scaleface

I never buy extended warranties except for my camera . Its not waterproof and I take it on the boat with me . Well I had to use it , not because it got wet , I dropped it . I received a new one and purchased the warranty for it too .

There are so many types of vegetation out there , a lot depends on what type you're dealing with .I have Chara algae to contend with . It looks like a weed , instead its a complicated form of algae . It has no root system to keep it anchored .Texas rigs are all but useless in it . Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits can be used with great results around the edges and over the top when the algae doesnt reach the surface . Stanley Ribbetts can go over the top of mats and draw outrageous strikes. This stuff chokes out the back of coves making it difficult to get a boat back there . I go ahead and fight it because it does keep the fish shallow and I have it to myself .

Keep that Big Game fresh and change it often . Mono degrades after a few years . I broke 15 lb Big Game several times last year on hooksets . Then it occured to me that the spool was several years old . I tossed it and got new .

There is going to be bass on both the deep side and the shallow side . I catch more bass on the shallow side of such lakes . I might be fishing deep still but I'll be following points out to the deep water . There are more places and structure for bass to relate too on the shallower side . After looking at your map there seems to be good structure all over . Is the North side the shallow side you are referring to ?

One of the biggest bass I ever caught was ice out using a yellow marabou crappie jig . No pork frog though .

My first elec motor was a two speed Plueger . I also had a Lowrance Green box and several Abassadeur 5000's .Fiberglass Lews speed stick . That was the good stuff .My boat was 14 foot Ouichita semi v and a 2 HP Johnson .

I use 4.0 Berkely Fushion EWG on a Stanley Ribbett . I rig it a little short so there is a slight bow in the belly like a canoe . This will keep the bait from rolling over . Then I have these little rubber disc i punch out of a bicycle inner-tube with a 1/4 inch hole punch . Before inserting the hook back in the toad , poke it through the disc then run the hook through the toad and place the point in the slot . It doesnt have to be skin hooked , just let it lay in there . Slide the rubber disc tight against the toad and it will remain in place . On the hook-set it will slide down the shank . I'm fairly new at Toad fishing and this is the best I have come up with . I also use a barrel swivel on the line and the hook to keep the toad from sliding down . The swivel trick is used on Texas rigs too .

I will say this about the most savage strikes . Stanley Ribbetts .Last season I had several fish come out of the water too hit those things .

One of my favorite early season baits for bank fishing ponds and stuff is the Beetle Spin . I like the larger , easier to cast sizes .

Never used a Zoom Speed worm but have used Ditto Gator Tails and Riverside 5 inch grubs that way .Good technique to fish beaver houses .

What Rapala lure is that ? , and congrats on landing a nice smallmouth .

I use to be able to balance myself on concrete culverts . They were steep and narrow . I would slowly walk down and fish . Never fell in . I could not do that now .

MoBasser its so coincidental that we live in the same part of the world and use the same baits . Purple Jelly worms , CC spinners... I'm a buzzbait fanatic . I use hand poured ones with a stair-step bend in the wire so the bait sits a little deeper .After a little experimentation it came out the way I wanted , then made a jig to bend the wire so they are all the same now . I seem to get a higher percentage of hookups that way .The last couple of years I've been adding a swimbait [ Yum Money Minnow }in lieu of a skirt . It adds weight , lift and retrieve's slower .The bass hammer it .

I use to use Riverside Real Claw a lot . I was fishing about twenty foot deep using a texas rigged plastic of some sort with Real Claw applied . I felt a fish on but didnt set the hook . Just reeled it up slowly . It never let go . Once I got a look at it I set the hook and landed a 2 to 3 lber . My cousin did something similar at Table Rock . Using a jig with Real Claw he felt something on and slowly reeled it up . There was a large brown and orange crawdad holding onto it .

Remember Pox parties .We should have a nation wide Corona Virus party and get this over .

A 100 acre lake . Why not just go junk fishing and try to figure out a pattern along the way .

Just get a couple of the cheapest ones with a ball bearing swivel . No ball-bearing swivel , avoid . You want a bait that the blades will turn when it is paused .

Sometimes all you do is let it set until the rings disappear . Twitch it on top , sometimes fast other times slow . Or cranked sub-surface .

The Bomber Long A Minnow with the silver flash insert would be a good alternative . It has a bright white flash. I have real good success with it .

Hope they dont cancel fishing . ?

I use one of those swivel hooks .

Drop shots . I dont think I'm doing it right . Fish keep getting off . Heavy football jigs too . I'm talking 3/4 ounce in deep water .I get the fish to the boat then they come unbuttoned .

Back to the Long A Minnow . The largest 6 fish limit I ever caught , between 25 and 30 pounds , was caught on one. I won a club tourney with one . Late in the day . I had no keepers . I tied the Long A on and fished it around shallow stumps . Caught two fish that weighed thirteen lbs . Its a big fish bait . ...and they are inexpensive

Bomber Long A Minnow , silver flash ,

I have one . Dont know if its an old one or not .