MIbassyaker

Sweet! I pitched all kinds of things before ever trying to use a bass jig -- worms, grubs, tubes, even spinnerbaits (single-spin colorados for the "helicopter effect" on the fall). I didn't even know what I was doing was called "pitching". When I first started using jigs, I thought, "well, I'll try this for a while, but they'll probably just ignore it"......and then: TAP, TAP! Lo and behold, they didn't ignore it. Also, sounds like you're having success locating the honey holes in your new lake!

There is actually an active academic literature on the relative ethical merits of hunting vs. catch-and-release. One side of the debate argues that hunting (or fishing) to kill is actually ethically preferable, as long as the kill is consumed and harvest is regulated to preserve populations. That is, the benefits of consumption offset the harm of the kill. Catch a fish or kill a duck and bring it home to eat, and you spare (say) the chicken you would have eaten instead. That is, consumption brings the total net harm back down to the level you have caused if you hadn't killed. By this view, catch and release fishing is actually MORE problematic because it subjects fish to unnecessary harassment, distress and risk of injury or death for mere fun, with no other benefit to offset the harm. All else equal (the argument goes), hunting and fishing to kill, and then consuming, results in less total harm than catching and releasing. Not that I agree with this position (I don't), but it should be understood that nothing happens in a vacuum. Your continued day-to-day existence regularly kills or puts at risk other living things constantly as it is, simply from your need to eat, move around, consume energy, or just take up space. Living ethically is not simply a matter of whether your actions will harm or kill something, but whether you'll cause more harm doing one thing vs. doing another, and what benefits offset those harms.

Successfully convinced my wife to tolerate a detour to the St. Croix Factory in Park Falls, WI while road-tripping back to Michigan from Minnesota. Got to check out some models in person I haven't seen in stores, browse the "B-stock" rods (former displays, trade-ins, minor blems, etc.), and watch the work going on in the factory for a bit. Picked up a b-stock Mojo 6'8" M-XF, casting for $40 below the new price....in pristine condition as far as I can tell, aside from an unobtrusive "Handcrafted for...." inscription above the Mojo Bass logo. Also grabbed a hat and a used travel case. They let me take the travel case for free, and even threw in a free Daiwa spinning reel on a promotion (had the option of getting $30 off a baitcaster, but I already had a mate for the new rod waiting at home). Great place to stop!

I was surprised at how good the Slider Fishin' book was when I got a copy a few years ago, although I shouldn't have been. It is actually an excellent resource on finesse fishing in general, cleverly disguised as a how-to manual for the specific slider rigs. The reality is, fishing any variety of small plastic body on a jighead of some kind benefits from understanding the techniques spelled out in the book, as well as Brewer's overall philosophy.

No. Any color, any time in the summer. If bass are ignoring a noisy topwater, it's probably not because of the color.

Kinda reminds me of the Fropwaterspinnercrank...

I have a round, rotating rack from BPS that holds 24 rods vertically. It stands in the corner of my office. Really pulls the room together.

The thing is, it's possible to have advertising and still deliver good, useful, detailed content -- It's just takes more effort, deeper analysis, and better writing to do that than the more common alternative, which is to just whip up another article about some new lures on the market, and sprinkle it with comments solicited from a couple of pros. Look up some of the In-Fisherman articles from the 80s and 90s, like the ones by Rich Zaleski or Ralph Manns, and compare those to what you get now.

The baits are a missed opportunity, really. I kind of wanted to see actual Googan-shaped plastics. Little plastic googans in a bag. Like a pack of actual little plastic LunkersTVs; they could have little American Flag impressions on the back. Or an oversized 14" Flair worm with Flair's head, making his characteristic all-purpose open-mouth facial expression on the front end. Not sure how well they'd fish, but they would be a lot of fun to rig....

I do not mind that they exist, or that they have had success filling some apparent pent-up demand within the industry for Fishing-Related Stupid Stuff. But the last thing they need is "more power".

As far as I have been able to tell, except for reports on recent scientific findings, or how-to articles on some of the more recently-developed (or at least recently-popularized) lures and techniques (e.g., bladed jigs, drop-shotting), most of the best written material was published over 20 years ago. I have current bassmaster and In-fisherman subscriptions, and I enjoy them for what they are. But there is no question that both of these magazines were far, far more substantive 2 and 3 (and 4!) decades ago.

I watched some of them individually (LFG, JonB & Flair), but tired of them quickly once they started teaming up and became more interested in their own celebrity than in interesting/useful content. Lunkers and AP have always rubbed me the wrong way. To be fair though, the Googans aren't the only youtube channels I've become tired of. Flukemaster and Chad Hoover can't seem to stay on topic any more. I still find 1Rod entertaining but a little bit of him goes a long way. These days I subscribe to Glenn's channel, KeeipinItReel (he hasn't posted much recently), NDYakAngler, Fish Code Studios, and The Nature of Fishing (Paul Roberts' channel!)

Glenn's the guy in the Senko videos I posted above. There's a lot more where they came from at the "videos" tab at the top of the page.

It would be a good time to introduce yourself to the Senko, if you haven't yet.

Alone almost always. Because every other living moment if my life is spent around other people.

I find St. Croix rods generally have pretty suitable handle lengths for kayak fishing as is. The handles on the St. Croix models I have (Rage, Avid X, & Premier) tend to be slightly shorter than those on other, similar rods I have in other models, by other companies. I often wonder if this is a factor behind the frequent complaint, heard around here and elsewhere, that st. croix tends to be "tip heavy". Actually, i have the same model Premier mentioned above (the 6'6' 2-piece MF), and haven't had any issues with the handle getting in my way. So your mileage may vary, and probably not possible to know whether it will need to be shortened before trying it out.

Really, Glenn, is that necessary? Just correct the record. Don't jump in the mudhole with them.

Bass and Pike coexist well in most northern waters, and in healthily-balanced waters, each population helps keep the other in check: bass eat smaller pike, just as pike eat smaller bass. A healthy pike population is usually good for average bass size.

President, size 30: Mono Capacity: 255/4 145/6 130/8 Max Drag: 10lb Gear Ratio: 5.2:1 Weight: 8.80 Retrieve Rate: 25.3" per turn President XT size 30: Mono Capacity yd/lb:255/4 145/6 130/8 Max Drag: 10lb Gear Ratio 6.2:1 Weight: 7.60 Retrieve Rate: 31" So with the XT you get a 1.2oz lighter reel with a faster retrieve rate of 6 more inches per turn, at size 30. The difference is slightly greater for the size 35, and slightly less for the 25.

A comment I saw around here once by @cgolf (I think) turned me on to fishing the menace on a slider head -- turns out that's an absolute killer bottom/finesse presentation for midsummer, both lakes and rivers. Cast. Sink. Reel slowly keeping it near bottom, or work it with short hops.

Yeesh. My lowest point total of the year so far. Welp, on to the St. Lawrence which shall commence in.... (checks schedule) ..."51 days."

Day 1: Canterbury: 21st Davis: 14th Mueller: 1st (!) Yelas: 43rd Kennedy: 30th

Just when I thought I didn't actually need every color...

Maybe I'm not paying close enough attention, but I have not noticed this. Do these variations affect action at all as far as you can tell?

The Crush 50x is about the equivalent of a 1.5 squarebill, the 100x is like a 2.5. I have heard red is a good color for Louisiana waters.