scaleface

LOL , my nickname is Hose .You came close to being Splinkler Hose .

I use heavier bullet weight than most on this forum and fish them faster . When fishing cover like a visible laydown , I often work it through the cover carefully then bounce it on the bottom quickly all the way to the boat . Its not unusual to get a hit from a better than average bass at the boat . I think they follow it out . As far as colors ,its usually something dark .I never fish a red fire tail , sunfish have a habit of pecking at them

Larew Salt Craw . I dont like the fatter craws as much as the skinny worm like section on the Salt Craw. Black with chartreuse pincers is my favorite .

I would almost give up a Storm Wiggle Wart for one of those .

Honorable mention goes to the Blakemore C.C. Spinner .I won my first club event using it . 1/2 ounce , black , copper blade .

My first two casting reels were 5000's . I put high speed gears in them and Hawg handles . One was put on a 5'6''" Ugly Stick the other a 5"6" Lews Speed Stick.

I just gave my Sister In Law an old 5'6'' Ugly Stick yesterday . She broke her " Fishing pole" . Lets see her break this one . Its thirty-five years old , one of the first ones built . I still have my first rod , a Shakespeare Wonder rod , which is now 47 years old . They are wrapped just like the Ugly Stick . I wont give that rod away . I would like to find another reel like the original that went on it . I think it was a 2200 . Sorry ,ranting off topic .

Sounds like the Dead Lakes in Florida, which I fished once . It was tough fishing and everything looked the same .I caught two bass about three lbs each using Texas rigged worm on Cyress tree roots . This would have been over thirty years ago.I read about it in Bass Master magazine from an article titled " You can get your line broke here . " Next day we fished another swampy area and did no better .

I use an iron spike plate that can be found by railroad tracks .

I could have said a marabou jig too .When I was a kid it was the only lures I owned and I use to walk along the rip rap banks on the Mississippi not casting just jigging up and down . I caught several different species that way .

Ive landed thousands of little bass and never been stuck but it was inevitable . I dont even know how it happened . The fish had a hook in its throat with some line hanging out , I was looking down his mouth when I got hooked At first It was just one barb then he sunk the other in and was still thrashing about . Little booger .

Texas rigged worm . Before I learned to fish it , I rotated through everything I owned trying to catch fish , mostly unsuccessfully .

Thats a beautiful healthy looking specimen . Are you going to get a replica made .

It can be difficult in some places . I fish a silted in bay off the Mississippi river that is difficult to crank . I like to use a shallow diving Bagley Balsa lure there .

Sound s like a job for an old pistol grip Lightning rod . If you lived nearby I would give her one .

Try a chicken nugget .

I dont have a lot of clear water experience . When I do fish it I tend to go natural . Crawfish colors have worked well for me . Stained water I use a lot of chartreuse and white colors like fire tiger and Sexy Shad . Also , crawfish colors have worked well for me

For worming and Jigging I use clear blue fluorescent . I just fish better and thus catch more fish when I am able to see the line . Crankbaits , spinnerbaits and such visibility isnt as important to me so I go with green or clear .

The OP said it was mostly fun fishing not tourney . Even if it is a low scale tourney such as a club event , that is still fun fishing and I impose no such rules on the back seater . Ive had two handicapped men win from the backseat of my boat because they were allowed and encouraged to make high percentage cast not just cleanup .

Heres something I noticed yesterday , that I have not noticed before . The first thing I always do is check the thermocline . Yesterday it was showing strong at thirty foot deep . Most of the fish in the lake were showing in the ten to fifteen foot range and all the fish I caught were shallower than ten foot . Heres the strange part, on the down scan there was another layer at ten foot , it wasnt strong like the thermocline but it was there . It showed up on the downscan and not the normal screen . Dont know what caused it . algae bloom maybe ? I'm fairly new with downscan and maybe its so sensitive that this is normal .

I dont buy jig trailers . I'll use something I already have . Even a plastic worm . Ive used half lizards , double tail grubs , half a stick worm ...Often its just a torn up piece of plastic on the bottom of the boat .Back in the day , before people started using pork frogs they used pork eel's which was long and straight like a worm .

I ordered The Fish Grip .

I caught a dozen bass , walleye , white bass crappie and a flathead today using the Dredger10.5 .I catch more fish close to the boat with these Dredgers than I remember catching with other cranks . They seem to hold their depth longer .

I couldnt push this through .I tried .

A trip to the ER today to get two barbs out of my thumb . I'm going to get some grippers for "landing " bass with treble hooks in its mouth . What kind should I get ?