Turtle135

The progression of the angler (any fish, many fish, big fish, hard fish). Nothing better to me personally than pulling a lunker out of pressured water.

Cold, muddy water makes for the most difficult situation in the winter. The lack of visibility really shrinks their strike zone and you have to put it on their nose. It sounds like your pond is always muddy? If I encounter that situation I will use a small chatterbait in black and blue and see how slowly I can retrieve it.

I form a loop, slide the skirt under, tighten the loop, come back around one more time, twist the wire, cut

I use 26 gauge green floral wire. It does rust eventually if the jigs are not allowed to dry out but since my jigs are black, blue, brown or green pumpkin it does not seem to matter. If the jig is still good I will strip the skirt and wire and retie. My jigs are not works of art, it seems like the uglier they are the better they work.

I fish through the winter here in Maryland for largemouth bass. I enjoy the challenge and have found you can catch some real slobs in the dead of winter. With cooler water temperatures the metabolism of the largemouth slows down. It takes considerably longer for the largemouth to digest a meal. What this means for us anglers is that at any given time you are fishing for a much smaller percentage of the population than you would be when the water is 80 degrees and the bass are feeding frequently. My personal theory for locating largemouth in the winter is that they do not necessarily flock towards the warmest water in the lake. I have better luck finding them in areas with "consistent" water temperature. The shallows are out as those waters can heat up during the day but the temperatures can drop like a rock on a cold night. Areas that are subject to cold northwest winds in the winter can also experience rapid temperature drops. I believe this is why you will likely find bass with some water over their heads (more consistent water temps). I will look for hard bottom areas 10 - 20 feet deep that have protection from a northwest wind. 50 degrees and warmer: many presentations are in play, bass can be surprisingly aggressive in these water temperatures 45 - 49 degrees: I slow way down with suspending jerkbaits and jigs 44 degrees and colder: I will crawl a jig at a snails pace

Netbait B Bug. I carry 3 colors which seems to cover every spectrum (Alabama Craw, Black Blue Fleck and Green Pumpkin). I use these as jig trailers as well.

I have been bass fishing out of a kayak for 25 years. I would recommend you look for a sit on top kayak in the 11 to 13 foot range. First thing to decide is propulsion (paddle or pedals). Pedals do drive the price point higher. See if there is a place near you that you can get a test paddle in. That is always the best way to go. If a test paddle is not an option, there are many great brands of kayaks out there but the brand I am most familiar with is Wilderness Systems. This is one place with a close out price on a Ride 115. http://www.paddleva.com/shop/all/APP03590-wilderness-systems-wilderness-systems-ride-115-kayak-low-outfitting-closeout-colors Shop around, there may be better prices to be had on the used market. My previous kayak was a Ride 115. They are stable, durable and handle very well in a variety of bodies of water. Because they are popular with kayak fisherman they are relatively easy to resell if you find kayak fishing not to your liking or if you decide to upgrade to another kayak. Good luck!

I fish with monofilament (Trilene XT 14 and 17 pound test) on a baitcaster just about 100% of the time. It works very well for the style of bass fishing I prefer.

I agree with this. As something of a "jig addict" I always have one tied on. What I like in a jig changes from season to season and year to year. I would wind up buying many molds. What I find more cost effective is to purchase finished jig heads and then tie my own skirts. A finished jig with a trailer then costs me about $ 1.50 on average.

Here is another video on cold water outerwear. note: I have a friend who is a kayak fishing guide and he does not like this video because the dunking is done under controlled conditions. In his experience out on the water in winter it may not be quite so easy to get back to the kayak.

With Google Earth you can zoom in and you will see additional little feeder creek channels in the upper end (take a look at the historical images they have saved). Google Earth is free: https://www.google.com/earth/

this image is from Google Earth, one of the historical snapshots they have, see the creek channel?

Have you taken a look at the lake in Google Earth? Sometimes you can see a darker area on the lake that will show you where the original creek channel may have been. I will also scroll back through the years to look at historical images on Google Earth to see if I can glean any information. Regarding the "deeper" I have never seen one of those in use but just about any sonar will pickup changes in depth.

Regarding winter fishing from the kayak. I have been fishing from a kayak since 1991. When I was younger and did not know any better I went fishing in the winter completely unprepared. I dressed warmly enough so that I would not freeze based on the air temperatures. If I had an accident, got dumped and wound up in the water I would most likely have died. Over time as I began to understand what the potential dangers were, I upgraded to wearing waders. Then I upgraded to wearing waders and a "drytop". Both of those options do offer some protection but if you get in a bad situation out there the "Grim Reaper" will come calling. Ultimately I bit the bullet, kept my eyes open for a drysuit on sale in the summer and went ahead and bought one. Fishing in the winter can be very enjoyable. Very few anglers out there on the water and there is something inherently rewarding about being able to still catch a bass on a lure when the water is in the high 30's - low 40's.

That appears to be a base layer (like long underwear). That is not a drysuit if that was your question.

You will hear the term the "120 rule". That is when the sum of the air temperature and the water temperature are 120 degrees or less. A dry suit is recommended because at those temperatures if you get soaking wet you are likely headed towards hypothermia. 1. dry suit 2. dry clothes and a towel in a dry bag 3. a quick and reliable way to start a fire to warm yourself up

While I too have caught bass in the cone of my sonar I have a couple of experiences to add 1. cruising in shallow water (1 - 2 feet) in my kayak I will spook carp when I am actively pinging, if I turn my fish finder off I can slide very close to them without disturbing (these are carp, not bass, but curious none the less) 2. back when I used to fish from a sit inside kayak I could "feel" the pinging where my legs contacted the hull, now that I fish from a sit on top kayak (and have two hulls between me and the water) I no longer feel that ping. Can bass sense what I was able to "feel"? that I do not know my rule of thumb has been to turn off that sonar in less than 10 feet of water but when deeper it is safe to run it 100% of the time

I would consider mounting on the opposite side that you normally land your fish. I always try to get my fish on the right side of my kayak, so if I used a trolley I would want it on the left.

That sounds like the right sized lake to start winter fishing on. You can spend a lot of time out there when the water is cold and the bass are just not in the mood to feed. On a huge lake it is easy to get discouraged, start moving around, fishing too fast and missing that days window of opportunity entirely. I fish a 100 acre hydrilla lake a lot in the winter. Over the course of the winter here in Maryland the weeds on this lake completely die back. I try to simplify presentations when the water temperatures drop to 45 degrees or less. suspending jerkbait: LC Pointer 78's and 100's, cast out, sweep down to depth and let them suspend for up to 45 seconds jig: 3/8th ounce football jigs are the staple of my winter fishing, I present the jig at the speed that a crayfish would walk across the bottom with frequent long pauses

A couple of links that discuss the differences between mono and flouro: http://www.berkley-fishing.com/why-use-monofilament.html http://www.berkley-fishing.com/why-use-fluorocarbon.html

Welcome to Bass Resource and welcome back to fishing! I think Lews make a pretty good baitcasting reel in that price range. I am sure others will chime in with their favorites but I have switched all my baitcasting reels over to Lews. Here is their lineup: http://www.lews.com/castingreels.php Take a look at this one: http://www.lews.com/casting-speedspool.php Also, Delaware Valley Tackle might be able to bring your old reels back to life. They are a site sponsor and they offer a 10% discount on reel repair service for BassResource members: http://www.delawarevalleytackle.com/

I think the the lowest priced kayaks that are made for standing and fishing would be the "Shadow Caster" series and the Ascend FS12T from Bass Pro Shops. Make sure to read the reviews that can be found online about these kayaks before you purchase. You may find you want to increase your budget to get into a kayak that you would enjoy fishing out of more. p.s. - if you are on Facebook check out the "Kayak Bass Fishing" forum and pose your question there, lots of kayak fishing experience on that forum https://www.facebook.com/groups/KayakBassFishing/

Are you putting them in the livewell because you are in a tournament? I have seen that problem with fish caught at 35 feet but if they are immediately released they can get back down under their own power it seems.

welcome to Bass Resource, that is a largemouth bass, congrats to your grandson on that catch!

this kind of tube? are you using them in current or on a lake?