Scott F

You might be a Redneck if: -Your fishpond used to be your hot tub. -You’re raising one species of fish as food for another. - When you talk about great mullet fishermen, Granny's name always comes up. - You've ever eaten out of a minnow bucket. - Your wife would rather fish off a bridge than shop for clothes. - You've been to the emergency room more than three times to have a fishhook removed. - Your house catches on fire and you run back in to save the fish mounted on the wall. - Your favorite cologne is Deep Woods Off. - You think "megabytes" means a good day of fishing. - You go fishing with a generator and copper wire. - You fly fish with real flies. - You enjoy playing with bait more than you like to fish. - You can buy live bait and cold beer at your barbershop.

I bought one of the best I could find at the time, a Daiwa Goldcast, for my wife when she started fishing. It was pretty worthless from the start as the drag was totally unreliable. I'd set it, then when she had a fish on, she'd be winding and winding and the drag would just slip. She could not reel in a fish more than 2 pounds because the drag just did not work. I switched her over to spinning gear and she had no trouble. They still sell the same reel today, but I don't know if the drag works any better. I sure would not want one for serious bass fishing.

You should not run the depth finder and the trolling motor with the same battery. The motor will cause interference.

I fail to see the connection between the height of the fisherman and the length of the fishing rod. Fly rods and steelhead rods are both considerably longer and I've never heard of anyone using a shorter fly rod because a person was short. I use 7 foot rods for the increased casting distance they provide. I'd use longer rods if I could, but they wouldn't fit in my truck or the rod box in my boat.

I just bought the Lowrance Elite 5. I got it with a $100 rebate which expired on April 7. I chose it mainly because The map chips are cheaper. The Fishing Hot Spots map chip which has 6000 lakes and covers the entire US is only $99. Maps for the Humminbird are considerably more expensive AND only cover specific regions. If you only fish one state, or only within one region, it's not as bad.

Too much stretch with fluoro. I hate stretch.

I've spent a week on Lake Vermilion chasing smallies every year for the last 25 years.

If there is a better time to choose one over the other, I let the fish tell me when that is. Once the water temp hits 60, I'll pick one, and switch until I find one that works.

Bass season does not open for another month in Wisconsin.

There is no real direct conversion from thrust to HP.

Bass that are on beds do not feed which may be why they ignore your baits. Bass that are very near the shore but are not spawning can be easily spooked. If you are fishing from shore, you have to walk slowly and try not to let your presence be seen or felt. Once they know you are there, it's unlikely they'll hit anything.

I think the local was trying to persuade you into not eating the bass. By and large, bass fisherman release what they catch. Which is why bass are plentiful and don't need regular stocking. I'm sure most of the people who post here release most if not all of their bass. If I could make a suggestion, if you want a meal for the family, try fishing for crappies or bluegill, they taste better than bass.

I'm not sold on down imaging without side imaging. This is the information I've found out about down imaging. Please correct me if any of my information is wrong. First of all, it doesn't show fish very well. For it to work properly you have to be moving. It is not very good in water less than 10 feet deep. It does provide a nice picture of objects on the bottom underneath the boat. If you do locate a nice piece of structure, it's hard to tell if it is actually holding any fish. Plus, because you are moving, you must turn the boat around and go back because by the time you see it, you've driven past it. So what it is good for is showing details of things you mark in deeper water that you must mark as a waypoint so you can try and find it again later. Aside from the increased detail on specific objects, what else can it do that regular sonar can't?

I think that came about because if you have a hidden backlash on your spool, and you make a cast, when the cast gets to the spot on the spool the line will snap and your bait will keep flying. I use braid 100% of the time. I don't pretend that braid is perfect, no fishing line is. I don't fish around zebra muscles, but I fish around rock all the time. I don't have issues with abrasion and I use 8lb on spinning reels and 20 on my baitcasters.

I caught so many fish on a LC Pointer that the short shank hooks broke off. I replaced them with what I had which were long shank hooks and the bait would not suspend anymore.

Spinners are one of the BEST smallmouth lures. I am never on smallmouth water without them. The fish I am holding in my avatar on the left (19 inches) was caught on a #3 Mepps in early April near Chicago. The ones I use the most are plain Mepps (no squirrel tail) in a #3 or 4. Smaller ones, #2, will catch more fish, but often smaller ones and lots of other panfish. I like the plain because they catch as many fish and are cheaper to buy. Everything that swims will hit a spinner. In a river, I throw them across the current or, If you are upstream of a big rock in the water, I throw them past the rock and bring them right to the edge of it and hold them there. The current will keep the blade spinning right in the face of that smallie. People say you need to use a swivel to reduce line twist, but if the lure is working properly, the blade will spin and not the lure so you should not get more than the normal amount of line twist that any spinning reel will add. In-line spinners are often overlooked in favor of newer "hot" baits but they flat out catch fish.

In rivers, the carp stir up the bottom and the smallmouth feed on what they kick up. I look for carp milling around!

Look into the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance. They fish rivers in Missouri for smallmouth by wading, kayak or canoe. No big boat needed. You can google them.

I know nothing about Milford Lake in Kansas, but, you've got to find the areas where the smallmouth will spawn. The temps might be a bit low for a real good bite, but some fish should be moving toward their spawning grounds. Different lakes could have smallies spawning in 1 foot or 10 feet of water. If you can, find out what the major forage is, then match that in terms of size and color. Pre-spawn smallies on my favorite lake are gorging on minnows that are only 1 to 2 inches long. Lucky Craft Pointer 65's are perfect. If your minnows are larger, the 78's or 100's may work better. I find mine, just off shallow spawning flats in water around 6 feet deep. Power fish until you find them. Once you locate them and the bite slows, clean up the rest with a 4" senko.

I like the Yum Crawbug.

"You should have been here yesterday"

It would make more sense if you could see it in reverse.

How about this one? It's a redhorse sucker.

Of course they will. Night crawlers and plastic worms have always been a staple in a bass fisherman's tackle box but worms are seldom found in most lakes. If it appears to be food of any kind, and it has a chance to fit in his mouth, a bass will try to eat it.

Snap Snap Swivel