Bluebasser86

If you don't have anything nice to say... That's why I don't usually comment about Rapala baits

Once I've carried baits for a few years and never use them, I figure I probably never will and get rid of them. It's hard to get rid of that "what if?" mentality, but I since I've started doing that, I haven't missed any of the baits I've culled out yet and it cuts way down on clutter in the boat.

Doubtful, even with baits that the blade contacts the head, lead is soft so it doesn't make the loud noise we're accustomed to hearing like with rattling baits.

Sounds like you're trying to name a hook company? I'd fo with something that makes people think sharp, or like they're going to hold on. Catchy, sticky, needle, razor, something that sounds sharp or grabby would be good.

Did some serious winter landscaping today at our place. When we moved in, the road in front of our house was gravel and the 6 big cedars at the end of our yard served as dust control. Now that the road is chip and sealed, they're just big ugly cedars that are a pain to mow around and the only thing that can grow by them is poison ivy. My dad, mom, oldest son Lake, and I put in some major work and got all of them down, limbs off, and all the limbs piled for summer bonfires. Already had 2 of the big ones down in the first picture. All cleared out My brushpile I built, it's taller than my Tundra. Water is going to have to come up a bit before it's going to start holding any fish though.

Sight fished this sucker with a micro jig under a bobber. Watched him cruising back and forth along a shoreline eating hatching bugs and he finally took my jig. Pretty hard to miss spotting one in clear water.

Pair of shiny new 9" Magnum Savage Gear Shine Glides, just waiting for their chance to whack a big one

I broke this question down a simply as I could here.

Kids just need someone to take them. My sister-in-law is a kindergarten teacher and I've gone to talk to her class several times in uniform about my work and as part of it I make sure to remind the kids that police officers are just normal people like them. Last time I mentioned I liked fishing and the whole class wanted to talk about fishing after that. Most were inner city kids who said they wanted to go but either their parents wouldn't take them or they had nowhere to go.

Trade your "cold" 45 degrees for our high of 27 with freezing rain?? That's the warmest it's been in the last 5 days too, topwater bite has been a little off.

Welcome!

I've also been making my own for over a decade but if I was buying them, they'd be from Siebert. I've seen his work in person and his prices are excellent for a hand tied bait with a quality hook. Usually for what he ask per bait, you have to sacrifice something somewhere, but not with his stuff.

13 Fate, it's okay, you can say it.

It's a special white though, old school rubber that really flows nice. Plus those copper blades they never see. Obviously it looked good to them the way they were eating it.

PM sent

I just had 3 arrive from there today, all 100 SP pointers, all suspending. One of them is the pearl white flake in fact.

All the smallie lakes I fish are rock/sand. If you're trying to feel your Ned rig, you're doing it wrong. Don't believe me? Look at the rods and reels Ned himself uses, Shakespeare rods from Walmart and he often uses 1/20oz heads even in our windy weather. Fishing a 1/16oz head in a 20mph crosswind is kind of like fly fishing for trout in a stream. My bait rarely contacts the bottom, if the line begins to swin tight it's because a fish has taken the bait.

I haven't used the deep Husky Jerk, but I do use a Lucky Craft Staysee. I don't really jerk them though, it's more of a pull and pause retrieve. The bill doesn't really allow for the same action as a shallower running bait if you try to twitch it.

1/16oz 95% of the time. Even used it catching them in nearly 40' at Beaver Lake once. Took almost a whole minute to reach the fish but it worked. It's a no feel presentation, so having a heavy enough weight to feel it isn't important. The light weight is a big part of irresistible movements of the bait.

Those are just the days you hear about ?

Male bass are rarely large enough to keep in the lakes here that have a minimum 18" length limit. I think more than anything our state is just terrible at managing bass.

Plano Hydo flo boxes are what I use. They're not much more and worth it over spending the time drilling all the holes in a box.

What do you do about fish being kept to eat then? Bass are fair game for food around here and I've seen plenty of 4-6 pound fish go home in buckets or on stringers during spawning months. No laws against it, they were keeper sized, nothing to be done. I'm also curious how many people that are staunchly opposed to catching a fish off a bed are going to ignore their PB sitting locked on a bed? The female doesn't do most of the nest guarding, so if I find a big girl willing to bite I'm going to try for her. It's pretty rare I can see many beds in our dirty lakes anyways.

Otters are noisy critters with all their chattering, but simple physics makes it pretty clear which one would make a louder tail slap. I've heard giant 60-80lb beavers on the rivers tail slap and it sounds like a giant boulder dropped into the water from a tall building. Lots of videos of beavers tail slapping out there, none of otters that I can find.

This conversation usually goes south from differing opinions but here we go. I don't think fish should be allowed to be kept during spawning months, including for tournaments, but I have no issues if someone wants to pop a big one off a bed to take a quick picture and turn them loose.