drew4779

Awesome place. Keep at it. There are plenty of big bass in those ponds.

#1 - crappie #2 - walleye But both taste great.

I only reference lunar tables when planning an out of town trip. I want to give myself as best a chance as possible if driving hours to catch bass. Since doing this, all my trips has been successful (over the last 10 years). I can't say this is the reason why I've experienced such a good streak, there could be many other factors, but I will continue to do this until it stops working. When fishing close to home, I don't even bother looking at them.

I bought a fly reel a few years back at BPS and asked the salesman a stupid question about something or other and the next thing I know, he's giving me casting lessons right down the middle of the aisle. I'd just go down there and ask the salesperson for some tips and see what happens. I must admit, I was a little self conscious whipping a fly down the aisle with an audience, but it was worth it. However, I'd bet that a few days on the water with your new baitcaster would be enough. Worked for me. Good luck.

I have to agree that I feel the rod is more important than the reel in this situation, but that's not what you asked. IMO, my E series (both 50 and 200) shimanos perform better than my other reels that i've tried for finesse applications (BPS carbon-gold, abu garcia revo sx, Pflueger trion, speed spool, citica D). However, the sv 105 is my go to for this, but it has a shallow spool. I'm sure there's other reels out there that will perform great for this though. I've yet to handle a lot of the newer reels available (managed to keep the monkey at bay for the most part this last off season). My advice would be to look for reels with lighter weight spools. Also (and many will disagree with this), I believe some nice ABEC 7 bearings will marginally help with casting light weight lures...if you can stand the noise. Good luck...let us know what you go with.

Good read.

I hear this all the time. The best is when they sprint down the shore to see your 3 pounder you boated yelling "I told you there was 10 pounders in this lake".

Hard to tell from that photo but definitely not venomous based on the shape of the head.

When I bank fish and don't want to carry more than 3 or 4 combos, the extra spools come into play. When I'm on the boat, I have no need for them since I have my full arsenal.

Thanks a lot! I started out that way, thought I had it, set it permanently and did not get the results I was looking for. After about 5 trys I set it aside and went on to something else. At least now I know that I was close rather than just wasting my time. Guess I'll give it another go the next time storms prevent me from hitting the water. Thanks for the renewed confidence. I use cedar bodies between 2.5 and 3.5. My first two attempts I was trying to re-create a storm thunder crawl, which is not a typical design and may have biting off more than I could chew as a newbie. I then went with the more traditional style and just couldn't get them to run close to true. I ended up making a spook style lure...too bad I'm not very proficent at walking the dog lol. Your stuff looks awesome BTW.

This is something I've tinkered with for quite some time but have never been able to get the weighting right. Any advice?

I've seen beetle spins at gas stations, hardware stores, liquor stores, even at a grocery store before. You could buy just the arms and blades at BPS (or at least you could a few years back).

My first instinct...Tubes (fished very slowly) in grass and around rocks.

You're definitely going to miss some and it will get easier the more you do it. You can bend the hooks up slightly to increase your percentage. Also, you can trim the legs a bit to help the bass zero in better. Probably the most fun way to catch bass but expect to miss some.

X2

I've caught 8" bass on 8" swimbaits. Just know that larger baits tend to get less bites but better quality fish.

They've been spawning for at least 3 weeks in the Batesville area.

The discontunued X-cals.

I'm a Bulleit burbon and Monte Christo kinda guy.

I have a president on my UL, which replaced my sahara (and I've been very happy with the switch). However, lately I've been using the sv105 for that application for no other reason than I can and it's more fun.

I've owned at least 7 different brands of reels and in the end I always reach for my shimanos or daiwas first. I still fish with the others, and they are nice too, but I will put the lures I have most confidence in on the shimanos and daiwas.

X is my team but I picked Michigan St.

X2

4" Senko