hoosierbass07

I bought a Symetre two summers ago and love it. I was thinking of buying a new one. But now it's getting bad reviews because of the supposedly upgrades? My current Symetre is built solid and works great.

I bought Rick Taylor's Prime Time calendar for 2014 and have it waging on the wall. His "astro tables" calendar is sort of nice. His calendar shows every day of the month and shows the highs and lows of the solar and moon periods. But does it work? To be honest, I've found myself not looking at it more than I do when I decide to go fishing because the most important factors for me for when I go fishing - do I have the time and is the weather good. So, I'm probably not going to order a new one for 2015 but I have already ordered the In-Fisherman fishing calendar that has their "best days to go fishing" information on it. I caught my two big bass and a few other big big in the spring time and only in the spring time. That tells me fishing for big bass is all about the month of May.

Hope so. I ordered some ten pound Mean Green line from Tackle Warehouse last night. I'll either try it this fall or store it and use it next spring.

Is the McCoy knot strength as strong as regular monofilament knot strength? I mean, I caught a nice sized bass in the spring from my kayak using eight pound Suffix mono and pulled it up out of the water a feet or two above the knot and the knot did not break. I know if I was using P-Line Floroclear that knot would have broke. If I try McCoy I want to make sure the knot strength is as good and strong as regular monofilament.

I use EWG 99% of the time. I though I read or saw a video online saying the extra gap gave the bass more room to bite down and become hooked. Not so?

Those Pelican bass Raider boats must be tough. At the Izaak Walton club I belong to, people leave their aluminum john boats out on the ground (chained up) all year long, even in winter. I've seen a few of those Pelican Bass Raider boats too laying around chained up and they look sea worthy to me.

I'm not that tall, maybe 5'8". So maby 6'6" rods are right rods for me. Maybe the next rod I get will be in the 6'8" range. Next time I visit the local gander mountain store I'll see if they have any 6' rods and 6'8" rods and try them out.

The shorter the rod the more accurate you can cast?

I've been using a six foot six inch medium power Fenwick HMG spinning rod most of the summer and have really enjoyed using it. I also have a seven foot St. Croix Triump and I enjoy using that too but not as much as the six foot six inch Fenwick. A few weeks ago I bought a St. Croix Mojo Bass seven foot medium heavy spinning rod. I really like the stiffness of the rod and I'm glad I bought it. After using it for a week I started thinking that the rod would be perfect if it was six foot and inch. Since I really love my Fenwick HMG rod I decided to order another Fenwick HMG spinning rod - a medium heavy six foot six inch rod. Well, it arrived today from Cabela's and I tried it out bank fishing this evening. I have to say - wow, I love that rod! I'm now a believer that six foot six inch rods are the best all around rods. When I pick up a seven foot rod, it can cast a little further but seven foot rods feel a little too big. Six foot six inch feels perfect though. I was using eight pound mono on that new Fenwick and a weightless Yamamoto senko and that rod cast it very nice. Also super accurate. Every time I cast it out that senko felt like a perfect cast. I'm starting to think, at least for me, when bank fishing and kayak fishing, six foot six inch rods are the best out there. Any more rods I buy are probably going to be six foot six inch, maybe a little longer or shorter but I don't want any seven foot rods. Now I'm starting to wonder about six foot rods too. So, what is everyone's favorite rod length for bass or all around fishing? By the way - I think that Fenwick HMG rod is the prettiest fishing rod out there right now.

Yeah, I have some lures that have not touched the water or only touched the water a little bit. In fact, I was thinking about this subject a few weeks ago and decided I need to start using all those lures I bought over the winter even if they aren't the right thing to use when I go fishing. Hopefully this winter I won't get that "urge" and buy more lures when its 10 degrees out in January. lol.

I guess I learned on Sunday fishing from the bank can be just as dangerous as fishing from a boat/kayak/canoe. I've been bank fishing the last two years and kayak fishing the last year. On Sunday the temps were supposed to get up near 70 and I thought it would be a good time to go to my favorite state park to bank fish. However, when I got the park it was raining slightly, windy, and sort of lousy out. I got to the park and went to my number one spot where I caught some big bass in the spring. To get to my spot I had to walk down a steep hill that has loose rocks on it. Anyway, things looked different. The water was higher than normal and that sort of got my mind bewildered some. Things just didn't look normal. But I fished anyway in the wind and drizzle rain. About twenty minutes into this my left foot slipped on a rock and I started to go down into the water. I stopped my falling for a split second but began to fall again and my left leg went into the water and then my left arm and then my left side. I'm lucky by whole body didn't fall into the water. Anyway, I got back up and was not hurt and rod and reel were not hurt either. I fished for a few more minutes but called it a day and went home. I was thinking - Wow, that could have been worse than it was. I was lucky I didn't fall all the way in. I just learned some more information about that park. I was told this evening that a bridge is being repaired past the dam and the dam can not let any water out because the workers need the water low to repair the dam. Add to that we have had a lot of rainy weather the last week. That all adds up to a really high water level at the lake. And that is why my favorite spot looked odd. When I look at the whole picture - lousy weather, me wanting to fish and catch a bass really badly, water level up higher than it usually is, me standing on dangerous loose rocks = that equals me falling into the water for the very first time. I guess the message is - you have to always be very careful even when bank fishing and if things don't feel right or look right, don't fish at that spot.

$150, nice! You might want to start looking for some soft foam stadium seat pads if the seat that came with it does not feel to comfortable.

I think since I started fishing last year, my fishing has gone slightly down hill. Last year all I did was bank fish and I had to find different places to bank fish. The bass I caught were not giants but most were nicely sized. Then over the winter I got a kayak. I've been doing most of my kayak fishing at a local conservation club that has some strip pit ponds. I caught one nice sized big bass in the spring but everything else have been dinks. Really need to find more good spots to go with my kayak. So bank fishing in 2013 - lots of fun and decent sized bass. But 2014 - lots of kayak fishing and only two big bass and lots of dinks.

I'm a member of a nature club with some strip pits and lots of members leave their john boats laying around turned over, not covered up, out in the Indiana snow, rain, beat and cold. I keep telling myself I have to get one of those things. They look tough as nails.

When I look at most of the bass I've caught while bank fishing or in my kayak, it seems most have been within a comfortable easy cast. In fact, I don't really remember catching any bass while making super long casts. The only thing I get from those very long casts is a shore shoulder.

I think next year I would like to start putting a video camera under water and try to record what's down under me. I have a couple of kayaks and a canoe and spend a lot of time on some very clear strip pit ponds. So if any of you out there have recorded under water, what video camera do you use or recommend? I don't have a go-pro and don't really know any thing about them. Do they come with a water proof case that can be put under water to about thirty feet or so? Thanks!

I was at the local Gander Mountain this afternoon and was looking at hooks. I found some small Gamakatus Offest Shankd Worm EWG hooks in size 4 and size 2. I usually use 3/0, 2/0, and 1/0. I have never seen these hooks in size 4 or 2 before. So I ended up buying a pack of each. I'm wondering - do any of you use those small sized hooks for Large Mouth Bass? Are those small hooks big and strong enough for bass? I was thinking of using them with some Slider worms I have and maybe some grubs.

If soft plastics have been around for forty years or more how come the manufacturers haven't come up with a plastic that dissolves when in a fishes stomach? They've had the time, where's the safe plastics at? We can take hard aspirins and other pills that dissolve in human stomachs. The fishing companies can't make safe safe plastic worms for fish? I bet they can if they really wanted to.

I've been kayaking fishing on the weekends the last few months and noticed last Sunday the bass I caught were larger than all the ones I've caught during the summer. I even banked fish and on my fifth cast I caught a bass larger than the ones I've been catching during the summer. That has me thinking - bass fishing is all about spring and fall and maybe what others say about summer is true - summer bass fishing is difficult. Anyway, I can't wait for this weekend to get out and go after them again. I'm hoping for at least one nice sized bass.

Has anybody bought any of the Bassmaster Ultimate Tips and Techniques dvds? I just bought the one on plastic worms and waiting to receive it in the mail. I was just wondering if anybody else has bought any of these DVDs. There are a few others I might be interested in if the Plastic Worm DVD is any good.

I've been wanting to buy and try the Havoc Ike's Back Slide. I keep waiting for the local Gander Mountain to get them in but nope! I guess I will have to order them from Tackle Warehouse.

I have a Shimano Stradic CI4+ spinning reel I bought over the summer. I'm still evaluating it. I also have three Shimano Sahara spinning reels and I really enjoy using them. For the price you can't beat those Sahara's. I also have a Shimano Symetre and I also like it too. So far this year my first Sahara is still going strong even after my nephew dunked it under the water! lol. I tried cleaning it up and oiling it a little and so far it seems to be working good again. I'll admit I bought the CI4+ because I'm a big spinning reel fan and I wanted one of the supposedly best spinning reels made. Last year I made a video on the Sahara's because I was really impressed with them. http://youtu.be/vBZMVADQ7Ns?list=UURluUIrsphVRknzhKZAKLJQ

I get skunked more times than not! But I only fish for toe to three hours from bank or kayak, not all day.

Wow. Sort of cool and freaky too. lol.

When bank fishing I usually only use Texas Rigged and split shot soft plastics like ribbon tail worms, strait tail worms, stick baits (Yum-Dingers/Stick-O's) and lizards. I love Texas Rigged and split shot soft plastics because there is only a small chance of getting hanged up and not getting your lure back. I would hate to get a four to six dollar crank bait hanged up/stuck and lose it from shore. lol. Sometimes I also use small low cost spinner baits like the Booyah Pond Magic spinner baits from the bank too if know the area where I cast is mostly safe.