Shad_Master

One question that has always occurred to me is the professional fisherman telling me to wear clothing that will cut down on the bass' ability to see me while he is fishing from a boat wrapped in every color under the rainbow -- what's up with that?

I sometimes think back on my fishing trips and discover that I have been too stubborn about what I was throwing. This usually has to do with "what worked last time", but I keep trying to change things up. The only problem is it's hard to fix what ain't broken.

There is a story in the annals of my local club about a couple of guys pre-fishing before a tournament - they were catching lots of fish and some of the other club members could see them, but not close enough to see what they were throwing. As they headed in, they cleaned off the deck and found some bubble gum worms - they proceeded to scatter these around the boat before heading to the ramp. Several of the club members gathered around the boat and then headed into town to clean the shelves of bubble gum worms. Of course this is not what they were throwing, but didn't tell anybody until the next day at the weigh-in.

There is a rumor going around here that the Yum Dinger in the grasshopper pattern was killin 'em at one of the local lakes last year -- I picked some up, but that is about as exotic as I can go.

These are pretty good responses you are getting, but here are a couple more -- try a grass jig (it will probably have to be pretty heavy to get down) and consider a GULP! worm (Turtle Back) as another T-rig option (I fish a similar area from bank and use 3/8 and 1/2 oz bullet sinkers). Also, if you can, try throwing a Chatterbait along the edges of the grass.

Wow, I knew it had to be a good story and with a good ending. Thanks for the link.

Kudos on what your doing -- about 46 years ago I fished in a "fishing derby" in my hometown -- I won my very first rod/reel by catching the big fish of the pond with my cane pole. It was an abu garcia round reel on a 5' aluminum rod spooled with dacron braided line. I used that set up to learn to cast and caught many a fish with it. As a result, I am still fishing today, but not having the same level of payback -- memories last a life time, and sometimes beyond.

When I was growing up in Arkansas, they used to talk about them dumb, ignorant Southerners selling water to them brilliant Yankees down in Hot Springs - and the government owned the water.

Does anyone know the story about what happened on Friday? I was watching the weigh-in on the internet and Greg Gutierrez said something about him "saving a life" and the announcer dude said that he pulled out after that. Can't seem to find out anything more.

Now this is interesting -- a couple of years ago I had braided line on all of my reels and had good luck with it -- but started listening to everybody and started using flourocarbon and hybrid lines for most applications. I still use braid for jigs and chatterbaits (occasionally spinner baits as well). But my experience has been that the braided line absorbs water which makes it sink more. I almost exclusively use Power Pro for braided line. Am I mistaken about it absorbing water?

I use Gamagatsu (spelling was never my best subject) EWG hooks for just about all of my techniques - usually in the 3/0 and 4/0 -- occasionally I will drop down to a 2/0 for some lures, but not very often.

Thanks guys -- Mike's double hook looks like a great idea -- I will try this and give you a report. Jomatty, I saw this technique demonstrated again this weekend on BASSInsider -- I had fogotten about it -- I'll give this one a try also. And Brad, you are right about the thick grass -- interestingly enough two years ago, I used braid for all my techniques and had good success, but had gotten away from it for everything except jigs and chatter baits. I will try this as well. You guys are the greatest!!!!

Here's another ramp story -- last Sat evening I was out on the local lake and it was getting dark so I headed in -- there were boats on both sides of the ramp so I waited until one pulled off and, since I was alone, pulled up and tied off. As I was walking up to the truck, another guy pulled along side and asked if it would be okay for him to back in a load up his son and his buddy (they were in a 2-man "tupperwear" boat) he said it would only take a minute. I said sure. As I was talking to him the truck for the boat on the other side was backing down. When I pulled up to the staging area the guy was still trying to load up the 2-man and the other truck was pulling out, so I decided to back down that side and then pull the boat around. It took me a couple of tries because I had to back over to the other ramp. As I was backing my trailer down, another boat pulled in and just kept on comming - I thought he was going to drive up on my trailer. By this time the truck with the 2-man had pulled out so I pulled out and proceeded to back down the other side and loaded with no problem. Was this the wrong way to handle this - in the mean time there are about 6 more boats waiting to pull in?

Thanks for the feedback guys. I thought about a trailer hook, but the cover that I am fishing is just too thick right now for that. Also, I am fishing from bank so not casting a mile as mattm suggested, so I'm not sure line stretch is the problem either. Braided line might help and I will try that. Yeah, jaywag, they are hitting frogs, but not on the grass - on the edges or in the holes. I have thrown june bug, brown, green pumpkin and watermelon and gotten bites on all of 'em. The best place has been on the outside weed edge just before or just after sundown - also, there is a major bug hatch of some kind going on and this has the bluegills going crazy, which seems to be pulling the bass up in the shallows around dark.

You may be right about G wanting to "be like Ike", but I have always enjoyed him on his own for a long time. Skeet is another one that has jazzed things up since Ike came on the scene and even those guys who have made negative comments about him on the trail are doing so because they are watching him. Not everybody has the same personality and that makes it interesting and not boring.

There must be some secret to fishing frogs that I just haven't picked up on yet -- I have been fishing a local lake for the last week throwing frogs (ZOOM Horny Toads, GULP! Bat Wings and, last night, Mann's Hard Nose). I have had bite after bite and can't keep 'em hooked up. I am riggin 'em on 12# Yozuri Hybrid on a 4/0 Gammy hook. Last night I did have one solid bite and lost him due to a rooky mistake (had the drag set too loose and he buried in the grass) but all of the others have hit it, run with it and then come unbottoned. I know I am not pulling the trigger too quick (at least not every time) as I do let 'em run with it before dropping the hammer. Any suggestions?

Bass fishing is the art and science of trying to outwit a creature with a brain the size of a peanut - what makes it interesting is that they win more often than not.

basscat73, you just reminded me that I heard about using swivels for this years ago, but had never tried 'em. I was the one that started the other topic on the parasite clips and I am amazed at how well they work. Do the swivels work as well? The only concern I might have is that the swivels are heavier than the clips and might change the action of the lures. BTW, MattStrykul, if you figure out how to do it, be sure and let us know - I think it looks easier than it really is.

Be careful what you wish for -- a local city pond near my home was a haven for 4-5&6 pounders about three years ago, but the pond was full of weeds and very hard to fish. Put forth the effort and get rewarded. But the local neighborhood complained to the city and they decided to spray -- the result was that all of the vegitation in the water died and as a result the spawns have been stunted -- now you are doing good to catch a bass larger than 10".

The Ranger at one of our local lakes says that this happens at least three times every year -- the primary cause is someone leaving the truck in reverse and getting out to help the boater. He keeps a bobcat handy just for this reason.

Yeah, I saw that and was wondering - does the clip peg the sinker to the hook? Haven't tried the weights yet, but the clips themselves are awsome. Stopped by the local pond this morning and caught 10 small bass on a Zoom Lizard, pulling it through the grass and rocks - never once did I have to reposition the lure, except after a bite.

I tried a search for this but came up empty -- just picked some up and gave 'em a try over the lunch hour -- they work great. If you don't know what this is, it is a clip that you put on your line ahead of your hook before tying on. After threding the head of your worm (or other soft plastic) on the hook you run the hook through the long end and it keeps your bait from sliding down the shank of the hook. I purposely drug my worm through grass and even got it caught in the rocks and it came up still rigged each time. It is a little tricky to re-rig after the fish is hooked and the worm slides up the line, but well worth the bother. I know BPS has 'em, don't know if they are on the website yet.

Here I get busy at work and stay off the board for awhile and when I return the GULP! debate still rages on ;D I am a die hard GULP! fan, but they do have a down side -- mostly cost. I like to use 'em to locate fish (like in brush piles or around docks) but after I catch a couple I always switch to a ZOOM worm or a Power Bait Worm. The exception is the Sinking Minnow in the Spring - here I use the GULP! to find the fish and then switch to Senko style baits.

I have been thinking about this for a couple of years now and have developed two theories - but don't know how to check either one out. 1st theory is that it has to do with the forage that they are eating -- if you could pick up a clue from the color of the fish this would be a big help. The 2nd theory is that it has to do with the pH of the water. I know that someone will steer this conversation to depth and light penetration -- but what I am getting from this is that the overall hue of the fish is different from one body of water to the next and, as noted above, even in different parts of the same body of water. Looking for any info on this subject.

I told my wife that shopping at Wal-Mart is like going to Disneyland -- they have all these cartoon characters walking around in funny costumes at both places.