X-JaVeN-X

Yep, I use all purpose flour in both the batter and in the second bowl that just has flour. The best thing to use if you don't have beer is 12oz of 7-up soda.

LMB tastes great to me (typical white fish taste to me). How I fix them... 1 1/2 cups flour 12oz beer (usually either use Sam Adams or Yuengling) 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp each of black pepper, paprika, & garlic powder - Mix all those ingredients together to make a batter and cover it and let it sit at room temperature for several hours before using it. - Salt and pepper your fillets - Have batter in one bowl and put some all purpose flour in a second dish - Dip them in batter then dip in the all purpose flour (yes this is backwards from normal...dip in the flour AFTER the wet batter) - Fry at 375*F until golden brown Eat it with some tartar sauce that's more on the lemony side than sweet side and you're good to go. I use this recipe for frying pretty much any white fish.

Do you also expect the bag boy at your local supermarket to explain to you how to prepare Coq Au Vin? Most people (barring the occassional surprise) that work these counters are there getting maybe a bit above minimum wage and have no or minimal interest in the product they are selling. They are there to point you to the correct isle and take your money when you check out.

Hey, so still learning the basics and I just got a second spool for my reel (can't afford a second rod and reel now so I figured getting a second spool would be a good way to keep a second type of line at the ready if needed). Anyway, I'd like to know the "proper" way to set proper drag on my reel (Mitchell 300pro spinning). My rod is a Fenwick HMG 6'6" fast action/medium power. I've read that drag needs to be about 25% of your lines lb test. Most people say to set this with a scale, but I don't have one. So, what I did (and this is where I'd like to know if this is acceptable or if I'm missing something) was put some cans in a plastic grocery bag and weighed it on my kitchen scale to get 25% of my lines weight (the line I was using is 10lb yo-zuri hybrid so I was using 2.5lbs of weight). I then just hooked the handles of the bag and began to lift them off the floor until the drag would slowly tick out with the bag slightly lifted off the floor. This felt like a lot of weight to me at the end of the rod. I felt like the rod was definitely getting a work out to lift that 2.5 lbs of weight. Should it feel like a lot of stress on the rod? I also have a spool of fireline braid with a test of 30 lbs (on my secondary spool). 25% of that would be 7.5 lbs. and I don't think this rod would be able to even begin to lift 7.5 lbs, but then again, what do I know? So, what would I set the drag at for the braid or is this rod just too small for using this braid? I've only heard the 25% rule for drag, but are there also rod size rules for drag/line test? Sorry for the ignorance, but everybody that I fish with are "by feel" old timers...and I have no experience yet to do any of this by "feel"....plus I tend to be very scientific by nature and make simple things over technical....oh well...Any advice you guys could give would be appreciated! Thanks!

lol...yea, my father-in-law (who has been fishing his whole life) said "I was gonna be mad if you told me that thing was over 9 lbs (the largest he's ever caught) !"

So, I'm very new to fishing and decided a little while back to try my hand at bass fishing. I'm legally blind and needed something to do to get me out of the house more, as well as a way to spend some more time with the family. Anyway, I caught this bass the other day, and figured I'd share it with you guys. In the grand scheme of things, I don't know if this is a big bass or not, but for me...it dwarfs anything else I've caught lol. Anway, this was my 3rd or 4th time actually being able to go out and fish. This was a quick, last minute trip this past Sunday afternoon. We didn't get out to the pond until about 3 in the afternoon and were just gonna fish for a couple hours. We didn't have much luck. My wife caught a small bass right after we arrived and other than that, I had set up our second rod to try catching a catfish in the pond (we have heard they are there but noone knows what type of catfish is in there). I had no luck with the catfish rod and my wife wanted to do some studying, so she decided to baby-sit the catfish rod and gave me her rod, which was rigged with a weightless 5" senko. I proceeded to fish for about an hour up and down the bank, but only had one bite and it got off It was getting towards the end of the day and I was getting ready to call it quits. I was on the last hop of the senko before reeling it in to recast when I got a bite. It was only a few from shore. Being so close to the shore, I didn't really have to reel him in, Just a few cranks and he was up in the underwater grass/brush at the edge of the pond. I went to lift him out of the water (as I had with the other bass I've caught here), but when I went to lift him, it just pulled out drag...about the same time as I realized this, I saw his head at the surface of the water and he opened his mouth and I kinda double-taked at how huge his mouth was. About this time, my wife (who was further down the bank reading) asked me if I neede some help. I said..."ummm...yea...I think so...go find a net!". We'd never needed net before, so she scrambled for a bit to get one and I was just hoping my new green friend didn't get off the line in the process. So, we finally got him scooped up and this is what was on the end of the line... He was 7 lbs on the nose and 24.25" long. Sorry for the long story! Have a great day guys! God bless!

Just to give a little more info on the pond...It doesn't have a natural source for fish. Fish were put there years ago (as in probably 30 years ago). It was done before my family bought the land. So, the catfish could be anything really. The pond is mostly open with a pretty thick grassy bottom. There may be some sunken fallen limbs near the bank, but very little of that really. Most of the pond is about 6' - 8' deep with one small corner of the pond having an area about 13' - 14' deep (deepest part of the pond and is actually just off of the bank and not in the middle of the pond). The only other piece of cover that I know of is a small boat that sank decades ago. Near that is where we've caught most of our bass. The rest have been near the couple decks that are around the pond. I still haven't been out there yet to try and catch a catfish yet. However, I did catch a few more bass. My aunt, happened to be visiting and saw us with LMB that we had just pulled in. She asked us if we had seen the bass that Riley caught a few weeks before (Riley is a younger cousin of mine...I believe he is 13 or 14). She proceeded to bring this picture up on her phone....I quickly proceeded back to my rod and reel for another cast lol.... Sorry for the quality, it was a cell phone picture...but you get the idea. They didn't weigh it or measure it, but for some reference, the guy on the left (my uncle) is about 6'.

So, I just joined here recently, after deciding to try fishing. I've been learning on a relatives pond. So far I've only gone after bream/bluegill and large mouth bass. I've had great success with both of those (senkos must be made of magic...it doesn't seem to matter when/where in this pond I fish them...the lmb grab them everytime). Anyway, I've been told that there are also some catfish in the pond and have been told stories of "arm-length" catfish being caught in the pond, but nobody knows what specific type of catfish was caught. So, I'm trying to piece together what I need to try and catch a catfish. So far, I built a couple santee-cooper rigs and I have some secret-7 dip bait with team catfish double action circle hooks (8/0 I believe). I figure I can also use that rig for fresh cut bait. However, I'd like to have the option of using live bait fish as well (I would be using bream caught there). This brings me to my question. What's the best type of rig to use for live bream as bait? In my mind, the santee cooper rig would have a nice chance of becoming a tangled mess with live bait on the other end, but what do I know...I've been fishing for all of a month lol. Give me some advice on rigs guys! Any other first time catfishing tips would be greatly appreciated as well!

So, I recently decided to take up fishing to try and find something to do with the family and to get me out of the house more (I'm legally blind and unfortunately I can't do most of the hobbies I used to enjoy any longer). I joined here to start gathering some advice and between the advice here and elsewhere on the net, I've been piecing together a tackle box to get me started. Anyway, I finally got everything in and got some line spooled on my reel. My wife borrowed a fishing rod and reel from her dad and we headed out to a little family owned pond that we were told has some bass and catfish as well as some bream. I was interested in trying to catch some bass, so that's what I've been researching the most. I finally got a chance to go out there with my wife and spend a couple hours. It was a very hot and muggy (eastern NC summers are pretty brutal), and later in the afternoon by the time we were able to make it out there. I had decided on just starting with a Booyah Buzz because I thought it'd give me some practice on just casting and reeling. I spent 20 minutes or so just casting that and playing around with it and getting it to stay on the surface of the water. I never caught anything on this (but I was also fishing on a deck and not much under the water in the way of hiding places for bass). My wife was in the house visiting and getting our daughter settled in (she's 2 years old) during this time. She popped out for a minute to tell me to rig her up one of the senkos (recommended to me here on the forum). I figured that would be something else to learn, so I got her rod and reel and rigged up a senko weightless on a 3/0 gamakatsu offset hook. She still hadn't come out of the house at this point, so I decided to walk down the bank a bit where I had been told would be a good spot for bass as there was an old sunken boat of some sort and a couple fallen trees. I cast out the senko and did what I had seen online. just kinda raised the tip and then let the senko drop to the bottom and wait a couple seconds and then repeat. On my second cast out, on about the second "hop", when I went to left the rod, I thought I was hung on something, but remembered reading that with this lure it would feel like dead weight, so just in case, I set the hook. I then reeled a bit (still thinking I was likely hooked on some debris), but to my surprise I felt a fish start fighting. So, I reeled it up to the bank, and low and behold there was a nice large mouth bass on the end of the line. I got ahold of him (by the lower lip) and quickly realized he had swallowed the hook ...crap! I hadn't planned on keeping any fish that day (even though we were told we were welcome to keep anything we caught), but by the time I was able to get the hook out (I honestly hadn't prepared for this situation...learning experience the hard way), I didn't feel like the fish would make it. He was bleeding bad and had been out of the water a decent amount of time. I made the decision to keep him, so I carried him in the house and dispatched him and got him on some ice immediately. By the time we had done this, my wife was ready to fish (seeing there were actually fish there to catch got her excited lol). So, she went out, and we put a new senko on the hook (the last one was MIA). I explained to her the technique to using it and just like me, on her second cast, she had caught another bass, and AGAIN it swalled the hook. Repeat the above process, and we ended up keeping that one too. So, before going out again, I changed my lure to a Mister Twister G-Grub and we went back out. My wife continued to use the senkos. She quickly caught another large mouth bass (luckily it was in his lip) and we were able to get it back in the water quickly with no damage. A couple minutes later, I caught the largest bass of the day (I think he measured in at just under 18"...don't know the weight, but it was the only one of the day that actually took some drag out). He was easily unhooked and let go. My wife then caught the last bass of the day (it was a very small large mouth) and he was hooked cleanly and we were able to throw him back. So, all in all it was a great time. Aside from gut hooking two bass, it was a success. We caught 5 large mouth bass in probably a 30 minute window (a lot of our time was spend trying to deal with the first two bass that were gut hooked as we ignorantly didn't plan for that). Thanks a lot for the tips and tricks to get us started. Senkos must be made of magic lol. I've already picked up a few more lures that I want to try out (got a couple hula poppers and jitter bugs, as well as a cavitron, and a koppers hollow body frog. I'm hoping for the next trip that we'll have more time and can bring our son with us (he's 7) and maybe get him set up catching some bream with a hook and bobber. Thanks again! God bless!

Thanks for the reply. I actually have already ordered a spare spool from Mitchell (it was $14.xx). Where I have no fishing gear, I'm trying to get a decent set up to get started and where I'm having to start with nothing, a second rod/reel isn't really an option yet for me. I know I want to try some bass fishing, but I also wanted to try to catch some catfish. I have some 10# yozuri hybrid ultra soft on the reel now, but I wanted to put some braid on the spare spool for catfishing (Maybe I don't need this, but it's too late now lol). Thanks again, I will try removing the spool when the spare and braid comes in.

Hey guys, this is probably a stupid question, but I can not find anything on this subject and I can't find any kind of manual or disassembly instructions. I've just recently decided to try my hand at fishing (still gathering all my gear to try for a first trip actually...I think I've got about everything I need to start and hopefully will be going out this weekend), and I have a question about the reel that I've purchased. It's a new model Mitchell 300Pro (black and green model). The thing came with nothing but a parts list (no manual of any kind). I've read that older mitchell 300 reels had a popular feature where you could change out the spool easily to give you a second line option on the fly. I was really hoping that this was an option for this new model, but I can't find any information on the subject. The reel only came with the spool that is on it (no spare like older versions). So...can this spool be changed easily? If so, how do you remove the one that is on it? Does it twist off? If I try to turn it counter clockwise now, it just sounds like it's spinning the drag. Any help would be appreciated here. Thanks!

Thanks for all the replies! I didn't realize there were articles here. I will definitely take a look at them. Those videos sound good too. Hopefully I can pick up some basic tackle this week and give it a try. I think I'm going to try the texas rigged senko setup mentioned by a couple of you. That seems simple enough and seems to be a good working combination. One more quick question...is there a proper way to set the drag? It seems like I've heard people mention before that they set their drag to about 25% of their line weight. Does that sound about right or is there a better "rule of thumb" for setting your drag? I'm assuming I could just hook the line to a spring scale and use that to adjust the weight?

I usually throw my chicken liver in some seasoned flour and then into a fryer, but I guess I can save some for the fish too lol. I remember my grandfather saying that he used hot dogs for catfish (I have no idea if this worked...I'm assuming it did), but I wouldn't know what kind of tackle setup he used. I know what a bobber is...I'll have to go do a quick google search on what a circle hook is haha.

Thanks for that list. Now, I have another question in regards to a basic setup. I've seen various connectors (I don't know the right word here) that go between the line and the hook/lure you're using. Some look like just small rings or little clasps or swivels, etc. Is there specific uses for these connectors with specific lures/baits? Do I need them for plastic worms or do I just tie the line directly to the hook? Is there a good source for what these pieces are called and what their uses are? On the topic of learning specific techniques or lure types...In my reading, I commonly see a lot of terminology being used which I'm assuming are various techniques for catching things. Do you happen to know of a resource that I can check out these terms. When I say terms I mean things like "top water", "drop shot", "jigging", etc, etc. I think I'm looking for something along the lines of a "fishing for dummies" lol. Anyway, thanks for the replies.

That's the kind of direction I was looking for. There being so much information out there, I don't really know the best way to start. Learning it by technique sounds like a smart way to go. That will definitely let me focus my research.

Hey guys, I've decided to take up fishing. Here is a link to my introduction post with more info on my situation/experience (or lack thereof). http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/139077-new-fishing-noobie-from-eastern-nc/ So, basically, I know very little about fishing. I've been doing some reading trying to educate myself on some of the basic terminilogy but it's honestly a bit overwhelming. Anyway, at this point, I have picked up a rod and reel (a Fenwick HMG 6' 6" Medium Power, Fast Action Rod and a Mitchell 300Pro spinning reel) and that is all. I need to know what kind of line and basic tackle that I will need to get me started. The fishing I will likely start with will be some simple cork/hook fishing from brim and I'd like to try fishing for some large/small mouth bass. I think there are also some catfish in a couple of the ponds that I plan to fish in. Is there some sort of "starter kit" that I can buy that has an assorment of hooks, weights, etc? If there is, are they worth buying or am I better off buying individual pieces? There are so many little bits and pieces that I'm really just kind of overwhelmed and would like if someone could give me a condensed list of what I need to start with. Sorry for the really ignorant questions, but I have to start somewhere I guess, hehe. Thanks everyone!

Hey guys...I'm trying to get into fishing. I'm legally blind (severely limited peripheral vision and so-so acuity). I really need a hobby to get me out of the house and this seems to be a great start. It's also something that I think will be fun for myself and my wife and kids (have a 7 year old son and a two year old daughter). We are in eastern NC about 1.5 hours from the Outer Banks. Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning what I can. I'll be heading over to a couple of the other sections right after this post to start nagging you guys with my ignorant questions. As for my fishing experience...I did some fishing when I was much younger. Most of my fishing memories come from either "bottom rig" (this is what I remember my dad calling it) fishing off the piers down at Nags Head. The other fishing I did was from a local pond near my home where we just used cane poles with a hook and cork and white loaf bread as bait to catch brim. That is the extent of my fishing experience and I was so young at the time that the rod and reels were always already set up for me. I just had to put a piece of bait on the hook and drop it in the water. So, in other words, I really know nothing about the sport lol. I've done some research over the past couple weeks and picked up a new rod and reel for myself that I think will get me started around here in some local fresh water ponds, rivers, etc. I got a new Fenwick HMG 6' 6" 1-piece, medium power, fast action rod. I also purchased a new Mitchen 300Pro reel. That is the extent of my fishing gear as of now lol. I'm going to head over to the other section to ask for some advice on what I need to get to get me started. Thanks and have a blessed day all!