Bluebasser86

They're very versatile baits. I like to fish them with either a 1/4 or 3/8 ounce bullet weight and 4/0 EWG hook or on a same sized swinging football head. Rig them sideways on a bladed jig and they make a terrific trailer. They also work well on big shakyheads, C rigs, and work like a finesse buzzbait if you fish them weightless.

Lure company from Poland. They make a few baits that look like little pike/muskie.

I've boat flipped 5-6 pound fish with heavy gear in the right conditions, like if they're coming up towards the boat. In that case you can use their momentum to lift them into the boat with very little force. Just dead lifting though, 3 pounds is about the max.

I like to work them pretty slowly. I think that's one of the advantages to the popping frogs that they don't move very far while creating a pretty good disturbance. This makes them more of a target bait in my book. I do pop them quickly back to the boat after I've finished fishing a target though and have had several fish blast them on the way in to the boat.

I do both, kind of a game time decision for me.

A 3 pound largemouth or smallmouth are both nice fish around here. 4 pound smallie or 5 pound largemouth I consider big fish. A smallmouth over 5 or a largemouth over 7 are both rare creatures. Smallmouth over 6 or largemouth over 8 are probably once in a lifetime unless you have access to some great private water.

I use Nanofil on a couple of my reels and have never had the problems others complain about. Power Pro Super Slick would be a good alternative if you what a line that fishes similarly to Nanofil though. As for the original question, learn to back reel. You can set your drag tight for the hooksets but still give line when you need to. I back reel because I have more confidence in doing it and feel I have more control than relying on the drag. Set your drag properly though and you have very little to worry about.

It doesn't have to be, but it's nice to not feel as rushed as the day trips sometimes do. Plus, it's nice to get to fish somewhere that is a little too far for a day trip.

Depends on if you want to chase largemouth or smallmouth. Smallmouth are way more plentiful and get nearly as big as the largemouth, but most every largemouth you catch will be a solid keeper fish. Send me a PM if you want and I'll try to point you in the right direction.

I agree that most are great stewards to the sport and tend to follow the letter of the law to the "T", and most tend to follow the unwritten laws as well. There's also far more recreational fishermen and boaters, so the laws of averages says that there would indeed be more of them that are breaking the law, even if maybe not always intentional, I think a lot of people are truly ignorant of the laws. I can't tell how many times I've seen someone keeping a short fish or clearly over their limit, said something, and they looked like I was speaking another language. Maybe they did know and just don't understand why I'm telling them. I try to hope for the best of my fellow man, even though the ones I spend most of my time around routinely prove it not to be true.If you truly have Wardens that are targeting tournament anglers, that's very unfortunate. I could see an instance where someone didn't like tournament fishing and checked them more often. Unfortunately, no matter how much it's preached, it's impossible for a person to be completely unbiased, even a LEO.

Does look like it very well could be

Sure could! http://www.kirksvillecity.com/kirksville-regional-airport

The cutters on my H20 aluminum pliers cut braid faster and cleaner than anything I've ever seen. http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress-forza-7-5-aluminum-pliers/pid-599013?N=845454862

Unless you're in serious need of a rod that can move a monster fish and 20lbs of slop, that 7' 6" might be a bit of overkill. I used to pitch with the 7' MH spinnerbait rod and felt it had plenty of backbone for that. I wish I wouldn't have sold it because it would have made a good frog rod too.

I like them in deeper water, when the water is hot, at night, and any time I'm looking for a big bite.

I remember Charlie Moore fishing with them a lot on his show, but never took that guy real serious so never tried any. I like the concept though, might have to give them a try.

I fish 3 baits at night, regardless of conditions. 1. Big, dark colored jig 2. Big, dark colored worm, usually T rigged 3. Dark colored bladed jig, straight, steady retrieve I like to keep it simple at night and catch more than my share of night time bass with those 3 baits. Last time I was at Grand they were loving a Candy Bug Zoom Ol' Monster on a 1/4oz swinging football head drug slowly along the bottom.

Jigs, 10" worms, and unfortunately, a 5" stick worm. I've really been working with swimbaits, and have no problems getting the over achieving dinks, bu the bigger fish seem to keep eluding me.

I like the One Knocker or Rattling Spook. Hard to beat bone color but any baitfish color will do, I believe it's mostly the action that gets them to strike with walking baits anyways. The Super Spook Jr. is a great bait also, but I'd probably opt for the full size version since you're mainly fishing a lake with stud largemouths.

Because tournament bass guys never break the law right?? It's a hard job to do. Not only are they spread extremely thin, but proving that a crime was committed is very difficult a lot of times for a Game Warden. In most cases, their victims can't tell their side of the story, so they have to find other evidence to prove someone broke the law, not always easy to do. As far as not showing up when you called, maybe they were staked out on someone who was already breaking the law and they were trying to get enough evidence to make an arrest or write a citation to that person? That goes along the same lines as "Never leave fish to find fish". Most of the guys I know that do the job are avid outdoorsmen themselves and hate to see the laws being broken as much as we do, but the black and white truth is when they have huge patrol areas to cover, they simply don't have enough time to cover it all and stuff is going to slip through the cracks.

Lakes like Guntersville, Fork, Falcon, Table Rock, all get fished literally every day of the year and continue to produce big fish. As long as they're there they have to eat, it's all up to you to figure out what they want to eat. Confidence is one of the best things to take to the lake with you every day.

I was told awhile back that he wanted some of them, I just never go in to BPS so haven't had a chance to talk to him. Sean already got the one I made from me, don't know if it's seen the water yet but I'm sure it will soon.

If you're really just wanting to catch largemouth, then I'd go to Perry, but Melvern is by far the better of the two for bass in general as it has great smallmouth, and decent largemouth with the occasional spotted bass too. It was rough fishing last time I was out there, but Casey Scanlon was there a few days ago and appears to have done well. http://www.felixfishing.com/2014/06/smallmouth-pictures/ Olathe is a good lake that I fish often because it's so close. I know there's some big ones in there but I have yet to get one over 4.5 from there. As much as I fish a big swimbait there, it's just a matter of time.

Hazel would be awesome, but no way everyone is dragging their rigs down those dirt roads to get to that lake, and trolling motors only on a 540 acre lake is rough in a bass boat. That would be a 6 hour drive for Scrogg too. I'd be all for it if you can sway everyone's vote though. Monster bass, heavy timber, and the shot at a big muskie all add up to a good time to me. Apparently there's some giant crappie in there too.

Didn't have one at the time, no longer suffering from that deficiency