SpinLight

Anybody know it's exact weight?

Most of my bass fishing is with finesse tackle. (I also occasionally fish for crappie, speckled trout and redfish.) Most swimbaits I throw are not longer than 3 and one-half inches. I throw the 3" Easy Shiner some, but have never tried the 3" Hazedong Shad. If you have used both, how do they compare? Thanks for your thoughts.

Great video. Thanks for sharing, Catt. Lots of insightful comments by others, too. Larry Nixon was being interviewed about his career and tournament fishing. He gives great advice about "fishing your strengths". He has about 6 decades of fishing experience and knows more about tournament bass fishing than almost anybody alive today. Bass fishermen who post on this forum fish all over this country, and a few other countries, too. We fish for different species of bass, on different kinds of lakes, rivers, and ponds while fishing from bass boats, canoes, kayaks, or from the bank, or wading a stream. We use different lures, equipment, and techniques. One of the things we all have in common is that we enjoy catching fish, or at least the process of fishing and all the anticipation and preparation that goes into it. While we are young, it may be about acquiring fundamentals, running and gunning if you are in tournaments, and catching big fish or a lot of fish. After several decades we start slowing down, and for some of us, it's about getting a few bites on that old favorite lure on some of our favorite spots. There are several ways to enjoy fishing, no matter how old or experienced we are. It's all good.

Used to catch smallmouth and rock bass on a Flatfish while wading in clear Tennessee streams. OP's post about a pond trip with an old lure reminded me of a winter pond fishing trip in Tennessee I took over 40 years ago. Caught 5 nice largemouth on the short version of the original big Bagley's Balsa B, the Big O imitation. It's a shallow runner, similar in size to today's 1.5-2.5 squarebills. Slow retrieve and pause worked for me, too.

How deep do you winter Ned users fish the Ned rig? Lb test line? Ned head weight?

With light line, anybody who has used one?

About twenty years ago when I was doing more bay fishing than bass fishing, one of my friends bought a KW 196 Bay Reef with a 140 Suzuki four-stroke. We all liked it so much that another friend and I each bought one just like it. I ran mine for about 15 years before moving and getting back to bass fishing. Kept up good maintenance and never had a problem with it.

At least three times in one day. Below is a copy of my reply to a similar post earlier this year: "My fishing buddy and I caught the same bass three times on a Texas rig worm in the Tennessee River one day several years ago. We were both throwing the same worm. Each of us had clear, blue fluorescent line. One of us hung a bass which then ran into a log jam and broke off several yards of line. We continued to fish in that area and hooked the same fish again about an hour later. The fish jumped and shook loose. We could see that he still had the extra line hanging out of his mouth from when he first broke off. We stopped by at the end of the day, and hooked and finally landed him, with the piece of line and worm still in his mouth."

I have caught sauger in the Tennessee River vertical jigging in 80 feet of water in the wintertime.

Several good suggestions. I prefer the stacked-cone type head like the Guppy, Nishine or Fusion jigheads. They don't seem to tear the soft plastic as much as barbed-type heads. I will add one more, the unpainted Gamakatsu stacked cone jighead, which is cheaper than most of the above-listed jigheads. To save some money, you can still recycle some of the torn plastics from these jigheads by putting them on another jighead that has a large barb.

What are yours? Not sure about mine. Thanks.

I fish an upland reservoir for spots most of the time when I am bass fishing. Most good approaches have been said already. Stealthy approach, long cast, etc. I throw 3/32 or 1/8 oz. shakyhead with3.5 to 4.5 green pumpkin or morning dawn purple worm, and small Keitech swim baits. And light line. I use 4, 5 and 6 lb. high-vis mono. Other line is hard for me to see. I like the way mono handles and can wait a little longer for it to sink. Always catch several fish, and sometimes a lot of fish!

My fishing buddy and I caught the same bass three times on a Texas rig worm in the Tennessee River one day several years ago. We were both throwing the same worm. Each of us had clear, blue fluorescent line. One of us hung a bass which then ran into a log jam and broke off several yards of line. We continued to fish in that area and hooked the same fish again about an hour later. The fish jumped and shook loose. We could see that he still had the extra line hanging out of his mouth from when he first broke off. We stopped by at the end of the day, and hooked and finally landed him, with the piece of line and worm still in his mouth.

I haven't owned a baitcasting reel for about 60 years. Use what works for you and enjoy it. Since I don't fish in tournaments anymore and don't fish around a lot of heavy grass, pads or timber, I rarely ever use lines heavier than 10 lb. test. Most of the time, I use 6 lb. test or less. I don't throw heavy lures except for topwaters. Since my primary lake is a spotted bass lake, I enjoy catching spots on high-quality light and ultralight tackle. They do break me off in cover sometimes, but they are a blast on light tackle. Occasional hybrids and stripers are fun. I haven't been spooled yet in freshwater. Saltwater is another story!

If restricted to a shakyhead or dropshot (without using electronics), which one do you think will cover the most water?

How about a '70's Rockin' Group too, as in my age, (not to be confused with groups from the last decade of great rock music, the 1970's)? I enjoy videos from Glen, the TB guys (although they have been repeating subject matter and content too much, IMHO), and FTM. They are informative. You have to realize they are trying to sell certain brands of certain lures, rods and reels, then take it with a grain of salt. Also like Matt Stefan, knowing he too is promoting some sponsors. Would also like more videos on finding fish. Catching them is usually easier for me than finding them, especially in the summertime in a highland reservoir. There is one guy mentioned earlier that I Unsubscribed to and quit watching after he kept repeating himself frequently, and was constantly letting us in on "secrets" the pros use ( he has revealed dozens of "secrets"). Really? Come on, man!

My personal best from when I lived in Tennessee- Smallmouth and Largemouth over 6 lbs., Spotted bass over 5 lbs. When bass fishing these days where I live, I only target Spots, with light and ultralight tackle. Lots of action, lots of fun this time of year!

3" Easy Shiner 2.8" Fat Swing Impact 4.5 RoboWorm 5" Senko TRD

Looking for a small jerkbait (3 inches, 80mm or less) that tracks good and won't blow out at medium to fast retrieves for throwing instead of a squarebill sometimes. Several of you guys have a lot of experience with jerkbaits. Any suggestions?

small and medium size swimbaits and Ned rig (or Ned rig variation, like 2.8 Sexy Impact on 1/16 oz. head w/ no. 3 or 4 hook)

Attached is a pic of a nice spotted bass I caught on a senko yesterday. If you look at its mouth, you will see a second senko sticking out that he was regurgitating while I was landing him. I removed the second worm, which fortunately did not have a hook attached, and released him. One was a four-inch bait and the other was a five-inch.

in late winter or early spring, what are you throwing?

Don't fish a lot of standing timber now. But I used to catch some good largemouth in a flooded timber area near the mouth of Duck River on Kentucky Lake on a chartreuse big Balsa B square bill.

Are the 2018 Exist spools interchangeable with the same model reel in 2022 Exist lineup? In other words, will the spool from a 2018 Exist 2000 work on the 2022 Exist, and will the 2018 spool from a 2500 work on the 2022 version? I know the drags are different, but wouldn't think that would make a difference. JDM and U.S. models should be the same, except for line capacity, I guess?

Keitech Easy Shaker. It floats, but not as high as elaztech worms.