RoLo

For years I bought tailor-made spinnerbaits from "Heavy Cover Spinnerbaits". Then the owner allegedly became ill and the site was shutdown. Then under new ownership it was back up, but not long afterward the new owner went belly-up. In the absence of custom-made spinners, I've been using War Eagle spinnerbaits with good success. Roger

Any 3x worm is a true 'high-floater', which is also known as Elaztech and Cyberflexxx (hence 3x). Soft is good, but Cyberflexxx worms are too soft. When Texas-rigged, a 3x worm is only marginally weedless, because the point easily pierces the jelly-like plastic. Roger

Lowery is a nice looking salad bowl. Great going guys Roger

Having lived in both the north and south, I owe you a fair warning. Unlike the cooperative northern bass you're used to in Wisconsin, Florida bass are cantankerous snobs BTW, your timing is perfect for a trip to northern Florida, which will coincide with the late spawn/early post-spawn period. At this time too there's normally a good topwater bite. In the natural lakes in Florida's Panhandle the main pattern is the 'waterlily pattern' (pad fields). All lures tend to work in spring, but if you're on a trophy hunt, I'd focus on jigs & craws, mat-punching and swimbaits like the Gambler Big EZ. Bring it on

Anything "In-Fisherman" published since their *** (1975), is money well spent Throw on top of that: "Secrets of A Champion" by Kevin VanDam I would however, steer clear of regionally oriented books (nuff said) Roger

No Tom, I can't say that I do. Guess I had my dogs in the wrong Hunt Roger

Gotta Start Somewhere Opening day (Apr 5) - Tiger Lake, FL - Jig & twintail - 3lb 10oz (20") - score: 21.01 Hey Lee, your score is 21.74 (not 21.71) Roger

We're on our way out the door right now...our usual noonday start I'll get back to you this evening, via email. Arched Rods, RoLo

Bass that cling to heavy cover all day, tend to rove into open water at night. On summer nights, bass are particularly vulnerable to a noisy black jitterbug. Roger

Cosmo Kramer

That is one sharp looking machine! You're definitely going to have a blast, the best of luck. Roger

I only 'need' 1 fishing outfit, but I would 'like' about 15, but somehow get by with '7' (all told, my wife & I tote 14 outfits) Roger

Mikell, in my opinion the best entry-level crankbait is a Lipless Plug. Billed cranks (diving plugs) have a prescribed depth zone whereas lipless cranks can be fished as deep or as shallow as the operator desires. You'd be wise to wet your feet with the time-honored and reasonably priced Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap. It would be pointless for me to recommend colors, it's more fun to select your own colors (they all work) Roger

I've known a few "Clear Water Experts", but you can see-through all of them

Good going Lee, I'm glad you didn't spill the beans about Florida's post-spawn trophy bonanza Roger

To do better than last year (the goal never changes, but the results do) Roger

Yeah, kind of an inside joke So when are we gonna meet at Manny's Chop House? Roger

That's an astute observation, Ryan If we learned one thing from this thread is that promotion matters (let's hear it for KVD) Roger

Well, in a way it is, 1942 is a war baby

Rather than running-and-gunning with the electric motor, I anchor-down with the Talon at every holding site. The spot is then fan-cast from surface to bottom, and the time involved is purely circumstantial, The time spent will depend on the area, depth, cover and fishing action, it might be 5 minutes or it might be an hour. Roger

My Favorite Tube? Duco Cement

There's merit to the ole saw: "If you see a bass, the bass sees you". Apparently, bass only tolerate our presence when they're not feeding, for example: - When cruising parallel to the shoreline, bass are typically in a negative feeding mode - When hovering over a bed, they're preoccupied with reproduction, not feeding Needless to say, there are exceptions to every rule. On more than one occasion I've pitched a live nightcrawler comfortably off the nose of a visible bass. Their reaction reminds me of WC Fields: "Get away kid, you bother me" Roger

We need all the help we can get Dwight, no ice-out constraint is our built-in handicap Roger

With his swell head, I'm afraid Bieber would make a poor anchor Roger

This topic comes up from time to time, and I'm glad that it does. When we lived in Jersey, my wife and I did a lot of shore-fishing, and 'plastic bags' was always on our Bring List. The most common debris was monofilament rat nests, empty packages of Eagle Claw hooks and beer cans. Even if you get "skunked", when you haul off a bag of trash you still come away with a sense of achievement. Roger