Bartableman7

You get 8 hours on every lake you ever fish again and only the biggest bass counts. What are you throwing? Oh...I'm throwing a big jig.

I'm thinking deep strip mine bass that are hiding their whole life.

I'm thinking the largest and smartest bass stay away from people. Anyone vertical jig patiently on deep points? Lure choice? This season, I'm going to try deep vertical large wacky worms. Thoughts...

Heat with a torch. Center punch on a block of wood. I've done a bunch of these. (Only heat once! Twice and you will weaken the metal.)

What will I see? I point a standard down scan transducer 45 degrees down and out in front of the boat and have it on a motor drive so it moves back and forth at 45 degrees. If I slowly move down the lake on speed 2 trolling motor...will I locate fish in front of the boat? See arcs?

That BR Head...I think that is it. Thank you. I'll try it.

Nope. I'm looking for a skirted jig (not a soft plastic) that twitches left and right without line twist.

I want a jig that can be twitched back and forth like a jerk bait...what is it? Does it exist?

Does anyone make a topwater prop bait with the blades on ball bearrings instead of on a wire?

Using a 10 1/2 foot medium action spinning rod for crankbaits and rattle traps. A game changer. Crushed the fish.

Half the YouTubes show making sure the line comes off the spool in the same direction as the reel rotation. The other ones show putting braid on spinning reels just like a baitcasting reel...straight off the spinning spool. So what do you all do? I'm getting horrible loop and line knots on my spinning reels with braid. WHAT?!

4 inch and 5 inch.

Anyone out there making there own pit boss soft plastics? I'm looking for pit boss baits in bright orange. Thanks. Similar to this but all bright orange.

Here is what I think of when I see a shad in the water that the bass eat where I fish: With a million soft baits out there...none look like this. Close sure. They fool bass...but I would like these traits: 1) Shine on the body like chrome. NOT white. I've seen this so I know it can be done. The flash is a must. IT IS what creates the reaction strike. 2) Large black eyes. 3) THIS SHAPE! NOT a fluke, not a fat body swim bait shape. Shad are "Thin" bodied. Forked tail too. Does anyone make a great "replica" Shad soft bait?

This is a great image. So why have a rectangular transducer to produce a circular beam for 2-D? Does it use only a portion of the transducer to get a round pattern?

Standard GT20-TM transducer mounted so the beam goes outward from the front of the trolling motor...what images do I see as fish are sitting still or swimming across the beam? (Both traditional down scan and clear vue.)

No. The shank of the hook should run perfectly parallel to the water bed and water surface. Straight flat, not vertical.

I noticed most spinnerbaits travel through the water column at a slant and not perfectly parallel. They should...and I wonder if that causes some fish to shy away. (Like a crooked un-tuned crank bait.) More weight to blade water tension ratio, less weight...what do you think would solve this easier? I'm thinking just a ton more skirt resistance would move the lure to "flat". In this image...horrible water travel.

I went on a terror making a bunch of in-line spinners (Mepps like). But...I throw them in the water, and they won't spin at all, even with a good jerk. I put on a store bought Mepps and they spin fine. What water dynamics am I missing here?! Wire, clevis, spinner, weight and hook. Simple. Not so simple evidently. Grrrr!

Just a note on using spinning gear for top water baits...USE THEM! For me...casting distance is the KEY factor for top water lures. The boat puts off tons of top water bites. I wing my Whopper Ploppers, Spooks and Jitterbugs with both an 8'6" steelhead casting rod and an 8'6" spinning rod. Distance, distance, distance.

Sooo...a bass sees a crank bait and grabs it. Did it see the line, did it care? Was it the lure that made that decision or the entire set up? Do you really get more bites on lighter line? I've never thrown the same lure all day on two rods with different line diameters. I'm more of a 'it is the lure that attracts the fish' person and 10 lb to 25 lb doesn't really effect the grabs. Same lure, light line...more fish? How conditioned are bass?

I fished something completely different this year with excellent results. (I'm a heavy equipment jig pitcher so this was way out of my comfort zone.) 15 lb braid on a 7 foot medium spinning rod. 1/2 oz egg sinker in front of a swivel and a 3 foot 6 lb test fluoro carbon leader tied with a #3 silver Mepps. I fished rock piles in 20 feet all year long. Caught tons of bass letting it sink, then giving it a quick snap to get the blade going then a slow steady retrieve. I lost a bunch of baits but caught enough to make it worth it. Catfish and drum pounded it too. Carolina spinner set up. Fun!

With guys beating up every spot over and over...are there still big bass out there that are never caught? Never see a lure? And live with a few big brother and sisters that are just smarter and well hidden from every fisherman? I sure hope so and...WHERE are they? Open water not sitting near anything we fish?

Due to people power loading and low water, one of the ramps I use has a severe concrete drop off and is very difficult to get back up with the ramp with the boat weight. Anyone have any creative ideas they have used? I'm going to keep sandbags in my truck to allow my trailer to "climb" back up to the concrete. Other ideas?