Mobasser

I agree with all the above! As Toxic said, try to learn something new each time you go. Stick with a few proven baits and get good with these.Try to learn to fish soft plastics and jigs, as these can often be a large part of a fishing day. And of course have fun.

I fish with my grandson much of the time now, at least once a week. When we finish fishing, we make a quick sweep of the lot and pick up trash. We sometimes bank fish a small lake, and as we walk back we pick up what we can, and throw it away.I know there are others on this site who do this too. I carry a small roll of trashbags in my boat. Before we go to a new spot, we make a quick scan of the boat to make sure nothing blows out once we are moving.Do others do this too? If you saw someone intentionally being careless with trash would you confront them or report them? I don't like people who trash the lakes. We don't spend a lot of time on this, but every little bit can help. At some point the wind will blow these things onto the surface of the water, eventually going into the water. Some lakes are worse than others, but it doesn't matter how big or small. If you do this - that's great. Good fisherman respect the waters they fish, and want to keep them in good shape. Would you rather pitch your jig into good water, or onto a pile of floating debris?

2 weeks ago the bass in my local lake were hitting my plastic worm with a definite "tap". We caught several that morning. Last Saturday, the first fish was simply there when I lifted the rod. I figured they were striking much lighter, and they were. It always varies for me. Even between 1 or 2 days the bite can be different.As Catt says, go ahead and set the hook. If I would have waited for a definite tap last trip, I wouldn't have caught any fish. I've set the hook on nothing a lot of times too. By doing this your increasing your chances to hook more bass overall. Nothing wrong with a false hookset.

My 2 favorite topwaters are the zara spook and the smithwick devils horse. I think the spook came out in 1922 as the zaragosa. It was changed to the zara spook in the 1930s I think. The horse came out in the 1940s. These still catch fish for a lot of people. Most all of the modern lures are just slight variations on old designs. The old one will still work.

I agree with Toxic and J Franco. Flouro is not the best on spinning reels regardless of brand. Use braid with Flouro leader or some good quality mono.

Ralph, tie directly to the hook with no swivel. Palomer or improved cinch knot. Rig plastic worms as straight as possible.

I too like summer fishing because its easier for me to find and pattern bass. If I were going strictly for big fish, find the best deepwater spots you can. Fish them slowly with a plastic worm or jig, two proven baits for bigger bass. At night, fish these areas too, but also fish the more shallow areas close by these spots.Avoid heavy boat traffic - weekdays are good as are week nights.

In the past, most would 2500 or 3000 size. These bigger reels handled mono line better. Now with braid most of these line issues are gone. I would still go with a 2000 size for bass. Usually a faster retrieve, possibly better drag and more power. I still like 2000 or 2500 best, but they will all work

I've tried a couple of wobble heads but they are really not for me. Ill pick a Texas rig over those. Shaky head- when I know bass are in a certain hole Ill use them.As others have said, Ill only use shaky head when I want my bait to sit in one spot for a longer time

Its really a balance thing for me. I rarely punch heavy weights through vegetation. I still try and use the lightest weight I can. A SLOW fall has always worked best for me

Catt, that says it all! And I believe every word.

Thanks Tom and Catt for the history and stats on this.Always fun to learn these things.

In not really sure hown many beginners are really fishing worms and similar plastics. There's a ton more baits out there now then were available years ago. It takes time and practice to get good with them! Not a simple cast and crank lure, like lots of guys want to throw. In glad that I put some serious time into learning plastic fishing when I did- it really has saved the day for me too many times.I think good worm fisherman at some point have taken their fishing to the next level, or skill set. It would pay all aspiring fisherman to get good. Like Larry Nixon said years ago " learn this". Can't argue with experience.

There's really a lot of them out there! Most of my books are older. Maybe some others can give you some tips on this.What type of water are you fishing?

Pick up some good books on bass behavior, and fishing for them. Watch good quality videos- there are some good ones available on this site. Buy a practice plug, set up some targets in your yard and practice accurate casting to and past you targets. Also ask questions on this forum. Many good fisherman on this site who are glad to help. Good luck, and have fun.

30 years ago, I attended a seminar at a sport show in Kansas city. The speaker was Larry Nixon. His seminar was on structure fishing, and was very good. At the end of his seminar he held up a plastic worm and said " learn this". Looking back over years of notes I've kept, this has been true for me. The simple plastic worm has landed me more fish than all other lures combined. On a typical hot summer day, I can usually score a couple of fish very early on topwater baits. My grandson calls this the easy bite. Other faster moving baits may work good too, but once the sun starts beating down, this faster fishing doesn't last long, and we switch to plastic worms. Its also, along with jigs, one of the harder baits for a novice to learn. Plastic worms make up 80% of my fishing time through the main part of the season. How many others feel this way? Regardless of brand name, size, color, etc, do plastic worms make up the bulk of your time on the water. Would it be your #1 choice, if you had to pick one bait? What percentage of your time is spent fishing worms- in all their forms on an average day? My vote goes for the plastic worm as the number 1 bass lure of all time. How many others agree or disagree?

Amazing! Aggressive bass here!

I bought these in dark blue flake and have done pretty well. Academy carries these. I like them weightless, casting to shallow targets. Go for the S-L-O-W fall.

Thanks. Any standard spray paint washes away quickly. Ive painted lots of lead weights with spray paint, and they last a while. Not so with brass

Spinning and baitcasting

You could try a different hook, but senkos are fragile.They have never lasted really long for me. And I agree about the smaller bass tearing them up more.

The main two that I like are Sunline and Maxims. Ive gone back to mono for spinning. Ive also heard good things about McCoy line also. I haunt tried them all, but am always looking for strength, and good handling. I would say Sunline has worked the best so far. In always looking for something better though

What paint would work best for brass slip sinkers?

In in with a Johnson Silver minnow. Years ago , pork trailer, now plastic. Still works well over moss. Also a white Hendon moss boss spoon, and of course black jitterbug

Thank you. I was unaware of this