RoLo

RoLo, Where have you been? Welcome back! Jeff Thank you Jeff (all is well) Roger

Dwight, your batting-average with trophy smallies has been nothing short of phenomenonal! Then again, knowing the perfectionist that you are, I'm not at all shocked but nonetheless impressed. Going back a few years, I'm on record as dubbing you the "Al Lindner of the Northeast", and some things never change (eat your heart out Joe Balog ;-)) Roger

This question naturally leads to the next question: "Does color REALLY matter?" The kinship between Color and Confidence is unarguable, but does it really matter to 'bass'? As it happens, it really doesn't matter what bass prefer, because fishermen support the lure industry, while bass get every lure for free ;-) I've alway believed that color is important inasmuch as it enhances 'lure visibility', but once your lure is noticed, the importance of color falls through the cracks. When in doubt go darker, because dark colors usually provide greater contrast. Roger

I'm aware that this is an ancient post, but felt obligated to respond. After a bellyfull of PowerPro braid, I switched to Berkley Fireline Braid and LUV the stuff! It should be indicated however that Fireline Braid does not consist of 'Kevlar'. Although Kevlar broke ground in bulletproof vests, it had the uneviable trait of eroding line guides. This cast a stigma on ALL braided line which took many years to undo. All that said, Berkley Fireline Braid consists of Dyneema kite string, which is to say "gel-spun polyethylene". Roger

Clapton, Hendrix & Tiny Tim (Okay, I'm not sure about Tiny Tim)

Thank you fellows for your concern, it is much appreciated. All is very well, in fact Lois and I have reservations for a pike vacation next month. In prep for this outing, I recently purchased a slew of Grassmaster jigs, which gave rise to my post. Arched Rods, Roger

Short answer: Money well spent. In addition to 'vertical' mat-punching, a jig should also be able to navigate 'horizontally' through weedbeds. Here in Florida, we deal mostly with shallow weedy lakes, and in Canada we're dealing with cabbage and milfoil. No matter how spiffy the jig, if it can't reach the fish it's useless. In the 1970s, the only jig I found with a 'nose eyelet' was the Denny Brauer Weed Sneek. It was a swim jig alright, but long before they had a name. When the name 'swim jig' was coined (~2000) every manufacturer got in on the act, which gave the fisherman a bunch of choices. For many years 'Outkast Jigs' were my favorite, eventually moving over to "Dirty Jigs', who have more on their menu. Although both are excellent jigs, in my opinion, the 'All-Terrain Grassmaster' is the new gold standard. When judging a jig for weedless quality, there are 3 important focal points: 1) Nose-Eyelet.................(a line-eye positioned on top of the jighead makes a dreadful weed-trap) 2) Weedguard Angle.......(The All-Terrain Grassmaster approaches a straight line, about 165 deg) 3) Weedguard Tension....(In spite of all else, a soft weedguard drops the ball) Roger

You have nothing to fear Robert, I have no idea what I'm talking about Roger

In blogs and forums, the status of a post is often decided by the number of responses. You will notice though, the greatest number of hits are normally generated by posts with the path of least resistance, for instance: "What's your favorite color Senko?" "Buzzbaits part 1 & 2" took me the better part of a day to compile, yet I realize that a tutorial will not yield the responses generated by group participation. Roger

Thank You Hatrix, Roger

RW had his HANDSFULL making that decision Roger

Jeff, a good Columbia shirt today averages about $55 but you can pay over $100 depending on the line. Under Armour definitely makes great apparel, especially for hiking, skiing & hunting. But they seem to place less emphasis on UV protection. Most of their garments don't have a turn up SPF-rated collar to protect the neck, and a lot of their stuff has no collar at all. Hey Sir Snook, You're as bad as me...don't you ever sleep? I'm going fishing today, so after this post comes the Dennis Miller exit...."And I'm outta here!" Roger

Sorry. That should be better

I used to be under the impression that cotton is the best material for perspiration, but living in Florida has changed my mind. Cotton is hydroscopic (it absorbs moisture), and once cotton is wet, cotton stays wet. Synthetic materials like polyester and nylon are hydrophobic (they don't absorb moisture). This is good because it keeps water vapor in suspension which may then be expelled by ventilated apparel. In hot weather, a non-ventilated synthetic garment would trap moisture and become clammy, However, long-sleeve sunshirts of synthetic-fiber are strategically ventilated to transport moisture away from the body. Good sunshirts generally include a mesh-lining of synthetic fabric to storehouse moisture. Depending on the shirt's design, ventilation flaps may be found along the flanks, the shoulders and the cape across the back. To be sure, cotton is soft and comfortable when dry, but synthetic fibers (polymers) are stronger and lighter than cotton and unlike cotton they repel dirt and are wrinkle-free. Polyester makes an excellent sunshirt but given a choice I'd go with nylon. Nylon is even stronger and lighter than polyester and unlike polyester it has a little stretch, which is a nice feature when you're wrapped around the rail lipping a bass. If you're set on a Columbia shirt, which is an excellent choice, you might look at their "Silver Ridge" model. Roger

The shortcut to a clean zigzag retrieve known as "dog-walking" is a tail-weighted lure. For many years, the Heddon Super Spook Jr. was my favorite zigzag topwater. But Zara Spook is now riding on its laurels, and no longer has the same tail weighting. Today, there are several superior dog-walkers. Roger

Beer and fishing have poker beat by a country mile. Congratulations on a boatload of sows, which in your case is business as usual Roger

''I had port and starboard downriggers installed on a 24-ft center-console. They were a nuisance to deal with but did a great job. Mounted properly, the cannonball will be in the transducer cone which takes the guesswork out of lure depth. I didn't like working with cannonballs but liked planer boards even less. Roger

Or Downrigger I know, that's a self-releasing line-weight Roger

John Nailed It. To use his example, if you let out too much line, instead of a plug going deeper it will actually begin to "rise" in the water column as more line is paid out. One time in the ocean I was trolling a spoon for bluefish, when I noticed a strange surface disturbance far astern of my vessel. That strange disturbance was my trolled spoon. I paid out way too much braided dacron line and the line bow from cumulative line-drag put the spoon on the surface. Fish were marking about 35 ft down, so I should've been trolling with lead-core line or monel....that happened later ;-) Roger

There are two ways to advance a T-rigged ribbontail worm. You can use your "Rod" or you can use your "Reel". Most anglers use their rod by lifting the rod followed by reeling down the slack to regain contact with their lure. Instead, you might want to stay in constant contact with your lure. To do this, use a "Crank-and-Glide" retrieve. Crank the reel 1 to 4 turns, depending on the water depth and lure distance from boat. Then allow the worm to glide back to the bottom on a "tight-line glide". Every time the lure makes bottom contact, simply repeat the crank-and-glide. In this fashion the rod 'never' moves, but remains stationary throughout the retrieve. Bottom contact is usually signaled in one of two ways >> The tight line will suddenly droop and form a line-belly >> The little V-wake made by the line will stop advancing toward the angler. Roger

HOLY COW!! Big-O, around hear we call that a Beer Keg...great catch Roger

You didn't mention seeing a bass bed, so it's not likely she was there to spawn. Unless the water was muddy or very murky, it's also unlikely that a buck would fan a bed that shallow and that tight to the shoreline To reduce the odds of being seen, always keep the sun on your back, BUT keep your shadow out of your vista. Roger

Every angler on the boards knows that feeling well. Confidence comes and goes, but perserverance is the equalizer. Keep on slugging, because it only takes ONE retrieve to cause a reversal of fortune Roger

Yes, vitamin D of course, not B (I corrected my typo). Your success with vitamin-D is remarkable, I wish I could solve my problems with a vitamin supplement....not gonna happen Roger

What he said Roger