RoLo

"Fishing A Shallow Lake With Little To No Structure" Welcome to Florida Roger

Come on Tom, sock that puppy home Beginning around 1970, Toledo Bend was one of the most storied waterbodies in America. Only the youngsters haven’t heard of the “Hemphill Gang”, sticks like Harold Allen, Tommy Martin and the “worm king” Larry Nixon. Back in the day there was also CATT: i.e. “Cajun Anglers Tournament Tackle” Roger

Welcome aboard Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Soft Swimbait (Gambler Big EZ) Roger

Zoom Trick Worm - black grape Roger

Gene Larew Rattlin Crawler - dark watermelon pepper pumpkin Roger

Spinnercrankcaster

I agree with your observation C&G, and will attempt to explain the reasoning behind it. What used to be called an LOP style is a hook whose line-eyelet & hook-point are on the same line (LOP = line-of-pull) Once the hook-point starts to penetrate, an LOP style hook requires less hook-set pressure to drive the hook beyond the barb. Nevertheless, an LOP hook is also the style most likely to skate over membrane without initializing penetration (a circle hook exaggerates this tendency). After a 60 ft cast in 4 ft of water, a straight-up hook-set is far from vertical, but still has a better attack angle on the upper jaw than a sidewise sweep. In this case, it's important to pierce membrane to start penetration, otherwise an LOP style hook never gets a chance to strut its stuff. The best hook configuration for initializing penetration is a round-bend hook with a hook-point aimed slightly 'outside' the line-eye. For this same reason, many anglers use needle-nose pliers to bend the hook-point slightly outward (only necessary with points in the line-of-pull). Roger

Is that you JG?

Welcome to the forum Matt. Should you wait for a 2nd tick? Perish the thought! When you retrieve your lure, check to see if the hook-point has indeed busted thru the plastic trailer. If not, you might need more hair on the hookset. On the other hand, if the hook-point lies well outside the trailer, I'd continue the same hook-set, and you're bound to experience a reversal in fortune. Good Luck. Roger

You WILL catch your first bass, and you WILL become obsessed. Welcome to the club Roger

I constantly ask myself that same question

Two old codgers have known each other for decades, and shared many adventures together. Now old and feeble, they were reduced to playing cards together once a week. At the card table, one man said to the other: "Now don't get all bent out of shape, but your name slips my memory" There was a loong silence, then the other codger finally replied: "How soon do you need an answer?" Roger

As far as I'm concerned, if you can hit your intended target, it doesn't matter whether you're pitching, flipping or tossing, or whether you're sitting or standing. Roger

Not as much as my wife

I'm thinking about the next fish while reeling a fish to the boat, and planning my next trip on the way back to the ramp, and during the ride home. Roger

I heard that ;-) Plugs with exposed trebles took the same hit after we moved from Georgia to Florida. We spend the majority of time working vegetation, but there are open water opportunities in Florida. In early summer, plugs can be effective over shellbeds, also at creeks mouths after a hard rain, and for suspended bass in fall when they're chasing wads of bait. As mentioned above, the vibe jig (chatterbait) has taken up a lot of the crankbait slack. Roger

Fort Ticonderoga might be a little south of the best action. The noted stretch for bass (bigmouth & smallies) is from Mallets Bay north to Great Chazy River Roger

The question sounds a little odd to me, but I guess it depends on your concept of a T-rig I've been T-rigging plastics before the concept had a name, when it was simply called "self-weedless", and that pretty much describes every shaky head. Roger

Yup, I've become a spinnerbait slacker. Of late, I’m throwing spinnerbaits less & less, and the 'vibe jig' is the reason (chatterbait). The vibe jig has a streamlined silhouette like an in-line spinner, it generates as much or more vibration than a safety-pin spinner, and in grass & slop, a vibe jig w/ weedguard is more weedless than an overarm spinner Roger

Freshwater Drum

“Do people take bass boats through pads or avoid them?” You can run a bass boat through the pads, but you're not running a bass boat. For years, I hunted and fished from a 12-foot boat with 9.9 HP. I always ran around the perimeter of pad beds I didn’t intend to hunt or fish. However, if a pad bed was my fishing destination (often the case), then I was going headlong into the pads. The 9.9 Sportwin was a legend in its time, but 10 hp is simply not enough for chopping-up pad stalks. Frequent stops will be necessary to clean off the prop. Different boaters use different methods for negotiating pad-fields, but there are a few constants. When the motor shaft is perpendicular to the waterline (parallel to the transom), it's in position to quickly spool-up plant stems. As a result, before entering a pad-bed I'll always 'Trim' the motor UP until the shaft enters the lower end of the 'Tilt' range. At about 25 deg off perpendicular, the prop is now less efficient at spooling-up weed stems, and more efficient at laying down plant stalks so the boat can skate over the pads. Over time of course, weeds will still shroud the hub, but 90% of the time those weeds can be blown off without ever touching the propeller (4 easy steps): > Lower the motor until it’s parallel with the transom (perpendicular to the waterline) > Shift the trans lever into Reverse > Run full throttle for about 1 second (Weeds blown off the prop will be seen floating on both sides of the hull). > Remember to Trim the motor back UP into the Tilt zone (about 25 deg off perpendicular) “Are the weedless trolling motors really that weedless?” A Minn Kota with a Digital Maximizer and weedless Wedge2 Propeller will run indefinitely through lily pads (to facilitate weed penetration, use the treadle to rock the shaft left & right as you travel). On the downside, the forward progress made with the electric motor is much slower than the forward progress made with the gas motor. I generally use a combination of both: the gas motor for long moves, the electric motor for short moves. In a 12 ft rowboat though, I would lose the electric motor and 12-volt battery (unnecessary weight). Roger

Sufix Siege & Sufix Elite are both copolymer nylon lines, but P-line CX is a "cofilament" line (nylon line with a fluorocarbon sheath). For a fair comparison, the P-line CX should be substituted with CXX (another copolymer line). For casting gear I'd go with Sufix Siege (a wiry line), for spinning gear I'd go with Sufix Elite (less memory). Roger

I have not caught one smallmouth bass this year, they do not like Florida Roger

"I have never come across anything like this" That makes two of us

Fluorocarbon is fluorocarbon, you either like/need it or you don't Personally, I'd opt for the brand that offers the smallest diameter, because fluoro is 'fat' line (i.e. Seaguar, Sunline). Roger