Bluebasser86

I've been here over 10 years, post multiple times a day, every day, so multiply that times 365 days a year. Some busy days I might post 20 or more times. It's a very active forum and I enjoy trying to help answer people's questions. You can tell it's a good place to be when multiple people have high post counts and their content is actual post with solid content and not just a bunch of useless post that bumped their count up so high.

Costa sold out or got bought out and are not what they use to be IMO. I have a pair I bought a couple years ago, Fisch 580G. The rubber came off around the bridge of my nose so I contacted them. Not covered by their "limited lifetime warranty", they determined that was caused by normal wear and tear. More than a little unhappy about it.

I don't eat any of the fish I catch. None of them taste good to me and no it isn't "because I haven't had them cooked right". I've been cussed out more than a few times for turning loose keeper walleye and crappie when people asked if they could have them, most recently when I caught my PB walleye and had guys on the bank screaming at me for not putting my boat on the rocks in a 25mph wind to give it to them ?‍♂️ I like some kinds of saltwater fish and sushi though. There's a place by my parents that has a seared ahi sandwich that's delicious but really expensive so I rarely get it.

Big stripers especially love cut bait. Big fish will eat take any chance they get at an easy meal, that's how they get so big. A lot of them get conditioned to eating chopped up fished that have gone through the dam turbines also. Folks around here fish for wipers with livers and catch lots of them with it. They're not picky eaters when they decide to eat. I'd think it would be a blast to catch skipjack. There's a few in the Missouri River and a buddy of mine has found a spot they congregate during the winter (he actually caught the old Missouri state record there). I've seen a couple of his videos catching them and it looks like a lot of fun ?‍♂️ https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/kansas-city-angler-hooks-state-record-skipjack-herring

Just put a trolling motor on it and a battery or two if you want all day power and fish it. 10' is too small to add a deck to imo.

A lot of the newer kayaks designed for fishing are extremely stable. I've spent a lot of time in a canoe and never felt comfortable. I can stand in my kayak and fish with no issues at all as well as go to the front storage and get things out or the back behind my crate to retrieve supplies. Unless the conditions are just terrible, you'd almost have to try to tip a well built and properly loaded one over.

I'm a huge fan of adding some chartreuse accent to my jigs when I'm tying them. A black and chartreuse jig will get bit for sure.

There's a couple lakes I fish that they prefer it and it's not even close, especially the big ones.

There's some great lakes for both jerkbaits and bladed jigs around Lees Summit. I've killed them at Jacomo on a bladed jig and Prairie Lee has a solid jerkbait bite. You only need about a foot of visibility for a good jerkbait bite.

My mind wanders too much if I start just simply casting and reeling a bait in. I have to constantly do something during the retrieve to keep myself engaged and focused.

4.8" Fat Impact

I prefer solid baits in the smaller sizes and hollow body baits once it gets more towards the 6+ inch range and I need the bait to collapse out of the way to get a better hookset. It's hard to rig a small hollow body bait on a jighead unless it has a solid head also.

Welcome! I fish all winter long and there just isn't any way to completely avoid cold hands. Just the way our body is designed it isn't a high priority when it's cold out to keep our fingertips warm. I've had pretty good luck with the cheap White River fingerless gloves from BPS. I bought a pair of the half finger wooley Fish Monkey gloves and wore them about half a dozen times before I lost one of the gloves but I really like them. I can't do full finger gloves or warmers, I just deal with frozen fingers.

Better off wearing wet clothes than exposing your skin in those conditions. Wet clothes are cold, but they're better than nothing.

A flutter spoon. I've caught white bass on them, but I can't get anything else to eat them.

I've had good success with the Pulse Jr on a jighead. Like was mentioned, it's more of a body roll whereas the Keitech has a more pronounced tail wag. The Keitech is my choice when I need the better bait for slower speeds. The Pulse also has a very pronounced rocking "pulsing", action on the fall that gets a lot of bites.

That's a custom swimjig from @Munkin, best swimjig I've ever fished. I got some suggestions from my buddy that lives on Minnetonka so hopefully they work out.

I prefer my drinks at 6:30AM, like a normal midnight shift worker ?. A "Royal Iced Coffee", has been doing it for me in the mornings lately. 1 Oz Crown Royal Vanilla 1.5 Oz Starbucks Blonde Roast Iced Coffee 1/2 Oz Bourbon Maple Syrup 1 Oz Heavy Cream

Cool! Looks like an actual albino and not a palomino with the pink eyes?

I have no experience in Texas, but I'm just guessing from what we're experiencing several hours north with the water temps just now getting into the low 40's in NE KS, you're probably still dealing with that late fall funk. They're transitioning between fall and winter patterns, scattered out, and just not really easy to find or catch. Just a guess, and I know Table Rock is just starting to get into colder water fishing (below low 50's), so I'd assume you're still seeing low 60's when they usually seem to get in that funk.

I've been dabbling in the Falcon lineup the last couple years and have really enjoyed the rods I've picked up. I've been a St. Croix user for over a decade but they've about priced me out of their higher end rods and I'm not a fan of the Avid but the Falcon's have been great.

Shop around for sure and don't buy the first thing you find just because it's in your price range. I bought my 2012 Stratos 189 VLO with 8 hours on the motor for 17k. You just have to be ready to move quickly when a deal like that pops up. I found mine and was driving 7 hours to the Iowa/Wisconsin border that night ?

Menace, Craw, Bug, in that order. The Menace is just so versatile for me and catches such a wide range of different sizes of fish. Caught my biggest smallmouth of the year on a Moonjuice Menace on a swinging football head. One of my other top 5 smallies of the year was on a Rage Bug in Okeechobee craw on a swinging football head.

I use Mendit on big softies, everything else is just a casualty of war when it gets ripped.

It's not about it being too big for the fish, it's too big for the bait. For a bait to function correctly, it needs to be rigged correctly. By threading that tiny bait on a big hook, you're taking away a lot of it's subtle action that makes it so appealing to the fish. The Elaztec baits are so soft that they collapse out of the way when a fish bites down, leaving plenty of hook gap to stick a fish. The big hook gets snagged a ton more also. The #2 hooks I use are basically weedless once you get the feel for finessing them through cover. I think it's less people questioning you, and more a matter of people who have used a bait making a suggestion. Likely all have tried what you're wanting to do and all experienced the same results, and trying to save you the hassle of going down the same road. If you're set on doing it, just use your regular ball head jigs, they'll work just fine. There's no rule that says it has to be a mushroom head jig to work.