Month: August 2008

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Bass Today!

I took some time off from work today and decided we’d take a break from the usual fishing routine.

Our local lake had some northern pickerel introduced into it a few years back and now it seems to be all that I catch in there. I’m of the opinion that the pickerel have taken over the lake and destroyed the bass population which used to be there. Any one else ever experience such a thing?

So when my older son said “let’s try the creek”, I said sure. The creek has yielded some very nice catfish, carp, pickerel and bass in the past. So we got some earthworms for the boys and off we went. Being a rubber wormer, I naturally used my rubber worm in the creek.

Well, my older son was the first to catch a fish and he caught a “roach” not long after we started fishing. My younger son caught some sunnies as usual and kept me busy re-worming and taking the fish off the hook. I decided it was time for my younger son (he’s 5) to learn how to put worms on his hook. After all, Dad needs to get in some fishing! After a few unsuccessful tries, he finally got a worm to stay on his hook!

I gave both my sons some bass fishing tips and we moved to another spot on the creek. My older son said there were no fish at that spot and wanted to move on, but Dad prevailed. Within 3 casts, I had a nice 14 inch largemouth bass in hand. After releasing the fish and helping my younger son unhook his sunny, he promptly caught his very first largemouth! Picture included here! I told my older son why the spot was a good spot and hopefully the lesson will stay with him for a lifetime!

We moved to a few more spots and my older son caught a nice largemouth as well as some sunnies.

A couple hours of fishing and we headed back home – a good day of fishing behind us!

Make sure YOUR fishing trips are successful – check out the 100 Best Freshwater Fishing Tips available on the upper right corner!

“Catch” you later.

 

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The Bass Krusher Rig – Bass Fishing Tips

If you live in the northeastern part of the USA, I can almost guarantee you that you’ll catch a bass if there are any in the water you’re fishing! Pretty bold claim, I know. But almost 40 years of experience have taught me some really great bass fishing tips, and I’ll share some of them with you here.

I am a wormer! It’s true – I’ve tried to deny it, but the truth is that if given a choice, I’ll choose a rubber worm to fish with almost all of the time. If you could see my tacklebox, you’d probably laugh. I have so many rubber worms, grubs and crayfish in there that the box hardly closes. And it’s big box too! One of my friends is almost as bad as I am. We’ll get together and exchange worms – telling which ones have worked and where. I’m afraid it might be contagious – as my older son seems to be turning into a wormer as well!

OK – so you know I’m a wormer, but what’s this guarantee for catching bass about? Well… through my years of bass fishing (with some pickerel thrown in too) I’ve found what seems to be the best rigging for a worm to catch bass in this part of the country. Rigging? Yes, you know – how you go about placing the hook into the rubber worm. I’ve seen and tried the most popular ways but my own design seems to work the best. I call it the “Bass Krusher Rig”!

I start with a weedless hook about 2/0 size. (I use the hooks that have the wires that either hang out past the hook or actually clip onto the hook.) Poke a hole into the worm at about 1/2 an inch down from the top and then run the hook through the center of the worm. Once the entire straight shank of the hook is in the center of the worm, bring the crook part of the hook back out of the worm. Next, (and this is where it gets tricky) you run the eyelet of the hook back up through the center of the worm until it pops out of the top of the worm . Then you attach a brass snap-swivel to the hook’s eyelet and pull the assembly back down into the center of the worm. Leave just the top ring of the snap-swivel showing so you can tie your fishing line to it. Next, pull the weedless wires over the hook (this prevents snagging while fishing with it) and you’re ready to go. The advantages of this type of rig are that it moves the hook further down the worm, allows the worm to be fished anywhere without snagging and it adds a metallic flash to the worm (from the snap-swivel used) which helps to catch the bass’ attention.

If you’d like me to put up a few pictures or do a quick video to give you a little more detail for this rigging, just leave me a comment and I’ll try to post them for you.

Edit: Since I’ve had a request for some pictures – you can view the actual rigging by clicking here:

Most bass grab the worm from the back end – so the further down the worm you place the hook, the more likely you’ll be successful when trying to hook the bass. The Bass Krusher Rig will place the hook closer to the center of the worm than most of the popular riggings. It allows the worm to move naturally through the water and keeps the crook of the hook out of the worm which makes it easier to set the hook and catch the fish.

Hey, give my “Bass Krusher Rig” a try and let me know how it works for you. Here in the northeast, our lakes and ponds are shallow, so I mainly use this rig with no weight. I use a light rod/reel combination which allows me to cast it as far as I’d like. I let it slowly sink after casting and twitch it as it is retrieved slowly. The bass just can’t seem to resist this!

If you like this bass fishing tip, check out the 100 best freshwater fishing tips on the right of your screen – there are some really great tips in there as well!

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Fresh Water Fishing Tips

The best fresh water fishing tips I can think of would naturally start at the beginning or actually prior to the beginning of your fishing trip. And that would be the preparation. Yes, it can be a boring and tedious task – but without proper preparation your fishing trip can be over before it’s even begun!

The first tip – make sure your rod and reel are clean and ready to go. It’s as easy as visually inspecting the rod to make sure the eyelets or line guides are still properly attached. Check the reel seating and make sure that it is properly tightened – you don’t want to lose the first fish due to your reel falling out of the rod seat! Lastly check the reel’s operation – make sure that it’s functioning properly and that you have enough line on it.

Next – determine what you will use to catch the fish. If you’re going to be using bait, make sure you have enough of it to last your entire trip. Also make sure you have the right sized hooks and a sufficient quantity of them as well. If you’ll be using lures rather than bait, check them and make sure the hooks aren’t rusted and that they’re sufficiently sharp enough to do their job. Also, make sure you have enough of the lures. Plan on losing a few of them and make sure you have back-ups! If you don’t lose any… great – but if you do, you’ll be prepared!

The third fresh water fishing tip is to make sure you have the right paraphernalia – clothing, hat, license, sunglasses, etc. These will help make the trip more pleasant and also help you avoid bugs, too much sun and a possible run in with the local game warden!

These tips should get you ready to go – now all you’ll need are some fresh water fishing tips to help you catch those fish! I’ve found what I believe is one of the best books to cover these tips and you should check it out if you don’t want to come home empty-handed! It’s written by the folks at “In-Fisherman” and is titled 100 Best freshwater Fishing Tips.

With more than 25 years of experience in teaching anglers how to catch more fish, the editors at “In-Fisherman” have published their 100 top freshwater fishing tips. It covers more than 40 types of fish – from gar and bass to pickerel and muskie. It will show you the best strategies and techniques for successful freshwater angling.