Bazoo

I set the hook on a dink the other day... and jerked the little guy up out of the water and then ripped the hook out of his mouth. I don't know why I did that, as I normally am not that aggressive, but it can be hard to think when the fish are biting.

I have a spot that is a small 2 acre lake that is right next door to where I go to church. I often only have an hour or so after bible study to fish it. This spot, which I've mentioned before, is very limited pressure. I normally fish something that I'm working on building technique and confidence in. It's normally easy to catch fish there, even in the dog days I catch several in a hour. Lets not limit it to dusk, it could be an hour before bible study, or an hour before church, or an hour after church. This evening I stopped by after bible study, and fished a worm a while... no takers. Then I fished a beetle spin with a minnow instead of the beetle, again no takers. I then tried a popper as bluegill were popping all over, no takers. Then I fished the Spit'n image, and got a taker right at the end. Does anyone else regularly fish short trips like this, and how do you fish it if you have only an hour? What changes if you only have an hour, but it's a place you've never been before?

Howdy and welcome to the site. ---------------------------------------------------- I know a lady that is in her mid 80s that loves fishing, particularly saltwater. She has a barracuda mounted on her living room wall that she caught a few years back.

I pretty much use dark green mono for all of my needs. I rarely fish anything that could be considered clear, if I fished primarily clear I'd be using clear mono. I do use braid, but I primarily use mono.

Interesting stuff being shared here, thanks all. And thank you again @bulldog1935

Howdy, how do ya feel about casting? Welcome from Kentucky!

Sorry to see it. If you were round here I would have offered you my spare car. I've loaned vehicles to several friends, and had the same done to me. Course... one of the friends blew my speakers and then said they shoulda been able to handle his tunes lol. That car is long gone now. Car is just a way to and from the gun store and the lake, so no worries.

I feel for those that have winter and can't fish year round. I was only down a few days a couple of times due to ice last winter. I didn't notice any issues keeping a supply of soft plastics in the car like always. I even fished when it was 15º when there was still some open water, best I remember I threw a Zoom Speed Craw without issue. Ice freezes up on your guides like that, and braid doesn't do well as it gets beads of ice on it, then it makes the worst birds nest you ever saw when it all comes off at once.

"I find myself occasionally lifting the rod to take a loose finish-cast loop off the spool" I do this too. Very minor loop, I do it instinctively. Thank you for articulating it so well.

Yes, Scott, please come back and talk a spell!

I always fish shallow. For me shallow is 5' or less. Sometimes I fish deeper than that, but not normally where and how I fish. I've fished in water so shallow the fins of the fish would occasionally poke out of the water. I don't know why those fish were there, guess they liked it.

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

What is a bass club?

Bridges are iffy here. Most of the bridges are on private land, and technically I'd be trespassing. Most bridges don't have anywhere to park either, so I'd have to park on the shoulder, and that is frowned upon except for the back roads. I had a friend tell me about a bridge/creek; he gave me the location, I asked if it was private property; he said "I don't know, probably, but no one has ever said anything to me."

Thanks for all the information yall. Thank you very much.

Anyone have an idea on age? My boy is still learning by the way. He's getting pretty good at picking backlashes out.

I’ve caught a lot of fish on braid too, but I also have got tangled up and made a heck of a racket plenty of times with both braid and mono.

An interesting discussion, thanks all for sharing.

I haven’t heard about the record or the boat and I surely would like to. I have however gained respect for @Team9nine through his detailed and informative posts. I very much appreciate your addition to a subject.

I think bass hear the line and get spooked by the sound more than the sight of the line.

This is very interesting, thank you for sharing.

Thank you all for the conversation. It’s something that I’ve done and thought about for a while. But I don’t do it religiously and can’t say it boosts my confidence or not.

Interesting, thanks everyone for sharing their insight.

I've heard Roland Martin, and a few others, say to color about a foot of your line with a sharpie to camouflage it. I have done it occasionally, but I don't think it matters. Does anyone here do this and think it really helps? I wonder if the smell of the sharpie could be a fish attractant, rather than the color of the line making any difference.

NICE! Glad to see it improving. If I ever get up to Maine for a visit, I'll make sure I bring my Whopper Plopper collection. I've actually always wanted to visit there. Pretty country from the pictures and videos I've seen. I just don't care for winter that much.