Bluebasser86

Very true, they aren't capable of controlling how much venom they inject like an adult can.

IMO, no they aren't. They're too fragile and there's too many great jerkbaits out there that cost a fraction of the price. I have no problem dropping money on a bait, so that's not the issue, I do have issue with a $25 bait that will fall apart for no apparent reason though.

Welcome!

We tore them up Tuesday with a straight east wind. The best time to go fishing is when you can

That mojo makes a good buzzbait/spinnerbait rod.

Casting or spinning?

I was disappointed with the lost fish, but actually had a great time except for the winds. It was the first time I've had fun on this lake in quite awhile and the big fish, lost or landed, are always fuel to feed the flame to come back.

It was actually 26 bass, 8 whites/wipers, and 2 crappie On top of losing those 2 big ones I did have a mini heart attack when I thought I'd stuck a monster on my Slide Swimmer, rocks do such a good job at really stopping a bait!

I guess I forgot about this one from just a couple weeks ago.

Just had one of those days Monday. Went and fished one of the power plant lakes that is a lake that's well known for it's big fish potential. It's also known for being extremely difficult and has been especially so this winter. I hadn't caught maybe 15 fish out there all winter so I wasn't super excited to fish it. Despite that, after the first 30 minutes I already had 8 fish in the boat and had my hopes up. Got to one of my favorite stretches of bank and was tossing a Dep's 175 Slide Swimmer when it got hammered. Fish had it crossways in her mouth and I was sure it was mine. Right next to the boat she jumped and tossed it! Would have been my biggest swimbait fish for sure. I jumped around the lake, kept catching fish pretty steady. The wind kept me from fishing one area I really wanted to fish so I went back to where I lost the big one. I switched to a KVD 8.0 which I bought just for this lake. Got back to exactly where I lost the big one, which is kind of a rock slide that's slide all the way out to a small drop off. Bounce that big bait off a few rocks and it got stopped. The fish jumped once, another big one but I could see the bait had one hook in her top lip. I had a bad feeling after I saw that and it came to be when she jumped at the boat and liberated herself of my bait, another big one gone. At the end of the day I was back to another of my favorite spots that had been really productive earlier and cranking a 1.5 squarebill when I finally managed to hook and land a good fish. My biggest one of the day went 5lbs 6ozs, my biggest so far this season, but it should have been so much better.

I have been really impressed by the Mettle as well. I bought one when they were on sale for $30 a couple years ago, I wish I'd bought more but really didn't expect much out of a $30 reel. They were just on sale for $40 a couple weeks ago so I bought 2 more.

I recently bought some Seagur Kanzen braid in the 6/20 size, wow is it thin! I've been using PP super slick, but I might be changing over if I like how this stuff fishes, which so far I really do.

For the techniques and baits you're describing, I'd go with the 25 size. I have a couple 25's and they work great for light line and small baits.

To me it doesn't. I fish a black frog 90% of the time, white the other 10%. Not a lot of frogging water around here though so that may not apply everywhere.

Everybody has their thing they blow money on, mine is fishing. I meet people every day that blow theirs on much worse, which is how they ended up meeting me Addiction runs in my family, fishing is my escape from that. I got very close to being sucked into that world shortly after I turned 21. My fishing buddies pulled me back and I haven't looked back since. Trust me, there are much, much dumber things you could waste your money on. At least fishing has a positive side to it right? What kind of shop is going to make fun of someone for buying expensive gear?? Seems a bit counterproductive to me.

OOOOOO, bait! I can't help it, I've spent so many nights fishing for flatheads, that's all I can think about when I see some nice, big sunfish.

Those look incredible!

Those look nice. I always have a bear of a time with that paint you used on the black and blue head. Seems like I have a heck of a time keeping the eye clear throughout the whole process.

I used to catch them all the time as a kid. Put them in a bucket and bring them home to show mom. I had a couple bull snakes in my bucket once. Put the bucket just inside the front door, went to get mom, came back and there were no snakes in my bucket. Mom asked what I needed, "I'll take a snack and better make it to go!" I like snakes, which is unfortunate because my wife gets the chills when she hears the word snake.

There are several female members but they don't post often.

Not sure what company that may have been but you could always get one custom painted.

Zara Puppy is a killer when they're chasing small baitfish on the surface. For subsurface fish you could try something like a Keitech Swing Impact Fat 2.8 on a jighead.

This is a terrific video about the 3D line through trout that have been so hot since their introduction.

Go with a Pfluegar President and use all the money you saved to stock up on baits I love my higher end Shimano and Pfluegars, but since I started buying Presidents I can't hardly justify buying a more expensive spinning reel.

Mine float on the surface and look like they're going to be deadly little baits.