Marty

Our local shops (what's left of them) are of no use to me. Their selection is so pitiful it's a joke, and prices on what little they have are out of sight. It doesn't bother me as much as it bothers others. It's part of the evolution of society. Corner drugstores are gone, as are mom-and-pop grocery stores, family hardware stores and so many other types of business. It's nice to romanticize about the old tackle shop fisherman-owner who could tell you where to fish and what to use, but those days are gone forever, at least around here. When I started fishing 35 years ago, the leading shop in town was a beehive of activity, with huge selection and great prices. Today you can't even find a pack of Power Worms or Super Flukes in there, or a pack of EWG hooks, not to mention a decent rod or reel. It appears that they subsist on bait sales. Of course, when I started out, Cabela's was just getting started, there was no Bass pro Shops, Wal-mart, Dick's, Gander, or whatever. Quite a change, to say the least.

I suppose it depends on the individual. There's a lot of absolute nuts out there and confrontation has its risks. For me, discretion is the better part of valor, and I'd have probably given the guy a dirty look and let it go at that. Or maybe asked him to give me some space before he started fishing. But once he caught the fish, it's too late for much of anything. Sorry it happened; I read a lot about that kind of stuff these days.

No. :'(

Why not go to the better places and don't worry about embarrassment? Nobody starts out an expert and you may find some fellow fishermen there who will be happy to give you some tips, as long as they have no reason to feel threatened by you, for example, if you keep good fish, you probably won't get much help. Good luck.

I'm with Will, you're probably at the wrong depth/wrong location. There's also a possibility that the body of water doesn't hold many larger bass. I think most waters do have larger ones, but I fish a pond near home that's loaded with small bass; I've caught over 250 of them and have seen just two over 14". Have other people caught bigger ones where you're fishing?

I have used small duolock snaps for as long as I can remember and have 100% confidence in them.

I'm just a simple recreational fisherman and I keep things simple, carrying just a few colors. Most of my fishing is done in clear water and I generally use a translucent pumpkinseed when it's bright and black when it's cloudy or in darker water. I'd certainly try some other colors, but my gut feeling is that your recent failings are more complicated than just the wrong color.

That's why there are so many head cases here, yours truly included. :'(

Well, well, well, look who our latest newbie is! 8)

If you're talking lakes, smallies generally are in cooler, deeper water, often rocky-bottomed, than largemouth and are not as cover-oriented. They'll take a full assortment of baits. Burning a chartreuse spinnerbait can be good. So are jerkbaits, crankbaits, jigs with grubs and don't forget topwaters.

A lot of people talk about the need to "grow the sport." Maybe they're referring to the professional aspects because they'd like to make their living that way. As a recreational fisherman, that has no meaning for me. But as far as getting a lot more people involved, I share your concerns. It's not like there are too few anglers chasing a fixed bass population and it's not like our lakes and ponds need more boats out there on Saturday and Sunday mornings. For selfish reasons, I don't want this sport to grow wildly in popularity. They can build more bowling alleys and golf courses if those sports grow, but new lakes won't be that easy to come by.

Are you fishing your topwaters at the highest percentage time, which would be warm water during low light, such as sunrise, sunset and cloudy days? If you fish them at these times and are in the vicinity of bass, I think you'll get the hits that you say you're not getting.

I'm sorry to hear that Glenn. What a terrible tragedy to befall a family.

I'm with KU. I much more enjoy FISHING FOR largemouth, but much more enjoy CATCHING smallies.

Go here, http://bassresource.com/fish/bass_fish.html , scroll down and on the left, click "Beginners." See how much that helps, then come back and ask what that section doesn't answer. Good luck.

Welcome. Make sure you check out the articles. There is a very comprehensive selection, the biggest selection I've seen on the 'Net.

I think it's natural to want more when you find a lure that you have success with. You want a spare or two in case you lose one and you want different sizes to probe different depths, cast farther, present a different profile or whatever. I wouldn't go crazy with colors. My unproven opinion is that you probably won't catch more fish with 10 colors than you would with just a few. But that's just me, I have confidence in that theory. There was a Yamamoto staffer who always used to say you just needed three colors: dark, light and something in between.

In my case, virtually all bites are detected by seeing the line move off, at which time I set the hook. I rarely feel a bite, even with a sensitive superline. Be a line watcher and stay alert so you can detect a bite by either sight or feel.

Remind me not to borrow any of your friend's lures. : But as far as the superstitions, no, I don't do anything nor do my partners.

All those worms and both brands of hooks will work very well; the only catch is that you have to be working them where bass are. You might check out the beginner's section on this site's home page. Lots of info. Welcome and good luck.

You might see if Stamina can fill your needs. http://www.staminainc.com/spinnerblades_clevises.html

I get out boat fishing about 20 times a year, but spend the rest of my time bank fishing, usually twice a day.

I respectfully disagree with this conclusion. The problem is much more likely to be something other than color. You can fish ANY lure successfully from the bank if the cover will permit use of the lure. Try Texas-rigged worms in a 6-7" size. Don't foget other texas-rigged soft plastics, such as jerkbaits and tubes. I obviously know nothing about your water, but there are ponds and lakes where shore fishing is most productive when fishing parallel to or at angles to the shore, as opposed to casting straight out and fishing from deep to shallow. Don't forget to try topwaters during low light periods. If you have visible cover to target, fish it thoroughly, otherwise, cover a lot of water until you learn what's going on with that body of water. Good luck.

Is the pond public or private? Either way, I'd check with the owners/authorities to find out if it would be legal and/or advisable.

Good post Ceph.