Hawghead

Baby Brush Hog. T-Rigged. Watermelon green as I recall. 9 lbs.

For reels I am really leaning towards Shimano. Performed well for me and my needs and have had great customer service when I have needed it. Rods I am all over the place....look for value first. Been using BPS rods, couple of lower end Shimano, and last year I got a couple of Berkeley Tactix rods, they do just fine for me.

Got a Symetre that as far as I could tell had never been on a rod off of Craigslist for $40. BPS had their Extreme Rods on sale for $60 one time, I had a save $10 on any item over $50. I had $40 in gift certificates. Basically got a rod that retails at $100 for $10 out of pocket. I matched the Extreme Rod with teh Symetre. Basically a $200 combo after taxes for $50. Thought that was pretty good.

I dont have 200 dollar baits much less $200 baits.

1. Senko style worm, texas rigged weedless. 2. Bomber Fat A or Model A. Brown Crawdad 3. Wiggle Wart, any of the crawdad patters 4. Zoom Lizard 5. Scum Frog

Here is a bowkill, not a very good pic at all. The second is my son's first ever bowkill. No antlers this year > I let this one go last year, hope to find her again. Went 9lbs on the scale.

I posted a few times last spring and summer, but once bow season rolled around my fishing stuff got put aside. Bow season is about over and my thoughts are turning back to bass, and I see this new forum. I live and fish around St. Charles, MO. I am 33 and have been fishin since I was old enough to hold a cane pole. I have a couple of small lakes local to where I live and Conservation Areas. I love to fish Lake of the Ozarks whenever I can get there. I have learned a lot from this site, I have really gotten into using the Senko style baits and caught LOTS of fish last year on them. My kids really like them as well. I am also a big fan of Bomber Model A's, Fat A's, Wiggle Warts and Scum Frogs. The product reviews and recommendations are of great value to me as well as the trips and tricks for various presentations. I have been turned onto *** and ReelMech. Hope to be able to add some good pics this spring and summer.

I think either the tactic or the Clarus in a fast action would be fine for the t-rig. Take care of them and they should last.

Keep and eye for sales and be patient. I just picked up two Berkley Tactic rods for 50% off. Orignally $50 each, on sale for $25 a piece. They are the step up from the Lightning, also the tactix have a $10 rebate. If berkely still honors that rebate in light of getting them for 50% off, I will have $100 worth of rods and have spend only $30. BPS Extremes are $70 right now, they go as low as $60. I was lucky and got a $10 off coupon which brought my purchase price to $50 and with a bps giftcard of $40 I only spent $10. Between those three rods I spend only $40 out of pocket, replacement value would be $200 if not on sale.... Keep and eye out on Craigslist and the BR flea market. I bought a practically new Shimano Symetre for $45, new price $80. Getting decent stuff on a budget isn't impossible it just take persistence and patience. HH

Lure junkie, I reckon the fish will just keep an eye out for ya from now own..... 8-) : I know I know......

I said make it a BUD LIGHT

That's good one for sure!! Nice job

"Sunday 5/4: Couldn't keep the bass off our Wiggle Warts. Many, many, quality fish. If we had been fishing a tournament, we would have been culling after about 2 hours. Started near PB2 and later fished some points and coves near Tan-Tar-A. One of the best days of fishing I've had in a long time." Man ain't that awesome. Nothing better than that confident feeling of each cast could be the next dandy. I love that crankbait bite.

I like to Texas Rig them weightless. I fished them at a private lake that is chocked full of bass. I fish from a small boat and I cast em in tight to cover and work em out about 10-15 feet. Usually reel straight in after that....The typically hit on the first fall or shortly after. I boated about 25 the other day. The action seems to be very similar, but I would say they are more durable than senko's and certainly cheaper than Senko's or Kinami's. I am a new senko/trick stick fisherman. I was fishing another private lake and was getting lots of bite, but not hook ups on a t-rigged weighted lizard. I reasoned that the fall was too fast for em, hence they were just grabbing the tail. So I decided to give this 'senko' a try that I had read about on Bass Resource. In the next hour and a half I landed about a dozen fish. My next two trips to a different lake I over 30 bass on one trip and the second was the one I mentioned above, about 25. The two different brand peformed pretty similar, but for reasons already mentioned I prefer the trick sticks, plus I like to support sponsors of this site. ;D

They have some 4000 size shimano reels for 50% off. Symetre and stradics, I have two symetres that size and couldnt justify another. Woulda been nice to get there the first night

Okechobee Flats box from WalMart. Huge capacity, comes with boxes. Lots of storage pockets for xtra gear. Holds so much is gets seriously heavy. Great straps and zippers

I have a spinning rig that I use for knocking around ponds and local CA's. It's a Shimano Sidestab paired up with a BPS Graphite series rod. In total the rig cost $60. Nothing special, but it is perfect for tossing in the truck and renting a john boat at the local Conservation Area and catching some bass. It's perfect for my 13 year old son as well. The bail broke right where it connects to the bail arm by the line roller. So I call and describe my issue and they are sending out a new bail assembly free of charge. Now I wouldnt be suprised if they did this for a high dollar reel, but this is a $30 reel. This is the first issue I have had with the reel, and I am pretty sure I know how it broke (my fault) I have a really old CX model that I got a loooong time ago, that while never a luxurious reel it works great and is reliable. Its a rear drag reel and the knob busted, they did the same for me when I called them for that issue. I have a couple of symetre's and lower/mid level shimano rods, with that type of service I know where I will be spending my dollars as work to upgrade my equipment or something needs to be replaced. It seems like good customer service can be hard to come by these days, and I thought I would let y'all hear about some good stuff for a change.

Man that is one pretty fish....fo sho! Congrats on the PB!

I am in like Flynn

Dynomite! Just supports the idea that muddy water affects the fisherman worse than the fish.

Thats awesome XL!!! I am glad that you had a dandy weekend. Hopefully the tip on the Wiggle Warts helped. I went to a small lake on Thursday where I caught a 9lber earlier in March. Then Senko bite was sensational. My dad and I probably caught between 50-60 bass. It could have been higher, didnt keep track that well. Like your trip, ours were right on the bank Your report really makes me wish that I was heading back down this weekend. But I am heading back to the lake where I caught the boatload this past Thursday. I am gonna try out some Paca Craws and lizards. THe tails of the bass were torn up last time out. What were they like at LOZ? Any pics or big ones?

X4 x6 (i have two so I added two more) on rear and one front drag. Both are sweet

Wonderful, I got a bunch of Matzuo EWG hooks on sale this past winter. I have been using them and have had from what I can tell have had pretty good luck with them.

Right where the little Niangua comes into the Big Niangua. Irish Hills Resort.

Pretty boring, "There's one" "There's he is" "THere we go"