J Francho

The 6" ones I think I have are OUTSTANDING baits. Fast, slow, dead stick, all works with them.

That's hilarious!

It's a circle octopus hook. They're originally designed for live bait. You simple reel into pressure, and the hook gets caught in the corner of he mouth. You don't hook set them. I've tried them with finesse worms and senkos, but had marginal success. They're great for catfishing with night crawlers, though.

a. Just the line you cast out will be loose. It's important that the line below is would tight. Since you catch a fish with the line out, it's not a big deal with digging. b. You wind right off the bottom of the spool, not either side, like this: c. Depends on the cover. In rocks or near wood cover like laydowns or docks, I use a fluoro leader. an Albrght knot makes a good connection. In weeds, or heavily stained water, straight braid is fine. You can color the line black with a sharpie marker if you want.

Getting off the bank, and out of the back of others' boats really opened a new world of bass fishing for me. Anything that gets you off the bank will help you improve.

That is a BIG fish. Congrats!

I have some 10/4 I'll be trying soon.

I'd be hitting the NW area, mid morning once the sun has been on it for a bit.

I would not anchor in strong current, it could pull the boat under. But in soft water, it's fine. A better option in strong current is a stake out pole, passed through a scupper hole, and driven into the bottom.

The advantage of this rig is the way the sinker leads the bait through over. I have not noticed any bait suspending off the bottom, the sinker generally lays flat, and and the bait lays similar to a T-rig at rest. The action of some baits when slowly dragged is pretty dramatic, though. As the sinker ticks small rocks, the bait flutters. It's pretty sweet retrieved this way with a fishy looking plastic. Rooster, I use the Owner Jig Rig. There is a welded ring attached directly to the hook, for strength. Attached to that is a split ring, with the sinker attached to that. The split ring allows you to change the weight to your preference. I've swapped them out for heavier, pencil style drop shot weights. The skinny weights offer better penetration through milfoil that is abundant up here.

My favorites? Or the best. I'd prefer to use a suspending jerkbait, but sometimes it takes hair jigs or spoons to get bit.

I'm so glad Paul has left those trout behind and come back to bass. There's a lot between those ears of his, and I'm glad he's sharing it.

I was jigging up fish with a spinning rod and 8# mono before braid or fluoro lines were invented. It can be done. may not be the best way, but it's certainly do able. I'd stick with jigs 1/2 oz. or under.

You might try to find a small club in your area. Fishing a club series can really up your game.

If your going to paddle long distances, all else being equal, the 12 will be easier and track better. If you're going to be in tight quarters, like small creeks, then I'd go with the 10.

This isn't anything "new" for me, but I'm looking forward to tossing some Rogues again. I threw them a ton back in the mid to late 90s, and caught tons of smallies with them. I got away from them, but I'm adding them back as soon as the ice melts.

That could have happened with any bait. Sounds like you just don't want to put the time in to learning them. It takes patience and time on the water, but it's probably the most effective tool for starting to catch bigger bass.

Sit on top is my general recommendation. The Ascend is a good starter boat.

You can fish flies on spinning gear using a float rig. Your setup would be the same as shown in this tutorial: http://www.raventackle.com/Shotting%20Patterns.pdf Just substitute a fly for the bait. You can also use trout dough, little worms, or even live bait with this rig. It's probably the most effective way to catch holding trout.

Any reel with a 22-25 IPT retrieve will work fine. The Winch is a good choice, as is the Chronarch e5. Daiwa Lexa is another option. I use a Daiwa TD-Sol on my SC 70MM. They can be found reasonably priced on the used market.

Hair jigs, spoons, suspending jerkbaits.

What he means is, they are made with the SAME parts. How do I know? I've had them all apart on my bench. Lews, Penn, Abu, Flooger, Mitchell, and Shakespeare are all divisions of Pure Fishing. Revos, Floogers, and Lews share internal components, with slight variation in feature sets, and external styling. The quality of each is roughly the same, if you compare similar price points.

You can use a razor to remove some of the plastic where the tail should bend. Just start with small subtractions, since once cut, you can't go back.

Keep your eyes peeled to the Flea Market board here. Tons of smoking deals to be had.

And, yes, I've stored my kayak outside, in the shade for three years, no ill effect. I bring it in the garage for the winter.