Ozark_Basser

1. Frog 2. Punker 3. Spook

I wouldn't throw it on a deep crank set up. A fast action rod is what I have thrown them on.

Yes. Depending on where I am fishing, they are often my favorite bait to throw in the summer.

Rubberized cork is my favorite too.

Yeah. That's more of a life goal for me, and it probably won't be in this state seeing as how our record is 7 lbs 5 oz. I'd love to fish Lake Erie one day, another life goal.

Building rods all winter would be super expensive. I just did my first rod and it didn't take long at all. Making jigs got me through last winter.

Fluoro over mono and braid for me. Gets the bait a little deeper and has better abrasion resistance.

It's really not that hard to do a simple build. I thought about going custom, but I figured I'd give it a try. I'm hooked now. Got a Matagi catalog coming in the mail. They have some sweet bling parts. Next build should be fun.

Not a whole lot you can do about that except use bright colored baits so you can see them take your bait. Tie a little treble stinger hook to your fluke? I've never tried it, but it could work.

Thanks man. The MVT reel seat would have matched up really well. It has a carbon fiber insert on the side. Too bad it wouldn't fit.

Use the same things you do in the day. Expect to find bass up super shallow. Think of where the baitfish would go at night. Most baitfish cannot see nearly as well as bass, especially at night, so they relate to super shallow cover and the bank. The bass follow. So be careful with light so you don't spook the fish. Some baits really do excel at night though. Wakebaits are good. Walking baits don't seem to do as well at night as they do at dusk, but they will still catch fish. Jigs and chatterbaits are my two favorite night baits with a trailer. A lot of guys like pork as a trailer at night. I just use RI sweet beavers. As far as colors, dark colors like black or brown work fine.

Finally got my first build done. The foregrip wouldn't fit on the MVT Toray reel seat so I had to go with an Alps GTB16C. The blank is from North Fork Composites. It is the 709HM. It feels more like a 4 power rod than a 9. For those interested in these blanks, they are way underpowered, especially in the HM from what I hear. For the guides I used one double footed 7, then a single footed 6, then 5's for the running guides. All the guides are Fuji with titanium frames and SiC inserts. I held off on the spiral wrap and fancy thread inlays. I used short wraps and thread master light build for the epoxy, and the rod turned out to be really well balanced. ....

Realistically, I would like to catch a creek smallie bigger than 4 lbs, fix my boat, and get better at rod building.

Water temp is a good guide. The only way you can really tell is by catching fish and checking them out. Whatever stage one fish is in doesn't apply to all of the fish though. Some could be prespawn while others can even be post spawn.

That looks a whole lot like the build I just did except I have a carbon fiber foregrip. I will be putting the same reel on that rod too. I need to get one of those handles!

I get boils when fishing top waters a lot.

Buck brush, chunk rock, pea gravel, boulders, rock ledges, clay, and bluffs.

EVA can look cheap if its not done right it seems. It can also look really nice. I prefer cork, but I'm trying out a woven carbon fiber grip for my build.

Just got my first build done. I'm never going back to buying mass produced rods

That's where I usually throw it. I have had some good success around post spawn on Bull Shoals lake with it. I get some strange looks from passing floaters on the creeks though. Oh well, I guess.

Physics plays a HUGE role in bass fishing. Hydrodynamics factors in how we design and fish lures along with how bass boats are designed. Thermodynamics plays into fish location and seasonal patterns, not to mention the solubility of gases, in particular, oxygen. The concept I tend to lean on the most in my fishing is density. Whether it's the rate of fall of a jig, swimbait, or jerkbait, the buoyancy of a particular plastic on a drop shot or shakey head, the bouyancy of a crankbait, or line selection, density plays the biggest role for me.

I would like to see more threads with radio telemetry. Paul Roberts did one not too long ago. It really helps with learning more about how bass relate to particular bodies of water. I don't see many people having access to that kind of information, but it would be cool nonetheless. As far as something you could do, I'd say just keep participating and sharing past experiences.

Grass

It's definitely an old school bait. I'm glad they started making them again.