Team9nine

“Mr. Jig” ?

Taller - diameter/radius measured either across the entire frame, or from the spool shaft to the top edge of the spool.

So many names over the years, but I believe my top 4 would be (in no particular order)… Buck Perry Bill Binkelman Al Lindner Rick Clunn

Couldn’t pass on the opportunity to fish in sunshine and 44 deg air temps. Walked to a pond, only to find it about 70% ice covered. Almost turned around, but one corner was open, so I started there and slowly expanded on the area as the sun and a whole bunch of geese helped to slowly break things up. Headed home after 2+ hours, leaving the pond still 30% ice covered. Managed 10 bass while I was there though. Always fun throwing to ice sheets, pulling your bait off them and having a bass grab it - then trying to stop him from running under the ice and possibly cutting you off.

What is “ideal?” Bass don’t have “preferred” temperatures, and studies show that physiologically, their adult body works best closer to the 78-82 deg range. So in that sense, I’d throw out water temperature as a governing condition for where bass will be located. That said, they won’t do anything radical either, and temperature can be a resource partition that separates them from their prey at certain times of the year, or in certain bodies of water. You can have plenty of prey available and still have starving fish for a variety of reasons. Bottom line - I personally wouldn’t overemphasize one or the other in terms of location.

“Frogging drag” ? Other of my favorite oxymorons include; Jumbo shrimp Almost exactly Awfully good Freezer Burn Living dead Only choice ? ?

Try it. No reputable lab would test tensile strength using knotted line unless they were specially testing knot strength. It’s certainly not in ASTM protocols. So I popped into the garage and tested 4 different spools of braided line I had on the shelf with a certified and calibrated spring scale - 3 spools of PP and I spool of Sufix 832, all tested without knots. None of the 4 lines broke, even after exceeding labeled strength by 20% (10 lb. line), 100% (6 lb. line) and 140% (5 lb. line) respectively (beyond that exceeded scale capacity). Based on that, I’d say either your testing setup or protocol is suspect, or you have some serious line storage issues.

Step 1 is where you went wrong, IMO. Don’t put a knot in the equation, let alone 2 knots. In a normal lab line testing situation, you’d either have the line clamped on both ends, or wrapped around a wide dowel or similar to the point it won’t slip (see setup in video). As mentioned previously (Johnbt), straight line full braid strength is significantly higher than rated (labeled) strength. This is because despite all the “dogging” fluoro gets for poor knot strength, braid is significantly worse. Therefore, most manufacturers label it at around 40-60% of actual breaking strength, since every angler uses it with a knot of some type in the equation (again, see video below).

All three strategies work, but I could see certain water bodies setting up better for a particular style or approach. For me, I’m a structure guy, so that’s what I look for and fish. Seeing baitfish around or bass on the screen just adds to my confidence level, but is secondary to me.

I’d use the exact same stuff I would use with 6# line. Don’t know why you’d need to change anything. Been catching a few bass this winter with 4# line and float’n fly without any issues. I’ve tested down to 2.5# line, but that is a different beast.

I guess it’s only fitting in the ‘circle of life’ that if smallmouth can exude a crawfish smell and lure them all out to their demise, that we anglers can then apply that same crawfish scent to our baits, luring those same bass to their demise, basically beating them at their own game…nature is so stupid ?

A wild weather day today. First line of storms came through midday bringing wind, rain and hail, along with our warmest temps at 52 degrees. After a couple hours, the back side of that frontal line had moved through and there was a decent gap on radar before the next line hit…so I made a dash to my best numbers spot to try and hook a fish or two. Was able to stay out there for 1 hr and 45 minutes with constantly changing weather. Brief minutes of sun followed by waves of threatening clouds; temps dropped 10 degrees in that time frame. Wind variable at 29 mph gusting to 38 interspersed with brief periods of near calm. Got sprinkled on a few times, too, but nothing drastic. Despite all that, I managed 14 bass that I know of - lol. Fishing a Ned rig in those winds, I might have missed a few bites. It was a challenge, but found a good group of fish actively feeding in one small pocket/corner for the majority of the action. Here’s a few pics…

40 was the number today, except for my fish count - lol. We briefly hit 40 degrees for our high, and I was able to squeeze in 40 minutes of fishing before the rain moved in. Catch count was only 5 though. Several bass really washed out in color, but several displaying bright red lips. Ned did all the work today.

Lost our sunshine right as I got to the lake today. The 20 mph wind rotated to the NW as the clouds rolled in, and air temps dropped 7 degrees into the low 40s - it got cold out there quick. But, I was able to land one nice 16” fish on FnF, so I’m calling it a win. This spot was still partially frozen yesterday, so happy just to see totally open water again.

Everything I checked yesterday was frozen. Today, one partly thawed and one completely thawed. Just 39 deg., breezy with rain and misty rain all day, but wanted to test out a float and fly setup I put together for winter…and what do you know, I scored a little one on my first attempt. About 45 minutes was all I was dressed to handle - lol. Partly sunny and breezy tomorrow, so hoping to have a little nicer conditions to keep experimenting with it.

Mine ran out 20 years ago… Decisions…decisions

Until you show up at your local stream with a Tenkara rod to “fly fish”…at which point the elitists tell you it’s a stick and a string - and a reel ? Lol. Been a member of TU on and off for about the last 15 years or more - currently “off.” It seems about every half dozen years or so, some local TU Chapter somewhere makes big headlines for trying to somehow infringe or restrict the rights of other anglers or locals on public waters, and I sour for a bit. But, I like a lot of the conservation things they do, so eventually I come back.

Stray Casts (Chicago based with frequent northern guests) BTL (Bass Talk Live) Ike Live The Big Bass Podcast Luke Duncan’s Traveling Circus (yes, bass fishing industry stuff) Chris/Trait Zaldain Mercer (Dave Mercer, BASS emcee) Serious Angler Bass Fishing Podcast Bass Edge Radio Another Bass Fishing Podcast …off the top of my head. I’m sure there are others.

Designed that way. Several manufacturers seem to be slowly dropping this feature from some of their models, likely because very few people actually “backreel” anymore, preferring instead to just use the better quality drags now on reels…plus it probably saves them a little bit on manufacturing costs - lol

Going mostly “old school” historical on the list… T-rig worm: Glen Andrews, Dave Hawk, Larry Nixon, Bill Dance Slider worm: Charlie Brewer Split shot worm/Stitching: Dick Trask, Bill Murphy, Bill Binkelman Doodle worm: Don Iovino 5XD/6XD: KVD Colored sp’bait blades: KVD, Rick Clunn Flippin Jigs: Dee Thomas, Dave Gliebe, Basil Bacon, Gary Klein, Hank Parker Squarebill/Coffinbill: Rick Clunn Spinnerbait: Jimmy Houston, Ricky Green Poes CB: David Fritts, David Wright, Rick Clunn Frog: Bill Plummer, Alfred Williams, Dean Rojas, Bobby Barrack Drop Shot: Aaron Martens Scrounger: Aaron Martens Shakeyhead: Fred “Taco” Bland Normans DLN: Paul Elias Tube: Bobby Garland, Guido Hibdon Plastic craw bait: Guido/Dion Hibdon, Robert Hale Senko: Gary Yamamoto Umbrella rig: Paul Elias Bladed Swim jig: Brett Hite Private Lake: Bill Dance, Bill Plummer, Pat Cullen Ned rig: Ned Kehde, Chuck Woods Spook: Charlie Campbell Pop-R: Rick Clunn, Zell Rowland Sight Fishing: Guido Hibdon, Shaw Grigsby, Fish Fishburne Spoonplug: Buck Perry Structure Fishing: Buck Perry

SDJ or Palomar - both are near equals with the listed line types. Sorry, but I never use any of the 3 you listed…but if I did, it would likely be some variation of the Uni ?

I wouldn’t do it at this point. If the bass aren’t getting enough to eat, you’ll see it in their condition when you catch one (skinny, inverted belly, big heads). Winter is a tough time to determine available forage. Wait until spring and see what things look like. Usually a bad idea to stock shad in ponds, and you’d need “pounds” of minnows to make a difference, likely more than once a year.

A little too much of a pain. My counter only goes to 1,000, and a good pair of jeans will last me a few years. I'm sure I'm somewhere north of 10,000 fish per pair though on average these days

Slower day despite the sun and warmer temps - go figure. Still nice getting out with 50 deg temps in January. A pair of 16” fish took top honors today.

It’s designed to run deep into pockets, wallets and credit cards, and scour out the last remaining dollars you have until payday ? Works much better than the lead version, so you'll probably need a dozen or so to start with - then another dozen the following year when they release updated colors and blade combos ?