FlipnLimits

Happy first outing, hope you knock 'em good! Congrats on the nice, new gear. FL

With 3 hours to fish, I'd fish a jig or tube on rock piles. It could be the best change you get for a nice Smallie in that amount of time. All the lakes get fished pretty hard though.

Welcome to the forum! Biggest and longest fish will be in Largemouth. The Madison Chain is a fantastic fishery and both species are abundant and most chase the Smallies on rock piles there, if memory serves me. Try Mud Lake for some Largemouth. The mouth of the river and all the pads are fun to fish also. Of course, with 3 hours to fish, I'd probably fish the rock piles. FL

Tom I'd be more than happy to take some of your DD bass you are so lucky to have in your local hunts! I too have been at it a long time and have yet to record a 10'er. I know you may have misworded slightly and didn't mean to say things how they sounded. Thinking it was hashed-out and would pass, it instead endures. Sometimes people don't read the whole thread and just post their thoughts, which is fair to expect. Not that I need to apologize, but I'm sorry this has happened. FL

The skill of casting and the art of presentation. The all-out hooksets and the hunt. The gamble of tournaments and quieting the club loudmouth. The precision equipment and the ride in a rocket ship. There are many reasons! FL

Welcome, Jeff! Right away I'll tell you I'm jealous of your weather, ship some up here FL

My rig has 12 rod tubes so I bring 12 in the boat. I have spare rods, without reels, around the house and garage. Some I buy to fill a gap and if I don't like it, it sits there, like a recent Crucial, and others are spares of what I do use and a few that aren't made anymore. FL

Yes, sometimes it must be done, but after I've proven it must be done. I fish just over 20 tournaments per year and one thing I've learned is not to abandon what worked yesterday and don't leave biting fish. Cold fronts can make Bigger bass bite in the same area you were catching keepers the day before. Experience is the only thing that creates consistency! Anyone can have a great day, not many always have good days. Of course there's the occasional bad day

Of course, all true. And what do you do? You go with your past experience in such situations, not assess the lake from a point of view where you've never seen it before. You're in VT?, so you see brutal cold fronts like I do. What do you do? Abandon 2 days of practice? I go right where I caught them the day before and you know what, they are usually there. If not, then subtle changes are made.

In short, fraid not. You will need some reaction baits. Jigs are great quite often, but crainkbaits are just as good too. Trick is to see what will catch bigger fish and when. Versatility wins more often. This is why you see some jig experts fall flat on their face when the bite is on cranks or something else. The best anglers have mastered just a few baits but they are masters at them. FL

Gentlemen Tom is correct, to a degree, in his dissemination of fishing in the memory. It was mentioned that we should observe water conditions, weather, etc. but one thing not mentioned was this applies if it was your first time out in a month or a year, etc. This statement does apply to a casual fisherman or maybe us when visiting a new body of water. Most of us here fish very often and we already know what the water temp and conditions are when we head out on the water. Barring a torrential rain or drastic weather change, not much will change in 3 days or day to day, water-wise. Some of us are out every 3,4,5, days or more and if I had to check the water conditions that often, then I haven't done my time on the water, justice. I always start the day with certain baits and patterns, because experience tell me to. Fishing anew every outing is a fallacy. If this was the way to do it, no bass fisherman would ever practice for a tournament. New memories arise from old experiences. For example....I found myself fishing one of my favorite froggin' stretches and I saw some baitfish busting the surface. I assumed it was White Bass running 'em up but I decided to cast a plastic jerkbait toward the baitfish and a couple jerks later I was setting the hook on a bass. Memory made! Now I always throw the jerkbait in that area when I see similar circumstances. FL

Heard this before, also. Never tried it. Anise oil is another I've heard can be used as an attractant. I have seen baits labeled as having aniseed oil "impregnated". FL

High temps in the 30's for another full week. I hope the weather man is wrong. Open water will be a full month behind at this rate. FL

Yeah, same here. Easily some of the most fun movies to watch. All the Westerns and Dirty Harry movies were great. Some others too, but those are my picks. The Missoura boat ride! Great stuff.

Try the northwest corner of your lake, it will warm faster than other parts of the lake. Fish ridiculously slow or use longer pauses with faster moving baits. Try to find any green weeds and fish them. When the water gets to 60-65 degrees, bass will start to spawn. FL

I knew I shouldn't have posted that pic of me! LOL

You gonna pull them pistols or whistle Dixie? Great flick. This is when there's still 24" of ice on the lakes, forced to hoof it. You would think the photographer stinks but no, the fish is better looking than me FL

Your tool box is shaping up nicely! All sounds good but the 5.2:1 on 7' fast action may be a slight mismatch. That slow of a reel is usually reserved for crankin' and you may want a slower action for that. Maybe switch reels on this rod with the Veritas for a better matchup? Of course you'd have to match your line accordingly. FL

I don't think he Makes anything but cash, lol. His name is on the rod and he helped design them. I'd say it's more than "small" though. If I remember correctly, Shimano signed a contract with him prohibiting him from naming another rod company in his name?

And a few here http://www.tforods.com/conventional-rods.html FL

Make us an offer we can't refuse, Frogfather! Info for info is quite fair Welcome aboard! FL

My last bass boat had an automatic bilge that I removed and added the largest pump that would fit. It wasn't automatic and I prefer that, no false pretenses. The cutoffs from fishing line, pieces of weeds, and sand seemed to get the auto bilge fouled pretty often. The pump wasn't in an easy to reach place so it made more sense for me to switch it out. It may be in a good place in your boat with easier access. I would advise to use the heaviest gauge wire you can, solder the connections, and heat shrink. Tape the hull before you drill and measure 3 times for your cut(s) Of course you can use some RTV Silicone Sealant for your tube through the transom, it's good stuff! FL

Well, most of my experience has been with Shimano reels and a Trap gets launched pretty well with Chronarchs. That's what I would be throwing a Trap with. How far? LOL, not making the mistake of putting a number to it but far, as you already mentioned FL

The longer, the better. Rods have become shorter and shorter in recent years. When I come home with a belly ache, it was a good day. I stick the butt end of the rod into my stomach upon the hookset. Not always but often. Does anybody else set the hook this way? FL

17-25lb Big Game or XT. That's as big as is needed around here. Our trophy bass are 5-6lbs. FL