jbsoonerfan

Thanks! Yep, all of those came on a spinnerbait using a Bantam

15

Finally got to get back at it after the weather really threw a wrench in the fishing plans on Friday and Saturday. Picked up right where I left off and put together a new PB 5 fish limit. Not by much, but I beat my 18-1 with an 18-4 today. Five best were 4-3, 4-2, 3-11, 3-6 & 2-14. All pictured except the 2-14. Let it go without a picture and then caught the 3-11 and realized I beat my 5 from the other day. Oh well.

The lakes I fish have shad in them, unfortunately those same lakes also have sand bass (white bass) in them that apparently love an A-Rig. I have only caught a few LMB using them but can't keep the sandies off them.

I have never seen a senko swimming in the waters I fish.

Start with the basic, warm water and soap. If that doesn't work, which it sounds like it may not if it is a tar type substance, try some sort of degreaser like simple green. Still no luck, try goof off if you really want to get it off. As far as messing the foam up, I am not sure which may or may not do that.

I would say that if he got 3 out of 4 brand new Curados with bad bearings in them, then he should shelter in place for at least the next 40 years.

Did you guys read the part where he said they have less than 100 casts on them? Why would they need new gears or new bearings or anything else?

Hahaha, didn't even think about that

I have the High Contrast Digital Scales from Rapala. I weighed a sack of fruit at the grocery store in town on their meat scales which are spot on and the sack weighed 3.1435 to be precise and the Rapala scales weighed the sack at 3.14 so I would say they are close for fish in the range I would be catching. Not sure how they are at 25 lbs plus though, but I would say perfect for keeping track of your catches.

He's not lying. I have been weighing every 3-10 I catch and I am certain they are at least 4 and a half if not 5. I took my Rapala scales to the grocery store that my parents own the other day. I used their meat scales (which by law are calibrated by someone from the state dept or some big shot) so they are spot on. I filled a sack with some grapes and apples till it weighed 3 lb 14 oz. I took the sack home and just as I suspected the Rapala scales weighed it at ......................................3 lb 14 oz LOL

Why exactly are you wanting to change from fluoro? What is your goal in switching? I like braid, but fishing from the bank makes it tough if you make a long cast and get snagged on something. Your options then are to try to break the line, which is pretty hard to do, straighten the hook or cut the line. For those reasons, I don't prefer to fish with braid from the bank. Also, are you wanting different types and sizes for each reel or do you want to use the same on your BC's and the same on your Spinning reels? What rods are these reels going on? Given the little information you have said, I would opt for a good mono in 12-14 lb for the baitcasters or fluoro in the same test for all but the topwater and then I would go with a good mono or braid. I would make the Lew's 7.5 the topwater reel. If you like the idea of a leader you could always use braid with a leader for your texas rig to make breakoffs a bit easier. I would go with a good mono on your spinning reels, but I don't use spinning reels a lot. Not knowing exactly what you want, here is what I would do with the baitcasters (NOT KNOWING WHAT RODS WILL BE USED COULD CHANGE ALL OF THIS) Lews TS1XHMB - 40 lb braid to leader (Texas rig) 8:3:1 Lews TSH1SHMB - 40 lb braid no leader (Topwater) 7:5:1 Shimano Curdo 50e - 12/14 lb Mono/Fluoro - Moving baits 6:4:1 BPS Pro Qualifier PQT10HB - 12/14 lb Mono/Fluoro - Moving baits 6:4:1

I think for me it will help when pulling up on the bank. I usually pull up on the bank when fishing alone and when it's real windy I have to worry about the back end of my boat blowing around and with these I wont have to worry about it.

I use a Motor Mate and I love it.

Take all the line off that reel and give us another video of it doing the same thing.

They just eat, they are opportunistic feeders. They may be seeking out a meal or a meal may just happen to swim by and they decide they want to eat it. I don't think there is a lot of thought process that goes on with a bass. I'm sure some will disagree and say they can become aware of certain baits and they won't bite them after they have seen them over and over again, but I don't know if I buy that. If you have ever sight fished you will know that there are times a fish isn't going to bite your lure no matter what you do and other times they will eat it time after time. Guys practice all the time without a hook so they can see if a bass is aggressive. A lot of them spoke of this at the last BPT event on Fork. They knew if they could get a fish (that was on a bed) to commit to biting then they could catch them on tourney day. Sometimes fish on a bed aren't necessarily feeding though, they are protecting their eggs/bed. All in all, I don't think they are as smart as some people give them credit for. Hard to catch? They can be, but IMO it doesn't mean they are smart.

I talked to a deputy at an accident we worked yesterday and he said they are taking about 3 to 4 times as many domestic calls that they normally do. As sad as it is to say, some people actually need a place to go to "get away" and relax. I'm afraid the "shelter in place" is going to have some unintended consequences.

Sounds like you are reeling over a backlash to me.

I'm just going to throw this out there. Some of you may do this any way and this isn't specific to one retailer or site. Since we are going through a pandemic some places are willing to sell items at a pretty good discount. I'm not really talking about Academy, Bass Pro, etc. but some of the smaller places that have a brick and mortar store might be willing to make a better deal. Times are tough for some of the smaller companies and they might be willing to make a little less on profit just to make a sale. I saved over $400 on my power poles that way. I figure since we are all sitting at home it is worth a shot.

I have been on 2 guided trips for Largemouth. Both times were on big bass lakes in Oklahoma and Texas. I didn't expect to go catch a DD fish on these trips but I did expect to learn a little bit about the lakes, where fish were different times of the year, how the body of water warms and cools, seasonal patterns, etc. Instead my buddy and I fished off the back deck for the majority of the day while the guides ran the TM and threw at all the spots before we could. Both times the guides caught more than both of us combined. These guys both had attitudes like they were big shot bass guys who were simply giving us the pleasure of getting to fish with them and out of their fancy boat. I have been back to both lakes and caught more each time fishing by myself. I would NEVER hire a guide for Largemouth again. Now, I have also been on 2 guided Striper trips. Both times the guides worked on finding fish, showing us what to look for on the graph, how to watch the birds to find fish and where they were depending on time of year. Neither of them ever landed a fish. They would bait our hooks (which each of us could have done, but they both said that's what they were getting paid to do) net our fish, and put them in the cooler so we could get back to fishing. We caught our limit both times well before the "day" was up but each time they let us keep fishing as long as we were still catching with the understanding that they had to be thrown back. They cleaned the fish and bagged them up for us after the trip and made sure we got them however we wanted. These guys acted like they were glad to have us on the boat and they would do all that they could to see that we were happy. I would DEFINITELY go on a guided Striper trip again. I would also say it is much easier to go find schooling Striper (especially if you are working with other guides to locate them) than it is to go find Largemouth on a consistent basis so that has something to do with it. However, I don't get a good impression from someone when they are being paid by me so they can just enjoy a day of fishing while having someone on their boat. You should treat it as a job, not a hobby.

Thanks! I fish alone 90% of the time and @A-Jay also mentioned that in a different thread (although he has the talons) so I am really looking forward to that as well.

Well, after owning my boat for a few months and using it pretty heavily the last month I decided that with my fishing style I would benefit from a set of power poles. I have the spot lock on my TM which works great while sitting in deeper water and casting a crankbait, spinnerbait, etc, or drop shotting over cover. As of late I have been fishing a lot of skinny water and in really windy conditions. The thing with the spot lock is that it faces the bow into the wind so it makes it real difficult to pull up on a spot and try to use the spot lock when it turns the boat all the way around. Also when there are two of us fishing it can put one guy at a real disadvantage. I noticed one other thing that may have just been my mind trying to play games with me, but I noticed that I would pull up in an area (2ft of water) and catch a fish fairly quick. If I engaged the spot lock and fished there for a few minutes the water would become disturbed and the bites were few and far between. Like I said, this may have just been in my mind. Those things convinced me that I would probably get better use out of a set of poles. I just went with the Sportsman series in 8 foot and ordered the foot controls. I think this will help greatly when fishing the wind, which is an everyday occurrence here in Oklahoma. Should have them in next week but I am going to pay the shop to install them instead of attempting to do it myself.

They were actually talking about masks when this came up. I feel bad for the people who still have to work with the public. However, I had to go to home depot today to get some items and I didn't get within 10 feet of another person, even when I checked out, so I guess it can be done.

I just heard on the news that this is an "inhaled virus" meaning that it could be transmitted through breathing and not just coughing and spreading the disease through bodily fluids. It was nice knowing you guys when they decide to ban breathing

If you are interested in checking out Navionics you can go to their website and view the lakes you want to.