VABasser

Haha, I was in BPS in Baltimore too with my dad. We left over $400 poorer but it was money well spent. The bait monkey got us good.

If I remember correctly this was in a Bassmaster a couple months ago. They had an article about it. I could probably go dig it up but I'm feeling kinda lazy. I think they said it wasn't 100% sure it was a legit photo but it most likely was. Its been exam week though so my brain might not be functioning properly.

Thanks guys. I'm going to BPS this weekend so hopefully they'll have both rods there and I can test them out. The baitmonkey will be turned loose.

I need a new casting rod and right now its a toss up between those two. I think I'm leaning toward the Compre but still not positive. Just wanted to get others opinions on both of these. And does anybody know if BPS would be likely to carry these in store because I'd rather not pay the shipping from ordering online. Thanks

Thanks for posting that. I was looking for a new spinning rod and reel as well and that is a real good deal I don't think I can pass up. One question, I'm not sure whether I should get a 6' M or 6' 6" M. I will almost exclusively use it for Smallies and Largemouths. I don't need MH because thats what my baitcasting equipment is for. Probably I would be using it for light soft plastics, maybe some Rapala floating minnows and other small cranks (not too much though I'm not a big cranker), light jigs as well. Hopefullly that is enough info, any suggestions soon would be appreciated because I don't want that deal to go away.

Just saw this thread and think its a good idea. I'm in

Thanks for all the help guys. Right now I'm leaning towards one of the new Curados (mine is the older model) and for the spinning reel a Symetre or Stradic. Not positive yet but that is a starting point at least. I'm going to look around on Ebay for some good deals so that could also influence my decision. Thanks again.

This is a two part question, first about a new baitcaster and second a new spinning reel. I have a Curado right now that has done good for me but I haven't fished any other real high end baitcasters to compare it to so I'm not sure if I'm missing something or not. I want another baitcaster about the same price range as a Curado would be. I have no problems just getting another Curado but like I said above I just don't know if there is another reel out there that is better for the same price. As for spinning reels I'm looking to upgrade mine to something nicer. I want a quality reel that will last me for many years but I don't want to shell out a ton of money considering I'm already getting a new baitcaster and a few new rods. Any recomendations on either of these I would appreciate because as of right now I'm pretty undecided about what to buy. :-/ Thanks

I was actually going to say the same thing. From my experience that has seemed to be true. Obviously there are exceptions, sometimes you get a really feisty bass (lm or sm) that think they're twice their size. The biggest smallie I've ever caught was about 4 lbs, and he put up one heck of a fight.

Tiki Sticks and Yum Dingers to name a few. The tiki sticks are at wal-mart for like $3 a bag, way cheaper than Senkos and more durable. I've caught fish on both Senkos and Tiki Sticks, hard to say whether there is a real difference but buy a few bags of each and try them out and see.

I have some of the same ones you all do. Another one that I guess is indirectly a fishing habit is I get so used to backing my boat and trailer up and turning the steering wheel opposite to where I want to go that when I'm just backing out of a parking place or my driveway I find myself doing the same thing. Until I realize I'm backing up in the wrong direction and quickly change back to normal backing up. I hope that made sense, lol.

I generally think you weigh them through the gill slit like you said, I'm sure tearing a hole in their jaw is not good for the fish. If you were going to keep it then I guess it wouldn't matter. But I'm curious to see how most people weigh the fish with scales that have the hook not the clamps.

I usually use 30 spf, I think thats good enough though you should reapply a couple times if you are out for a long time. I'm sure any brand is fine though I prefer sunscreen that is a little more runny, it doesnt feel like you are rubbing toothpaste onto your skin so much then ;D. Sunscreen helps from getting burnt but can't totally prevent it. I know when I lived in Hawaii you just accepted that you would get burnt some when you went to the beach for most of the day and its the same when I go fishing. I just try not to get fried out there and keep the burn to a minimum. So what I'm trying to say is that you will still get tanned even when you wear sunscreen.

Me and my dad keep most of the panfish we catch unless they are really small because then its just a waste of time to spend the time to clean it just to get a couple bites. Sometimes if I feel too lazy to clean the fish I just throw them back. As for bass, we do keep some. Though during the spawn we always throw all bass back. If I catch a nice bass I feel kind of guilty about keeping it so usually throw it back. I'd say any bass 3 pounds and under I would consider keeping if I wanted to eat some fish but if I caught a real lunker, just some pics and measurements/weight would be good enough for me .

I've got a 15 ft canoe I sometimes fish out of and we put a 30 pounds thrust Minn Kota on it and it gives you plenty of speed. I would also suggest an optima battery because there is no chance of leakage. This will work fine but its still a pain even when it is just a little bit windy because the sides of the canoe act like a sail and you're halfway across the lake before you know it (well not literally ). Canoes can be good for some situations but its sure nice to have a boat as well. We used a setup similar to basscats to mount the TM on.

Hmm, does it come with a trailer? If not then you are gonna have to buy one. If the boat doesn't leak, the motor runs good then $800 sounds fine, especially if the trailer comes with it. If you're fishing in Oklahoma then you would most likely have to get it registered there. Check and be sure of the rules because I'm just guessing, I live in Virginia

If I was you I would look into a used boat because $2000 for a new boat isnt gonna get you much. Plus I just think that you get a lot more boat for your $$$ if you buy used. I recently bought a 1991 15ft Lowe 150. Its got front and rear decks, livewell, console, etc. all that good stuff. So basically a little aluminum bass boat. It came with a foot controlled TM, 9.9 hp evinrude, fish finder and trailer for $2000. The actual boat is in fine shape but the carpet is looking pretty ragged and needs to be replaced (a summer task). I think we got a good deal on it overall and its a good boat for the smaller lakes and reservoirs I fish a lot around here. I would suggest you look around on ebay, there are a ton of boats sold on there and you might find a good deal. Also check the classifieds in you local newspapers. You could look around for a used smaller aluminum bass boat like the one I described or you could go with a jon boat. Make sure the beam is plenty wide (I wouldnt go with less than 48 inches) to give you stability. You might be able to find a jon boat with decks already in it, if not then you will have to do that yourself and it could take you some time. So thats just my two cents but I'm sure there are others on here that can help you a lot more.

Looks like you did a nice job cleaning her up. I know what you mean about the bad weather, I live in Fredericksburg so we're gettin the same stuff you are. Sunday is looking decent but the rain won't have helped the fishing and then its back to school for me as well. Oh well theres always next weekend.

Well the most obvious way is they are stocked also. Maybe just stocked way back when and have been left to reproduce by themselves. But I know what you mean, I've seen dinky little ponds in neighborhoods that are more drainage than anything else that have bluegill and bass in them. And also golf course ponds, I don't think the golf course would stock their ponds. lol. I always wonder how they got in there. Maybe some enterprising angler threw some in. Bluegill and bass are pretty hearty so I don't really wonder how they live in those ponds but just how they got there. :-/

Sounds like good advice AINT TEXAN, one question, how deep did the crankbaits you were throwing run. Thanks

Thanks guys for the replies. We were mainly working a shore of a pretty big cove that we saw all these big bass on. We would slowly work up it, casting from a distance and then moving in closer and casting directly to the beds. Then we might go fish the other side to give the bass a rest and come back later on, but it was still the same. We fished the same water on Friday and I caught a nice 3-4 pounder off a bed (dont know exact weight, didnt want to leave her off the bed but for a couple seconds) and my dad caught a 2-3 pounder in some grass. We didnt see as many beds that day or as many big bass in the shallows, but I know they can be caught. The fish finder we have hooked up to our boat now doesn't give temps, we have one that does but just haven't found the time to rig it up. But from all the reports I've read of lakes in this area, I'd say the water temps are in the 60's but thats just a guess. I was actually planning on making a trip down to Gander Mountain on monday and picking up some lizards, tubes and jigs so I will give them a try when I go back to the reservoir this week. Whopper-Stopper, where were you working the rattle trap. My dad briefly tied one on yesterday but didn't have any luck with it. Thanks for all the suggestions and if anybody else has any, I'll gladly listen.

Hey everybody, I'm new to this site but not necessarily new to fishing although I know I'm no pro. So let me try to lay this out short and sweet. Me and my dad went out fishing at a local reservoir (we live in Northern Virginia) today. Last night a front moved through with some thundershowers and rain but the air temp was still in the upper 70's today with wind gusts around 10-15 mph. We got on the water about 9:00am and fished to 5:00pm. Water visibility about 4-5 feet (with polarized sunglass on ;D). Trolling around close to the shore and on some shallow flats, we saw a lot of big bass. Just big 3 pounders on up to maybe 7 pounds or more. The majority were cruising around or holding next to weedbeds or stumps. A few were on beds though. The only problem with this is that they wouldn't hit a thing. We threw texas rigged worms, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, senkos and even a buzzbait or two. I was able to finally agitate about a 1.5 pounder to hit a spinnerbait as I drew it across her bed. Looking for beds we were close to the shore at times but we pulled off and tried longer casts too. I literally dragged/swam baits within inches of some bass' noses and they just looked at it or turned away. Even the bass on the beds ignored what we were throwing at them. I don't know if they sensed we were there or just not biting. These bass get fished but I wouldn't say they are HIGHLY pressured, there actually wern't many boats pounding the shores considering it was the weekend. So my question to you all is this, do you have any theories on why the bass would have nothing of us today and any other techniques/lures I should try to catch some of these hawgs. Thanks. Sorry if I didn't keep this as short and sweet as I had planned. :-[