Team9nine

Depends on the bait, the rod and the line, but with the proper setup and correct technique, it's not much of an issue most times.

Haven't tried their bait casters yet, but their Tournament Series (HM54) spinning rods are killer for that price and well worth it.

Color coordinated Super Sprinklers...should work better than the originals. Glad someone got around to trying this

Back out on the bank for 2 hours after work this evening. Major cold front moving through the state last night and today with highs mostly in the 60s and W winds, along with a rising barometer. Still managed to land 38 bass, so a good trip. Better water clarity than last week helped, I believe. Here's a couple: One last pic to reiterate my thoughts on tackle management from shore...a sneak peak inside my tackle box for tonight's trip. It's in both pics, but you can't see it tucked away in my t-shirt pocket - mobility rules!

Still highway robbery...but we all end up justifying our purchases to try and catch a fish one way or another, myself included. Thankfully I'm on the tame end of the tackle purchasing scale, and don't even own a Sprinkler.

Because to his credit, he's not foolish enough to drop $7-$10 for a 4 pack of replacement tails

Slightly off topic, but @J Francho and I made today's BassBlaster with our Teckel comments from this thread - lol. He for the Snagproof reference and I for the name

As already stated, observation is the most likely way, especially if the water is somewhat clear. Look for where the bottom "drops off" away from the bank if such a condition occurs. Another would be to purchase one of those castable depthfinder deals, which might be worth the investment if you fish this place a lot. Beyond that, many ponds when first built have no depth breaklines, but over time will develop them. This is due to constant wind and wave action against the shoreline that ends up creating a shallow flat within a few feet of the shore that then drops off into the depths at the original angle. The last idea would be to fancast with a dropping lure and count down various spots around the lake and out from the shore looking for holes or shallower areas that might clue you in to possible depth breaks. Outside of depth breaklines, if you don't see weeds but pull them up on casts, it is very possible they have both an inside and outside weedline, a form of breakline. Also, as mentioned above, bottom composition breaklines where the rocky bottom ends and switches to some different soil type would be another likely breakline to explore. Lastly, it was Rich Zaleski that I first saw write about and propose that the shoreline is the most significant breakline in many bodies of water. I still ponder that one myself, but one of the biggest mistakes I see bank anglers make is not throwing at the bank, instead always throwing out into the lake. Take all these replies with a grain of salt. As you have probably seen, there is little agreement on terminology, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions and often resulting in more confusion than help.

I read your reply, and it was very appropriate to what the OP asked for. Probably about the best answer one could give in this situation. Personally, I prefer not to let the author slide with "whatever [he] intended a break line to be," and since I didn't know what that was, chose not to directly answer the question, instead pointing out the potential differences of opinion/answers based on the term and the definition one gives. You appear to be fine with the vagueness, and that's your choice. Neither of us is wrong here.

Since the OP gave no specific reference to the article, I have no context to base an answer upon, and would only be guessing at what the author was alluding to. I don't even know if what he (the author) was referring to, I would even agree to being a "breakline" (hence my point). That might lead to even more confusion for the OP. Plenty of examples in the replies above as to various types of breaklines that might be applicable to the OP's situation regardless of exact definition though. 'Catt' and 'deep' covered a good many of them.

Anyone who wants "my" definitions can just read any of Buck Perry's writings. The man coined most of the terms in question that we still use today. I try to adhere to those original terms and definitions as close as I possibly can. Just call me "old school," "outdated," "behind the times," or whatever. Doesn't affect my fishing (or catching) any I will add @Catt that I think you and I might be the closest in our line of thinking, but we still have a few differences here and there. We're much closer together than we are apart

I'm not, but you guys are doing a great job making my point, and confusing everyone else in the process

...and this is the point in the road (nomenclature) where all of us structure guys end up taking slightly divergent paths

Only one....would have to be a Megabass 110 version for me. Most of the popular colors have already been named.

Given the frequent discussions on this site around braid, I thought Seth Feider's comment was interesting after nearly pulling off the Elite win this weekend. He was using 40 lb. 832 with a 20# fluoro leader. His reel was spooled with braided line, but he said it was critical to attach the jig to a 3- to 4-foot fluorocarbon leader. "I couldn't get bit on just straight braid," he said. So braid guys, what's your take? Sponsored shill for fluoro, or legitimate case where straight braid wouldn't cut it? Enquiring minds want to know

Lots of action chasing crappie this afternoon. Kept a few for a meal, then enjoyed just swinging on them the rest of the afternoon.

Former Bassmaster writer Michael Jones wrote that they were discontinued in 1985, but that it was possible to order a large lot direct from Pradco (some have mentioned a gross; a dozen dozen - 144) for a short period of time after. I haven't measured or weighed mine, but will when I get the chance. I most commonly see 3-1/4" listed, but have also seen 3" and 3-1/8" in write-ups. No idea on location of manufacturing as i threw away all my old boxes. @whitwolf should know more.

Check out the P.O. Pluggers bass club. They're usually accepting non-boaters and fish mostly local water in their tourneys. Google search them for their web page. Indpls based and been around a long time. Good bunch of guys.

I heard they're still looking for some guy in a white getaway boat that was headed north on the lake that day. I don't think they want to arrest the person, just question him and see what he knows about the situation

Hard to say. Rick Clunn always said the easiest tourneys to win were the tough ones, largely because so many guys get beat mentally when struggling for bites. That said, in a shootout, whoever can get the bigger bites usually wins, but likewise, just one or two big bites can really determine things in a struggle. How much is skill, and how much is luck in either case is hard to determine. I'd initially lean toward more skill in a shootout because you need more big fish overall, or at least better average quality instead of a couple big ones.

Not giants, but healthy 2-3.5 pounders, at least the ones I caught. Some say much larger ones there, but hard to tell when they're slashing so fast, picking off minnows.

Dead bait for bass certainly isn't a normal thing that you would expect to catch them on, but as with everything bass fishing, there are no absolutes. The lake I lived at had a marina, and twice a day, they'd toss out their dead minnows and the bass would gorge on them. You could fish that exact spot all you wanted with traditional baits and almost never get a bite. Those fish were "trained" to just eat the dead minnows. I caught a few one day in "the frenzy" on a shad colored tube jig they let me toss in once. Also caught one or two over the years tossing a weightless fluke and just letting it sink and deadstick, but otherwise, if you didn't toss them a dead minnow, they weren't biting.

Yes, way underspooled. Go outside and pull it all off in the yard or down the sidewalk (yes, your neighbors will look at you funny - lol), then add some mono or other cheap line on the empty spool as backing, then connect the lines together and rewind all the braid back on until full.

"Still Waters" by Alexandra Marshall...no idea how many times, but it was published in 1978, so a lot

Kind of in limbo as boatless bank trash at the moment, but banked 15 little chunks in 75 minutes after work the other day despite the post frontal clearing skies, stained water and 15 mph NNE winds.