Bluebasser86

I love my St. Croix rods, but they don't offer certain lengths/actions that I like, or I found other rods that I liked better in certain lengths and actions. Until someone is giving them to me or paying me to use them, I'll use the rod that I feel is best for the task at hand. Variety is the spice of life right?

No need for steel leaders for catfish, another potential reason they're dropping your bait. Before I had baitfeeders I used to flip the bail and they set a small rock on my line in between the reel and the first guide. When a fish hits and takes off with the bait it knocks the rock off the line and it can pull line freely from the reel until you flip the bail and set the hook. You can also use a little mud, a small stick, whatever.

Welcome!

Go back through the reports there the last year or so, not many where an Ivy BHW doesn't show up in pictures or get mentioned. It's just that bait they like out there though, lots of colors work. I've done well with the Funky Chicken, but fishing a pink bait scares a lot of people I think. Shimmer and Sexy Momma are both good too.

When they're relating more to the bottom and won't come up to eat the other two. I like to fish a tube with an insert head and drag them along the bottom. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/rig-tube-bait.html

It's possible that they ate all the eggs before he could return. Best way to avoid it is to not fish for bedding fish if it's going to bother you. Remember though, a tiny number of those eggs would have possibly survived to become adult fish, so in the grand scheme you didn't hurt much with one bed.

I only tightline because I have baitfeeder style reels so they can still pull line when they hit. Catfish have really sensitive mouths and will drop a bait very quickly, especially in places where they're pressured. I would take the weights off completely unless there's current or lots of wind.

I have mine on a 7' MH Legend Tournament Bass rod with 15lb Tatsu. I've handled fish up to 65 pounds with it, so it should handle a bass in heavy cover.

I really like my Curado 70XG, but I've never done anything with the Zodias.

Nice fish! I'd much rather catch one big one instead of a bunch of little ones.

I'm well over 100 fish on my BS and have no intentions of losing it anytime soon, so it's been really cost effective. That's a lot of Speed Shads and probably jig heads too. I went through 4 of the 5 in the pack to catch a dozen fish at La Cygne Friday. Short strikes aren't a problem with a BS like they can be with a Speed Shad. Neither one really replaces the other. You can't burn a Speed Shad like you can a BS, and you can't slow roll a BS like you can a Speed Shad.

Check the hourly forecast and watch the radar. I go and hope for the best. I like to push it way further than I should, but I have enough life insurance that my wife and kids would never have to work or worry. As long as it isn't too close I don't worry too much. Once it starts popping a lot and getting close I take cover.

Pit Boss or a Rage Space Monkey. The Space Monkey is like a toad with and extra set of flapping arms.

Are you sure there are bass in this pond?

My entire wife's family (my wife included), has an aversion to giving gift cards because they view it as a lazy gift. I really wish there was a way to change their view of it.

Early and late may be best, but if you put topwater away just because the sun is above the trees, you're cheating yourself.

I landed this fish with 50lb braid and no leader flipping a beaver. Granted, it cut the line like a hot knife through butter in the net, but it didn't matter at that point.

Just be glad it's the bait monkey and not his big cousin, the boat gorilla.

Is this the new caenan or an older one?

Or make the whole thing sapphire blue. Sapphire blue with a solid black trailer is good too. I've never done well with a junebug colored jig.

I prefer Kahle hooks or beak hooks for catfish. I prefer to hook bluegill heads through the nostrils. It's a tough place but thin so you have plenty of hook exposed to set the hook with. Those are smaller bluegill heads so you shouldn't be having any issues with hooking fish. If you're fishing for channels, I'd try a 2/0 Kahle hook and see if that doesn't help. The rest of the bluegill is good cutbait too, not just the head.

Okuma is probably the most underrated rod and reel dealer out there IMO. I own several of their rods and reels and have been very happy with all of them.

Big Game for mono, which is what I use on almost all my reaction baits. I like Pline C21 for a lot of my bottom contact baits on casting gear.

Fished La Cygne with my dad on Friday. It wasn't as good as last week, but I still managed to catch a small limit on a variety of baits. It was tough for my dad but he did catch a half dozen or so.