Bluebasser86

I've caught hundreds of wipers on my KastKing Assassin along with hundreds of bass of all sizes. It's handled all of them without any issues from plastic flex. It's reeling a fish in, not winching a Jeep out of a mudhole. The rod is what I move them with, the reel just takes up the line so I can continue to move the fish with the rod.

I use a leader when I need abrasion resistance, or for a shock absorber with light hooks. I usually use a copolymer leader though. I can't make myself believe that the same bass that will eat an A-rig with 5 baits, snap swivels, 5 wire arms, and tied to a heavy line, needs me to fish the most invisible line possible to get them to bite just because I'm fishing braid.

I like the 30 for an all around bass fishing reel. The 25 is a good finesse reel that I use for Ned rigs and grubs.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I have kind of a unique situation in that I'm not fishing super cold water with the power plant lakes, and I'm not really worried about fish pulling off on traps, more about actually getting the hooks set on big fish at long distances. I need a more powerful rod than what some may be able to get by, because I'm never sure if a cast is going to be a 5-7 pound largemouth, or one of these guys.

Spinnerbait, lipless crank, suspending jerkbait would be my baits of choice. Toss in a jig if the moss and dead leaves aren't bad.

These are the same hooks I use. Extremely sharp and the small barb penetrates easily but holds very well. Makes it very easy to just reel into the fish for the hookset.

I've bought several packs in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart. Never had much luck with them but I know guys that do.

I like a Havoc Pitboss for a trailer on the black and blue ones. Fish it slowly and steady in cold, muddy water.

The wind is my deciding factor a majority of the time. It's almost always blowing here, so fishing into it is the best way to cover water effectively. If given a choice, I'd probably fish to my left.

I fish them pretty high but a patient person could fish them much deeper.

So after this most recent episode of missing/losing good fish on a lipless bait, it's time to switch rods. I broke my favorite rod for the job in my rod locker, a 7' MH Ethos that fished kind of in between a M and MH and had good backbone but a soft enough tip to not pull hooks. The rod I bought as a replacement felt good in the store, but it has zero backbone to drive a hook into the tough mouth of a big bass, especially on the long cast I'm usually making. Want to keep it under $150, under $100 would be even better. It needs to have regular sized eyes because I fish them a lot during the winter months when micro guides are a nightmare when my guides are icing up. Prefer EVA, but doesn't really matter either way and I don't care about brand.

I do on occasion for a change of pace. I'm really just throwing one whenever there's big bluegills around and I accidentally catch bass at the same time. It's always a nice surprise though.

I have several of them. My favorites are the 7' 1" MH/XF in the casting. It's a tie for spinning between the 6' 10" ML/XF, and the 6' 10" M/XF. I don't have any of the newest version though.

Lights are mounted (they even work!). Switched the jack to the other side so no more worries about busted knuckles from the winch handle. Did have a minor setback when I discovered the bunks seem to have significant wood rot and will need replaced. Probably for the best to just put new ones on now and not have to deal with it a month or two down the road or have one break while loading the boat. Decided I'm going to paint the boat in a camo pattern for duck hunting. Watched enough Youtube videos on how to do it to feel like I can manage to not mess it up too badly, I'm sure I'll prove myself wrong there though.

Not the exact color, but close. It's more about the copper blades to me.

They're interchangeable at times, but fish with almost always show a noticeable preference for one or the other for me. I'll usually go with a spinnerbait in clear water, when I want to fish fast, or around wood. Bladed jigs are my go to in stained to muddy water, around vegetation, docks, rocks, and when I want a slower moving bait.

I haven't fished the Osprey, but the Optimum BLT 4 and 5 inch are great baits with excellent hookup ratio. Pretty sure they have a size 2 or 1 treble on them.

Several lakes that I fish have at least one on them somewhere. They're very productive forms of cover for me. The key is to figure out where the beaver's tunnel is. There's always a tunnel that they dig out deeper than the surrounding area that they use to swim under all the sticks to get inside their hut. T rigs, jigs, bladed jigs, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits account for most of my fish around them.

I'm a little too far north to help with the fishing trip, but in case you can't get someone to volunteer, Lake Taneycomo runs right through Branson and you can easily catch trout from the shoreline there. You can catch bass from the bank at Table Rock also, but the trout in Taney would be more of a sure thing.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Find any shallow cover and fish it. If there's largemouth around you'll find them doing that. No real good way to determine population in a lake that deep though.