Avalonjohn44

I am still waiting to catch my first bowfin. I will be fishing the chicahomny in southern VA this year, and my friend promises me that I'll catch my fill of bowfins. I can't wait. I don't know what the 'punting' thing is all about, but I don't like the sound of it. The fish, even if an invasive or introduced species, doesn't know it's not supposed to be there.

If you're just a beginner: Three bandit 100s - Chartreuse/White, Blue Scale/Chartreuese, Rootbeer Three bandit 200s - Rootbeer, Chrome/Blue, Baby Bass Two bags Tiki Sticks 1 Pearl, 1 Pumpkinseed One Terminator Spinnerbait Green/White One bag Powerbait Worm Tequila Sunrise One bag Powerbait Sabertail Green Pumpkin One Mepps Fury #3 Red And with whatever is left over, buy some assorted jigs. If you already have all that stuff and more, and still feel the bait monkey acallin', then your only hope is sinking your money into: 2 or 3 Megabass Type X frogs on ebay ($50 will get you 2, 3 if you're lucky) or 2 or 3 Megabass Cyclones (same deal as above) or 1 Megabass Ito Vision 110 - they're running about 30 or 40 on ebay...

I like the red hooks, but not if fishing deeper than 10 feet.

So you pretty much slow crawl the worm? Also, what about using a trickworm for this?

I also vote for the Bandit Footloose, I love it. I get some monster hits on it. Also like slow reeling the the Rapala Broken back.

I understand what you do, basically. But when pulling in a couple of inches at a time are you dragging it, twitching it in place, or what?

I keep my rod tip around 2 o'clock, snap it down to 7 o'clock, lift it back to two, reel a bit and then repeat. You have to work on the proper cadence, it will take a little practice, but it is pretty easy to learn with a spook or a cultiva Tango Dancer if you can get one...

Just like my dad used to tell me about those 'popular' girls...Remember, you're not just kissing that fish, you're kissing everyone that has kissed that fish...

I would not put salt on a bass's gill wound. Such an overabundance of salt will cause more damage by disrupting the balance of water in the cells of the gill (as well as anywhere else it touches). The salt will draw out the moisture while replacing it with sodium, and the cells will be destroyed, actually bursting - just like it does with slugs and worms. While you may think it aids the clotting of a wound on your hand, the damage you are doing to the skin and tissues is worse, and your body ends up healing more than it needed to. Kind of like the butter on a burn myth. Don't do it to yourself or to a fish!

I agree with TUX. They's all bluegills or bream to me.

It is funny, I won't hesitate to spend $20 - 30 bucks on a megabass lure, but I refuse to pay a lot for my sunglasses. My brother has an expensive pair of polorized ray-bans, and had some oakleys before he lost those in the water. I have used both sets of his $120+ glasses and they are not better than my $22 - $25 Woo Davies polarized sunglasses from Bass Pro Shops. These are the best glasses I have ever used, and look very cool too.

LOL! I do that too!

I don't know what to think. All I know is that some of my biggest bass have come a few feet off the bank where I am standing. A few of those have been nesting fish, but my PB came on a buzzbait directly in front of me, only a couple of feet from shore, I was about to stop reeling and pull the bait in for another cast.

Usually tex-pose, but if fishing weightless, I sometimes expose the hook - especially if I am fishing a trick-worm near the surface or just a couple of feet down.

I need to catch fish before I consider it a good day fishing. The only way I feel good about getting skunked is on those three or four absolutely perfect weather days in the spring. If I'm skunked, I still enjoy myself, but catching fish make puts it over the top.

I would try burning a Bandit footloose or slowly working a weightless trickworm with a hook only heavy enough to make it sink very very slowly.

6" Lunker City Sluggos Lunker City Sluggo SS Bass Assassin Charm Assassin Zoom Trick Worms Charley's Worms Ribbon Tail Yum Ribbon Tail Yum Houdini Shad Yamamoto Senkos Yamamoto Kuttails Yamamoto Double Skirted Spider Grubs Reaction Innovations The Flirt both sizes

I can skip like a pro with a spinning reel, but every time I think about doing it with a baitcaster, I think back on the worst bird's nest I've ever gotten and don't even bother attempting it.

The best out there, as far as I'm concerned, (and I Own and use LC and Megabass lures) is the inexpensive little Bandit 100 and Bandit Footloose cranks. There are a million colors to chose from, I have never had a problem with them running true, and their hooks are great and sharp out of the box. They are very sturdy too, and thier paint holds up very well. The only problem I've ever had with bandits is the same problem I have with Mann's. They sometimes get a scummy glue residue on their bills out of the box. This rubs off though, and is only a slight bother. The 100 series goes from0-4 feet, and the Footloose series dives only to 1 foot. There are some square lipped Bagley B-1s that work very well too, but for price, color selection, and ease of obtaining them, the Bandit is the best out there. Mann's also has a new premium version of their minus series out there, but I was not too impressed with their looks so have not tried them. I don't know if Bomber makes a very shallow bait, but I do not catch the amount of fish on similar sized bombers as I do on Bandits.

Bagley makes a very nice sunfish balsa lure (crankbait, not a swimbait though) in some incredible colors. I bought one off Ebay recently, and just got to use it this weekend. It is a floater, but manages to sit upright perfectly. There are models that dive from 0-4 feet, and another that goes to 7 feet. They are bouyant, being balsa wood, but a couple of suspend dots work to keep it from rising too fast. You can get them on Ebay for about $5 - 8 bucks which is cheaper than a bit store...

Try using an x-acto knife on your current lures to carve some feet if you can't find what you're looking for. I usually bring and x-acto knife with me for a little bit of detail work on soft plastics. I have cut my lizards swimming feet before to make it look closer to feet or the little claws some newts have. Sometimes I use it cut a small wedge out of the center of my houdini shads or zoom jerkbaits to give it more of a swimming shimmy. On certain days where they are being 'picky' it really helps.

It's a goby or a sculpin, but with that tail it looks like it was designed for swimming. I would try it on a jighead, fishing slowly and keeping it on or close to the bottom. A shaky head technique might work too.

The quiet solitude, the smell of anise on my fingertips, and the zing of my drag as a fish strips line. And, if they're not biting in the summertime, a quick dip to cool off.

No double digits yet. Smallie - 7 pounds - live bluegill Largemouth - 8 pounds - Booyah Buzzbait Black with red blade. Largemouth - 8 pounds - same bass as before, a month later, Bass Assassin Charm Assassin Yellow/black fleck weightless.

http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html Yikes! That's a $43 lure.