Sam

Super! Another guy from the great northwest. Have a good time on the forum and we look forward to your experience and wisdom.

Be sure to note the rod's specs and get a reel that matches the rod. For instance, look at the line test and lure weight on the rod and make sure your reel is within those parameters. Remember,, a low retrieve ratio is for power and a fast ratio is for speed. Have fun selecting the reel and let us know how you do when fishing the rig.

Thanks for the "heads-up" Bobby. Will check out the site and place my order with the 20% off coupon. Happy New Year.

Looks great. Do you have a dog? You can do the same thing to the dog's toe nails. ;D ;D ;D

Dave, Great news. I know you can find minnows, crawfish and small bream for starters and then add a dink. Feeding your bass goldfish is a great adventure and super to watch. You can see how the bass inhale their prey. Don't forget structure and cover as the fish need places to hide and rest. Send us some pics when you have it setup. Happy New Year.

What is the forage? Crawfish? If so, what color? Water Clarity? - Clear, stained or dirty? Bottom - Mud, sand, rock? Cover and Structure? - Wood, grass, rock, flat, culverts? Fish Activity? - Active or inactive? Trailer Claw Movement? - Fast (Rage Tail) or slow (Pork and Plastic)? So your simple query as to what color needs to be thought out and amended as you fish the jig. Did we discuss bottom color????? I would go with a Pork Trailer in blue or black for starters, and have a orange and a crawfish color ready to change out. Just food for thought.

Wal-Mart has Nightcrawlers. Around $3.00 or less for two dozen.

Here are some suggestions to consider when selecting a rod. When comparing baitcasters with spinning rods, pleaset note the following: 1. Glass or graphite? 2. Rod specs and how they balance with the reel you will want to use. 3. Rod rating. Medium Heavy is an all around rating. 4. Rod length. 6'6" is standard. Go longer for more power and longer casts. 5. Number of line eyes on rod. The more, the better. 6. The type of line eyes on the rod. Check them out. 7. Length of rod handle. 8. Type of rod handle. 9. Manufacturer's warranty. Do not be bashful. Make clerk look it up for you or go to the manufacturer's web site and find it, if possible. If you want a specific brand of rod, like Shimano, Kistler, All Star, Daiwa, Bass Pro Shops, etc., please go to their web sites and look up their rods and their specifications. G. Loomis describes all of their rods in detail on their web site. If you can't decide, stick with an Ugly Stick ;D ;D ;D Let us know what you get. Happy New Year.

Curado.

Do not use a swivel on a spinnerbait. Period.

The medium heavy is a great all around bass rod. Usually a 6'6" is great and when pitching and flipping you can go longer, like to a 7' or 7'3. The heavy rod would be good when you need the power to get the bass out of the slop, weeds and grass when fishing frogs. If you throw a frog in open water then a medium heavy is OK. Be sure to read the specifications on the rod and balance them with the specifications on your reel. A reel with a lower ratio is power while a higher reel ratio is speed. Enjoy the snow and ice up your way. Happy New Year! ;D

Have closed my eyes but never tuned out my hearing. May give it a try next year. And I agree. If you close your eyes you seem to have a better "feel" of the line via your finger. Only problem is I am "Type A" so patience is not one of my virtues.

Shimano.

Megaphone to announce at tournament blast offs Three tubes of Megastrike Two Cavitron Buzzbaits Two Evolution jigs, black and blue 1,000 piece bass puzzle for wife and I to put together Rod holders for car to carry rods And the best gifts of all..$85 to BPS to add to my $70 Rewards balance = $155 for the Bait Monkey and me to have some fun when the January sale starts

I use the weedless hooks and so far the 3/0 has worked fine. I also have used the 4/0 and 5/0 straight shank hooks and fished them weedless on the worm. Experiment and let us know what you find out this winter, spring and summer. Should be interesting report to read. Merry Christmas.

'Tis better to throw the wrong bait in the correct strike zone then the correct bait out of the strike zone.

Don't feed the dog from the table. ;D

On the back inside cover of the January issue of Bassmaster Magazine, there is an ad for U.S. Reel. I have not heard of U.S. Reel so I went to their web site, trying to find out more info about their new reels and their costs. Anyone out there have any U.S. Reels? Anyone out there have any of the new U.S. Reel series? Check out their web site. The reel works backwards from the current baitcasters and it does not have a level wind eyelet and the line comes off the bottom of the spool. www.usreels.com Thanks for your input and opinions. Merry Christmas

Went to the office to collect a bunch of stuff to look at this weekend. Had office closed today so everyone could go out and mess up traffic and shop. Will reopen office on Monday and then close it Tuesday at 3 PM. Reopen again on January 5th. Should give me some time to read fishing articles and books. Everyone have a great Christmas. Merry Christmas

Yes Muddy, the bass have different strike zone areas. When they are active the zone is large. When they are inactive the zone is small. This is why the bass will streak upward of 10 feet to hit a spinnerbait in the summer and not move over 1 foot in the winter. Good info. Thanks for sharing and opening this thread.

Dave, you did good. Keep walking and collecting. Keep us informed as to what you find. It is always fun to walk in the woods or along a creek and see what you can find. If you drive over into DC and walk around the Capitol you can find a lot of idiots. ;D ;D ;D

While in college I worked the graveyard shift and loved it. No hassles. No bosses running around. Cooler nights. Less traffic coming and going. Having the day to visit stores and conduct personal business. It was great.

Simp, With all the weather related problems I am surprised if your packages arrive at all. I know UPS is doing its best and is inundated with packages as we do not trust the United States Postal Service to handle our packages promptly and professionally so we go with UPS. Hope all arrives in time. Merry Christmas.

That's terrible. Reminds me of the story of the little six-year old boy who comes out of the shower and holds his ba**s in his hand and asks his mom, "Are these my brains?" "Not for a few years," she replied.

Paul, you just gotta fish Disney and let us know how it went. And if you want to try your luck in some local waters that are off limits to the public, check out Bush Gardens in Williamsburg. Their ponds are out of this world. But you need to know someone who works there to fish the ponds. I wish I knew someone who I could go with to fish those Bush Garden ponds. Merry Christmas