hoosierbass07

Cool Pictures!

I'm going to pick up one or two Rapala DT6 crankbaits. I fish at strip pits with very clear water and also a state park with greenish brownish water here in Indiana. What would be the best colors for clear water and darker water? Thanks!

I was able to go fishing this afternoon so I got my kayak out and went fishing in it for the first time this year! Man, it was so good to be back on the water kayak fishing. I didn't get any bites though. I used a jig, jerk bait and crankbait. I didn't even see any small fish swim around. I did see a turtle sunning itself on a limb and dome ducks swimming around. I threw in a pool thermometer and it read 50 degrees! That was in shallow water. I was shocked. I don't get it - if there was ice on the pond a few weeks ago then how can the water be 50+ now? Does shallow water in small strip pit ponds heat up really fast?

I picked up some Grand Slam Copolymer Fluoro coated 15 lb line while was visiting Tennessee. I got home today here in Indiana and since the weather was so nice I yanked off the 19 pound line I had and put on this Grand Slam. I tied on a practice plug and thought the line handled nicely. Later I want to pond and used a heavy jig and the line handled nicely. Then a Rapala jerk bait and it back lashed some. Then I tried a KVD 1.5 square bill and I could cast it but not that far. One thing I noticed, I could feather the line a lot better than the 19 pound line had on. I would say feathering the line and monitoring the line with my thumb during the cast became 80% simply taking off that 19 pound mono and putting on 15 pound Grand Slam copolymer. Will 12 pound Yo-zuri Hybrid handle even better than that 15 pound Grand Slam copolymer line?

That's a cool video. I need to see people standing sidways in it and fishing sidways before I buy one. I like that new seat they have and having more walking room, but I want to be able to stand sideways and fish and when I reel in a bass, I want to be able to kneel down on the kayak and lip the fish/pull it up to me. So I want side ways standing ability and kneeling sideways or semi-sideways ability in this kayak.

I'm looking to pick this rod up (seven foot version) for $100.00 in the next week or two. I want to put my Shimano Chronarch 200e6 on it and use it to cast crankbaits. I hardly used my baitcaster last year and the year before. When I got it (three years ago) I messed around with it but quickly stopped using it in favor of spinning reels. I'm still a spinning reel fan but I want to use my baitcaster this season too. Right now I have a three year old Vigilante 6'6" Medium rod. I just put fifteen pound Grand Slam Copolymer Fluorocarbon coated line. I'm probably going to pick up some twelve pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid for it later this spring. Anyway, any opinions on this rod? Will I be able to cast crankbaits as small as the KVD 1.5 square bill crankbaits? I can easily cast heavy lures with my baitcaster but I want to be able to cast most of my square bills with my baitcaster. Also, I just tried out that fifteen pound Grand Slam copolymer Fluoro coated line. I tried it out today throwing a heavy jig onto the thin ice and I thought it handled nicely on my reel. But I tied on a Rapala jerk bait and got a small backlash. Then I tried a KVD 1.5 square bill and was able to cast it but not as far as I wanted. This was on that 6'6" medium Vigilante rod. Will that Veritas 2.0 Winch Crankbait rod in seven foot help me get more distance in my casts? Thanks!

Who makes Hi-Seas line? I see on the box it says it is made in Portugal but packaged in the U.S. Is Hi-Seas a real company or does some company in the U.S. buy bulk line from Europe and put their own Hi-Seas name on it? Seeing Bill Dance us it so much I just bought some.

I see a lot of recommendations for that Yo-Zuri hybrid line. I guess I'll either try that in 12 pound or Maxima 14 pound. My original plan was to use 14 pound Sufix Elite mono but a lot of my spinning rods have Sufix elite on them and I'm wanting to try something different.

Ok, I have five or six spinning reels with line from 5 pound mono to 15 pound braid. I have one baitcaster that I want to use with crankbaits, mostly shallow to medium diving, and jigs and spinnerbaits that are too heavy for my spinning rods. So, if you had to pick a line and test for just one baitcaster and you wanted it to be versatile, what line and test would you pick? What mono test would be best for what I want? 14 pound, 15, 17, 19, 20, or 12?

Passed thru Nashville and stoppd at the Bass Pro Shops. Bought a Livingston crankbait that makes three sounds. Yeah, I know its a gimmick lure but I figure I'll have fun trying it out when the fishing is slow. Also picked up some Bass Pro Shops stick baits with paddle tails. Finally one of those Strike King naked rage blade lures.

Would a laser temperature gun work too?

I hoping to get out on my kayak as soon as the ice melts. I'm only going into my second year of kayak fishing. Last spring I waited till it got really warm before I took my kayak out. I don't want to make that mistake again, I want to get in early spring as soon as I can. Being in a kayak though, I have to worry about falling in and hypothermia. So I will only kayak fish in a few small strip pits where I'm not too far from shore.

I felt so nice yesterday (and today) I had to get out and shoot some video. Oh man, this nice weather makes want to get my kayak out. But the ponds are still frozen.

I found this video on YouTube when I was looking up doodling for bass. What a nice fishing show. I think the cameraman for the show is putting the videos up on Youtube. I've never heard of John Shaw or this show before. It's so different from the modern fishing shows on today. John Shaw seems very unpretentious and nice. Don Lovino is good too. So many modern fishing shows have the hosts act super cool and push fishing junk on the view over and over. This video was refreshing. It's nice to see people in fishing shows act like real people like they do in this episode and not the typical demigods we see in modern shows.

I'm going back to the Texas Rig Yum-Dinger. I got away from it last year when I was using the split shot rig almost 99% of time. Except for one large bass, all other bass were on the small side. But two years ago all I did was use the Texas Rig and I did pretty good. So Texas Rig, here I come!

Two nights ago I was at Gander Mountain and saw this awesome gold colored Terminator spinnrebait. I had to have it so I went back last night and bought it. It's the Terminator T-1 in Sunfish color. I don't know if the bass will go after it but I sure do like the color of it. lol.

Speaking of the high sun angle, Iv'e noticed the high sun angle too the last week and we have had more sunny days. Plus, I noticed the squirrels are running all around the back yard the last week like a switch was turned on and they are getting ready for spring.

My three ice fishing adventures did not turn out so good. Drill one hole and nothing, drill another and nothing, drill another and nothing. I kept thinking - man, if only this ice were gone and I could get out my Texas rigged worms.

I'm near Terre Haute. From the Weather Channel site: March 3 (45/24), 4 (24/7), 5 (17/-2), 6 (34/16), 7 (43/21), 8 (43/27), 9 (44/26), 10 (49/30), and 10 (52/31). Yeah, the ice will not be melted for most of the month but still - the temps are rising so I say we are in spring time!

I know the real northern states may still get some bad weather but here in Indiana the weather forecast is calling for temps up in the lower 50s next week. So we have one more week of cold weather and then it looks like it's going to start warming up in lower 40s to lower 50s. I can't wait to get out my plastic lizards and Texas rig them and do some bass fishing once the ice melts! No more ice fishing for me. Bring on the spring time weather! My crankbaits are ready, spinnerbaits are ready, now I have to get my early spring soft plastics ready. I guess I will start out with small worms, lizards, and grubs and jigs. Oh, and spring training baseball begins on Tuesday too! Bring on Spring!

How about this - last spring (early spring) I went to a strip pit (with very clear water) and saw lots of small bass in the shallow water in the sunlight. Since I saw lots of small bass there, does that mean the larger bass are also moving around and getting read to spawn somewhere in the pond? I was only bank fishing at that time and the only bass I saw were those small ones getting some sun.

Here is how I started out bank fishing for bass a couple of years ago - one pack of soft stick baits (Yum-Dingers five inch size in Watermelon Seed color), one pack of Berkley Power Baits seven inch worm in a junebug color, and one pack of cheap five inch lizards in a junebug color, two packs of bullets weights (1/8 oz and 3/16 oz), and one pack of 3/0 wide gap or extra wide gap hooks. All I did was Texas rig those three soft plastic baits and I caught a nice amount of bass at a state park fishing in the evening time and city parks too that the DNR stocks bass in. I used two spinning reels/rods with eight pound mono and six pound mono. With those three different soft plastics I was able to present a soft stick bait in a watermelon color, a longer darker color worm, and a lizard that is very effective in the spring time. So three different looking soft plastics and two different colors. I wouldn't wast my time getting a baitcaster. Stick with a decent spinning reel - far more versatile and user friendly.

With all the talk before, during and after the classic of this lure I just had to get one. Marketers won again! lol.

When you use jigs that have those weed guards, do any of you trim them? I've seen a few videos and read a book that talked about trimming those weed guards to help hook ups. I was wondering how many people actually do it and if it really is necessary. Will not trimming any of my jigs with weed guards really cut down on the bass I catch with them? I've not used jigs much. I did not use any jig with weed guards all last year. I'm planning on trying jigs this spring and summer. Thanks!

I think the next big thing will be affordable small motors to go on these yaks. After that it might be putting a standing platform on the front of these yaks. I don't know how they might do it, but a sit-on-top kayak with a nice round standing/casting area at the very front of the kayak, sort of like bass boats, would be the ultimate cool thing to come out next.