Bluebasser86

6" of solid, clear ice seems like you need at least 2 weeks of 50-60 with above freezing temps at night to thaw a lake. Warm rain and wind can help, but it always takes longer than it seems like it should. That ice is sitting in very cold water and those high temps are only for an hour or two a day, the majority of the day is much closer to the low temps and the ice is melting very little. Combine that with the fact that the days are short and it makes it take a while.

I don't know that Melvern will be that badly effected because of the lower population density and the very low number of larger adult fish which are the main fish effected. Gardner got it several years ago and it's come roaring back now that they've become resistant to the virus in that lake.

I have a replica Menace mold and tried a few times to just pour straight from the measuring cup and the tail was always the part that didn't turn out right. I imagine it would be the same for this one.

I spent most of the night watching Wallykazam and making dinner for the family thankfully. The little bit I did watch was a snoozefest.

Roostertails 1/16 or 1/8oz have been best for me in white, yellow, or black. Inline spinners are rarely my bait of choice for trout though.

I like P-line copolymer, but not either of those two. P-line C21 or CXX crystal clear are great line and neither are expensive. C21 is more manageable, CXX is about unbreakable and has crazy abrasion resistance, but it's also thicker and has pretty high memory if you try to use it on spinning gear or for bottom contact baits.

Yes it does. I have several of those molds and they do have a wide opening that looks like you could just pour the plastic in the top, but other than the stick worm mold I have, it doesn't work without an injector.

I always buy the craws and cut them down if I want to use them as a jig trailer. The action is the same, and the profile is hidden by the jig skirt for the most part. I'd rather buy 2 baits in 1 than a bait I can only use as a trailer.

Welcome!

Deadsticking is what it's commonly called when fishing for bass. If I was to guess, I'd say they were probably still fishing or bottom fishing for catfish/carp/whatever would bite though.

Caught a bunch of big white bass and my buddy caught a couple big, black crappie Friday. He also caught a catfish that wasn't pictured.

I can't do the trout parks. They're so crowded, so many inconsiderate people, all for some tiny little trout. Last time I went, they couldn't leave a micro jig under a bobber alone, no need for powerbait. Of course every time I'd catch a couple I'd have someone in my back pocket all the sudden.

One of my last tournaments of the year. Caught them all with one of my KastKings and blew everyone out of the water with almost 16lbs and a 5.80lb big bass in a 2.5 hour weeknight tournament.

I have one I use in my kayak. It's pretty nice for small poppers/walkers and smaller spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. I also have a 6' Lightning Rod with a really short handle that might as well be a pistol grip that I also use in my kayak.

I think this has run it's course. LOCKDOWN!!

Well, they work caught a few more bass plus several big white bass on it Friday.

They pin fish so hard that it doesn't seem to matter. I don't know how much I'd really worry about them being a little heavier on a sinking, straight retrieve bait like a TT though. I downsize on my glides so it doesn't mess with the action and the sink rate on the pause but keep it pretty across the board the same with straight retrieve baits like a Bull Shad.

This is the one I was talking about, next to a Romanmade Mother for scale. http://hooksetterusa.com/keith-severns-10-crawdad/

I mainly look for them to be neutral or slightly one way or the other. I don't want them to be facing sharply down or up.

Welcome and thank you for your service!

I didn't today but it was 49 at the outlet last week, 42-40 at the bluff, can't imagine it's come up any since then but the stack has been going every day since I've been. There was fish biting to the west a bit on Friday.

use a size smaller, that's what I do.

I use several Kastking reels and my buddy uses Abu black max and orras and we hold our own.

I use the Decoy Quads. Sharp, and strong, fish look at them wrong and they're stuck.

I think it must depend on the color. I use the pink a lot and was using a reel with it yesterday and noticed how pink it still was after being on the reel for several months. I also think I might use the grey instead of the green (they look really similar in the pictures), and maybe it doesn't bleed as bad. Like you said though, $4 for a spool with free shipping, a little color bleed isn't going to bug me.