Bluebasser86

If you don't mind waiting for them to die and let the needles fall off that is a good way to get a jumpstart on fish holding on them. At the same time the more needles there is the more moss can grow on them and attract food for the bass. I'm sure the decomposing needles act just like decomposing water plants and deplete the oxygen and that may repel some of the bass as well.

My DryPlus will will not keep me dry after a couple hrs downpour. Kelley Neither will mine. It's ok as long as it's not pouring but if it is my arms and chest are going to get wet. They are a good windbreaker though.

Conifers will take longer to start holding bigger gamefish because there isn't as much room for them to hide until the needles are gone. They grow moss on them pretty quick and start attracting small yearling bluegills and other small fish, crawdads, and other invertebrates quickly as well. Until the needles are gone or thinned out and they bass can get to them there isn't much reason for them to hang around them unless there is nothing else in that area.

Conifers will take longer to start holding bigger gamefish because there isn't as much room for them to hide until the needles are gone. They grow moss on them pretty quick and start attracting small yearling bluegills and other small fish, crawdads, and other invertebrates quickly as well. Until the needles are gone or thinned out and they bass can get to them there isn't much reason for them to hang around them unless there is nothing else in that area.

Conifers will take longer to start holding bigger gamefish because there isn't as much room for them to hide until the needles are gone. They grow moss on them pretty quick and start attracting small yearling bluegills and other small fish, crawdads, and other invertebrates quickly as well. Until the needles are gone or thinned out and they bass can get to them there isn't much reason for them to hang around them unless there is nothing else in that area.

If I could only have one it would have to be my 7ft medium St. Croix Mojo casting rod with a 200 Shimano curado SF with 15lb test. I could do almost anything with it and have used it for most fishing techniques already.

I bought them in 3 different colors when they were first re-introduced. I never caught a fish on one and don't even think about bouncing them off any kind of cover, I lost the lip off every one that I had when I tried to fish them like every other crankbait I own and pull them through the rocks.

Maybe he's not wetting his knots down before cinching them? I set the hook hard enough that I've hit myself with small fish when I'm flipping but I don't break off hardly ever. I use mostly floro and it makes a huge difference if you don't wet the line before you cinch it down. It makes a difference with mono too just not as big of a difference. It might be something as simple as that for him.

Maybe he's not wetting his knots down before cinching them? I set the hook hard enough that I've hit myself with small fish when I'm flipping but I don't break off hardly ever. I use mostly floro and it makes a huge difference if you don't wet the line before you cinch it down. It makes a difference with mono too just not as big of a difference. It might be something as simple as that for him.

Maybe he's not wetting his knots down before cinching them? I set the hook hard enough that I've hit myself with small fish when I'm flipping but I don't break off hardly ever. I use mostly floro and it makes a huge difference if you don't wet the line before you cinch it down. It makes a difference with mono too just not as big of a difference. It might be something as simple as that for him.

I don't know if you can really put a price on being comfortable. I have the Cabela's Guidewear suit and it keeps me warm and dry in some really nasty weather. I fish powerplant lakes all winter long, some days that never make it out of single digits. You have to have a good suit cause you start to get cold or get wet and your day is over.

I love how that bait is hinged, should help keep fish from throwing the bait without messing with hookups like those Leverage spinnerbaits seem to.

Like a lot of fish the striped bass/white bass hybrid has several different names. Around here we call them wipers but some call them hybrids or hybrid striped bass. Whatever you want to call them, they're a blast to catch! I don't know if it's a southern thing but I wouldn't consider Kansas City to be very "southern".

I fished with an older guy in a tournament one time that swore by bouncing Bandit cranks through trees. He said "Only thing that climbs a tree better than a Bandit is a squirrel".

Besides the Little John SPRO is knocking off every bait imagineable that works so NO I will not try a bait from a company who has such unethical business practices. Allen He did say besides the Little John, they have a look all their own, but so does the mcstick really.

I've never had a problem with the $1 spinnerbaits blades at slow speeds. Slow rolling them in the spring is the way I caught all my fish with them when I fished them. I don't have a problem with throwing my expensive spinnerbaits into the brush since they are pretty snag resistant. That's where the fish are usually at anyways! Most of the spinnerbaits I go through aren't because I lost them, it's because the wire bent and broke because I'd caught too many fish with them ;D

I'd like to be but between work and the wife I can only manage 2 days a week if I'm lucky and it won't be full days either. Most lakes around here are starting to freeze but I'm lucky enough to live less than a hour away from one powerplant lake and a little over an hour away from another. One of them has good largemouth and wipers, the other has good largemouth, smallies, crappie, and white bass so I've always got something I could be fishing for.

Nice fish! Those big wipers are such a fun fight and they will just crush a swimbait. Gets your hopes up at first until they start peeling off drag and you know it's not a bass.

I fish them year round but cold water and really warm water is where they really seem to shine for me. I pour my own and paint most of them brown or green pumpkin red flake and catch fish from any body of water that I fish.

Doesn't pretty much all companies make copies of other companies baits? That's really true with soft plastic companies. Everyone has a trick worm, everyone has some sort or brush hog or creature, swimming tail worm, lizard, craw, beaver, tube. Just because a bait looks the same doesn't mean it is. You could make 2 cranks that look exactly alike but put a different number of rattles in it or make them out of different material and they'll work completly different.

I like the Bandit 100, 200, and Flat Maxx. Bomber get's my vote if I'm going deeper running, I've had some 300 series Bandits that didn't run true out of the box. If you're fishing for smallmouth I have to agree with R.W. and get yourself some wiggle warts. When the water gets cold, crank them slowly along the bottom. Not usually a numbers game but I've caught some of my biggest crankbait smallmouth on the crawdad patterned wiggle wart. They are about the same price as the Bandits or Bombers too.

This last fall I found myself driving an hour and passing several good largemouth lakes just to fish for smallmouth that don't get nearly as big around here. Problem is that a 2 pound smallmouth fights as hard as a 5 pound largemouth does most of the time and is way more acrobatic. There is something intoxicating about catching them. I'm very lucky to live within a couple hours of some pretty decent smallmouth lakes or I would be in real trouble.

I've seen bass just cruise the banks before and be totally uninterested in anything I could offer them. That's usually in the spring and summer though but I would imagine they could do it any time of the year. I've see bass that appeared to be sick do the same thing too.

I've seen bass just cruise the banks before and be totally uninterested in anything I could offer them. That's usually in the spring and summer though but I would imagine they could do it any time of the year. I've see bass that appeared to be sick do the same thing too.

I've seen bass just cruise the banks before and be totally uninterested in anything I could offer them. That's usually in the spring and summer though but I would imagine they could do it any time of the year. I've see bass that appeared to be sick do the same thing too.