Team9nine

Since we're going into the weeds:

Here, here! Kind of similar to fishing a crank in a river with different current seams. I will even go one bit further and say the feel with older non-infinite anti reverse reels is another level higher over most current models. Something about that tiny bit of backpressure on a reels crank that adds to the sensitivity of the whole process. I’ve actually experienced similar with older “new style” reels where the anti-reverse has become jus a tad “sloppy.”

Guess I’m in the camp with BassWhole and Tennessee Boy. I’ve tested and measured all this out (and posted results here) before. Yes, Dennis, you will get the advantage of less fatigue. The reasons against more doing this are several though, and include less overall line capacity, less effective drag, shorter and more difficult casting, and less thumb spool control in many instances, among others. Personally, I keep a couple dedicated low gear reels for just such applications (personal preference). Not much I dislike more than a “less than fully spooled reel” when fishing ?

Looks like a bowfin (grinnel). They’re native and put up one heck of a fight. Have had a few baits completely torn up over the years by them

Yes, it just depends on where the tungsten balancer is. Also, when you have line attached and under tension, it will sit differently in the water.

Turns out, there was a Pogo Minnow also. Look at the ear tab and the unique hunchback right behind the head.

Old Tom Mann's Pogo...believe there was the Pogo 911 and the Pogo Shad. Think that one was the former.

OK - I fixed your post and couldn't agree more with you

I’m just going to have to record and post a video. So much confusion and misinformation on Palomar knots, even the *** video is wrong IMO. Works fine with fluoro. Don’t have to wet it if tied properly. If I’m understanding your descriptions above, you want a combination of B & C; loop above the overhand knot but loop and tag pulled together.

Been there, done that. Pulled our lake 10 ft last year right after Labor Day and closed it to boats until the following January (frozen then) due to spillway repairs. Missed out on the best bite of the year ? It happens.

Like Hammer 4 suggested, remove the trailer and see how it runs. Sounds like the trailer you are using is too bulky or creating too much drag for the blade size and head weight of the bait.

Is it running “on it’s side” or running “to the side (veering left or right)? If the former, your trailer is too bulky or your retrieve speed too fast. If the latter, that is normal for most single blade buzzers due to blade torque (rotation).

I'm guessing most people probably don't even know how many hours they have on an outboard, in general. For most bass boaters, they run fast from here to there, then shut down and fish off the trolling motor. They probably don't generate many hours each year even if they do fish a lot. I say this because I just traded in an engine this past week. Had no idea how many hours I had on it, what was considered a lot, or even average. I asked the tech doing the work, and he said about 30 hours or so per year was what they typically saw. I Googled it and it said closer to 50 hrs per year was average. When they pulled my data, they had a second guy come over with a different computer and check again because they didn't think the first tech did it right. I had over 660 hrs in just under 4 years...but I fish a tiller boat, using the main engine like a trolling motor (backtroll) in addition to a main engine. I rarely turn it off during a trip. Over 400 hours was simply at idle (<1000 rpm), and another 200+ hrs was between 1000-2000 rpm (trolling speeds). I had nothing over 6000, and only a handful of hours over 5000 rpm. I go plenty fast enough at 3/4 throttle, so I never had a need to run wide open other than to do it every once in a while just for the engines sake. I also changed out lower unit lube, oil and filter every year, which from the sound of it, many guys don't. At least the tech was surprised when he checked mine and saw how clean it was. Previous to this engine I had a 10hp that I ran for 8 years. I'd hate to see how many thousands of hours were likely on that little guy

Harder to see - yes. More invisible - no.

No right or wrong answer here. For me, outside of frog fishing or another specialty app, it’s all fluoro all the time on BC gear - and yes, I have the pictures...lots of them ?

They put green and brown fish to shame, especially the bigger ones. Lots of baits work well. In the cold water period, I like A-rigs best. Shad body/swimbait on a jighead alone works well, too.

Another fan of the Hot Foot. Jackplate control left of the wheel, trim/tilt to the right, two hands on the wheel and drive it like a car ?

According to the study, the smaller the wire (believe they used a round rod of different diameters) you wrap a given line around, the more the line has to bend (tighter circle) putting extra stretch and stress on the outside curve and weakening it. I don’t believe they tested different strength monofilaments on the same size wire.

I always tie on the double part and preferably, directly opposite the gap if not using an oval ring. Eliminates risk of line cutting, puts the single section of wire on the bait's screw eye for theoretically more action, and at least one study suggests that the larger the wire ring you tie to, the stronger the knot.

Don’t see them too often in the ponds around here, but this is the second fat yellow belly (bullhead) I’ve caught from this one. Wondering if it was the same fish both times ?

ticked a lot of people off when they filed the patent infringement cases and won. Some companies paid (license fee), others didn’t...some eventually came around. Zoom really took issue with it which is why you still see some of their “better than salt” packages still around.

Contrast here, to a more or less degree, depending. Rarely ever match.

The old Moss Boss ? 1. Keep the snap on. Works best around “hard” vegetation like lily pads, or scattered open grass like milfoil. Can be used in slop though with some effectiveness. 2. Pretty much lands “on its back” as it’s supposed to by design, but a slight pull right before landing sometimes helps. 3. Fish walkable, like a Spook. It doesn’t have the side-to-side motion as much as a front-to-back walk. Just have to try it to see what I mean. Since it is lightweight plastic, can easily be paused around holes or next to cover. A neat bait, albeit a little outdated. Definitely worth throwing though just to show the fish something different.

Managed 75 bass total over the long weekend walking various ponds for a couple hours each day. Ned rig did the most damage over all 3 ponds, but had a good day with Sliders on the one pond I threw it. One of the ponds is unique for this area as it has a sand grass perimeter underwater. It makes for the most unique bite when you intentionally hang the bait on the sand grass then either tease it or rip it out. Lots of times they simply grab the bait on ‘the tease,’ otherwise ‘the snap’ off the grass gets ‘em .