Bluebasser86

I've used old kitchen spoons and cut the handle off to make casting spoons.

I bought some of the old ones awhile back, haven't gotten a chance to fish them yet. The new ones are great baits that I should probably fish more often.

Welcome!

I only use about 3' but it's more for abrasion resistance than visibility.

Little 10 pound flathead would suck that shad down no problem. I've had them eat bluegills the size of my hand and shad have to be much easier to get down I'd think. I snag some monster shad each winter at the power plant lakes. Any idea how long it was? I had one that was 16 or 17 inches a few years ago on a jigging spoon.

I use a Curado 200B for baits in that size. Don't really need anything very specialized to fish the smaller ones.

How about when your wife feels like she needs a little boy around you can borrow Lake and when my wife needs little girls around we can borrow yours? Seems like a win-win to me.

Good job! Our lakes thawed out for about 3 or 4 days but are going to quickly be frozen back over and getting our first measurable snowfall of 2015 it sounds like

My first bass boat (that ran anyways) was a little Cajun, smaller than that one even, with a little 50hp Merc. It was a great little boat that I really enjoyed fishing out of but the motor hadn't been taken care of and needed a new drive shaft, which was about 3 times what I paid for the boat. I had to mix my gas and oil direct in it.

I can't use snaps because I'll get lazy about retying.

I'd be frogging or flipping any weeds next to the sharp drop offs then.

Beautiful bait. I'd love to see him make a big gizzard shad glide

I tried one of the U2 sinking boot tails. Really liked the bait, but the second fish I caught with it destroyed it so I never really got to give it a good trial. I've had a few of those Academy swimbaits and did pretty well with them.

Yep, not that I don't enjoy topwater, but a thump on a jig or plastic is just electric to me.

It's what feels more comfortable to me. I can cast, switch hands while my bait is in the air and maintaining the spool, and be ready to start my retrieve before the bait ever hits the water, and I do it all without even thinking about it. I'd rather fish with a right handed retrieve Zebco 33 than a left handed baitcaster, it just doesn't work for me no matter how much I try.

It was 7 degrees when I got off work yesterday morning. Took the dog to a local lake to throw a tennis ball for her a bit, the lake was still open after a recent stretch of warm weather. Almost went back home and got a rod, but I know how fast guides freeze up in single digit temps, not worth the hassle.

Would depend a lot on the scoring method. Are you fishing for most fish? Most total weight? Heaviest 5? Biggest single fish? Also depends a lot on time of year, weather conditions, and body of water.

Yeah, pretty much. A swimbait hook with a screwlock helps them to last a little longer. If you fish them on a frogging setup it's much easier to get hookups.

Welcome!

Welcome!

I've had a couple and liked them pretty well but both had problems after a couple years of use. Now mine did get a ton of use in those 2 or 3 years, so that might have something to do with it.

The Academy baits are good little starter swimbaits. That said, you're better off saving up a little and popping for a couple quality, proven baits. A Jackall Giron or Black Dog Shellcracker would both be much better options and not that expensive. Or you can just go off the deep end and buy a Mattlures Hardgill jr or Deps Bullshooter jr like I did

I played with a similar unit at BPS last week and was really impressed with how clear and easy to navigate it was. Seemed to be very well setup. I could tell you more about how well I like them in a week or so when my 2 93SVs get here for my boat

I'd be fishing the buzzbait, mainly because it doesn't snag on things very easily and it attracts bigger fish for me. If they aren't in a chasing mood I'd have no problem fishing a popper. Most likely I'd have a jig rod in my hand in your situation though. I'm one of the few that prefers a solid thump on a jig over an explosion on the surface.