Hey Jesse,
You sound like a guy who is really excited about fishing, and big bait fishing and everything. I am too!!! But let me help you out some on the forum. When you come on the forum and ask a very general question like what is the best lure and where, or what is the bite like at such and such a lake, people generally aren't going to give you much response. The way to get the conversation going is to give some additional information about what you are interested in and what you are doing.

For example, maybe you're trying to get some scoop on Perris. A good way to get info is to offer some info in return. Post a report and tell about your day fishing there. Even if you didn't catch anything, give some info about conditions, what you saw, etc. Then maybe ask some more specific questions like, "hey I saw some guys throwing xyz swimbait out there. I noticed they were fishing really slow and deep with it. I tried this for a while but didn't have much luck. Do you guys think the fish are mostly on points right now or are these guys trying to fish for suspended fish?"

Even if you don't get response on the forum, maybe someone will email you offline or something ya know? No one's gonna give you a bunch of scoop if you just ask what's good at Perris.

I hope this helps you out man, I can tell you're pumped on fishing. I've been there before too, and I still am pumped on fishing!

-Rob