Beginner in MD!

[Mark D.]

Hey everyone,

I just started about 2 weeks ago. I bought a Medium 6 1/2' Spinning Lite Pro Ugly Stik. I need some helpful tips/guides on what i should be doing to fish for bass. I've bought a couple of hard baits, but had them caught in hydrilla or atleast i think. So i went to BP yesterday and bought a tackle box and some new things.

This is what i currently have in my tackle box.

• J-7 & J-9 Rapala top water
  
• 3 1/2" popper
  
• 5" top water minnow
  
• crankbait the previos 2 were in the discount bin at BP
  
• RNR08 Rapala Lipless Rattle
  
• Berkley 3/4 finess jig & 3/8 flipping jig
  
• 1/8 shakey heads with screw for worms
  
• 4" powerbait shakey worms
  
• 3/0 hooks
  
• 4" white & pumpkin tubes
  
• #6 bait hooks
  
• 1/4 egg weights
  
• 1/8 worm weights
  
• bearing snap swivels
  

Now a big question is what should i have and what should i take out? I have not had any luck with catching anything in the Maryland lakes/reservoirs. Only thing i've caught are small bluegill using #6 hooks and cut pieces of nightcrawlers. Any and all suggestions will help a lot!

Mark D.

[roadwarrior]

This will help:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1158577137

8-)

[snapshotmd]

Mark,

RW has great advice. With what you have now, I would get some Senkos and worm hooks. Texas rig them then go to town.

If want to pursue bass you will want a faster action rod with backbone to drive the hookset. Uglysticks are good rods, but not for bass. Try to get yourself a baitcaster combo setup. I prefer med-hvy, fast action rods.

If you really want to have fun, go out and get yourself some plastic frogs and some wide gap worm hooks. This is primetime to fish frogs. I use dark colors; black, green pumpkinseed and 5/0 widegap hooks. Find some grass, then cast out and retreive. Bass will "blow up" on the frog and make your heart skip a beat! OK, maybe there is a little bit of an investment here but you will need:

Med-Hvy rod

Baitcast reel

Braided line, 50lb

I would keep most of what you have.  I would get 1/2 oz egg weights for C-rigs.  Try to get some crawfish imitators.

Good luck!

[Mark D.]

On the plastic fogs, should i cast past the grassbed or right on top?  Are there different sizes on frogs?

Mark D.

[cBooms@SML]

On the plastic fogs, should i cast past the grassbed or right on top? Are there different sizes on frogs?

Mark D.

i would say cast past it and the work your way over it. i too fish in md. where do you live? im in bowie and fish a local pond that is shallow and has lots of grass in it, and a swamp with lily pads. i catch tons of fish and i am young so i guess i could be called a beginner, but i do know a thing or too  but good luck, and feel free to ask anything, i would love to help 

[Mark D.]

On the plastic fogs, should i cast past the grassbed or right on top? Are there different sizes on frogs?

Mark D.

i would say cast past it and the work your way over it. i too fish in md. where do you live? im in bowie and fish a local pond that is shallow and has lots of grass in it, and a swamp with lily pads. i catch tons of fish and i am young so i guess i could be called a beginner, but i do know a thing or too but good luck, and feel free to ask anything, i would love to help

I live in Silver Spring,

I usually fish all over MD at different spots, Clopper Lake, Little Seneca, Little Patuxent, Triadephia, Just trying to get my feet wet!

Mark D.

[BrianinMD]

Mark,

I live in Germantown and fish Little Seneca Lake at Black Hills Park a lot. If you have any questions about it just let me know. My schedule with work, school, kid and wifes 40th birthday is a little tied up right now so can't really say when I will be there the next time though...

[Mark D.]

Mark,

I live in Germantown and fish Little Seneca Lake at Black Hills Park a lot. If you have any questions about it just let me know. My schedule with work, school, kid and wifes 40th birthday is a little tied up right now so can't really say when I will be there the next time though...

Brian,

Thank You for responding! I was out there this past Saturday, but did not catch anything. Though I did see a big bass in the AM!  I just don't know what i'm doing wrong, only fish that are biting are bluegill and thats only once in a blue moon. So if you can give any help, that would be great!

Mark D.

[Red Bear]

try changing your colors or presentations. or try senkos, they work everywhere

[Daddyodo]

Welcome!! I am a beginner for the most part also. What part of Md are you from and where do you fish? I live in Howard county and fish mostly lakes in and around Columbia. i have tried a bunch of different lures with no success. going out wed morning and I am going to fish nothing but Senko's until I get the hang of it. I also fish an Ugly stick.Med /heavy fast action

[Munkin]

I fish all over the state and can tell you to get some Kinami Flash 4" senkos in Natural shad and watermelon. Texas rig these on a 2/0 EWG worm hook and you will catch fish. Also pick up a bag of Zoom green pumkin finesse worms to use on those 1/8oz shakey heads. With these 2 lures you will catch fish anywhere in the state. There are a lot of other baits I use that really work but these 2 are very easy for a beginner to use.

Now for Black Hills Lake Seneca= It is deep clear and has a lot of grass. Fish the senkos in the parts of the lake near the shore that are covered by tree shade they are always there in the summer. If there are trees laying in the water that is deep use the shakey head worm.

If you have any specific questions or want to know of some spots send me a PM.

Allen

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

On the plastic fogs, should i cast past the grassbed or right on top? Are there different sizes on frogs?

Mark D.

Evenntualy u need to build up to a frog rod. You need something heavy enough to haul fish out of grass.Learn how to use a baitcaster and start saving up to get yourself a set up for heavy cover. As you progress youll find it hard to keep your money in your wallet  ;D. But for a frog rod Id get a graphite medium heavy rod (Graphite series are great. Never had a problem with them they work great.Great Price for them too), A nice baitcaster thats atleast 6:1 gear ratio because when you set the hook on a fish in the heavy stuff you wanna get them out of there as fast as you can.But you cant do that without heavy line  i got 20 pound spider wire braid (i think 20 lb is all you need. All the pros use like 60 pound plus but i think thats too much. 20 lbs great.I pulled an 8 pound delta hawg out of the thickest stuff with this stuff. Never ever had it snap or anything). Braid is way stronger per diameter,its abrasion resistant times like a billion,in fact i dont think it can get abrasionized haha,and it cuts through grass and plants,making it the toughest stuff out there. But i think before you got a frogging rod, id get an everything baitcast set up to get the hang of baitcasting,plus you could use more lures on it than you would a frog rod,because the frog rod is your frog rod. Meaning your most likely just gonna use frogs on it  ;D

[Mark D.]

HOLY CRAP!!! Senkos are amazing!

So I ended up getting a 6 1/2 MH Baitcaster and bought 4" Pumpkin w/blk flakes, and boy are they great! I went out almost every day this past weekend and caught atleast 1 bass a day on a 2 hr session. Here is the 1lber (i know its small) im so d**n proud of !!! Although i noticed the 5" pumpkin w/red flakes werent getting any hits. I'm ready to guy buy a buttload of these Senkos for the up and coming weekend . Any comments on differrent kinds of worms i should try?

Mark D.

[Pikesnogle]

HOLY CRAP!!! Senkos are amazing!

So I ended up getting a 6 1/2 MH Baitcaster and bought 4" Pumpkin w/blk flakes, and boy are they great! I went out almost every day this past weekend and caught atleast 1 bass a day on a 2 hr session. Here is the 1lber (i know its small) im so d**n proud of !!! Although i noticed the 5" pumpkin w/red flakes werent getting any hits. I'm ready to guy buy a buttload of these Senkos for the up and coming weekend . Any comments on differrent kinds of worms i should try?

Mark D.

Congrats man. Senkos are in my opinion one of the best soft plastics on the market. They catch bass about 95% of the places that you fish with them. Obviously, color and presentation have a huge impact on this.

I have a lot of luck on watermelon with black flakes, as well as the darker green with red flakes. In the Potomac river, I do well with these colors as well as the BRIGHT red color.

What method are you using when you throw them? Have you tried wacky rigged yet? I think that is my favorite method, especially when there is a lot of vegetation on the bottom. I let it sink and kinda lay on the vegetation then pull it up off of it and let it sink again (rinse and repeat).

Good luck.

Snogle

[Mark D.]

HOLY CRAP!!! Senkos are amazing!

So I ended up getting a 6 1/2 MH Baitcaster and bought 4" Pumpkin w/blk flakes, and boy are they great! I went out almost every day this past weekend and caught atleast 1 bass a day on a 2 hr session. Here is the 1lber (i know its small) im so d**n proud of !!! Although i noticed the 5" pumpkin w/red flakes werent getting any hits. I'm ready to guy buy a buttload of these Senkos for the up and coming weekend . Any comments on differrent kinds of worms i should try?

Mark D.

Congrats man. Senkos are in my opinion one of the best soft plastics on the market. They catch bass about 95% of the places that you fish with them. Obviously, color and presentation have a huge impact on this.

I have a lot of luck on watermelon with black flakes, as well as the darker green with red flakes. In the Potomac river, I do well with these colors as well as the BRIGHT red color.

What method are you using when you throw them? Have you tried wacky rigged yet? I think that is my favorite method, especially when there is a lot of vegetation on the bottom. I let it sink and kinda lay on the vegetation then pull it up off of it and let it sink again (rinse and repeat).

Good luck.

Snogle

I've just been tex rigging them, both weightless and with  1/8 worm weight. But i like the weightless a whole lot better. I was thinking about trying them wacky rigged this upcoming weekend. Don't know if I should try different sized senkos. All my catches have been on the 4"

Mark D.

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

HOLY CRAP!!! Senkos are amazing!

So I ended up getting a 6 1/2 MH Baitcaster and bought 4" Pumpkin w/blk flakes, and boy are they great! I went out almost every day this past weekend and caught atleast 1 bass a day on a 2 hr session. Here is the 1lber (i know its small) im so d**n proud of !!! Although i noticed the 5" pumpkin w/red flakes werent getting any hits. I'm ready to guy buy a buttload of these Senkos for the up and coming weekend . Any comments on differrent kinds of worms i should try?

Mark D.

Congrats man. Senkos are in my opinion one of the best soft plastics on the market. They catch bass about 95% of the places that you fish with them. Obviously, color and presentation have a huge impact on this.

I have a lot of luck on watermelon with black flakes, as well as the darker green with red flakes. In the Potomac river, I do well with these colors as well as the BRIGHT red color.

What method are you using when you throw them? Have you tried wacky rigged yet? I think that is my favorite method, especially when there is a lot of vegetation on the bottom. I let it sink and kinda lay on the vegetation then pull it up off of it and let it sink again (rinse and repeat).

Good luck.

Snogle

Senkos are freaking awesome,but try the strike king ocho instead.They're cheaper per package,designed better,catch more fish i think personally, easier to rig because of their design, have a better fall and look,and they last so much longer. Almost everytime i catch a fish on a senko, it goes flying off.I dont do that rubber band thing. Ive caught 15 fish on one ocho before.Besides catching more fish,ochos will save you more money to buy MORE fishing stuff!!! ;D ;D ;D

[Munkin]

4" Senkos work better for me than the 5" ones.

Colors: Natural Shad, Watermelon black flake, Green Pumkin and if the water is really stained Junebug. These can all be bought at Walmart in a blue package labeled Kinami Flash. For a cheaper alternative get some Yum dingers which should be at Walmart as well.

Allen

[Pikesnogle]

4" Senkos work better for me than the 5" ones.

Colors: Natural Shad, Watermelon black flake, Green Pumkin and if the water is really stained Junebug. These can all be bought at Walmart in a blue package labeled Kinami Flash. For a cheaper alternative get some Yum dingers which should be at Walmart as well.

Allen

Amen on the Yum Dingers. Forgot to mention those completely, good call.

Also agree with the 4" senkos over the 5" as well.

And Mark I would definitely recommend the wacky rigged, catch a lot of fish and it's a blast. Stay with the 4" on the wacky. Good luck brother.

Snogle