68camaro

Thanks Ajay, I was starting with a watermelon colored jig and trailer with watermelon and blue skirt, then switched to a black dark blue trailer with same color skirt. Pond had a lot of snot around edges, so I was trying to cast parellel to yuck and banks. I thought since cold they would be deeper. I guess I need to start getting water temps.

I have 4 Curado's and 1 Lews Team Lite. I just ordered a new Team Lite for new rod I picked up at fishing show. The Team Lite lets me have more options to dial in casting distance. Also at 5.7 oz or so, the Team Lite balances great on my rods and since I like palming the small size and lite weight is perfect.

Went fishing for 4 hours today, no hits, no fish, no nothing. Can you review the conditions and what I did and give suggestions for better success? CONDITIONS: Rained for 24 hours previous day, stopped raining during night. Cold front coming in tonight Fished noon to 4 pm 54*, partly cloudy Fairly Windy pond water very muddy, looks like milk chocolate Pond is narrow and fairly shallow No real structure but a lot of cover TECHNIQUES Finesse on spinning reel - watermelon senkos on wacky and t-rig Swimming and structure jig with trailer Tried top water but with wind and water rough and it was chilly and I didn't stick with long Tried 6' suspending jerk bait last 15-20 minutes in deepest part Any ideas of what I could have done better? Thanks

Howe were the crowds today?

Left work early Friday to check out Richmond Fishing Expo before the crowds got there on Sat. and Sunday. I got there at 2pm and left at 6 pm. It was really fun and I was able to catch a seminar with a B.A.S.S. Elite Tour Champion on overall fishing strategies and another seminar on Finesse fishing with Pro. Both pros were informative and entertaining. They were worth the price of admission alone. By beating the crowds I was able to strike up good non-rushed conversations with many anglers and exhibitors. Good assortment of exhibitors also. On purchase side, I picked up some of my favorite jigs in favorite colors, a cool tool for putting thin rubber stoppers on trailer hooks and wacky worm hooks without stabbing my finger and best of all I picked up a JB Customs 7' frog & rat rod I plan to use for jigs, this is heavy power with fast action. All in all real good show.

I have some suspending that float so I put those circular vinyl sticky weights on them, I find cutting one in half gets the suspension I wanted.

I was with guide on Toho couple months ago and bass boat flew near us so close that the waves put a lot of water in boat. I mentioned that if we sink the gators would have late lunch but he laughed and said boat wouldn't sink. But it did say this was largest amount of water that got in boat. He was ticked to say the least. Nice fish though, a day on the water is better........(you know the rest).

I used two guides several months ago in Florida. Both were impressed I knew how to use a bait caster and even a spinning reel correctly. Each guide told me that most of their clients really don't know how to fish so they spend a lot of time working with them and their gear. If you are in kayak and your client gets hooked up, tangled, creates a birds nest or twists line on rod tip, I think it would be time consuming and pain to get to him and fix problem. If two clients are with you multiply by two. I think that if someone knows how to fish they will probably want bass boat guide. If they want to fish out of yak they probably know how and need of guide goes down. I think you are limiting yourself by focusing on kayak fishing only, but hey give it a shot and make adjustments to your plan as need. Good luck and I wish you the best .

I was member of Wilderness SAR group snd snakes were all around. While in woods there are ways to announce yourself so they flee, as far as water moccasians, just respect them and they will respect you. I almost put foot down on cottonmouth once and when I saw it colied under my foot I backed off slowly and went around it. It was on fall day and I think he was pretty lethargic since he was sunning himself in small sun spot. I also teach American Red Cross Wilderness First Aid and know not all snakes bites have toxin released. Snakes I am OK around...gators not so much:)

I use Pop-X or Pop-X Jr. and Giant Dog-X in cloudy and/or overcast days preferably morning or early evening or just am or pm on clear days. I only fish ponds so both get the job done. Of the two my most productive is a Pumpkin Seed Giant Dog-X on 10 lb fluoro with a fast action tip rod, casting parallel to shore. The action you can get with the Giant Dog X is short of fantastic, and being larger I think you attract bigger fish. The Pop-X Jr. is for when bite is tougher and downsizing to get smaller to offer smaller meal. Both work great

I found bass fishing in 2015 so the year gets a "10" for sure.

This is the tough love you need with a swift kick in the hindside (said with John Wayne's style of loving' motivation). Life's tough and few are born with movie star looks, mensa smarts, trust fund baby wealth, and franchise quarterback talent. The rest of us need to make our way fighting, scratching, clawing and just plan 'ole doing the best we can we what we have. There's plenty of affordable on-line schools to start you towards your degree, or just start with one night class. Stop making excuses and just get it done, people are doing it all around you. As far as the princess, forget her, she's gone......move on. Many more women may come and go before you find that someone that both of you are on cloud 9. I have 19 y.o son and 13 y.o. daughter, anytime they started to complain about their lot in life or how difficult something is I would tell them two things: 1. Life's not fair, so get over it. 2. Your boat will never come in until the day you decide to swim out and meet it. If I were you I'd go fishing.........Seriously, take a day or half and do something you really enjoy. Clear the head, refocus and use the new year to make better decisions. Not a lot of good comes from getting wasted and being out late at night. Not only can it lead to worse things it wrecks your next day. If your good friends have moved or joined military maybe you should ask yourself why and get your own plan in place. Best of luck...you'll get through it, it may not be easy but you really have no other choice.

Good ***, It's gonna be a good year.

I bank fish and have one of the chain ones with heavy dog weight on it from BPO. It does work and its always in my bag.

Raider, like others said, you do not have to change yourself but I would make sure your hair and beard are nicely cut/trimmed and tats covered up, why take a chance someone not appreciating them. Don't wear clothes your uncomfortable in but do try to dress appropriate. Whether fair or not, or accurate or not, reality is they will formulate an impression in first couple minutes. I worked for very large German company for 10 years, they treat their people well but first you need to get inside. I was involved with hiring a guy with a beard in a position (COO) no one else on management team ever had a beard in. When he was recommended to me I was told that he "had a beard but was a quality person". He immediately separated himself from the other candidates by his understanding of the position, good questions and experience. It was one of best hires made in several years, beard and all:) Reality is no one cared he had a beard anyway. Hell, he may have a bunch of tats too???

I use VMC size 6 trailer frog hooks. I usually work frogs over pads or scum, there is water pockets but trailer hook is light enough that I don't notice a difference. When I walk the dog over open water they the rear of frog may drop a little due to trailer hook but I may not be good enough to notice a difference. I put the hook point upward to avoid snags and have had very little problems. I was really struggling with short strikes until I started using trailer hook.

I had luck both walking steady and walking then pausing, throw in some twitches, I caught using different techniques. Started frogs this year and one of my favorite ways to fish. Always be on alert though, just when you begin to let your eyes wonder or lose focus...WHAM!!!!!!, unexpected blowup:) It really gets heart going. FWIW my hooks increased when I started using trailer hooks with them.

Good advice from DogBone, even if you hit a bad guy over penetration is serious risk, if you totally miss God only knows who is behind that wall or out the window, hence why I recommended possibly a shotgun. If your in an apartment or close quarters with others I would think about it. Bigger slower rounds (like .45 for example) cause more damage than smaller faster (9mm for ex.) by turning inside body and paired with +p ammo over penetration risk is fairly low. But that assumes you hit your target which isn't easy in highly charged emotional self-defense situation. Its all a trade-off, .45 more stopping power, but 9mm while easier to shoot has much more risk of over penetration (I only picked 45 and 9mm as examples for making point, not saying their better or worse than anything else).

Your right there are a ton of websites, some are make or type specific. One good one that talks about all types of defensive firearms is: http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum/forum.php I do recommend going to local shop and range and learning about your options as well as trying different types, manufacturers and calibers to see what suits you best. There really is no one size fits all. There are pros and cons to pistols and revolvers. Also for home defense a shotgun with buckshot may be better than handgun in some situations. Also, do you plan to carry outside home or keep inside. Will spouse have access to it? If so she will need to be trained. Think about lesson from NRA certified instructor, it's money well spent. Before I bought my first handgun I spent several months trying out different guns to see what I was most comfortable with and what met my needs. Good luck, it's a fun and rewarding journey. Don't be surprised if you end up with more than one. Bigger is NOT necessarily better, you are responsible for every round that leaves your barrel, and if you can't control that round you can harm or kill innocent person. With todays defensive rounds you can get very lethal rounds in smaller calibers, although I prefer 45c I do carry 380 sometimes and use Pow'rball ammo in it which is very lethal. Finally practice practice practice and let us know what you decide on and why.

I regularly fish several small ponds in area usually in 1 - 2 hr allotments and I really focus on being efficient due to limited time on water. Because I do not know underwater ground contours, experience and keeping a diary have help determine where bites have been and rough guesses on depth. In my ponds I have caught fish on everything from plastics on floor to topwater lures and frogs. There are a lot of variables but as I learn more about bass fishing I have increased my odds. Fish parallel to banks and close to shore and around overgrowth in shaded areas. I usually start with poppers then work on down water levels, 0-3, 3-5, 6+, then drag bottom. What I do depends on time of day, weather before, during and after fishing, temperature, etc. Topwaters and jerk baits are my favorite, cranks were great in summer but died off. Finesse worms and chuck baits slowly fished, especially in cold weather, has worked well but it bores me quickly. Because my bottoms are very soft shakeyheads do not work and drop shots bore me as well. Jigs are what I really plan to focus on next. After a cold spell topwaters parrellel to bank in sunny shallows has really done well for me.

Ditto, I use this with Shimano Curado 7.1:1 reel and 50 lb braid.

Very nice, jig fishing is something I really want to get better at.

I use a 634CB Dobyns Med, mod-fast action for jerkbaits but also use for topwater. For dedicated topwater rod though, may get fast action in future. However this rod really works bait great on top so may stick with it, plus it really pins fish and lets them grab bait before hook sets too quickly.

Welcome, I find line in water great way to relax and enjoy outdoors.

Wow, I can't believe its been 3 months since I started this thread. I only began bass fishing a couple weeks before this thread started and was getting very frustrated with my results, or lack of results. It would take all day to quote and respond to everything people said here that helped so I will just give huge blanket thanks:) FYI - I only bank fish in local; ponds. Since 9/20 I have been reading as much as I can here and other places, plus watching Youtube videos. BassResource.com as been worth it's weight in gold, I need to become supporter. Since becoming member here and to increase my fishing enjoyment and catching ability I have purchased the following rigs with forum members advice: Megabass Orochi for finess fishing with Stradic ci4+ (spinning setup) Loomis E6x with Curato 200pg reel 5.:1 St Crox Premier with curato 200 reel 6.3:1 Dobyns 735C with Curato 200HG reel 7.1:1 Dobyns 634CB with Lews Team Lews LITE speed spool reel 6.8:1 I am trying to keep the artificial bait to minimum to avoid confusion and complexity deciding what to use, but I have small sample of most presentations. Since I started I have kept a diary of my fishing and let me breakdown the results real quick. 42 Number of outings (a few times twice a day) , average outing is 1 - 2 hours, never longer than 3 hrs. 40 # fish caught and or good blow-ups. I count a blow-up as caught because I found fish at least. 18 # of outings with no fish caught 2 average number of fish or blowups caught per outing I didn't get skanked 23" biggest LMB (largest pickerel was 21") Best day was 11-02-15, rained day before and cold front passed. in 90 minutes caught 5 LMB, lost couple other. Worst stretches, Oct 18 to Oct 22; and Nov 12 to Nov 15 ( 4hrs on water each stretch). Both stretches zero fish. I am learning that patience comes handin-hand with faith in your bait and presentation. While I am getting better and seeing success with my game plan when out on water I still have much to learn. This thread continues to provide valuable advice so I thank all here and other this site. The following are some things I have learned here: differences and importance of cover vs. structure, how bass act, different presentations for different situations, baits for specific situations, patience and trust in self and presentations, how and when to slow down and speed up, how to set hooks and when, weather patterns, bass migration and schooling patterns, importance of depth and shallows and when to fish each.....the list goes on forever. Since I only fish 1-2 hrs each outing, I need to be very productive so I have learned to move through the water depths plus keep moving until I find the fish. This has helped greatly.