Choporoz

@islandbass, good question. It was clear in my mind, lol. Maybe a better question is, does a black bass ever pick up a just part of a bottom lure with its mouth? That is, not inhaling entire thing? (Or at least trying to...maybe in the case of a small fish that physically cannot get it all in.) I understand other kinds of misses on jerkbaits, buzzbaits, frogs, spinnerbaits, glides, etc - where a bass just misses, or hits without trying to eat. I just am less certain than I once was, that it happens on the bottom

Is that really a thing? Other than on a bed, I mean. I get a lot of underwater footage in my various 'feeds', and I don't think I have ever watched video of a black bass just getting a taste of a craw, jig, worm, etc. (Bed fish excepted) I'll be first to admit that I have attributed missed hookups, missing craw claws and halved worms to 'short strikes' before. But now that I think about it, I wonder if all truly short strikes on the bottom are ....probably something other than bass. When bass decide to put something in their mouth, they don't seem to go half way

I wish we would get to summer fishing pretty quick. Where I'm at in NC, the bass refuse to be pinned down right now. They are all over the place. For a few weeks after the spawn, you could nail down a pattern fairly quickly. This past weekend, the only constant was that they are on bait. The bass don't care if the bait is in 6 inches of water or 18 feet down over 60 FOW. And they move....a lot. You may as well put a blindfold on and just chuck something. Kind of what I ended up doing yesterday. Ended up locking a jerkbait in my hands and just run around tossing it....best if you see surface activity in the neighborhood.

I'm from Wisconsin. There's no whiskey in an old fashioned.

I am surprised this was posted on Bassmaster.com. There has been a lot of noise outside of official BASS/MLF channels about pro money, but for BASS to hang it out there that even a moderately successful angler at the highest level can't make it in this pay-to-play game is interesting

Same here...in the past... I'm last few days, both mine and my wife's fobs had intermittent issues. Too much coincidence for me

I have almost always waited to replace my car batteries until after it was too late. It seems that 20+ years ago, your car would usually let you know it is time, by turning over sluggishly, but still crank up for a few days. But in recent memory, I find myself needing a jump or worse before I know I have a problem. Does anyone just replace their car battery after maybe 3 or 4 or 5 years without waiting to get stuck somewhere? Especially with cars now with keyless entry and electronic start buttons, etc....I think there is even greater risk to battery failure at wrong time. I have a 2015 Toyota with a 2020 battery....I have not had starting issues, but a couple other odd things like two different fobs working intermittently....so I think I'm going to go ahead and get a new battery, even though my cheap sensibility says wait until you're stuck somewhere extremely inconvenient maybe same goes for boat cranking battery.... just pop in a new one every 3 years or so... the lifetime added cost over waiting for a failure might be worth the reduced risk of being stranded

Moping before moping was moping? Tom, you were ahead of your time!

Got a couple pickup beds full of composted manure this spring. Our raised beds have never taken off like this. We're going to have more than 7 beans, I think

I learned the hard way that there are different kinds of rocks. VA and NC waters have rocks that are generally kind to braid...not always, but for the most part even young reservoirs have mostly braid-friendly rock. I had largely gotten away from leaders when I made a trip to Ontario and got shredded until I tied leaders back on.

Columbia convertible. Looks like they are now called Silver Ridge. Comfortable, great pockets, last forever, dry fast.... I still have some that are probably 8 or 10 years old. I have tried others (read : cheaper), but none have compared well to Columbia.

I almost always have on standby, a Rage Bug on a Twistlock Light hook behind a 1/16 oz tungsten worm weight....or weightless even at times....almost impossible to get hung

Most important feature to me is one not even mentioned. GPS and maps. Sounds like you are going to fish other lakes...I promise you side and down imagining will be of great value

Friday morning I went out for about two hours. I caught maybe seven or eight, all between one and two and a half pounds. Friday evening I went out for about two hours and had one bite - over four pounds. I considered the evening trip to be quite a bit more satisfying.

What a difference a week makes. Last weekend, they were thick on grassy flats, roaming and hunting in less than 7 FOW. This past weekend, nearly every bite was more than 13 feet down. I threw Crush City Mayor for the first time and came away thoroughly impressed. Also got big bites banging spinnerbait through deep wood, and Magnum Rage Bug on swinghead on sides of rocky points.

Leon Lett. I literally fumbled a $4K AOY fish in final minutes of 2021 season. Landed, lipped, unhooked and dropped

This is like listening to the Hydromotive prop guy, on BTL podcast. I have no clue what anyone is talking about, but it is enthralling all the same

I don't have much patience for it. But I will try it for a few minutes in specific situations. If I see fish 1-3 feet off the bottom in or around brush (on sonar) that aren't hitting a jig or t-rig, I often try a drop shot. First outside, and then just inside the brush. I usually know within a few minutes if it is the ticket. The problem is if I get bit by 10 inchers, I stick with it too long. Once in a great while, though, it will bring good bass into the boat. Cashed a good check once on entire limit of dropshot fish. Once. I'm sure if I fished for smallies or spots, I'd be a much bigger fan.

37 species of snakes in NC, 6 of which are venomous. But somehow, every single snake that anyone ever sees, seems to have been a copperhead. They're like 8 pound bass....they only come out when there's no phones or cameras around

Decent couple days, but forget about finding a pattern. They're all over the place. Still some in shallow grass just out from spawning areas. Some deep main lake. Don't think I caught more than two in same area doing same thing. These were both on a Rage Bug; one in main lake brush about 18 feet down. Other was in small cove in grass about 7 feet of water.

Black Moses and that nasty funky guitar riff. Hayes had a heck of a run in the late 60s, early 70s.

I have one looks almost same, and I hate it. The green button is hard to push in and very hard to hold pushed in while pouring...I'm going to try the zip tie method

If I target bass, but only catch mudcat, crappie, bluegill, pickerel and catfish....I got skunked.

What sort of problems? You already have a rod that is rated for the weights you are going to use. Try it. Nothing that any of us say here will be 1/2 as important as how it feels and performs...to you. Things that will matter to you...such as castability, hook 'set-a-bility', fish control-ability.....all will depend on how you use it....what line you use, etc. Try it....let us know

I like the instructional videos where you unscrew the new nozzle and throw it as far as you can. I bought old type nozzles from Amazon, but haven't drilled air vents yet, so they're not great either. Saw a guy on the utube who zip-tied the new nozzle open and that looks like a winner to me