SammyLee

The lake managers want us to keep all the small bass we catch which is a PITA for me. My dad and I used to give away most of the fish we caught after keeping enough for several meals. He was the Director of the housing projects and there were plenty of people who needed them and liked them, especailly after he cleaned them. We would go to Florida and catch a hundred pounds or more. Dad would have them cleaned by the dock hands, put them in metal cans, layered with ice and we would bring them home to give away. Most of those folks had never had grouper and snapper filets and let me tell you, we were popular after that. "When you going fishing again Mr. Teel? We show liked them last ones!" The line of cars at his funeral went on for blocks.

Wow, those are some great fish and great pictures. Man those red ears must have been FUN! I just love the way they hit and fight. It's like they turn that flat body to the side and it feels like a stump for a second, then short crazy runs. What fun. The other evening, I was bass fishing with a shad lure and had retrieved up to the bank. It was so dark I could hardly see but there seemed to be someting under the lure. I twitched it and this nice brim hit it an hooked himself! The fish was just a bit larger than the lure.

Edited after reading the definition of strategy and tactics. My stategy is to fish often in lot's of different places, to possess all the needed tools to do the job and understand all I can about bass. It think what's below is more tactics. And yes, I have the strategy in mind all the time but consider the day and the moment tactics on a second to second basis sometimes. My strategy begins with the decision to fish; when, where and what time? I like plastics early in the morning and will usually start with a chigger craw or a swim sinko. If I think it's going to be a bright sunny day, I bring lipless swimbaits in white and silver. Sometimes it is like the other fellow said, what worked last time. Sometimes another fisherman will tell me something that influences my decision. Sometimes it's just intuitive, something just strikes me to try. Once I've decided the when and where, my mind is working on the issue considering the changing weather and water conditions. Even bank fishing, I carry at least 3 rods and usually 4. It saves me time trying out different stuff. I am still too slow changing lures and many times the reel and line must change to accomodate what I want to try. I have been thinking about all the "components" of bass fishing, the when and where, the what to bring and use, the orders of coverage both lure wise and position wise. Then of course, the first bite when the super adrenalin rush hits, the instant decisions I must make to land the fish and finally, holding the fish and hook removal. All of it has it's fun but of course the bite and the fight are best for me. I was also thinking that if bass fishing was too easy, like a lake full of large bass that loved all lures, it would not be as much fun or perhaps even very, very little fun. I like the fact that bass are so unpredictable. Part of the fun too is catching them when others are not able to. Which is kinda funny because three months ago, me getting a bass was just a random lucky break. Now, after studying here, talking to other fishermen locally and putting my butt on the bank, in the boat and in the float whenever I can, I usually can get a few on any given day. I still get skunked but it is rare. That's really fun when my buds are not getting them but I am picking up a few. Now, I really, really want a good sized one. I have not broken the 5 pound mark yet. More time on the bank, in the boat and in the float plus continued learning and practice is gonna do it, with the random luck, of course.

I have been fishing hard for about the last month, fishing four or five days each week with nearly full days on the weekends. Today, I realized that my waist has dropped at least an inch and a half. My weight has stayed exactly the same at 180. The only thing that has changed is fishing. Is there anyway that hard bass fishing could result in a slimmer waist? I do believe that my right arm has gotten stronger from all the casting. I do walk a bit to get to the lake and usually, I walk maybe 3/4 of a mile around the lake as I move about. Still....

I am the least of these here but I did have an experience last Saturday. Friday afternoon we had a heck of a storm and it rained 1.5 inched in my neighborhood and the lake 4 houses down. I hit the lake about 7:20 Saturday morning with four rods, 1 baitcaster with a lipless shad swimbait, 1 ml spinning rod with a chigger craw, 1 ultra-light with a crappie tiny crankbait and 1 medium spinning with a T-rigged 6" worm. In the first hour I caught one small bass on the chigger craw and one brim on the crappie crank. It seemed to slow down to nothing but I needed practice with the baitcaster so I stayed and practiced. About 9:30 I saw schools of bass hitting the surface in gangs and churning the water like piranah. I started casting the shad and picked up seven LMB in about an hour and half, then they were gone. They were in the middle of the lake and I could just barely cast to the edge of the meelee. I went home when the surface action stopped. I went back with my float tube around 6pm. I picked up my first on the edge of the lily pads, the second and third casting the craw to the bank. Fishfinder said they were scattered between 6 and 10 feet. The influx of water had turned them on, or the baitfish on, which had the same effect. Later in the day, near sundown, they went back to the usual patrols along the bank drop off. It was a fun day with 10 LMB.

Did you take some back for Sargent Carter or Corporal Boyle? You may not get a weekend pass if you didn't. Man, that 4 to 5 pounder sounds really, really good to me.

Odd you should mention this as mine was yesterday just before noon. I had found LMB's churning the surface killing baitfish and was casting a lipless shad to them with a bc, 17# and MD rod. I had caught maybe 4 or 5 when I hooked one that was way above all the rest. I kept you guys advice in mind as I kept her coming my way with the rod tip down to prevent jumps. I got her to the bank and started to lift. She looked to be in the 5# range, a PB for me. Halfway out of the water, she flung the lure into the grass and was gone. I too, pitched a fit using language I am trying hard to avoid. I swear, it felt like when I was a teen and some pretty girl broke up with me. It really hurt. I caught a few more after that but none like that one. I kept thinking, "There's another one like her just waiting!" but alas, no.

I think it was Bass Edge on TV yesterday with Pam/something Martin? fishing the St. Johns in Jacksonville I believe. They kept talking about the tide is changing which would indicate brackish to me. They were wearing em out.

Thanks fellows, It was clear freshwater. It was pouring down rain when I got home and the rod is in the car right now cause it is still raining. (we had a heck of a storm here in Memphis on Friday) I'll blow dry it on the cool setting when it stops raining, lube the paddles and check the drag pads. I guess I can just take the spool off to dry it better. I don't know much about reels but I like them and their mechnics. I was a machinist mate in the Navy. Reels are larger than a watch, smaller than an engine so that makes them kinda handy.

Yesterday late, I was getting into my tube float and my rod slipped into the water, reel first. It only went a few inches for a few seconds before I "fished" it out. Is it harmed? What should I do if anything? It is a Shimano Saros 2500.

Yes, very relaxing. This afternoon I was float tube fishing in my local 14 acre lake. I had caught two nice ones and the sun was just about gone and the sky was glowing red. The water was flat and still as glass. I threw a chigger claw up to the bank, bounced it twice and felt a strong bite followed by a spirited fight from a beautiful healthy largemouth. It was exciting, satisfying and yes, relaxing. She had a nice clean hookset in the upper lip and the 1/16 oz. jig head hook came out easily. When I set her back in the water she swam away seeming hardly upset. Nice fish. Nice day. Edit to add, these fish were caught on the new to me, braided line on that ML St. Croix rod with the Shimano spinning reel. I think the braid has improved my hooksets. I have had two or three wind knots which I was able to clear.

I asked he best local bass catcher I know if he ever thought about going pro. His answer, "Nope, I'm not in good enough shape and besides that, there are better fisherman than me out there." Now this dude appears to be great shape. He is a former marathon runner, never smoked and is thin. But after one full day of "real" fishing with this guy, my butt was a dragging. Imagine, practice day or days, then the tournament with daily prep before launch, the days of hard no bs fishing, clean the boat, prep for the next day and whew... You've just got yourself a job. Edit to add, He is in the running to win the local championship for the local tournaments. He is real successful when he fishes, usually. That's why my avatar says, "fish for fun!"

I think if you gave me the GPS coordinates for this pond, I'd be able to help.

We have this crap weed, algae stuff we call "snotgrass". When the surface temp hit about 78 it was gone in days. Before that, it ran from the bank to about 20 feet out. I hated it but bass hid under and in it. Now, post spawn, they are scattered and harder to catch.

Oh Yeah! It's like a shot of the best drug you ever had. The feeling I get when I land a nice one, ho man, indescribable. Go get um but understand, sometimes they ain't gonna get got. And that's a part of it's attraction as well. People that don't love fishing? I just don't understand. Maybe they never caught one.

Two stories that relate. I was bass fishing in the Cooper river upriver from Charleston when a thunderstorm struck with a vengence. We ran for cover until it was just over. As soon as we got back in the boat my partner yelled that the stripers with killing the bait fish on the surface. We threw white topwater poppers and took two of the nicest fish I've ever caught. The storm had been over for only minutes. Another time I was scuba diving for lobster offshore from Pompano Beach and had been down for nearly an hour. I noticed that it had gotten darker but the fish seemed to be just as active. When I surfaced, lightning was cracking down all around. I still had about 600psi in my tank, so I just dropped back to the bottom, stayed still to conserve air and when I had only about 100psi left, surfaced again. The storm had passed and I swam to shore. Fish and me never seemed to notice. Lightning disapates over the surface so unless the fish (or humans) are very close to the surface, it's no factor from a harms point of view.

It really does not matter what kind of eyes bass have. Light is absorbed through the water with red being gone first. I believe the science behind this because about 10 years ago I was scuba diving in the keys and a 6 foot moray eel tore the heck out of my hand and I had arterial bleeding. I was at about 35 feet of water with at least 60 feet of vis in bright sun. The blood at that depth looked like coke. It was just dark brown. As I asended, it became redder and redder until at about 10 feet it was blood red. They, nor any creature can see what is not there.

I dress for the fish (no white shirts) and for the weather. I wear an old canvas hat that looks like crap but does a good job of protecting my head and face. Of course, I am looking to get "hooked up" but not in a way that would make my wife mad!

Oh, I'm reel sure (ha, ha) the issue is somewhere behind the tackle on the shore side! So now, with the braided, I set the hook a lot differently, take slack, lift the rod tip to impale with a razor sharp hook. I'll give it a try. Next questions. It seems that I need a leader and that begs a couple of questions in of itself. What length and what line? It seems that a too long leader would make casting more difficult but too short and the effect of a leader is lost. So what do? Thanks for the help, I'm gonna get there yet, wherever that is.

Yep, watched the tank bass at Bass Pro killing the chigger craw yesterday, which was a good bass day for me. (PB yesterday) Got some craws and hit the local lake this morning. Man, I just KNEW I was gonna clean up. Hmm, one bite which I missed with a bad hookset. 5 hours fishing today and two brim and one dink. The only thing I am confident of today is that I will fish hard the next time and learn from those I missed. I love being outdoors and all but having a fighting fish on the line is a feeling like nothing else. It leaves me with a buzz all the way to my heart.

My dad and I used to put out 20 or 30 Christmas trees every winter and we put them about 50 feet out from the dock and a bit to the left. Dad had some unusual ideas about fish attractants. We would also sink bales of hay, wired to cinder blocks. He would also sink cotton seed cakes inside burlap sacks. Whatever it was, it all seemed to work. We had some of the best Crappie fishing around. That is, until my mother told everyone where the spot was. She was an angel in most other ways, so we tolerated it.

My first question would be, "are there any lunkers in these flat plains?" I just mapped the bottom of my neighborhood lake where the bottom is flat as a dish at 24 feet and my fish finder did not see a single one hanging on the bottom and darn few anywhere over that plain. A few stragglers here and there but mostly concentrated near what little structure there is, like the bank drop off and the one ditch I found. So, if there not there don't go there. But like you, most of my days are 4 to 6 fish so what do I know? I fished 5 hours today for two brim and one dink. Missed the best one of the day because I had the drag set at about one half pound! He ran to the lily pads and was gone. What a dummy.

Thanks, I just got back from Bass Pro and of course, they hooked me up. Now, this afternoon in my tube float and jon boat, we'll see if I can hook up some bass. Nice thing about the saros, with the extra spool, I just removed the 6# mono and wound on the FireLine.

Thanks Roger. What pound test and maybe what brand line? I've never fished braided. Are there any real tricks to it?

I made a mistake and bought a ML 6' St. Croix to use with that Shimano Saros spinning reel. I should have gotten a heaver rod but because I thought I like the feel of the light stuff I am now pretty certain I made a mistake. And the reason I think so is that I can't seem to set the hook when I get bit. It's a great quality rod but too bendy. This moring, I was pond fishing with a chigger craw with the hook just "skinned" when a bass grabbed it and took off. I thought I had set the hook and started to reel. After he ran about 20 feet he came off. When I looked at the chigger, the hook was still skinned. That fish never felt the point of a hook. I was running 6# Cajun red mono. I am trying to get into the mindset of really SETTING THE HOOK; take up slack (reel) and set it to the moon. Yet it seems that the fast tip and ML rod just takes energy rather than transmitting it to the fishes jaw. Any suggestions? Maybe run 12# line with little to no strech? What line would be good? Can I put 12# on a Saros? Another related question about line. What is the real breaking strength of line? It sure seems to me that it takes more thatn 6 pounds of force to break that 6 pound test. I stopped by Bass Pro and picked up Quantam combo right hander with a 6'6" MH rod and strung it up with 17# Cajun Red. I finally sorta got the hang of bait casting. Only two small rat's nests. Ps Got my PB yesterday at Sardis Lake in Mississippi yesterday using a borrowed BC with MH rod and 17 pound test. She might have weighed an ounce over 3#. Hey, just getting started, ya know?