Bluebasser86

Thank you everyone for your support. It's been a rough day and night and sounds like we'll be here at least overnight tonight also but they've run all kinds of test and all have come back negative for anything so far so no news is good news in this case. Still waiting on results from stool samples and his last blood culture. At this point they're thinking maybe a severe viral infection combined with dehydration caused by the diarrhea he had from the stomach virus. He's been in better spirits this morning and ate some scrambled eggs, banana, and almost a whole cup of Greek yogurt for breakfast. Still dehydrated though so they're monitoring that closely. I'll try to keep everyone updated if anything major changes.

No, but I do have a 1.5 year old with impeccable aim, constantly flailing hands, and is at that unfortunate height right now. He dropped me for about 5 minutes yesterday, much to the delight of my wife.

My grandpa used to have a "pet" bull that would follow him on the tractor when we were haying or feeding. My grandpa had to be careful because that bull would get behind his tractor and push it when he'd get off of it doing something. If there were any hills around it could have been a problem. He'd roll round bales too which can weigh anywhere from around 800 to upwards of 2,000 pounds like a cat rolling a toy ball. Those giant necks of theirs are nothing but solid muscle and I've been put on my back more than once by a cow with an attitude throwing it's head around at me.

They kick you, not as hard as a horse, but pretty dang hard. My dad is missing the majority of his right calf muscle from a horse kicking him and peeling the muscle right off the bone.

My wife and boys went on a farm tour today, several local farms open up to the public so you can see how they work and help folks get an appreciation for how much work goes into getting their food from the farm to their table. One of the farms they went to raised Hereford cows. My wife loves cows so she was happy to get to pet several and so was Lake. He also got to learn a hard lesson that you don't run up behind a cow, which he was told not to do several times but he's about as hard headed as his mom is ? Didn't really hurt him, just scared him about as much as anything that an animal that seems so big and slow can move that fast when they want to.

Maybe he is real and so smart that he managed to get a job doing commercials for Geico, and we didn't even realize it.

I try to stay away from Matzuo hooks, all the ones you listed will work fine though.

Yep, I have some old shad raps and original raps that still fish and look great. Then I tried to fish a new original Rapala and a BX Minnow for walleye this spring and the bills fell off because they hit a rock during the retrieve, which is pretty much what crankbaits are designed to do, deflect off of things.

What line are you using? Casting or spinning? I don't fish the type of baits I'm assuming you're using often, the soft plastic toads like a Zoom Horny Toad. When I did, I always used braid with a 7' MH/F and a 4/0 EWG superline Gama and never had any problem with hooksets. Honestly, I think this whole myth about needing to wait to feel the fish is a big part of why guys miss so many frog/toad bites. If you see the fish hit the bait and the bait is gone, where did it most likely go? In the fish's mouth! Set the hook! The second I get bit and the frog is gone, I'm swinging. Waiting just lets the fish bury up more, makes is so you have to set the hook through more junk, and gives them more time to spit the bait. All my opinion, but there's a lot of trial and error behind it. Watch some pros, see how many are waiting and feeling for a fish for a frog versus looking for the bait and swinging as soon as they see it's gone.

X-raps aren't anywhere near as productive for me as the 2 baits I listed. Something about them just don't produce as well unless I'm on a pond, then the fish jump all over them. If you want a similar bait that's even cheaper than an X-rap, get some Storm Twitch Sticks for about $6. Great little baits that really won me over this winter, especially the 3 1/4" Pearl Shad color.

Put them on the back of a spinnerbait, bladed jig, or swim jig. If you want a screwlock hook, I'd go with an Owner Beast 4/0 with the 1/8oz lead, or an Owner Flashy Swimmer 5/0 with the 1/4oz weight. Put them on the back of a spinnerbait, bladed jig, or swim jig. If you want a screwlock hook, I'd go with an Owner Beast 4/0 with the 1/8oz lead, or an Owner Flashy Swimmer 5/0 with the 1/4oz weight.

Are you sure they were bass? Lots of fish will hit the surface that won't strike a topwater bait. I've caught a ton of bass on a Whopper Plopper in very clear water and don't believe there is such a thing as too clear for a topwater. If you really feel the need to go finesse, a clear walking bait would be my choice. I use a clear Zara Puppy if it's clear and calm. I had really good luck Tuesday in very clear water with a Yo-Zuri 3DB Prop, catching a fish or getting bit almost every cast for most of the day. No big fish, but it was a lot of fun.

Great baits and great prices.

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Hildebrandt_Snagless_Sally/descpage-HBDS.html?from=Google&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3IervviB2wIViobACh0Z0gjrEAQYAiABEgJh4fD_BwE http://img.tacklewarehouse.com/watermark/rs.php?path=HBDS-BRU-CG-1.jpg

Lucky Craft Pointer or Duo Realis The Duo's have been my best jerkbaits this spring.

Sooo, you're thinking about trying a Ned rig?

Why do you need to cast longer that 20 yards? I'd bet most of my cast with a shad rap are 10 yards or less, just casting to targets and cranking it really slowly. If you want a little bait you can launch, check out the Duo Realis Shad 62DR. It has a magnetic weight transfer system that shifts to the back of the bait on the cast that makes for crazy long cast with a tiny bait (or in my cast more accurate cast in howling Kansas winter winds). They're not cheap for this kind of bait, but worth it imo. The Storm Smash Shad is another good one in this style bait that cast a little better because it's a heavier plastic bait. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-DUORBAITS.html?from=basres

I can't comment on the quality of most of Rapala's baits because;

It has been a very good handling and consistent line for me. I think one of the biggest complaints fishermen have stem from mysterious break offs with lines. I've broken off with it a few times, but every time it's been those "Well dummy you just drug that jig through the rocks for an hour without retying what did you expect", type moments. Haven't had any where I just retied and had a good knot and broke a fish off the next cast for no known reason. The price, handling, availability, and knot strength has made it one of my first choices for an all around line recently.

I use Eagle Claw for about everything anymore but if I want a premium hook I'm going with Owner. I know a lot of guys love those Trokars but that cutting point is terrible imo. Owner did (and maybe still does), make a cutting point hook that would tear up your bait and cut a huge hole in the fish's mouth and make it much easier for the fish to throw the hook. Looked great on paper, did not perform well in the field.

I merged them. Your new account should be gone so you can log on with your old account (zeth).

Minnows, small shad, young of the year of any fish that live in the lake like panfish or bass, they can imitate whatever small baitfish might happen to be in the water at the time that a bass might happen to be feeding on.

Minnows, small shad, young of the year of any fish that live in the lake like panfish or bass, they can imitate whatever small baitfish might happen to be in the water at the time that a bass might happen to be feeding on.

Keep us posted man, hope everything turns out well and you have a speedy recovery!

Carp aren't "native" but neither are the largemouth bass that we all love so much to a large part of their current range.