BaitMonkey1984

Bassmaster is good but I feel like they don't put out any magazines all year then they fire out a few in January for 3 months, then nothing again for October.

Looks like my Dad trying to move the boat out of the driveway. He says its got to be easy if I can do it. I usually let him struggle before offering my assistance.

I have 2 more GYCB colors and one lake fork tackle worm to purchase to re-stock for next year. Yet somehow my TW cart shows over $100+ of soft plastics. When does it end?

Sounds like you have the disease. Take a photo so we can see the amount of tackle so we know what we are dealing with. I recently did a re-org. I have say 19 3700 boxes with what I primarily use throughout a year. Think I have three senko boxes- a green, a black, and a brown senko box. A Box for craws, box for creature baits, box for tubes and so on. Then have two old school tackle boxes for my jerk baits. I had my extras in 5 gallon bags and it became impossible to manage. I went to walmart and bough four of the 3 draw plastic filing cabinets. Everything is now at my finger tips. No more digging around a bag. Then for terminal tackle, they have these small five draw plastic filing cabinets for the bathroom. I got two of those for terminal tackle. I have texas hooks in one, wacky hooks in enough, etc. When my terminal 3700 needs to be replace I go to my filing cabinet and replace. I really can keep good eye on my inventory at a moments glance. So, I have 80% of what I want in my plano of tackle boxes ready to go. IF I want something else, it is easily accessible and I can create a day box with an empty 3700. Finished the re-org after fishing season so interested to see how it works, but I am very optimistic. I will try to get some pics and post it for you to see.

If I am the guest on the boat, I offer. None of my buddies take me up on this regularly. In fact, for the one salmon trip I do for a week, that is the only time my buddies will take $ and it is because we are on then oat 14 hours a day for 7 days. So lots of gas being burnt. When I take people out fishing, I expect an offer to help pay or a thank you- but I don't accept because my waters are small, and because I wouldn't have invited the person to join me if I didn't genuinely enjoy their company. Luckily, the majority of my buddies fish. They mainly fish for salmon and trout, so I take them out bass fishing when they want and they take me out salmon fishing. Everything comes out as a wash.

The two DSG by me very rarely have good tackle sales. I was visiting my brother and had $90.00 in scorecard rewards so I stopped by the DSG near him. I got some really good deals on a few Livingston Lures (lipless cranks and the howlers) which were marked from $12 to 6. Other than that, a few boo yeah buzz baits for $2.00 and that was it for lures. I did fare well with terminal tackle. The VMC hooks were already on sale and then they were an additional 25% off. I love my gammys, but I break off before my hooks wear dull and straight outage pack I think these VMCS are equivalent. So I bought all the wacky hooks, trailer hooks, swimsuit hooks, and flipping hooks they had. I would have bought more but that was all they had. Somewhere around 30 packs of hooks. I should be pretty set for hooks this year, and looking forward to finally trying out tungsten.

Boy am I glad I filled up the Ranger with premium before winterizing it, back when gas was "cheap".

I get cabin fever much like everyone else on this site. During one of the local expos, I was blown away with Mayos Hand Poured Baits. Specifically, a 7 inch creature bait. Really cool bait that can be placed on a trailer or flipped. I have not seen anything like it. I can't wait to put it on the end of a big buckeye mop jig and see if I can't get a TOAD to bite.

Both work well. Personally prefer the drop shot because I can keep the bait in the same spot and impact action. Even with a shaky head jus barely being twitched, I move the bait. Ever so slightly, but it moves. So if you found the sweet spot on the nest, I would go with the drop shot so you can stay on it longer.

My favorite jig trailer is.... a 5lbr fat girl with a hook through the roof of her mouth taking a ride to my live well.

This is becoming problematic at even my small lake with no public access. I hate to see fellow anglers destroying what we all love more than anything. If you hook line, do the right thing and remove as much as possible, throw it in the boat and dispose of it properly. And when you bite the end of a shaky head worm so it fits flush against the jig head don't spit the end of the worm into the lake. I used to do the same thing with creature baits, etc until someone pointed out to me what I was doing. I see pros do it all the time without a second thought. You wouldn't throw your empty gatorade into the water so don't throw any trash into the lake. Sorry for the rant..I just hate seeing that crap. I have found my fair share of lures over the years. I love finding big soft plastics that grow to enormous sizes after being soaked for years. This year, I snagged a few crank baits and jigs that needed only minor attention, such as a new skirt, sharpen or replace the hooks, and they are good to go. I always think of this as the fish gods trying to give me a few freebies after all those lures I lose Soft plastics can get expensive but thats the nature of the beast. I can't get used to losing crank baits and it happens more than I would like.

None. Have a bunch and can't catch a fish on them.

I would say 40 and I only throw about 3. All Terminator T-1s for me moving forward.

Great looking fish. I am glad i stocked up with some more RES at dicks yesterday.

I believe because they are eating crawfish. Thats what I thought and when its red, I use red crankbaits and do pretty darn well.

Great looking fish and even better looking fishery. Love seeing hogs caught on something other than a $60k glass boat. I love my Ranger but hate that everyone associated $$$ with fishing know-how. Sorry for the rant..

Not the thinnest material wise, but the Havoc Smash Tubes are a different shape which permits the hook to come through the bait much easier than a standard tube. May work for you, depending upon what presentation your looking to use.

Its funny because I have a ton of the hula grubs and they are one of the only baits that intimidates me. I have no confidence in them. I know you can fish them on a jig head or texas rigged but I just don't get bit on them. I think they intimidate a lot of people because we down know what they are supposed to initiate. Is it a frog, a craws, or something else. Who knows.

I don't know why I stopped, but haven't fished topwater in a few years. I have an entire arsenal of combat frogs and buzz baits I bought last year but rarely ever fish them. About 7 years ago I did pretty darn good fishing a rapala spitting top water lure. I am going to try to fish more topwater the year, because it sure was fun and I was pretty good at it. So I am voting for the rapal skitter pop in a silver blue color with a dressed rear treble.

Find the middle of the bait and place the hook there. I always fish wacky in the middle. Some guys find the egg sack so its a bit off center and they claim it is more natural. Completely personal preference. I would second the GYCB or a stick-o type worm advise. The senko is designed for a wiggle on the fall. A finesse worm is not. It will get the job done, just not as good as a senko. 5" GYCB in watermelon creme is the best color around in clear water.

1/2 oz sebile. Works markedly better than other trap style baits in my area and the rattle is loud even at the end of a bomb cast.

Love the people not telling. My Lake doesn't have public access. So I don't have to worry that much about the word getting to. But I best follow suit from the previous posters, don't want anyone catching my next PB and putting it on their wall. Just kidding, Long Pond on MA/NH line

A south bend in line spinner. Was stainless steel blade, red beads, and black hair. I thought that thing was magic, as I had only used nightcrawler and dillies prior. I even recall catching a snapper from a small frog pond. I brought the big turtle so shore and with my trusty pliers got my lure back from his mouth. There was no way I was letting that lure go. Makes me wonder why it is I have 50+ inline spinners in their packaging that have never been open. Will have to tie one on this spring for nostalgia sake.

To be completely honest I have never even thought about throwing a lips into the wood. However, I do recall watching a lure modification video or two where the front treble hook was removed to make it more snag proof. I have more lipless cranks then I know what to do with, so this spring I think I will try throwing them in the heavy stuff and seeing what they can pull out.