Choporoz

I have no background or study in the field. But, what I seem to have heard and read from biologists is that in most bodies of water, natural mortality absolutely dwarfs fishing mortality. Fish recruitment is a very complicated concept, but natural variables are generally so much more impactful than harvest.

I've tried at least 3 different ones. I found that tying SDJ and palomar easier than any of them.

Alex Cora and Jim Harbaugh endorse this post.

I don't know. You got some crazy turtles there. I have only ever caught two turtles in the mouth. One was particularly memorable. I was working a topwater and got really excited when a large wake headed straight for my lure. Ended up cutting my line and letting that huge snapper have it. I have snagged a couple others in the feet, though. I do wonder sometimes how many of my 'missed bites' were just turtles bumping my line. Has to happen quite often with as many turtles there are around here. What kind of lures are your turtles eating?

I came in to say how much I love my Mustang HIT. But I checked current prices, and I am a bit shocked. Unfortunately, not in your budget ballpark. Before that one, I used Stohlquist kayak fishing PFD for years and I had no complaints. Pretty comfortable, pockets are good...just that it now seems bulky after wearing inflatable.

My hypocritical self won't pay for it; while at the same time hoping Jonny makes a mint. Outside of a couple of his slightly immodest self-promotion moments, I have come away from every single listen and viewing impressed...and smarter.

I have the same issue that I have with straight shank flipping hooks. I get hung because the point comes through. I prefer the regular twistlock for flipping and pitching so I can tex-pose. Maybe I need to try denser plastics.

I have 8:1 on both my 7'3" LMH. Today, I was burning 1/2 oz over new grass in 4 foot of water. Any less ratio and I'd have had (more) trouble keeping it from fouling up. I use 8:1 for crawling t-rigs on the bottom. I have just one 6:1 reel; on a crankbait rod. I find it easier to slow down than speed up.

Add traps and light (1/16-1/4) T-rigs and swimbaits.

No clue. TBH, I haven't watched any the last couple years. He used to have a reputation for being very secretive. Sounds like that has changed.

And John Cox's baits were moving. Interesting. Two things that stood out for me: 1. Tubes. Hundreds of miles from nearest brown bass. I know they can work, but I thought they'd pretty well disappeared from LMB tournaments. 2. Kiyoya showing baits. LOL. Any chance that one of those was actually his most successful bait last week?

Yeah...it wasn't supposed to be a cartoon exploding cigar, but kinda looks that way

Snack-size preference lasted all of one day. They're back on the 4"

+1

@casts_by_fly,the magnum is my go-to on a heavy swing head (7/8, generally). It has replaced a jig for me much of the time. Drags great, swims well, and comes through cover as well or better than a jig much of the time. It gets big bites.

When restocking Rage Bugs last year, I jumped on a sale and bought 8 or 10 packs, only to find that I wasn't paying attention and bought 3.38's instead of my trusty 4's. Tried them a few times but was not impressed. Too small, too light, little action, not much interest from the bass. Then, yesterday, I was having a slow morning with the 'regular' size; few fish here and there...nothing over 2#. After breaking off, I accidentally grabbed a pack of smaller ones and lazily used one instead of digging around for the right ones. I immediately started hammering more and better fish. Maybe the bite window opened...maybe the locations were better....maybe the faster fall or smaller profile...I don't have a clue as to why, but size sure seemed to matter ...this one time

Doesn’t shock me. I still throw it...in fact I have one tied on now, but it doesn't get bit much for me. Worked ok on tidal Potomac, but my grass lake bass have little interest

Fascinating spots. I hadn't seen one until a couple years ago. Never really thought about where they roost. To come around a point and see and hear every heron in the county in the tops of a small group of trees is an amazing sight and sound.

https://jpnfishingtackle.com/products/3708_bnew

No clue why the results aren't up yet. Maybe challenges of fish close to top of leaderboard. Or maybe they are saving the drama for stage show today

All in one football field size area, one bait, one short period of time. No idea if these were 5 biggest... It was fast and furious and I didn't take pics of a lot of them. After weighing a couple 5+, I quit weighing them, too. Didn't want to waste a minute while they were cooperating.

We did exactly like @padlin. 9000W Predator feom Harbor Freight, and a couple hundred for electrician to route power and rig switches

Usually about a half hour before sunrise. But sometimes I wait for the air temp to get out of the 30s. There were a few days in Jan and Feb that I didn't get out at all however. Fortunately, only 2 or 3 days I was iced in.

Majority of my fishing is bottom contact. I convinced myself years ago that neither braid nor mono comes close to the semi-slack line sensitivity of fluoro. I use mono for topwater only. I would be OK cranking with it, but I mostly use fluoro for for that, too.

For spinning reels, I have at least six different brands, and could recommend any of them. Depending on your budget, you probably cannot go wrong with a Shimano. Stradic is my favorite, but they have good reels at all price points. Look at sizes that start with 2 or 25 and see how they feel for you. 1xx seem very small to me, and 3x's are generally on the larger end for bass fishing. I like braid (8-15#) with leader for most applications, but you can try 8-12# mono or flouro to see whether you are OK with the twist. It can be manageable...or it can be painful. I do use straight braid at times, also. Aside from minimizing line twist problems, braid has the added benefit of being more visible which is particularly important in many finesse presentations.