Paul Roberts

First things first: A "medium" spinning rod is a fine "light" largemouth rod. I use them (with 6 to 10lb lines) in open water and early season before vegetation grows in. By late spring/early summer I'm using MH tackle both cast and spin bc in my waters vegetation becomes too dense. I consider a MH the standard power largemouth rod, esp so with jigs. If your water is open and cover free year round then you may be fine with a med spinning rig. But you'll need to recognize the limitations of hook size (wire diameter) in terms of hooksets, and with lure weight in terms of keeping the fish pinned. This is especially so with jigs as fish throw jigs easier than most lures bc of the compact weight rigidly affixed to the hook. If you are able to (or choose to) stay with the M rod, reducing line stretch by switching to braid may offer some help. I don't think the stretch properties are really much different between mono and FC. There are "controlled stretch" mono's, like Berkley Sensation, but it still stretches. Braid might be your best choice, and you can always add a leader of any mono or FC.

Wow... unless you've got it tethered to rope, that's pretty deep, and probably cover free.

I use the little SK triple and like it. Not tried others. My bass here are not big.

Lotsa good, and not so good, stuff didn't sell very well. Fisherman are a fickle bunch. That Mann's Mannipulator looks excellent. I miss a number of baits and have even written to manufacturers about bringing some back, to no avail.

I think you won.

I use 'Traps in 1/4 and 1/2oz sizes, most, with the smaller in very clear water -often with natural or reflective finishes (chrome). Otherwise the 1/2 is standard. I use 8 or 10lb lines (.010, .011) for the 1/4oz and 10 to 15lb (.011 to .014) for the 1/2oz size depending on clarity and cover. Similarly, with the X-Rap I use the smaller 8cm for high vis conditions along sometimes with more subdued color (I like "Mossback") and with 8lb line -perfect for this size lure. Otherwise I tend to use the 10cm size with 8 to 12lb lines (.010 to .013). Line diameter matters in terms of how well many lures fish, not only in how deep they'll run or how fast they'll sink. Sure you can play 18 holes of golf with 2 or 3 clubs, but not very well. Fishing is much worse. BTW: A "medium" spinning rod is a fine "light" largemouth rod. I use them (with 6 to 10lb lines) in open water and early season before vegetation grows in. They are ideal for X-Raps. By late spring/early summer I'm using MH tackle both cast and spin. Unless you are in open water (sans cover) you'll find yourself undergunned with a med spinning rod. There's a place for H tackle too. But a MH I would consider the standard power largemouth rod.

Well... one part is knowing where your lure is in the water column -how deep it is. Other stuff is how fast it should move to trigger strikes, and the density and type of cover you might need to fish through. The very basics are depth and, related, speed. You control these by: -line diameter (not rated break strength) and to a lesser extent line buoyancy (braid, mono, FC) -lure weight/buoyancy (with sinking lures) or diving lip configuration with floater-divers. Knowing where your lure is in the water column (how deep) is a matter of experience. One way is to guess. But a way to accelerate the learning curve is to cast a jig (a simple sinking lure) and count it down to known depths. For known depths you can use a plumb-line (off a slip-bobber if from shore), or via sonar (cast-able model if from shore). Another way is to count down with a lure of known sink rate. The Rapala Countdown is known to fall at 1fps. You can also measure sink rates on favorite lures using known depths. Eventually you won't have to count down -at least audibly- you'll develop a feel for depth. Here's some rough ballpark (off the top of my head) "data" for jigs: -Weight, (in open water, with .011 diam line), to fish near the bottom: 3-6ft 1/8oz (1.5fps) 4-8ft (1/4oz) (2fps) 6-12ft (3/8oz) (2.4fps) 10-15ft (1/2oz) (2.8fps) 12-20ft (5/8oz) (3fps) Ball park sink rates dec with depth bc line buoys like a parachute. What's appropriate will change with the given conditions, usually changing most greatly with season (water density, cover density), meaning you'll be changing rods, line, and lures. Other considerations of course are rod power and hook size (wire diameter and sharpness), but I'll assume you understand these as this isn't specifically what you asked.

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Bass share characteristics wherever they are, but they are also VERY adaptable so be careful running too far with "a bass is a bass". Environments factor in huge and coupled with bass' adaptability is a large chunk of the reason for the diversity in methods and techniques (the rest is whim and redundancy). Read up on natural lakes. Pay close attention to water clarity. You'll be dabbling in vegetation and hopefully, some hard substrate too.

There is one way to make any swimming-tail worm swim at the lowest speed: boil the tail. Twenty seconds in boiling water will soften it and have it writhing with a 1/32nd oz weight ahead of it. Do not boil the head bc you want to retain some durability there. Now, boiling has the nasty habit of releasing pthalates, toxic plastic softeners used in all common SP's. ElaZtech is one that does not use pthalates, however I'm not aware of a real ribbon tail bait using this material. Waiting....

Do as WRB describes. And you are pounding (actually firmly tapping) the legs to soften them. If you use RIT to touch up the dying make sure it's not too hot or it will ruin (cook) the pork. Man, that is one chunk of a smallie. A happy one for sure.

This is exactly what why the work is being done. Lotsa questions need to be answered.

It certainly isn't something to ignore either. While activist agendas will jump to conclusions that support their interests, there are a lot of level heads in the game too, which includes many if not most (in my experience) that are actually doing the work. I for one am watching this phenomenon with interest and some trepidation.

Why do you ask?

I'd suggest a flat hammer. You don't want to slice the pork and ruin the bait. I'm careful to strike on the flat of the hammer face; the edge can cut the leg. Glycerin... hmmmmm.

Agreed, and well put. But... easy for you to say! Simplifying isn't an easy, or quick-n-dirty road.

Pork comes pretty stiff, and variable. Some, with thin skin, moves a little, thicker ones are stiff as leather. Water is thick stuff so materials need to be really soft if it's going to move in that syrup. The first softened pork I came upon was a jar that had sat for several years and begun to decompose a little. It rippled like... nothing else. After I went through that jar I started pounding out the legs with a hammer. I've read that some people use a rock tumbler to soften pork but I've never owned one. The pounding (firm tapping on a flat surface) may pound out the die so you may want to re-dye the legs, if you care. The fish don't seem to. Would love to hear from others on their pork softening methods.

It's what I learned on too. I picked it up really quickly since I already knew what to expect down there. I had an understanding and feel for landscapes and water bodies, and knew fish species and how they generally behaved so -to be fair- I could make pretty good guesses at what I was seeing. The machines were simple -set the gain on known bottom and watch the dial. Those flashes simply meant stuff to me.

Oh my. Sorry to hear. Yes, he was a great angler. Glad to hear he was a great man in many other ways too. Gives us all something to shoot for. Thanks for the already wonderful tribute.

I, too, use them year round. Nothing, and I mean nothing, moves -ripples- like softened pork. When I started using those new-fangled "rubber-legged" jigs in the 80's I didn't use a trailer and caught plenty of nice bass on them. But after I discovered pork, and then began pre-softening them, I never looked back. Could I survive without it? Yup. But I don't have to.They do last a long time, but I'm grabbing a few more bottles before they disappear.

Brian, just plain, Wow! Great write-up on MWF.

NO! Can't be. Going to have to bolster my supply. Ugh!

Semantics. However, it is winter and cabin fever will be setting in. How things are worded is gonna matter more...and more.

Awesome. Thanks. That will be convenient.

Torrential floods could sweep fish out, esp LMs. But river smallmouth are adapted to current and can withstand heavy flooding. They'll seek shelter along the banks, often darn shallow, and esp in cover like logjams. Afterwards, your fish should still be where you expect to find them in the winter -avoiding current: deep slow pools, shoreline eddies, in/around cover. In smaller streams they may move downstream to larger waters that offer appropriate habitat, although there is one out-of-the-box record of bass in one river moving way upstream to winter in shallow headwaters. That's not a scenario I'd spend much time checking out but it goes to show that in nature, if it works.. it works. In reservoirs and tidal waters, strongly receding water often draws fish out away from banks. This can be true in rivers too as fish avoid getting stranded. But in rivers -at least smaller ones- they don't tend to have far to go before they are back in the river channel and in their old haunts. You said 4fow so it doesn't sound like there's anywhere else to go.