Team9nine

IMO, always go with the larger size spinning reel. There is almost no downside, but many upsides, some having been mentioned above.

Yes - the simplest solution IMO, and what I’d personally like to see, is a boat “screen limit.” So no boat can have more than 36” or 40” of total screen size on it, period - front and back combined. This leaves the technology chosen, individual size units, and how many total units to the discretion of each angler to customize to their preference without technically restricting or banning use of any one type of unit. You could be 40” of all FFS, or no FFS, or anything in-between. Run 4 10” units, or a 16” with 2 12” units, or 5 8” units, etc. Any combination of 360/FFS/SI/DI/2D you want. This ultimately keeps everyone on a level playing field and somewhat caps expense without hindering tech development.

Small will work, but I’m all 2000/2500 on everything from finesse down to crappie

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen them spray, dip or paste their baits with scents or attractants to any degree either, but if you’ve read these forums long enough… ? ?

Another day on the bank. They’re not the biggest, but they’re not terrible either (lol), and they sure keep you sharp. You also learn so much about the fish, how they behave, as well as your setups and techniques. Picked off 20 this afternoon on a combination of Ned, swimbaits and jerkbaits. Bring on the snow ?

Some move many miles, and some never leave the neighborhood. Really depends on the water body and the individual fishes personality, as well as outside factors like whether that fish has been relocated via a tournament, etc.

Been slower here the past few days, but getting a handful each day; Neds in the calm areas and jerkbaits in the wind. Seasonal cold on tap for the next week, so things probably won’t pick up a lot.

Finally stocked back up on YGK ? Had spooled my last spool this winter, and TW was pretty much out all last year. Was wondering if it was getting discontinued…

Won’t happen (IMO) - I’m in on the ‘fairy wands,’ and if anything, moving more and more that way. I think you could easily argue that you now also see more spinning rods on pros boats (and in use) than ever before. The push toward BFS type casting gear is more niche than anything (again, IMO).

Gusty ENE winds and skies clearing and becoming sunny. Helped a bit with the temperature, but not sure about the bite. Ended up with a dozen bass split nearly equally between Ned and jerkbaits. Water is clearing quick, and east winds are supposed to stick around for the next couple days.

Long list of things to do today, but I couldn't not take a rod with and stop at a pond before starting my run. Highs here hit 72 degrees with a SW wind at 20 mph, gusting to 30. Just headed for the windiest corner and threw a jerkbait - and they were there. A dozen bites in about an hour of fishing, and then I was off.

Got the boat out again. Over 2” of rain from the passing storms had the reservoir well stained - maybe 12” or less of visibility. Went after the crappie again, and despite some being suspended, I found plenty that were pinned on isolated pieces of cover. Picked up around 85-90 in just under 3 hours. Always a fun time, but will probably start thinking about chasing bass once the water stabilizes more.

If there was a tourney on the lake that day, there’s a good chance that of the top finishers, one guy pounded the same 100 yd stretch of bank all day, going back and forth, and the other guy covered tons of water and got 5 bites on 4 different baits, all from different areas scattered one here and one there - lol. Typically, I’ve always been in the latter camp; cover tons of water and find the few active bass. However, this is a game of percentages. If I start out the day this way and go an hour or two without a bite, covering a good bit of water, it becomes obvious that there may simply not be enough active fish to make this strategy work. At that point you have to make a decision; either keep covering water and hope you get lucky and run into one small area with a few active fish, or decide to slow way down and fish extra thorough through just a couple key high percentage areas. That’s an individual choice, and you know ‘you’ best. But I’d likely slow down at that point and beat the crap out of a couple high confidence spots, at least for the next couple hours to see if my luck changed.

The Jackall tungsten heads are great, but I see they’ve raised the price again to basically $10 for 3 - but the weights are good, the hook is solid, and the weedguard works well (until it eventually falls off - lol). It’s the one I probably use most.

That’s Paul Robert’s channel. He was a regular here for a long time. You could search him and his posts here as he was involved in a lot of good discussions. Still figure one of these days I’ll pop on here and see him posting again

This showed up in my Facebook “memories” today - Wheeler and I whacking some cold water bass 15 years ago (Mar 2008). He would have been 18 or 19 at the time, and had only fished Junior Bassmaster and local weeknight stuff.

O’Shaughnessy - It’s the original C-rig hook, and stronger than a RB.

FWIW, found this old file I had saved that might be of interest. I'm not even sure how many of these baits are still currently made, but it is the weight of a bunch of fluke style baits that were on the market in the early 2000s. Might still be good for historical and comparison sake. These were accumulated and weighed by a materials scientist. For reference; 1 g = .035 oz. 3.5 g = .123 oz or about 1/8 oz. 7 g = .247 oz or about 1/4 oz.

Billy McDonald just posted saying they’ve already canceled tomorrow, everyone back on Saturday for a shootout.

Guess it’s no surprise that on the rare occasion I do get tackle in the mail, it’s likely somehow tied to Ned fishing ?

Cold front with light north winds were perfect for throwing Ned today…

Almost took the boat out again today when the wind underperformed the forecast by quite a bit…but I found the exact trailer part I needed to fix my wiring issue locally, so hit a pond first before grabbing and installing it. Managed 10 bass on a day with record highs, most on Ned but a few on jerkbait.

A little too limited in scope, and a bit of a wash in the expense category, but you’re at least sailing in the right direction

One of the warmest Februarys on record here…only 6th time of no recordable snow this month. Last time was 1949. Our ice has been gone for several weeks but we’ll probably pay for it in March - lol

45 mph winds with 2 Level 1 tornados through the area yesterday, but the sun came out today, the winds died and the fish bit. My afternoon view from the office ?