ClackerBuzz

x2.

wow what a great thread. the best structure and/or cover is the kind that is in close proximity to the deepest water in the fishery (or a migration route). big fish like to be able to escape to the deep water. this is more big bass teritory. dinks and medium size bass will hang on any shallow cover, even a patch of floating weeds or debris. i saw a youtube vid where dinks were trying to take cover under a guy's pelican boat while he was fishing in it! finding structure and/or cover is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. without GPS it takes several outings to be able to return to a spot, if ever. with GPS you can mark 2 way points and almost instantly cast at the same angle to hit same the 4x6' rock, 10x10' weed patch, 3x4' stump. 20' bend in a creek channel etc. after you have points marked, you can go back on different day's to try casting a target at differnt angles. the fish will have a preference

never tried it but on a general note: i'm looking forward to trying a jr frog this season. alot of the time frog fishing can be touchy and i've read so many great posts about jr frogs consistantly working better. ie more committed hits and even big fish go after it. i picked up a jr 1 3/4" 1/5oz frog to try

now that's what i call snow!!! that deserves a good name b/c its making me hungry for all things white. Fluff'zilla

time on the water is invaluable. however there is the ole saying "even a blind hog can find an acorn". if i had to do it all over again i would buy my electronics first. this will be my first season using them and yes i learned a lot the last 5yrs w/o them....BUT i wasted 1,000's of hrs of unproductive fishing, blind casting, beating the banks, casting in all the wrong seasonal places, right lures in the wrong places etc. I could have cut my learning curve in half by starting with electronics first. looking back... i upgraded spinning tackle. then bought baitcasters w/ cheap rods. next season tons of lures for different techniques (head was spinning that year). then a couple nice rods.. a kayak and canoe. next season all nice rods. my sonar unit came last. stupid mistake but hey it was a heck of a fun ride. if i were young like you, had a passion for fishing and already had a BOAT...i'd buy a $300-400 sonar w/ down imaging...make due with all the other equipment i had...maybe get out with shane j a few times to learn how to read the structure on the unit...man ur off to the races

haha theos are some might big fightin' words for a land locked fella! but you'd think homicide is at an all time high, in every state, by watching the boob tube.

Epic advice

Awesome tips. when the bite is tough, consider lighter, smaller and slow moving bottom contact baits (i have to take the same approach in 30 deg winter water here). bottom baits consistently produce for me year round. jig, light t-rigs, senkos, drop shots. if i was in tourny's i'd add C-rig for covering water. after you find a good location, its just a matter of fine tuning the action, weight and finally color. color is the least important for me. (i really just use black and green pumpkin. maybe white if shad present). i came across an old post by A-Jay last year which really helped solidify things i had learned on the water and the direction my fishing had subconsciously taken. ie bigger fish, consistently caught, year round. "As a result, I have changed my approach a bit when it comes to initially fishing a promising spot. Traditionally I would use "search" type baits to find biters and then slow down with a jig to find a bigger bite. But recently I have reversed the order and fished the jig first. Instead of initially beating the water to a froth by machine gunning a spinner bait through it for 30 minutes I spend some time sneaking a jig around the best spots. It's been a good deal for me and sometimes I end up never putting the jig rod down all day." (Tks again A-Jay).

wow you need to send Shane J a pm and ask him to take you out! nothing will help you develop faster than being on the water with a knowledgeable person that can also EXPLAIN what he's doing. bribe, case of beer, hot dinner, gas money...do what it takes to get out with him! you'll probably learn more being out with him 2 outings than a season fishing by youself

i wouldn't fear breaking the rod...but i would fear a possible backlash . just be careful on ur first outing. maybe use more of a tiger woods swing till you get comfortable with how the rod is going to load. why don't you want to throw them on the big cranker?

wacky in open water. texas around weeds and cover. wacky is more about the fall. if you are in 2ft of water just t-rig. it defeats the purpose of a wacky/flutter fall. plus 2ft of water requires more of a drag technique=texas. you can usually bump to 6" in any body of water. i only bump to 7" in 15ft+of water. ie big and deep lakes

i started out power fishing b/c its so heavily advertised on tv, youtube etc. plus chuck'n'reel'n is fun. but it really shines in spring and fall. you get skunked alot in summer and winter. there are exceptions but generally the heat of august isn't a good time to burn a double bladed spinnerbait in a small pond w/ little oxygen. i started looking for better techniques. i can't tell you how many times i walked up to guys on the water and they pulled out their cell phone to show me monster fish. i asked the same question everytime: what did ya get'm on? the 2 most common answers= 2 great techniques: senkos and jigs. most guys told the same story. just cast it out and let it sit. KISS keep it simple stupid. i started catching much bigger and better fish year round. and also came to the realization that big fish are big/fat b/c they don't like to chase down fast moving lures. i now love bottom contract lures. move to smaller plastics and lighter weighs if the bite is tuff or if ur in small ponds. start with dead sticking and very slow dragging, always keeping bottom contact, moving 8-12" at a time. adding long pauses in between drags drives them crazy. sometimes you'll get snagged on a rock and have to pop it free. that will trigger a bite. take note b/c then you know they want a short/violent burst after the pause. dead sticking a drop shot (3" grub) usually gets you bites in any fisher, year round. let the current do the work. you can speed up retrieves from spring thru fall. i'd recommend experimenting with power techniques in spring and fall...and keep bottom contact techniques as a foundation year round. fill out ur profile so people know what region you live and you'll get more replies. and read this: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/13845-guaranteed-to-catch-bass/

very cool. cast along that pipe before you step onto it!

it money all around. from insurance to network tv. they came to a huge realization after the oj simpson trail area....new's profits. up until that point basically prime time and sports generated money from selling commercial time. for the first time they saw amazing ratings from their new's affiliates. sensational/horse jockey journalism was here to stay and the price for advertising during these amazing events skyrocketed. its like a mini-superbowl every week or two. the sad part is how much it frightens america. i read part of a havard psycology paper documenting it from the 1990's forward. its really bad b/c big cities like philly, dc, ny have a high homicide rate. its very good and something to uplift the community when the murder rate is down 3% from the prior year. but its all negated b/c the reporting of homicides by news agencies is up 3,000%. stay tuned!!!!!!

I only have basic cable so I don't get any fishing shows. Do you know if any show's are available free online? I don't mind paying for a monthly/yearly subscription for cable or online channel if its good. Tks

it's all about the almighty dollar

we need more fine young men like this.

braid with leader all the way. braid doesn't backlash as easy...and its easy to pick out if you do...and its super sensitive when detecting bites. using a mono or hybrid leader makes for good knot strength. (fluoro is touchy. heavy fluoro (12-15lb+) ties much easier. this also allows you to use the rod for multi multi purposes. ie use 30lb braid backing with a 15lb leader when around heavy cover. tie on a 10-12lb leader if you hit open water or if the fish are spooky). quick story: i spooled my first bc with mono. and quickly bought 4 more which i put braid+mono leader. i had to cut the mono out on a backlash and could easily pick out the braid. but the kicker came one time when i was fishing at night. i hooked into what i thought was a monster bass. but when i got her to the dock she was a small' 16" catfish that put up a good fight. i couldn't figure out why i badly misinterpreted the catch and was analyzing it the next day. i pulled the rod out of my truck to go over everything in my head and saw it was the reel with mono on it. in other words mono is like fight fish on a rubber band. there is NOTHING wrong with doing it. but if there is that much stretch during a fight, that energy/stretching is there during a hook set AND its definitely there absorbing sensitive BITES. once you go braid or fluro or hybrid you'll never go back. (a short 6-8ft mono leader doesn't manipulate the braid system). i'd go with: 1-30lb braid. tie straight braid when ur in muddy water or using jigs/frogs around lily pads. (obviously a heavy frog rod w/ 65lb braid is ideal if ur going deep into the slop. but you can venture to the edge of the sloppness' universe). 2-30lb braid to 15lb leader in muddy water, large bodies of water w/ unstable water, or pitching jigs around timber/docks/rocks that can break you off 3-30lb braid to 10 or 12lb leader in clear water, open water, or small ponds with stable environments. thats alot of uses out of one rod!

generic brand 5" for sheer numbers. 3-4" in winter. (shallow water. if ur going over 10ft, senko's are nice b/c they fall much faster w/ all their salt. but u could just add some split shot or 1/16oz bullet).once you've figured out some proven places and/or get tired of catching dinks....tie on a 6" like jeff. it willupgrade you from quantity to quality. i've only been to galloway a few times but didn't get anything worth writing home about. looking forward to going back this season with a sonar unit on my yak.

x2. i don't know how much money it was but a lot of times getting 'beat' hurts the ego more than the pocket. hit the punching bag a few times....and go fishing with ur free time!

my donation pile is getting out of control. i keep saying i'm going to take it all to BPS during the classic sale but it's a 2hr drive and I haven't gone the last 2 yrs. I'm going to look into shipping it to them.

Quake is spot on. But I don’t blame these guys one bit. Every man needs to do a job to put food on the table. I do think it is disrespectful to come down on quake for voicing his opinion. Acting like 5 guys aren’t suddenly showing up to do product damage control is insulting. They are grown men doing their job. They aren’t made of glass…there is no need to defend them or require members to treat them with kid gloves. Let the conversation run its course. Maybe they will address some of the reviews. I’ve read the ink in the line bleeds. Guys ended up with it in their gear and boat carpet. Maybe that was the 1 or 2nd generation? Also that the heavier line is superior but the 10lb has a tendency to snap in a backlash—so maybe keep it off ur baitcaster’s and on spinning gear only? And yes, welcome to the forums guys. Glad to have ya.

I like to narrow down the day's lure by keep it simple. I'm confident i can dead stick a senko or jig and land fish. then i test out more action and or swimming. feel free to use any soft plastic t-rigged in this manner. swimming it fast would be my next class up ie a non vibration moving bait. more aggressive would be a bladed/vibrating bait (spinnerbait, chatterbait etc). i don't mess with topwater too much but i could eliminate it quickly if i located 4-5 times and didn't get any lookers w/ 30+casts. Also, I have great success constantly moving. I see fisherman sitting in the same place for hours. I hike or paddle a lake/pond so I’m always casting in fresh/new water. Your FIRST cast has the best chance at catching the biggest fish in the area. Why not just move to new water where you can have that awesome chance again. I don’t fish, I hunt fish.

braid with mono or hybrid leader (on all spinning and baitcasting). you can make ur rods more versatile by increasing or decreasing the leader's lb test depending on cover the body of water has on any particular trip. imo the perfect system.

I'm gonna say b/c of ur age (ie budget, free time, ambition, savings for years to come etc) learn to do it yourself. lots of good info on the web. if you watch the vids a few times it should be a breeze. start with just cleaning the gears. that alone will most likely fix the problem. don't pop out bearings the first run. just oil them. tips: 1-take a small spare screwdriver and as you remove each part...clean and slide it onto it. it will help you keep not only the order but the DIRECTION each part is facing. 2-when you do remove bearings you have to pop retaining clips (they look like a staple bent into a square). Put the reel in a clear zip lock bag. you will be able to see what you are doing and the bag will catch any flying clips. 3-bring lots of patients and don't expect it to go back togther perfect the first time. you might have to play with it. reverse direction of a single part etc. don't panic, you will figure it out. after that its like riding a bike and you never look back here's a 2 good vids of breaking down a shimano. it worked great for taking apart my Pro Qualifiers http://youtu.be/ZLpO74dWuoE?t=1m24s post what kind of reel it is b/c some guys can probably give you a heads up on stuff. also: http://youtu.be/zlQjPNZeD80?t=32s don't know why that link is coming up the same. youtube " Cleaning a Baitcasting Reel ("Reel" Good Fishin' Buddies Webisode 5)"