Bluebasser86

Despite the cooler day and drizzle it probably didn't cool your water off very much. I'm guessing your water temps are close to the same as ours (mid to upper 80's) which are not idea water temps at all. I probably would have fished slow and deep if you had some good drop offs. Sometimes you just aren't going to catch them no matter what you do. It makes it extra frustrating when the weather cooperates but the fish don't for sure.

It's pretty easy to not get in trouble, read and follow the rules and there won't be any problems. Of course you have people who just can't seem to get that concept through their thick skulls, that's where the mods come in

Strike King flipping tubes and BPS are the two I use the most if I'm flipping. Snack Daddy and Pour Boys Baits are my first pick on a jighead.

The rods my dad caught had obviously been drug into the water by fish. We were in about 20 feet of water along a popular flat for catfishing. All the rods had catfish rigs on them so I'm sure they just got jerked into the water. I've had catfish and carp jerk rods into the water, wipers too. I've only ever lost one and it was just a cheap Zebco 33 combo. It was cheap enough that I decided to just let it go instead of trying to swim after it.

I average about 6-9 hours during the workweek, about 2-4 on my days off during the summer when I get up early to fish.

If you're after the bigger cats stick with livebait or fresh cutbait. Live bluegill and green sunfish are hard to beat and the turtles won't get them as much. Cut shad and carp are great for big blues and channels and the occasional flathead but like you said the turtles will mess with you sometimes. Dipbait is very effective for the smaller eater size channels and blues and turtles don't seem to bother it. Get some dipworms and a tub of dipbait (I use Sonny's Supersticky or Lucky 7 if I'm using it) and just use a stick to stir the top portion of it and dip your worm without getting your hands dirty. Make sure to dip your worm about every 10 minutes to keep some bait on it. You might keep some paper towels with you to pat the worm dry as the bait seems to stick better to a dry worm. BTW your speckled catfish I'm guessing are small ones? Less than 2lbs probably? Juvenile channel cats have spots so I'd guess that's what you're talking about.

If I was going to get one rod to use for everything it would be a 6' 8"-7' casting rod with a 6.2:1 or similar retrieve speed. It isn't perfect for everything but will work for about everything you listed.

I've never owned a Terminator that the blade didn't fly off of when a fish jumped and shook. I think the titanium being more flexible it must just open up enough for the blad to slip off. Anymore it's all War Eagles and Booyah baits for me.

A buzzbait is my go to morning bait this time of year. Make sure to reel it as slow as possible while keeping it on the surface, holding your rodtip in the air will make this easier. Lately with the water temps being so hot a chatterbait has been good also along with a jig or 10" worm.

I've caught lots of fish on frogs and I can't remember a single one that I ever caught out of lily pads, just not many around here. Mainly matted milfoil, water willow, and flooded timber or shoreline weeds.

Bass get lots of worms in them during the warmer months around here but early in the year the smaller ones aren't terrible. It seems to depend a lot on their main diet. Lakes that they eat lots of shad have a very strong fishy taste, lakes where they eat lots of craws have better flavor. Like others have said 12-14 inch fish are by far the best to eat. Bad thing is all of our limits ar mostly 15+ inches They have finally changed a couple lakes with lots of smaller fish to 13-18 inch slot limits to encourage people to keep smaller (better tasting) fish. Personally don't eat any fish I catch anymore, even walleye and crappie usually get turned loose unless someone else is with me and wants them.

Deep running crankbaits or C-rigged creature baits or 10" worms along the deeper drops close to shallow feeding flats would be a good place to start. One of those pictures of the big bass the fish has a big jig in it's mouth so I'd probably try that too. If you really want to catch a big bass I'd try the same areas with a 4-5 inch bluegill or a big golden shiner.

I have the same problem each spring when I start throwing jerkbaits a lot. After a few trips I get conditioned to it and it isn't a problem anymore. A lighter rod would probably help a lot.

Right, because Berkley doesn't have any popular line ups other than their rods, especially not powerbait, Gulp, or Trilene

Yeah we do have a very good group of guys on this forum. I can say from our Melvern get together everyone here is very willing to share info and gets along well. I think it helps that nobody here seems to have an ego or anything to prove, just all here to help each other out and have a good time. We all fish the local lakes, including the small local lakes, quite a bit. There's a very good rules page and FAQ page that the moderators have included. I'd suggest looking over those to help you keep on the straight and narrow path. Welcome to the forum!

Never heard of him but looking at those pictures I'd guess he lives on a private lake with little fishing pressure. Several of the pictures have the same house or dock in the background like he's catching them in his backyard and taking pictures of them.

Yeah, bought my first St.Croix rod several years ago when I had almost all Shimano rods, Now all but 1 of my starting lineup are St.Croix.

I prefer the baby brush hogs on a Texas rig and the full sized brush hog on a carolina rig. They probably look a little bit like a lot of things to a bass but mainly they look like something they could eat.

I buy quite a few of the 4" version for shakeyheads and haven't had a problem. I'd probably just trade them for a new bag.

My dad caught some line trolling once. After pulling up a bunch of line he pulled in a Zebco 33 combo. Continued pulling up line and pulled in a shimano baitcaster and casting rod. More line and another old pushbutton combo. 3 rods and reels on one cast.

Trailer problems suck! I've spun a bearing on the road twice and ruined an axle one of those times.

I have the 6' 10" M/F "shakeyhead" spinning rod. I really like the rod for shakeyheads, light texas rigs, and chompers on standup heads but like ww2 said the 6' 8" M/F is probably a better all around rod. I have a couple of the St.Croix LTB and all of my rods are St.Croix. I'm hoping to convert all mine to the LTB rods also as money allows. They are great rods and very durable and sensitive. I have never fished a Powell so can't say they're better but they are really great rods.

Finesse worms and centepedes work great on them as do small craws and creature baits. I prefer to use them with worms that are too thin to work with regular shakeyheads.

Very nice! My buddy has one of the G6's and it casts very nice.

Try some colors other than what everyone else is fishing that the fish see all the time like green pumpkin, watermelon, or black. Sounds like you're fishing them right otherwise.