tholmes

I've done it several times with both largemouth and white bass. A pair of chunky white bass hooked up on an ultralight spinning rig can get pretty interesting. Tom

Blade baits like the Silver Buddy, Gay Blade, etc. There's no wrong way to fish them, they'll catch most any fish and they're cheap and easy to make. Tom

I usually get 'em on the bay, the Flea Market, yard sales, etc. The only new reels I've acquired lately have been gifts froom my lovely wife. Tom

Congratulations, lineslinger and tight lines! Tom

your best bet might be to scour ebay for another reel. Sometimes you can buy a complete used reel for less than the cost of new parts. Tom

I'd say red with some glitter in it. But that's just me. Tom

Happy Birthday, youngster! May you celebrate many more! Tom

Always accept a gift with grace. To do otherwise deprives the giver of the joy of giving. Tom

For baitcaasters, I run a pole barn nail through the center hole in the filler spool, clamp the pointed end of the nail in my bench vise, and run the line through a damp rag for tension. Be sure not to overfill the reel. Leave about 1/8" of spool flange showing. For spinning reels, tie the line from the filler spool to the reel spool with the bail open, close the bail, stand the filler spool on its end and turn a few rounds on the reel. If the line is twisting as you put it on, just turn the filler spool over and staand it on the opposite end. Fill to within 1/16" on the lip of the reel spool. Tom

I'll tell others where I've caught fish, no problem. But if someone tells me "their" spot, I won't tell anyone e;se. Tom

I fish hand-tied jigs exclusively. Tholmes custom made, silicone, rubber, bucktail, maribou, etc. All the way from 1/80 oz. trout and panfish jigs to 1 oz. bucktaila for stripers. I haven't bought a jig in 40 years. Tom

7.5" ribbon-tail worm, tequila sunrise or red shad, 3/16 bullet weight, pegged and a 3/0 round bend offset hook. Black & blue 3/8 oz. jig with matching craw trailer Tom

Black, bone, and chrome. Tom

I agree.^ A whip finish is the way to go. Like DTack said, it's a lot easier to do that it is to describe. Tom

And don't even think of taking up guitar. Tom

Same here. Every time I'm in Wichita, I stop at Academy. I particularly like their large squarebill cranks. I've caught a lot of bass on those. All of the hard baits that I've bought there have been very good quality. Tom

Essentially what everyone else said. Light to moderate chop, short twitches and jerks, SPLOOSH! One of my all-time favorite topwater baits! Tom

What a beauty! Get that replica made now, you never know when someone else will catch that monster and have it mounted! Tom

I'm supposed to clean my tackle box?? Who knew? To get rid of the odor, try baking soda ans activated charcoal. Mix it together and pour generous amounts in the tackle box and close it up for a few days. repeat as necessary. Sometimes, fresh air and sunlight will work too. Tom

In my case, it's used to bait the mousetraps in my shed. Tom

I agree with Catt on this one. I've been using neon green Trilene Big Game for fishing T-rigs for years. I catch enough bass to keep me coming back. I don't believe that a fish brain is sophisticated enough to go through all of the reasoning required to associate seeing a line with the possibility of danger. Tom

I use an old Fenwick 7'6" H flippin' stick with a telescoping handle. I paid $2.00 for it. I don't do enough frogging to warrant a dedicated frog rod or enough flipping for a dedicated flipping rod so I use the same rod for both techniques. Tom

For me, it's anything that's firetiger color. Never caught a bass on one. I've got a whole bunch of 'em in a box on the shelf, they've all been used but never caught anything. Tom

Spoken like a true disciple of the Bait Monkey Tom

I turned 13 in 1965 so I was listening to a lot of rock 'n' roll. Rolling Stones, Beatles, The Who, CCR, Hendrix, The Doors, CSN&Y, Jethro Tull, Allman Brothers, Santana, The James Gang, man, there were a lot of GREAT bands then. Tom