Bluebasser86

Even tiny jigs catch big fish! 1/8oz homemade jig with a trimmed down 2.75" YUM Craw Papi

Even a small bass can instantly inhale a much larger bait than most think. They can also blow an entire bait out of their mouth and well away from their body way faster than even the most amped up angler can set the hook. If it feels like I fish, I set the hook. Allowing them to chew on the bait just gives them time to spit it, ball the bait up in their mouth and make setting the hook difficult, or swallow the hook.

I've had some big snappers follow my kayak around, hopefully the closest I get to having a gator follow me in Kansas.

Welcome!

I have a feeling this little guy realized he'd made a serious "Mistake" ? Seriously though, if you're a river fisherman or fish a lot of dirty water and don't have some Mistake colored Bandits, it's you making the mistake!

Was the weight sliding or pegged? It shouldn't rotate if it's pegged, but they will corkscrew if they aren't.

I'm going to find out because I ordered a 2000 size of this reel and a 7' Speed Demon Pro "Shakyhead" rod to put it on this morning.

It's been fishing really good, lots of frog fish.

It's why my ex and I split. I fished so much she was positive I was cheating on her. 1 woman is headache enough, I don't need more than that.

Having been to Flippin, Arkansas, I can confirm the "Flippin" jokes never get old.

I have a mold to pour this type weighted hook and buy the centering pin type screwlocks in bulk. It offers a unique fall that really drives them crazy at times. The horizontal bait really seems deadly with craw baits.

Yes, slow steady retrieve. Not the most exciting bait to fish until they hit it, seems like they're really trying to kill it when they do.

In the lakes I fish, you have to find the bigger shad to find the bass worth catching. There will be tons of dinks around those little shad that are gorging and difficult to catch, but the bigger fish will be hanging around the shad that made all those little shad. If you do fish around those little shad, you have 2 choices. You can either try to match the hatch as close as possible, or try something that really stands out. I usually do best with the latter. I just imagine the odds of a bass picking my bait out of thousands of shad when it looks the same as all the shad is way less likely than if it looks markedly different.

Welcome!

It would depend on the cover situation to me. No cover to sparse cover, the 7' M will be fine. If you're going to be around moderate to heavy cover, go with the MH to move the fish quicker and have more control over them during the fight. I personally use a 7' 1" M/XF for my weightless plastics and light pitching, with 12lb fluoro.

Yes I do, 7' 3" H/F. It's their frog and small swimbait rod I believe, but I use it almost exclusively for jigs. I have a few of the TCS rods and really like them. Don't pay full price though, you can find them for around $100 pretty easily.

They did just revamp the Lightning Rod, maybe take a look at the new versions? I'd throw the Okuma TCS into the mix. I have a 7' 3" that is supposed to be for frogs but I use it for jigs. It has a little softer tip that is supposed to be so it loads well when casting the frog, but it just feels really nice with a jig, helps me feel those dead weight bites without pulling it away from the fish. Plenty of backbone once I swing on them too.

I use lead for the most part, but I like tungsten when I flipping heavy cover or in grass or with anything heavier than 3/8oz.

The top ones just look like your standard, late summer viral infections that a lot of fish suffer from. Poor water quality, high water temps, higher numbers of microbes that cause the infections, and low water levels all contribute to it. Just like any infection in nature, some fish will survive, some will not, natures way of thinning out the weak. Bottom one looks a little more like a wound, could be a bird or turtle, maybe a careless angler dropped it after catching it, hard to tell.

8lb is a good starting point for spinning gear. It's a good combination of strength and manageability.

Scott's Branch is always a good place to start. Up past the Tontzeville/Gardner Rd bridge can be good but navigation gets tricky in areas too.

Probably not, this was at Melvern, you guys were on Milford. They do love a jerkbait at Milford though, all but one of these were on a Nishiki 78 pointer. Our end of the year tournament is on Milford next month, wouldn't mind getting into a few of them then.

Copper blades don't work on a spinnerbait, just send that one to me and I'll send the silver bladed version I'm sure you meant to order

You found the rod you like, why not stick with it? Nothing wrong with fishing modestly priced gear, the fish don't care how much you spent on it.

No, it's not the discontinued squarebill. The shape and sound are different, I know that for sure. I also know I never caught a single fish on the old squarebill and I've caught several on the Racket already.