J Francho

Nice, it does look likr the same fish. Now you have a "pet bass." I have a few pet bass myself.

Yep, but he learned a BIG lesson that day!

No, distance isn't everything, but light line and an uninhibited fall are what some overlook in finesse presentations. I've drop shotted with a finesse casting rig - still do - but for anything more than six feet of water, it's a pain. Spinning - just leave the bail open and let the rig plummet. Much faster, and in 30+ feet of water, no swing back issues with the bait. Also, sometimes you are trying to expedite the bait to the bottom to the big girls, past smaller, more aggressive fish. Any hang ups on the way down, and you are dealing with a little squirt, or the wrong species altogether. I do like catching smallies on beds in spring with a drop shot and finesse casting, though.

40+. One of the turkeys - usually the oven baked one, is specifically for leftovers. Deep frying - make sure it's COMPLETELY thawed, lol. Any brine or injection prep work fine for this. The bonus is you can fry up wings later for the late game.

Not for bass. Lures bounce off the water for a couple months every year for some reason....

Hmmm, I pretty much load the entire rod, on most overhand casts, regardless of action/taper. The only time the blank doesn't load is when I throw a bait that is way lighter than rod is rated for, or using a simple pitch or lob cast. If a rod is going to snap from a cast, it certainly isn't going to handle a fish.

We do three...traditional, stuffed in an oven, another brined and deep fried, and the third is a wild card. We have local farms for our birds.

I get up early, fish for trout, and then shift to bass before noon.

From Saturday....

Is Bass Pro Shops not a "brand name" at this point?

Hot rod President?

Competitive bass fishing is sporting, so I guess it's a sport. You don't need to be an athlete to fish, but being in shape helps. And by "in shape" that doesn't necessarily mean the stereotypical gym rat. There's thin people that are woefully out of shape and bubbas that can outpace many. There definitely are "fishing mucles." Every spring, the first few long days on the water tell me that, because I'm sore, lol.

Grind your own flat steaks. Seriously.... nothing better.

No, this will not work. There is no hub or clearance to accommodate the centrifugal brakes on the S spool, not to mention the S brakes lack the metallic disk necessary for the magnetic brakes to even work. I suppose you could try an STX sideplate, spool, spool shaft, and possibly the extra spool support bearing (? not sure about this) on an S reel, but at that cost, just buy an STX.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/127192-the-entire-lunkerville-season-7-available-now-for-free/

http://www.lunkerville.com/watchshow.html

Learn how to pitch every bait in your tackle box, and on every rod - including your spinning gear. A pitch cast is one the most useful tools to have in your arsenal.

I honestly don't know the context, other than there have been days that a certain color just gets bit, and I'm not just referring to jigs. I carry just a few colors of jigs. If I could narrow the context down, I could probably be a much better fisherman. It could be something else changed, or the timing. I will say this - it's almost always a white or red bait that turns things around. And yeah, I've switched back, and remarkably or coincidentally, depending on your thinking, the bite sours. Switch back, bite back on. One thing I noticed where this turns up more - water clarity is usually pretty good all the time. Now, if we're talking trout, this does become a color game. But that's for another forum, not bass.

For that budget, I want a color screen and GPS with base maps. I also want to be able to use a map chip for greater detail. There's a ton of units out there that fit this criteria, and they all work well. I recommend going in and trying out the menus on the display models, and decide which feel most comfortable to you to operate.

I like and use Norman, Xcalibur, Spro, Lucky Craft, Duo, and a few Rapala.

I don't get too scientific about it. If a bait feels too heavy for a rod, then I switch to a heavier rod.

I prefer 20# fluoro for buzzbaits. I would recommend you try a 3/8 Cavitron before the 1/4 oz. I have both, and I use the 3/8 oz. much more. I'll switch to the 1/4 oz. when I want something quieter, and a little slower.

Let's assume you've got everything down - location, presentation, and biting fish. Most of the time, color doesn't matter. When it does, it really matters. So often though, I see an angler change color, and think that was the key to getting bit. Often though, it's some other aspect they inadvertently changed, like location or presentation - like fishing a different spot, or picking a jig that falls or behaves differently. Sometimes it's simply a confidence thing. When you suddenly gain confidence, you detect bites that you might have missed, maybe while thinking of another part of the equation, like moving or changing jig color.

Roadwarior or Long Mike has them on microfiche.

Make sure you use a fuse or a breaker.