RoLo

Chris Lane is a strong believer that sonar pulses will alarm bass in heavily fished waters (i.e. every big lake). Chris has been doing very well on the tourney trail, so I wouldn't summarily dismiss his theory. I've experimented with this a little bit, but haven't arrived at any respectable conclusion. Unscrewing the sonar cable during operation is not recommended, and waiting for the unit to boot-up after every holding site can quickly get old Roger

For starters it's a Shimano, but more than that the drag & brake system is silky smooth and consistent. It has a boss finish to boot

Another vote for Chronarch

My lure arsenal is pre-rigged at all times, and stashed in the garage behind my boat. Soft-plastics aren't threaded on hooks until we're on the water (I screw a plastic cup over trebled plugs). Roger

A known hot-spot in a popular lake will likely be assaulted by a wide array of lure colors during the 'same' day. Oddly enough, the color selection won't necessarily be dictated by lighting conditions or prevailing prey, but will be dictated largely by "LURE TYPE". The same sweet-spot during the same day will likely be raked by a "Black-&-Blue" jig & craw, a "Green Pumpkin" plastic worm, a "Sexy Shad" billed crank, a "Chrome & Blue" lipless crank, a "Black" popping toad, a "Silver" spoon and a "Chartreuse & White" spinnerbait See something wrong with that picture? Roger

Within your price range, I would recommend taking a peek at the "Lowrance Elite 5 Ti sonar". The more you read, the more opinionated you will become as to the features you must-have, and the features you can live without (e.g side-imaging). Roger

Myself: German, Hungarian, Czech My Wife: Ukrainian, Polish, Russian Our daughter is the League of Nations, and her kids?? Fogeta Bowdit! Roger

One of the best bass lures to master first would be a Texas-rigged plastic worm. Roger

Mmm

Happy Birthday Jeff, I'm not the only one getting older Roger

I'll drink to that. I think of color as the caboose

I grew up hearing: "Any color will work, as long as it's purple" (royalty indeed). Today of course, 60% of anglers fish 'green pumpkin' and 40% fish 'black-&-blue'. So what does that tell us? It tells us that whenever green pumpkin catches 55% of the bass, green pumpkin is under-performing Roger

Lending further credence to the color 'blue' is the fact that it's also the favorite color of Roland Martin, who's the uncontested AOY leader (Roland-9 | KVD-7). To be more specific, the color "purple" was the odds-on favorite for about 30 years. Roger

If I'm clumsy enough to send an outfit overboard, the combo should sink to the bottom to punish my negligence. Mind you, I'm not saying it never happened to me Roger

Well, for fishing laydowns, stumps & stickups, an Arky head is generally preferred (c/o Arkansas). For dragging over gravel and rocks, a football jig is tough to beat. For swimming in mid-water and around weedbeds I prefer a swim jig, which might be your best 'overall' bet. For a jig worked along the bottom, I like dark colors such as black & blue and Junebug. For jigs worked at mid-depths and in clear water I'll lean to mid-spectrum colors like watermelon. The brand you choose depends on the jig features you're looking for. Truthfully, no one makes a jig with all the features I like, but Dirty Jigs and Outkast come close. Roger

There are many fine jigs out there, but I'd really have to know how you intend to fish the jig. By that I mean: in heavy weeds, in a stump-field, swimming in midwater, over a rocky bottom ~ Roger

Sorry to hear about your Nitro, I know that feeling well. I'll keep an eye out for you Dink...we won't mention any lake names

I'll be 75 this year, and well remember saving my weekly allowances to buy my first Heddon River Runt. One day I inadvertently left my little lure box (w/ River Runt) on the shore of Budd Lake, New Jersey. When I got home and finally got the nerve to tell my dad, he said "Good Forya" (end of story). Dad was not a liberal Roger

That's a better question than you might realize. I'm the last guy to ram casting gear down the throat of a freshwater angler. My wife & I winched countless big bass out of heavy cover using nothing but spinning gear (my PB included). I hasten to add, we weren't using ultralight spinning tackle, but spinning blanks rated for 10-20 lb line and 1/4 to 1oz lures. I'd respectfully say, choose whatever gear brings you the greatest joy, it's your baby. Roger

Looks like a little 'River Runt' (sure takes me back) Roger

Any cast over 50 yards came from another rod, certainly not mine Roger

I agree, Lee Wulff's version is more realistic. The Royal Coachman's greatest claim to fame was being first.

Supposedly a bicolor drake (type of mayfly)

"Ever caught a fish without hooking the mouth?" Oh yeah, and a few times I believe I hooked the fish next to him

A country mile