J Francho

Gold Star Plan: http://www.stcroixrods.com/category/service_and_warranty

Why not use a national database? http://www.findthebass.com/

Best footwear I've found: http://www.keenfootwear.com/product/ss10/shoes/men/waterfront/newport%20h2

Thanks Wayne. I've 43 reels in process right now....no way I could do a 3-day turn around, nothing to do with inventory, just business.

Good point. I think many of us share this problem. By making one minor change to this statement, I significantly improved my tournament results last year. Forget what I know think I know the bass should be doing and just go fishing.

You can use the gill cover as a handle, and then support the mid section with the other hand for a picture. its just that most guys do it wrong, and get their knuckles sliced up. You hold the gill cover - not the gills! Here's a blurry video of a dink that I grabbed by the gill: Be careful, get the hooks out first, then snap a photo. this was nearly a disaster, LOL:

Too bad Glenn didn't call me back about sponsorship.... :-X Welcome aboard Delaware. You claim a 3-day turnaround on reels and a 10 day turnaround on custom rods. That's a tall order. How do you do it?

Yes, experience.

The palm side plate should just rotate downward, I believe its just an interference fit. Remove the spool. There is one more screw behind the spool, holding the crank side plate to the spool.

I can't imagine anything in that reel withstanding much more than 10 lbs. of drag, let alone needing that much - even for frogging. All you'll get by sanding the washers is a drag that stutters.

Last year, there was a very good article in In-Fisherman describing agitation. Basically, it involved throwing huge, obnoxiously colored crankbaits and spinnerbaits through an area that held inactive bass, and returning in 30 minutes or so, to find the agitation seemed to turn those inactive bass into active biters. Reminded me of the walleye guys dragging chain link fence sections to stir up critters, baitfish, and hopefully predators.

Get a FishGrip. Do not "play them out" if you intend to catch and release. Remove the hooks with the fish in the water, if possible. Do not lift fish over 5 lbs. out of the water by their jaw/gill alone. Support their body. When releasing, simply hold them upright in the water, and let their blood shed lactic acid, and refill with oxygen. Steel wire, sevenstrand, and heavy fluoro all make good leaders. One dead 10 lb. pike can negate the entire average growth of a population.

I must have missed something. Isn't that what I said? ;D Not exactly....size isn't always a direct link to finesse vs. power techniques. you can use a a heavy jig with just as much finesse as a tiny one, maybe even more so. That said, I still prefer a football to a shaky head in weights over 3/8 oz. , if we're talking about working something across the bottom, stopping, shaking, and using "finesse" to trigger a bite.

I bet you've seen blue gills get munched by big bass in the same conditions, distracted by their own feeding. I've seen it. I think you pointed out that many of the "misses" on a slow topwater, like a hollow frog in mid day, are actually blue gills getting slammed as they follow, and nip at the legs of the frog bait. I've since confirmed this. The damsel fly deal is similar, and I have noticed that buzzing/churning surface baits really excel during a hatch. Stanley Ribbits excel here, and maybe they're not keying in on a frog bite, but rather a feeding blue gill bite. Anyway, back to the tough conditions topic, observations like these, and time on your specific waters will bear out similar detail in your observations. I've got a quarry close to me, filled with 2-4 lb. smallies. There's largemouth too, but they are difficult to fish from shore. Outside of the spawn, this is a tough place to fish. You might be initially tricked into thinking you've found a honey hole, if you stop by and chuck Spooks and Sammys at dusk on evening. Spend a day there, and you'll see how difficult this place is. Periodically throughout the day, you'll see huge boils of baitfish, as big as a city lot. This gets the hairs on neck standing, usually. If they are close enough, you'll see that they are shad so large, no smallmouth or largemouth north of the Mason-Dixon Line could eat them. Very discouraging...but, come dusk you'll be destroying smallies on topwaters. One thing, and this goes to conditioning, if the bite slows, change color. The bite will pick up right where left off. Not too many fish this spot, but the few that do know its really tough to fish it all day long. Its a timing thing there.

LOL, but pulling my chain makes me go blah-blah-blah... "Someone's poisoned the water hole!" -Woody There are eception baits, for sure. I'd lump inlines, tailspinners, spoons, and even soft paddletails in with spinnerbaits. Buddies, Hopkin's, and other vertical spoons are unique, as are truly big swimbaits. Creatures and grubs are worms. Live bait....eh, I don't do this enough to say. I will say that I don't think in terms of trying "Texas rigged creatures" or worms, or a crankbait or whatever, just to see if that's what the fish are biting today. I look at it from a cover standpoint. T-rigs work well in certain cover, pegged T-rigs in others, C-rig in yet others, and drop shot in others. Each brings its characteristic action to the table, but more often seems to solve an actual fishing problem. Presentation. Contact. Depth. Location. Timing. These are the complicated parts, not the tackle. You come up to a situation where there are fish under docks. I bet this situation alone eliminates 3/4 of your tackle. Find fish in deep, rocky structure, and another chunk of your tackle box isn't necessary. Bass are feeding shallow, in heavy weeds, and a good portion of your gear need not apply. And then there the days where its 11 AM in a tournament, and you are stuck with just a few dinks in the well, and just start rotating between moving baits. Tough to junk fish with just two rigs.

Above 3/8 oz., I just use a football jig.

Why is the quantity of gear always linked to complicated fishing? Just because you have ten rods and reels, and 30 lbs. of tackle for a simple bass trip doesn't necessarily mean you are complicating. Bass fishing...spinnerbaits, worms, jigs, cranks, and topwater. Yeah, there are various terminal rigs, and sizes and styles, but its all basically the same thing.

I won't say that the BEST time is mid day, but better than 50% of the biggest fish I've caught came midday. There is also another thing to consider. Bass have an innate ability to shift from low light vision (rods) to bright light vision (cones) and vice versa faster than many of their prey, supporting their cepuscular (dawn/dusk feeders) reputation. Could it be, that those bigger bass are feeding mid day, due to the fact that there are less available easy meals due to low light feeding frenzies? Another piece of the mid day puzzle, especially in regards to tournament play, is that sometimes it takes until 10 am to get things cracking. Especially on a tough day, or in tough conditions, where your game plan went out the window. Finally, I think most tournaments end at 3 or so as a convenience to the participants. I'd really like to see more "iron man" style events, where you fish from dawn to dusk. Maybe all of that is off the topic rubbish, LOL.

Timing and location.....basics of bass fishing!

Like various boat noise. I know that I am at an advantage when fishing from the kayak. I've literally watched fish go about their business in clear water, with a 13' banana floating overhead. I imagine your kick boat has offered similar experiences.

Roboworms....

I see Spot Removers, Shake2, and other stand up jig heads sort of separate from shaky head. They both work, and the same rig applies. For shaky heads, I like the Bagley heads. Any long, medium power, moderate to mod. fast action spinning rod will work for baits up to 3/8 oz. I like 15# Power Pro braid, with a 6-10# P-Line CFX fluorocarbon leader.

Redaction? Or reduction? Its 800px × 534px....get a better monitor, if that's too big, your missing out.

More than likely, it wasn't the boat owner that left it like that. Kids come by, and flip them over. Why? They're kids. We have a couple reservoirs here that allow you to chain your boat to a tree near the launch. This fall, I noticed a new boat chained up wayyyyy too close to the water's edge. It'll be underwater this spring.

That's the easiest way. I use one of these through a scupper hole on my Prowler Big Game, though there is a recess in the hull designed to accept the transducer. You can see the install here: