ClackerBuzz

This. OP your post spawn is my year round life. I live on a lake with brutal conditions and had to develop a system (even live bait was barely producing). 1- light lures, light line and long casts. my lure of choice has become a 1" nail weight in a 6" zoom trick worm. there is just something so appealing to bass about the way it glides down on a 45 degree angle. and if you sweep it forward 4ft it glides back at them which they aren't used to. 2-retrieve: deadsticking is an understatement. these bass will NOT hit a lure on the fall so it's going to be a long day if you keep casting for it. you need it to settle to bottom and sit a minimum of 60 seconds before even thinking about moving it only 6 inch. when the bite is 'aggressive' it's a minimum 2 min cast with the bite coming on the second drag. when it's bad go ahead and cast the rod, set it down, fish a second rod before going back working the first rod 3-4 mins later. brutal. 3-an anchor is mandatory. you can't do the retrieve above unless ur boat is stationary. drifting with the wind is far too fast and unnatural, i know b/c i've tried it hundreds of times when i give up for the day and drift home (although crappie love it). exciting way to fish? not on ur life. but man does it taste sweet when you catch bass and especially sweet when you trick the big ones.

I'm a huge buzzbait guy and wasn't impressed with the toad trailer. you have to be very careful not to reel too fast or it makes the lure roll on it's side. i also like adding explosive pops during the retrieve for reaction bites and it doesn't work well with a toad. and it doesn't plane as well on long casts. i went back to a skirt b/c I was unhappy with the performance. the one exception i might try is night fishing b/c of shorter casts, non-accuracy and larger profile. a swimbait was popular for awhile which I enjoyed more. i stopped used them b/c they tore easily which meant time constantly repairing. however that was before I found Z man so there is a happy middle ground if you truly want a larger profile. imo buzzbaits don't need a large profiel b/c sound and vibration are the draw.

Definitely St Croix for the quality and customer service. The fake carbon fiber reel seat rings on the Fenwick bass are garbage. They literally aren't secured to the cork or blank so they flex/wiggle and are an obvious problem. https://imgur.com/a/RJMtkeU

100% this. skipping a senko deep under docks is mandatory. wacky skips better but if you don't have weedless hooks just T rig them. Mustad Weedless Wacky Hook are the best I've found for wacky b/c the wire hook holds up. The Gammys are garbage b/c their fiber guard is weak as water and the epoxy gives way after only a few fish.

I do this as well. to say it a bit different: 95% of boats are trolling the same path--parallel to shore, exactly 1 casting distance from the bank. there are untold numbers of unpressured bass directly below this boat track. back 2 casting lengths from shore and start catching some of the best bass in the lake.

maybe if you like no warranty and arrogant narcissistic customer service. i had a champion literally shatter during a forward cast and they required me to pay $30 return shipping for 'inspection' only to rule it my fault and charge me $70 for replacement. companies like Daiwa elevating their budget game so high will eventually put boutique companies out of business. when their doors close 'after 70 years in business' I'm well aware they'll blame CA, I mean TX taxes, imports, Amazon blah blah blah instead of taking responsibility for never covering warranties or acknowledging how rude they treat customers.

This. 25% off sale now and they offer a $6 flat rate return label for the ones that don't fit. https://www.columbia.com/bahama-vent-pfg-|-554-|-12-191454104830.html?eid=trans&nid=COL_US_RTM_OrderConfirmation&mid=em https://www.columbia.com/dorado-cvo-pfg-|-063-|-12-190893810838.html?eid=trans&nid=COL_US_RTM_OrderConfirmation&mid=em https://www.columbia.com/bahama-vent-relaxed-pfg-|-271-|-12-190893844208.html?eid=trans&nid=COL_US_RTM_OrderConfirmation&mid=em

Love their stuff. Who is "they"?

Getting off the bank can make your head spin with options. Seems like you want to make 10,000 casts fishing every square inch of the lake. Here's a couple of lessons I learned over the last 3 seasons: --You don't have to cast every inch of the shoreline. --You don't have to catch every dink in the lake. --You don't have to blindly fish forward. It's insanely difficult to do but you learn far more by putting down the rods and getting on the trolling motor. Try to spook every bass possible and observe what cover they are holding on. Observe birds, baitfish, insects, surface and subsurface weeds, rocks, timer, water temps etc. -- Polarized sunglass are a must. --"If you ain't snagging, you ain't bagging". --Fishing sonar and fishing without sonar are 2 very different skill sets so choose which you are focusing on in the moment. Non-sonar fishing: Troll forward 50-100 yards forward without casting. Use polarized sunglasses to identify only high percentage cover. Turn around and only fish it i.e. laydowns, shallow surface weeds, deep subsurface weeds, drop offs, boulders, lily pads, docks with deep water access, underwater ledges, drain pipes, beaver dens, dams/chunk rock, visible weedlines, weed/lilly pad/rock transitions etc. Don't waste time casting every inch of shoreline, every small stick/branch, solo lilly pad, 2ft log etc. Bass relate to structure or cover but until you learn more focus on cover. They love hiding in the nasty stuff and ambushing prey so have plenty of weedless lures rigged and cast right into their living room. Repeat every 100 yards and after a few outings you'll start to learn which shorelines, cover, weeds etc are best. Sonar fishing: Most guys position their boat one full casting distance from shoreline and troll parallel to shore all day long not realizing there are tons of unpressured bass right underneath their boat path. Use your unit to ping 10 ft or less i.e. the area where your sunglasses stop working. Focus on weed lines or visible ledges/drop offs. Save the center of the lake and 15-20 ft depths until you get better. Use marker buoys to kick overboard when you see something good b/c they make it so easy to effectively cast an area. Don't fall into the trap of trying to fish shallow visible cover at the same time as learning to fish structure with the sonar. Dedicate separate time to each. Learning/catching sonar fish is harder so I'd spend an hour learning/getting skunked then head back to the shallows for 2 hours of catching before heading back for more sonar learning. There is a whole new world in front of you. Good luck and have a blast. Holy crap if you live this close to @papajoe222 try to beg, borrow or steal to get on his boat and learn from him. Buy lunch, contribute some gas money, case of beer... we're family friendly so I can't mention other temptations ? He is definitely on my list of who I'd like to fish with from the forum.

Wow that is one heck of a TW order! ? I like the Aird X (spinning and casting) so much that I ordered 3 Tatula XT casting. The Aird has a 1yr warranty and I wanted to upgrade to the Tatula 5yr warranty. However I returned all 3 rods b/c the reel seat was bulky and didn't fit in the hands near as nice as the Airds. I haven't tried it but the Fuego seat looks virtually identical as the Aird so should fit nice in the hands. I like the lengths on everything except the Pitch/Flip/Punch. 7'3" would be great for punching but shorter = more accuracy so I'd go 6'6" or 7' for pitching and flipping. I'd go shorter and make the frog rod double as ur punch stick. 7.3:1 is fine for moving baits. The Millionaire reel looks good and is probably a steal @ $61.95 for the 250 on amazon. honestly I think you'll have your hands full learning so many other techniques that larger swimbaits will take the backburner. My SB combo sat collecting dust for 2 years before I was ready to use it. Of course ur in the south and if you fish non-pressured water you might have great success right out of the gates.

I used to double hooksets when i was inexperienced. It helped cover my shortcomings. What changed? i'm more patient i.e. after feeling a bite i pause just long enough to reel down taking up all the slackline, feel the fish on the rod and set the hook once properly. the old side of the spectrum was knee jerk reaction hook sets too fast without remove all the slack from the equation. this meant a poor initial hook set requiring a second. it pains me to think of how many big girls I broke off with slack in the line or double hook sets with 6lb test.

This. I read his post last fall and decided to take a chance on the Aird X rods. They are insanely awesome and I'm 6 rods in. You just can't believe you're holding a $50 rod in your hands. Highly recommend and can't thank @ww2farmer enough for pointing me in the right direction. Also I just bought my 3rd Daiwa Exceler reel and they're performing great. Diawa is killing it

BOSS Football Jigs . I'm sure @Siebert Outdoors would price match something similar if you ask. Or fleabay for really cheap but be careful of quality. If your constantly breaking off on rocky bottom you should lighten your weight or change to a different technique (regardless if bank, kayak or boat). http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/BOSS_Football_Jig_Head_4pk/descpage-BOSSFJH.html

be careful not to get caught trying to force feed bass a lure just b/c you want to cast it.

also another 3.5% off with Ebates

Mine have developed similarly. Jigs are for pitching targets whereas I tend to drag T- rigs. I always fish T rigs unpegged so they tend to not pitch as accurately as jigs and they hang up more in timber.

1 stop complaining. most of us only dream of having access to water this good. 2 on a more serious note... buy a Jewel Bait Hound Dog Lure Retriever

Last summer a woman in Oakley store told me they are discontinuing the Prizm Shallow Water.

Cold water changes my entire approach to new water. It means no weeds which is what I normally look for on a new lake. No weeds means by default I start fishing structure. No weeds i.e. cold water generally means they haven't moved shallow yet. Not sure about ur water clarity but clear water (I define 5-6 ft +visibility) means I don't start fishing structure until that depth or loss of visibility has been met. They start getting aggressive and bold there b/c it protects them. Basically cold water>no weeds>prespawn I'll add ~1/4+ oz weight to every lure so I effectively fish structure 6+ ft. The last variable I add into the structure mix is steep shoreline b/c fish love to move vertical i.e. deep to shallow year round.

This. It depends mainly on two things: depth and bottom content. If ur fishing 10+ ft you don't want to wait for 1/16 oz to slowly sink. If ur fishing rocky bottom 1/16 oz might break off too much so you need to go weightless. If ur fishing a mucky pond bottom a specific technique like drop shot will keep ur weight in the muck but worm clean above. Basic rule: if you break off in rock 2-3 casts in a row you need to lighten ur weight, or go weightless.

1 frog 2 put a bead on the line and a senko will slide thru those weeds like a hot knife thru butter. 3 if you begin reeling before splashdown you can get a buzzbait on plane before it has a chance to collect weeds. they are deadly above weeds and even more so when nobody else is doing it.

a net isn't as important as analyzing what you did wrong and learning correct landing techniques. you're not always going to have a net with you so hand landing fish is a critical skill. there are tons of youtube videos but I'll add 3 valuable tips: 1 always leave 4-5 ft of line out to prevent the fish from getting to much leverage and shaking ur lure. 2 'high sticking' ur rod means you can easily reach a bass with 4-5 ft of line out. do not hold onto the cork handle. instead grab the rod blank just below the lowest guide. you have the benefit of the rod fighting the fish while still being able to reach it. 3 don't bring bass/fish in too 'hot'. if possible play them out a bit and allow them to burn off energy. obviously you need to be aware of ur surroundings but in open water you can play a fish out on 4 lb line with no worries. I've lost endless fish from bringing them in too fast vs I can barely name 5 that i lost due to playing out and breaking off on structure/cover.

great gift idea which will provide lots of great memories. i'd suggest buying 2 cheap kayaks over 1 expensive tandem. canoes are called 'divorce makers' for a reason. fishing and nature are so much more enjoyable when you can control your own destiny i.e. vessel

you can also save money by adding Ebates to your browser. I wish I had done it years ago. right now Dicks and Academy are 1.5% cash back; Ebay is 2%. It's crazy how fast it adds up and I've gotten them as high as 8-10%. They offer discounts on most major sites Bass Pro, Target, Lands End, Woot etc and deposit money in your paypal account. Edit: I also use Wikibuy and often you can activate both of them for the same purchase. I buy BPS gift cards with the credit (not sure if you can get cash).