Bankbeater

Ouch!

One thing I have noticed with my knot tying that has really helped me is to tie the knot with a longer tag end and to really wet down the knot before tightening it down.

Black is always a good choice.

I keep the boxes. I have them stacked up on the end of my work table.

I've broken a rod in a tailgate, fallen down a hill with one, snapped one while pulling a snag loose without enough slack in the line, and dropped a rod while putting on a new reel. Never on a hookset.

I try not to get into a pattern while retrieving popper or walking bait. I might work the bait fast, or chug it, give it some small pops, or reel it in with barely any action all in the same cast.

I'm in the barbed camp. I don't want to make it easy for the bass to come up out of the water and throw the hook.

If the structure isn't too deep I will start off with a topwater. If the bass don't want to come up after that I will try a jig or Texas rig.

Not all lakes and ponds are the same. Fishing history can help identify the differences.

I've been hooked in the fingers and hands before. I can't imagine what a hook to the eye would be like. Glad you only got a scare out of it and didn't need an ER visit.

How I fish in the wind depends on what type of cover or structure it is blowing toward, and how hard it is blowing.

When it gets hot around here the bass move into the vegetation for shade and oxygen. A breeze helps, but it's still dang hot out there in a boat.

Unless you are trying for casting distance, I would get the shorter rod.

Just because it's not doing it now, doesn't mean it won't in the near future. Get it fixed.

Abu 5600C3. It is the reel I use for punching, but it works with frogs also.

I have a Team Daiwa-V, and a Daiwa Procaster. Both are H/F, and both were purchased back in the mid 90's. I still use the Procaster to punch mats.

This works when the bass are buried in the tops of weed mats on the surface. I will run a buzz bait right alongside the mat to draw them out and then cast a pop-r out and bring it back alongside the mat. Most of the time the bass will go after the pop-r as it is passing the mat.

It probably looks like a small animal or fish swimming on the surface. Buzzbaits are very quickly turning into my top topwater bait this year, and I'm not going to jinx it by overthinking why.

Watermelon candy, motor oil, and a flat red.

Most of the time I will be dragging or giving the jig short hops. I will stroke the jig if I have some open water.

Johnson Century 100A. I still have the reel and the kid rod it used to be on.

My treble crankbait hooks get sharpened over the winter. They get touched up as needed throughout the season. I run a file over the worm hooks and jigs before tying them on. Sometimes if the bite is slow and light that sharp hook is what will save the day.

I was bass fishing a pond on Saturday that is about 2/3 of the way matted over with vegetation. I was casting a buzz bait out and when I would get it near a mat I would get hit but no hookup. After about 10 minutes of playing around, I cast out a pop-r and landed this crappie. Over the next half hour, I got 3 more that were all around 12" in length. I knew there was some crappie in this pond, but I didn't think they were this large. I'm definitely going back out to this pond in the fall when that vegetation dies off.

These days I fish by myself, but back before my dad passed we never missed a chance to get out and wet a line. I've gone fishing with some friends and co-workers, but they just didn't seem motivated to get out after the fish. Seems like they would always just like to sit back and relax or enjoy the boat ride to the fishing spot.

I've been using these for a few years now.