MIbassyaker

The 4" ocho is definitely more durable than the 4" senko, while still having about the same action (and more action than some other 4" stickworms i've tried). I use the 4" for smallies in rivers and streams, and I'll go through twice as many senkos as ochos for the same number of fish.

Nice! Surface temp of 52 in the evening of a warm-ish day, on a small shallow lake does seem plausible. At this point I'm just waiting for free time. My schedule is absolutely slammed for the next two weeks. Crossing my fingers that water temps at my usual spots don't get too high too quickly now...

I don't know that they actually move any better, or more, than a GYCB senko, but they are a nice stickworm option. Good price too.

I don't know what this means. Do you mean stays horizontally oriented (does not dive nose-first) as it falls? any hook that doesn't have a forward weight should do this with any of the major fluke-style baits. No?

Fishpond: https://fishpondusa.com/swift-current-thermometer

Pirch Cory Johnston Cherry Williamson Hartman

Favorite? Wow. Not sure I have one. I have and use Strike King, Booyah, War Eagle, Stanley, Pepper, Revenge, Nichols, River2Sea, Zorro, Megastrike, Siebert, Dobyns....although I probably have more War Eagle than anything else. Anybody else wish War Eagles had a longer hook?

It's funny -- I had a lot of casual/recreational experience river & lake kayaking before I ever tried fishing from one, so I was already pretty familiar with stability management, maneuvering, craft control, etc. in kayaks that were...well, rather less stable than a typical fishing kayak. So when I first tried an angling-specific sit-on-top kayak, it was a revelation! It was really difficult to roll! And I was so jazzed about being off the bank for fishing, I didn't care that positioning in wind and current was a pain, and I didn't care that I couldn't actually stand in it. In other words, my standards on these matters were (and still are, to some extent) low: For me the comparison was to being shore-bound, or perhaps to a more cumbersome canoe or rowboat.

So I look them up here: http://www.daiwa.com/us/contents/rods/tatula_elite/index.html ...is that the that rod that's rated 1/8oz-1oz? That range is wild. How does it handle the lighter end? EDIT: AH! Never mind -- this is the one, isn't it: TAEL711MFS-AGS DROPSHOT M F 7'1" 1 6-12 (6-20 BRAID) 1/8-1/2 DAIWA AGS®

Love it. I would never have thought of that color combo....but, hey, why not?

Floating: Rapala Original, F9, F11, and F13 Suspending: Smithwick Suspending Rattlin' Rogue

Holy smokes -- I'd call that a successful maiden voyage!

Bodies of water heat and cool very, very slowly -- by they time the ice is gone, the water has warmed enough that 2 days dipping below freezing won't come anywhere close to making it refreeze.

I'm sure there may have been some catchable bass at each place if I could have gotten out away a bit from shoreline. At this point I'm mostly waiting for free time. Hoping I can get the 'yak out in the next 2 weeks, but even if not, my schedule opens up a little after that. Now, if I were retired.... Please tell me you made a few casts into your new lake after you took that picture....

Eh, didn't make it out Friday -- forgot I had to bring my wife to the airport ? Instead, I and the dog took an excursion yesterday to visit 5 of my regular spots, check the launch conditions and get some water temps in the shallows: 42, 44, 46, 45, and 42. Only one had any ice still on it, as far as I could see.

I assume that if there aren't signs posted somewhere, and that public access to the shoreline is permitted, then it is also ok to launch a kayak. If there are any exceptions to that rule in my area, I'm not aware of them. The catch is, the signage may not always be at the water's edge -- it may be at the park entry, or parking lot, or trailhead.

Open water everywhere on the neighborhood ponds now. Too busy to gear up for a proper outing on one of my usual haunts, but might pay a visit to one of the local gravel pits tomorrow evening for an hour or so...

A-Rig, Tokyo Rig, Double Fluke rig, structure spoon, chicken rig (I guess? had to look it up).

Why did they list those? Are they trying to say, "Look how careless you can be with these rods when you high-stick or boat flip a large fish!"...?

If word got out that a YouTuber was hawking equipment that was constantly defective or broke repeatedly, maybe their reputation would take a hit. That's about it, though. Gear that is merely mediocre would not (and, as we can clearly see from other YouTube celebrities, does not) affect their fanbase in the slightest.

This assumes the intended customer base to whom they are marketing the rods will be able to tell the difference, or will care. People put their names on junk all the time. Don't buy it because Nick's name is associated with it; Buy it because the specs and the features work for you.

Nothing under 7'..... no thanks.

Click on the "green Shad" color at this link: https://culprit.com/shop/7-5-original-culprit-worm/ is that it?

I am of the same mind with in-line spinners. I have mostly Mepps, but there's Blue Fox, Panther Martin, Rooster Tail and some others. They mimic...well, anything that is small and on-the-move, either reflective or noisy or both. Not much shad up here, but we have shiners, chub minnows, silversides minnows, and many other small, flashy baitfish. Also, larger waterbugs which zoom around noisily, not unlike a vibrating blade. As all-purpose, multi-species skunk repellent -- especially in rivers, streams, and ponds-- there is possibly nothing better than an in-line spinner, with a 3" curly-tail grub it's chief rival. But that's also the in-line's curse: anything and everything will try to eat it. So it's not very efficient to target bass with them, unless you are fishing where other species aren't. Growing up, my dad and brothers and I caught everything but bass with them: pike, walleye, sauger, crappie, bluegill, multiple species of sunfish, drum, and some other oddballs I'm not sure we ever identified.

Ajay probably does, but I catch about 70-80% largemouth. Most of my waters don't have shad; bass are eating bluegill, sunfish, and perch. (Although it's not as though white spinnerbaits don't also work...they do. It's just that the logic of using white to mimic shad doesn't really apply here.) Edit: I should say, I like chartreuse on spinnerbaits a lot, just not always with white -- it's great with orange and/or green! War Eagle has a great "Chartreuse/Copper" pattern with copper blades.