JT Bagwell

Hey buddy! Hope you are doing well.

You are definitely right.

What's up my brother!

You are on the money. 👍 And to clarify, I was not hating on Ben. He's been decent too me anytime I communicated with him.

What's up brother? Glad you are still around here.

Ben definitely isn't wrong but he definitely didn't bring to light anything new.

I might try to make it down to that one. The layout of that show is not my favorite but I love the DFW area and it's an easy 2 hour direct flight from my house. I think the last time I saw @Glenn was at the last one down there. (Or maybe it was Knoxville)

What's up gang? My profile says that I have been here since 2004 but I would have to ask @Glenn if that takes into account when I was here on the old format message board. If I remember right, it was just a running message board without actual categories back then. I still remember when Glenn launched the big upgrade. I just pop in very sporadically (mostly when it's cold here in Illinois) because I am always so busy being a chauffeur for my kids and getting told what to do by my wife. 😀 Today is another of those cold days and while watching the NCAA basketball tournament, I was thinking about my old friends from here and decided to pop in.

In muddy water I like to throw a black/blue jig with a trailer that has a lot of appendages, a Rat-L-Trap or a Spinnerbait with a big, thumping Colorado blade.

Hey I have been down your way a handful of times. We have some smaller lakes up here but the main body of water is the Mississippi River. Hahaha that's a good name for it I have never had the guts to drive a vehicle out on the ice. ?

Hahaha it hasn't been that long. It said my last visit was last winter. ? All good here. Just sick of cold weather already and we still have 3 months to go. How have you been?

Hey what's up everyone? I haven't been on here in a while but now that everything is frozen where I live, I have to do the second best thing to fishing, talk about fishing. ? Which ones of the old squad are still on here?

My 2 main shows most of my younger years was the Bassmasters and Hank Parker's show. I watched all of the others but those 2 were my can't miss shows.

I think the internet, in particular YouTube and sites like Bass Resource has definitely shortened the learning curve. Back when I was a kid, I had to wait for the next issue of Bassmaster magazine or Field and Stream magazine to come to the house or until I got to see the latest episode of Hank Parker or the Bassmasters to come out. Now days, you can learn to fish a Bull Shad, an Alabama rig and a Shakey head in 10 minutes from your smartphone. It still takes time on the water to master the techniques, but you can have the fundamentals down before you ever leave the house.

I actually have a pack of their Stroker Craws on my desk right now so I opened it to give it a smell. Mine have a slight plastic smell but nothing out of the ordinary. Just for the heck of it, I opened some of their other soft plastics that were in my office, from their Super 6 sacks that I have received over the winter and they all smelled about the same. Just a slight hint of plastic smell. Maybe just leave them open for a little bit in your garage and see if they "air out" but it sounds like maybe that was an oddball pack. Just lather MegaStrike all over them, you'll be fine. ?

Good question! I have had similar experiences for years. I throw the larger lipless cranks the majority of the time because I have also noticed that they just flat out catch more fish. For me anyway (and you too I guess).

I got my PB slow rolling a spinnerbait in 15' of water.

The most expensive baits that I own are my Bull Shads. So far, I have never lost one. I do have hundreds (literally) of crankbaits and jerkbaits in the $10 to $20 range and I have lost A TON of those. No matter how many times you lose one, it still sucks. lol

I don't use PP but I use Yellow Cortland Master braid a lot. It does fade a little but not enough that I feel it affects anything. And if it leaves residue, it must not be much because I don't even notice it.

I just post a video showing this a few days ago on my Instagram. If this allows me, the link will be below. Tap Trick

I don't know if fish can see it or not but I don't use braid in clear water. With that said, when I am throwing braid, most of the time I got for Yellow Cortland Master braid. I can see the line so much better and it allows me to more easily detect that strikes visually, long before I could feel them.

I am not really sure. Some days it is my Revo Rocket and others it is my Revo STX. Both are pretty awesome so it is hard for me to make up my mind.

50# Cortland Master braid is my favorite "all around" fishing line for baitcasters. If the water is at least a little stained, I just go with straight braid. But, if it is clear I will go with the 50# Cortland and a Berkley Trilene XT/XL leader. Sometimes I use the Trilene fluoro leader but most XT or XL. On my spinning setups I go with 20 or 30# Cortland braid but again the water clarity will dictate whether or not I use the Trilene leader.

I have some braid from an old sponsor (they used to send me cases of it) that had been in my garage for over 12 years. I gave it away because I didn't need it and the people that I gave it to are using it without any issues at all. It was always in a protected environment and never opened.

That was a tank wasn't it? I am not getting much done today thanks to the Bass Pro Tour.