RB 77

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/fishing-articles/156717/holy-spot/#.VKAimcKZcI Impressive!

No kidding! I live THE county that has produced 11 of the 25 largest bass ever recorded. This is by far more than any other county going away. Almost half the list! A 3 pound average is insane. Don't get it twisted, most tournaments take 20-25+ pounds to win, but we are talking tourney time in the trophy hunting capital of the world. If you guys are truly averages 3 pounds per fish, quit your day job immediatley and join the Elite Series tour or the FLW tour right away!

There is one technique and one technique only for me... Hollow body frog! I wouldn't even consider fishing one with out a straight braid connection. Every other technique gets some other form of line application...

Wow, I'm a little surprised at the lack of love for the C Rig! Not my favorite, but it definitely puts fish in the boat. I'm a worm dragger at heart and use the T rig, C rig, and jig religiously. The C rig to help locate fish, the T rig to help pick apart the "spot" and the jig to upgrade the size of the fish. I wouldn't go as far to say I "hate" any one technique and I love top water, but I have very little confidence in fishing a buzzbait. Popper, walking bait, frog, etc are go-to baits, but that dang buzz bait...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Sounds like you are on the right track. Keep usiung the drop shot just up-size to a larger weight. You are still presenting them with a finesse option, except now you can keep presenting your bait in the strike zone

Barrett Reservoir, my favorite place to fish by far! It's actually only open 5 months a year (May-September) and only open three days a week (Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday), but is well worth the hoops you have to jump through to get on the water! Its is $100 a ticketmaster ticket (with fees) and $20 a permit per person at the lake limit 4 anglers per reservation, two cars max, 20 reservations per day total! Crazy? Maybe, but this lakes first month of ticket sales literally sells out in minutes on Ticketmaster. It's like Beatles mania! I have been shut out and know of several other people who have been left out in the cold. No private boats, no barbed hooks, no scent, no bait (artificial only), mandatory catch and release, must be escorted by lake staff to and from the lake on a 4 mile dirt road at specific times only, the list goes on... It has a very pure strain of Northern large mouth which are much more aggressive than the predominate Florida strain we have in most of our reservoirs. They don't grow as big as the Florida (25+ lb. "Dottie" up the road at Dixon reservoir), but can get over 10 lbs which is rather large for a northern. 100+ fish days are not out of the question and top water from sun up to sun down can be a blast! Moral of the story is a "lure only" lake ca be a great thing! Congrats on a new score of a fishing hole. The close proximately is an added bonus!

Shimano Reels - Curados, Citicas, and Stradics in fresh water, Toriums and Calcuttas in salt water. Rods - Shimano, Falcon, and G Loomis in fresh water, Seeker, Calstar, and Batson in salt water. Izorline and P Line for both fresh and salt. Terminal tackle, hard baits, and soft baits are all over the map.

Pops!

The biggest Largemouth I have ever seen was at Miramar reservoir a few years back while I was fishing a tule line in my float tube. I remember it like like it was yesterday. What appeared to be a 15+ lb female (which looked closer to 20+ lbs.) flanked by what looked like 3-4 lb males swam right underneath me paying me no mind. Yes, she was that much bigger than the other two fish. Keep in mind this small 162 square surface acre reservoir has produced the likes of a 20.9, 20.25, 19.5, 19.25, and a 19 lb documented Largemouth in the past. These are five of the 25 biggest documented Largemouth of all time. It was a sureal experience. This was by far the largest Largemouth Bass I have ever seen.

Haha. Yeah, me and my buddies call them "Chrondos" or "Curadarchs". Great reels I own several. The green original ones (CU 200E). Try e bay or check this forums for sale section regularly.

This is common practice out here on the west coast for offshore salt water fishing. It is done primarily for inceresed line capacity in case the big one bites and takes a couple hundred yard run. The added benefit is that when changing out your top-shots you use signifiganlty less line thus decreasing your over all line spooling bill. This will also equate to a less expensive bill when bass fishing with the expensive cost of flourocarbon. Braid is prefered over mono as it is lighter with a thiner diameter and does not have memory such as mono does.

T-Rig = bullet weight, hook, and a soft plastic. No bullet weight = "fly lined" to me. I use both. Stik baits get "fly lined', all other plastics get a T-rig.

This is a very interesting discussion. The one thing that I can add is that in my experience color definitely does matter. Some times it doesn’t and they will bite anything in the box. Other times it is of the utmost importance. Most people that have fished at any length of time and have paid attention have come across a pattern where color has played an important part of that pattern. I have developed patterns fishing a soft plastic where color was so critical that the same exact presentation with a variety of different color plastics yield no results unless using that one same color. One instance the particular color was Junebug. Black, Watermelon, Greenpumpkin, etc yielded no results. Even Grapeseed, in which I use the same colorant as Junebug, was not as successful. The color of the flake (green vs. black) was even critical.

This just about what I always have tied on as well. To simplify it even more,a couple of bottom dragging baits and a couple of reaction baits I can fish throughout the water column.

In reagrds to comfort on the PFDs anyway, once you start wearing the inflatable style for a short length of time you hardly even notice its there.

The importance of understanding the diffrence betweeen structure and cover and how to fish them accordingly. I believe myself to have a good grasp of them now. It always baffles me just how many people who have been fishing for quite some time do not understand the diffrence between the two and the importance it makes in developing a pattern.

Well, to answer the origianl question, the most cost efficent way is to order tabs and collars in bulk and build your own. Not only is it the most affordable, its completely customizable. I love creating my own custom color combinations. I use a Naked Baits skirt expander (its the real deal) and their skirt tabs along with Skirts Unlimited tabs.

Yes. May times over the years but the last trip might have been the funnest. The Gun Fish. Nuff said...

P Line is good stuff. I've used the CXX and the Flouro Clear for years. The CXX is super strong, but does have quite a bit of memory. I have transition to Izorline because of this. I love Flouro Clear. It is the exact opposite of CXX. Very thin diameter for the test rating with very little memory. I use Flouro Clear for small diameter spining duties, and Izorline First String or XXX for heavy duty applications.

Glad to hear you made it! On the big boat, in my kayak, and my float tube I always have my PDF on. A true lifesaver in a time of need. With todays inflatables there is no excuse. Please wear your PFDs guys. I kayak with my friend and he "brings" his, but doesnt wear it. I keep telling him until I'm blue in the face, but you can only lead a horse to water so many times...

Curados and Crucials fit the bill for me so I'm right at about that same thresholod as well. I do have a little bit more expensive gear and a little less expensive as well, but like others have stated I feel that a great value can be had in that price range.

I have none, thank God. when I was younger I was very supersitous in general but that has greatly dissipated over the years. I have seen some guys take the bad luck bananas to heart! The most common "tale" I have heard has been spiders hiding in the bananas on the banana boats and bitting sailors at sea.

This! They get one tap and Im setting the hook. The second I even think I might have one on I set the hook. Did I mention I cant set the hook fast enough? I have went back and forth with this with my pops for years. He actually lets them run with it like he was fishing a dine or chovy offshore for pelagics. Then he wonders why he gut-hooks so many bass! I couldnt imagine fishing without him though! I love fishing with the guy.