Team9nine

Too early to tell since no one really has or has used HB and Lowrance “live” versions yet - or at least very little at this point. Either wait and see what comes out over the next few months (reviews, etc.), or jump on Garmin and start getting familiar with unit. For size, with “live,” everyone says go large (12”). Not sure how much room on a kayak there is for that. Would agree if you stand and fish. If sitting down, where you are naturally closer to screen, you might be OK dropping a size and going 9”-10”. Bigger is almost always better. Kind of like hp and thrust - lol.

No intent to play around with main lines. Familiarity can be a very powerful tool. Constant line swapping is a weakness. Tatsu and InvizX on baitcasters; YGK and PP on spinning outfits. That’s it... ?

Very similar to Bluebasser above, but I keep a couple rigged up with different hole positions. I frequently drop on them vertically if I go over a group that looks like bass. Otherwise, pitches or casts, often bomb casts to cover water. Just depends on location. Play with lifts - aggressive or less so; same with pauses between lifts. On flats and near shore, you can cast and retrieve just like a Trap.

Ponds have been skim icing, but decided to take a break from the crappie and go chase bass one more time since we got a slight weather break. We briefly touched 42 degrees today, but took the boat out anyway. Water temps 39.5 everywhere I checked. Wasted the first couple hours doing the wrong thing on the wrong end of the lake. Figured it out somewhat the second half of the afternoon and ended up boating 28 fish. Might be able to squeeze in one more trip yet before the polar blast hits us Thursday. Only question is, bass or crappie if I go? Blade bait for everything today.

No issues with 8# PP braid - it will work fine. All I used for years for finesse until switching to YGK more recently. Might consider bumping your leader up to 8# though if using FC.

Zman Finesse WormZ

The blue line is very close and is supposed to represent the channel, but use the actual depth contours on the assumption they are more accurate. Very easy to follow the line of deep “holes” shown for that lake representing the channel on the lake map linked above. You used to be able to go to either the local USGS office or the Corp office for a given lake and get map copies. Some offices were always more helpful than others. Also several historical topo collections online now you can access. Haven’t been in an office for a paper map in a long time because of this myself.

Pork rind trailers, etc. have always been legal in tournaments. It is still stated so in most rules.

Just went back and reread your original post, and we're definitely in the same ballpark. I am convinced that water clarity is largely irrelevant as to blade type/vibration "needed" or "required" as traditionally thought or written about, but instead it's the speed of the bait required given a certain water clarity or disposition of the bass, and then whatever type or combination of blades required to deliver that speed, fast or slow. The other factor I mentioned, and I'm fairly certain this is where Clunn's thoughts reside when he talks about this subject and there no longer being any great spinnerbait fishermen left...that being that any older bass has been around long enough to know exactly what his prey looks like and FEELS like via lateral line. When your bait is putting out one vibration, but its appearance is showing the fish something else, something that doesn't quite correlate between what he sees and what he feels, it's enough to make the bigger(est) fish hesitant or even non-committal. Smaller fish probably haven't learned this association to the same degree. I've actually tested and played with this over the years at different times, as well as having enough "anecdotal occasions" occur, though not recently.

I'm still convinced that 99% of anglers are missing the boat on what makes a particular spinnerbait, or spinnerbait blade combination, productive. As such, I believe it has very little to do with the more common things everyone is mentioning, and that the real key lies in speed and the correlation between vibration and visual appearance of the bait to the bass, at least with the larger fish

He won two Bassmaster Invitationals about 10 years apart (‘76, ‘85).

The pic is a 3/16 oz ThinFisher. I also use 1/4 oz Damiki Vaults. Any others 1/4 or lighter would probably work fine. Most times I use my usual finesse rod; 6’6” spinning, ML fast, 14# braid to an 8# leader. Medium would probably also be fine. I use them occasionally with the Vaults. Same line setup.

Yes - a few tips: > Use lighter baits that are less prone to hug and snag bottom. > Try simple cast and retrieve in shallower water, just like a Rat-L-Trap. If you do this, use the back hole on the top of the bait. > Bomb long casts to deep water and use a lift-drop retrieve. Let the bait hit bottom after each lift. Use the middle hole on the back.

"Radio Tracking Giant Bass" appears on the covers. "Angling in the 90s: Tales of Lunker Bass, Part I & II" in the index. Books #108 and #109 from 1992

Ned rig of some sort...

Near a lifetime...or kind of close, as long as you keep them moist and conditioned. Most of mine got tossed for either drying out (while fishing during summer or over years of storage), or reusing so many times the hole opened up to the point of not wanting to stay on the hook any longer. Down to my last original jar.

Big fan and long time user of pork, but $12 a jar for just 3 pieces I'll have to ponder that one for a while. Would have considered it back in the day when it was on store shelves and I could open every bottle and select the best pieces to create my own personal jars...truth! lol

I usually don't buy much, but these were on sale, plus I got the Black Friday discount on top of that, so a great way to restock cheap on one of my favorite winter baits.

I can vouch for Andy's Jigs. He ties a pretty nice hair jig in several different styles/patterns. Ansy's Custom Hair Jigs

A pretty good take by someone close enough to know...

Haters gonna' hate - and he still has plenty of haters. But when you ask the tourney director on 3 separate occasions for clarification on a rule to make sure you aren't going to break it, there is nothing to see here. Just because no one else found or thought of it doesn't make it wrong. The best always have targets on their backs. Just look at the number of rules created over the years because of stuff Roland did.

I like @A-Jay definition, but there is variation between regions and “professions.” This diagram came off a ‘how to read topo maps’ type site. It’s close...

Nope - not really. My finesse stuff is all smaller/lighter wire. Guessing you’ll want to go at least ‘M’ from the sound of it. Should be fine if going straight braid. Not sure I’d move to MH unless you were straight fluoro or mono.

Clarus would likely be another step up in sensitivity compared to a $45 Berkley rod...

I use braid/leader with it and haven't felt hampered in any way in regards to sensitivity. Sensitivity is often overrated IMO, especially with certain type of finesse techniques.