senile1

I use colors that imitate the forage in my lakes usually so that would be shad, sunfish, and baby bass colors. I will throw others when nothing is working.

Good stuff, Sam. Thanks for the laughs!

Hello and welcome from another Missourian.

Welcome to BR!

I can see that. I guess I'm just so used to using both I don't even notice it. Most of my long casts are two-handed so I do it enough to notice. When I use my split-grips I grab the butt end of the rod with my left-hand for a two-hand cast which is comfortable enough. When I use my full-grips I just grab wherever it feels natural and make the cast. It's funny, but I have to sit and think about how I do it to describe it. When I'm fishing I don't even notice it. It's just second nature.

Wow, Dude. Sorry to hear that. That is disturbing. I can't imagine a parent taking their life when they have kids that it could totally destroy. I've dealt with depression, especially in my younger days, but the thought that always helped me was what kind of pain would suicide cause for my family. As a parent I would never drop that burden on my children, no matter how old they are. Of course I was never so deluded as to think that my death wouldn't hurt someone. I wasn't a psychology major, but just from my own anecdotal experience, when I was deeply depressed my thoughts centered around myself and my pain. It was almost a pity party in my case. I had to take my eyes off myself and think about the other people in my life.

Maybe we need to clarify. The grip is important, but the grips on all of the medium-priced to higher-end rods that I would buy are more than satisfactory. Hence, it becomes a non-issue when buying a rod. In other words, I believe all of these rods have solid quality in the grip department and the differences between a full and split grip do not lead me to choose one over the other. Let's put it another way. If I have a choice between a hot redhead, a hot blonde, or a hot brunette, I don't really care what color or style their hair is if it meets an acceptable standard. They are all hot.

Awesome fish. Unfortunately, when you catch another fish in this range you won't know if you have a new PB or not.

You make a good point, but from what you've described it sounds like printing the .pdf is the only way you'll have a manual on the water with you. You could download it and read it from a smart phone if you have one, though I would prefer a larger document.

Welcome to the forum.

Nice post. Thanks for saving this thread from the jaws of chaos and moving it into the light of clarity.

Well said. This might also help dispel the false perception by some that fishing is a sport for rednecks and hicks.

;D I can't say that either grip has given me any issues. The type of grip is low on the list of characteristics I consider when buying a rod though I can see this making a difference in balance on some rods.

Nice. Congratulations on your new boat!

Nice suggestion on the T nuts, Rhino. I wish I had thought of that the last time I replaced my trolling motor mount.

Thanks, Catt. I have visions of huge T-Bend hawgs smashing these lures. I look forward to further reports.

Try different lures that cover all depths in the water column until you find the bass. I think that's what you're trying to say, right? Seeking bass is an imperfect logical progression. If your electronics show fish or bait at a certain depth, start there. Make sure you are highly aware of your surroundings such as the current or wind direction on the water, turbidity of the water, water level (rising or falling), birds diving or fish busting the surface for shad, etc and use this to fine tune what you use. For example, if the water is really muddy with little visibility you can expect the fish to be very tight to cover on structure, so you would need to fish lures that you can cast to an exact spot where you think the fish would be located or lures that make a lot of noise and move a lot of water.

It sounds like they could have been grouped up feeding on baitfish. When bass are active and in a group you will tend to see more followers.

Welcome to BR.

It goes without saying that you have to help. I always have a couple of paddles handy to fling to disabled boats as I drive by on plane at wide open throttle.

If I'm fishing new water (or from a tournament angler's perspective, if I haven't pre-fished and developed some patterns) I will usually start with a lure that can be fished quickly like a spinnerbait, crankbait, lipless crank, small swimbait, etc. I can make a lot of casts with these baits in just 10 or 15 minutes so I can search a large area. I usually spray the area with search lures and I'll probably throw at least 10 casts with each of those lures before I switch to something slower. I will make sure I cover the water column and I usually won't leave a spot until I've thrown a jig or plastics. I generally carry 6 rods that are setup to cover the water column. As I fish an area and encounter no bites, my presentations become slower as the time spent in that area increases. The time also varies based on the cover and structure in an area. If I believe an area has a large amount of fish-holding structure and fish should be there, I'll stay there a lot longer.

Hello and welcome, from Missouri.

Welcome to BR.

Welcome, motomania.

Sam has a point here. How many feet do you think the visibility into the water is?