Bluebasser86

I've landed a 21+ lb flathead on one of mine in about 5 minutes. I was in a tournament so I wasn't taking it easy but I didn't want to just break it off. Hook held up fine.

I don't know if they're the exact same as the Falcon was. It doesn't seem as stiff as the Falcon was and doesn't snap in like those post did. I wire tie all mine so it's not something I can test but it's a legitimate issue to keep an eye on for those buying banded baits.

September and October are traditionally some of the toughest bites of the year here and this year is no exception.

It was a tough day here too. 18 bass and 1 catfish. Catfish was way bigger than any of the bass and probably only 5 pounds. Biggest bass was maybe 2.5lbs, most were under 1.5lbs. On the plus side I broke the 2,000 mark for the year plus a couple.

This fish hit the spinnerbait I described above on a post cold front day, while there was the second day of a 2 day tournament going on, and it was flat calm and sunny. A baby shad shy of 4 pounds. They would not touch a finesse bait for us. Everyone else struggled (5lbs was second place in the tournament, 10 was first), while we "worked", to put over 30 fish in the boat on moving baits, mostly that spinnerbait and a rattle trap.

I'd keep fishing them as long as the fish kept eating them. You can fish a frog really slow which will help your odds of getting bit as the water cools off.

The last watermelon of the year from our garden. Not sure what I'm going to eat at work when this is gone.

People dropping like flies this year, it's kind of disgusting really. Not minor injuries either, there seems to be an extremely high number of guys getting possible career altering/ending injuries, and it's only week 6.

Make sure the bobber isn't too large also. You're having to fight the resistance of the bobber through the water as well as driving the hook with a very light rod. The bigger the bobber, the harder this is going to be to accomplish.

White bass that size I don't mind catching. It's them little 6-10 inch flopping jerks that don't put up and fight until you try to unhook them and then thrash all over and fin me like I tried to grab a porcupine. Thankfully this time of year is when the big mamas in the 1.5-3 pound range are all over the banks trying to break your wrist when they hit a bait.

A couple of my friends fished a tournament there last weekend. They had 15lbs the first day for 2nd place. Next day they only found 1 keeper and still ended up in 3rd. Sounds like pretty tough fishing to me. I imagine the BBB being not long ago probably isn't helping things.

I used a lot of cheap, unpainted round heads (crappie jigheads from Walmart), and torn stick worms before I started pouring my own mushroom heads and saw the benefits of the Zman baits vs old stick worms. They'll catch plenty of fish.

Don't overthink it. Crawdads don't change colors when it's cloudy vs when it's sunny.

A white spinnerbait with double, gold willowleaf blades (half ounce war eagle), has been doing well for smallmouth for me in Kansas. I like to put a chartreuse twin tail spinnerbait trailer on it for contrast and don't forget the trailer hook because smallmouth love to headbutt a spinnerbait without ever opening their mouths. A rattle trap is another bait that is good for them in the fall when they're chasing shad around.

Friend of mine fishes Happy Holler a lot. Never been there but he likes it a lot. He's never caught anything near that quality of fish there though.

I drag jigs, swinging football heads, and fish T rigs on the bottom. Our lakes have tons of craws. No time is a craw more vulnerable than after it has flipped away and is floating slowly down to the bottom and can't use it's defenses.

I like them but the first few I got all had rust on the hooks straight out of the package. I contacted Booyah about the first one I got with rust on the hook, they sent me 2 more, both had rust on the hooks. They're built great with quality components and the last couple I got didn't have that issue, but I was about ready to write them off because of that. As for War Eagles breaking, catch enough fish on any spinnerbait and it'll break from getting bent back to form. I've broken the wire on every kind of spinnerbait I've owned, even the titanium Strike King and Terminators gave out eventually with enough fish. I've still got the first War Eagle I ever bought, almost 20 years ago now. No telling how many fish it's caught me. I've never had one break after just a couple fish, it's usually somewhere more like 50-100 fish, but at that point they've served their purpose anyways.

When I'm fishing them, it rarely touches bottom.

Only 2 hooks allowed in Kansas too but I'll toss one with 2 hooks and 3 dummies and it's surprisingly effective. I don't know of a bait that fish seem to hit harder than an A-rig.

If your guides are fraying your line, the line isn't the problem.

Do him a favor and spend a couple dollars more on the Fuego. Nothing will discourage him faster than a reel that is difficult to use and then it will have just been a waste of money.

It's all feel for me. I have a mark on my pliers of how far back the blade is supposed to go into the pliers to be bent and then I just kind of have done it so many times I know how far it's supposed to bend. If you want one like a big colorado bladed spinnerbait, try one of the magnum shaker blades with a 3/4oz head, it'll shake your fillings loose.

I fish a squarebill with water temps in the high 30's and still catch fish. Get it weighted right so you can really crawl it without it raising quickly or even suspends and creep it through the stump field (basically pull the rod to the side and then reel back to the bait and repeat). A big single Colorado bladed spinnerbait would be something else I'd try in that situation. It wouldn't get you many bites, but you're not fishing for numbers in the winter time.

They'll all catch fish for sure. The Chug Bug and Rattle Traps are still really popular baits and the jointed Red Fin has a cult following in certain areas. I use the Sprite Spoon a lot for schooling fish.

I was not surprised at all by the loss. They should have lost to the Chargers and a rookie QB. They barely got by the Patriots with Brian Hoyer at QB. Their offense hasn't been playing well and their defense has been playing way over their heads. Division rivals know how to play you, and the Raiders match up well to play them and wanted it more. Feels a lot like how they started the season last year, barely sneaking by a bad Lions team and then losing to the Colts and Texans (which I expect them to lose to the Bills on Monday also since they're basically a more talented version of the Raiders team). Hopefully they'll pull it together but they seem very off so far this season.