tbone1993

I was fishing on Table Rock two weeks ago in 4 layers including bibs and snow boots water temp ranged from 46-48 air tempt was anywhere from 25-32 . Had I fallen in I would have been dead from the additional weight. Being in 100- 200ft of water can be really scary when you take a pee off the back and the boat rocks a little bit.

If I could mark this post as answered I would right here. If I knew you I would let you test it out.

Right now main lake points that have transitions but also lead to coves and areas where bass will spawn. Bass will follow the contour lines and stop at points in order to ambush bait.

Throw that a rig while you still can.

When I hear small creeks I instantly think small mouth. Any sort of finesse jig but also try a brown colored craw crankbait. In the creeks by me I have some very good success with brown crankbaits in shallow creeks.

I wanted to shoot myself using vicious. No problems with the 100% fluoro by berkley.

Took a look at those on TW. Sounds like Mustang is running away with it in the PFD department, I was already looking at them so thats good.

Any specific models? I would change the cartridges regularly but I would like to know that the straps hold up and things of that nature.

I use a modified version of this knot for braid ( I think its called a berkley knot) but yeah use this knot

Lately I have been fishing tournaments as a co angler and now have the opportunity to use a boat from time to time. As a co angler I am stuck using my boaters extra life jackets. They work but I would much rather have my own PFD that I could carry on the boat and be comfortable rather than using an over/undersized jacket. Does anyone have any solid recommendations that they would honestly trust their own life with. It is a life jacket so my budget limitless.

Most good quality jig heads sit on an angle that mimics a defensive postition. I know the kinami baits psychodad float I would check those out.

Nothing wrong with the 3/4 I personally dont fish spinnerbaits on the bottom so I wouldnt use a 1 and 3/8 oz spinnerbait.

Most trailers I use " float" in a sense that the claws / appendages float up. Most of the bait is going to be held down by the weight of the jig so it is pointless to have a trailer that floats 100%. Some baits like paca craws have spots for air pockets that make bubbles in the water but also allow the claws to float.

How long do they take to ship?

So at this rate the bass will be spawning in may....

Throw a jig with the biggest trailer you have ( trailer can be a beaver style bait to a craw bait honestly anything that displaces a lot of water and moves) try and hit the stumps and wait for a bite and slam the hook home. Honestly the reason why you miss the fish on the senkos is either a slack line or a hookset with too much slack. Reel down the slack and slam the hook home and keep the tension on the fish. Turn your rod sideways and keep it low. If all else fails throw a crankbait and see what color catches fish. Once you get the numbers pick up a bigger crankbait and go for size. Chances are that your bigger fish are only interested in a big easy meal. Also if noone manages the pond there could be a high population of small bass , no medium sized bass and a good number of large bass.

My buddy has won multiple tournaments vertical jigging buzzbaits in 30 ft of water. Give that a shot.

A junk bait is a junk bait. You can tell by the hardware used as well as how the bait acts in the water. I feel that a great bait must preform to your expectations out of the box. For instance strike king 1.5s are good baits but their hooks suck. Compare that to a great bait like a spro little john and you see the difference out of the box. On the other hand there are just some baits that are garbage out of the box and that is the reason they cost $2. Soft plastics are a whole different ball of wax. Some are just garbage and have little or too much action. Just like hard baits it depends on a case by case basis. The 30 storm baits you have most likely have a purpose but you just have not found it yet. They could be strictly winter baits that do not work well in the summer. That being said I have caught fish year round on a shad rap even though that is considered a cold water bait. The only way I retire a bait is if I cannot find a better/reasonable alternative. Sure mcsticks are expensive but they are one of my favorite jerkbaits and 9/10 I will pick them over a bps exclusive and the 1 time I pick the bps is for a give away bait.

They work and they have solid snaps, just use pliers to get them shut.

best suggestion yet. I normally tie mine around my hand and pull straight up. I would suggest making a retriever, they cost about 15 bucks and can go deeper.

Is that a musky rod? Im not a fan of round reels especially for jigs since I like to palm my entire reel. Gets the job done though.

True I am saying if you have the tension adjusted to lt the bait fall at a steady pace and not free spool. With it loose it will certainly backlash no matter the settings.

When I am messing around and have them all on I havent gotten a bird nest even from hitting the lip of the boat or a dock. The only disadvantage is shorter casts and almost no ability to skip a jig.

In 30 degree temps the conditioner didnt do anything for the line. I gave it overnight to set up but it didnt seem to help the line at all. I really cant make a judgement now because almost every line is going to suck in this cold weather.

I would change the hardware on that rig if I used it, I like to be able to bend the hooks out if I snag a log. I also would have to feel the wires in person because I do not like light wire a rigs. In my experience the lighter the wire the more I have to keep fixing it.