deep

Make sure you get one with a metal frame.

1. Figure out the seasonal pattern bass are in. 2. Find structure in appropriate section of the reservoir. (Logs, laydowns, brush are NOT structure. These are cover. Cover on structure is good. On its own, cover isn't of much use.) 3. Fish structure with a variety of baits and techniques.

I don't know jack about pond fishing, so take my advice for what it's worth. First off, what is a pond? When I think about ponds, I think of waterbodies that were not built by damming up a creek channel and likely dug by man. Probably it's bowl-shaped without too much structure out in the middle (structure: discernible part of the bottom contour)? What about the shoreline? Any vegetation, laydowns, brush? If so, they might hold some fish. What's the bottom like? Muck, grass, rocks? Without getting into the specifics- I haven't seen your ponds- I have some suggestions. Pitch a florida-rigged plastic or a jig around shoreline cover. Are there any dropoffs, however subtle? Parallel them. In all cases, use something slightly bigger than you normally would (8" worm instead of 6" etc), work them close to the bottom, and fish them a little slower than you normally do. Try some night fishing if you're allowed to do that. I hate fishing at night, but early morning before sunrise works good for me. What about the forage? What baitfish do you have in there? Do you see more of them in one particular part of the pond? If so, there must be something keeping them there. (Find out what it is.) The bass will be close when they're feeding.

Question for Tom. With a slip shot rig, are we trying to cover some water, that is, not fish isolated spots-on-spots? (This is what I think we're doing.) In that case, how slow should we ideally fish, as in how many minutes per retrieve (assume a long cast ~30 yards)? Thanks,

Invizx should work great unless you mind the stretch, in which case you might want to get some less stretchier FC.

No, seriously, change the retrieve first without buying a ton of different baits. OR maybe buy a bag of flukes and try them if they're hitting but not eating.

You forgot to include nightcrawlers in your checklist!

Try a different bait (different size/ color/ type) or try a different retrieve. If the bass really wanted your bait, he/ she would have got it. They aren't called largemouths for nothing.

Bass caught on 7'6" Kistler Helium3/ Shimano Curado 201G6/ 12#Tatsu/ homemade jig with store-bought craw A hair over 20" and ~3.5 lbs estimated Slightly smaller but still looked like a 3# Big Bluegills, one on a 3/8 oz rocket shad, the second on a 100SP Pointer

Nice fish, congrats. (don't like to play guessing games).

If I understand correctly, most of the time we're fishing, bass would be neutral. Now let's just assume I have some spot(s)-on-spot(s) where I expect to find/ catch bass when they are active. Do the neutral bass move down deeper in the column to another spot-on-spot, or do they move off the original spot-on-spot and suspend at the same depth, or do they just stay there and watch the world go by until I can present accurately a bait they want? Or would they be somewhere else? Thanks,

The Lightning was plenty tough for light punching for me. Not very sensitive (you get what you pay for), but with straight braid that wasn't a problem at all. P.S. Off topic: Brass gears are good (love the Citica D), but doesn't that Abu reel have a graphite frame?

^^ yes, he didn't/ couldn't tell me what is was.

Allen, here are some more pics. Thanks to everyone who posted. Personally, I do not care if its an LC knockoff. As far as I'm concerned, it came free with the xcaliburs I wanted.

Thanks guys. And no, there's no company/ bait name on the bait. It came along with some xcalibur xr and xrks I recently bought from another forum.

I don't fish just about anywhere. I fish certain spots- points, ridges, flats, feeder creek channels. Why hike all around the reservoir if you know where fish can be located when they're feeding. Locate a few spots depending on the seasonal pattern, your experiences, and what you observe in the water and do a milk run. Fish the bottom and the middle (and maybe the top too if you feel like it) each with a couple different presentations and move on to your next spot if you're the restless type. Me, I got tons of patience. I'll wait until the fish are ready to come up to their kitchen and eat my bait. Till then, I can wait. Besides, if they're biting, they're biting everywhere, and I'm in a good location anyway. Did I mention I hate hiking? There was this one local res- well it's still there, but closed right now- where I'll fish a point all evening and catch tons of fish. One every three or four casts. When they'd stop biting a senko, I'd tie on a small jig and start catching them again. 15-20 fish in about a couple of hours, almost everyday. Sometimes they'd be on the edges, sometimes on the point itself, sometimes they wanted a fast bait, sometimes a slow one, but they'd relate to that main lake point all summer and early fall.

Thanks!

Poke a hole through the lip, but real close to the lip so that if and when she thrashes about, the tear doesn't get bigger. Same as the culling tags they use for tournaments. (I think so, but I'm not 100% sure since I haven't ever owned any culling tags).

The IPT is the deal. You spool up with 20-25# mono diameter line, and at the start of your retrieve you're pulling in say 14 inches per handle turn instead of the 24" that your reel manufacturer stated. You get longer casts with a bigger spool too, if you like 40-50 yard casts. That said, apparently in Japan, they use 200 size reels but they also use lighter line. Much lighter, in fact. Shimano 300 size (or equivalent) for 15-20# diameter line, Shimano 400 size (or equivalent) for 25-30# diameter line should work well. P.S. A Dobyns 867 and a Cardiff 401 spooled with 30# PF threw an 8" weedless hudd pretty far today, definitely much farther than I think I can set that d**n thick gauge hook at.

No more than 15 seconds at a time. Make yourself a stringer to put big bass on while you get your camera and scale ready. If you care about them enough, that is. I'm pretty sure no bass ever died by staying out of the water for 16 seconds (or maybe a few did), but why take a chance? Big bass are fragile creatures once on dry land, and they must be protected to the best of our abilities.

Tom, when you say pre-spawn locations, are you indicating (structures in) the lower third of a reservoir (or a creek arm for a large lake)? Also, another clarification regarding plankton eaters. Let's say there are no shad/ shiners, but don't minnows or other small fish eat plankton (not sure, but I always thought so), maybe attracting 'gills or crappies and setting up a food chain? I do catch a few kicker grade fish in the upper third part in late fall- early winter. Not a whole bunch of them, but enough to make it worthwhile to check shallower spots out. Just trying to understand how nature works here. (NLMB bass, by the way.) Thanks,

Used citica E/G or curado G. I almost always buy reels used, don't see any reason not to. If that's not your cup of tea, sorry.

Broke off a Morning Wood rat on a bass on a hookset. Recovered it the next day. Lost a bunch of hudds, and one Strongbass, but snags claimed them, not my green friends.

When *not* wacky-rigging, do you hook it like this: http://www.***.com/wp-content/uploads/migrated-assets/2011/09/TexasRigDG.jpg http://www.insideline.net/images2/rigguide1.jpg or do you not go all the way through the worm, and instead just skin hook it on one side? Like this: http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss349/doppler_photobucket/Image09272014131559.jpg I'd like to know the advantages of the second method. Thanks,

I think the OP should fish more and post less.