Bluebasser86

All our water is stained. Occasionally a couple of the lakes will have 5-6 of visibility now with the zebra mussels but most of the time it's 1-3 feet and they work just fine. Ned himself often calls it "Kansas clear" when he can clearly see his trolling motor head in the water to give you an idea.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

I use to fish livebait for bass all the time and still do sometimes. If I catch a new PB on livebait you better believe everyone is going to hear about it!

All the time.

There used to be a company called Hammering Hare baits. The fur holds water for days and rust the hook like no other.

In my extremely limited experience with them, where the pike are numerous, the bass are not. So I'd probably be moving on to a different location.

This is my first year of recording trips, and this is probably my favorite "blooper" so far.

Nice looking boat man. I couldn't take that dual console out fast enough but it would be nice to be able to put it back in during the colder months. It's amazing how much more room you have with just a single console. Looks like it's ready to fish right away.

If I could pour all my jigs and shakyheads with that Owner hook, I would. It's scary sharp and that bend in the hook pins them very well. My biggest bass of the year last year was on a 5/8oz homemade brush jig with one of those hooks. When you stick one, it's coming to the boat.

Well I think this topic has pretty much been beat to death. LOCKDOWN!!

About the closest thing to a tuna we have in Kansas is a wiper I guess. Could have listed the name in the title I suppose but I did write it in the description on Youtube, it's a freshwater drum, which goes by about a dozen different names depending on what part of the country you're in. They're a pretty popular food fish around here actually. It's funny they get a bad rap. They're aggressive, fight hard, and are closely related to the red and black drum of the ocean that are both very popular food fish and have a firm, white meat very similar to those two. Thanks man. She's worked hard for the same company for 18 years before they decided to downsize and since she was a well paid manager, her spot was eliminated. Thankfully because of her dedication and hard work she got the first position she applied for and will be back at work next week after she gets back from her much deserved vacation that she's on with my dad right now

The Ned is almost unfair some days. It's funny to hear someone say it's replacing a wacky rigged Senko as a "skunk repellent" bait. I started using it to skip docks with a few years ago and was amazed how many fish I could pull out from under docks with them. Not just little fish either, I got these two skipping docks with a Ned on a day we almost gave up and went home before Ned saved the day.

That really sucks. I used to keep a laminated piece of paper inside mine that said "If found please call _____, reward if returned". Thankfully never had to resort to that and obviously going to depend on the person that finds it, but at least then they had a chance to do the right thing. I'd put a sign up so just maybe the person might do the right thing. You might call the local PD and see if maybe it was turned in too.

I use a 1/4oz with a 1/0 hook a majority of the time. Usually fish them with 20lb braid and a 8 or 10 pound leader. I catch about everything with them. That little hook will withstand an amazing amount of pressure too, way more than any bass is going to put on it.

I started out my fishing career with a couple Shimano TX1000s (very similar product). I caught a lot of fish with them, including lots of channel cats out of my grandparents ponds from 4-10 pounds. My dad still has one in the 2000 size that's older than I am and has caught thousands of fish up to a 17lb flathead. They aren't going to be the most durable, prettiest, or popular, but in the hands of the right person they will catch you fish.

Welcome!

You can get a cheap digital scale from Wal Mart for $20 and then you can know for sure what they weigh. My first bass that I considered big was on a live crawdad next to a dock. As soon as that craw touched the water the fish boiled on it, looked like it was 10 pounds to 10yo me but the scale said 3lbs.

Pinch the barb down and it will slide back out much easier next time, but you're still going to get one in the eye once in awhile. I've caught big fish that were blind in both eyes and doing just fine. Bass live in water so muddy they can't see their noses sometimes and still feed effectively using their other senses. While it's unfortunate when it does happen, just know you didn't give that fish a death sentence by doing that.

I use to have several Mojos. While they're not the most sensitive or the lightest rods out there, I caught a ton of fish with mine. It doesn't matter how light and sensitive the rod is by itself if it's not in the hands of someone who knows what to do with it. Mojos are one of the toughest rods I've ever owned, so if you're having breakage issues they would probably be a good option. I have a couple Abu Vendettas I've had good success with also that are a bit cheaper (way cheaper if you find them on sale like I did). Actually right now you can find the St.Croix Rage rods on sale for half price about everywhere. I just bought a 7' 6" MH/F casting Rage for $89 with free shipping from St. Croix's bargain room a few weeks ago. There's still a bunch of them listed in there right now too for the same deal ($89 with free shipping/hat/decal).

For the baits you're saying you fish the most, I prefer mono or copolymer. I would step up to at least something like 12lb though unless you're just fishing wide open flats or ponds with no cover whatsoever. Otherwise, it's just a matter of time before a big fish ruins your day with 8lb. The only time I'd personally use braid with those baits would be in heavy grass, but I'm guessing if you're having success fishing them on long cast with 8lb test you're not fishing in heavy grass. The difference in casting distance with braid will be small most likely but the big advantage would be hooksetting ability on a long cast since it has very little stretch.

Is this like a solid blanket of grass or does it have holes/pockets in it? Is there space to fish above it? The way I'm envisioning it there's quite a bit of space above it where I'd be running a spinnerbait, bladed jig, trap, squarebill, or topwater.

Was that for panfish with a little underspin? I remember him doing that once and really enjoyed that one.

They don't have the raised eyes anymore, but they used to. That's an older model of the 100 series Bandit, back when they use to use bronze Mustad Triple Grip hooks. It has the little channels/indentations in the side that are a dead giveaway to a Bandit bait.