Bluebasser86

I remember seeing that ad for them, and they look interesting, I just have a big aversion to Rapala baits so I never ended up trying one. I do like how it's kind of similar to a crankbait but with a single hook instead of 2 trebles.

The lipless baits get the nod from me, mainly the Strike King Red Eye shad and Tungsten 2-tap, but I was very impressed with the Storm Arashi Vibe when I tried it last week so I'll be playing with that one more. Those baits all shimmy on the fall instead of spiraling or going straight nose down, and probably land sitting up instead of falling over pretty often, which is important because a cold bass will pick them up off the bottom just like a jig. I prefer the lipless mainly because they seem to work better in water less than 10' deep where I do most of my winter fishing. I've been putting in the effort to attempt to learn the blade baits more these past two winters but my results have been lackluster at best with most of my catch being white bass and wipers. I did get one PB on a blade bait, but not the kind I was hoping for.

I'd be in on that deal. Always cool to see little tweaks that others do.

My brother in law is a plumber, and I have a couple buddies that do demolition work that I get a lot of my lead from. I also pull a lot of sinkers out of trees and find them washed up along the shore while I'm out looking for lures. I use the wheel weights for pouring big bank sinkers for catfish when it doesn't matter if they look pretty or not.

I broke a spinning rod 2 years ago picking it up when it was under the cleat. Didn't look like it hurt it until I cast and it folded in half.

Welcome!

That's interesting. It's not very often my hands get cold enough that it starts to hurt, but next time I'm out on one of those single digit days with a 20mph wind I'll have to give it a try.

I'd go late January through late March for those two states.

I buy all my skirt material from fishing skirts and wire tie them myself. I'm not sure what you mean by "what's in everyone's stock?"

I like fishing in the snow, as long as the wind isn't blowing too much. I've caught some of my biggest winter fish while it was snowing.

No reason to buy baits that are made specifically for use as a trailer when you're just starting out. Craws and beavers are great trailers and obviously can be used on their own as well. I like to save torn up baits to use as trailers to get all the use I can out of my plastics. I carry very few baits that are specifically made to be trailers, the Zman Batwingz being the main exception along with my pork frogs that are nearing extinction. I use beavers more than craws as a stand alone bait, mainly the Strike King Rodent, YUM woolly bug, Netbait B Bug, and Havoc Pit Boss. Keep colors simple like green pumpkin, watermelon/red, and black and blue. I only carry a few craws, the Rage craw, Yum Christie craw and craw papi, and Zman Turbo CrawZ are pretty much the only ones I carry anymore. My one I'd suggest that doesn't really fit either category is the Rage Menace. Super versatile and effective little bait that I use a ton.

I've only ever caught 2, both while fishing with a member from Florida in the Everglades. They were really cool looking fish that fought like crazy. I'll admit, I was disappointed initially that they weren't the big bass I thought they were, but I still very much appreciated the bite and fight they put up. I'm sure I'd fish for them if there was anywhere around that had any.

Good luck!

Ned rig or shakyhead

Rods: St. Croix Reels: Pflueger Lines: Braid -Kastking Fluoro-Seaguar Mono-Big Game Hooks: Eagle Claw Soft Plastics: Strike King, Zman, Zoom Jigs: Homemade Hard baits: Strike King, custom painted blanks

Welcome!

They built a new stack that follows the strict EPA laws and is much more efficient. I'm guessing that has something to do with it but there's only a small sample size of winters since they built it. We still managed to catch fish all last winter and there was at least 3 10 pound fish caught last year.

I had a very similar run in with a low 20lb blue on 4lb test while fishing for crappie. 1/32oz jighead and a 2" power minnow under a bobber. Took nearly an hour and almost spooled me on the initial run because it ran into an off limits area where I couldn't follow it.

When a regular "customer", tells me they really didn't do anything this time.

With proper technique, a blue marlin of several hundred pounds can be landed in open water on line lighter than most would consider for bass fishing, don't believe me? 573-POUND BLUE MARLIN ON 4-POUND LINE 161.4-to-1 573-pound Atlantic blue marlin Line Class: 4-pound Angler: Leo Cloostermans Actual Line Strength (Wet): 3.55 pounds Fight Time: 18 minutes Location: Azores Date: Aug. 10, 1995 On the flip side, hook what would be bait sized for that marlin in a 5lb largemouth in the middle of a brush pile on 20lb fluoro, there's a good chance the fish wins that battle if you don't get it out right away. Is it overkill? Yes if every fish was hooked in an open water setting with no cover to run to, but it's necessary to land fish in a lot of real situations.

Mono or copolymer is a full spool. Braid I'll have a little backing but most of the spool is braid. Fluoro I'll run 40-70 yards for the most part.

Seaguar is usually part of the 25 days of Christmas sale.

Fish areas with deep water near shore. Fish will use these areas because they can move from deep to shallow quickly to feed. I've done best in cold water dragging a jig or shakyhead, fishing a suspending jerkbait with soft pulls and long pauses, or fishing a jigging spoon.

Welcome!

Welcome!