hoosierbass07

I went fishing today for an hour or so. No bites at all.

I think I saw that episode. Actually, I think Doug Stange does that a lot in that In-Fisherman show. He makes reeling in his lures exciting every time. lol.

Ever since it's really cooled down I've not caught anything either. I hope to get out this weekend if the weather becomes stable. I've not caught a bass over a month and I hate the feeling. lol.

Are jigs primarily a heavy cover lure? Also, isn't a spinnerbait a jig but with a V wire and blades? If you simply reel in a spinnerbait and bass will go after it (hopefully) why can't jigs be reeled in like spinnerbaits? I was reading the latest Bass Master magazine and there is an article on one of the pro's, they spend the day with him at an unnamed lake. He caught five or six bass and most were caught on jigs in very deep/heavy cover like tree trunks under water. So is that where jigs work - very heavy cover?

I'm not throwing my jigs away. I'm taking a break. I have been giving great thought on why I have not caught many bass using jigs. One thing I have not done with jigs is throw them into heavy cover. The places were I banked fish at a state park during most of the summer does not have much cover. Maybe some tree limbs here and there but no thick grass or weeds. I did recently join the local Izaak Walton League and their strip pit lakes have lots of grass. I've not used jigs in the heavy grass yet so maybe I should try jigs there.

This is the first year for me to fish since I was a kid. I've tried reading articles (books and online) and videos on all the different types of lures used to catch bass. 99% of the bass I have caught this year have been on plastic worms/lizards. Two bass (in the spring) were on jigs and one on spinnerbait. I quickly learned the power of plastic worms. I've also come to the conclusion (that I severe the right to change) that jigs don't work as nearly as well as I read about or see about, at least not the places I fish here in Indiana. My brother said jigs were meant for larger fish and not average/smaller sized bass. I don't know. All I know is that I have thrown plastic worms a lot and they work. During summer I would start with a plastic worm and then, after catching a bass or not, move to a jig for a bit, then move back to a plastic worm. I've had horrible success rate with jigs. I went fishing for an hour this afternoon at a club and talked with two guys and asked them if they ever catch anything on jigs. One answered - It takes lots of patience. I went to Gander Mountain this evening and talked with one of the men who works at the fishing department. He's an older man that sounds like he has fished many years. I asked - Do you fish with jigs? He said the only thing he uses are plastic tubes and he guarantees he will catch more fish bass than I could on anything I throw! In my opinion - Plastics: A+; Spinnerbaits: (not sure yet but maybe a C); Jigs: F I'll admit I did most of my summer fishing at one lake that is not known for very large bass. Anyway, I never thought I would do this because I find throwing jigs fun even though I don't catch anything on them - I took them out of my tackle bag. Right now my bag is made up of lots of plastic worms/lizards/tubs/creatures, ten or so spinnerbaits, and that's it. I may add a rattle bait and crainkbait. The jigs are staying home my next few trips out to fish for bass. Maybe jigs are more for lakes/ponds that are known to have giant bass, like those in southern states or California.

I was at Gander Mountain this evening wanting to buy some new plastics. I picked up some Berkley Havoc Grass Pigs because it was mentioned in this thread. Not too expensive too. Can't wait to try them some time in the near future.

I'm a newbie fisherman and I'm into catch and release. I'm not into hunting but I will admit I would love to have a bass hanging on the wall in the living room. If I catch a giant bass some day I might take it and get it mounted if I can afford it. Aren't there millions of bass in the U.S. alone? So what's the big deal if I LEGALLY catch a monster and get the real thing mounted? Granted, I wouldn't do it every time I catch a big bass. I only want one or two bass mounted sometime in the future.

OK, my three main reels are a Shimano Sahara with eight pound mono, a Shimano Symetre with ten pound mono line and a Shimano Chronarch with twelve pound mono line. I go after bass only right now. Here is the thing - I want to ditch the baitcaster and replace it with a spinning reel. I'm going to keep the baitcaster and will keep using it but only occasionally. I really love the performance of spinning reels and for the areas I fish I'm starting to see less and less need for a baitcaster and the troubles that seem inherent in them. With my two spinning reels I can cast for distance and accuracy both light, very light, medium and slightly heavy lures. I want to replace the baitcaster with twelve pound mono with a spinning reel with twelve pound mono. I'm not wanting to spend a lot either on a new spinning reel - $60 to $110.00. So does anybody have any suggestions on a low price but good spinning reel in the twelve pound mono line range that would be good for bass? I would like the reel to be able to handle twelve pound and up: twelve, fourteen and sixteen. Any recommendations? Thanks

How big it felt? I felt like a bass.

A few days ago I was fishing on a small lake/pond and only had one good bite. I was using a Texas Rigged plastic worm, Yum, five inches long. I didn't know I had a fish on the line until I reeled it in closer and could tell the line was moving sidways when I was not moving. When I noticed that I started reeling in and a few seconds later the bass (I assume it was a bass) let go. What I'm wondering is - was this fish hooked and shook the hook or did it only grab the back of the worm (tail) and held on for a while but let go? Do bass even do that - grab the tail of a worm and hold on tight and let go when it realizes it can't win the fight? I did not set the hook. That's something I probably need to work but I don't yank on the rod upwards much. Thanks

I went to Gander Mountain and they had 25% off their Frabill Conservation series nets. I bought one that was rubber coated and around 20 X 23 inches. The man working the area said it was plenty big enough for the bass here in Indiana. I would eventually like to go after some fish that have some teeth. Walleye and others if they are around my area (I'm not sure if they are around here). Looks like a decent net so hopefully I can get a few seasons out of it.

I'm wanting to make my first net purchase. I read it's better to get a rubber coated net so that is what I'm after. What I'm not sure about is the size. I'm only going after bass right now and that would be the main use of the net. What is a good sized net for bass fishing? I don't want to order one too small or too large. I will be doing most of my fishing from a canoe or bank fishing. Thanks

What size of net for bass should I buy?

I should add that none of my lines have broke while reeling in the bass. It's always been right at shore or on shore when I grabbed the line. That goes for both the six pound Sufix and eight pound floroclear. So I guess it is me more than the line. So I will have to learn to keep my hands off the line. I find it difficult to hold the reel by the handle with one hand and stretch to lip the bass with my other hand. How is it safely done?

I'm down to two knots - improved clinch knot and palomar knot. Since I always use the improved clinch knot while Texas Rigging fishing, 99% of my bass have been on the improved clinch knot.

Since I'm usually throwing a Texas rig, I think about how that plastic worm looks in the water and if it is rising off the bottom too much or too little.

When I started in the spring I changed out two or three times until I found a good set up - six pound clear Sufix Elite that was my main bass catcher, on a spinning reel. Also eight pound clear P-line floroclear that did the job. But I was mostly fishing at a lake/reservoir state park bank fishing and those lines could handle the bass. As summer has moved forward I have found more and more places to fish that have larger bass. Looking back over the summer, I remember a few more times when that Floroclear broke. I remember using that six pound mono Sufix in early spring and holding the line in my hand with a bass on the line and it not breaking. I'm starting to think that Sufix mono line is very good mono. I'm starting to get suspicious of fluorocarbon and knot problems.

So I yanked off all my P-line floor clear from my spinning reel and baitcaster. Got new line on all three, all lo-vis green mono. 8 pound Stren on one spinning reel. 10 pound Stren on another spinning reel. And 12 pound Sufix Elite on my baitcaster.

Is there any fluorocarbon or hybrid line that does not require to be wetted before cinching the knot? I'm not a fan of using saliva on line. My thinking - if a line is good why do I have to wet it in the first place?

I'll have to check out yo-zuri. I don't think the local Gander Mountain sales it though. Have to get it online. What kind of knots can you tie with yo-zuri? Can the improved clinch knot be used with yo-zuri?

Well, when I got the eight pound P-line floroclear hung up on brush or something in the past I usually had to pull very hard before the line would break. I will admit I don't like wetting lines and I only wetting the P-Line sometimes. Hmm, the more I think about it, maybe it is the knots that are breaking. Anyway, I'm going to take it off my spinning reel and put on ten pound Stren mono low-vis green. My brother says Stren has been around for fifty years and is good stuff. I had the P-Line on all summer anyway, time for a change for fall.

I went, for the first time, to one of Indiana's best bass lakes - Lake Waveland. My brother and I took the canoe out this evening on the lake. I still consider myself a newbie to bass fishing. I started this spring. Anyway, I was using a Texas rigged Yum plastic worm and using eight pound P-Line Florclear. After about twenty minutes of casting I thought my lure was snagged. Then the drag started letting line out. And I was confused. I seen a fish jump and I knew I had a bass on the line. So I reeled it up to the canoe and then grabbed the line with my hand and right then the line broke! And this bass was the biggest bass I have ever caught or almost caught! Now I got thinking - a few weeks ago I was letting my nephew use that same rod and reel with the same line. He caught a big bass bank fishing and when he reeled it to shore I grabbed the line so I could lip the bass. But right then the line broke and the bass jumped back into the water. So what is the deal here? Am I the cause of the line breaks because I'm grabbing the line with my hand? Is it because I'm using eight pound line? Is it the P-Line Floroclear line? Should I be using ten pound line? I will admit when I started fishing this spring, the bass I caught could be easily caught on six pound line. Now I've joined a club and have access to larger bass and am using my canoe more to find larger bass. Should I be moving up to ten pound line? My main bass catchers have been two spinning rods, one with eight pound line and one with six pound line. Also, could it be my knots? I tie the Improved Clinch knot 99% of the time. I know one thing - I don't want to lose any more big bass because of my line/knots breaking. Opinions?

This is my first year of fishing. So I'm not certain what all the baitfish are. I assume there is shad in raccoon lake state recreation area (were I have done a lot of fishing). I recently joined a local club and have access to strip pits that are very clear (at least more clear than raccoon lake). I know there are crappie in the lakes/ponds along with bass.

This is my first year bass fishing. I've caught most of my bass on plastic worms. If I don't throw worms then I throw jigs. And my success with jigs is horrible. Looking back, I started fishing in spring, summer, and now fall. I think I have only caught two bass on jigs. With my plastic worms I Texas rig them and cast them out, pull my rod up and lower it, reel in some slack and do it over again. I lift my rod up to about 11:00 or 11:30 or 12:00 position. When I have been using jigs I've been using them almost like I use my Texas rigged plastic worms. I have some trailers on some of the jigs I use. I cast it out - let it sit on the bottom for five seconds, and pull my rod up to around 11:00 position. Am I pulling the jigs up too far off the bottom? I looked on youtube and watched a couple of Bassresource videos on jigs. One says he only gives the jigs little twitches. Could that be the main reason my success rate is so bad with jigs? Am I working them too fast? I will say that I work them almost as fast as I work my Texas rigged worms. The jigs colors I use are mostly dark/brown colored. I've been using them on twelve pound and eight pound P-Line floroclear line. I'm starting to think jigs are only good for bass in southern states and not here in Indiana. Anyway, I would be grateful for any advice.