Bluebasser86

I don't use Daredevils, but I will use Little Cleos and Johnson Sprite Spoons to cast for bass at times. Silver, gold, and copper are my preferred colors. I normally retrieve them with a slow, steady retrieve but there's times when I'll tie one on to make long cast and fish quickly on the surface when fish are coming up schooling.

I like the Choppo. It's a little cheaper, but that's not why I bought them. It's also available in slightly different colors and just because a bait looks outwardly the same, doesn't mean it functions the same. Ploppers are very effective here so I have a bunch of different sizes and a few different brands to keep my options open.

I really enjoy catching big bluegills on artificial baits. They're a blast on fly gear as well.

Daiwa Goldcast and Zebco Omega are both very nice when it comes to spincast gear. I've used both a bit and would choose the Goldcast if I was going to use one (and actually do own one). My FIL has 2 Omegas, can't really go wrong with either. Try not to reel against the drag or when there is a lot of slack to avoid line twist.

A #2 is pretty standard with the 1/16oz head, that's the weight and size hook I pour the vast majority of and use by far the most for largemouth and smallmouth.

I have a 6' 2" XF Avid I use for poppers. I can really work them great with that rod, making them spit and walk better than any other rod I've had.

I like the full sized version much better than the Jr. They're very finicky about what speed you can fish them and keep them on the surface, but the full size makes it a little easier. Fish really do crush the bait when they're on it though and it can be really fun to fish.

If you stick with the light head and small hook, it's actually pretty resistant to snagging, especially in rocks and when it does snag it pops loose pretty easily typically. The lakes I fish mine in (the same lakes that Ned developed the system in), are primarily rocky bottoms with scattered grass and wood and docks as well. All are heavily pressured. Some days they'll eat on the drop, some days it's more during the retrieve like fishing a jig or T rig. It's a very inexpensive rig to try (frugality is one of the main emphasis of the system), you can buy a couple packs of heads and a few bags of baits and be out $20.

Weedless is a very misleading term. Most often when a fishing lure is described as "weedless", it's not really very "weedless" at all, but actually snag resistant. Just the nature of vegetation makes it impossible for any bait to come through them very well unless it avoids them completely because they'll either wrap around the line and follow the line down bait and drape over the top of the bait, or they'll wrap around the bait itself when it drops down into the weeds. Any bait that rotates will often foul easier because it wraps the weeds around itself and fouls. This is why most baits that work well for fishing down in vegetation have very few moving parts and appendages.

I've got the Ocean Kayak Big Game Prowler II. It tracks very well and isn't too bad to paddle once you get it moving, but stability is not great for such a big boat imo. It's fine if you're sitting, but standing and fishing isn't an option and I feel I have above average balance. I was pretty disappointed with that after I bought it but considering what I paid for it I can't be too upset. Still, I'm on the constant lookout for a good deal on a stable kayak that I can stand and fish from.

I can start and end it right here; Kansas and in less than a week, Missouri, end list.

Can't imagine how the sleeves would be easier than wearing a sun protection shirt? I'd think the sleeves would be slipping down and needing readjusted regularly versus a shirt that covers everything with no concern of it slipping down or moving. I've got probably 10 or 12 of the face shields in assorted patterns that I wear for fishing, hunting, even mowing the yard. Usually wear one until it gets too stretched out by my giant melon and then switch to the next one. The fleece ones have been great for winter fishing and hunting too.

I doubt the OP from this 13 year old post is still searching for his answer. You might try posting in the local forum and seeing if someone in your area has heard of it.

Flood waters are finally starting to drop and the giant puddles are drying up, and these guys are wandering everywhere it seems, including our front yard. The boys were loving it, Mrs. Blue was not quite as impressed.

Man I would love to do some punching in that vegetation in a couple of those pictures. We don't have anything like that here.

There's plenty of bigger fish in Table Rock, but you have to fish for them differently and it's a much slower process than catching a ton of schooling spots. Last time gardnerjigman and I were on Table Rock, we found plenty of nice fish, and I promise none of them ate a drop shot or Ned Rig.

If I hit that total in the 4 days, I'll be happy.

There's a big bass tour on Table Rock every year and it almost always takes fish over 5 pounds to win the hour and usually several 5 pound fish weighed per hour. Typically takes one over 6 to win it. The thing with MLF, you don't need those big fish, and on Table Rock to catch those big fish, you're not fishing for numbers of bites. The spots on Table Rock get in massive offshore schools that a skilled angler can find and just catch obscene numbers of fish if they can get them to bite, but a big Kentucky strain spot is 3lbs and rarely reach 4 pounds. Table Rock has great populations of all 3 species, plus meanmouth, but not surprising to see them making their living on spots since they school so heavily. They can get big though, these were taken from OA forum, a 7 1/4 and 6 3/4 pound spot from Table Rock.

What ones are you using and how are you fishing them? For me personally, the smaller size YUM Pulse, 2.8 Fat Impact, or 4" Swing Impact on a 1/8oz jighead, or a regular sized YUM Pulse or 3.8 Fat Impact on a 1/4oz jighead are my best baits. Don't over fish them. Cast them out, let it sink down a bit if needed, then reel it straight in slowly, that's it. It isn't an exciting way to fish, but it's extremely effective at times. It's a technique that you might benefit from using a slower ratio reel to help you fish slow enough. I fish mine on a spinning reel with a slower retrieve speed so I can slow down easier. I fish mine on 10lb braid with 6 or 8lb leader.

Local farmers having to take extra steps before putting their cattle out in the fields this year.

I just keep catching everything lately.

I hope those "Nuisance fish" keep biting like they are. I'll be on Table Rock with my family Friday-Monday this week I'd love nothing more than to put my wife and boys on a bunch of hard pulling 2lb Table Rock spotted bass.

Fished Wolf Thursday. Water is up but not like the other bigger lakes. You have to wade out to the docks if you want to use them. Water was pretty stained for Wolf, but not muddy. Topwater bite wasn't there, only 3 on it but one was the biggest smallmouth of the day (chug bug). Caught a few on a tube, one on a dropshot, couple on a wacky rig, several on a 6th Sense Speed Glide, few on a 4" swim-n-shiner, but Ned ruled the day. It was a slow day by Wolf standards, but we still boated 31 smallmouth and 1 largemouth, over 50 fish total with a mix of channel cats, crappie, drum, and a bluegill making up the rest of our catch. Was on Shawnee Friday. It was green, like pea soup, especially in the ramp cove by the dam. Oddly enough, I think that saved us because it was flat calm and sunny all day but they kept biting steadily throughout the day. Caught them on a big mix of baits, but low and slow was by far the best. A mud minnow TRD, green pumpkin tube, or brown/orange micro finesse jig with a green pumpkin craw papi trailer accounted for a majority of our fish. The micro jig got the biggest largemouth and smallmouth, who decided to switch roles. The largemouth was on drop in about 18' of water, the smallmouth was on a weedline in about 2' of water on the south end. It was a very mixed bag day as well.

It's getting old..

My BIL got a T-rig and 1/2oz pegged tungsten bullet weight snagged in a tree on 50lb braid once while he was fishing with me. I had a 30oz Ozark Trail metal drink cup on the front deck and when that hook broke at the bend the sinker came back with so much force, it hit my cup full of water, put a big dent in the side of that cup and knocked the whole thing over. Not sure what the FPS that sinker was moving at, but the "PING" it made when it hit my cup made me thing that someone shot at me and hit my cup. I'd be more worried about getting tangled in old fishing line while swimming in a lake. Lots of people on shore seem to get snagged and instead of wrapping the line up and pulling to break it, they just cut it the rod tip, leaving obscene amounts of line in the water (often they're catfishing with heavy mono or braid), that is just left to tangle in everything that comes in contact with it. Old trotlines and limblines that people set and then never remove from the lake are also a huge concern because they're so popular in the lakes around here.