bassr95

The Veritas has a good reputation for sensitivity and backbone, and should be a good jig rod. Try some different line types - switching from mono to flourocarbon makes more of a difference then switching from a $100 to a $200 rod, IMO of course

I think 30-40 feet is considered a long pitch even by experienced fisherman. Depending on how spooky the fish are, sometimes I do back the boat as far from cover as possible, but often you can nose right in close and really pick it apart. Accurate, quiet presentations get bit more than sloppy, splashy ones. When pitching for distance, I back my spool tension all the way off and turn down the braking system.

5 pm till midnight is my typical summer outing. The first couple hours are just to get settled, find some good areas, and wait for the pleasure boaters to call it a night. It's tough for me to get up early enough for the morning bite because my "home" lakes are all about an hour away. (not a fan of getting up at 3 AM)

Keep your catch alive by whatever method you prefer, fillet, thoroughly wash all the blood out of the fillets , store the fillets in saltwater in the fridge. They will be fine for a day or two until you get around to cooking them.

I vastly prefer straight flouro for bottom contact baits like a jig or T-rig. That said, I use braid and a flouro leader on a spinning rod for senkos. The no-stretch properties of braid help with hook sets when you make a long cast with a medium power rod.

Hudd 68 Special, but I've been catching a bunch of 14" bass on it so maybe it's time for the 8"

I love catching pike! Over populated hammer handles do get annoying though

Try using google maps to find new ponds to fish. It doesn't sound like that spot is worth your time.

Lots of good spinning reels in the 50-70 range, you really can't go wrong with any of the big brands. I have 2 pfluger presidents and never plan on buying a more expensive spinning reel, they do everything perfectly. Casting reels on the other hand...you can never spend to much on a good baitcaster!

A 5-arm rig with a spinner blade on one arm and smaller 3" hookless swimbaits on the top 2 arms still has a nice bait ball look to it, and has been fairly successful for me. I always feel like I might be missing some fish that hit the teasers, but it still catches fish. In 3 hook states like Tennessee I usually go 3 baits and 2 teasers, and have had great success with that rig.

Copy and Pasted off the Illinois DNR's website. "Alabama Rig Credit: Brad Wiegmann The new Alabama Rig is sweeping the nation, raising questions by anglers regarding its legality. The lure, which has five trailing wires to which five lures can be attached, appears to be a school of fish swimming through the water, making it attractive to bass. The IDNR legal staff, working with the Divisions of Fisheries and Law Enforcement, has determined that the Alabama Rig IS legal in those waters in the state that do NOT have the "2 poles only with no more than 2 hooks or lures per pole" regulation. Examples of those lakes where the Alabama Rig is legal are: • Corps of Engineer lakes (Carlyle, Rend and Shelbyville) • Lake of Egypt and Kinkaid Lake. The Alabama Rig is also legal on most rivers and streams, including the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri, but NOT between Illinois and Iowa. It is also legal on the Ohio River, including Smithland pool. In addition, the Rig is legal on all private waters in the state."

Favorite: pitching a Texas rig Least favorite: jerkbaits I know the A-rig gets a lot of hate on here, but if you are catching them on jerkbaits I'll be wearing them out on that stupid contraption

Looks like a largemouth to me

Sweet! The Scott Martin Challenge is always fun to watch and he seems like a likable guy

3 ish

If you hold a fish tight to your body, it looks smaller than it was. If you hold it with a straight arm, it looks obnoxiously large and fake. I shoot for somewhere in between, so the fish is clearly the focus of the picture, but not the only thing you see. My profile pic on here shows what I'm talking about. I've got A 4.5 on the left and a 3 on the right, and that's about what you might guess from the picture.

I do! While I do not have a high horsepower bassboat, I would have no qualms about running one WOT if I did. Outboards are built tough and I don't consider using full throttle "abuse" of an engine. Just my opinion, and I agree with what you said about boating safely. There are certainly conditions when it would not be smart to run a fast boat wide open.

A couple dollars short of what I make in a year

It could also the your specific spinner bait contributing to the problem. Big blades and a light (3/16 or 1/4 oz) head will not cast as well as a heavier head with smaller blades.

Nope!

About the same as you...A good 8 or 10 hour day of fishing satisfies me for a couple days. Panic hits when it has been a week and there are no fishing trips planned to look forward to

It's a little light for you, but the Powel inferno 765 SBR is absolutely awesome for throwing 6" Hudds (Among other things)

I never really judge a reel by the number of bearings it has anyway. If Lews can make their reels feel like butter with 10 or 5 or 0 bearings, it doesn't matter to me lol

Lew's BB1. All three of them.

Wearing a headlamp is a huge help for landing and unhooking fish, taking weeds off your lure, and lots of other things. As Catt already said, I fish the same lures and locations I would fish in the day. I don't know how, but somehow bass can find and eat subtle baits like dropshot, tubes, or jigs even on a really dark night.