A-Jay

I carry mini bolt cutters. High leverage design makes short work of any hook I use. Even when forced to use my non-dominant hand to do it. Fishing alone makes that a real possibility. This pair by Capri is half the $$ of the Knipex 71 01 200, which just may be the industry standard. My own tests indicate the Capri's are totally sufficient. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01018D2CS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Perhaps work it with a stop & go type deal. That pause can be productive. A-Jay

Nose hooked Fluke on spinning gear. #longcast A-Jay

Thanks ~ Tank's certainly getting 'Big' and at 15 weeks, it seems like almost daily now. He's a White German Shepherd Belgian Malinois Mix. https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/241440-introducing-the-newest-member-of-our-pack-~/ A-Jay

I used to store them. Now I 're-home' them. Gives me a 'fishing related' project to participate in during hard water season. Plus, I like money. Happening again here shortly. A-Jay

Tank enjoys the Bass Resource forum as well. He's very helpful, especially with my breakfast . . . . . A-Jay

Over the years, I've kept many journals in various forms. Back when surf fishing was part of the addiction, location, tides and moon phases were driving the deal. Most all of that happened at night. When I got back to the sweet water and bass fishing I did it again. I was fishing all new water for the first few years and having some notes seemed helpful. On both fronts, as time went by I used/referred to them less and less. So I stopped keeping them. During the 'transition', I started taking and posting video of my quests for Brown Bass. As far as being a useful tool, this was a Game Changer. Instantly shows me all of the routine what, where and when info, and then the video shows me so much more. The Good, the Bad and even The Ugly. Besides capturing a few epic fish catches, it has helped me clean up quite a few bad habits I would have otherwise probably never knew I had. Now I make the effort to ensure at least one GoPro is running whenever I am wetting a line. Fish Hard A-Jay

I do it and am about to do it again here soon. As for 'losing too much money', that's all about perspective for me. The day I purchase gear that money is gone. Anything and I do mean anything, I recover for it after that, is gravy. There's some time & effort I need to expend to do it right. @J Francho covered it nicely above. Finally, gear is only worth whatever a basshead is willing to pay for it, regardless of what I think it may 'be worth'. Any sentimental value I may have is worth nothing to a new owner. It's value is set the moment it sells. There are literally thousands of post here with gear that never sells simply because the seller doesn't get that. I price gear with that in mind. Always seems too low at first. Good Luck. A-Jay

Man ~ That's close ! You should be able to start smelling those Margaritas any minute now . . . . A-Jay

Hello diehigh and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Thanks ~ Glad to hear it my friend. Looking like next week has some potential locally, especially if we can manage get up out of these 40 degree daytime air temps. My arsenal starts getting really narrowed down as the days get shorter. But a swimbait see action right to the bitter (cold) end. Stay Safe A-Jay

Training later in the afternoon is tough for me. Spinning up the effort & intensity can be a bear. Either way, Super happy I got it done. A-Jay

I sincerely hope the best for you in the future. But it doesn't have to be that way. I'm 62 as well. Physical & mental strength can be maintained. One simply needs to make it a priority. Stay Safe A-Jay

Always an interesting topic. I do so enjoy reading the wide variety of perspectives from both ends of the spectrum. So much to think about. I stepped away from a 28 year military career that I loved, at 47. Like anything new, initially, there was an adjustment period. A few years into it, I worked from home for 5 years. (on line deal) The $$ was nice, but once it felt too much like a 'job', I stopped. Been on A-Jay time ever since and am really enjoying it. I was very dedicated to my career, but it was never 'who I am'. It was what I did. So when I stepped away I left nothing there and took all of A-Jay with me. I use the same commitment & dedication so valuable to any career, (but especially in the military), just about every day. Been pretty helpful so far. Either way whatever I choose to spend my time doing now, it's almost always on my own terms. Financially, we're all in our own situation. And I hope that the folks that are 'planning' for their retirement, remember to take care of their 'human' along the way. The home stretch is a challenge for all of us regardless of our bank account stats. Our health & physical abilities play a huge role in how every minute of every day goes; working or not. Being ready. Make the time now. Please don't wait until 'Retirement Age'. Finally, I might not be 'working' for anyone, but I haven't retired from anything. And when I do, I probably won't know it. A-Jay

A come back thread, OK. My bait selection here sort all looks the same. If it ain't broke . . . A-Jay

Me Too. There's just so many ways to go with that. A-Jay

Hmm ~ When it comes to thread reply response, Timing is everything A-Jay

IME, when it come to bass fishing, there are Many pieces to rhe puzzle. This includes structure fishing as well as lake map study. So any single piece of the puzzle may not be very helpful when trying to see the whole picture. This may be the case here. Something that has always helped me on this stuff was to combine what I may find on a map, with what my electonics shows me on the water and go from there. Map study by itself can be very helpful, especially when it comes to eliminating areas on big water. Knowing the Bass seasonal movement comes into play as well. There's so much more, but I am going to stop right here. A-Jay

He sure did A-Jay

I started casting with two hands as kid and never stopped. Carried it right through into surf casting on the coast and then back into my bass fishing when I retired from the service. Tried casting with one arm a few times. Feels completely unnatural to me. Like welding an axe or swinging a bat, one handed. I'm all over the place. So yup - I'm a double fisted caster . . . https://youtu.be/8x9A8IP3j7w?t=10 A-Jay

Yes ~ And while the concept would seem to perhaps add some longevity to drop shot baits, when I tried it, the actual difference in bait per fish, wasn't significant enough to elicit a permeant technique change. Ended up just going back to straight nose hooking. A-Jay

Smallies On Swimbaits ~ The paddle tail or boot tail swimbait can be a very effective deal for just about any kind of bass and in a super wide variety of applications. Not news. At this point its common knowledge that sliding one on a jig head can and does get bites pretty much anywhere in the country. Whether it be a solid or hollow belly bait, small, medium or even the larger versions, these baits seem to have some serious strike drawing power at times. Although I haven’t made an attempt to dive into this one yet, they do account for quite a few brown bass for me each year. So, I figured it was time. I’ll start off with ‘The when’; and this may be the easiest aspect of this one. Seasonally, as soon as there is open water here and straight through to hard water, I almost always have a swimbait on a jig head rigged up & ready to throw. This is the deal I’ll be discussing here and I’ll get to the where and how in a bit. But yea, when the local brown bass population is on the feed, they almost always seem fairly eager to choke one of these things. Now let me get into some of my more common ‘where’ scenarios. Right off the bat, the versatility of these things does lend them to be effective in a wide vary of ‘wheres’. So it can literally be one of those 3 feet to 30 feet deals. However for me, up in this clear water, regardless of season, time of day or body of water, a swimbait on a jighead is an effective way to cover water and it’s usually ‘deeper’ stuff. I’ll quantify that by saying I’m throwing them up on to or off of mid lake humps, up & off points, as well as drop-offs and into saddle areas. Usually targeting bass in 10-20 feet. Bottom composition and cover can vary but in super heavy soft cover (weeds) I am not probing them with this bait. I might swim one over and around it, but IME, they don’t fish very effectively through the slop. Great way to cover a big mid-lake flat though. Slow rolling one over the weeds can help find biters (and a bunch of Pike, unfortunately). On a hard bottom, I like the lift & fall technique, on both a tight & slack line, as well as the cranking it along slow and letting it deflect; trigger deal. On a sand bottom I am all about grinding the bait. Reeling it along in such a manner, and at whatever speed I need, to maintain constant contact with the bottom. This is one of my more productive approaches that also gets me a ton of by-catch; walleye mostly. A Football head is a solid choice. Now for the gear, and it’s really nothing special. I use spinning & casting gear, pretty much interchangeably. Almost always using 7 ft Medium action in both blanks. Spinning gear is done with 10-15 lb braid and an 8 – 10 lb FC leader. And the casting gear is straight 10-12 lb FC. I will say that the spinning gear is usually selected when I’m looking to keep the baits deeper, say below 10 – 15 feet and the casting gear often gets the nod in anything shallower. Incidentally, this is the same tackle I fish a tube with. The Jig heads & Baits ~ There is a plethora of good quality swim baits and matching jig heads to choose from now. On line vendors literally list what seems like hundreds. I’ve fished a dozen or so types & brands. To keep it simple, I’ve pretty much settled on two; listed below. I do prefer softer baits in the 3 to 5 inch size range, with something close to 4 inch being a big player. While clearly less durable, I seem to get more bites. Along with that, having the right action, especially on the fall, is a must for me. When it comes to jighead shape, design and the all-important hook, again I like to keep it simple but here I am fairly particular. Brand Name is my desired direction but will go with a Lesser-known deal when there’s merit. I am eternally looking for jigheads with a quality medium and medium light wire hook that is also The Right Length. Too stout here can be tricky to sink on the medium gear I use; especially on a long cast or very deep running bait. Additionally, too long of a hook seems to ‘mute’ and can even over power a bait. I seem to get the best action when the bend is coming out the top of the bait no more than half way back of the baits overall length. More than that is No Bueno. My favorite heads match up to baits when they only go in about a third of the way (if that makes sense). Colors I keep close to the bait color and my default is just a plain lead, black or tungsten. Head shape & design includes where the line tie placement is located on the head itself. The right local will allow the bait to swim nicely, especially along the bottom and on the glide without forcing the bait to pick up unwanted & bite killing debris. A decent keeper helps; a couple of different ones work for me. In a pinch (meaning I ran out of a certain weight size) I’ve even used my tube jigheads with decent success. Jighead weights range from 1/8 oz for the smallest and shallowest presentations up to ½ oz for the other end of the spectrum I’d say I use ¼ oz and 3/8 oz the most though. Before I wrap this one up, I have two final thoughts. First, a bait type that has been deliberately omitted here, are the ‘pre-rigged’ deals. Not because they don’t get bites or that I don’t use them, because they can be killer at times and I do throw them. Storm Wild Eye Shad and the Megabass Dark Sleeper are two of my favorites. The Dark Sleeper sees local action and the Storm bait is an international Rock Star performer for me. While I fish them in much the same way, I didn’t include them here because comparatively, I only recently started using them. For me they seem like a separate deal, one that I may cover in a future Brown Bass Tools installment; especially that Dark Sleeper. And second, and I sort of hate to add this but it is relevant. Virtually every bait I have covered in this thread, has accounted for at least a handful, if not more, 5 lb plus Brown Bass; except this one. There are few things I enjoy more than adding a too close to the lens pic of a brown fatty to the end of one of these write ups. But alas, I cannot do that, because despite my best efforts, it hasn’t happened. Instead, what I will say and where I find myself throwing these swim baits the most, is to cover water & find biters. Done it a ton of times; plenty of 3’s & 4’s. Can be especially helpful on new water. This style of swimbait is as close to a ‘confidence bait’ for me as I have. Pretty sure this approach has indirectly led to a few tanks, by showing me areas that the bass are using. Strike King Rage Swimmer ~ Keitech Swing Impact FAT Owner Ultrahead Football Jig Head ~ Owner Ultrahead Round Jig Head Gamakatsu Round Jig Head ~ Dirty Jigs Tactical Bassin' Finesse Swimbait Jig Head Fish Hard A-Jay

Started fishing at a young age. Fell in love with it instantly. Been doing it every chance I got ever since. As for my motivation; Fishing is one of the few things in my life that truly makes me feel like a kid again. Every. Time. Fish Hard A-Jay

Hello Jake and Thank You for your service. Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay