hoosierbass07

So the general thinking is that during spring/summer, when it it warm/hot out, when it rains that cools the top water off and the bass will come up to the top water to cool off. Correct?

When you retrieve a Carolina rig, do you have to do it only with the rod sweeping left/right/up or can you retrieve simply by reeling it in? What's the difference between sweeping with the rod and reeling it in?

Congratulations! After I bought my green Ride 115 I noticed they also had them in that dusk color and I thought that dusk color looked very cool. If I get another Ride it will definitely be in that dusk color.

Oh man, at first I get a high then I get kicked in the stomach. I caught my first fish for 2014 today. I went to a city park that is stocked with bass and trout. I have not had any luck there this year for bass but heard and saw videos of people catching trout already. So I went for trout. I was using a pinkish rooster tail and I manged to get my first fish of 2014. It was also my first ever trout I have ever caught. So I swing it in and it flaps around a lot. I lay it on the ground and try to hold it down in the grass so I can take the rooster tail out. It flips more and throws the rooster tail out of its mouth. I finally grab the trout and hold it up for a few seconds to look at it. It was bleeding a tad from the mouth. I put it back in the water and it flips upside. I turn it back over and hold it a few seconds and then it swims off. I thought - sweet. Then I see it again and it flips over and after a few seconds sinks to the bottom and dies! What is the deal with these trout? Last year my nephew caught a trout behind a dam and I was with him. That trout had a hook deep in it's mouth and after we got it out we put it back in the water and it flipped upside down and died. So, I get my first fish of 2014 but it dies on me! I do have my trout license. But still, it would be nice to catch those pretty fish and be able to release it healthy and all. I'm wondering, are trout stocked mostly for people to catch and take home and eat? Also, am I doing something wrong? Thanks

That's interesting. Is there a name for that when you go through the eyelet twice? Super Improved Clinch Knot?

Going into my second year of fishing I'm discovering the quickest knot to tie (when using mono) is the improved clinch knot. I tie two knots, the improved knot and the palomar knot. I know the palomar knot is super strong. I know the improved clinch knot is also strong but I'm not sure how strong. I'm wondering how many of you use the improved clinch knot almost all the time. Lets say you are taking a trip to lake known for big bass and you are almost guaranteed to catch some big bass. Would you use the improved clinch knot with your mono line?

Does the Bassmaster site have any maps with the lakes the Elites compete on and the boundaries they have to stay in? I've looked and can not find any. When I look at a map of a lake they fish on I usually see many smaller streams/creeks or the river getting smaller at both ends. I'm wanting to know the boundaries the competitors have to stay within for each lake they compete on. Does Bassmaster make that public?

If the guy can figure out how to produce giant bass on a regular basis and then figure out how to do that in Indiana lakes and ponds, then I say good luck to him! Share the knowledge. Although he will probably sale the knowledge. The article mentioned poachers in Florida. I was wanting to know more about that. You think people knew about the giant bass and snuck to the lakes/ponds to catch them so they could claim to catch a giant bass? Or did they simply want to sabatage and murder those bass to be mean?

During this time, do bass move or check out the shore/shallow water during morning time, mid-day afternoon, or when the sun is going down or anytime?

I'm in west central Indiana and I went to my a pond/lake at a club I belong to. This is a strip pit lake so it is very deep and clear. I used a new pool thermometer for the first time and took some temperature readings from the surface. The pool thermometer floats so it reads the temp only eight or so inches down. I had my thermometer on my baitcaster so I casted it out about teen to fifteen feet. Anyway, the average temps were around 46 to 48 degrees. I took the temp right up near the shore and it read around 48. The air temperature was 60 F. and it was around 6pm. So what do you think the bass are doing? Do bass visit shallow water in 48 F. water? Are they moving up but suspending in deep water? Here is what I'm thinking - I won't be seeing any bass near shallow water until three weeks or so from now when hopefully the water temps at the surface reach 55 or so.

I read/scanned the article in Bassmaster magazine. That's a good point - is it ethical? I say if you catch a world record bass in a pond that was specifically made like the article, I say it should not count. That would be like going to a zoo and shooting an elephant then saying on facebook - I went hunting and shot a giant elephant!

I'm in central west Indiana and a local TV station did a story on the harsh winter and fish. Some guy said to expect all the bass to have died in small ponds/lakes because of the harsh winter! I don't know if he meant only very small farm ponds or even larger ones. I've been to a lake and city pond the last few weeks and I have not seen any dead fish floating.

I would love to go fishing with President Jimmy Carter.

I guess I'm not a big fan of any but those I would like to go fishing with or get my picture took with - probably Bill Dance. Shaw Grigsby seems pretty cool too.

Last fall I bought Rick Taylor's Prime Time calendar. It was in the fall and the site had a deal - the 2013 and 2014 calendar for around $20 or something. Anyway, I have to say it is fun looking at them from time to time. Do they work? Probably not or if so then there are a thousand other things probably more important. Or maybe there is only one thing important, the weather! Anyway, I think it is fun to look at from time to time and I will probably buy the 2015 calendar when it comes out.

There's an episode of Hook and Look (a few weeks ago) where the host is fishing in Chattanooga and he gets a treble hook in his finger. Wow. Maybe that's one reason I hardly used anything with treble hooks last year. I do remember looking at the fishing stuff in Walmart and I started talking to another guy looking at the stuff. He told me he only use single hooks and never has to worry about getting treble hooks stuck in his fingers.

Does anybody watch the Lunkerville TV program? I've come to enjoy it. Although I don't really care to see any more Mountain Dew contest winners on that show, it is a fun show to watch. It is refreshing to see someone on TV who is not pushing fishing lures/boats/motors down the viewers throat and is more interesting in simply getting people out and enjoying the great outdoors.

I was as Gander Mountain tonight and they had a couple of pairs of waders but they didn't have boots on them. If you buy waders with no boots and then buy water proof boots, how do do you keep the water out of the boots?

I would like to purchase some fishing waders for this spring and summer. I want them for two reasons - one to use with my new kayak. I'm thinking this spring the air will feel warm enough to get my kayak out but the water may still be too cold to get wet in. So I want some waders to have on to protect me from the cold water while I'm on my kayak. Second, I simply want some waders to wade in creeks. Any suggestions for some affordable and effective waders?

I think the general consensus is: No, there is no cure! I want every freaking soft plastic made!

I've never cleaned a or cooked a fish before. I want to catch some Crappie this year and try to clean them and cook them up for the first time. I was at Gander Mountain a few days ago and they had a fish cleaning DVD but I didn't want to spend $14.00 for it. I was wondering if any of you had any good DVDs or know of some good online videos that show how to clean a crappie and cook it up? Thanks!

With snow showers coming tonight? lol. No way. I probably won't try them till mid-April or later. Hopefully it will start feeling like spring once April gets here but we have snow-showers coming tonight.

I'm not sure what it was called.

When you are asleep and dream of waking into a gas station to buy your customary Diet Dr. Pepper but the pretty girl behind the counter pulls out a bag of Yum worms and tells you they work great, then another pretty girl behind the counter pulls out another bag of plastic worms and tells you they work great. Seriously, I had that dream last month.