tholmes

It really wouldn't cost more than a few bucks to fix your rod if the tip is the only thing that.s broken. Just go to Wally World (or your local tackle shop) and get a rod tip repair kit.They come with several different size tips and a little stick of hot-melt glue You can heat the old tip and GENTLY pull it off, select a tip of the appropriate size, heat the glue stick until the glue melts, put a little dab of glue in the part of the tip that slides over the rod, line it up with the other guides and your done. It takes a lot longer to type it out than it does to do the job. It's really, really easy to do. Unless, of course, you just HAVE to have a new rod Tom

I don't carry all the cranks that I own. Most of them are "spares" that stay at home until needed. I probably have 40 or so in my tackle box. Tom

I'll agree, 5 to 6 lbs. Darn sure big enough to brag about! Tom

X3^ I don't know if a swivel would affect the action of the lure or not, I just never have seen the need the use them on crankbaits of any kind. Tom

I was at work when I heard the first reports on my truck radio. After the second plane hit, I called my wife, who was at home recovering from surgery. and told her to turn the TV on. I, and all of my co-workers, spent most of the rest of the day watching the coverage on CNN. One thing that I remember that really angered me at the time (still does, kinda) was that a local independent gas station raised their prices to 4.99/gal. within hours of the story breaking. The state AG stepped in and ended that nonsense. Within a couple of months, the station was out of business. Tom

You've got a pretty good start there I ain't keepin' track of how many I have, but I'm pretty sure it's somewhere north of 150. Tom

The lure on the left is def. a Lazy Ike, Flatfish or a knock-off of one of these. The two on the right somewhat resemble a Heddon Tadpolly. Tom

I'm partial to 7" or 7-1/2" ribbon-tail worms. I don't really favor one brand over another, I use Culprit, Yum, Zoom, Power Bait, etc. The brand that I use the most is Barlow's house brand, mostly because I can get a bag of 100 for ~ $14 and they work as well as anything else. Favorite colors are (in no particular order): Red Shad, Tequila Sunrise, Junebug, Watermelon Pepper and Black w/red flake. I fish them t-rigged, weightless or with a (usually) pegged bullet weight. Hop or drag them along the bottom through brush, rocks or any other cover that's available. I've caught bass on them pretty much any time and any season. Tom

Ow!!! Make sure your tetanus vaccination is up to date. Tom

Here ya go! http://www.reelgrip....ducts/reelgrip/ Tom

If you're going after white bass, you can't do much better than a Kastmaster, IMHO. Like Sir Snook said, a ball-bearing swivel is almost necessary, especially if you're using spinning tackle. Tom

^ Same here. I rarely "wear out" a jig before I hang it up and lose it. If you're not hanging 'em up, you're not fishing them in the right spot. Tom

Barring any breakage, I'm pretty well set for reels right now. Rods? I'd like to get a new deep crankbait rod, but the need isn't pressing. As for lures, I never say "no more spending". It wouldn't last a week. Tom

Eagerly awaiting the arrival of cooler weather here in the heart of Kansas. Fall is my favorite time of the year for bass fishing. The weather guessers are saying high temps in the 70s and lowa in the 50s for the weekend. A few weeks of that and the water temps should drop to a reasonable level. Get out the crankbaits! Tom

Like some others, I enjoy catching largemouth (and smallmouth) because they are more available. I'm sure there are spotted bass around these parts, but I don't know specific locations. I would like to learn more about smallmouth, specifically how to locate them in the summer. Tom

THere are two: 1. T-rigged 7.5" ribbon-tail worm 2. Chrome or shad-color lipless crank Jigs are also in the mix. Tom

I just stick a 8" pole barn nail through the spool. clamp the nail in my bench vise and go to town. Tom

I could use a new deep crankin' rod. Thanks! Tom

tholmes' custom bass jigs in black/blue and green pumpkin with Zoom super chunks, Rage Tail chunk, Culprit Creature Craw, etc. Tom

^X2. A 1/2 oz. chrome Rat-L-Trap (or similar lipless baits) is my go-to bait, especially when I'm searching for fish on new water. I usually fish them with a stop and go retrieve, starting shallow, then counting down to search deeper water. I've caught largemouth, smallmouth, walleye, northern, white bass, stripers and wipers on them. Even caught trout, crappie and bream on the Tiny Traps. IMHO, the most versatile hard bait in my tackle box. Tom

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who is mildly irritated by all the spelling and grammatical errors so commonly seen on this and other internet forums. One that I see often is the misspelling of "definitely" or "definite", often spelled "definately" or "definate". Even the spellchecker catches that one. Tom

Congrats, Goose! Great story and, man, what a sow! Tom

I have a USA Bass 4600C that casts 1/4 oz. cranks very well. The only mod I've done to it is replacing the white brake blocks with the lighter weight blue ones. I did the same mod on my old-school ProMax 3600c and it casts much better now. The same blocks (Abu part# 20209) will fit the Black Max 1600, iirc. Tom

I'll fish as long as there's open water. Tom

I 1. 7" or 7-1/2" ribbon tail worm - Brand doesn't matter much to me, Culprit, Power Worm, Yum, Barlow's - they all work. Colors: Red shad, tequila sunrise, junebug, watermelon seed, black neon 2. Zoom Ol' Monster - same colors as above 3. Yum Crawbug - crawdad and junebug colors 4. Rage tail Space Monkey - Bama Bug, Watermelon/red flake 5. 4" twister tail grubs - white, black, chartreuse, smoke/silver flake 6. LFT Live magic Shad- watermelon/red pearl and sun perch 7.. 4"-5" Senko or a reasonable facsimile thereof 8. 4"-6" finesse worm 9. LFT Fork Frog 10. Rage Tail Smokin' Rooster - pretty much any color thay make. I have no idea what this thing is supposed to look like, but bass seem to think it looks like FOOD. Tom