Bluebasser86

If I was getting 1 for everything, it would be a 6.X.1.

First, welcome to the forums! Second, start reading here; http://www.bassresource.com/how-to-fish/ Third, go to this section of the forum to get information about your local fisheries; http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/forum/17-western-bass-fishing/

Big Game for mono, Pline C21 for copolymer.

I've fished for muskie in Canada, Minnesota, and Missouri. Of the 11 I've caught, 2 were on a muskie bait (a bucktail and one was my PB), all in Missouri too oddly enough. Squarebills crankbaits and spinnerbaits have accounted for almost all the rest except for one that ate a YUM beaver. I've had 3 others caught in my boat, all by my brother in law. 2 were on buzzbaits, one was on a tube. IMO, if it ain't broke... Now if you're targeting really big ones, then yes, there's much better options.

I would try fishing right along the shoreline. Bass will usually hold very shallow and near some form of cover when the water is muddy. A rattling squarebill, spinnerbait with colorado blades, bladed jig in a dark color, dark colored jig or plastic would be my choice. Sometimes you'll have to make multiple cast to a good looking piece of cover to finally get one to bite.

Is it that deep near the shoreline or are you fishing off the ends of the docks?

I think my weekend of fishing would have been more productive if all the lakes weren't so low, really could use some rain around here to stir the water up a little...... Can't get the second video to embed for some reason. I was at Lake Shawnee searching for a big smallmouth. Water was so high I had to wade to the dock, and it was really muddy over a majority of the lake, and we all know how smallies love mud! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb-wozef3tM

Well @Ondrejka looks to have still caught a couple last night, so I guess they can still be caught. It's about the time of year when drifting nightcrawlers on flats is a good option. On unfamiliar water, pulling a bottom bouncer/spinner rig with a crawler is a good way to cover water and look for active fish. Seems like early and late are by far the best times to be there.

Most every brand makes a solid performing reel anymore and a lot of responses are subjective and opinionated. Won't be long and someone will drive this bus into a bridge abutment when someone insults their favorite reel, it always happens in these threads. That said, I'm really digging the 70 size Curado I. Sweet reel that's very comfortable in my hands.

I have a Curado 300E and an Okuma Citrix 364. Personally feel like the Okuma cast better than the Curado and can be found for a very reasonable price online. It's also a touch heavier but holds more line so there's a trade off for the little extra weight.

I drove my truck through a puddle and got one tire in the grass to launch my kayak Thursday, does that count? I use to often when I was younger and dumber. I got tired of fixing stuff that is always breaking when I was abusing my truck.

I have one and really like it.

A pound a year is probably only under really good conditions and with a long growing season. I know they don't grow that fast around here for sure.

Twice in 3 weeks I caught a new kayak PB. Same lake as the last one, but this time it was 4.43 pounds.

Did you try the bait he talked you into? We used to have contest when I worked at Cabela's to sell certain items. If you sold enough of them you'd get a free rod/reel/giftcard. Some of the people I worked with would lie like dogs just to get another sale for the contest. Others were clueless and would just repeat a story they'd heard someone else tell because it sounded good, despite not having a clue what they were actually talking about. Hopefully you didn't run into one of those types.

Are you trying to fish offshore, or are you just saying the body of water you're fishing is deep? Generally, fish in dirty water tend to stay shallow. Jerkbaits can work in muddy water, they're just not the best option.

Very few venomous snakes in KS, but lots of water snakes. I like messing with them when I see them around the shoreline. They'll charge a frog pretty hard. Had one eat my wacky rig I cast a little too far and landed on the rocks. He was one it before I had a chance to move it and refused to let go. Just held the line and grabbed the hook with pliers and popped it out, hissed at me as he fell back in the water. The feel vibrations of you walking and take off, so walk with heavy feet. You'll scare some fish too, but if you're worried about snakes, that's a good precaution.

15lb is too heavy for a spinning reel anyways, I'd replace it.

I see both sides here. As a fisherman, I know the water under and around the dock is public and a good place to catch fish. As a property owner, I also get where if you're finding hooks stuck in ropes, carpet, boat covers or seats, dock post, or hear some hack clanging a jig off my dock, boat, grill, whatever, I'd probably be a little ticked. Over time, I could see where someone might get tired of it. I usually just try to be courteous to people I encounter and make small talk. A lot of times I can fish the dock while chatting and we can both go about living our lives. If I run into "that guy", I'm most likely just going to move along. It's just not worth arguing over to me. If they're really over the top, I might say something though.

No way I could throw that where I fish a frog. What is a "considerably bad" hookup ratio? What rod/reel/line are you using? It's possible that's where the issue is. Since I've got the right setup for it, I'm at about 75-80 percent hookups on hollow body frogs, it makes a huge difference.

I had quite the multispecies day Friday. Largemouth, smallmouth, bluegill, warmouth, white bass, walleye, channel cat, and drum, almost all on a Ned Rig. This channel cat was the largest fish of the day and gave quite the fight.

If you can afford a couple hundred, I wouldn't buy a premade combo. Get a Pfluegar President, then you have 130 give or take to play with and get a nice rod. FWIW, I have a few Pfluegar President/Ethos combos that run around $120 if you pay full price for both that are nice, inexpensive spinning setups.

I like all mine. They feel very solid and smooth. No complaints especially since you can find them pretty easily for 100-120 gently used right now.

Sounds like you bought an Original Rapala minnow. Most of those are going to be #6 trebles. You could get them to suspend or sink with suspend dots and/or adding larger hooks to it. It's going to be much easier for you to just buy some suspending or sinking baits though.

Haven't used them in forever but I know I still have some 7.5" black and fire and ice somewhere. 3/0 EWG and a 1/8-1/4 ounce bullet weight gets it done for me.