68camaro

Leatherman in jeep and small one in range bag. Fishing bag a few specific fishing tools: long tweezers, long nose fishing pliers/hook remover, braid scissors.

We look forward to the trip report.

Really want to get off shore with small canoe or raft.

I'd give a bag of senkos for that beast...sweet.

today I went out at 9:30, temps was 34*, was 29* at 8:00 am. My plan was to finesse fish a plastic craw on 6lb mono in deepest part of pond figuring the bass would be holding deep and since cold, I wanted a slow presentation. I chose the mono to help maintain a very slow drop on initial cast and jigging off bottom and let dropping again. It was pretty successful with 2 large mouth and 1 real nice pickerel in hour. Interestingly, for the first 30 minutes I had the craw t-rigged with claws forward going for a crawfish "defensive" look, zero hits. I then t-rigged with claws facing backward and caught bass on 2nd cast, then 2 more in next 20 minutes. I use mono for : finesse rod (6 lb mono); crank bait rod and single hook rod(Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate). I use fluoro for: jerkbait rod (8 lb fluor). I also have 6lb PLine CXX X-Tra Strong on 5' ultralight trout rig I have been using for some very lightweight finesse stuff.

Way cool.......

I have no idea what is best but I use a Shimano Curato 200HG 7.1:1 with 40lb braid for frogs/heavy over and am very very happy with it, cost was about $179.00.

I started in Sept, a lot of good advice here. I would add keep a detailed journal , including baits & techniques that worked AND did not work. I try to fish almost every chance I can, I have a lot of water around me but I can only get away for 1-3 hours. I try different times of day so I cover the full day hours. Also, when wife asks me to go to store I stop by pond or lake and fish for 15 minutes, sometimes longer, with some success. Mostly when I do this I try a certain new technique or try out new lure.

A. I still haven't caught a really big one.

Cool and very nice pics. How do I get a pair of those sweet yellow hunting boots the little guy has:)

While fly fishing a mountain lake in Colorado this summer I was surprised to see several families using these, with success I might add.

I have been buying gas station cheap ones's ($9.00 I think) since mine always get taking by kids and they always lose them, but the cheap ones break very quickly. Someone recommended Skullcandy ($19.00) and when I finally bought them I couldn't believe difference in music quality and product quality. They are definitely worth the cost.

I prefer lures since I like working bait, watching live bait under a cork or bobber kinda bores me. About a month ago I had two guided fishing trips on Lake Toho in FL. Both guides suggested live because artificial bites were real slow and I am sure as client they wanted me to catch fish. I however was determined to use lures, they thought I was nuts. First day we got skunked on lures so in last hour we switched to live golden shiners and caught a bunch but I missed working the bait. Second day I told guide no live bait no matter what, we ended up having real good day and I am happy we stuck with artificial, to me it was more satisfying even if we had to work harder at it. At home ponds the bass love live minnows but I still prefer artificial even if local kids are killing it with shiners:)

Just had mine delivered today.....put on rod tonight and can't wait to get out after work tomorrow to try out for little bit. Will be using for lightweight finesse applications.

If you mostly throw 1/2 - 9/16 or less with occasional 3/4 I would go with the 684CB, unless you throw a lot of the higher sized baits. I recently bought the 634CB to use as a dedicated Jerk rod. With this rod I think I can really work the bait and think power is fine (I don't have huge fish though and rarely throw baits over 1/2 oz, but I think up to 3/4 would be fine), plus the 6'3" size for me has worked out well since I bank fish. With the 6'3" I can get a really great vertical snap without hitting water. My next rod may be a dedicated topwater and I am seriously thinking of getting another 634CB because this rod really allows me to work topwater baits (popping and walking the dog) nicely, I might get the 684CB though just to have a larger rod if I ever need it.

Goose, what brand boat and outriggers do you have? I have been struggling between a canoe, kayak, and raft for month now. I didn't know about outriggers so that could be a clincher for me since I like canoes the best but was concerned about being able to stand and fish.

Liftedsquare13, i have your set up, Old shakesspeare 5' UL rod/reel combo, I bet its a dcade old, Caught tons of GA trout with it while living there, mostly stocked some native. I used 4lb both mono and flouro, which ever was inexpensive, I don't recall noticing difference with such light line.

Good article for reference http://www.***/outdoors/***/story/1468640-how-to-choose-bass-fishing-line Pitching to sparse cover: 15 to 20-pound fluoro Pitching to heavy cover: 20-fluoro / 65- braid Frogs over matted grass: 65-pound braid Cold water jerk baits: 8 to 10-pound fluoro / mono Deep diving crankbait: 8 to 15-pound mono Shallow crankbaits: 10 to 17 pound mono Lipless crankbaits: 12 to 20-pound fluoro / mono Topwaters: 15- mono / 30- braid Spinnerbaits: 15 to 20-pound mono Big Swimbaits: 15 to 25- fluoro / 65- braid Small Swimbaits: 10 to 15-pound fluoro Umbrella Rigs: 65 to 80-pound braid Senkos: 10 to 20-pound fluoro Big Flutter Spoons: 15 to 25-pound fluoro Offshore football jigs: 15 to 20-pound fluoro Big plastic worms: 15 to 20-pound fluoro Jigging spoons: 10 to 15-pound fluoro Drop shots: 4-10 fluoro / 10-20 braid Shaky heads: 6-12 fluoro / 10-20 braid Casting a Jig: 8- to 12-pound fluoro Spybaiting: 6-8-pound fluoro Skipping jigs: 15-20-pound-fluoro Swimming a jig: 30-65-pound braid Personally I use 40ln braid for froggs/heavy vegetation stuff, 12lb flouro for most other and 4-6 lb flouro or mono on finessee stuff.

25 years for point blank shooting a guy in the face and killing him is an insult and not justice served. Sounds like lazy prosecutor not going for longer or life.

I fish a lot of ponds with heavy brush, 6'3" is my favorite size to control backswing and get bait in tight places. It allows me to fight overgrowth to get to parts of ponds others walk by.

I have a medium sized soft cloth bag with shoulder strap. I really like it and size but being a shore angler I will be switching to backpack style. Carrying 4-6 rods and keeping strap on shoulder while walking down trail or bushwalking to get to pond can be frustrating. For me strap keeps slipping off shoulder while walking.

I have been using a spinning combo for finesse stuff, it really throws them far but I am trying to focus hitting tight places with a lot of brush/tree overhangs and with limited backswing clearance I find I have much better accuracy flipping wrist hard with bait caster. By the way another shore tribulation is standing in muck for awhile and then turning and trying to walk before breaking suction in mud

Dang....good think I don't make my living at this:)

LMAO