JOBU1967

If you buy a smoke s3 before 12/31/18 you can get a free ($9.95 s&h) camo hoodie from quantum.

I have a couple of friends that are " that guy". They always bring all their rod & reels and tackle on every fishing trip but never use them all. They are always buying new tackle that they will never use. When we go fishing I always catch the most bass even though I only bring a few bags of soft plastics & hard baits. Then he wants to borrow my lures when I'm catching fish. The craziest thing was when he bought 2 10 foot anchors for $4500 then said he didn't have money to buy his own lunch.

I own 6 pairs of polarized glasses. Oakley's, Costa's, Wiley X, & a couple of el cheapo Cabela's & Bass Pro Shop brands. When I'm sight fishing (I'm a weak angler lol) I can see bass 10-15 feet deep with all 6 pairs. I can't tell the difference between the expensive ones from the cheap ones. The Cabelas & Bass Pro Shops cost $5 a pair the others were over $150 a pair.

I replaced the rear hooks on all my Sammy's & chug bug's with feathered gamakatsu trebles. Hookup ratio is a lot better now.

I'm a righty but I use both righty & lefty reels. I cast, pitch, & flip with both hands to reduce fatigue on both arms. Here is a tip to all the righties that flip with lefty reels, keep the handle pointed straight down so the line won't tangle in your handle.

Have you tried any live bait just to confirm there are still bass in your pond. Once you confirm there are bass still in your pond try using smaller lures. A friend of mine has a 1 1/2 acre pond that they mainly swim in but when I fish it I use crappie size lures and I catch 30-40 bass from 1-3 lbs.

It's a private 35 acre farm pond. The owner's family and friends also fish there.

Prespawn-suspending jerkbait, spawn- texas rigged tube & trickworm, postspawn- rattlebait & spinnerbait, summer- topwater (cloudy days), stickworm (calm sunny days), fall- rattlebait, spinnerbait,& suspending jerkbait.

Only 1 of the 3 DSG in my area had gen.1 Veritas rods on sale July 2014 for $60.

I live in Ohio & I fish both public lakes & privately owned farm ponds. All my shore fishing is done on farm ponds. what I do is try to be the first one on the pond by fishing as soon as I get off work. that way I can catch the most aggressive bass with reaction type baits (spinnerbaits, crankbaits, rattlebaits) then when others show up I fish slow with soft plastics & jigs. I've been doing this for 20 years & have no problem catching bass during the summer months. if I had to compare this summer to previous summers I would say it's the same. this summer we had a lot more rain than usual and it kept the water temp. lower than usual so the weeds didn't grow to the surface like it did in the past. so I didn't get to use frog/rat lures instead I used chuggers, poppers, & walking style top water lures. Summer bass fishing is great but it isn't even close to spring & fall. Spring is always the best (numbers & size). there are days during prespawn when I would catch over 100 bass in 4 hours after work. during the fall I catch 10-12 bass an hour, & during the summer I catch around 5 an hour. the fishing on these ponds are so great I don't even want to fish public lakes anymore.

10 years ago I removed the middle treble hook from all my jerk baits & top water baits because of hooking bass in the eyes.

The goal of all fishing shows is to sell fishing gear. IMO the best way to do that is to show the host catching giant fish. That's why they fish the best waters from Canada to Mexico with a local stud during the best time of the year. Others fish on private lakes. I always thought it was odd that Bill only used one rod/reel/lure per show regardless if he was fishing public or private lakes.

Favorite-frogs/rats (explosive strikes) Least favorite-frogs/rats (low hookup ratio)

I've only fishes 2 of the top 100 lakes on this year's list this year (Lake Erie-western basin & Lake Guntersville). In my lifetime I've fished 44 of the 2015's top 100 lakes and can say that every time I fished those lakes I caught a lot of bass & some were over 8#. I have never heard of a third of the lakes on this years list & I can't believe St. Clair is #3. Has the fishing improved? The last time B.A.S.S. had an elite series tournament there all of the top 12 anglers caught their bass on Lake Erie or Huron and they probably will again this summer. So what is my #1 lake? The answer is the one I'm fishing tomorrow. lol

I would fish a different area and fish more often.

i believe bass are sight feeders as well but once the bass has the lure in their mouth do you think they keep it in their mouths longer when scent is used. i fish clear lakes and have watched bass strike a lure and spit it out before i could set the hook. i have also seen many videos were a bass would totally engulf a lure and spit it out. i fished with a guy that used wd-40 on his soft baits and he caught the most bass that day. i don't know if scents work or not but i have success when i use them.

I use garlic or crawfish scent on any lure that I fish slow or deadstick even if the lure is already impregnated with scent. I don't know if it matters but I always catch more bass when I use them and my friends don't. i think it is even more important to use it during the summer months because of sun screen and bug sprays. the only lures i won't leave in the sun are pork trailers and Berkley gulp lures.

On the 2 lakes that I fish that are full of coontail moss I catch 98 % of my bass in the holes where the grass doesn't grow, along the grassline, or on top of the grass. seldom do I try to catch bass in the grass because it is very difficult to catch them this way. the coontail grows solid from the bottom to within a couple of feet of the surface. but when try this technique I use a 7'6" heavy act. flippin stick, 20 # mono, 1/2-3/4 oz. bullet weight, & a black or junebug 4" tube texas rigged. some of my friends use 65# braid. I used to use 20# fluorocarbon but noticed that the line would be frayed after a couple of hrs of fishing. I never use a jig fishing this way because I could never get the jig to come out clean it would snag the grass 95% of the time. when the grass grew to the surface or when the loose grass would form mats it was a lot easier to catch bass for some reason using the same technique.

my advice would be find someone that already has a boat & see if they would let you go fishing with them for a day. that way you can learn the step by step preparation into boat fishing. for example hooking the boat trailer to the vehicle, loading & storing your equipment in the boat, making sure the batteries are charged, boat drain plug is in properly, all the proper safety equipment that you will need to legally be on the water, backing your trailer down the ramp & launching the boat, loading the boat back on the trailer. once you have experience boat fishing then you will know what size boat you can fish out of comfortably. if you can't do that I would suggest that you start small as possible. depending on the size of the lakes you will be fishing will determine the size of the boat you will need. some lakes are electric only, speed limit, or unlimited horse power. I see a lot of small boats, canoes & kayaks on unlimited HP lakes & can't believe that they don't capsize when those large boat wakes & waves start rocking the lake. I would suggest a 14-16 ft aluminum boat with a 9.9-15 H.P. outboard and a 30-40# thrust trolling motor. fish it for a couple of years & see if that suits your fishing style. once you have gained experience on the water then you can move up to a larger boat. good luck

I have owned a boat for 22 years. I sold my boat in 2012 and have been looking to purchase another one recently. during my research I found that most boats are priced similarly if you are comparing apples to apples (boat length, outboard H.P. & trailer). some boat companies sell prepackaged boats and others allow you to build your own package. I found that boat companies charge different prices when you add similar accessories (trolling motors, electronics, boat covers, gauges on the console, hotfoot, folding trailer tongues, spare tires). Tracker charges you for destination & prep fees and their boat decks are plywood. if Alumacraft's 175 w/ 90 HP outboard is $3000 more than Tracker's 175 w/ 115 HP outboard the alumacraft boat should at least be equipped with better or more accessories than the Tracker. good luck with your decision.

4th of July I saw a bass cruising around in 3-4 feet of water. I watched her for a minute and noticed she was guarding a bed. I tied on a tube with the hook point cut off and pitched it onto the bed, as soon as it landed on the sweet spot the bass sucked it in. I pulled the bass off the bed a couple of feet & when she let go she went back to the bed water temp. was 76.5.

As long as there is cover (weeds, logs, bushes) present it is never too shallow. I have caught dozens of 4-6 pounders in less than 6 inches of water punching & frogging. The most important thing when going this shallow is you have to go into stealth mode or you will spook the bass.

Here in Ohio the best fishing of the year is June-Oct. top water!!!!