jkarol24

Especially when fishing smallies, watch your line to detect when they are coming up to the surface. When you see this, proceed to put your rod tip down (i get it in the water a good ways). This will be your best bet at keeping that fish from jumping.

I use a few diffrent ones depending on the mood of the fish, as well as water temp. If water is warm and fish are active, i will use a trailer that moves alot of water. I have custom craws and twin tail grubs poured for me, and i also like netbait paca craws and/or rage tail craws. Now for coolwe water with less active fish, i will go with a beaver of some type. I would suggest changing trailers throughout the day, alot of times the bass will prefer one over the other

All last year i brought 5-6 rods with no problem. They included: -2 spinning rods, one with a weightless wacky rig, and one with a dropshot - 3 baitcasters, one for heavy flipping, frogging, C rigs, swimbaits, one for moderate cover jigs and spinnerbaits, one for topwaters, jerks, heavy shakey heads -additional baitcaster for cranking but only if partner indicated cranking as a possibility In my tackle bag: -5 3600 p boxes, one for terminal tackle, one for jigs, one forspinnerbaits, one for jerks/topwaters, and one for cranks/traps - a few soft plastic bait bags kept in the side pockets (craws/ flipping on one side, worms on other) - small spool of leader material - pliers - leader roll with 5 or 6 prerigged dropshots (weight, hook, and swivel), plus additional weights and swivels inside - culling buoys - sunglasses and goggles - flashlight Additional stuff: - rain gear dependent on weather - small bag of peanuts or trail mix - Gatorade - life jacket I always kept the bag either under the console or between my rods and where my feet would go. Keep it simple, organized, amd know where all of your stuff is located in your tackle bag. I use a sharpie and write what is in each box on the side showing so that i can see whats in each one before i pull it out of the bag. As well, if you pull out a box or a bag of lures, grab what you need and then put it back in tacklebag before you start fishing again. Keeps everything organized and in one place.

I have a 6'8" powell max in medium action. It is perfect for skipping docks and will get the job done in open water too.

I dont see why this wouldnt work mounted on trolling motor. As long as it is lower than the bottom of the hull, it should work... Their current mount pole thing looks like the perfect target for underwater wood and such. I bet they are going to make alot of $$ from people having to replace the ducers they have broken off!

Your right, he came in 23d. I wont post what place i came in At least it wasn't last.... Im so excited about the boat, hopefully will do decent this summer. Sorry for the brief threadjack. Anyways, WEAR YOUR LIFE JACKET!

I may be wrong, but those slower gears are bigger and therefore heavier. It would be lighter than the winch, but not by much.

I know all too well that guys fish with their powerpoles down. At Oneida lake i was a co angler with a guy who had double poles. He would nose up to a dock, drop the poles, and fish the dock while blocking me completely. Better yet, it was the first tournament i had ever fished. Only two fish i caught all day came as we briefly fished a shoal between dock locations... As for falling overboard, i had a pretty bad experinece in kayaks. I had a buddy who decided to put down the anchor but flipped the kayak while tring to do so, falling into 10 ft of 53 degree water out on Lake Ontario. He had a life vest on but ended up turning blue, unable to move, and had that deer in headlights look. Sure enough, i end up jumping in after him. I hit that water and it pulled all the air out of me and i couldnt speak, but the adrenaline kept my legs and arms moving. Long story short, i end up dragging this kid to another friends pontoon boat who was fishing with us and pushing him over the side and in the boat. I then somehow re-entered my sit-in kayak from the water. I was real shook up for a few days. Without that life vest, my buddy would've started sinking. Morale of the story- Wear the life vest and try to be with someone!

I've gone through security multiple times with a reel with line on it. Gave the screener a good laugh, said he hadnt seen a fishing reel in a few months.

I almost always have the lucky honey roasted peauts. Gotta have them or i wont catch fish. Some sort of trail/snack mix will also make it in the boat along with some gatorade and water. However, i've leaned that for me, i CANNOT and WILL NOT eat ANYTHING before about 9:30 at the earliest. #2 on the water is simply the worst. Plus, i stick to a small dinner as well. Also, i always have an energy shot/drink in the tow vehicle to slurp before i start driving. Man am i tired after a tournament day, I need something to get me home. As for peeing, i have no shame Head to the back of the boat, pee over the back and try not to hit the motor.

You can get away with fluoro for most flipping applications. However, if you are going to go froggin with the same setup, use braid! Fluorocarbon and frogs just dont go together due to sinking qualities, some stretch, and inability to cut through grass. Braid will float, near zero stretch for better hookups, and cuts through grass and thick weeds to help hoarse out the big ones lurking in the thick nasty.

Very good rod for the price. They are stiffer than advertised (a medium feels like a MH, MH feels like a heavy), but are pretty light and sensative. Unfortunantly, ive owned 2 or 3 and have broken the tips off, repaired them, and then broken them off again. But they are well priced. Just get a warranty with it!

I think this is where your wrong. I believe that the fish will most likely eat the head of the worm first. If a bass is eating something that is big, it would make sense that they would go for the kill shot directly at the head, not from the tail. As well, if you fish in a lake with some big shad, you may observe a shad sticking out of the gullet of a bass. Most of the time, the tail will be the part of the shad sticking out, showing that the bass inhaled it head first.

I left a 2-3 month old pair of $140 Native sunglasses on the top of my jeep as i was in a hurry to get off of the water and pick up a friend. Didnt realize until the next day that they were missing. Must have fallen off as i was driving.

What they dont know wont hurt them.... Mom thinks i have 3 or 4. She missed the other 4 that snuck through the door into hiding As to lines- I have to agree with the above posts. Flipping and jerkbaits are two complete polar opposite techniques. For flipping, i use 50-65 lb braid on a 7'5" heavy flipping rod. For topwaters, its 12 lb mono or copolymer on a 6'6" medium rod. Sort of like comparing apples and oranges... Now if you were flipping extrememly sparse vegitation with no wood or docks in sight, than maybe you could get a away with 17 lb copolymer. The best idea would be to first load your reel with 30-50 lb braid. If you are flipping, just fish with braid connected to your lure. Now if you want to fish jerkbaits, add a 3-5 ft leader of mono or copoly and then tie this to the jerkbait. As long as you dont hoarse the fish around, you should be able to get away with using this for the jerkbaits.

I have tried a few brands, but i keep finding myself going back to the good ol' green power pro. I actually enjoy the rougher feel of it as i think i can control the line/ spool a bit better while say sufix 832 slips too easily from under my thumb. As well, the first yard of that 832 breaks down too fast. Decent otherwise, but i'd rather not pay $10 more for it, and then have to cut off at least a yard after each trip.

I use a 6'8" spinning rod for skipping senkos. Also have a 6'6" medium casting rod for topwaters and jerkbaits, and a 6'7" heavy casting rod that i love for pitching to docks and close range structure. IMO it allows you to control the bait a little better, and makes pitching easier as im kind of short (5'8" on a good day)

I love that old model pfleugger supreme XT spinning reels. Very fast, light, and perfectly balanced!

I am 17 and just bought my first bass boat. In my state (NY), i cannot legally enter into a contract under age 18, so insurance had to be under my parents name, but i could be put on as the primary driver. To do this, boat also has to be registered under parents name. Not a big deal, just run it past the folks. When buying insurance, get a bunch of quotes. I got insured by one company that was $200+ less than the rest, with the exact same coverage. As well, if you plan on fishing any tourneys associated with BASS (and most others), you will probably need 2 live wells, $300,000 liability, boat over 16' and engine over 60 or 80 HP (exact # isnt coming to me at the moment...). Good luck on your search!

The jig master himself, Denny Brauer, claims he will not throw a jig without a rattle in ANY circumstance. IMO the rattle wont neccesarily deter a bite unless fish are extremely spooky, so it cant hurt to use one.

IMO the spinshots are a novel idea that catches fishermen and fish alike, but is fairly redundent. I would suggest you tie in a small swivel at the bottom of your main line (i use braid). Then add fluoro to the bottom of the swivel and proceed to tie on hook and weight accordingly. This eliminated a connection knot between braid and fluoro, and will reduce the dreaded line twist.

My Gander mtn had them for $110. Needless to say, i bought one in a heartbeat, along with a Curado E7 on sale for $100. Gotta love those after christmas sales

If you are flexible on brand, i just picked up a 6'8" Medium Powell max spinning rod that is PERFECT for weightless senkos. Has an extra fast taper that handles senkos perfectly. They can be had for like $110 if you look.

Bare minimum 65# braid. I could nearly guarantee you will break off with 17 lb fluoro. I've seen them break off 50 lb just on a cast.... Visibility and feel are not issues, may as well go as heavy as possible.

Hmmm, an interesting dimlema... It sounds like storage is a feasable option for you. However, what i would do is put it up on the market for a fairly steep price and dont budge any lower than what you actually want to get out of it. That way, either you get a decent amount of cash to put into a new boat when you return, or if that doesnt work you can always take your baby and lock her up for a few years, and then return to enjoy her. On a final note, thank you for serving our wonderful country. Without the service of yourself and the many other brave men and women in the armed forces, none of us may even have the opportunity to drive that beautiful rig to the lake and enjoy a worry-free day on the water.