Choporoz

While working through Oliva lines, don't skip V and V Melanio, both very good cigars. However, I don't care for maduro in those two, as they use a San Andres wrapper. Something about San Andres does not appeal to me, though many like it. (It is like cigar cilantro to me - ruins the taste.. lol) "Oliva V is nicaruagan filler with habano wrapper V maduro is the same filler and a Maduro wrapper V Melanio is a bolder filler and Sumatra wrapper V Melanio Maduro swaps the Sumatra wrapper for a Maduro wrapper" Seems to me that Jonathan Drew put pipe tobacco in his Kentucky Fire cigars when first released. Not sure if that is still the case. Tatuaje and Illusione are two brands with variety of outstanding, rich blends. I am most partial to Ecuadorian Habano wrappers. Crowned Heads Imperiosa is what I sit and enjoy most evenings after dinner.

I have pink Gliss which I like quite a bit. Very visible to me. Is it less viz to the bass than bright greens and yellows? No clue.

Funny, but I have to agree. I bought a DX702 with plans to go all in on drop shotting. It spends more time at the bottom of the rod locker than any other rod I own. I could list ten other rods I wish I'd bought instead.

I generally use leaders, so I like hi-viz line I can see. I have some black and dark green that I have run without leaders, but they are both nearly invisible to me, so can be frustrating.

20# yellow PowerPro V2 to 10-12 flouro leader

My use of the word 'torque' has been bothering me the past couple hours. Google's AI tells me I meant 'gyroscopic precession'.

Same. Have Husqvarna handheld. Fighting the torque for an hour is a bit of a workout.

Crate with 4x3700's, 1 spinnerbait box, 1 med. terminal box. Soft plastics in B.A.S.S. Member bag stowed in compartment in front of seat.

I seem to recall a study discussed here on BR some time ago that concluded bass respond favorably to chartreuse. Stuck in my mind because it was a more controlled experiment than any other I've ever read about. I always kept chartreuse JJs Magic on hand after reading that. Edit: Just re-read the study and my take-aways back then were off. Chartreuse is good, but maybe not much, if any, better than white. Of course, even knowing what colors bass can distinguish doesn't necessarily translate to all water conditions, nor whether they are predisposed to eat said distinguishable colors. https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/204678-latest-color-research-bass-vision/

Dupe post

Oliva G has a Cameroon wrapper. Fuente Hemingway would be one to try. And one of my favorites, RoMaCraft CroMagnon Aquitaine, has a Cameroon binder. Most sizes of Aquitaine are stellar, but a couple of the bigger ring gauges tend to develop uneven burn issues for me.

You've probably already discovered some examples, but exact same blend in different sizes can be completely different experience. My all-time favorite fishing cigar (now discontinued) was a maduro box-pressed corona that was absolutely horrid in toro/robusto ring gauges. Not sure which blends you tried in the two mentioned brands, but in lighter wrapper, San Cristobal Elegancia and Perdomo Champagne are richer, more complex than most. My Father Connecticut, Southern Draw Rose of Sharon are two others that come to mind. Now that you are refining your palate, keep note of wrappers, blenders, origin, (and, yes, sizes) that you prefer. Favorite online source for non-Cuban cigars: Small Batch Cigars.

I have a few favorites, but none are in production anymore. MF and MHF. Any rod will cast them if they are in the weight range. The action and power are personal preference that you will learn after getting some experience throwing traps with different rods. Ripping out of grass, hopping on bottom, type of line, keeping fish pinned, etc., all will play into your calculus. Also, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, and 3/4 oz each work better on different rods. Sorry to make it complicated. What don't you like about traps on the rods you have?

What?

I don't have FFS. I don't plan to get FFS. Never even seen one in person. But, I strongly suspect your statement is off the mark for most. Even people who don't particularly embrace FFS are effusive in their praise for how much they learn from it.

Depends. What is it that you want a leader to do...or not do? Regardless, I agree with @Lead Head. You know nothing about how long it has been tied, the skills of the tie-er, the test or type of line used for leader, etc. Just start practicing tying your own. May be daunting at first, but it is a valuable skill, even if you decide that you won't use leaders a lot.

All the time. Several consecutive weeks every fall, especially. You certainly can try to cast at every sign of bait and catch fish, but it isn't particularly efficient. When bait is everywhere, but bass aren't visually disturbing the surface, I spend more time moving and watching electronics. It has taken me a few years, but even without FFS, I can sometimes get an idea if bass are actively feeding on bait schools. The bigger marks will frequently be anywhere in the water column with lots of variations in depth. Less active, they can be seen hanging below or off to the side....frequently following along the bait, but not chasing. Once you get on more or less reliable pattern of throwing at visible bait or visible blowups, try to have a couple/few things available to gauge what the bigger ones are doing. For example, I had a day where a spook was catching fish whenever casted near nervous water. Fun. But they were all under 2#. Figured that was the makeup of this school. But then tossed a big spoon and even 3/4oz weighted plastic, bigger fish were caught 12-18' under the aggressive smaller ones. One day last week, I was on bait so thick my DS screen was one big blob covering entire screen. Nothing would touch topwater, small ones came bouncing metal lures off bottom at 21', but finally got big ones triggered by swimming 4in. swimbait about 5' below the surface. Wish I had better data or info, but anecdotal stuff starts to add up slowly..at least in my head 😀 Certainly. Ty. I do a lot of thinking about water movement...and structure... and winds.... a bit about clarity....but haven't ever gotten close to putting any of it together to predict shad locations. Ty. I feel I know the structure fairly well - but maybe I am missing something and the bait sometimes does have more relation to structure than I recognize. When guys are ripping down the lake and pull-up over 60FOW, drop the TM, look around for a couple minutes and start casting and catching, I am just sort of dumbfounded. I am burning gas and time feeling around in the dark. Agreed 100%. And LMB are weird, too. One day they will ignore 1,000 gizzards snoozing on top of them...and next day, they'll be chasing them all over a creek. With such a variety of bait, it'd be nice to know more about how to predict what the hot menu item is today. Or maybe not, since it is just as hard to predict what the bait might be doing this afternoon.

-Location. But not a dramatic location change at first. Sometimes just a little deeper...or shallower, or 5-20 yards away. Then, if that doesn't work,a bigger move to something very different -Speed. The bigger girls can be in the same neighborhood, but may be more likely to bite a very slow or very fast presentation. I rarely make lure changes to target size, even though I have seen it make a difference by accident.

Thanks, Scott. Secondary points have been hot. Nice, because I can usually find them within a couple hundred yards from one day to the next. Open water main lake can be a needle in a haystack, but there's very aggressive big girls roaming out there. BTW, @softwateronly, thanks also for all your extremely helpful posts on offshore bassing. I've definitely learned a lot and improved from putting your info to use. Thanks, Tom. Birds haven't done much for me here. There just a few cormorants and couple times a year, there will be hundreds of gulls for a day or two. We get a few pairs of loons in the winter, but they just lie to me all the time.

Spoon has easily been my favorite bite all year, going back to dead of winter. The effectiveness alone would do it, but the violent hits are addictive. I have had one on my deck most of the year, and lately, three or four. Mostly Nichols Lake Fork and Duh, but the River2Sea Worldwide is sometimes a good alternative.

This is a great thread on finding offshore fish, but almost entirely focused on structure. I would like your input in finding fish that are not relating to structure, or very remotely relating to structure. Lakes that have shad and herring as primary baitfish often find bass totally focused on bait with little regard for structure. My home lake has both threadfin and gizzard shad and much of the year, active bass are on bait regardless of location. It isn't unusual for me to spend an hour motoring before making a cast. I don't feel particularly efficient yet. Using sidescan, downscan and 'regular' down scan, I am not comfortable locating bait or bass above about 10mph. (Single screen on the console.) However, I frequently see guys running 40-50 mph down middle of the lake and pull up abruptly and start making casts on fish. I'd love to speed up the process. Sometimes it helps to make sidescan full screen, but I do miss fish not on huge bait schools. What is your process? What speed, what sonar, zigzag, grid, etc? Any tips or tricks? Edit to add that I should have mentioned that I am talking about times when birds and obvious fish activity aren't any help.

This, primarily. Plus consideration for what I have to work with under the surface. I cannot effectively work bluff walls and thick laydowns from 40 yards out. Less than 5 yards isn't unusual. A long, flat, tapered point might find me sitting a long, long ways off the shore, out at maximum casting range of a spook, rattle trap, bladed jig, etc.

When I moved to Newport, RI in the late 80s, I was excited to do some salt water fishing. I took my first bluefish home and cleaned it, baked it and ate it. (So bad that my Asian ex-wife wouldn't even eat it again.) If that wasn't bad enough, it turned out that was all i could catch. I was pretty disappointed.

I have had a lot of those moments over the years. Funny that I have cooled at least somewhat to every single one. It always takes me way too long to fully understand the right variables, limitations and situations for a new lure. The opposite is every bit as true. I have plenty of perfectly fine lures in the shed that I may never use again because they didn't get bit on the first few casts. As to the question above, I'd say the Rap Mayor fits the bill. Got bit early and often. But just as important is the 'fishability': ease of rigging, castability, depth control, even durability to some extent.

I am positive that there are plenty of spoons and situations for them where they would shine for you. Johnson Silver Minnow is probably very effective in Maine bass waters. Flutter and jigging spoons may be a bit more limited. I rarely pull out a flutter spoon or jigging spoon unless I'm targeting bass in water over 15' and keyed on shad. No doubt there are spoon uses for other prey and depth situations, but I would likely reach for something else. I'm interested in hearing other perspectives, though. Because the spoon bite is one of my favorites and other uses would be welcomed.