vmabuck

Been slow here lately but finally getting some action with these.

I don't see the issue with tattoos? Many high end Fly Fishers have many tattoos and get killer sponsors to fund their epic adventures. That sounds more like a personal issue that you have. I think any sponsor understands the younger demographic and the need to attract them. I understand some old schoolers might have issues with that but it is something that really does not matter in todays day and age. Discriminating against tattoos is not something that will aid in the growth of any sport nowadays. That should not be something that hinders anyone from succeding in this sport. Just sayin...

Had to hit the creek with the fly rod to get some action. Nothing special but at least they were biting...

Fishing Spavinaw Lake and Hudson lake the last five days and I can count the hits I have had on one hand and have only landed one small one. Hudson is up 11 feet so I do not know what that means, I just started fishing it so I do not know what it is like at normal levels. I know it is a good lake with good fish it made #63 in the top 100 lakes in the US this year. Anyway, I am primarily picking the the banks under structure and trees etc... Jigs, texas rigs, Blue, black, brown, watermelon pimpkin, red flake, black seed colors in all shapes of creatures, 10" worms, Senko worms, Frogs over cover, buzzbaits, spinner baits etc... Is it the moon? Is it the warm weather last week? Are there some planets not aligned? I had a good run two weeks ago, thought I had this scene dialed in then it just stopped for me...

I got a 7' 6" E-Motion Heavy action rod for this exact scenario. Love the rod and it was $60 at Academy. Can't beat that...

All good info. Thanks everyone! New to the world of braid. I never thought I would need something like that. If I have to above 4x on my leader on the fly rod I would start to feel guilty because I was making it too easy. That was a thing with us fly fishers. We loved bragging about landing big fish on tiny leader. My best was a 20" bow on the San Juan on 6x tippet nymphing with a size 20 midge. Look up the size of that rig LOL! it's a helluva fight where you cannot make any mistakes...

Good info, thanks! Defiitely plan on having fun!

At this point, I generally look at a spot where I want my bait to go, and I get it there using whatever kind of cast it takes. When it is all said and done, if you get it there does it matter what the style of cast is called? Seems like a lot of focus on really specific terminology for getting the same rig to a spot where you think that fish might be. I just call it "casting..."

So that rain the other day brought the levels up again. How do the fish react to that? It seems the bank fishing slowed waaaaay down. Coming from the fly fishing world, if a stream rises and gets a little off color it usually turns the fish off. Also, when storms are coming in it will turn those fish off as well. I know fast changing barometric pressure affects trout. Been on a stream way to many times when a storm came rolling over the mountains and the bite stops almost immediately. Not sure how lake bass react to this. I have heard that the fishing can be insanely good as a storm is coming in. Mainly though, how do bass react to rising levels in the lakes? Or do they?

I recently bought the Spider Wire Stealth Glow-Vis 50# braid for my froggin rig. I have fished it for just over a week but fished it a lot. It did have a really nice dark green color to it but now, the amount that I cast is basically getting white, or very light green. Does this light line need to be trimmed or should I just keep fishing it? Not sure if Bass are really that line shy but it seem highly visible on the surface. It did not stop two piggies from hitting yesterday though, but that was two strikes in about 3 hours of fishing. Is there a general rule for braided line and when you should trim it back or put new stuff on? Or is there a better brand I should be buying where this discoloration will not happen so fast?

I will be checking this out then! Thanks!

I think most any frog will work to an extent but I tell you, this KVD sexy frog seems to really entice the big ones. I went out with my dad last night, I missed to bruisers and he got no strikes. He was using the Padcrasher. I fished the Scum Frog on the banks all one morning a week or so ago with out a strike. Next day, landed two decent fish with KVD Sexy Frog fishing the same ground. I don't know what it is, but for me, they seem to like that better. I use the mottled brown pattern with the pearl/yellow belly. The other tip I got from Youtube was to cut almost half of the leg material off. Seems to have help my hit/miss ratio. This is probably all anecdotal evidence but it inspires my confidence so I am sticking with it. LOL!

I was looking for an iphone app that might have some nautical information/topo for US lakes. Do you all have any experience with any? Any recommendations? Or even a site where you might be able to order prints...

Fatties!