second. I've seen this with 3 different colors I have. I too wish it was a completely floating lure but this technique has worked for me. Hope this helps!!

Nick, First congrats on the 5 pounder! And secondly, for the input on the jig! That's very interesting! The spinnerbait comments I made on my last post was an "educated" guess based on my experience. Luckily, I've actually opened my eyes more this year and have started experimenting with lures (haven't messed with the jig much yet) and I've learned a ton this year!

If memory serves me right, I read (several years ago) in Bassmaster magazine that bass will get conditioned to a particular bait when presented constantly. But given, I believe, two or three days rest of that bait, the bass will strike the bait again. As for the spinnerbait, I think, the overall success for the same bait used may be more because of a reactionary strike. So I can see with slowing moving lures (ex. jigs or soft plastics), the bass could become "conditioned" to not bite them after a period of prolonged use. Just my $.02.

Cool deal! Tear them up Roadwarrior and minuteman! I've love to see some picks! Smallie action has been slow for me this year! The last one I caught, I was actually fishing for musky and a little smallie blasted my jointed Rebel minnow.

My buzzbait of choice is Hart's Hartbeater. I've had alot of luck with this buzzbait! Generally I will throw it during lower light conditions but I have caught both largemouth and smallmouth on this bait in the middle of the day even on bright cloudless days! Color can be a factor at times, I've been on my boat with my Dad and my uncle and all three of us were using Hartbeaters. I was using black (this was an evening event about an hour after sunset), Dad was using chartruse and my uncle was using white. I tore them up that evening almost 3 to 1 until they finally caught on! Cadence of your retreive can be another factor. Making the blade barely turning to burning it across the top to pumping the rod so the bait kinda pauses (like working a jerkbait) works well too! Experiment with color and retreive and let the bass tell you what they want! Hope this helps!

Hey Raul, Just want to thank you again for the advice on the Bass Pro Shops Lazer Eye spinnerbaits! I went to the lake I get to fish at lunch from time to time today. The wind picked up so I put down my flippin stick and went with my spinnerbait rod. I had tied on one of my new spinnerbaits and within the first 5 casts, BAM I had one on! Turned out to be a 3 1/2 pounder! One thing I hadn't noticed when I got the bait was this bluish irradescent (?spelling?) it gave off! I"m really impressed with the bait! Thanks!!!! Unfortunately, I left my camera phone in the truck so I don't have a pick to share

I bought a KVD video last weekend. Van Dam defines each (clear, stained and muddy) like this. "Clear water is being able to see the lure down 18 inches or deeper (all the way to the bottom), stained is seeing your lure down 6 to 18 inches and muddy is seeing your less than 6 inches down". He picks what color lures he uses from that scale. What Raul posted about the amount of turbidity makes a lot of sense to me. I'll be adjusting my color selections from now on by going off both inputs. If its a body of water I'm not familar with I'll lean more to what Van Dam was saying but if its a lake I've been on a ton I'll go more by what Raul had stated. Thanks Raul!

The bass in my pic was caught in a clear lake that has a TON of hydrilla. See what I mean?

Hmmmm, Christmas isn't that far off! I may have to pick up one or two! Might have to send some hints out for one myself! ;D

What was the water color? Was it clear? Bass are an ambush feeder and if the water was clear, that would explain it. The bass will get darker (turn more green) to help conseal themselves in the grass or other structure.

Hey Jaime, Sounds like an interesting little pond you have there! I'd focus around the fallen tree. Maybe throw a spinnerbait or small crankbait around the edges where you can. Carefully, bump the limbs and pause the bait when you start your retrieve, hold on! Work in on the tree deeper with a tube, texas rigged worm or jig using heavier tackle (20# test flurocarbon or a heavier # test braid). The heavier line will help you horse those big girls out of there! Around the rocks, you may want to try a deep diving crankbait bouncing the bait off the rocks. Again, when you bounce the bait off a rock or two, pause the retreive a second and then start back up! If the bass are less active, maybe try a tube, creature bait or jig around the rocks too. Hope this helps!

Hey Seeker, Check this out! This may help you! http://www.michigandnr.com/PUBLICATIONS/PDFS/fishing/names_of_MIfishes.pdf

Thanks for the warning Reb! I've been pondering doing that myself. The baitmonkey just hasn't yelled loud enough in my ear yet to start doing that! LOL!

Hey Seeker, Here's a link on the American shad. Hope this helps! You can always google on shad for more info as well! http://www.chesapeakebay.net/info/american_shad.cfm

Hey Jaime, Can you tell us a little more about the pond? How deep (estimate), any grass or structure? That will help us give you a few more options! I will agree with basspro, senko style baits wacky rigged are a really good choice for fishing ponds! You can experiment with colors to see what color works best on your pond. Here in MD, I've had the most luck with red shad. Smoke, watermelon/red and junebug have also produced for me. Let us know about the pond for some more help. Hope the info here helps!

Sorry for the delay! LOL! Its staminainc.com. I haven't been on the site for a while, but the last time I was on there, I saw some really good prices! Hope this can help save you all some $$$!

Nick, Thanks! I completely forgot about netcraft! There's another site that has decent prices that I JUST remembered. Its Stamina. Can't remember the exact address. Once I remember, I'll be sure to post it. Thanks again!

Ditto here too! Around 3 1/2.

Hey Gatrboy, I fish several lakes here in MD that are VERY clear. I have noticed an increase in my catches since I have switched to Vanish on these lakes. Most of the cover in the lakes I fish is grass and from what I have experienced, the 14# test works very well for me. Another reason I don't use heavier is the casting distance. I can make longer casts with the 14# and since the fluro is low stretch, I still get good hook sets on the end of a long cast! I always wet my line when ever I tie a knot (I perfer the palomar) no matter what type of line I am using. To clarify, the knots were not letting go! I checked the line after each break off I had to make sure that wasn't part of the problem. Like I said before, Berkley Transition fluro is JUNK! I'm just glad that stuff has been stripped off my reel and Berkley Vanish is back on to stay! ;D

Hey BassPro, Thanks for the input! I had Vanish on that rod before. When it came time to respool, the local stores were out of 14# test (not sure how that happened?). They had the transition so I figured I'd test it out. I never thought it would that weak of line. Went to Bass Pro Shops today and picked up my 14# Vanish! ;D That's all that will go on my spinnerbait rod for now on! Raul, I checked out the Lazer Eye series today! They were just what I was looking for! Thanks for your input as well! Now once mt War Eagle spinnerbaits come in, I'll be back to almost my full arsenal (Baitmonkey says there is alway room for ONE more spinnerbait! LOL!).

Thanks Raul and Matt! Any other info is greatly appreciated!