SJS

Went to the emergency room last month with a crankbait buried deep in my calf, fortunately I was fishing a pond less than a mile from the hospital, but I did have my sunglasses on. The nurses thought it was pretty funny actually.

Have you been to Lake Pinchot? When I lived up there they used to have canoes for rent and it used to hold good bass.

Wow, that is a ton of info. Thank you very much. I used to do a lot of fly fishing and it never occurred to me to use nymphing techniques. Heck, maybe I should even try a strike indicator. I am not having much success but I am enjoying the learning process. PS. I just noticed where you are from Kicker. I used to live 5 minutes from the Susquehanna and used to wade fish for smallmouth with streamers and nypmhs. I hope the smallmouth population has come back.

Thank you guys for all the helpful info.

Thanks, very helpful comments. Scott F, when using that technique with braid how long a leader are you using? WRB, I've watched that video and learned alot but I don't get what pegging the weight does?

I have read a number of threads and articles on river fishing for LMB and have not seen this specific question addressed. I am fishing a new river (actually it is called the "New River") near my home in SC and it is a tidal river with current most places at most times, and the current changes direction with the tides. I am fishing from a solo canoe, no trolling motor, just a paddle and it is fine with crankbaits, buzzbaits and spinnerbaits, but anything requiring finesse like a plastic worm or a jig is giving me trouble. I am always drifting with the current (and often the wind) and the water is moving and I can't seem to find a rig set up that gives me any feel for the lure. I have tried a heavy weight with a Texas or Carolina rig but if it is heavy enough to get some feel for the worm it seems to large and heavy for river bass. I have had no luck with a heavy rig and have no confidence a bait that big will work here. Maybe I just have to forget plastics and jigs for this river, or maybe just stick with heavy rigs, but I hope someone has some ideas on this. I would appreciate any tips anyone might have for how to deal with this.

Thanks, great stuff. Question: how do you know when the worm hits the bottom? Are you keeping a tight line as it falls?

Thank you Fry, I'll check it out.

I just bought an Old Town Guide 119 canoe to use as my bass boat. I took it out today for the first time on a small river near my house and it handles exactly as I had hoped for this kind of fishing. Only problem is it has a plastic molded seat with an adjustable back rest and the thing is not comfortable for me. I plan on replacing it with a traditional cane or web lattice bench type seat. Looking on line there are many choices and the price range is broad but I don't see big differences in the various brands. I would appreciate any advice from anyone who has replaced their canoe seat.

Army, 8 years active duty, 8 years reserves.

Thank you guys, this is great. I was wondering about those super expensive plugs, sounds like they are worth the money if you can afford them but I get annoyed losing a 5$ plug, losing one of those would ruin my day. Maybe I will try just one. It is neat to read that some of the old timers are still effective. I used to swear that bass were getting educated and now I read that there may be some scientific truth of that. It will be fun shopping for some of these you guys have mentioned. I will have something specific to look for as my eyes glaze over looking at hundreds and hundreds of plugs on the rack. Thank you.

New to the forum but I'm an old fisherman that first started bass fishing in the 50's with linen braided line, baitcasting rod made of split bamboo and a baitcasting reel without any brakes or other backlash control. I tried the search function and couldn't find anything on this but I suspect it is due to my lack of computer skill. I got away from largemouth fishing years ago when I moved to a location with much better smallmouth and trout fishing, and now I live in SC and do a lot of saltwater fishing. I want to go fishing for largemouth again and I am trying to build my tackle box. The number and variety of lures for sale are staggering. I have assumed that things have not changed so much that I could not make any decisions and I bought plastic worms, sinkers and hooks, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and jigs. However, when it comes to plugs I need some help. I googled this stuff and read lots of articles, watched utubes and have read some of the beginner articles here but I don't feel I am getting focused enough on my search. It seems nobody even calls them plugs anymore, but I am talking about crankbaits (spoon bill, lipless, suspended, sinking, etc.) , jerkbaits, surface lures and poppers, and the like that used to be made out of wood, now are plastic, and generally look like baitfish. I am not asking which kind to use in general, but I am asking whether there is a general consensus as to certain specific brand names that are accepted as effective. In the old days that would have been lures like Hoola Popper, Jitterbug, Daredevil Spoon and Mepps Spinners. I know that there are established brands like Rapala, Strike King, Rebel, etc., but I don't know which specific plugs, if any, are generally considered must have plugs. Perhaps none, and there are several good choices of each kind but just knowing that would help. Any current plugs that would make your hall of fame?