RB 77

I like to keep it ol' school... 6" straight tail worm on a T-Rig. Usually a 3/16th tungsten bullet weight with a 2/0 Gammy offset RB hook. No coincidence, this is also my "if you could only have one" rig...

The majority of my stuff is Shimano and Falcon. Good stuff at a good price.

While I have caught fish on a buzzbait, it is somewhat of a thorn in my side. The Whopper Plopper though... lights out! I've definitely caught a few fish with them, but I not going to be raving about them anytime soon like so many do.

Ah man, my FAVORITE lipless ever! Don't give up, these things can produce. Me too. Probably because i've never owned one or thrown one! Haha

Yes. I have one and they are great. It is perfect for running across the lake here in So Cal. You may want to keep your layers in KS though.

Ah, my favorite debate! Haha (for the record I'm a Shimano, Ford and Coors guy) Haha

Well, I sort of have a method to my madness other than the ol' "let the fish tell ya what they want"... For T-Rig or C-rig anything is game. Worms, lizards, creatures, etc. With "fly-lined" baits (IE: F-Rig, skin hooked, no weight) Senko style worms get majority of the work duty, with drop shot getting Robo style worms the majority of the time. Fluke style can get in the mix for these two techniques as well. This encompasses most of my plastics fishing techniques. At least for "worm draggin" anyway. Then there are swimbaits, swimgrubs, etc which can go on Shad heads, underspins, A-Rigs, swimjigs, etc. The possibilities really are endless.

In regards to the OP, Izorline makes outstanding braid and makes an "olive drab" color that you might like. I guess i am lucky in that I don't mind the braid fading a little because to me it still looks "natural" and by time its severely faded, its getting changed out. One can also easily color braid by taking a marker and cutting a slice in the tip with a razor blade and running the line through it.

Define it? Something thats "affordable" to an angler and can sustain heavy use and stand the test of time. For me that has been the Curado E series. My Calcuttas have also been tanks.

Before I started making own plastics, I always used to some bags of the GYBC Kut Tails in 4", 5 3/4" & 6 1/2" with me. The lil' 4" ones were particularly ruthless, weightless...

Well... TW's Black Fri and 12 Days of Xmas sale are just right around the corner. So there is that...

LC LV500 & SK RES for Yo-Yo in'. I do love the BL R-L-T for burning tho...

R.I.P. to a real one. I always admired his angling career and fishing style immensely.

Glad you both are OK.

If you still haven't caught one, drop shot a 4" nose hooked finesse worm on light line. This is a close to a "sure thing" as it gets IMHO. Senkos, Inline spinners and Ned rigs are also good options.

Every baitcaster has braid backing. I retie my mono/ flouro top-shots when they get too "short". Spinning reels have braid to the lip of the spools. Flouro leaders get replaced when they get too "short" as well.

Almost never. I let Pops handle Popper duty while I'm throwing a Gunfish, Sammy or Spook. I have noticed if they are hitting one, they will usually hit the other. Picked me up some Ricos last year and gave them some nice aftermarket trebles, so that might have to change a little bit.

I have done this in a pinch when I run out of D-Shot weights in snaggy cover.

While I have no qualms about buying LC for most of my hardbaits, my two favorite spinnerbaits of all time are the BPS Lazereye and the Pepper Customs. They retail for about a $5.50 and $6.50 respectively.

Reels are mostly Curados, Calcuttas, and Stradics. Rods are mostly Shimano and Falcons. Saltwater reels are all Tranx and Penn. Salt rods are Calstar and Batson

This. Side note: I enjoy blast from the past threads. I mean I suppose someone could just start a completely new thread asking the same exact thing, or just bump one. I know bumping this one made for some good insight and some pretty funny responses.

Seriously! If I could only have one single bait for freshwater bass fishing only, it would be a t-rigged worm. However, if i could only have on single bait for ALL fishing (fresh and salt , all species) it would be a paddle style swimbait by FAR and its not even close.

While I have had some success on them, a broad overall picture would be Buzzbaits and Square Bills. Whopper Plopper? I have tore them up on that thing as well as all other top waters for that matter (spook style, Poppers, frogs, etc)! Lipless Crank (and even all other regular lipped cranks)? knocked the snot out of them with them. Even had a double with one last year. All other baits/ styles I have had great success on at some point in time and continue to do so regularly IE: Plastcis, jigs, jerkbaits, spinner baits, swimbaits etc. The list could go on and on. Those first two mentioned though for the amount I have thrown them have just been so so for me though. Meh...

LC Pointer 100 SP in Ghost Minnow and Orange Sexy Ghost Minnow.