Bluebasser86

I'll use any color buzzbait any time as long as it's black. Only time I switch to white is if there is lots of shad and then I use a homemade translucent with silver flake skirt for really clear water. Still, no matter the conditions I'm using a black bait 90% of the time.

This is a tough time of year to just be getting into bass fishing. Unfortunately one bait you've already ruled out would be one of my top picks to catch bass this time of year. Bass are cold blooded so as the water gets cold their metabolism slows way down and they become much less active. I really doubt you could get anything to eat a scum frog by this time of year. You may be able to get some on a fluke but I'd have a lot more confidence in a hard jerkbait like a pointer or Xrap. A lightly weighted finesse worm drug along the bottom or a 1/4 or 1/8 ounce spinnerbait with a single colorado bladed spinnerbait reeled just fast enough to turn the blade would be some good baits to start with.

Is there any old fuel in the tank still? It isn't just stuff you can see that you have to worry about messing up your motor and a new gas tank is sure to be a heck of a lot cheaper than a repair bill. Gas tank a fuel line are two of the main things I'd replace on a used boat unless they were brand new, especially on one that is having fuel problems already.

white bass, hybrids, stripers, walleyes, saugeye, and sauger all will hit bass lures and stay relatively active during the winter months. Locating fish that are willing to bite is one of the biggest battles during the winter months. You can usually rule out a lot of shallower water and concentrate more on deep channel swings, bluff banks, points that drop into deep water, and deep holes with slow current in rivers. Like Tuckahoe Joe said, if there's trout nearby those are probably your best bet for consistent fishing in cold water.

I have 2 baitcasters that I can really fire out there. Both are older Curados, one is a regular 200B that I had super tuned, the other is just a plain stock 200BSF. I have no idea what the actual distance they cast but I normally use them for fishing traps or spooks and I can easily dump half the spool on a cast.

Only 2 lines I use are listed and of those 2 I prefer Seaguar. A lot of my fishing is done with P-line though.

I won't have to worry about that here anytime soon. I didn't make it above freezing today and it's in the single digits out right now

Great job on both your parts!

I've got an old 15hp tiller drive Johnson and it's about the most dependable starting old motor I've ever seen. I'd replace the gas tank unless it's brand new. You never know what kind of crap may be in an old gas tank, especially the old metal ones.

Awesome! Thanks DVT! That should keep me from having any spare parts

That's a pretty clean looking boat from the outside. Just need some carpet or something? What size is the trolling motor and does it work? What size is the gas motor and did it start? Should be a good little boat when you get everything set up like you want it.

Yeah mine is about a year old this winter and gets a lot of use so I guess I'll just have to check to see if it's looking worn out. I didn't even notice it was doing this until I respooled it the other day and tried to pull some drag and it wouldn't budge. I loosened it up and pulled drag and it just clamped down on me again. I normally back reel when I stick a good fish on it but I like to set them so they'll slip a little just before the line breaks in case I hook a big smallie that takes off faster than I can get the anti reverse turned off.

I throw traps on a 7' M/F St.Croix Mojo and it works just fine. Like BC said just take your time and don't horse them in and don't swing for the fences on the hookset. I like the stiffer, faster rod than "normal" for my traps because it makes it easier to rip them out of the grass where I like to fish them at.

Like flippin said you can't really go wrong with any of the reels you listed and it's really going to be a matter of personal preference.

Used to fish a Cotton Cordell Wally Diver crankbait for bass a lot and did pretty well. I fish 3" Berkley Power minnows for walleye most of the time and sometimes we catch more bass than walleye. They love spinner rigs with nightcrawlers, minnows, or leeches too. Usually using some kind of baitfish color or pearl and chartruese.

This gets me so excited to have kids

I have a 35 size Pfluegar Supreme MGX on my shakyhead rod and for some reason whenever my drag gives line the drag knob turns and tightens the drag down. I have a 25 on my dropshot rod and it doesn't have the same problem. Anyone have any ideas why it's doing this? Maybe another spacer or two might help? Thanks in advance.

Water color, time of year, and available forage are my main deciding factors for what colors I chose. Of course there's those times I see a bait that sparkles just right and I'm like a deer in the headlights and it's in my basket before I even realize I picked it up

I like any of them as long as it's a ghost color Excaliber XRK50 . If I'm using a RES it's a 1/2 bleeding Tennessee shad, chrome sexy, or clear sexy.

Catfish is the most fished for fish in terms of hours spent pursuing them in Kansas last I heard. I think crappie and bass are a really tight race for 2 and 3. Lots of walleye, white bass, and hybrid fishermen around here too. Bass are about the only fish that gets released around here and a lot of them get kept too unfortunately. KDWP seems to care very little about managing any fish species that isn't a popular food fish. They spend tons of money annually stocking and operating fish feeders for the catfish in lakes and one netting and breeding programs for walleye though. I guess maybe the fact that our bass fishing isn't very good may have something to do with other fish species getting more of the spotlight.

Got mine shipped out today. I feel like I did really well this year and someone is going to get some good baits to catch lots of fish on next year

I have the 6' 10" ML/XF LTB and it is a great rod for swimming grubs and even light shakyheads. It throws #5 shad raps and small jerkbaits very well also. It is not a flimsy rod at all IMO. Like most St.Croix rods their ML is more on par with most companies medium. I throw grubs and wacky rigs with mine mainly and it handles nice smallmouth without any problems.

All on a 3/8oz black on black Cavitron in April last year, just under 22lbs total. I was using 14lb Mustad Thor line.

Marked fish with the exception of the fish coming off the side of the outlet since you can't get that close to it. I also snagged a 22" carp that was probably 6 or 7 pounds that made my heart jump in my throat when I caught the first glimpse of golden brown before it shot under the boat. I thought I had a new state record smallmouth.

They are a bass. They look similar to a largemouth and can be hard to tell apart if you don't know what to look for. After you've caught a bunch of them you can tell them apart before they get in the boat, sometimes before you even see them.