Felix77

I was just curious to the end of one year so I bought a $17 Shakespeare kit. Had everything I needed ... rod, reel, line, bobbers etc. Did some reading. Learned to tie a good knot and went out with nightcrawlers one day in October of 2011. I caught 2 bass and one crappie and I was "hooked" ever since. I spent that winter learning as much as I could about the sport, joined a league and never looked back. Why do I keep doing it? 1 - Never the same day on the water/bank. Something is always different. That is a challenge. 2 - The scenery - It's way more relaxing than anything I have ever done. Even in the midst of competition you have to appreciate the beauty of places we get to fish. 3 - The camaraderie - I have made more new friends doing this than any other hobby I have ever tried. That's fun!

About 30 - 45 minutes for my favorite spots too.

This thread might help ... http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/111173-co-anglers-what-would-you-do-with-only-5-rods/

This made me laugh so hard ... I just hope my wife didn't hear me. LOL

The scariest thing happened to me yesterday ... I go to reel in a fish and find there is nothing there. No worm, no fish ... I have to blame it on something ...

d**n you bait monkey ... I just ordered Larry's lizards and the Strike King Rage Lizards.

Have you tried asking your boater what his thoughts are? How he feels about the situation? I find that opening up a dialogue with the boater who clearly isn't catching fish either allows both of you to discuss possible options. Another example from my experiences. I was fishing a tournament and the boater had a spot picked out. On that day it was pretty windy and a struggle to fish the spot. Neither of us were catching fish. I asked about this spot and we began talking about why he liked it so much. I mentioned that the conditions called for something a little more protected from the wind and waves and asked if there was a pocket or cove nearby we could try. It triggered a thought in his head about another spot. We went there and immediately started catching fish. If you discussed "your spot" before then maybe suggesting it at that time might not be as bad. It really is all about the presentation. You will find that most are open to talking about the situation but not open to being told what to do. See the difference.

Sometimes that's just the way they are taking the bait. There are a few things I tried to do with my wacky setup to help with this. Note it won't prevent it from happening per-se but maybe give you a better chance of hooking them before it goes too deep into their mouth. It's all about feeling the bite ... 1 - Braid - Transmits the bite the best. (Fluoro leader if you are in clear water) 2 - Good quality Medium rod with a fast tip. IMO helps with feeling the sensation into your hands. As soon as you feel the bite reel into them. If you wait too long they could swallow it and then are hooked deep as a result. Hope this helps.

I am going into my 2nd year as a co-angler. I went in with a little different attitude in my first year. Some tidbits from my 1st year which might help. #1 - You are not a proven co-angler yet. You are new to the members of the league and thus have no "street cred" yet. Even if they like you they will trust their spots before trusting someone they don't know. In my league there are members who have been in the league as long as I have been alive. I was born in 1974 so then have been fishing these waters competitively for over 30 years in some cases. #2 - If you know a "spot" talk to the angler prior to the tournament and discuss it. Explain the spot, why it's so good and prove you did your homework. If you have the opportunity to pre fish and show it to him even better. Boaters are generally not adverse to trying something out if they don't feel like it's being thrown on them in the midst of the actual tournament. As someone else mentioned they are not going to leave fish is his spot was producing. Even after talking about it there is no guarantee you are going there if his spot is producing. #3 - Be prepared for anything!!! People laugh at the amount of stuff (variety) I have in my tacklebox. I can cover almost any condition I could imagine from that box. When I know the conditions I am being faced with for that moment I adapt and do my best to fish "my waters". A prime example is what happened at my 1st few tournament this year ... Here comes the story ... I was paired up with a boater fishing Rouses Point in 2012 (last year). The conditions we were facing I was NOT prepared for. I did my best but could only muster 3 fish out of that day. My boater cleaned house and got his limit and then some. I learned from that event and as luck would have it I was paired up with him again this year on the same body of water. Not only did I catch my limit but I outfished my boater. We had a HUGE laugh about it because he remembered last year and saw that I had learned to adapt BIG TIME. Humbling sport because on the very next day I fished a completely different place (different boater) and could only catch 3 fish in a full day fishing. I did not know how to truly handle these new conditions. After some research (and numerous posts on this forum) It turns out that I had the stuff in my tacklebox but lacked the experience to recognize them as viable options under the conditions. I went on to fish my next tournament on Chautauqua and was faced with similar conditions. Guess what. I reacted much better, got my limit and was proud to have adjusted accordingly. Long winded way to say ... be prepared for anything ... keep a positive attitude ,,, and fish the conditions you are dealt. You will be a better angler for it in the long run. Good luck buddy!

One of my favorite colors. Buy them in bulk.

x2 here

Skipping baits - I actually believe the noise helps attract the bass to the bait. Generally the last hit is the quietest anyway. Shallow targets - trees, stumps, laydowns, pockets in weeds etc. Anytime I am trying to hit a specific target shallow I try for a quieter approach. Everything else - Doesn't matter.

You could use a swivel but I haven't had problems without it. As CP stated if you rig your bait properly it shouldn't twist much if at all. My favorite lures for the mojo is the Zoom Finesse and Trick worms. I also have had success with small swimbaits like the Zoom super fluke Jr. Also ... try a floating worm. Z-Tech ... but you didn't hear that from me.

All you need to know is this vid ... This video converted me ... I love this rig.

The guy who swears he knows a "place" where you can ALWAYS catch giant fish! One friend swears that he has a place where I am guaranteed to catch 5+ lbers all day. He always says we should plan a trip "there". Everytime I reach out to go "there" with him there is an excuse. LOL.

x2 I have been playing with these. I will also recommend the Gamakatsu weedless split/drop shot hook in the larger sizes (1/0, 2/0) beat out the others I tried. Most notably the VMC weedless wacky hook. Guard too stiff and breaks after only a few fish.

Trust your instincts. Maybe stepping back and fishing non-competitively is the way to go for a while. Rekindle the love for the sport and when/if the burning desire to compete comes back join another league. The biggest mistake you can make is force yourself into something that does not feel right for the sake of others. I will not bore you with the details (PM if you really want them) but I took a passion of mine and forced it past the point of "fun" to please others. Now I absolutely resent the fact that I didn't leave when I felt I should have. While not exactly the same situation the feelings are comparable. Trust your feelings young Jedi.

Gammy's Skip Gap hooks holds them a bit better but they will still tear apart if the fish is aggressive enough. Here's my 1,2,3 punch to reusing a senko if I am lucky enough to keep it all the way to 3. 1 - Standard T-Rig. Once the tip is torn I either bite off the tip and rehook it or ... 2 - Reverse TRig. I rig it Texas style from the tail end first. Gives it a little different action. 3- If the tail end rips a little but the center is intact then I will wacky rig. This allows one senko to last alot longer and gives some variety in the presentation to boot. As for brands. I am a big fan of the Strike King Shim-e-sticks and the BPS Stick O's

In 2 cases I didn't see it. Just felt the fight (head shake) under the water. With the 3rd I clearly saw it in its mouth. It took two huge jumps. On the 2nd it threw the crankbait right back at me. I will try swapping hooks and keep working at it.

You all have to know that classic Yamamoto commercial. Well ... I had one of those moments yesterday and it made me laugh all the way home. Kid saw me catching fish and came up to me with a "Hey mister, whatcha throwing ..." I explained what I was doing and even gave him the rest of my pack. It took all of my might not to recreate that commercial verbatim. Lol. Have you ever had to channel your inner Roland Martin?

Yup. Agree 110%. Yesterday was the 3rd stable day after the front over here. I caught 4 fish in the past 2 days after work. Yesterday I caught 10 and they were all aggressive.

I am starting to learn to fish with squarebills. Yesterday I got into a few Small mouth using a KVD 1.0. In each case they threw the bait. One time it flew right at my face. LOL. I pulled to the side when I felt the bite and tried to keep the fish down. I was using a 6'6" Medium Fast spinning with 8lb Fluoro. What did I do wrong? Could it have been the hooks too?

In spots generally known for numbers of fish I have been able to only catch a few over the past 2 days because of the conditions you are describing. It never seems to fail ... Crystal clear water, little/no wind, bluebird skies and cooler temperatures always seems to shut them down. My only remedy to that is to fish much slower than I want to ... slow draggin' shakey heads, deadsticked senkos, light line and small finesse drop shots all seem to help me stay out of the "skunked" category.

As Heavy said bring your clear water stuff. I did very well there with a shakey head and trick worm.

Now that's funny!!