Got my new prop!
 

I just thought I would let you all know that my new prop arrived today while I was at work! I can not wait to try it out! I was very surprized by it's early arrival. When they sent it they said prolly be here by July 1st if I was lucky. It would all depend on the ground shipping. Was I ever surprised to see it here when I got home. My wife never even told me it came when I called her earlier. How to go UPS..

Now Buckhunter my friend be very carefull as I will soon be taking the lead in the tourney for the northern division..lol.
I have been talking with a few friends that fish the tourneys here and they simply stated I was in the right area to start hauling in some decent size largemouths.. They also told me where there was some more of those dangerous ledges were hiding out and how to get around them. As well as some of those rock piles.. I said I hope so because I do not want to hit anymore of them...

Glad you're back up and running again Phil. You want to catch bass and I want to catch brook trout. If only we could swap places for a week! :biggrin:

That's awesome Phil....expecting some monsters any day now(-:
My new rods were about a week early as well.

Yeah, I can catch those brook trout most anytime. Right now we have been getting quite a bit of rain as well. Up north and south of here has had 8 inches. The area I am in got lucky and had gotten maybe 2 inches. But, that is enough to breed blackflies and the like. They tend to drive me away until our warmer weather comes in.

Yeah Chuck, I am hoping to bring in a couple of the heavey wieghts. Although they did not tell me exactly where to catch those heavey wieghts they did tell me the depth and water conditions. Basically where I had caught my last large mouth was a pretty good area. They said 8 to 9 feet of water on a day that there is some wind blowing. Fishing the areas where the bottom is grassy.. They stated that 6 pounders are pretty common in those areas.. That is after I told them they were only small fish and that there was no large bass there..

Well, if it was me ..I'd first go though the area with my depth finder..

If it looked promising...I'd get a dozen and a half of live shiners and with the wind drift ....while I was waiting for a bite I'd be bumping a worm..slow on that grassy bottom..especially before July 3rd..the full moon day..If there is a big bass out there, you r odds of hooking up is pretty darn good.

Another thing I would do is drift one rod on your knee in that 8-10 foot section ..and with your 2 free hands cast a worm or frog on the shoreline...

The drifting on the knee trick doesn't always work..I mostly use this when the bite is slow. Bass Masters does not allow this technique..too deadly. I used it yesterday and lost a hawg...and here's why..

I had my rod over my right knee and casting a worm on a sandbar..the drifting worm is perfectly still which is called dead sticking..The bite like yesterday can be deceiving...many times the rod will slightly hang up so I find myself..picking up the rod slowly and then making a quick jerk to free it.Yesterday my line seemed to be hung up....but I quickly realized the line was actually moving quickly to the left..I QUICKLY picked up the rod..the fish felt me and nearly broke my wrist..Darn I hate when that happens..missed her.

I have been doing this one. Every time I am out my fishfinder is on..

I already have the shiners.. I am currently debating which size to use. I have small shiners and some really large ones. My large ones are 6 to 7 inches and around 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep. Ihave pretty much all sizes inbetween from the small to the large. I do plan on saving some large ones for lakers though..

I will be trying to drift something threw that jungle of a bottong though. The shore line right now most likely will not be productive until the small alwives are out. Then the shoreline will be getting very active once again. At least that is what I was told anyways.

Phil, our shiners are very expensive...I've caught over 100 bass on shiners and fave learned that size makes no difference at all. Bass are opportunist..if a 4 inch shiner swims by..he will be eaten..I mostly bought the medium size...4-5 inches at 9.00 a dozen..plus the big ones runs too far ..under structure ,,a real pain sometimes...

If you have never caught a lot of shiner bass..let me throw out some things I learned..

You don't set the hook like a rubber worm..let the bass bury the bobber and ..I like a medium action rod..I want the bass to absorb the rod tip ...bending it good..then I apply steady pressure keeping the rod bent..now the fish knows she is caught..hang..On..shiner fish are generally big..lslowly work her to the boat,,,,make sure drag is set properly,,prepare for 3 tractor pull runs.

I may do some shiner fishing Monday with my son"s girlfriend..she's never caught a bass..I have a couple spots..

Also..your tackle shop carries a shiner hook..they are made to hold the shiner on better.

I have no problem getting shiners.. The bait dealers around here only carries them during the winter months for the most part. So, I throw out a bait trap or 2 and do pretty well. The ones I get are golden shiners which only turn silver after around a week in my airated container. That happens to be a tote that only cost a dollar at a discount store. I will be setting up an old deep freezer to keep some more in later on. I had my trap out for less than a week and with 3 hauls I have around 12 dozen of them in all different sizes. I can try drifting them with a bobber I just thought they might be something like those lakers. The lakers you have to drop the bait almost on thier nose half the time.

I have some trolling rigs as well that can hold a shiner so it looks natural. They are made on sliders in which a single hook (the slider) up front will hold the nose of the shiner and a triple hook that you put in rigth before the tail. The slider will adjust so the fish looks like it is swiming right straight by. I use this on those lakers which will be down 80 to 90 feet.

Either way I plan on going by Buckhunter this summer..At least in large mouths and smallmouths I will be giving him a good run on those as well.. These tourneys are fun and I always get smallmouths when the white perch are hitting well..

Well,,,that"s a horse of a different color..lol..if th shiners are free..and you have options..go with the bigger shiners..6-8 inches

They cost a fortune here,What do you feed them to keep them alive...? I've tried to keep them before but failed..very hot here. Fact, most times after we buy them from the tackle shop and put the bucket in that hot lake water..they hide fast..I've bought 2 dozen once...dropped the bait bucket in the lake and every shine died before 30 minutes .

I am raising red worms though..and doing well.

Yeah, it doesn't cost me much except for about a 15 minute drive.. Some old heals from bread and about half a cup of dog food to put in the trap.

Right now I have them in a tote with an airator hooked up with 2 lines. When I get the chance I will be setting up an old deep freezer. The deep freezer will keep the water cold becauces it is insulated. I am on a well so I can use my tap water to fill it up with. Then I feed them a little dog food once in a while. This turns the water so it will need to be changed every once ina while. Then if I have the time I can keep them in it with an aquarium heater to keep the water from freezing during the winter months. Most of the time I will just buy my bait during the winter as it is easier.