RoLo

No problem, I'm a Florida Yankee. Though it wasn't easy, I finally adapted to 12 months of water Roger

Welcome aboard! Roger

If you watch closely you'll notice that the ends of a W-rigged worm do not waggle during the first 1 to 2 feet of descent. Adding weight to the worm jump starts the end-shimmy. There are 4 ways to add weight: wacky jig, bullet sinker, weighted hook or large unweighted hook. An unweighted Gama 3/0 round-bend hook weighs 12 grains (~1/32oz). A friend of mine wacky worms with a blood-red 5/0 heavy-wire hook and does really well. In natural weedy lakes, a wacky jig with a weedguard is a friendly option. Roger

As Catt said, during the pre-spawn 'before' vegetation has sprouted. Cranks also strut their stuff over clean bottoms at the mouth of an inflowing stream, especially after a rainfall. Bass after bass without a blade of grass (hey, that rhythms!) Roger

"What Made You Rage The Most?" The road

On a budget or not, for me it's 30-lb braid, which does everything I want (NO LEADER of course). With a big swimbait you're primary concern is setting the hook 'Beyond-The-Barb', then you won't have to worry about hooks tearing out (can't fight a hippo on the points of hooks) I use Sufix 832, but was just as happy when I used Berkley Trilene Braid (great braid but overlooked) Roger

Your wish has been granted. Without a doubt, Florida-strain bass grow ‘faster’ than northern-strain bass, and they reach much ‘heavier’ ultimate weights. Nevertheless, the girth ratio of bass does not hinge on genetic strain. The ratio of girth-to-length hinges on the forage base in the bass’s home waters coupled with the foraging strategy and tactics of an individual bass (energetic vs.opportunistic). Florida-strain bass in California that gorge on high-fat trout acquire the shape of a basketball. In contrast, the typical Florida-strain bass living in its native waters is a streamlined, well proportioned fish (ditto northern-strain bass). The In-Fisherman conversion table (length to weight) makes no distinction between Northern-strain and Florida-strain. As it happens, their weights are a tad higher than mine: 22” = 6.22 lb 23” = 7.17 lb Beginning in the mid 1960s I devised my own ‘Length to Weight Conversion Table’. The underlying framework is based on the average of 2 accepted conversion formulas, then adjusted and tweaked by forthcoming data over several decades. Input data was derived from certified records, published statistics, bass I weighed in local tournaments and bass we personally caught from Ontario to Florida. To improve linearity, the table results were smoothed in much the same manner as you’d smooth stock prices with an exponential moving average. Roger

Exactly! Making matters worse, I've also been fooled by slab crappies generating a whitewater commotion like feeding bass. On a high note, the occasional crappie we've plucked from a whitewater jump tend to run 1.5 to 2.5 lbs (crazy) Roger

It's frustrating when they get selective like that. On Little Lake Winterset we had bass busting on the surface about every 10 to 15 min (I was at anchor). The prey appeared to be shad and I threw everything at them (Hopkins, fluke, roostertail, tiny Johnson spoon ~). I finally caught 'one' lousy bass, and of all things it hit a plastic worm (go figure) Roger

There you have it. Roger

Nice post

My first question, Mike....Are you 'positive' they weren't crappies? I've been fooled more than once by slab crappies busting the surface, that resembled a school bass blitz. You find out when a 2-lb crappie nails your bass plug Roger

It's the angler's refusal to accept defeat that keeps him coming back for more (Nothing more boring than winning every time) Roger

"How Do You Remove A Swallowed Hook?" In my opinion you don't. When major surgery is performed afield by a pretend surgeon, high success ratios are illusory. The impatient angler will make lethal incisions out of haste, and the angler with poor manual dexterity will do the same. A fish that swims away from your boat is by no means indicative of a survivor, because delayed mortality is invisible. The greatest healer on planet Earth is Mother Nature (literally the only healer). Instead, carry a pair of long-handled diagonal cutters and snip both ends of the hook-shank nearest to the flesh as possible. Then surrender the task of survival to Mother Mother, and the consequences thereafter are out of your hands (You've done your level best). Roger

Welcome aboard Ernest Roger

- Zoom 4.5" Finesse Worm (high visibility) - Zoom 6.5" Trick Worm - Gambler 5.0" Ace (stickworm) Roger

If you spit on your knots and they never break, do you give saliva the credit? If you spit on your knots and one suddenly breaks, does saliva get the blame? I never wet any knot, and they don't break, so where should I put the credit? I'd love to have the power of one wive's tale Roger

Yup. Back then, that shoe-shaped weight was called a "walking sinker" which today is usually called a "walleye sinker". Roger

Glock 26 Gen4 (9x19mm, subcompact, semi-automatic pistol) Maybe two of them. Roger

No I wouldn't Kylek, and I respect your point. On the other hand, I place a lot of value on all my friendships, and after discovering an honesty issue (ego problem), I just wouldn't have the same enthusiasm to maintain that friendship, which is not healthy. There are plenty of fish in the sea, and I'll bet the ranch that you've met truckloads of anglers who are great guys and great gals. Why settle? Roger

Though I shoot for 5-twists, if the tag-end is short I'll settle for a 4-twist uni-knot. I'm still waiting for a 4-twist uni-knot to fail. Any day now....aaany day I hasten to add that I don't use fluorocarbon line, so I cannot speak for fluorocarbon knots. Roger

Nice fish! Roger

Yeah well, that's a pretty tough concept to grasp

For starters, 4-lb 12-oz is more like a 5-pound fish. More importantly, how do you measure friendship in fish pounds? If that smallmouth weighed 7-pounds, would that change your mind? Roger

I'd already be gone just kidding Roger