A-Jay

Nice Toad Steve & Cool Picture as well. A-Jay

Looked like a nice day with plenty of action. Congrats A-Jay

Yes Sir - That would be a Bronzeback . . . Congrats A-Jay

That looked like a real nice outing Congrats A-Jay

I use a 5.3:1 and a 5.7:1 for the bulk of my square bill fishing. A-Jay

Also look into this battery box / power station from Minn Kota - I run 2 of these in my Old Town It has the breaker you need built in as well as 2 accessories plug outlets and a small breaker for them as well Box info says it's designed for 24 & 27 size batteries but I found a couple of 29's that fit fine. A-Jay http://www.minnkotamotors.com/Products/BATTERY-POWER-CENTER/

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ Curious Screen Name. A-Jay

Tubes ~ A-Jay

I say the 55lb trust will be perfect. Also if you're thinking about a Minn Kota (which I use & like) Highly Recommend getting a model with the Digital Maximizer provides up to five times longer run time on a single charge and go with variable speeds - rather than 5 set ones Good Luck with your purchase and Congrats on your First & New Boat. A-Jay

Yes - all positive experiences BTW - They should be a sponsor here . . . . A-Jay

X2 Yup - 12lb is fine for the 5 & 6xd (I rarely go lower) but I would definitely recommend going up a bit for the bigger baits; both in tackle & line size. A 10XD weighs in at just under 2 ounces - essentially a hard swim bait - in size & weight anyway. Matching your gear to met the demands of that bait is a solid way to get the most out of it. Good Luck during your tournament btw - that 8xd is a nice size bait - right between the 6 & the 10 - run easy & deep but still has the size . . . A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Hello John and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Good Line and especially effective material for leaders. Very good knot strength, very good abrasion resistance, dependable stretch rate, but it's not cheap. A-Jay

Like Catt said, it’s hard to tell from the photo – But I’ll offer this; exactly what it is may not be nearly as important as where it is, what’s around it and how much of it there is. Since this vegetation is scattered throughout the lake and from the surface it may all look the same – there’s a decent chance that at some point some of it is holding fish but much of it may not. The challenge lies in figuring out which ones to fish. I have several lakes that I do well in that are similar. What I do is initially, I ignore the vegetation all together. Then I start with the basics like seasonal pattern and recent past & present environmental conditions. This helps narrow down where (what depth) the bass may be in and what their mood might be. Then it pays to know what some of the prevalent bass food in the lake is and where the bass need to be to get it. Once some of this is established, now we can get back to the vegetation discussion and how it relates to the factors listed above. Those clumps of weed do offer excellent ambush points for the bass. They could be a bit off them relating loosely to them, they could be holding tight to them or even buried right up in it. The presence of bait fish (fry, small panfish, shiners etc) is usually a good thing and may have the bass more in the open & willing to chase a bait; especially early & later in the day (and at night). A spinnerbait, a swimbait on a weighted EWG hook, a scrounger/fluke combo even a rattlebait and a squarebill are all decent options. Certainly depends on the mood of the fish. If crayfish are a staple of the bass there, the bottoms around the weeds become a high percentage zone where a jig & craw or Texas rigged plastic may be the deal. If most of the lake has a soft bottom, any hard bottom areas you can locate are definitely worth fishing and are often solid producers season after season. For any of these or other baits to work, obviously you need to be around bass and your presentation will need to remain mostly clear of vegetation in order to get bit. Usually shorter / accurate casts presented slightly past (and then brought into) the high percentage / ambush points works well. And when you think the fish might be buried right up in it, sometimes the only way to know for sure is to go right in there after them. It pays to ensure your gear is up to the task – braid works well here. Finally, those BR members who have been here any length of time have seen me post this before but your situation is definitely Perfect for it. The Texas rigged skirt & craw combo (pictured below) can be thrown all around & into that vegetation without hanging up and it comes through clean so you spend less time picking goop off your bait and more time fishing effectively. Most importantly – It catches plenty of very respectable Bass. Hope that helps A-Jay

My crankbaits are separated by type, running depth & / or size in Plano 3700 Prolatch Stowaway boxes. So there's the 1/2 oz lipless box The 3/4 oz lipless box The small squarebill box The Large Squarebill box The 2 Mid depth (down to 10-12 feet) boxes The 3 Deep running baits boxes and The Over sized Deep running box. That reminds me - I need more boxes . . . . A-Jay

Nice Work Shimmy ~ Several very respectable bass right there . . . . Congrats on another solid trip. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Very Creative and totally sweet. A-Jay

Hand writing in that "Alcohol was a factor" on boating accident reports became so common - That several years ago the form was revised to add a "Yes" or "No" check block. A-Jay

The "likes" are not as important as the Sentiment. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Great Bass Congrats A-Jay

Wouldn't work for me except in a few select spots. The bottom is rarely clean & that rig would come up tripled in size Every Cast . . . . A-Jay

PM sent - There is a lot to know regarding this controversial subject - but the bottom line is - It Is Not That Complicated - You Can Carry a gun if you choose to and follow the rules. Some may not like it but that's their problem not MINE. A-Jay