.ghoti.

I'm certainly not a jig fishing expert, but I'll give you the following observations. Jig fishing is a target game. Have a target, and be able to hit it. Pick an area apart, be it a weed bed, flat, hump, point, etc. Identify likely fish holding targets and hit them all. This is no time for long casts. Jig fishing is a slow game. If you think you're working the jig slow enough, slow down. In most cases, less is indeed more. This is no time to be in a hurry. Running down the bank with your trolling motor on high is the best way I know to keep you skunked when jig fishing. Jig fishing is a quiet game. Put the bait in the water with the smallest disturbance you can manage. Again, this is no place for long casts. Short, controlled entry casting is the thing. Turn your electronics off. Do not cycle your trolling motor on and off constantly. Drift if you can. Be stealthy. This last bit is just me, but I use the lightest jig I can get away with. I rarely use a jig over 1/4oz. I find it easier to make a quiet entry into the water with lighter jigs. Since I tried down-sizing my jigs, I've caught a lot more jig fish. And, the rate of fall is easier to adjust with a light jig. When I want a fast drop I use the tail of a worm as a trailer; just enough of the body to keep it on the hook, with the curly tail close behind. Or simply use no trailer at all. To really slow the drop rate, I use half of a Rage Lobster. This is the first thing I experiment with; trying to find the best rate of fall for that day. The next thing to experiment with is retrieve; dragging, hopping, slow swimming, etc. I'll experiment with color later, if necessary.

I have stainless steel ABEC 7 bearings in most of my reels. Can I cast 25-30 yards further, like you've all read about? Of course not. That is a steaming load of BS. Can I cast with a little less effort, and thus with a little more accuracy? Yes. Is that small performance increase worth the cost of admission? I think it is. WIll it be worth it to you? You'll have to try for yourself, but before you do, give your stock bearings a proper cleaning and lube job. Stop obsessing about how long your dad-blasted spool will spin. It means nothing. And, stop obsessing about what to clean the bearings with, which will leave no residue. THERE'S NO SUCH PRODUCT. You hear that? AIN'T NO SUCH THING. GET IT? GOT IT? GOOD!!!

The best bearings are clean bearings.

I used to have a Johhny Morris, and a Pfleuger Patriarch. Both had the same dual braking system.. After a bit of experimentaion, my set-up was mag brakes off, and either two or three cent brake blocks in the on position. I then used the mag brakes to adjust, mostly for wind. Give that a try. It may work for you as well.

You don't have to be afraid of the wife. You just have to speak her language. Don't ever tell her what you spent. Tell her what you just saved.

I use casting, spinng and fly setups. I use what's right for the occasion, but sometimes use what I feel like using. Had a day last year, fishing a small private pond full of ten inch bass. Just happened to have my 3wt along, and had a really fun afternoon catching those dinks on a 3wt fly rod.

The rod rack I've built into my Jeep holds eight combos, but it's a jigsaw puzzle getting eight actually in. I usually take six. Which six depends on the trip.

I ordered several packs as well. As long they arrive before my next Trophy Country expedition, I'll be a happy camper.

To the original poster; welcome aboard. Now, look all the way at the top of the page. See where it says Fishing Articles? Click on that. Start with articles for beginners, and work your way on from there. There's enough great information, in hundreds of articles, to keep you busy for the next year.

I used to have a page from a magazone taped to my office wall. It was the center page of that particular mag. On one side was a half page ad saying you will catch more fish with red hooks because the fish see what they think is bleeding or injured prey, and the red gives them a target to stike. On the next page was another half page ad for red line, saying you will catch more fish because the red line disappears in the water, and fish can't see it. Believe what you want.

I find that both the craws and lobsters last for a lot more fish when t-rigged. The keel-weighted hook makes a nice presentation, but the baits do not last long when rigged in that fashion.

Be sure to add some goggles to complete the outfit. ROFLMAO!!!!!!

I have a Bass Resource decal on my back window. Last time I had anything on a car or truck it was a bumper sticker.. Said... Grumpy Hippies Smoke Crabgass.

Apparently. I'm not allowed to mention TW.

*** now has these baits up on their site for pre-order.

Been there, done that. note to Raider; 480 is enough to make you call it quits forever. Be carefull big guy. The "juice" only bites when you stop paying attention.

I've always set my drags the way WRB describes. It takes two people to do it right. I got this tip from an older, experienced angler last year, and tried it this year. Set the drag without a rod; just reel, a full spool of line, and your scale. You can do this by yourself. I use 25% of rated line strength. Two pounds for #8, three pound for #12, etc. When the reel is mpounted to the rod, and is fish is on the end of the line, you can control drag pressure with rod position. With the rod pointed right at the fish, you're at minimum drag. As you raise the rod tip, you're adding applied drag force due to friction with the guides. The more the rod bends, more guides come into play, applying more friction to the line, increasing the applied pull against the fish. Simple idea, one I should have thought about a long time ago. Here's another factor to consider. Your drag gets weaker as more line is let out. It's strongest when the spool is full, and weakest when the spool is nearly empty. The other way to look at this is; when you're fighting a big fish drag force increases as the fish gets closer to the boat.

Brian, what you do when the drag slips on the hookset is say thank you, drag, for protecting my nice, new, expensive rod. If your drag is set correctly, as Tom indicated, it willslip on a geronimo hookset. It doesn't take much to set a hook. If your drag is set at 3 pounds, all three pounds of force are concentrated at one tiny, sharp hook point. It will penetrate.

I've said this before, but it bears repeating. You think you need 20 pounds of drag to get a bass in the boat? Here's a little experiment you can perform, which should prove otherwise. Place a 20lb dumbell on the floor. Get out your flipstick, loaded with braid, and tie the braid straight to the dumbell. stand back so the rod tip is directly above the dumbell. Reel down so you have the rod parallel with the floor, and the line tight to the dumbell. With one hand on the crank and one hand holding the rod/reel in your normal fashion, lift the dumbell off the floor. One of two things will happen. One; you will discover you can't pick the weight up. Most people can't generate enough power with one arm. Do the math. Let's say it's 18" from elbow to palm, and 6 1/2' from there to the end of the rod. That would be 160ft/lbs of torque required to lift that weight. Again, most people can't do that. For case two, switch to a more powerful attack. Put the butt end of the rod under you belt buckle and put both hands on the rod, above the reel seet so you can get a nice, secure grip. If you're going to try this, I suggest taking it outside. That way when your rod snaps, you won't poke a hole in the ceiling.

Gents, I thought about missing a guide and threading the line through the foot of the guide. I knew to check that, because I have done it. Sorry to have to admit that, but we all make mistakes, That, however, was not the problem in this case. If it were, the line would have been frayed along the length of the casts, not just the last two feet. The first six inches in front of the weight were frayed the worst, and that piece of line never comes in contact with a guide. I think I will read the comments on TW. Thanks for that tip.

I spooled up one reel with #12 Tatsu just before the Bass resource RoadTrip. Big-O can attest to the fact that I had to re-tie that setup more times than I counted. The line was frayed to the point I could easily break it by hand. I cut off and re-tied at least a dozen times in one day before I put that rod and reel away, in disgust. At the Soiree that evening I told Kent Tatsu was just about the worst line I had ever used. I had a few suggestions. One was a damaged rod guide. Not really possible because the fraying all occurred in the 24" or so of line tied to the bait; a t-rigged cuttail worm. I checked the guides with a q-tip anyway. No damage found. Then it was suggested that the weight was fraying the line. Sounded like a viable theory to me. To test that, I switched baits. Put the weight, bead and hook that were the suspected offenders on different rod, spooled with #12 XL, and put the bait from that rod, an Evo Shake2 jighead and space monkey, on the Tatsu loaded rod. Had the same results, Tatsu seriously frayed, and that useless, stretchy, non-abrasion resistant XL held up just fine, fishing the same cover and conditions. Thus my conclusion, and comment to Kent, that Tatsu produced a vacuum. Last weekend, I fished my first tournament in 20 years or so. decided to respool that reel, because I really like the combo. Stripped off the bad Tatsu, then discovered I didn't have enough #12 of any kind, except Tatsu to refill the reel. So I spooled up the Tatsu and went fishing. The results couldn't have been more different. Good casting, no handling problems, and very good slack line sensitivity, which was crucial on this day. And no fraying problems even fishing rocks, wood, concrete and weeds. So, I have to change my mind, somewhat. This is very good line. But, what happened on my first try? DId I get a bad spool? Happens occasionally. Did I get a spool with a bad bunch on line in the middle? I suppose that could happen. Here's my point. Should either thing even be a possibility in a spool of line that costs 50 bucks for 200 yards? For me, the jury is still out.

Take your rod to the tackle shop of your choice and try different reels on it until you find one that feels good to you.

Couldn't agree more.

My most notable streak occured the morning after an all night poker game that included beer, burritos, beer, pizza, beer, nachos, beer, hot wings and beer. Some might have called it a stripe rather than a streak. A good buddy of mine would have said "dude, that's a hash mark".

Both scents work very well, I should add.