Darren.

Well done! I threw one last year (yeah, that says a lot), and got several hits/bumps on it, but no catches. Maybe I'll catch a spinnerbait bass one of these years, LOL. Keep it up!!

Been there, done that. In fact, since it's paid for, we're still doing that. 2001 Odyssey. Runs great. Wish I could replace it, so does my wife. Was great when the boys were wee lads, but now that they're monsters, not so much. But it is paid for. So the cheapest vehicle we could own. You'll live

My wife hates that we have 1 personal plate. Everyone can identify us... One of these days it will be changed. And no, not a fishing plate. I'd have a bass/fishing-specific plate if she'd let me.

Yeah, that would be Lake Baccarac, Mexico....

Dude did what he had to do. Quick thinking.

Read up on stuff, test stuff out. But I always end up falling back to things that work for me in general. When I try something "new", I'll try to use that lure/method only during an outing... My mindset is always to get better at what I do, although sometimes frustration sets in and things go south until I can get my head straight. Just an honest 2 cents.

A good actor, indeed. RIP.

Hi Kyle, welcome aboard! Those are some impressive fish you list there

Never seen BPS do any price matching... I have round-about asked, mentioning I could get XYZ item for $10 bucks cheaper online. Blank stare back. But you never know if a manager is willing to make the sale, so never hurts to ask!

Wow. Tons of suggestions, what to do?! Me, I throw GYCM Senkos, I throw BPS Stick-O's. I like both, catch fish on both. Not so much Yum brand, but they've caught me fish, too. I stick to "standard" colors in green pumpkin and watermelon, had most success on watermelon magic, watermelon + hot pepper frog....

No, not a braid salesman, Jrob. Just offering a money-saving alternative. All good info, Jrob. FC is not the best bet for top water, and your rec of Seaguar lines is great. My point with sticking with braid for a mainline is when he buys that expensive FC line, what if he doesn't like it for X purpose? Therefore, hey, use it for another purpose! Try something else. You haven't dropped a bunch of money to spool a reel entirely with FC that you may/may not like. Instead of ripping off the entire spool of that expensive line, just tie on a new leader that suits the purpose at hand. That's all I'm sayin. Not trying to start an argument. It's all good. We all have opinions that may or may not meet another's needs.

Oh I get ya. I understand. What I'm saying is to use that braid and tie on a leader to it. It will make a difference and not waste you a lot of $$ experimenting with different spools of fluorocarbon. There's cheap and worthless stuff, and expensive stuff (FC). And there's bad/good/better line for top water. FC may not be your best bet here, hence tie a leader that best fits the style of fishing you are wanting to do.

Well, like a lot of us, you can use braid for a mainline on your baitcaster, and use any type of fluoro, copoly, or mono, for whatever technique you want to fish. So if you want FC for top water, grab a spool of one recommended kind, another spool of a different recommended kind and you can decide which is best w/o respooling your bc for the one you prefer. Tie the leader as long as you need it, whether 2 feet or 30 feet. Doesn't matter... 2 cents....

Welcome to the forums. Yes and no, sometimes a slow pull on the rig to just bring the worm along the bottom. Other times, a floating worm helps the presentation. I usually opt for Mojo rigging now, lighter C-rigs, if you will. I use baits that float, but will sink eventually. When I use a Senko, it'll drift to the bottom faster. Try them out, see what works for you.

Well said, KaykR. And sentiments echo'd... This is a great site with incredible fishing wisdom freely exchanged.

Thanks for that link, webertime. Fascinating to see the color variations of the species here in VA... Bummer that most of the links to VA species had no pix associated, but the ones that did were great.

And welcome to the site

My style doesn't change much pre-spawn. I tend toward soft plastics the vast majority of the time, but I will change where I target them and how I fish them. If I know there's a grassy area mid-lake I'll use a mojo, or TX rig, something to drag the bottom and either keep bait on bottom, or let it float as on the mojo. Stuff near shore, in trees, beds, etc., wacky rigged. Spawn will be wacky rigged Zoom lizards, Senkos. Also use the Jika rig.

I use the Albright, reverse Albright, and Uni-to-Uni for my leaders. Plenty of moisture, and for the Albright(s), plenty of wraps up/down. Uni/uni usually is about 5 wraps for thicker leader, but for my 10 and 15 lb braid mainline, I'll do about 7 wraps. Tie these enough and you can almost do it with your eyes closed,

Well, I've got a 6'3" Avid MLXF spinning rod, that is now a 5'9" spinning rod thanks to two breaks, but it is great for skipping docks and under water bound bushes, etc. However, I actually prefer my 5'9" Shimano Compre (cork) for that task. I just like the balance better, I guess. Plus I like the slimmer cork handle as compared to the bulkier Avid. I have no experience with Dobyns rods, so can't offer an opinion there. But I can say the Avid (since it is in your St. Croix or Dobyns guideline) is a great rod for the money. However, don't break the tip, LOL. I will be replacing the Croix eventually, but for now, it is in my arsenal paired with a Shimano Stradic 1000FI.

Welcome aboard! Depends on how you fish the live night crawler. If you fish it mojo-style and let it sit there doing its thing on the bottom, it can be a seriously tasty snack for a fish. Look up Fish Chris on this forum, and Google his site, you'll find some excellent information on fishing night crawlers. And he catches absolute monsters, FWIW. EDIT: I take that back, I just googled his site to post it for you, but is seems to be a place holder and out of commission. Maybe he's got a new one. Anyhow, had some great articles on using live bait. Maybe he'll chime in here if he's around. Personally I do not fish them much anymore -- but will occasionally. I prefer to rig a Senko, Stik-O (BPS brand), or Zoom Trick and Finesse worms wacky style. Worms can indeed be messy, but sometimes they out fish soft plastics like nothing out there. I would never rule them out, they're not just for kids

That's pretty awesome, Lou!

Welcome aboard, Steve!

Nicely done. I've made a couple dandy crates over the years, but have moved away from them of late. Now that I sit up high on my Native Ultimate's gunnels, I actually have a drawer under me that houses my soft plastics. I lay my rods out in front of me rather than behind me. Hated the fact (fact for me) that I would, at least once in an outing, forget I had rods behind me as I made a side-arm cast with my baitcaster. Said baitcaster would have to be put down after said incident. So I dumped the crate idea (for now). But yours looks great!!

As for knots, yeah, practice, practice, practice, and plenty of spit to moisten!! I use both Fluoro and copolymer lines all the way from 6 lb test up to (currently) 15 lb test. I do not match diameters. I think of braid as a mainline and with yellow, a watchable mainline. The leader I tie has nothing to do with what pound test braid I'm using. Example, on some of my spinning rigs I've got 10lb test PowerPro yellow but I tie on a 15 lb Fluoro/Copoly leader. Doesn't matter what size braid, the leader is my contact with the fish, and most often, what type of area I'm fishing determines leader. I.e., lots of logs/sticks - heavier fluoro/copoly. Lighter stuff, lighter line if necessary. A 10 or 20lb braid can bring in monsters if you know how to play the fish properly (which takes practice, or desperation ). Hope this helps.