Bluebasser86

Coty getting it done on Melvern!

I used to keep a worm farm in my parents basement when I lived at home. They have tons of nightcrawlers in their yard so it was easy to keep it stocked. Bad thing is if you lose one and don't find it fast it will kill all the rest, so it's really quite a bit of work to keep checking and making sure they're all doing well. Anymore I just let the hose run in the yard for 5 or 10 minutes and they start popping out like crazy and all I have to do is pick them up. I can turn the hose on while I'm hooking the boat up or rigging rods up and pick my bait up real quick before I leave.

Had a guy win a club tournament with a bright yellow spinnerbait with one orange and one copper blade. 30 fishermen, he was the only person to catch a fish, but it was nearly 8 pounds. Strike King used to have a bright orange and yellow spinnerbait with bright orange blades that I did well with in muddy water and during the spawn.

I've almost bought one on more than one occasion. Maybe once my son gets a little older I'll get one and put him on fly patrol in the house.

I fish Keitechs on a jighead with 20lb braid, works great.

You'll have to replace the tip top guide. It's a very quick and simple process though and won't effect the rod at all if done properly.

It's been rough being a sports fan my whole life. Born one year after the Royals won the world series, rooting for the Chiefs in NFL and KSU in college ball. In almost 30 years on this earth, zero championships. The Royals came oh so close last year but just couldn't quite do it, but it sure is fun cheering for a team that's winning finally! I've watched the Chiefs lose so many playoff games that I pretty much expect it when they actually make it to the playoffs. Still, there I am every year routing for them and nobody else.

Popping Pad Crasher or original Pad Crasher in Cricket Frog or Dart Frog for me.

I've seen snappers wearing hooks all over like a Christmas tree in some of the urban lakes/ponds where catfishing with livers is common. They're built like tanks and are mostly unfazed by a hook in their face. A bronze hook is probably the fastest degrading hook but even those are going to last a long time, probably longer than the lives of most fish. If you want to try to unhook a turtle they do make very long handled pliers or dehooking tools like those they use to unhook sharks and other large, dangerous gamefish, you might want to look into those. I used to setline for snappers because people love to eat them here and if they didn't swallow the hook I could usually get them to bite a stick and then unhook them using pliers.

The sensitivity and low stretch of braid makes retying worth it when C-rigging imo.

No, you don't need to use floating plastics, but sometimes they will get more bites, sometimes they'll get fewer. My best advice for a C rig, fish something else Typically I go with a 1/2-1oz brass weight with a glass bead and brass clicker. I like brush hogs, french fries, stick worms, lizards, and 10" worms on mine, but I might as well be casting just the weight because if I'm fishing one, I've pretty much given up hope of catching a fish.

Welcome! If you're looking for some essentials to get started let me know, I've got a ton of stuff in my garage I'm sure could be useful for you.

Welcome!

I'd much rather fish Melvern but a lot of guys like Coffey. Fish average bigger at Coffey but get bigger at Melvern.

Good luck!

Welcome!

Great looking older boat for sure. You'll love having the extra space and stability.

Smallies have to be 18" to keep everywhere I fish for them, not a chance I'm keeping a smallie that big to eat. I've heard they're better than largemouth though, not that that's saying much though.

They're hard to tell apart at that size unless you really know what to look for. Gardner has huge white bass too that are often mistaken for wipers, but again, not wipers out there either. Glad it was a successful trip for you guys. We were discussing the smallies coming unbuttoned while we were out there. Only thing I can think is their mouths are so much thicker than a largemouths that the hooks must not fully penetrate. Seems there isn't a trip I make down there where a big fish comes off, or several like last time.

Curious why you're concerned, or maybe what you mean by strengthening lead? Unless you're making sinkers that the line passes through, worse you might do is flatten a head out but even then you have to cast it into something hard.

A frog on top of the mats of moss/algae has produced some good fish at some of the local lakes lately. They'll get in super skinny water even when it's hot because it's so much cooler under that stuff.

Take care of your teeth. I'm almost 30 and have yet to have a cavity even.

Welcome!

I don't find this to be the case at all. Shimano and Daiwa quality falls off dramatically once you get into lower priced reels imo. Meanwhile Pfluegar's flagship spinning reel is the President at $60 and the Trion is dang near as good for $40.

My Ex drug me to Tim McGraw once. I was just starting to work midnights then. It was so boring I literally fell asleep in my seat during the concert.