Bluebasser86

Sufix Performance braid for me. Had a much better experience with it than I did with PP original.

What size head/hook were you using? Looks huge for a Ned rig. Say it with me now, the Ned rig only catches numbers of little fish

Fish them, that's the only way to truly build confidence in them. If you have access to a pond or somewhere that they'll eat everything that touches the water, I'd start out there. I have a "practice lake", close to me where I try out new ideas because it's packed full of aggressive little bass.

I was lucky, never really had to do much training with her, she just seemed to be built for it. She's a great dog, always the first thing people seem to notice if they've never fished with me before, you can almost forget she's on the boat with you she's so well behaved.

I get off work at 8am and go straight home and cut my grass and, like you, it's had to be certain days because that was the only chance I'd have in between downpours. I'm surprised our little push mower hasn't died yet as much tall, wet grass as it's had to cut this year.

Cassidee was just a couple months old the first time she went with me from the bank. She was only 4 or 5 months old her first trip out in the boat.

Owner ST36, black nickel, #2 for a full size spook, #4 for a Super Spook Jr, #8 for the Zara Puppy.

My wife bought me an Iphone and a nice Otterbox case to keep it in for my birthday a few years ago. A few months later, I was actually on the phone with her while I was fishing when I got a bite and threw it over my shoulder into the lake setting the hook. I still hear about that one, good luck.

That's crazy! I caught a bass once on a T rig that the hook bend had wedged against it's bottom jaw and the hook eye was wedged against the roof of it's mouth, propping it's mouth open but it didn't have the slightest bit of the hook stuck in it.

I saw a picture the other day of a McDonald's menu from the late 70's. A Big Mac was $.65! It probably actually had real beef in it back then too. Everything now days you get less for more it seems.

It's an older, full handled LTB that was their C-rig model when it was in production. Basically, it has a little softer tip than a fast rod which I believe it to help prevent pulling the bait from the fish's mouth while dragging since bite detection can be a bit of an issue with the C-rig. That's why I like it, no idea if that was their thinking when designing it.

I'm going to guess shad that are spawning. When shad spawn they'll splash around on the surface/shore chasing each other around and will chase and bump into your bait as well which could account for those "bites" you're feeling but not hooking up with. I would agree with carp minus the fact that you say they're striking at your bait, which all but eliminates carp as a possibility.

I'm mostly self taught on how to bass fish. My favorite pro when I was growing up was Denny Brauer, always liked how he fished like he liked to fish and wasn't afraid to swing for the fences and go down swinging.

Jig Bladed jig

No pike, pikeral, or muskie within a 2 hours drive for me unfortunately

I agree that the Trokar hooks aren't great for flipping vegetation because it cuts through the bait. I like the VMC HD straight shank flipping hooks and I use a Pit Boss a majority of the time.

Big Game

Not sure which is actually bigger but I've caught bass on an 8" Huddleston (8" and 4+ ounces), and a 9" Slammer (9" and 2 1/2oz). Those baits are pretty small compared to some of the swimbaits out there. One of the hottest ones lately is the Dep's Slide Swimmer 250 which is 10" long and weighs in at a dainty 6.5oz. Savage Gear just released a 16" 24oz line through that is targeted for pike/musky anglers but I'm sure there's some bass guys out there that will give it a shot.

Agreed, I now own 3 of them and they all perform above and beyond what I would ever have asked a $40 baitcaster to do.

Double Uni, never had a problem with a knot I tied correctly.

Welcome!

Ned rig, wacky rig, shakyhead. Sometimes I'll just sit down and take a step back to run through everything I've seen and done that day to come up with a game plan. I've had a few times that I went from zero to hero by just taking a step back and looking at the big picture.

I've had bad back spasms put me out a time or two. Occasionally get them so bad it hurts to breathe.

Another vote for the Gulp maggots, killer bluegill baits and the jars are easy to carry.

Little Cleo, micro chatterbaits, micro jig under a bobber.