Bluebasser86

Learn how to walk a frog, very similar to how you walk a spook, for those open water spots. A popping frog is a good option for working in open spots between grass also, they too can be walked as well.

Some skirt material has a strong smell to it. Baits I've tied with the colors that have a strong smell catch fish just as good as the ones that don't, the fish don't care.

Fish don't care, but it's really easy to buy some scent and spray it on or dip your baits.

War Eagle but Booyah makes a nice bait for a little less coin.

Hate them, but I use them when I'm getting short strikes, and I always use them when I'm targeting smallies or spots that like to ram the bait instead of actually eating it. It occasionally pays off big to use one though.

LiveTarget baits catch more fisherman than fish IMO.

Try to get somewhere you can hold both, bring the reel you're going to put on it if you can. Both companies make very nice rods, I doubt you'll be disappointed with either. I have more St. Croix rods, but I really like the couple of Fenwicks I have too.

Sounds like the pawl is worn out. Very easy fix and inexpensive. I've done it to a couple reels, takes 5 minutes and you're good to go again. If you're not confident doing it yourself, send it to DVT and have him fix it and clean it while it's there. PQ's are good reels that will last if taken care of, which includes regular cleaning and serving.

Are you sure it's breaking? It sounds to me like your knot might be slipping or you have a damaged guide that is cutting your line. 10lb braid is going to break significantly higher than 10 pounds. I use 20lb on casting gear for T rigs all the time with no issues, even in sparse grass and around wood. There's some other issue, it isn't just that the line is thin.

I have a 45lb X3 on my johnboat. It's a pretty decent motor for the money, but the directional arrow on top is only pointed the right direction for about the first 5 minutes it comes out of the box, just kind of wanders around after that. I know a few other guys who have X3 motors and none of their arrows are pointed where the motor is going. You can point it back, but it will just go back to wandering around again. I mostly drive by feel anyways, so it's not a huge issue to me, but I know some people like to use the arrow so it's something to consider.

Congrats! Lose that snap swivel on your frog and you'll have much better action which will probably result in more fish.

One of my favorite lakes used to (and occasionally still does), beat me badly. I'd go with high hopes of catching the monsters I heard so much about, and often leave early with my tail between my legs with little to show for my efforts. I kept going back, kept chipping away, and I'm certainly still learning it, but now I have people wanting to go with me to see how I'm catching all the big fish I catch from the lake. If you know they're in there and have the desire to learn it, then keep going.

Are you sure nobody has been catching those bass? Might be people catching and keeping them that are knocking the numbers down a bit.

Welcome! Are you sure there's bass in the pond you're fishing?

One of my favorites from their World Series run a few years ago.

Natural hybrids don't happen that often, and there's no record of a temperate bass/sunfish family hybrid that I'm aware of, even in a controlled environment. Tons of them in your area, surprised that's the first one you've seen from down there. They also feel much rougher than a LMB or smallmouth if you feel the scales on the sides. The only hybrid you might encounter that I'm aware of would be a meanmouth, a SMB/spotted bass hybrid. They happen pretty frequently on Table Rock, Stockton, and Beaver where SMB and spots both occur in large numbers. This is gardnerjigman with a meanmouth from Table Rock a couple years ago.

I don't eat fish, so taste is irrelevant. Long way to the ocean from Kansas. If your buddies can figure out how to catch big wipers, flatheads, or blues more regularly than I can catch big bass they have something really special, bass really aren't that hard to catch. Other than catfish and carp there's not many bigger fish in Kansas. I'm an avid multispecies angler though, so I go after all of them. I fish for bass because each day is like figuring out a puzzle and I like the challenge.

I have several rods I use for jerkbaits depending on which baits I'm fishing. My main jerkbait rods are a 6' 2" XF/M, 6' 3" MF/M, and 6' 8" M/F. The 6' 8" M/F is the most all around rod of them.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Last time is the first time I've ever had anyone say anything about it but he was so drunk I don't know if he knew what he was saying. His dock sucks anyways so we just moved on. Everyone else is always friendly.

Tubes have an especially good gliding action when wacky rigged.

Big bass in a little lake. Tough to get many bites but they're certainly in there. Never personally fished it but have a buddy that lives nearby that fishes it often and has caught many good ones. Seems to do well on frogs and toads this time of year there.