Team9nine

He and Edwin both found that spot in practice. Knew he was going to crush ‘em in there today. Could have really hurt them if he stayed in there all day, but he left after securing enough weight to fish tomorrow. Be watching MLF on TV in May and June ?

Birmingham/Guntersville is what I’ve heard as most likely, too...

Cover the hook point with plastic tubing (aquarium style) cut to length, then simply don't set the hook - let the fish play with it until he drops it.

~1990 TD Cochran 6' Topwater rod (4.9 oz) ~1990 TD1Hi reel (9.7 oz) As for thoughts on balance, I've tested all my setups with a large Excel file of weights, measures and ratios to back it all up - ; For the way I hold my rods, for me it simply boils down to the better the balance point to length ratio (of just the rod), the better that rod will feel to me and fish regardless of which reel I put on it, that reels weight, or technique used for, and I never add any extra weight (to the rod) to "balance" my outfits, regardless. I'd rather sell or trade a rod off to get something "better" balanced than I would add weight, or just live with it the way it is.

As far as I know, it is open with no restrictions. Only been there once, but have several friends in the area who tourney fished the lake regular and I don’t ever recall them saying anything about being restricted. There are 3 marine companies on the lake though, so I’m sure you could contact one of them and verify that’s still the case (Clark's Landing, Hamilton Lake Marine, Affordable Marine Care).

So nice being back out on the boat again after this winter. Local lake is clearing from all this rain, and surface temps up to 47 degrees. Threw "Ned" around a bit yesterday and managed about 15 fish in really nice conditions to be on the water in (sunny, no wind, mid 50s)...just not the greatest for catching - Lol. We made do.

Wheeler, Thrift, J Lee ... more or less in that order, though there’s wiggle room there

MJ Rig....pfft (No offense to the OP; today's marketing guys just kill me). Some history...

Backreeling aside, you need to look at the history of the spinning reel to ascertain function. Anti-reverse mechanisms were in place in the better spinning reels to hit the U.S. market mostly in the very early 1950s, but they were frequently referred to as "anti reverse locks." This was because their original function was to stop the reel/gears from going in reverse, especially in times of a strike. From what I can tell, most people fished with the lock off since that was what they were used to before the "lock" was incorporated (first in baitcasters). Also keep in mind there were no such things as self-centering bails, or infinite anti-reverse bearings, advancements that all came much later. Early baitcasters never had them either, and their addition to the baitcasters was considered an advancement so you didn't tear up your knuckles on hard hooksets. They also had the benefit of allowing fish to run freely before engaging the lock to set the hook when needed (a lot of live bait fishing back then). I'm guessing their incorporation in spinning reels just followed the trend of the baitcasters. One could argue that they are no longer needed on modern reels with all the advancements, and most people probably wouldn't care, or even notice if they were gone. That said, I personally like that most reels still have them, as I frequently backreel and use the switch for other misc. functions.

It's been 78 days since I last was able to get the boat out due to our winter weather and heavy rains (but who's counting). Finally made it today though and everything ran fine. Even managed a few bass in 43-44 degree stained water. Felt good to be running the lake again.

That's not "junk fishing" to me, or how I would describe it. As such, I also wouldn't be limiting myself to just 3 baits if I was "junk fishing." Sounds like a modern reincarnation of the term to make the author sound like he knows something special JMHO

Once upon a time, when the terminology was first used (by Stanley Jigs if I’m not mistaken), there was a difference. Casting jigs had longer shanks, lighter wire and O’Shaunessy style bends. Flipping jigs we’re the other form and they had round bends, shorter shanks and heavier wire. It made a difference with the gear of the day and whether you were pitching 20’ away or casting 80’. Now days you have enough variation and options in baits and tackle (and line) that you could argue you don’t need many specific styles to be effective. Like you, I’ve started using football jigs as more of an all-around type bait that works well on my waters. But I definitely agree with TnRiver46 that they do hang more in wood cover and are somewhat less efficient in those situations.

I’d agree here on our Midwest reservoirs; <1’ muddy 1’-2’ good stain 2’-4’ average clarity (good) >4’ clear

Nope, but they sure made the tackle box smell good when you opened it up

They don’t care...they probably can’t smell it either.

5.17 days, but don’t ask for the calculations Actually, at least one study I’ve read said rain was a much smaller factor than you might imagine. Here’s a good general read on the subject: How Lake Ice Melts

The world of bass identification has gotten a little crazy these days with the advent of genetic testing. There are at least 17 different identified basses, and arguments over which ones are species and which ones are subspecies are constant. Then you have all the unique variations for any given species. Here’s a chart for many of the agreed upon species. I definitely agree with it being a bass of some sort, but Guadalupe is the only unique Texas species I’m aware of, and that fish doesn’t look like much like one to me from the pics. Agree that an email or call to TPWD is in order, and might try contacting one of the fisheries research groups at a local university as someone might be researching this very topic at the moment (Texas State might be good as they’ studied Guadalupe’s a bunch).

Pretty much everything probable covered above. Only thing I’d add you should know is how to cast. It’ll show if you need practice

8#-12# fluoro depending on specific bait, usually the lighter two tests.

Going to have a hard time removing both, I believe. I've removed the rattles (BBs/shot) which will lighten them up quite a bit. That's pretty easily done by drilling a small hole, usually through the top and then removing the shot and refilling the hole with epoxy. Here's a good view of a Trap

Pretty sure it's an old Bass Magnet by Bass Hunter Lures. Was hawked by Billy Westmorland. They were somewhat popular here in the Midwest and can be found regularly on eBay.

Personal preference IMO. Some guys like specific skirt colors or hook brands or head paint schemes with their jigs, so buy what you like. Outside of the head not being ideal for certain heavy cover applications, a regular Arkie works just as well now as any other jig. Just not as fancy. But most every company has copied their head style and offers a version these days.

I’ve been using InvizX for over 8 years now, and Tatsu for 3. If I HAVE to have abrasion resistance, I keep a couple spools of Toray Superhard Upgrade on hand. Otherwise, as someone else alluded to, my mantra is, the more I know, the less I throw. This goes for line variety, too. I have no interest in buying and fishing every single line in an effort to find “the best” for specific applications. Just me. I find what works well and stick with it. Also not sold on the differences in stretch as a matter of practicality when talking mono and fluoro. So Sniper only stretches 19% while Tatsu stretches 22% and InvizX stretches 25% for the same force applied. So what? At the end of a perfectly reasonable 80 ft cast, we’re still talking ~15’ of stretch in a best case scenario (Sniper). On a short line bite with say 10’ of line out, it’s the difference between almost 2’ of stretch vs 2.5’ of stretch. Who’s to say more stretch isn’t better in that case. At reasonable fishing distances, line diameter is much more important in my mind. Since Sniper and InvizX are nearly identical, I’m sure both would perform equally well.

Not a big fan myself. Have a 1000 series Sahara that mostly sits on the shelf these days. Much prefer 2500 and up, even for all my panfishing. As long as you like it and it works, that’s all that matters.

"Arky" is now the name used for a style of jig head that was made famous by one of the first manufacturers of living rubber bass jigs, Arkie Jigs (~very early 1980s or slightly before). It is a great all-around head still to this day, and is usually very similar in style to this picture; kind of rounded but squashed flat a little so that it tends to sit upright and comes through a variety of cover types well. Largely fish it like you would any rubber jig, though it's not necessarily designed for flipping or punching very heavy cover.