Ratherbfishing

Holy frijoles! I would've thought that tackling such a beast would require that he finish it off first- before crossing back over. But obviously it knew what it was doing. This is probably not the first croc it's ever subdued.

What a great multi-species day for you all! With some great sizes too! I'm envious!

I dunno. My dad took me and my 7 siblings to a pay lake to catch some stocked trout when I was about 5 or 6. Can't say if that is what first sparked my interest or not. From age 11 onward, I mostly fished by myself for bullheads (or whatever else would bite) beneath a bridge about 2 miles from my house. I remember seeing Virgil Ward on the idiot box and I'd sit in a spell when he'd bounce a jig or whatever in the aquarium at the end of the show. Of course he mostly fished for species that I had never even heard of before. I yearned for more than carp, catfish, and sunnies and then a friend who lived along a scenic river took me smallmouth fishing with him. We didn't do particularly well (more goggle eyes and sunnies than bass) but the river was so beautiful and the HOPE of catching more kept me going. Eventually I moved mostly to largemouth (because of their extended range) but my first (and greatest) love is smallies.

But what a teacher YOU'LL have!!!

I can think of two instances when it wasn't a fun fish. The first one was when it was 45 degrees on the lake and so windy that I couldn't hold my boat anywhere long enough to fish effectively AND I was miserably cold. The other was an August day when it was 92 degrees with high humidity and not a hint of a breeze and I was about to die of heat stroke. Other than those two occassions, everything else has been a fun fish. Or at least reasonably so.

If I have my definition correct, about any bait that covers a lot of water to seduce actively feeding fish into biting could be considered a search-bait. if a bait is so big it precludes the possibility of getting bites from smaller fish then it probably eliminates itself from that classification.

There are some general "rules" I try to follow such as tight wiggle in cold or clear water and wide wobble in warm or muddy water. That seems to hold MOSTLY true. Having said that, I believe action/sound is a little more important than color. Sometimes, however, it's difficult to know what the action/color needs to be until you try it out and let the fish tell you.

As the disclaimer says, "Individual results may vary" however I've had very good luck with sinking minnows, turtlebacks, and standard curly tail worms. If you can keep the bluegill off them, or learn to distinguish a bluegill bite froma bass bite, they will catch a bunch of bass. Oh, and catfish like them too. Once you open a package of gulp, if you don't keep the remainder in a jar of "elixer", they are difficult to keep soft. Remember to remove them from the hooks at the end of the day or, if you want the hook back later, you'll wind up whittling the dried up bait off.

If you're looking to chase big pike, this is about the right time to be going but for bass, as Scott F says, it's probably a few weeks too early.

Oh, no. I didn't mean the brand name baits. By in large a bomber is a bomber is a bomber etc. I meant the "off-brand" baits that they occassionally pawn off on gullible consumers such as me.

In some instances I think companies will initially price their products very cheaply in order to get their product out in the marketplace and establish a reputation for themselves. As to how often this occurs.... Generally speaking, however, beware of the cheap bait. I bought some lures from a Wally World bargain bin one time. They were pretty snazzy looking-nice finishes, good shapes. None of them were any good, though-they all had lousy actions.

There is a bit of luck in just being able to take that next breath. But luck is random and inconsistent. Skill is steady and can be, more or less, relied upon. If you took a poll of heart patients and asked them if they'd rather their heart surgeon be lucky or skillful, I'd venture to guess that most would prefer the skillful one.

Have you tried swearing at it? It hasn't worked for me but...just a suggestion.

My friend has an ice fishing rod that vibrates. You press a button and it actually vibrates! Wonder what other uses he found for it. The Color-C-Lector has to be one of the gimmickyest gimmicks out there. A lot of extra weight to have to lug around if you ask me. You can't learn which colors are most appropriate for water and/or sky conditions? I know there are folks who really like the "self-centering" bails on some (mostly older) spinning reel models but I'm not one of them. Setting the hook and having the bail spin halfway around and stop with a hard clack is enough to send anyone over the edge (or was it just me?). Not to mention having to remember to stop reeling when the "trigger" was at the top of the arc-or having to back it back off-if you actually planned to use that "feature." Okay, if I had limited or no use of one arm, it would be a decent feature but otherwise....no.

The University here has an olympic size indoor pool. I think it would be cool if they could filter out (or not add) chlorine and then stock bass, bluegill, and various other baitfish during the winter months and then open it up to us poor, lost souls. I know I'd use the pool then.

I don't believe they're made anymore (what a shame!) but if you can get a hold of some Manns "Ghosts", they are excellent for dog walking in open areas between slop/matted weeds AND for fishing the slop itself.

This is just one man's opinion but if you are willing to sort out the crappie and bluegill along the way, an ice fishing jig (such as a hex fly or swedish pimple) tipped with a wax worm (or two) will attract and catch many bass. While none were particularly large, I caught 4 bass just the other day. I have, however, caught bass and catfish over 3 lbs with wax worms. A friend of mine uses minnows regulary which work well, too, but I don't like having to locate them or keep them alive (There aren't many live bait shops in Central Illinois).

Anyone (guy) who is willing to wear tight spandex pants in public should not consider anything too gaudy. (sorry, couldn't resist).

I can certainly understand why some people think ice fishermen/women are nuts. Seemingly staring down at a hole in the ice in freezing temps with the wind and snow howling around you does look pretty nutty. And there are times when I question my own sanity. It does, however, beat watching the idiot box all day. And it can be downright fun/rewarding when the fish are biting. Less so when they are not. Yes, you can pull fish/line in hand over hand but a big, vigorous fish will require that you feed line out between your fingers when it runs. If you don't, it's bye bye fishy. As has already been said, cold water does make fish more lethargic but I have also had some larger bass and catfish give me a good run for my money-with many long runs peeling off yards of line from the spool on my reel. If my reel hadn't had a smooth drag, I'm sure I'd have lost those fish-especially with the tiny hooks I generally use. (You can't tell me a large fish won't eat a small meal). I'm not very good at multi-tasking and trying to keep track of a bunch of tip ups doesn't float my boat (or ice shanty)-though if you're into that sort of thing, that's great. Instead, I drill holes in somewhat systematic way and then I dip the transducer on my flasher down into the holes until I find fish (or some kind of cover). (In shallower water this doesn't work very well as the cone-angle on the transducer doesn't spread very wide. But it does alert me when a fish approaches and where/what I ought to do with my jig). So really, I'm trying to fish one hole at time in a precision manner-moving around if I don't find/attract/catch a fish within around 5 minutes. I don't sit still a lot until fish are found. I've found that dropping the jig to the bottom repeatedly will create a "cloud" of mud and debris which, in turn, often attracts fish to check out the distrubance. This is especially effective if the fish seem to be hugging near bottom. Mostly I say all this to, in effect, explain some of the nuances of ice fishing and why/how it can be fun. If you're doing it right, it really isn't just staring down at a hole.

Sounds to me like you're trying to avoid going overboard-something many of us have abandoned hope of years ago. If you want to catch numbers of fish and keep it simple, seems to me two techniques would be best. The first, especially if you are confined to shore, is the standard floating minnow like the original Rapala. The second would be a soft plastic worm in it's various incarnations (texas, swimming, wacky-rig, etc).

I like fishing a marabou jib under a light bobber-especially on breezy days when there's a little chop.

I love the time I get AWAY from my job. Does that count?

No doubt they've been replaced in many tackleboxes (and I'll be happy to take any that anyone is getting rid of) but I have at least 5 in my regular tacklebox and 6 or 7 in my small bait backpack. Their newness has worn off for those who ride the latest craze train but I'd feel completely lost without them. I don't care quite as much for the jointed variety as the old original ones. How about you?

I only know what I saw at Lake of the Woods Canada two years ago. The Rat-l-traps with red treble hooks caught probably 3 or 4 smallies to 1 over the non-red variety. Is this always the case? Probably not. Last year it mattered not. Catching ANY smallies last year was a challenge. But I do keep some spare red treble hooks just in case.

I already posted once but I want to add another one: I hate that I spend far too much time daydreaming about fishing and not enough time actually doing it. My purchase of fishing tackle is, in part, a reflection of this. It is, of course, far worse in the winter months.