Bluebasser86

It was good to meet you too. We got lucky and our plan came together for us, doesn't work that way very often unfortunately. We did have pretty good numbers of bass (Chris did anyways). I only caught 5 all night just happened that one of them was our keeper right as it was getting dark. I hope they follow the plan again next week but with the more seasonable weather they're calling for I don't see that happening.

I think you were being fair with the price. The flimsy ones at the stores are $60-$80 and not handbuilt. I feel the same about selling my jigs. The materials don't cost me much but the time it takes to paint, bake, tie and build them makes it so I'm not willing to sell them for what most people expect me to sell them since I get the materials cheap.

Watch out casting with that thing. My dad has a 5' Ugly Stick ultralight and I've seen him smack himself in the back of the head on the cast more than once because the rod is so whippy. I wouldn't use it for any kind of bass fishing, almost impossible to set a hook with.

Man you have my hopes up now, we have an Academy opening in 2 days 15 minutes from my house

It's a good theory and it does play out at times but not always.

This year the crankbait bite has been almost nil. I caught 2 of the biggest bass I've ever caught in Kansas earlier this year on cranks though, a 7.51 on a green gizzard shad SK series 5 and a 7.76 on a chart/black back Spro Fat John.

I use a heavy action rod for my swimbait rod and that's it. MH will do the job for a lot of pitching/flipping applications but for big fish around heavy cover a heavy action is a must. I'd guess a lot of your accuracy you're getting from the new rod is the shorter length of the rod. Shorter rods are easier to control and therefore tend to be more accurate. Mojo rods tend to be on the heavy side anyways, in action and in actual weight. I had a 7' H Mojo Slop and Frog and that thing was a pool cue! I couldn't imagine what the 7' 11" H is like.

Congrats on the new PB! Get some good rain gear and get out there in that rain! I'd much rather fish in nasty weather than nice weather, especially if I'm chasing big fish!

They don't get big by being dumb. Unless you have 80lb braid and one of the heaviest casting rods Duckett makes a 9.5lb bass hooked close to cover is going to test any kind of gear to the max.

I had a huge bigmouth buffalo rip my Zebco 808 off my bowfishing rig once. It was really a blessing because it hit the end of the line so hard I was going to go swimming or lose my bow.

16 3/4

The SK Series 5 is my favorite and will hit bottom on a long cast in 14'. Doesn't hurt that the 3rd largest bass I've caught in my home state was on one

I've had them steal fish off my line before, especially in ponds. I've caught them on crankbaits, jerkbaits, jigs, plastics, topwater frogs, and even one on a spook. They're more than willing to hit a bait. I was really struggling at a small lake the other day when I saw a smallish snapper pushing through the water willows on the bottom in a foot of water. Pitched my beaver bait in front of him and he was all over it. Gave me a brief fight before I got him to the boat and unhooked him to go swallow some poor catfisherman's hook.

Fish what you are most comfortable with that best suits the conditions you're facing. During a tournament isn't a good time to be trying to learn how to do something new unless your boater is just killing them on something. I've never fished there but I believe most tournaments on the Arkansas River are won flipping shallow cover so be prepared to do that. Shallow cranks and spinnerbaits are also popular in most river tournaments and so are frogs if there's vegetation. As far as the amount just ask your boater what he thinks is fair. Depending on the amount of running he does he may want more or less than that. I'd say that's more than a lot of co-anglers are willing to offer though. I've had my share of "thanks" and nothing else at the end of the day so anything is better than that.

Sounds like something a little slower would have been a good option or maybe a slight color change. You had their attention but something wasn't quite right for them to commit. Sounds like a fluke may have been a good option for you with the fairly clear water and fish chasing but not quite committing on other moving baits.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/12403-jig-fishing-questions/

The jighead is a 1/8oz with a 1/0 hook that I pour myself. If you dropshot it will just depend how you want to rig it. If you nose hook it I'd probably go with a #1, if you want to T-rig it I'd probably go with a 2/0 EWG hook texposed.

If I'm in a tournament I'd rather get them on heavier baitcasting gear so I can get them in the boat quickly and not have to play them out so long. For the pure enjoyment of fighting them my 6' 10" ML LTB spinning rod is the way I prefer to go.

I caught a very nice diving knife still in the holster with nice rubber straps on a squarebill once. Best I can tell is it must be from the fire department doing practice dives in the lake because swimming isn't allowed.

As usual for me it's been a jig. Been getting a lot of fish on a chatterbait again this year also both the jig and chatterbaits are my home made versions.

Good to see another KC area swimbaiter btw. You might want to check out the Local Fishing Forums/Central Bass Fishing/For us KC area guys, lots of good information about lots of local lakes on there.

Looks like a thick pumpkinseed to me. Only thing I find to be odd is the mouth appears larger than most pumpkinseeds and the body is more oblong but that could be the angle of the picture also. http://www.hooked-in.com/catches/show/3739

I was thinking the exact same thing. Snagging a fish and getting a fish to eat a bait are very different things.

1/8 jighead is my favorite way to fish the 3" version. It's a popular dropshot bait also.

I fish a Slammer from shore but it floats. I'm also usually prepared and willing to get wet to get an expensive bait back also.