Marty

In a word---topwater.

You can't assume they're bass. Carp are notorious jumpers and, yes, they're huge. By the way, welcome to the forum.

Who knows, but I don't think lures have to be imitative in order to generate strikes, as evidenced by the fact that every lure material, size, shape, color and action catches fish. The best anglers in the world, in my opinion, know HOW to catch fish, but they don't necessarily know WHY any more than you or me.

I use one of these so-called "stream thermometers." They're usually found in stores and catalogs with fly fishing equipment. They're inexpensive and easy to store.

I fish a huge amount from shore and can understand your frustrations. But you just have to forget about those out-of-reach spots, lest they distract you from the job at hand, which is to try and catch fish from areas available to you. You're using good lures from spring to fall and ought to be catching some bass. You might add some plastic worms that you can crawl along the bottom. However, are you sure these waters have a decent bass population? If you're fishing, say, buzzbaits in good water during warmer water periods and low light conditions, you ought to be catching some bass if they're present. I still think there's some problem which goes beyond lure selection. If you want to PM me, I may be able to put you in touch with a very good fisherman from your area of the state, although he probably doesn't know your specific waters.

They might not be attracted to it, but bite in spite of it. Or it may be masking some negative odors. Or they really might be attracted to it. I'm not sure we can easily get answers to issues like this. I use a garlic scent on spinnerbait skirts to mask odor dating back to an old, old problem, and I have much more confidence when using it. However, other scents would probably accomplish the same purpose.

These statements seem to be at odds. You say that you need to fish an inline spinner to land a few, yet you imply that you're just catching one fish a season. Are you fishing from shore or a boat? Dying weeds in cold water may not be the best bet for a fast-moving buzzbait. Are you in northern or southern Indiana? What sort of waters are you fishing? What are you doing as the season progresses from spring to fall? I suspect there's something going on that you haven't mentioned. Regardless of how much luck and skill enter into the equation, just putting in one's time at decent fisheries should land you more fish than you're getting, and on a greater variety of lures. I do. ;D

As far as fishing from shore, there is no one correct answer. You just have to look things over, fish the area, cover a lot of water, and draw your conclusions. I fish some waters where it's almost impossible to catch a fish more than 20' out from the bank, and others where you have to heave your lure out as far as you can.

I don't pour anymore, but when I did, it was to get some grubs that were not commercially available.

I assume you're shore fishing. I fish a lot from shore, much of it in waters similar to what you describe. As Pond-Pro said, it's getting tough up north. I have always had difficulty when fall rolls around, but I keep at it anyways. Try doing the things that have been suggested, and if they don't work out too well, the knowledge that things are much better in the spring and summer can help get you through the fall and winter. Good luck.

I have seen these types referred to as the Bucket Brigade. But my personal term for them is Grocery Shoppers.

The site is certainly much more than the forum. Check out the comprehensive selection of articles.

I used to pour a few lures, most often split tail grubs which I used to use a lot years ago. These were not available commercially, or at least that I knew of. I didn't particularly enjoy pouring and I wasn't very good at it, but I wanted those grubs. And yes, I got a kick out of catching fish on grubs I poured, but I would've bought them if they were available.

A lot of people say that the magic temp for topwater is 55. I wouldn't rule it out and would definitely give it a try if conditions are otherwise favorable for topwater. One never knows until he tries.

Welcome to the forum. Three options come to mind, in no particular order. Switch to an ultralight and enjoy the rockies. Move to another location if you think you can find a place that has bass but not rockies. Switch to a really large lure hoping to discourage the rockies, but they will take lures much larger than they should. But it's worth a try.

I've used those popping frogs for years and it's got some problems. I always use the trailer hook that's supplied and while it doesn't sink like a regular sinking bait, it doesn't have a level attitude. The rear sits down and the face is up, so it doesn't pop real well. Despite that, it's been a good fish catcher, as has its cousin, the regular Grass Frog.

G-day to you too! You're making me consult a metric conversion chart! Hope you enjoy the forum. Here are links to info about the two fish, sooty grunter and barramundi: http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/1948.html http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/2136.html

What are you doing with them? How can someone know what you're doing wrong if they don't know what you're doing? ???

I only use it for spinnerbaits. I've had problems in the past with negative odors and skirts hold odor, it doesn't wash off, and I can't use a SB with confidence without the scent. Agreed. Plastics without salt or scent have always, in my experience, been held by the fish more than long enough for a hookset.

It's been said many, many times, "better to throw the wrong lure in the right place than the right lure in the wrong place."

When I hear the word "shad", without any qualifiers, I take it to mean threadfin shad. We don't have them up north and I agree with Yankee that people toss the term around loosely. We do have gizzard shad, but I don't know that they behave like threadfin.

When I first started out it was fairly common to see people use line wrapped around a beer can, but I don't see that much anymore. Maybe as the years have progressed, folks can better afford reels since they can be had for a pretty low price. Changing the subject somewhat, I've always seen people using spinning reels on top of the rod, reeling backwards. I could never figure that one out, but I still see it from time to time. Do you guys see that?

Well, so far the feeling is unanimous. I've never seen any evidence of the neccessity to change baits. Changing the subject a little, there are those who feel bass won't hit a bait after it's caught a pike, due to the scent, but I've not seen evidence that that's true either.

I'd love to know the answer. It's logical to us that muted colors would be better, but who knows if it really makes a difference. Maybe it's just another confidence thing; those who feel the color makes a difference should wear the muted stuff because they'll be better off than worrying about what effect their loud colors might be having. I never paid much attention to this issue and it's impossible to know what difference, if any, other colors would have made.

I certainly need to improve at many techniques, but the thing I see that costs me fish at times is my lack of patience. I have this need to cover a lot of water and failure to slow down and be more thorough has cost me fish at times. Of course, I've been saying that for years and I don't know what's gonna make it happen.