Bluebasser86

7' ml spinning rod with 10lb braid to a 6lb leader. I get snagged on the bottom a lot so I can't imagine I'm fishing it too fast.

Sorry for your loss Catt. My friends dad died from ALS a few years ago, it happened so fast, it was really hard to watch the life cut out from under someone like that.

I'd have a pretty good shot at that crown.

I use my dropshot rod when I target trout. If they're small enough that I need specialized equipment for them, I'm not interested in catching them. I catch more of them on jerkbaits fishing for bass than I do targeting trout though.

Fun thing about Neds and jerkbaits, you get those "other" fish mixed in. I'm going to mess around and break the state record warmouth there one of these days. Caught at least a half dozen of these suckers and if I got bit by one off a dock, there was no bass by it. The other lake I fished this weekend must have just been freshly stocked with wipers, I kept catching these little rats. They sure take off with a jerkbait though.

Got out a couple times this weekend, once at the lake by my house and then at a lake I'd never really fished before. I only had a few hours my first trip, so I stayed close. Ned rig and a few jerkbait fish, all the bigger ones eating the Ned. The first bigger fish had a frog in it's throat. They sure do turn the lights off early this time of year! I was in the middle of my "Where are you and why aren't you home yet?" call with my wife when I hooked this one. The other lake, I'd seen once when I was maybe 13? A friend and I camped there and catfished it. I remember lots of green sunfish but other than that we caught one catfish and nothing else. I had 7 or 8 rods, but again I could have just brought a jerkbait rod and Ned rig rod. Wish I would have tried the Ned sooner. Lots of grass, so I was worried it would just bog down. I guess that might have been a problem if the fish ever let it get down to the weeds. I fished it exclusively for the last hour and caught another 20+ fish with my biggest of the day eating it about 10 cast into it.

I use the St. Croix LTB 6' 10" ML/XF for Neds, best rod I've found for them. I would not want to use a medium rod for Ned rigs.

I can't catch anything on a Dark Sleeper either. I've had a few bites, zero landed fish, ruined a couple that got torn up from fish biting and setting the hook on them, no fish in hand though. The spybait would be another for me. It looks good, and I try it, probably more than I should, but it just doesn't produce for me.

Sapphire blue Not sure what it is about that bright blue but it just flat out catches fish, and not just soft plastics either.

Year round. I probably make more during the fishing season than winter months, gets too cold where I make my baits to sit out there too long.

I remove the hooks off of baits I find if they need to be replaced, just gets rid of the risk of a hook ending up somewhere it doesn't need to be. The RES was in a tree and had hooks that were removed. The dingy Rattle Trap came up in a mess of fishing line that was snagged with a crankbait during the retrieve and was already missing it's hooks. My finds from my day on the water this weekend.

I can get up to 4.5-5 but can sustain it for very long. I can do the 3.2-3.5 all day and have for multiple days in a row during tournaments.

I'll jump on the spybait train. I killed some white bass with one buy they were schooling and probably would have eaten a rock if reeled it through them. No bass though and it wasn't for lack of trying.

Some of my finds from the last couple trips. Also found a 90 plopper and Arashi squarebill when @HaydenS was with me that I gave to him.

I usually pedal 3.2-3.5 without much effort.

If you're trying to break a buzzbait, a trolling motor does a great job of it.

Oh I've broken buzzbaits, I've got the video to prove it too ?

Revros and it's not really close. I loved my older Presidents but the newer ones I've bought in the last 5 years or so, did not last and 2 were rough right out of the box. I've got one Revros that's over 5 years old now and still going strong after lots of use and abuse. Bought 4 more since for various uses and they've all been great. They perform well above their price range IMO. The XT was a little bit better and I do still have one in the rotation, so I'm not saying it's a bad reel, but I'd much prefer the Revros of the 2.

Can't remember the last time I lost a buzzbait. Fishing them on 17-20 pound copolymer, they'd have to get me in a really nasty place for me to not be able to get them back out.

I've had better success with the Bang-O than the floating Rapala when targeting bass for whatever reason. Black and silver foil is an old school color but it's still effective.

I believe it only applies to riprarian bodies of water where a clear line could be drawn across it, but we do have some lakes here that portions are privately owned and off limits to the public. They just put out buoys and make it known that you can be fined or even arrested because you're trespassing on someone's private property if you cross pass the buoys.

Call your local DNR officer or Game Warden. Laws vary state to state. In Kansas, the land owner owns the water and the land, so once you cross a property line, you're on private property, floating or not.

A debt that can never be repaid, thanks to all!

I paint mine with a powder paint gun. It takes practice to not get too much on but it works well and stays on a long time after it's baked. I paint a lot of blades for my bladed jigs like that too.

Tatula SV