Bluebasser86

What the labels mean often varies by company that makes them. Let us know which one you're talking about and someone can probably help.

Crappie are eating machines and they not only directly compete with bass, but they also will wipe out a majority of a bass spawn in small bodies of water. They're great bass forage, so don't remove them all, but you have to take a bunch of them out.

Looks like a tapered tube head that someone tied some crystal flash onto, probably a homemade or small batch bait.

Welcome!

Welcome!

They're fun to catch, hard to hook and land though. Yes, they have a mouth packed full of needle teeth and their scales will cut the heck out of your hands if you're not careful too. They will destroy hooks on a bait with their violent thrashing and rolling. My preferred bait for them is a heavy fiberglass arrow with a barbed tip. If that's not your thing, They love jerkbaits, but use a slow, steady retrieve so they can sneak up next to it and whack at it with their beaks. Use plastic ones, they tear up wooden ones like the original Rapalas. I usually opt for cheap baits I'm not afraid to lose. An old Bomber Long A used to be my go to for sight casting at sunning gar. Cut bait or live bait will get tons of bites, but unless you let them swallow it they're almost impossible to hook. Rope flies are effective if you like using the long rod. It's literally a piece of unraveling rope with no hook that just tangles in their teeth when they strike, lands a surprisingly high number of gar that strike at it.

They seemed more aggressive there too. Any time I got a bait even close to a gar they were chasing it down and attacking instead of stalking like they do here. Just like you're saying, I think the only ones I didn't hook up with were the ones that were smacking at my frog. All the ones that hit a bait with trebles got stuck and landed. Granted, a majority of them were Florida or spotted gar that are much easier to hook, it was still odd hooking and landing so many gar. Whatever kind they were, they loved a little white X-rap.

Nice! They're really thick around here. I had a day a couple years ago I caught 3 the same day, 2 of them while burning a Bull Shad. They're a fun fight though.

Welcome!

Sheldon Collins is a young guy that's lived on and fished the lake his entire life, won a lot of tournaments on the lake. He just started guiding but he knows the lake really well.

Every lake you listed has Zebra Mussels. Not many lakes left in Kansas that don't have them.

All the spinning rods I have for guide trips are spooled with braid because it's easier to use for beginners and inexperienced anglers IMO.

I've been using KastKing Super Power on both spinning and casting gear and it's been working great. It feels and handles very much like original PP (although I feel it cast better, I haven't used PP in a long time though so I could just be remembering wrong). I like that it's available in many colors and it's really cheap for braid. I just bought a few of the 547 yard spools for under $20 each with free shipping a few weeks ago.

The braid I use on spinning reels is so thin that I've gone to where I rarely use a leader, even in clear water, and still catch plenty of fish. Only exception is if I need the abrasion resistance, then I'll tie a 2-3 foot leader.

I have a 7' MH Shock I use for my kayak frog rod and it works just fine. My normal frog rod is a 7' 3" H/F Ethos Micro from Academy. Great frog rod if you and Academy near you.

The Freedom is a good idea but it does ride pretty high. I've been using one with a 3/4oz and it stays down much better.

I've lost the tail on them on the first bite without catching the fish. I've also had them last 20+ fish. They have to be soft or they won't swim right. Make sure to coat them good with a slippery attractant, and have plenty of Mend-it on hand for any tears or rips. Obviously no help when the tail is gone, but for future use. You might look at Savage Gear or Real Prey if you want a soft bait that is more durable.

Every pond is different. There isn't a "One size fits all", answer to the question. You'll probably need someone to come out and do some test on the water, and sample the fish and forage from the pond to see if the food chain and fish are healthy. Check with your states DNR, some of them will do a lot of that for free or a small fee. Local colleges are a good option too. Their biology classes might be willing to come out and do some test as a learning experience and you get the information you need to make your pond better.

Agree on using hardwoods. Cedars don't last long and once they start to break down there's not much left in the way of a log. A big hardwood limb or good sized tree can last for much longer.

I've had it in my eyes and between my fingers as well, it's awful. I used to get it just getting too close, now I can walk through it and not be effected unless it's cut and the oil is oozing out. Weird how it's changed that drastically for me but I'm glad it has.

Yeah, we nearly had my 4th 100 fish guide trip of the year, mostly on the 110 and 90 Plopper, but I'll keep trying to figure them out

I've seen this often, many times on Thursday as the older gentleman in the boat couldn't feel or see the strikes on his wacky rig. If you gently pull on the line the hook will usually move up further where you're able to reach it. I hate leaving the hook in them because I have a hard time believing those fish make it. Feel it's better for them to go fairly quickly bleeding out versus starving to death because they can't eat properly. It's still going to happen, you'll still lose one once in awhile. I killed one on a frog last week. Inhaled it on the strike and got the hook right through the gills, belly up as soon as it hit the water. Just one of those things that's going to happen no matter what you do.

I mainly fish the 3/8 and 1/2 ounce sizes but the 1/4 is good for shallow water or for running along docks or fish holding high in the water column.

I had a chartreuse and a red craw color as well as a sort of smokey Joe color, they all caught bass.

Mine was wrapping up stringy grass just the same and it takes very little to make the tail foul. Well worth the minor headache though.