A-Jay

That's a heck of day right there Paul ~ Gorgeous Bass Congrats A-Jay

Snow & wind today ~ Bogus. A-Jay

Don't Wait Man ~ Pull the Trigger. Otherwise, it's gonna end up in a tube heading to someone else. Then you'll be very hurt. A-Jay

@Dorado ~ Perhaps try this approach. Once you're caught at least one legal keeper bass on Every Plug & Bait you have in your own personal arsenal, then it may be time to expand. Other wise, double down and get to fishing. I will admit that I however did not adhere to that particular mantra - and even if I started to now, and did somehow manage to stick with it faithfully, I still wouldn't be buying anything new for several years, & Years & Years .. .. well, you get the point. Best of Luck to you though .. .. .. .. .. .. A-Jay

For those who may be looking ~ American Legacy just put the G. Loomis Escape Series Travel Rods on sale - Big Time. http://www.americanlegacyfishing.com/g-loomis-escape-travel-rods-casting.html Personally, I had a need, but not any more. A-Jay

I know - just having a little fun ~ I always give all those Crazy honkers a Wide Berth ! A-Jay

I hear ya - But still, just a lot noise & a bad attitude. No Teeth. I bet she could have inflicted one heck of good pinch though .. .. .. .. A-Jay

First off, I do not nor have I ever used JJ's. I have no doubt however that it works well. But I've read too many posts here regarding it noxious & rather nuclear properties, especially when spilled, so I've deliberately avoided it. Which also means I have no experience based point of reference as to how the Spike-It product's odor compares. The Spike-It garlic does have a decent 'stank' factor although it does not seem to illicit a gag reflex, so it may be something less than the JJ product. Either way the Spike-It does a nice job of both coloring up the tips of craw claws, swim bait tails & tips of worms, which is how I most often use it, as well as making me think that on some trips, it just might be magic .. .. .. .. btw - if you don't use Megastrike, @Bobby Uhrig might beat you up after school .. .. .. .. just sayin' A-Jay

A-Jay

Interesting ~ I'll say that for me fishing the clear open water smallies here - getting the bait as far away from the boat as possible Is Key. And there is No Way I can come close to that kind of distance if I started skipping casts. Besides, I think bounce casting RES and Jerkbaits is a little wacky anyway. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ In addition to all the most excellent advice already offered, when skipping with a casting reel, especially when you're first starting out, something that can really help is to skip with LESS THAN A TOTALLY FULL SPOOL. Taking some line off your 'skipping reel" so that you have at least an 1/8 of an inch of the reel spool showing above the line, can be a good way to assist with 'line management'. This is also a decent reason to use a higher speed reel as the reduced spool diameter will effect speed of line recovery. A-Jay

Nice ~ Musky tic tacs A-Jay

Yes ~ Top one is a 110 +1 in GP Pro Perch and the bottom one is a 110 in the Twilight Secret Pattern, but it's not a secret any more. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ Congrats on the new rig. Hope you enjoy it ( as well as your Golden Years). A-Jay

Strike King KVD 200, 300 & 300 Deep. Choose colors that match the crankbaits you use that work - except the Crayfish patterns - I'd skip that one. And if there's perch around (and maybe even if there isn't) these work well. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Hope you didn't end up with a bloody red tail .. .. .. .. A-Jay

Fairly decent selection here ~ http://www.thehookuptackle.com/search-results.php?SearchBox=megabass&button=Go A-Jay

How did we end up here exactly ? A-Jay

50 degree air temps & big fat rain over night. Fifty's again today with a blustery south wind. Snow is certainly being eradicated in whole sale fashion, hope the lake ice is as well. A-Jay

Here's a couple of options ~ A-Jay http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOAT-TRAILER-LICENSE-PLATE-BRACKET-HOLDER-GALVANIZED-59101-/191950400831?hash=item2cb122ad3f:g:pZgAAOxydgZTG92W&vxp=mtr https://www.amazon.com/Boater-Sports-Galvanized-License-Bracket/dp/B005NIZM70/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1488904572&sr=8-2-fkmr1&keywords=galvanized+boat+trailer+license+plate+bracket

Fishing for bass on beds is one of the thread subjects that can & often does inspired some heated debated and has closed up more than a thread or two in the past. As a younger human I was all about it. Where most all of my angling lessons came from the bank, seeing the biggest bass I would most likely see all season 5 feet away was always very exciting. And even today, the site of an oversized super fatty camped out in shallow water, still hears me utter the obligatory "WOW" ! - But these days, I choose not to target beds directly, instead prefer to move out a bit to look for staging fish. However, and this is something that can't really be overlooked, I fully understand that when looking at the big picture, catching a ripe, pre-spawn female in 10 ft is not all that different from targeting the bed fish. This fish may have been on a bed 10 minutes prior and just moved or may be simply waiting to move up in 10 minutes. So being fully aware of this, I am not under the illusion that when I'm using this technique, it is not somehow interfering with the spawning process; because in reality I most certainly am. Just because I may not have 'sight fished' to catch this fish doesn't erase the fact that that there is some unnatural interruption to the whole deal. Now what effect this has on a population in the long run, can't say. But bass fishing has been going on for a while. It's had it's ups I downs. The bass still seem to be there despite all of this and if history is any type of guideline, will continue to somehow manage to be there again next year. So where it's legal, go for it if that's your thing. In the end, Bassheads are gonna do what they do, and so are the bass. A-Jay

Make your own. A-Jay

This bait has been a mainstay for my night ops. and here some info previously posted A-Jay

There ya go ! That first bass looks very 'clean' Congrats A-Jay