RSM789

Notice I said "those" old timers, I'm 51 and fighting to stay out of that group as well. You can tell the real old-timers when they try to make a phone call using their depth finder.

Still have the rod & reel, but the hook, weight & Roboworm were soon sacrificed to a sunken Christmas tree.

I don't, I depend on the drag but for a different reason. I like the option to free up my left hand (on a spinning reel) to do whatever may be needed, especially when fighting a larger fish. I have often switched hands with the rod if a large fish makes a run to the left, it gives you an extra couple of feet to cushion the power of the run by switching hands. I really use the rod to fight the fish and don't want to be confined to have to have a hand on the reel at all times. Then again, I'm no Mark Davis...

The only problem with the accuracy of that poll will be the number of 50+ guys who don't spend anytime online. Instead of coming to this website, those old-timers hang out down at the dock or bait shop

I would hate to go out without both. When I first began fishing, I used spinning gear because that is what those who taught me (aunt & uncle) used to catch catfish & bluegill. As I started learning about bass fishing, it was intimated that real bass fishermen used baitcasting gear. Being a teen, I followed the peer pressure and used a pair of Diawa Millionaire setups almost exclusively (which worked out fine since I primarily threw crankbaits & topwater lures). As I got older, I realized it wasn't much fun trying to throw an 1/8" oz. Texas rigged 4" worm with my baitcasting gear, so I began using what worked best for each situation. Lighter lures and/or minimal cover, I'll use spinning gear, heavier lures or the need to drag fish out of cover equals baitcasting gear. It is much easier to be accurate with both setups as long as you educate your forefinger or thumb.

If you promise that the pretty girl on your arm will meet you & your new fishing buddy at the dock at the end of the day, I guarantee you will get some positive responses... Good luck in your search.

Easier. By that, I mean the ability to catch fish is easier. I enjoy the entire process and catching fish is the icing on the cake, although if I was getting skunked all the time, it most likely would not be as much fun. It is enjoyable getting good at things, the theory of doing something for 10,000 hrs. in order to get real good at it seems to ring true. When I was a teen, I only fished with crankbaits & topwaters and catching 5 bass in a day was good and getting skunked happened every few trips. Over the years, I learned other techniques, more about patterns & seasonal adjustments and basically just figured some things out. Now a 30 fish day is good, I have caught larger fish than I did when I was younger and I can't remember the last time I was skunked, at least on my home lake. I still have days when I ask myself "What are these darn fishing doing & where are they?", but more often than not, I ask that question earlier in the day and come up with some kind of answer before I am pulling up to the dock. I do sometimes question whether the increased success is due to me or to improvements in tackle & lures. I have also bowled since I was a teen and fully know that the main reason I now average much higher than I did 30 years ago is based on the equipment & playing surface. I don't have the physical skills at 51 that I did at 21, but see that the experience I have can often make up for whatever drop in ability that may have taken place. Fishing may be much the same, that experience allows you to take advantage of better equipment to get results you never did before.

It sounds as if you are making good pitches right into the fishes lair, hence the majority of bites on the fall. I would guess if you cast past the target (if possible) and dragged the jig through the cover, you would get bit then. With experience, we all tend to figure where the fish may setup in cover and then make casts that exploit that knowledge. You may be just targeting the fish perfectly. If not that, then it may be that you are getting reaction strikes from the fall, that the fish you are catching may not be actively feeding.

I would guess either a turtle or a wombat.

Not only do I fish, I will schedule specifically to fish if we have rain predicted. I think most of the answers will depend on your locale. Here in So Cal, we don't get much rain and when we do, the storms that have lightning are few & far between (usually summertime afternoon monsoonal storms originating in the desert). Add in the moderate temperatures, even in December and you have a situation where rain typically turns on the bite & is not uncomfortable to fish in. Our "storms" are nothing compared to the rest of the country, even if the local news stations report a light drizzle as if it were a Noah sized inundation. In fact, I prefer to do just about any outdoor activity in the rain. Our bigger problem is too many people and even a light drizzle will chase away a majority of our fair weathered population. Be it playing golf on a course that no one else is one or fishing a lake that you have to yourself, the rain is welcome by me.

Hate to break it to you, but that is a catfish.

Out here on the West Coast, there are a couple that I would classify as "non-sport fish": Common Carp (Not the grass carp I have seen others post about) - They are scavengers & fight like a manhole cover. They can get big, but for their size they just don't do much. Usually are only caught on artificial lures when they are snagged, although I understand the Brits fly fish for them; Bullhead Catfish - Little buggers that will clamp down on your finger like an alligator lizard. Feisty for their size, but are too small to target. Threadfin Shad - You could include just about any other type of minnows with them. I know some folks don't consider panfish or other types of catfish as sport fish, I would however. They are good eating fish, but they also are a worthwhile adversary with the appropriate equipment.

Growing up, I would catch bluegill, catfish & stripers with my Aunt & Uncle. They kept & ate everything they caught, they were fishing for food more than fishing for sport (although they enjoyed the process). They didn't abuse the fishery, they released smaller fish, only kept their limit and were stewards of the environment. They saw their fishery as a provider of food (both grew up on farms). When I started bass fishing as a pre-teen, it kind of stunned them that I would release what I caught. They didn't give me a hard time, I think they appreciated the fact that I had learned an appreciation of the outdoors & was just showing it in a different manner. I always looked at fishing, especially bass fishing, as sport, so release made sense for me. As a 15 year old, I even went so far as to order tags so that I could hopefully re-catch some of the same fish & learn about them (I thought I wanted to be a Marine Biologist). My uncle would joke with me that if he ever caught one of my tagged bass, he would use the tag to floss his teeth after eating it. Bass, especially Largemouth, really lend themselves to catch & release. They will bite artificial lures, so less gut hooked fish. They are hearty enough to be handled & released without rolling over dead like many trout. The lack of teeth allows lip landing, which means they don't lose any of their slime coat during handling. The big mouth makes it easier to remove hooks. Of all the fish I know of, the LMB is most suited as a catch & release gamefish. That said, if you like to eat them, more power to you.

I apparently am a little older than you because my answer was Sofia Vergara & Salma Hayek. Too bad my Spanish is so crappy...

I have always felt that the nicest group of people that you will meet in a public setting is inside a Bass Pro Shops (& no, I have no affiliation with them you cynical scoundrels!!). There are smiles on every face and everyone is courteous (both customers & employees), although I will admit I have never been there when they have a "limited to supply on hand" sale. I always tell my wife that BPS is the true "Happiest Place on Earth", Disneyland is nowhere close.

A large percentage of Peruvians are of Japanese ancestry. If you ever go to Peru, it is also odd to see a Japanese face with Spanish coming out of it at 100 miles an hour.

It may benefit him, but in the end, it hurts those who don't speak the common language. In the U.S., one of the easiest ways an immigrant can guarantee that he & his family will never have any financial success is to choose to only speak their native language and not learn English. I chose to not to do business with any company who I see advertising in Spanish here in So Cal. They are putting their business success over what is best for people. Their choice of course, but so is my choice to take my business elsewhere. This catering to the language of immigrants is a fairly new phenomena, those who arrived in this country prior to the 1980's knew the first thing to do was learn the language. As for me, I speak English and a disgustingly poor amount of Spanish despite 4 years of it in high school. My hope is to one day be fluent in Redneck.

If you aren't confident with a Texas Rig, you may want to use something other than a weightless senko. Without a weight, you won't be able to feel the bottom and will have a struggle detecting the strikes, only figuring out you have a fish when the line has moved off (which will result in a lot of gut hooked fish). I'd recommend any other type of plastic that works well when being pulled down by the nose as opposed to the senko which kind of glides & shimmies. We all have our favorites, some straight tailed, some curly tailed, choose something that catches your attention in the beginning, that way you will be more confident with it. A floating worm will be better than a sinking worm, because it will tend to stand tail up. You are actually at an advantage learning to fish a Texas rig from shore because you have a stable platform. When I first started bass fishing, it was from a boat on a lake that was often windy & I never gained confidence in any bottom bumping methods because I could never tell what was going on. It wasn't until I was boat-less for a few years, fishing from shore, that I was able to feel the contour of the bottom & different types of structure did I gain confidence. Once you know what a rock, twig, mud or other things feel like, it makes figuring out what is a strike & what isn't. You will get to the point where you know that your rig has picked up some moss or old line left in the lake on the retrieve. Definitely go with any line other than monofilament & tungsten weights if you can. They will telegraph things better up the line to your hands.

I envision you as a giant bass, striking at the surface lure, missing it and getting hooked in the chin. I pity the guy who tried to reel you in... 35 years ago was the only time I buried one past the barb. I hung a Cordell Spot in a tree and yanked a bit too hard trying to get it free. It came out like a missle & I ducked my head for protection. The lure hit my upper arm & one of the trebles went in past the barb. My buddy drove our boat back to our dock, but neither my mom nor his firefighter dad could get it out. They took me to E.R., doctor removed it but kept the lure as a souviner (he had about 3 dozen in a display case).

Congrats. You are ahead of the curve because you actually had to figure out how to catch your first bass. Many peoples first bass is caught by accident while fishing for something else & they have no way to duplicate what they just did (or what to do in order to catch another). Hope all of the future ones bring just as much joy.

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to catch a fish on both my first & last cast. A small bass grabbed my Zara Spook moments after I began the day, while a nice 3 lb gal sucked up a Senko I had skipped under a dock six hours later. In between, I caught 28 more, so no bad luck for me. I would have kept fishing, but my niece was getting married about 2 hours after that & I wanted to show up in something other than my lucky hat & shirt.

Good question, but I'd likely spend so much time retying that I'd quit for the year out of frustration. Unless I am on a school of fish that is hammering the same lure cast after cast, I rarely make more than 10 casts in a row with the same lure. This is especially true when working structure that I know holds fish, mixing it up every few casts works for me. Can I have 5 rods & reels if they are all the same models?

That & the goober snot on the line up from the hook.

I doubt if the bass thinks a rectal thermometer is so very easy...

So you know how long you can survive in case you fall in... Just kidding. Water temperature, along with the time of year, will give you a starting point to determine where the fish are and how active or lethargic they may be. This in turn leads you to lure choice, speed of retrieve and locations to present your lure. Of course, it never works as you plan, so you end up throwing a Senko at any target you see...