corn-on-the-rob

There are times when it is true but nothing in fishing is ever certain. Never know unless you try.

rapala floating minnow reel or jerk it down for a second, let it float back up; repeat. Pond slayer.

If it looks good, I notice. If it doesn't, I don't care. I'll leave matching pretty colors to my jigs and trailers.

I always use a leader, always fluoro. Brand doesn't matter as much for leaders because cast-ability of the line isn't an issue. I use trilene 100% mainly or suffix in 12lb or 20lb. I will tie leaders as short as a foot and up to 6ft depending on the day.

Just being aware and having the mentality you already have is great, you will be fine. Now with out owning a boat and truck or trailer it is hard to learn on the fly, so my advice is if you ever go fishing with a buddy for fun ask him to spend 10+ minutes with you before/after fishing backing the rig into the water or in the parking lot. If you aren't at that level for a tournament have him back it in and when he takes the boat off just drive the truck forward and find a parking spot. Remember just take it slow and if you run into trouble just stop and ask for someone's help, don't risk hitting something. Unless a big tournament or small venue, you can find a spot with only 1 or no other vehicles on each side which makes it easy. Bass fisherman are typically a helpful breed, if you are having trouble in another guys truck/trailer getting in or out of a parking spot, just yell at someone else in the parking lot to help you guide it, and if you are in a particularly precarious position, ask them if they could jump in and do it for you.

I got a ton of grass pigs because of how cheap they are and I like the havoc line a lot. When I got them, by the look/feel I thought I was gonna be disappointed. Man do the tails flutter nicely even when worked slowly.

24/7 and sweet craw

Late fall when they are fattening up for winter for size and numbers for me.

Mine vary. Since I very rarely have to break off my drop shot, my leader from knot to hook is only about a foot and a half. Then the length from hook to sinker 6-18 inches depending on what im fishing. I use standard tear drop sinkers and tie them with a slightly weaker knot so that if I snag the weight it will break there and I just have to tie on a new one without losing much length. Edit: I have been keeping my leaders a little shorter on my braid/FC setups lately because while I am okay with a 6 foot leader (reeling a knot through the guides and casting it through is no problem) I have an issue when "pitching" with a spinning rod. It is such a light cast that if the knot slightly catches the guide on the way out it stunts the cast. Hopefully everyone knows what I mean by "pitching" a spinning rod.

good ol' tender tubes

I am not a very good golfer but boy is it a ton of fun. I really enjoy it and do it quite a bit throughout the summer but not as much as fishing. Both are expensive hobbies. Check out an app called golfnow. You're welcome.

Did it snap at the connection knot or between the lure and knot?

I am confused by the braid not being able to transmit bites unless tight. I have heard it before but I am trying to think of my own experience and can't quite discern whether it happens or not. I run braid on everything and my drop shot with a fluoro leader and can't think of any issues with not being able to detect a bite on slack line. Well regardless of that or not, I personally recommend the braid/FC set up. Noticeably less line-twist with braid as well while DS.

lipless cranks spinner baits chatterbaits heavy bottom bait of your choice

Anyone denying that bass don't do what you described is in denial. With many factors involved bass hit in many number of ways and it can change with the environment/conditions. I have seen it plenty of times as well especially with longer plastics like worms and lizards. Sometimes they grab tail, then inhale, sometimes they inhale but don't get it all the way in their mouth so they inhale again. If bass slammed our lures every time with a full inhale, this game would be much easier. That being said I never wait once I detect a fish. Not worth the risk of getting spit. THAT being said, with lighter/weightless soft plastics you typically have more time (not always) before they spit so this approach can work really well as you have mentioned. The only time I ever wait to set the hook is if I miss more than a handful of hook sets and decide I need to wait a second more and even then it isn't much longer, still relatively quick. But with jigs, most of the time, you would be remiss if you felt a tap and didn't set immediately.

Last year in the spring, first college club tourney. Cold weather and water on a tough lake. Got stuck in the boat with 3 people and fished in the back. Everyone fished against each other, there was no angler/coangler division. I started off the day so excited/nervous it was like I had never casted before in my life! Very inaccurate and set the hook at everything. I finally settled down, got 2 bites all day, boated them both. Got 3rd out of about 13. With 2 fish I wasn't expecting much but no one was catching much that day. I was happy with how it went.

I use the tracer braid on all of my moving bait rods. Tie direct unless abrasion is an issue then use leader. I use hi-vis yellow on all of my bottom lure rods (line watching important to me) but use a leader on the spinning rods. My jig rod I tie direct with the bright yellow and it seems fine. If I am concerned I will color the last few feet of line with a black sharpie or use leader.

what kind of line do you have on it? Braid by chance?

I found one of that sized jitterbugs in my grandpas tackle box and took it up the street to my local pond just to see how it worked. This pond has small fish so I wasn't expecting much. Start throwing it around and bam huge explosion, I wait a second, set the hook... then I bring in an 8........ inch bass. the trebles were so big on this bait one treble could barely fit in this things mouth. This pond it is a miracle to catch a bass 12 inches but was super excited when I got bit.

When the water is warm and you rip the jerk bait super hard\fast and get a strike at the same time, it's incredible.

I use the rebarbs 90% of the time while drop shotting. If in the grass I would use the medium wire in case you have to muscle a fish out of some nastier stuff. I run them threaded through (exposed) when in open water and t-rigged in cover. I actually stopped nose-hooking so much which some would think is a sin, but with the rebarbs I save so much plastic and my hookup/land is insanely good with them.

I was on some antibiotic for shingles and my Dr. never said anything. I recklessly got a total body burn in the summer and once that "tingly" burning sensation hit me it was un...freakin...real... Felt like severe sunburn + pins and needles on top of it. I had never felt so out of my mind in my life, almost like a psychotic animal. I was in such pain over my complete body I was pacing back in forth pretty much screaming. I tired to scratch but it didn't help I tried to take an ice cold shower didn't help... lotions made it worse. Literally felt insane. Wanted nothing but relief. It calmed down after about 30 minutes and was still bad but not maddeningly bad. Crazy stuff...

I use attractants for flavor not scent. Even though it is possible they find your lure due to scent, my real intentions are to make the bass hold on to the bait longer even if only a fraction of a second. Better hooksets = better landing ratio.

well said. The other thing people don't take into consideration is that a longer rod is balanced differently than shorter rods hence longer/shorter handles creating different points of contact in which moments can be drastically changed with reel seat position/hand position. Also whether you anchor the butt of the rod (tucked against your body or under your arm) can make a huge difference in this application as well.

I bought a couple of new warts this year as I am getting into medium and deep cranking and my dad said he might have some laying around in the basement. I found 14 pre rapala wiggle warts. All had rusted hooks and some had chipped paint but cleaned them up, replace the hooks and good to go. Excited to try them out.