FishDewd

Maybe this is what I'm doing wrong. I tend to leave spool tension the same as it was when casting. I can never get any distance on a pitch and they usually go left or right. Maybe this would help so I could more shoot it out there. Shark and I both fish areas from the bank that are heavy in trees and brush so it'd be essential to learn how to pitch well.

Get rid of those large perch. In my own catfish pond, I don't have any perch larger than 6" in there. Cause the catfish eat them as food. Also, the perch eat the fry which will hurt your overall bass population. This applies to any pond with predatory fish. You need a balance. When the perch get too large they start to take over and inhibit the rest. Including bass. Keep the smaller bass, and keep all perch that are larger than 6-8". Once you stop catching large perch, then add bait like fatheads. Honestly I would recommend catching a lot of crawfish from creeks and putting those in your pond. The minnows are fine and all, but your bass need some food that is high in both fat and protein. In addition to eliminating the small bass and large perch this might just help it out. I'm not sure about adding new genes, but I would hold off on that until you get control of the competition if it were me. Furthermore, how is the structure in the pond? Bass like areas they can feel safe in otherwise they spend their lives running in circles around the bank. That burns calories, therefore = skinny bass that can't fatten up.

Perhaps you got caught momentarily on something that bent the hook? Or I suppose too much drag could also do that as others have suggested.. still, the only time I have ever bent a hook out has been from hooking into a log or some other snag where I had to get rough to dislodge it. For the record, I use spin shot hooks from VMC almost exclusively now for dropshotting. It eliminates the need for a swivel or leader and I find the hook-ups are far better. I slay sunfish on that rig and I've gotten a few bass on it too with a wacky rigged finesse worm.

Sounds like you snagged -something nice- twice! What exactly... I couldn't say! I'm yet to catch a carp, though I've never really tried. It's definitely on the list cause I'd like to! They actually don't taste too bad prepared properly. Key is a lot of strong spices.

Wow, awesome story! Sounds like a fun time! I've always wanted to fish for snook, we have them here in our waters... somewhere! Btw, to upload a pic you can attach it directly from the computer but if the size is too large you'll have to shrink it. Easiest way is with a program called "fotor". Download it and open the pic using fotor. Then use the save icon near the bottom right panel. It'll look like an old floppy disc. It'll have dimensions that come up. Set the first box to like 1500 and the second one should automatically scale to size. Save. Now it should upload!

I'd love to go real early, but all the ponds here don't open until 7 am. And late is out since they close at sundown or 7 pm. :(

This is... interesting.... but weird. Not sure I fully get it yet... But seems to me like I would have some line twist issues due to being fairly directional. Or... idk, um... unpredictable? It look like it could present in a number of different ways... some of which not so desirable.

I've done fine with crankbaits with my Lew's Tp1 7' MF topwater rod for about $90 on sale... I haven't had a ton of hits on it, but I've landed nearly every fish that has hit it. I just reel down and side sweep it. Been perfectly fine for small cranks for me.

Whoa! That is a really crazy screechy sound, I wasn't expecting that! I'm not sure but it sound like a really worn bearing somewhere to me. If it were me I'd remove the level wind just to rule that out if nothing else.

I missed a good deal on a Falcon rod at Cabela's several months ago. It just felt so... perfect to me, especially for the price, $89.99. Unfortunately I didn't have the money for it atm so I had to let it go. Now they don't carry it anymore. Still kicking myself but I think I made the right choice financially.

Well, I could see how a smaller diameter line would be more aerodynamic... The wind catches mine so often I can never tell tbh.

That's great! Always good to watch better fisherman to learn some things! Sometimes though it just doesn't work out... I'm not really convinced it comes down to the line though tbh. It's so windy here that using a 6 lb line... you aren't going to notice line movement lol. It's likely a subtlety in the technique somehow imo.

Last 5 outings, not a catch! I had bites, but no successful strikes! But... just enjoy the outdoors and the time for peacefulness. Half the time I drift off and daydream while fishing lol. As long as you have fun, the fish are secondary. Is what it is.

Whopper plopper has been one of my go-to lures this year when weather permits it!

1. I use this snell knot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-ox_qAQKV8 I use a few more wraps that he does though, and I do not fully cinch the tag end down before sliding the wraps up to the eyelet and wetting it. Then I cinch it down. I feel this way is better. Ido know of one other snell that I like, but the above is my favorite because it's so easy to tie, can be tied quickly, and is very strong and has given me no issues no far. You can also use a "knotless knot" if you're really in a hurry, which also seems to work fine as a snell. See below for other uses. 2. I don't punch or flip so the main thing I use a snelled hook for is when I am cat fishing using a slip sinker, or running a circle hook under a bobber. The nice thing about a snell hook is that it assists in self-setting a hook because as tension is applied by the fish it allows the hook to rock upwards into position. Most of the time to set you can just reel into them, or just use a side set. I also snell a hook like this if I am fishing somewhere unfamiliar and am not sure what size the fish are. Using too small of a hook can mean a gut hook. A circle hook + snelling it on helps to eliminate the chance of that but is still no guarantee.

I use a swivel with some lures... I'll use with a whopper plopper for two reasons: right now all I have is the 90 and it tends to sits nose up when paused. The swivel weight brings the nose down just a bit. Secondly, it case the tail gets gunk stuck between it and the body which will stop the tail rotation and form line twist when retrieving it in. I'll also use one for inline spinners that don't freely rotate. I have one that does well by itself, but another that will not rotate on its own. That one I add a swivel too. I used to use swivels on crankbaits but I no longer do that. I find that by using a loop knot through the eyelet they work a lot better. I never caught anything on crankbaits until I started doing that, now I am 3-2 bass/catfish on squarebills.

If the truth is out there... then the Smithsonian undoubtedly claimed it and hid it in 1 of their 13 underground vault levels or whatever it is that people claim. Just like the giants!

Everyone says hotdogs and circle hooks for catfish, but I find it isn't easy. Lol. I get lots of hits on hotdogs, yes... but the hook-up ratio isn't that great cause they come off very easily. I'll go through several hotdogs considering making them into pieces before I land one catfish. Though it usually is a good catfish.

Originally, I using Magellan hiking backpack that I found for next to nothing at a local thrift store. I used it all through college and it held everything I needed. I then switched its purpose to fishing once I graduated. It is very nice, but like others have said, it just overkill. It held waaaaay too much stuff lol. So now I use a tackle bag I found at Walmart for like $20 that holds 4 medium sized plano boxes, some extra line, and tools. It's still a bit overkill for most outings but I'd rather bring it and not need it, than not bring it and then need it. It has a shoulder strap which allows me to carry rods in my free hands.

Hm hotdog for bass... interesting. Ill have to try that with a worm hook on it, has me curious now. Maybe attach a little underspin, rooster tail on the back lol. How could they resist?

Everything else! Topwater poppers, torpedoes, ploppers. I do dabble with frogs but no luck so far. Crankbaits, drop shots, split shots, hi-lo rigs, kentucky rigs, other stuff I come up with. Main reason I don't have luck with the ones I listed is I fish hoghly pressured waters. Those fish have seen pretty much everything. Only way I can get plastics to work is on a texas or wacky rigged dropshot and even thats no guarantee. I just have better luck with it.

I got an XPS the other day using my BPS rewards points to buy it... nothing like a free lure! I wanted something that looked something like a perch since we don't have shad in any of our waters here., but I also wanted it to be bright for murky/stained water conditions. I found one that should work, granted I did want one a tad bit smaller. The small ones were too small, and the big ones were too big... figures. Anyway, I have it tied onto a 7' MH Berkley lightning rod. To be tested soon... hopefully next week if it's nit over 100* outside again.

Well pretty much everything contains carbon anyway including metals. Carbon fiber is different though due to how its constructed which is how it gets its strength. Still... there are plenty of other very strong plastics that are superior in some aspects to metals. Some reels do contain carbon fiber though. Again depends on how you need to use it.

You can always go with another approach with lower speed reels that I've had bites on and have seen plenty of people use. Move the crank with the rod instead of the reel. Get an angle towards the crank and sweep rod away to pull the crank along. You can actually feel the crank thump really hard if you do this hard, but there will be a certain rhythm that always works best. Can always do a little jerk-jerk action too to change it up. Then you just reel back towards it to take up slack. I think this would basically be a stop and go technique but sideways instead of right towards you. Setting it can be a bit of a trick though doing this, but sometimes they'll bite right when it stops, and the next time you sweep it away it'll set for you.