jwo1124

I usually carry 1-3. but I'm shorebound. When I'm not fishing from shore, I'm in a small 12' tin boat with an electric mottor, so theres not much room for two grown guys and a bunch of rods. And it's hard to carry arund a bunch when walking the shoreline.

I've had a lot of luck with Poppers and shallow crankbaits. I have heard that black buzzbaits are killer in the summer time at night. I am speaking about fishing from dusk to alittle past sundown. I have never really been fishing too late. In the summer the sun in setting around 8-8:30 and I'll stay for about an hour after that.

There's really not much you can do about the gills. I would reccommend not using any sort of live worms for bass fishign in areas where there are a lot of gills because it will just be a waste of money. If you are using bait, opt for shiners. Try using crankbaits in bluegill colors to get some bass that are most likely feeding of the gills. I was just at a local fishing hole the other day, and the shoreline I was standing at was full of smaller 3-5" gills roaming and sunning themselves. Most likely if there are alot of gills stacked up, there are probably bass lurking in the deeper water waiting for one to stray into the deeper open water, or for low light when the bass creep up into the really shallow water and annihalate the gills. The best time to fish for bass is from dusk to a little past sundown. The bass will be up shallow hitting anything that moves. I caught a nice 3-4 lber. last summer on a popper night fishing. I also got a few on crankbaits.

For the past week or so the temperature has been great up where I live in Mass. The sun has been bright, we have had a few days in the 70s, today being one of them. Just yesterday I noticed that the trees are blooming, the insects are coming out of hibernation, and yesterday I went down to a local fishing hole to be met by a shoreline filled with bluegill and bass fry. I also noticed a small bass hanging out in the school of sunnies. It seems like the ecosystem is in high gear with the insects out around the pond, the smaller fish are schooling in the shallows, and hopefully the big fish are not too far behind. I plan on going out tomorrow afternoon after my classes are over for the day. I have tomorrow night off of work too, which I plan on spending til after sundown casting and hoaxing big fish to bite... I hope this picture is familiar for all the anglers through out the Northeast, and I wish you a great season of tight lines and smelly hands from landing so many fish.

To put it short and sweet - one of the best threads ever. There is so much truth to what you wrote. There is nothing like truly being connect to nature through fishing and/or hunting(although I am not a hunter I would venture to say it is the same sort of experience.) Life is good, you just have to know how to spend it.

There is a small pond that I bass fish at a lot. Thi spond may look like a puddle to some people who are used to fishing lakes. The size of it is similar to what you may find on a golf course, but it is hidden on a small dead end street. Anyway, I have had good results with 1//4 ounce top water poppers, buzzbaits, wacky and weightless plastics, and jerkbaits. The problem I have is that this pond gets filled with algae mats so lure choices are left to topwaters and plastics. Just remeber to down size your lures since small waters usually hold smaller prey items, look for good holding areas like wood, weeds, and the like, and just have fun and hopefully you catch a big ole bass.

I heard that this is great mono, with little memory...well, I think memory is a good thing. I drove an hour round trip to the closest Dick's S.G. the other day to get new line for a couple spinning reel. I heard good things about Seige from a few fishing shows on TV so I thought I'd try it. Well, let's just say it made me look like a complete idiot yesterday. Let me just say, without going into any great detail, it's the worst line I have ever used. It gave me problems initially spooling the line on the reel. The lack of memory causes the line to jump off the spool, sit loosely on the spool, both which cause twisting and knots which make for wind knots during some casts. I will say that the line is VERY strong. I got hung up twice and I had a hard time breaking the line off after not being able to shake my lure free. Other than the strength, the line is horrible. Pros: seems to have good tensile strength Cons:Doesn't sit tight on spool, twists and knots too easily and too often Side note, does Stren make Suffix? Becuase if you look at the packaging on both, you'll notice the same fish image on both. Because I was going to say I'd go back to Original Stren, but I might go to Cajun Red. I have never had a problem with this line. I had the same line on my spinning reel for over a year and a half and the line was still strong and castable. Plus I liek the advantage of the transparent red line dissapearing. Whether it makes a big difference or not...it can;t hurt.

Up here in northern MA the ponds are no longer frozen, and I have been fishing a couple times now. Even though Hi's can get into the mid 40s, with the wind blowing, it still feels like January. We had a couple real nice days up here, so yesterday and the day before I went fishing at a popular pond that gets stocked up to a few times a year with hatchery trout and salmon. Being that the Hi's are only around 40 if we're lucky, and night time lo's are still dipping into the twenties, I figured the water temp can't be more than around 40-45 degrees, having complete ice out only about two weeks now. Well, I did catch a nice salmon the other day, which is expected this early in the season. But, what was un expected, was catching three bass from the same spot(three in two days) up shallow. I heard that even in the dead of winter, there are still fish that stay relatively shallow all year round. So I'm guessing these bass were holding in the deepest section of this shallow spot by the ramp that gets no deeper then 10'. It makes sense seeing how people catch bass around the same area in the winter ice fishing. Anyone else in the cooler states catching bass yet?

It's been a while since I could stand outside and cast a line for a few hours, but I picked up my new 2008 fishing liscense today and I hit a local pond. The ponds around me have been completely thawed for a couple weeks, but the area I was fishiong today has been thawed out for a few weeks. Its the sunniest place on the pond, and it's right near the ramp. When I got to the spot, there was an older guy there sitting in his truck parked right next to the ramp watching his rod which he left outside, probably with some Power Dough on it for stocked trout. I walked a little down the bank out of the way so I wasn't fishing on top of his line, and after about 6 casts I get a salmon to hit my X-Rap. The MA WIldlife stocks trout and salmon, and this guy was a nice fat three pounder. After that I caught a bass in the shallows from shore. It was around a pound, put up a better fight then the salmon though. I left after that, because even though the thermometer says its in the 40's, when the wind hits you, it still feels like 20 outside. But I left happy. I caught a bass and a salmon in the same day, about 50 yds. away from each other.

I think Carp fishing is popular over in Europe. I have seen a few videos from England where they fishing for Carp, and seem to take it almost as serious as bass fishing over here in the states

I'd take 1/2 a liter of booze too. I spend too much time being contructive, so it's nice to take time and forget about everything. Waking up with a hang over sucks though...

Yeah, there have been a lot of fishing shows on this morning. I have been watching them since I woke up at 9:30. There are some on Versus too if you get that. I already saw this shaw grigsby so I'm taking some time to check the forum. i'll go back at 1 to catch Bill Dance, but I'm thinking it might be the same one I saw on friday when he is fishing a small pond for some austrailian fish. I used to be bummed because they used to only run the shows on SAT mornings, and I work then, but now I just catch them all on SUN AM.

You guys don;t have any hooks ups with an Xrta Fast?

couldn't tell ya, try catching one of the re runs during the week It was a sick bait though, I wish swimbaits weren't $50 though

I heard that the strom soft plastic swimbaits that imitate Sunfish or crappie catch fish, but they fall apart easily. I heard the tail falls off after a couple fish, leaving the bait relatively "action-less" Since the thumping tail is the only thing the gives the bait any atracting properties, other than a dead still fish getting pulled through the water. If I were you I'd stick with soft plastic jerkbaits, or save up for a couple real nice swimbaits. I was watching BAss pros this saturday, and the long haired dude with the earings(don;t know his name, but anyone who watches bassmasters or bass pros will know who I am talking about) He was using a large bluegill imitator, and the thing looked amazing in the water, and when he stopped his retreive the bait would turn around 180* and "look back" at any following fish. I think I'm going to purchase 1 oe 2 nice swimbaits and toss them on my striper rod and see if I can get some trophys this year.

I just picked up 8 Norman crankbaits from Dick's the other day. They are having a winter sale and they were around $3 each. I frist notiuced these cranks when I saw a guy who was talking bass fishing in one of the aisles one day, and he bought up a bunch of the DD22's on the shelf. I personally think the lures look good, they have a larger profile than most other cranks, a little big larger hooks, and, this is big in my book, they list the weights and diving depths for each bait. I hate looking at a lure, and the box doesn;t list the weight or the diving depth(if its a crank) Anyway, I got shallow, medium and deep divers, and I plan on using them this spring before all the weeds come in. Norman has almost every models and depth for crankbaits, if these seem to work well, I might just stay brand loyal to them, since there relatively inexpensive, and made in the USA

Just so you guys know, Dick's is having a sale on Rapalas, 20% off lures, like $1.20 makes a big difference

I get all bent out of shape soing a $5 or $6 crankbait, I couldn't imagine the shape I'd be in if I were to lose a $40 or $50 swimbait... >

you guys are freaks...I hope I don't turn into one of you

I understand that it was a great loss, but focus on the positive. The man won the Bass Master's classic, the pinnacle of pro bass angling. He accomplished what I would bet was his childhood dream, something that many people never do. He may have died young, but I'm sure he died proud and fullfilled that he accomplished a great goal. I only heard of this this past weekend when I was watching the Classic. And I mean no disrespect to the man, its a shame he died so young, and I'm not sure if he left a wife or children behind, but we all have to go sometime, and to at least win the Classic before you go is something special.

One more thought, Once all the bass are huge and glutonous, they are going to need large amounts of food to survive. They are either going to Destroy the lower throphic level and wipe out all the prey(minnows, shad, crawfish etc.) This will result in them either starving or evolving to prey on other gamefish like sunfish, crappie, or perch, thus eliminating the population of those gamefish. or 2.) become cannabalistic and wipe out all the newly spawned fry doing further damage to the bass population. I hate just to be a skeptic about this, but these are serious and probable consiquences

Seems ridiculous. Once all the big bass eventually die, and the pike eat all the majority of the small bass, there will be a very small bass population in the lake. Then locals will start complaining that they have been going out three or four times a week and getting skunked or only having one or two fish days. I think management is a gift and a curse. Its great to have knowledgable professionals that can help a lake or river or any body of water thrive and maintain a healthy productive abundant ecosystem, but other times people get carried away and try to play God and end up F'ing everything up. I think people should do just what is needed and stop letting greed get in the way and understand that mother nature did not intend for lakes to be full of BIG BASS. What's the fun in catching a big bass when every and all bass in the lake are big? There will be nothing special about catching a 6lb bass, since every bass you catch is 6 lbs. and once all the bass get to be 10 lbs, there will be nothing special in catching a 10 lb. bass. Don't get me wrong, it looks good on paper, but why mess with nature. Do the bare minimum to make sure the habitats are healthy and productive, and be happy with what you have.

I think it is absolutely SADISTIC to use a mammal as fishing bait. Anyone who does that should 1.) Be ashamed of themselves, and 2.) Go to prison for animal abuse. Worms and fish are so primatively evolved I see no problem in using them as bait. They probably forget they are on the hook after you toss them into the water. But using a mouse, or a squirrel or a chipmunk is screwed up. I saw a guy catching small perch to use as "BIG"Bass bait, so I tired catchign a small sunfish to do the same, but I couldn't find it in me to hook the sunny to toss out for a bass to eat...I guess I just felt bad like the fish was better than to be used as bait. Bluegill, even though they are small and annoyign at times, are still gamefish, and I think they deserve more respect than to be used as bait. If you want to use bait(live or dead/cut) to catch bass, or any other gamefish, that's your perogative. I think the only reason bait fishing gets such a bad rap in bass fishing is mostly because everyone is trying to emulate the Pro Anglers who fish for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they think that by catching bass like them, they are just like them. Similar to when kids go out and buy hundred dollar Air Jordans becasue they "Wanna be like Mike" I guaren...d**n...tee that if Pro Bass Anglers fished with bait in BASS Tournaments no one would have a problem with it and say it is "unsporting". Anyone who denies the claim that they use lures because they try to be like the pro's and the guys on TV are liars. I know because that is the reason I spend so much money on rods, reels, and lures, and tons of other fishing paraphanilia I see advertised by Bill Dance, or KVD, or on any other fishing show on TV. Unless you are practice fishing for a tournament, there is really no reason to shun live bait. Except for the fact you may get a nose or two turned up at you by tournament anglers, and wanna be's. I am probably gonna get some negative feedback by guys going on the defensive, and that wasn;t my intentions. I'm just stating the truth, whether they want to except it or not. I have started not to use bait more often then I do, mainly because getting bait is a hassle, it's expensive($5 for 12 shiners, half of which will fly off the hook on a cast, some will die, an many will get eaten by dink bass. In other words it's gonna be $15 for a good few dozen baits for a fishing trip. If you fish a few times a week it gets expensive.) Then going out of the way to the bait shop, making sure it is open... Plus I have fell into the baitfishing is for kids and the ignorant mentality, which I admit is wrong, since fishing is fishing whether you use lures or bait, niether of which is more prestigous than the other. JUst my opinion, some may like it, some may hate it, others could care less.

Thats a good saying, but I have had a few fish toss trebles when fishing with a fast tip in the span of a few minutes, but can not remember a time they tossed them when fishing with a glass or compostie rod...I have had fish come off at shore, but never just come off a few seconds after the bite. It could have just been coincidence...I'll keep trying trebles on fast action until I come to a concrete conclusion

Also, on the right hand side of the web page, where "related videos" are, there is a video of a Pike eating a full sized cut throat trout. You have to see it.