Bazoo

Miss Crickety... your screen name begs the question: do you fish with crickets?

In this state, you have to have it weighed on a certified scale with 2 witnesses, and the fish has to be inspected by a biologist to certify species. Keeping a list of certified scales in your area would be a good idea. Post offices and grocery stores have certified scales, where else? You need to find out where your local biologist is, and get his number and keep it handy. More than one biologist would be a plus in case he's gone. To keep it alive, you would need a holding tank, have all the info you need for all the people you need to contact, and be on point to get it done as quickly as possible. I would like very much to know what tank size would be needed. I'd guess a 300 gallon tank would suffice. Knowing bass normally go no longer than 3 days without eating, I'd say you have 3 days to get it all taken care of and the bass back in its home waters. A very interesting subject, thanks for asking. I look forward to hearing what others more knowledgable will suggest for keeping a record fish alive through the process.

Thanks for the responses all. Lets say after 30 minutes it's time to change lures. Do you change to something else that is in the same aggressiveness range or do you go straight to soft plastics and slow way down? The fact that I like spinnerbaits is one reason I use them, but also, I've often found that they will produce when nothing else I try will. So, I do have a lot of confidence in them that's for sure. I do fish many things I don't have confidence in, and I think i'll use the 15-20 minute rule with those lures before I move on.

Not sure of the brand of the inline spinner, but it was freshly lost in a bush right next to where I'd lost my spinnerbait the trip previous. A friend bought it for me at our stop before the trip. I had been fishing from the bank and snagged it on the 3-4 cast. I was able to tie it off in a concealed manner and it was still there when I went back with the boat. I commenced to fish it a spell and caught a bass.

For a heavily pressured pond/lake, how much difference does it make to get away from shore when most of the pressure is from shore anglers? On Freeman Lake, there are a couple of stretches that are easily accessed and thus very popular and heavily fished shore areas. I've had seemingly better luck (but not a huge amount better) when I took the boat and got out past casting distance. There is also more cover there, falldowns, stumps, and grass. If there's that much pressure from shore, how leery does it make the bass close to or semi-close to those spots? I've had a little bit of luck from shore, mostly with weightless Texas Rigged Zoom Lizards. I've caught 1 or 2 fish there on spinnerbaits, caught a couple on a swimbait, and had a strike on the Whopper Plopper, but he shook it. To add to the clues as to what others are using, I caught one on a topwater frog out in the middle, though it's only 5' deep there. I don't think there are a lot of frogs in this part, and I don't think many people would use a frog there, thus probably something they don't see much. Anytime I get the chance to talk to other anglers or check out what they are using, I do so. I see a lot of topwater, a lot of soft plastics. I find a lot of cranks and spinners (both inline and spinnerbaits) and a lot of topwaters like poppers and Whopper Ploppers. I've heard many people say they've never caught a fish in there, or that they have never seen anyone catch anything. Indeed there has been many days I've gotten nary a bite for 3-4 hours of fishing, but I recognized right off that the pressure put on it will make them mighty tightmouthed. I also recognized that it's a good opportunity for me to learn and grow as a bass angler.

Thanks for this video @Glenn. You said at about 6:15 to figure out the water column they are biting on and then target that water column for the rest of the body of water. Have you ever seen the fish be in a particular water column, say 15' on one area, and then be biting in a different depth, say 8' on another area of the same pond or area of the lake? Like, for example opposite sides of the pond or of a bay? If so, why? Was it due to structure? Light penetration? Current? Or has it ever been the case without any apparent reason?

Thanks for the responses. @Glenn thanks for the video. Most of the time, I expect a bite on every cast, and I still have confidence with my spinnerbait or other lures I'm using. It takes me hours without a bite for me to get to the point to where I feel it's not working and I should change. That is the basis for my question. I anticipate a fish much longer than say, my wife, or my buddy. After 2 hours without a bite, I'll try something else, then I give that an hour, then try something else a while. There has been several occasions that we fished for a couple hours, and the wife finally talked me into leaving because the fish weren't biting, and I caught one as I was fixing to pack up and leave. So my experience tells me to stay with it.

I have an older rod that had guides that do not have inserts. They are all metal, stainless steel I think. I wonder how braid would do with one of those? For the record, I'm not planning to use it for braid, but I am just curious if the all metal guides would hold up.

I mis-spoke here... upon reflection, it was Rock Bass and not Bluegill that I've caught on the pocket frog.

I went to Freeman Lake today, and I had a couple bites on my spinnerbait. Within 30 minutes of getting there I had the first, but nothing for another couple of hours, including moving spots and trying a fluke a while with intermittent spinnerbait fishing. Then another strike right before leaving. I had a conversation afterwards with my fishing buddy, where he was telling me about my concentration in correlation to the passing of time. I often think less time has passed than what actually does. So I often fish a lure longer without a bite than he or my wife does. I have always heard you should stick with it, but now I'm thinking, perhaps I should change things up instead of toughing it out. The lake I fish is pretty heavily fished, so often times I think that the reason I'm not getting bit is because of the pressure, and not because of lure choice. How long do you give it before trying something else: a) after you get there? b) after the last strike? Do you normally try another size or color of your lure type before changing or do you just change types?

I'm working on the thread and am 15 pages in, but I have some anchoring questions. I've been using a mushroom anchors when fishing shallow to hold my spot and I'm wondering: How much line should I use for water in the 3'-6' range? When using 2 anchors, my buddy and I have tried different amounts and it seems that about 3' extra line is about right. Is that about what everyone else has found to be right? What about when using 1 anchor? Should I use a bit more line? When anchored with 1 line, we spin pretty good with mild wind, would a fixed rudder stop this or just make the spin slower?

I am 15 pages into this thread now Some good info in there that I'm soaking in and learning a lot.

I ended up meeting a gent at the lake and we got to talking, and exchanged a bit of spot info. I got a lead on a new spot, and made a new friend that seems as passionate about fishing as me. Praise God. I did tell him about BassResource too!

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have a problem with adjustment and use of budget reels thus far. I'm learning about the differences between different models though as I'm really only experienced with a couple.

An excellent thread with many tips and a great amount of information, thanks to all who contributed. I learned baitcasting 25 years ago, and never got really good, then I took about a 12 year hiatus from fishing and just started back earlier this year. I employed a strategy from the concealed carry of a firearm, which is daily practice. With a firearm you practice your draw, and either live or dry firing. I have found that with casting, it's much the same if you want to get to a high level of proficiency. After taking it back up, my thumb picked up where it left off, and with almost daily practice, I'm pretty decent currently. I go for close and mid range accuracy, and occasionally distance. I practice overhand and roll casting and pitching regularly. I need to start practicing with the spinning reel too, because all the constant baitcasting practice has made me much better there. My favorite thing to practice baitcasting with is an old spinnerbait. Not only does it make a satisfying thump when it hits target, but its nearly snag proof in the yard, which brings a new level of confidence in the lure when throwing it into thicker stuff.

Thank you. That's a bunch of info that is right up my alley and I appreciate it.

A few decent ones lately. 1/4oz trap, Nomad squarebill, KVD Hard Knocker, and an H2OX popper. A 1/4oz jig too. I'll have a lifetime of swivels and assorted hooks in styles I never use before its over.

Just finished it, thanks for the tips. A lot of what you said was conformation to what I've been learning.

Thanks, I didn't know that. I've never really messed with the brakes in baitcasters much. I learned on a round Abu Garcia Ambassadeur, which had brakes but I never messed with them other than taking it apart and seeing them on occasion. I have had a couple low pros, but I haven't even thought about the brakes until I opened this one and saw it lacked them.

Thanks. I knew it was a budget model, but I was unaware that baitcasters were made without centrifugal brakes.

I believe it was 77º yesterday. We have started getting a lot of yellowing leaves, but still a long way to go for us. It's been quite warm lately. The lake we were at closes at sundown, and we didn't have time to fish that spot thoroughly, though we started getting into the bass. The boat is quite stable, and the seats are pretty comfy too, it's a Buster Boat, one of those plastic bass boats. I've had it about 3 or 4 months and I'm still figuring out what I like and don't like about it and what I can do to make it better.

I have acquired a used, but seemingly lightly used Lews reel. I took the side plate off, and there are no centrifugal brakes like the other reels I've seen. Does this model not have centrifugal brakes, or has someone removed the assembly? I appreciate the help all.

Took the bass buster out for a spin earlier. My friend caught a clam, deep rolling a spinnerbait, no pic of that one though. I have caught a clam too, many years ago.

WOW, thats pretty cool, thanks for sharing that. That's some crazy stuff right there. Still got the rod and reel?

I cast 1/4 ounce lures with a baitcaster, my Abu Black Max combo, using 10 # Big Game line. If I remember correctly, I have specifically used the 1/4 ounce Beetle Spin. The rod being graphite makes it harder, a fiberglass rod loads differently and works much better. I sometimes also use a cheap zebco fiberglass rod, since I don't have a decent quality glass rod. That combo, usually accompanies me when I'm bank fishing creek banks with plenty of cover, partly because of the casting qualities of glass, partly because it's shorter and easier to handle in cover. I digress, if you use a 1/4 ounce Beetle, and you use a reel you're familiar and comfortable with, I think you can do it just fine.