Ozark_Basser

I always throw them on a keel weighted twist lock hook because I like to throw them into cover. 1/8 oz weighted hooks + bait throw well on a medium. 3/16 oz throw well on a medium heavy which is what I usually throw them on.

Spooks and poppers. You can buy one of each and usually hang on to them for a long time.

I feel smallmouth are more predictable and easier to pattern. They also seem more aggressive and will go out of their way more to bite a lure than largemouth. This goes for clear water smallmouth. Dirty water smallies are a different story.

Good job! I just ordered the exact same rat the other day. I can't wait to fish it, especially at night.

Nice!

Hula grubs, reapers, stick baits, beavers

A keel weighted hook will keep it from rolling, but you're better off doing a twitch twitch pause sort of retrieve like Ajay suggested.

For catfish, it's nice to have a reel with a clicker also.

The first lure to hit the water depends on cover, depth, water clarity, etc. I love fishing deep diving crankbaits, but I'm not going to toss them in some lilly pads lol. If I could fish a frog everywhere I fish, I would.

This is your problem.

I like to think of it as more of a team effort.

The only things I don't use with braid or braid with a leader are crankbaits, spooks, and big heavy football jigs fished deep.

If you don't mind me asking, how do you do your epoxy ramps? Very clean work.

Nice job. Did you catch those offshore?

I would throw something not too many people have probably thrown at it. A glide bait or any other big swimbait. Or a reaper on a dropshot or maybe some new plastic that just came out.

Me and my five year old nephew, Hunter, went out for a couple hours today. Wind blew from the East all day, and they were biting better today than they have been all week. Fish were caught on beetle spins, spinnerbaits, senkos, and the biggest one at 4.5 pounds was caught on a t rigged Jackall iShad in blue pearl shad. We caught more, but here are the ones we took pictures of.

People have been fishing a rig like this on my home waters for a long time. Most of them just tear the legs off a twin tail grub though and throw it on a 1/16 oz ball head.

I have seen posts where a zman rep personally said to just leave them in the bag and not on a hook or in a tackle box. They could melt otherwise.

I think the thing with zmans baits is you're supposed to just leave them in the,bag until you want to use them. I don't think they will rust your hook, but they could react with the hook, jighead , or paint on the jigheads which could cause melting.

Turn your dial up a little bit. If you have it on 4 or 5 turn it up to 6 or 7. The hotter it gets the longer it will take to solidify so it will be easier to fill the mold before it starts to harden because it will be less viscous. Don't get it too hot though. Also put your spout as close as you can to the entrance of the mold. If that doesn't work, something's up.

^^^^^That's the exact pound test it slipped for me also. I can recall two incidents where the knot slipped. One was with 10 # Fire line. The other was 10 # spiderwire. I doubt I was doing something wrong. It must be easier for the knot to slip with lower # tests. I know I'm not the only one this has happened to.

Definitely don't wait with crankbaits. Sweep set whenever you feel them hit it or if you feel the bait stop wiggling. You're gonna lose fish on crankbaits more than other baits, but a soft rod is going to help you out. A medium should be fine unless you are throwing some really deep diving crankbaits. If they're not grabbing the bait like you want them to, switch colors or baits.

I have had this happen to me on more than one occasion when I first started using braid. It will slip. That's why so many people recommend using a double Palomar instead.... Kinda hard to mess up a Palomar knot, so I don't see how it's user error.

I don't know about the nanofil knot, but the double Palomar is really only useful for braided line. The knot will slip and come undone if you do a regular Palomar.

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