Bass Junkie

Oh, thanks a lot. You just totally took the air out of my "New Rig" baloon.......... Are you referring to the Angler series, with the blue thread raps? I can't have my reels, or rods, conckin' out on me........ Especially when I put my money into $110+ of gear!!! > > > > > BTW, my reel dosen't have a magnetic control thingy on the side opposing the handle.....This reel is Identical to a pfleugar I saw at Dick's to, except for the color scheme. I mean IDENTICAL. The pfleauger was orange, and this (my) reel is IDENTICAL to the Criterian or however thats spelled, except for for the magnetic adjustment thing. Also, mine has 8 instead of 5 bearings and is a 6.2:1 gear ratio....

Honestly, I don't think my problems patience. I've had these fish on and fightin', jumpin', and then throwin' the hook. Also, how tight should my drag be for froggies? I usually set it a little loose, so that when I set the hook hard the drag 'ill slip a bit. Is that bad....Okay, I thought so. LOL. I just realized how stupid that was..... So, how tight? I'm deffinatly settin' it tighter, but anyone got a approx. weight settin'? Sorry for the newbness in this arwa. LOL. Gotta learn some time.

Ok, so I just picked up a 7' 1 piece Medium Heavey Field & Stream rod with a Field & Stream Rainier reel (Sweet Setup!!). Will this work for my froggies? I know it took a while for the upgrade, but I got it....LOL. So, with 30lb braid can I expect hookups?

Nice fish!!! Out of curiosity, what was your setup? And how does that minnow cast? I'm deffinatly lookin' into those. Again, great fish!!!!!

Ok, here ya go. Summer evening, right at dusk. Fishin' with my dad and grandpa. Hadn't caught much, my grandpa two twelve inchers and he missed a nice 'un. My dad had missed one and I didn't have a bite. I make a long cast onto the pads with my Stanley Ribbit Frog in Baby Bass. My dad says somethin' 'bout this bein a last cast, and all of a sunden I get a hit. I just casually set the hook, as this was far from my first toad fish and I have gotten somewhat used to the strikes. Then everything goes nutty. The fish rips to the right, pullin' drag. I fight the thing up to the boat, but now its so dark we can't see. The fish rolls around quite a bit before we net it. So we meausure this thing and its 22.5'', and right AROUND 7 1/2LBS!!! There ya go. Whole story. WHAT A FISH!!!

I'm about two hours ( I think) south from Lake Erie. Don't go up there much > I fish West Branch lake (Micheal J. Kirwan Resivoir), Berlin, and Lake Milton, if these names mean anything to you guys. Columbiana county.

Thanks, I never thouht of using reverse pschology on bass. LOL. Will keep it in mind. Also, My full day trip tommorrow is in jeprody, due to a severley "stoved" finger.(Bullet pass over the middle.Of all the ways football can get ya............) LOL. Talk about weird............

Ok, I've caught two smallmouths now that meauser 19". These were my pb for a while, 'till I caught a 19.5" smallie. So, #1. Have you ever tied your pb #2. Is this basically the biggest theyll get in my area? (Basead on the fact that I've caught three within 1/2" of each other, and can't get one bigger) As for question #2, I'm still learnin bout bronzebacks, after finally havin found a lake with 'em pretty close to me, so please excuse the noobness. :-[ :-[

Ok, here ya go. This isn't coming form a guy who's caught tens of tens, but heres the lures I've had the biggest bass of my life strike: 1. Watermelon/Pearl lamanite Yum! Dinger, fished like a fluke 2. Baby Bass Stanley Ribbit Frog, Buzzed 3. Spro Bronzeye Frog, Leopard, Walked 4. Berkley Hollow Belly swimbait, Hitch These are lures, just like what are in your box. I personally don't beleive in one, or four, magic baits. You need to understand how the bass function in your lake, where they are, and what mood they're in, then fish accordingly. Have patience, maybe use a larger lure. One great point that has been pointed out on this forum is that finesse is relative. A 12 inch bass will eat a 4'' finesse worm, but what about a twenty incher? His needs a greater, and his pray larger, so downsizing for a twelve incher may mean 4" worms, but for a twenty incher, larger lures are in order, even in finesse. Also, have confidence in your tackle, make sure its in the best possible condition, i.e. no line nicks, strong knot, properly running bait, properly set drag, ect. And have patience. Trophy hunting can lead to single fish days, or no fish, but its worth it when that giant bites.

After seein snow come to this area of the country I figured my days on the water had come to an end. I was wrong. Yesterday was 66* and sunny, after temps almost 20* lower about the whole week. So I went fishing. Got to the pond I frequent and start pullin' out a spinning rig with a weightless craw orange trick stick when a guy mowin the banks shouted "There's a big bass over here!!". I head over that direction as he putts off on his lawn mower, thoughts of seein a decent bass floating on top of the water or having been scared off by the lawn mower. I was wrong.There, not five yards off shore, swam a decent bass. I couldn't believe it. I ran back to the vehicle, grabbed a 5'6'' baitcasting rig, shove some plastics in a pocket, and take off to where the fish was. Getting there I try the weightless trick stick, but hes not interested. I take that off, and wacky rig a watermelon/ pearl trick stick. I got him real interested by violently shaking it on the bottom, but the stupid exposed 3/0 gammy worm hook catches weeds, and he kinda catches on and backs away. Well I start thinking. This bass likes wiggle, but I need weedless.................. So I put a Baby brush hog on a 1/8 oz jighead that has a large hook. I leave the hook exposed, hoping it will stay above the layer of scum on the bottom. When I get back to this fish, I come up on the right of him, and hes lookin away from me. Perfect. My first cast lands behind him, in slightly deeper water, but I can see everything. I hopped the brush hog off the bottom twice, and that bass swapped ends and sucked that thing in faster than I can tell you. I waited a second, more out of surprise at how quickly and eagerly he took that thing than anything else, then my body kicks into auto pilot, and I reel down and that rod of mine bows up nice and tight. FISH ON!!! Well, I'm used to 7' rods, so a 5'6" is a bit of a change. So here I am, crouched on the bank, not being able to put the rod tip down much further, with a hyperactive bass at the other end. I start moving as fast as I can while crouching, doin' my best to keep this fish down.He jumps once, boils a couple of times, and then comes up again. At this point, I had "notified" my fishing buddy on the other side of the pond that I'd hooked this fish. Well, thee fish gets his head out, and I start waddlin as fast as I can. Kind of trying to run with your knees tied round your neck. I managed to keep the fish from comin any further out, and just waddle into a standing position, all this time fighting the fish and moving down along the bank. Then I swung that thing right outta the water, and lipped 'em. Soon as I touched the jig head in his mouth, it just fell out. And no, I didn't rip a whole in his mouth, I just didn't hook him in any soft are. Stupid thing was hooked in the boniest, toughest part of his mouth. I showed the guy, who was still mowing', and then toss 'em back. One of the weirdest trips in along time. and though he didn't say a thing, I'm sure my buddy had a bit of a laugh at my waddle. Hey, I out fished 'em. It was worth it. LOL. The fish was right round 16 1/2-17inches. Good for the pond I was fishing.

I found a snag proof mouse floating in a lake I fish somewhat heavely, and am wondering about this thing. Its that grey mouse you see in the blue package at wally world. This thing seems a bit light for braid, and I'm wondering if I can throw it, in open water around rocks for smallies, on mono. The body is SUPER spft, and the hooks sharp. I honestly think this thing would hook up better than a jig, and I fish those on mono. Plus, the hooks are sharp...So, what do you guys think? Would this work?

Um, hate to tell ya this, but Baby Bass isn't worth a hoot. Send all those lures to me, I can repaint them.......LOL. I love Baby Bass in just 'bout everything. Just don't throw a Heddon torpeo in this color. Its not good for the bills. Cardiologist are expensive!!! One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is Wtrmln/Pearl lamanite stickbaits. These are the #1 Big Bass producer for me this year.

I've used it once. Caught three 10"-11" Largemouths. Not bad, but most of my finnesse fishin is in heavie cover. At least where a open jig would die. 'Specially on light line.

Yeah, I know their acrobatics can be heartbreakin'........ I'll bury my rodtip, and still can't keep 'em under. LOL

I finally found a smallmouth lake near my house, and with every fish I catch, I get just a little more hooked on the brownbass........I did pretty good on spinnerbaits last time I was up there, and have kinda got on a spinnerbait kick. I've been lookin at Booyah Glow Blades in chartreuse and white and A gold bladed double willow in smallie special and green smallie special. I don't have much experience with brown bass, so these are my inexperianced guesses. I'm open to suggestions. The water is about medium clarity, not more than 2 ft in the lower end of the lake.

Anybody have any success with his? I just discovered it on Tackle Warehouse, and was contemplating the 3/8oz version in Chartreuse/White for smallies. What do you guys think? *EDIT* So it seems no-ones used it. What do you guys think. Would this work for smallies?

5" Weightless senko knock-off, t-rigged.

Thank you

Looks good!!! Thanks for showin' us!! And ya gotta love the name.....

Yeah, fish do tend to be weird. Thanks for the reply. The more I fish, the more I concentrate on the presentation. I think back to when I began fishing and can't believe I caught fish....... My casts/ presentations were AWFULL!!! Ahh, but those are precious ( if you'll excuse the expression) days......

Thanks guys!!! As for the last post (RoLo's), I'm beginning to beleive that more and more. But why do some colors work better than others? Example: pond, both of us throwing torpedos, one gold black, one baby bass. Gold black caught some bluegill and missed a 17" bass. Baby bass killed bluegills, and caught a 21" largemouth and a 17" largemouth, plus a couple smaller. Many of these were spotted and cast to. Fish came up to the gold/ black and turned away. Baby Bass, nadda. Bights 99% of the time. Same line. Why did this happen?

Welcome aboard. You'll LOVE this place!!!.

You can if you want. If you're using the back-up line to keep the braid from slipping around the spool, you can substitute a wrap of electritians tape. If you're doing it to spread out the braid, to conseve line, okay, but it means you'll have to switch out your line more often. And you'll have a knot, which can fail, and is more likely to every cast. Since its buried in the spool its a "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" deal. I would recommend striiping off the braid and re-tying the connection knot around every three trips. This will save you heartbreak if you happen to hook a monster bass, or another type of fish, such as a muskie, which make nice runs. My advise would be to either: A- Spool up with straight braid, but with a wrap of electrical tape around the spool B- Spool up with around two casts of braid, the rest being mono, and retie your joining knot every 3-4 trips. Also, bear in mind the fact that a blood knot isn't the knot you want for joinin' mono to braid. It has a tendecy to slip. I think you'd want to use back to back unis.

I'm thinkin' a crawfish colored Paca Craw. Its the closest to that color I could find so far in a widely available trailer. Hope this helps!!! Hees the link:http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_90787_100007002_100000000_100007000_100-7-2?ordProd=Y&CMID=BOTTOM_selectitems#itemDetail

Do you guys still throw the old in-line spinners, like the Worden's Rooster Tail??? What are ya'lls favorites colors/ sizes. I personally don't have a favorite color, as I'm yet to find one that won't catch fish!!! For Bass I generally throw a 1/4oz. Just wonderin' if anybody still uss these. Also, do any of you guys still throw the old spoons, like the red and white ones found in every old tacklebox in the nation?? If so, how do you fish them??? I mean do you do a straight retrieve or do you add YOUR twist? I find with a lot of the older lures, I'll add my own twist to the retrieve and the twists seem to add to the strike count. Just a couple questions I've been ponderin'. Thats what happens when you suffer fishi' withdrawl. I haven't been on the water in wht, 24 hours??? LOL......