RoLo

I think JFrancho might say dropshot rig

Catt should be along Roger

It's universal knowledge that Florida-strain bass grow BIG, but it's much less mentioned that they're not as aggressive as northern-strain bass. Even with live bait, fishing for Florida bass can be mighty slow. Although a largemouth bass will eat any species of fish, the hands-down favorite bait is a "native golden shiner". On a low note though, a dozen large shiners (5 to 9") will cost about $20. Not to worry, baiting a selected area and catching your own native shiners is a blast! Now you have fodder for your next thread Roger

My wife accompanies me on every fishing outing, and typically prepares the lunches. The menu runs the gamut: sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, leftovers, hotdogs, bananas, fried chicken ~ ~ It matters not to me, I'm happy with anything. We place very little emphasis on food & eating, and never break to eat, but munch while fishing. On a fishing vacation I'll typically drop 5 to 10 lbs. Roger

I believe that that both options are considerably more weedless than the average bear. A more significant difference might be lure attitude during descent. That is to say, trailers on a belly-weighted hook descend more horizontally, whereas trailers on a nose-weighted jig tend to nose-dive. Roger

Based on my modus operandi, the bulk of my purchases are made shortly 'before' or promptly 'after' a price markdown. Pursuant to my dismal history, I must disqualify myself from this thread Roger

You know you are finally catching-up when your tackle order consists only of Hooks & Sinker-Stops. My last order was "6th Sense Sinker Stops" and "Mustad 4/0 Grip-Pin Flippin Hooks" PATHETIC! Roger

Rage Lobster to be sure. Are they still making Rage Craws?? Roger

Rhino's rig is highly snag-free and similar to what I use. I use instead an Owner 4/0 Sled Head with a Rage Lobster. Roger

Bass are in the post-spawn in June. It's an excellent month for northern pike and largemouth bass, and a good month for smallies. Topwater fishing for bigmouth can be outstanding in Lake-of-the-Isles area (smallmouth on rocky reefs). I personally prefer the northern Canadian side of the St. Lawrence and used to stay in a sleepy town called Rockport, Ontario. I know nothing about the fishing guides Roger

Welcome aboard! Roger

We have yet to hear from the OP, but he's probably busy taking scrupulous notes Roger

Beatdown is right! If that's your first "good" trip, I'd probably be happy with some of your "fair" trips. Roger

With regard to the anti-snobbish rod brands, count me in The Berkley Lightning Shock Rod is a big bang for the buck, and I still have BPS Bionic Blades that must be 40 yrs old. Roger

Uni-knot to Uni-knot (simple, secure, no saliva necessary) Roger

My Stella only has 13 bearings, so I'm gonna auction her off and buy '8' Shishkabobs Roger

Excellent coverage! Roger

YIPES! Believe me, I know that feeling

Depends on the location of the waterbody. In Florida for example, winter is trophy season when most bass are 2 to 5 ft deep. Roger

At the latitude of Vero Beach, you'll be dealing with Florida-strain bass, which not only tolerate warm water, they love warm water. The spawning season in south-central Florida typically embraces January & February, irrespective of water temperatures. Roger

More important than the lure and color is your mode of presentation. Above all, you've got to keep the lure in the bed as long as you can. During the actual spawn (not pre or post), the females are basically fasting, so the pick-up is the result of the cow "taking out the garbage" rather than feeding. Roger

Face it Rhino, most anglers lack a sense of humor, a sport where humor can be very therapeutic

In reality, the above entity is only possible for the color-sensitive angler (Am I wrong?). I believe a better way to reach a bona-fide conclusion is not by comparing colors, but by comparing a color-insensitive angler to an angler who hangs his hat on color. The bottom-line is this: "Something is bound to win", BUT, how do you confirm that it's the same 'something' that made the difference? (therein lies the $million question). For example, you & I are fishing the same lure, in the same boat. You boat 6 bass and your color is 'green'. I only boat 1 bass and my color is 'red'. It therefore stands to reason that the color "green" outperformed the color "red". Not so fast...I wasn't referring to lure color, I was talking about the shirts on our back. (Something is bound to win) Roger

It seems that this discussion was looking for a place to happen, and found a happy home right here Before this thread dies of natural causes, I’d like to share a little story that goes back to the mid-90s when I lived in Georgia. It doesn’t prove or disprove anything, but it does involve color and it did actually happen, so why not throw it in the mix: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jerry, a neighbor and good friend invited me to go crappie fishing with him on West Point Lake. He was a guide and an accomplished crappie fisherman. He forewarned me that “color” was key to crappie fishing, which can change at the drop of a hat. I brought two types of grubs along: curly-tail grubs and boot-tail grubs. After seeing the dingy water in Yellowjacket arm, I decided to only use my boot-tail grubs, which produced more tail thump than the ribbon-tail grubs. We both enjoyed a steady pick of crappies that day, but did encounter a few short-lived droughts. Whenever I caught a crappie that ended a doldrum, Jerry never failed to ask: “What color you using, Rog?”. Each time I would answer “Orange”. I was his guest so I was embarrassed to admit that I only brought two colors along: chartreuse curly-tail grubs and orange boot-tail grubs. But since I retired the curly-tail grubs early that morning, “orange” was the only color I was fishing. At day’s end Jerry commented that I did really good on ‘orange’ and said that I caught more specks than he did. My take was a little different than Jerry’s. I thought we both killed the specks, thanks to his honey hole. In the final analysis, if I did catch 1 or 2 more crappies than Jerry, it was probably due to the time he lost changing lures. Roger

I know you're right Tom, but I suppose I'm guilty of waiting for other customers to do my dirty work. My hope is that I'm referring to an issue that Gary already corrected, because Dobyns blanks are truly top-rung. Roger