RoLo

It appears that the consensus nod goes to a Small, Wacky-rigged worm. It might be helpful if y'all included the instructions you'd give your buddy on how to fish this strange new bait Roger

Let's not kid ourselves, bass are comfortable in all water temperatures. Water temperature affects the metabolism and disposition of bass, but those are separate properties from comfort. Bass are cold-blooded creatures with no core body-temperature to maintain, so what purpose would a pain-warning system serve? This is difficult for warm-blooded humans to comprehend, because we must maintain a core temperature 98.6 F. or else die. As @geo g suggested above, when water temperatures climb into the 90s, the most pressing issue becomes 'low dissolved oxygen content'. This is especially true for a 'pond' in Arizona, New Mexico or Florida, where water depth will NOT be your savior. On the contrary, your best approach would be to head to shallow water and seek healthy oxygen-producing vegetation. Roger

Not being on the Bait Monkey's payroll, I'm not motivated to recommend the esoteric

"How to get lazy bass to bite in the summer?" Crank-and-glide a Culprit 10" Original Worm (black) I always dip the worm in Blue cheese. Oh No not for the bass, just in case I run out of sandwiches

Over the years I've owned 3 Trackers, and they are excellent aluminum hulls for the price (for the price). Though I've never owned a Lund, if I ever purchased another aluminum hull, it would be a Lund Roger

Good question Yearjray, and I wouldn't want to be the defending attorney. I have the same question regarding the price difference between a Shimano Stradic ($230) and a Shimano Stella ($800). As the owner of both reels, I wouldn't know which reel was in my hand if I didn't look down and read the label Roger

I don't view carp as a problem, I view carp as an excellent gauge of trophic status. Waters that harbor a bounty of carp and catfish indicate a waterbody of advanced age, a water that's past it peak production of bass, walleyes and pike. Roger

Why would she want to go to Barkley Lake with someone who doesn't know an embroidery stitch from a hemstitch? Roger

Yah, I suppose that's what I should've said Then again, I wasn't sure how to spell 'inxpeeriense' Roger

"Ditto" If I may, allow me to add a rarely considered surface lure, an unweighted or lightly weighted "Soft Swimbait" (e.g. Gambler Big EZ). When a bass wallops a paddle-tail minnow on top, the water surface resembles shattered plate-glass Roger

Without a doubt, "time-of-day" is very important but topwater fishing throws lots of curve balls. The best topwater bite of my life occurred during mid-day with partly sunny skies. At least as important as the time-of-day is the "time-of-year". My personal favorite topwater season is the 'post-spawn' followed closely by 'early fall' (post-summer) followed by the entire summer season. It goes without saying, whenever you hear the unmistakable sound of a surface-feeding bass, quickly grab your topwater outfit, it'll be the easiest bass in the lake to catch Roger

Overrun during mid-cast points to the braking system, but if it occurs during the last half of the cast, as I suspect, I'd re-adjust the spool tension. Hold the rod parallel to the ground, depress the thumb bar and let the lure hit the ground in a freefall. If there's any indication of overrun on the spool, (fluffy line) get rid of it by tightening your tension knob. Roger

I rummaged thru my frog drawer but the closest match I could find was an old Spro frog. It has the same walking weight in the same location, has a diamond shaped underside, and a circular dimple behind the eye. Possibly a forerunner of the Bronzeye, but I really can't say. Roger

In my opinion...yes

Shimano Casitas (6.7oz) $120 Out of your range, but the Curado is currently on sale for $150 Roger

Zoom 3.0" Tiny Brush Hog (green pumpkin) True Finesse Creature (not a wannabe) Roger

Never missed an episode of Wild Kingdom (Perkins & Fowler), I loved the show. I remember one episode where Marlin was chased up a tree, apparently by a tame bear which came within inches of his legs Roger

With regard to smallies in streams, an excellent all-purpose lure is a Kalin 5" Grub on a Gamakatsu 3/16 oz Round Jighead (3/0 hook). A crank-&-glide retrieve is basic, but in the current of a stream, also let the jig roll naturally in the current along the bottom. Roger

I can only guess, possibly an Owner 5/0 Wide-gap Plus Roger

"You know you're a diehard fisherman when" When you never make a dinner date without checking the 5-day weather forecast Roger

Yah.....I think he needs one more "fish" in his name

Congratulations, those are lunker seatrout (Lemme gess: Indian River, Melbourne, FL). Roger

That reaffirms two things: > Bass are opportunistic predators > Availability and preference are easily confused Given a choice, bass prefer forage that does not have spiny rays Roger

Any old, retired fishing line can be used for Backing, retired line does not mean junk line. A habit I picked up in the Atlantic Ocean (where one large fish can smoke a spool) is to backup with any cheap surplus line of a higher pound-test than the Topping. That not only gives you piece of mind, but the heavier the Backing, the faster you fill the spool. Roger