Mr Q

Yes, I did. Fate sometimes works in mysterious ways. That new rod I got - the Eagle Claw with the ceramic eyes, I took it with the new Penn reel I won to the canal to try it out before using it in fresh water. The break-down feral was all fiberglass and because I didn't seat the halfs fully in my excitement, on the first cast the joint separated and the end half went flying down onto the rocks and damaged the end part of the rod. I took the rod to a tackle shop that built rods custom to the owner's request and they had to cut an inch of the damaged part and replaced the joint with a metal joint. This made the rod even more stiffer and that could have helped my hook setting with lunker bass in the future. In any case, the rod (in my opinion) was better in the end. Though this stupid mistake had a positive ending, it still bothers me to this day many years later. And yes, that modified rod caught my largest bass while shore fishing.

How so? Did you read the last sentence in the first post?

Like the old saying, "guns don't kill people, it's the people pulling the trigger that do". And so it goes with fishing gear - the best money can buy is useless if not used properly. For the record, I rarely win anything worth mentioning, especially involving skills of any kind but do enjoy how I got my expensive Penn reel. I suppose if I did enter a 7-10 pounder, I would have had many anglers knocking at my door that just didn't take the time and effort to learn the necessary skills needed to get those lunkers.

Way back when I started LMB fishing (late 60s), I went with a spinning reel and average quality/size rod. After several replacements, each one better than the last, and with my fishing skills growing rapidly (bigger fish caught), I finally reached an important decision to make. What do I need to get for a final rod/reel upgrade that will handle the biggest LMB I catch - between 8 and 12 pounds. The rod was easy to decide on - an Eagle Claw 61/2 footer medium action with ceramic glass eye inserts to save on line wear while landing those lunkers. But the spinning reel kept giving me problems when landing big bass. The last one I had seemed to work fairly well, after trying several "top brand" reels costing up to $40. Then a stroke of luck happened. At my local town bait shop, I went in one early spring day to stock up on jelly worms, snap swivels and Stren line. The clerk asked if I wanted to enter the year's fishing pool based on fish species. Costing only a buck, I entered the LMB category and forgot about the contest for a couple of months. I kept forgetting to bring home a good sized bass to enter and one day, my last fish caught was a 4 pounder, so I took it home to enter. The clerk was surprised at the fish and I wondered why. A few months later in the fall, I stopped in the store and while paying for my tackle supplies the clerk told me I had won the LMB category! "But that was only a 4 pound fish! I tried to remember to enter a much larger fish but kept forgetting to!". Well, that small fish won the category hands down because the next biggest fish entered was a mere 21/2 pounds! I only expected a few dollars cash (credit) prize money and the clerk said, "Not bad...lets see.(counting the entrees) well, the total is 97". The winner of each category collects the number of dollars entered and that amount is the only prize for the type fish chosen. I couldn't believe it - 97 dollars! After standing there for several minuets trying to decide what to get, the clerk said he had some nice light duty saltwater Penn spinning reels. So I picked the best one he had in stock (cost $89). I still use that awesome quality reel today, some 20 years later. Since I was having trouble with casting distance using 12 pound test golden Stren mono, I finally switched to braided tevlar 20 pound test (diameter of 10 pound mono) and I haven't looked back since. Close to 100 entrees and the second biggest fish entered was 21/2 pounds??? Guess I knew a lot more than they did without realizing it. Of coarse knowing a few honey hole ponds didn't hurt either So how about you? Any strange circumstances around any of your equipment upgrades?

To keep line twist to a minimum, I use snap swivels at the end of the line to allow some lures to spin without twisting the line. I have used this "line out" untwisting when a tackle shop introduces twist into the line spooling procedure incorrectly. One "line out" in the water corrects this. Some cheaply designed spinning reels introduce line twist in the reel-in mode.

I have no idea. I spend my time "reading" the water, looking around for better structure nearby, but most of the time I spend staring at the line across the water for those subtle mouthing of the lure. Remember Josh, its not the cast/caught ratio that's important, its the fun you had throughout the day doing what you love to do - seeking that sometimes very elusive lunker fish

The weather that day? Sunny and hot? Maybe they were seeking shelter (shade) from the sun under those docks. While out in my inflatable, I noticed two mature bass drifting under my boat while following the boats shadow. I thought of trying to catch one but that would have been too easy with no challenge.

Yes it can be done and the air bubble is very small since the worm's density is very close to the water's, which allows the worm to nearly float as it slowly drops to the bottom. Some inject one bubble near the tail so only the tail remains off the bottom and others place one at each end of the worm to keep most of the body off the bottom. Once the bubble is made, its hard to squeeze out of the worm and lasts for a long time. Ive' found most quality worms do have a slight raised posture of the tail fin when resting on the bottom without any air bubbles.

A long time ago I read where some people not only use a slip sinker before the worm but also use a tiny lubricating syringe (empty of oil) to inject a tiny air bubble into the tail or head to let the worm float off the bottom a few inches. I never tried this since the worm alone got me many strikes with a very slow retrieve for a foot, then let it rest for several seconds before resuming my retrieve. The tough thing about fishing these plastic worms (at least for me) is detecting the "pick-up", which can be very subtle. In these "strikes", you have to pay very close attention to the line movement that barely gives any indication of a bass mouthing the worm. At other times the strike can be vicious! And I found that close watching of the line as the worm sinks is very important since any pick-ups will be very subtle. Has anyone out there used the "injected air" idea and if so, how did it work for you?

It is indeed a complicated process that depends on the body of water in question. In any event, since I don't fish these fish during egg laying times, I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents for what its worth.

Over the years I have found forgotten rods left at ponds by kids(?) and I always take them at the end of the day's fishing. I keep these in my trunk for the occasional friends that want to try bass fishing. When the discarded rigs reach two, I always seem to find a kid in the neighborhood that goes nuts when I give one to them with a few lures to start with. My "emergency" kit consists of a magnetic hide-away key box with door, ignition and trunk keys in it. Yea, I've had to use it a few times over the years

Actually any brand...the ones I get best results on have an oily coating that has two purposes - masking human scent and a fish attractor, My recollection when first using these lures was to use a black color for stained water and brighter colors for clearer water. But I found the grape color works best over most water conditions with the red "strawberry" coming in second. Does anyone have different experiences than the color selection mentioned above? And of course, using a "weeder" hook for all plant/bottom conditions.

From what I remember, the chances of eggs hatching and then having ample food to eat occurs when the water temperature is on the warmer side of the nesting range. But this is not a steadfast rule, just a likelihood. Every pond is different when it comes to nesting/hatching conditions.

My experience with bedding bass on nests involves testing what the nest cleaner does when a bait enters the nest. 9 times out of ten he will gingerly pick up the nest intruder and carry it out of the nest, then return to it. Instead of picking up the bait by the front of it, it picks it up by the tail (not a feeding "strike"}. At other times of the fishing season, try using a larger lure of the type you think should work. Bass tend to be very economical in weighing the cost of energy (going after the meal)vs the meal size. In local ponds here, many people claim there are no large bass in these ponds because they are using lures too small for the larger bass. I have proved them wrong time after time!

Small or large bass doesn't matter while honing your fishing skills, especially when it comes to bait/lure presentation, retrieve and hook setting. What does count is how many fish you land...providing the water can produce the fish.