Basscook

My son threw a 1/2 ox crankbait and a blue gill hit it. It was a MASSIVE Bluegill, just over two pounds. Thought it might me a state record at the time. It wasn't. But it was the biggest BG we have ever landed.

Will do. And yea. I was probably overthinging things.

Fish Chris: Love the purple worm story, and that has me pegged to a tee. Thanks WRB: That is super interesting and VERY helpful, I will put this too use and it certinly explains a lot. Thanks guys.

I guess what I am really trying to do is simplify my placstic color selections. This year has been primarily June Bug and watermellon. Sometimes one works sometimes the other works. I am just trying to figure our a ryme or reason. Same with lipless cranks. I have natural looking cranks, Babby Bass,, silvers, and fire tigers. Sometimes one will work better than the others. I am just not a good judge of which one to pull first. I fish lightly stained, greenish water, generally either an 8 acre lake, or a local resovour. Advise apricated. Seams like the oposite of whatever I read turns out to be true, and that just doesn;t make sense to me.

Okay, I read everything I get my hands on only to be sure that now, I am going to fish like a pro. Then I come back just totally confused. My latest perplexity is concerning color. I have read that it is a good idea to avoid silver lures on overcast cloudy days, because they reflect the “Grey” around them and blend as opposed to contrast. I have also read that on these darker days, darker lures generally produce more LMB's. On my last two trips out to a small 8acer lake, it was heavy overcast both days. My only results came from a 1/2oz silver cordell spot, and a watermellon worm (6” zoom U-Tail). In my limited understanding, watermellon is a good around choice because the color range is highly visible t the LMB's eyes, even in a little deeper or stained water. Both days, the vis was about 3', and I am not expecting any better visibility on my next trip latter this week. The water is slightly green stained due to all the rain and algae. Usually I have 5-8' visibility in this lake. I bought the firetigers for days just like what I just descibed and the watermellons and silvers for the clear days. Can someone help me understand the science of this? I would like to get a little better at choosing my lures and lines.

I have a Pflueger that I just always endes up in my hands. (On a BP IM6) It is just my comfort rod and it goes well with my main go too bait. Plastics.

I don't know why, but I always go for Zoom U-tails. I will try others from time to time, but these are my comfort worms. Colors I ahve two favs, watermelon, and June Bug. I started with Zooms for the low $, and have come to love the swim action of the U tail. I have added more bass to my bag than any other lure with these, so they will always be in my box.

Thanks BassinB, I'm going to give this PLine a try,

I miss the little farm pond I use to fish. Pulled my biggest bass ever out'a there. I always used plastics, Bommer A's, Rattle-Trap's and Spinners. Truth is, a well stocked farm pond in my opinion is the absolute best place to learn and gain confidence with any bait you want to master. I am simi-new to this myself. In a farm pond, I have learned to use a baitcaster, Rattle Traps, Jigs, and Spinners. Now I can use them with the same confidence just about anywhere I fish. I just gotta find me another small pond.

I got to looking at my Lighting and I begin to question myself, so I wrote Berkley. Here ya'go: Dear Andy, The AMP and the Cherrywood have SS304 guides, while the Lightening rod, even though they are Stainless Steel, they are not SS304. We hope this helps. Best regards, Berkley Customer Service

Well it's over for now. I ended up with a Shimano SoJourn with a AbuGarcia BlackMax. Both fit into my budget, and it feels like a nice combination. I'll start saving for something a little nicer. Thanks for the replies. A

Well. I like it. It is a co-polymer and seems to fish a little deeper than regular mono. It doesn't coil up on me as bad as some other monos I have used. (But it isn't perfect). I don't fish the hi-dollar stuff, so if you are comparing it to Trilene, or Stren, I personally prefer it. I am not sure how it would rank agaisnt the expensve stuff. Everything is relative.

I have a couple of the cardinal spinning reels and have fished them hard without any regrets. As a matter of fact, my first spinning reel was a Abu Garcia Cardinal and I still have it and fish it. It has been 8 years now I think. I even submerged it (Not Intentionally) and had to clean it out. Used compressed air, and Rem-oil and some purple grease used for automobiles. (beat leaving lake water in it). That was 4 years ago, and it will be on the lake again next week. Just about everyone in my house has landed a bass or two on that reel. It has lived happily on a BPS for the last few years, but was on a lighting rod originally. (Top half of the LR was lost, don't ask) Have never owned a Cherrywood, but for graphite composit with SS304 guides, at the price, it sounds tempting. I liked the lightning rod, and would buy another, and not hesitate on trying a cherrywood. Although I do see a lot of reviews mentioning a broken tip. Maybe people who don;t know how to use a drag, or abuse a rod, you just never know. Let us know how that cherrywood rod works out for you. At that price........ I might just have to pick one up myself. I am on a super tight budgt these days. Still gotta fish thiugh.

I did actually e-mail them, and they just replied with a short answer saying that EZ is available in Lo-Vis Green. All the sporting good places near me are out of Lo-Vis, Oh Well.

I am a economically challenged angler trying to get the most bang for my fishing buck. I have had some lightning rods from Berkley and they were fine until I picked up a BPS graphite Series (IM6) for about the same denaro. This has given me the grass in greener syndrome, so I started looking at Fenwick. They have some IM6 Eagle GT's for just a fist full of dollars more. Is there any gain here, or am I just paying for the cool eagle? I am also considering a Vengence from Abu-Garcia. Either way, I am looking $50, which in a BPS, would take me to a Tourney Special (IM7). I really can't put more than about $50 bucks into a rod right now. Fishing 1/2 ounce lipless cranks 6 lb Mono (Spiderwire) 75% bank / 25% boat Largemouth / Smallmouth / Kentuckybass New at this (3 Years in) Pflueger GX7

I am still new to bass fishing, but I am really comfortable with spiderwire EZ mono. However, this year, I have not been able to find it anywhere in a green tint. I also picked up some Ultimate-Mono from them and see that it is only available in clear. (The EZ I picked up was clear/blue) 99.9% of my fishing is done at Normandy Dam, Tims Ford, and Bedford Lake in Tennessee. The water is fairly clear, but with a green tint that seems to get greener as the days get longer. I have ready that clear, can actaully refract light and be more visible than tinted lines. I am assuming that the same would be true for the blue/clear lines. I usually fish with 6lb on my spinning reals , and 12lb on my baitcaster. My quandery is this: Is Spiderwire about to go under, or get out of the mono market? I really liked EZ, the box states that it is a co-polymer. What would be similar. Thanks,

Thanks guys.

Live in Coffee County TN, not too far from Normandy Lake. I have fished sense I was a kid, mostly worms on a bobber for pan fish or livers for cats. Now that I am an adult (in body only), I am rediscovering the sport I loved as a kid. As a kid, I fished for Blue Gill with 20lb test. As an adult with the internet, I am just slightly wiser. The last few years I have been catching crappie with an occation LM. Pretty much using medium BPS rods with Pfluger reel. I now have a AG Bait caster so I can learn to cuss while I fish. Loved the crappie last couple of years, but I am planning on targetting LM/SM bass this year. I have been buying lipless crankbaits, and a few bommer style lipped cranks. My plan is to learn to fish these along with plastics that I already feel pretty comfortable with. Water here is stained, but still pretyy clear, so I have been sticking with mostly lifelike colors. Blue Gill, shad, motor oil, pumpkin seed and the like. Wish me luck. My biggest LM ever was about 6 pounds, and that might have included a little help from me on the scale. Would love an 8+ No boat yet. Still renting when I am not on the bank. There will be lots of renting this year. Planning to fish Tims Ford due to the boat rental out there. Maybe buy a boat next year. Andy