blckshirt98

Dec to Jan is rough for bass fishing, I usually take those winter months off! Delta with Cooch might be your best bet, but the trout fishing that time of year can be strong with a lot of places near San Ramon actively stocking trout - Los Vaqueros, San Pablo Reservoir, Del Valle. You can also always hit up San Francisco Bay for sharks and rays!

An Owner Mosquito in a size 4 is the hook I use most of the time. I use it because like others have said I like to use small plastics (3.5"-5"), and I nose hook my baits because I feel it gives them the best action in the water. If I use a smaller crappie size baits or baits with a larger "head" section like a fluke, I'll downsize/upsize accordingly. Don't be afraid to use a small hook, i actually think it's easier to hook up because you don't need to apply a lot of pressure to get the hook to penetrate to the barb. On a sidenote - on snags where I was able to get my hook/weight back, where the line is strong enough to pull the hook free - Gamakatsu Split Shot/Drop Shot hooks are more likely to break, Owner Mosquito hooks are more likely to bend.

Carolina rig, dropshot rig. If I ever did a high/low setup using bait in the ocean with a braid mainline, I'd use one there too. Basically anytime I'm using a setup where I'm attaching my braid mainline to a fluoro or mono leader I'll use a Spro Power Swivel instead of a line-to-line knot.

Lots of reports on the sdfish.com forums but it's been a numbers game (30-50 bass per boat) and not a size game (3-4 lbs being common, larger ones going 5-6 lbs). They did a survey of fish via shocking and didn't report seeing any DD fish in the thousands that were surveyed, but the norm was 3-5 pound class bass.

Not trying to advertise another website but trying to help a fellow bass angler out - scsurffishing.com is an amazing resource for surf fishing in SoCal especially in the LA/OC region. Create an account and post up your question and you should get a lot of responses. Be sure to check https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/MPAs for the restricted areas. Newport/Huntington should be safe but if you ever start to head south towards Laguna/Dana Point a good chunk of shoreline is off limits.

I see these boils all the time at one of the local reservoirs and I've had luck chucking a 1.5 or 2.5 squarebill through and around those boils. Usually though it's more closer to shore as the bass chase them up, but anytime I see that kind of activity on the surface I know there's something in feed mode, so I'll try to use a reaction bait with a somewhat slow/erratic retrieve to try and imitate a tired/injured baitfish that got lost from the group.

Ah, let me re-check the spook when I get home, maybe they are small screws and I'm recalling incorrectly. If they are screws they come right out with any screwdriver that fits?

How do you replace the hooks on a spook? I found one and the brackets holding the hook are 'riveted" onto the body of the spook so you can't take out the hooks without cutting them off or breaking off the bracket.

I throw squarebills on either a 7'2" Megabass Orochi Swingfire or a 7'9" Phenix XG3 Glass rod - being a shore guy I don't mind the extra length, though there are times when I have overhanging limbs, side bushes, or steep banks where the extra length makes throwing crankbaits impossible or at the very least very cumbersome. From a boat I don't see why you'd opt for a shorter length since nothing is in the way of your cast.

I fish with a couple of 8'6" and 9' salmon/steelhead rods mainly for the surf, and the extra length definitely comes in handy. Not sure what the new "bass specific" long rods will have that current salmon/steelhead models don't already have but I'm sure there's going to be plenty of people opening up their wallet for a shiny new rod. Punching/flipping? I also bet they go two piece with an offset ferrule point closer to the handle (like the St. Croix Mojo Surf or Shimano Expride) so that you have an 8 foot blank with a 2 foot base/handle it attaches to.

Line twist in the traditional sense isn't a big deal for me since I use braid mainline with a small swivel between the braid mainline and fluoro leader. I do see some improvement when using the VMC spinshots in preventing the tangled mess when a fish flops around causing the dropshot weight to twirl around everything like a tetherball, but not enough to deal with the extra knots to tie, so I mainly stick to the Gamakatsu Drop Shot/Split Shot and Owner Mosquito hooks.

For cheap standard hooks go with Gamakatsu Drop Shot/Split Shot hooks in a size 1, 2, or 4, or get the Owner Pro Pack Mosquito hooks in size 2 or 4. If you want to take the guesswork out of getting the hook to stay straight up get the Blakemore StandOut hooks. If you want the more expensive hooks to reduce line twist look into the VMC Spin Shots or the Gamakatsu G-Finesse Swivel Shot/Drop Shot hooks.

Pretty much every squarebill at the tackle shop has/will catch fish, otherwise it wouldn't be out there in the retail aisle.. Every squarebill will have it's share of fisherman that "swear by it", so just find one that fits your budget and gives you the most confidence.

I'd try fishing in a different spot and come back to that spot later, and if it's still slow just call it a day and be happy for experiencing the flurry of bites the first time around.

I wish I could have had it drilled in my head more that you just need to keep your color selection simple. No need for 15 different colors of the same size/brand of senkos, worms, crankbaits, etc.

I'm guessing the Morning Dawn is being reported as getting more strikes because it's being thrown more often. Compared to all of the Spro rats it's definitely the prettiest, and most likely the one fisherman will keep throwing hoping to get a fish on.

I used to catch bluegill as a kid with homemade doughballs - flour and water on a tiny hook. You could see the balls of dough disappear into the fish's mouths.

Use whatever gives you the most confidence. If you look up at a bait from underwater all you see is a black silhouette since the light source is behind it. Maybe in clear water you can differentiate a black vs white belly, but anything on top above the water, the fish will never see.

They're not the most durable but right now Overstock has Kinami Psycho Dads at 99 cents per pack. Hard to beat a 20 cent trailer even if they only last a fish or two.

If I still lived in Atlanta I'd be more than happy to come down every weekend to help cull some fish! This sounds like a fun problem to have though, good luck with your pond!

Use some Alka Seltzer if you want bubbles.

Gross! That maggot smell never goes away! No matter how much you clean or spray, that maggot smell is always there!!

For all you Pflueger fans, Cabela''s has the Pflueger President Limited Edition spinning reel marked down to $55.99 (from $79.99) for all sizes - http://www.cabelas.com/product/bargain-cave/fishing/reels|/pc/105591780/c/105740280/sc/105742980/pflueger-174-president-174-le-spinning-reels/2186421.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Freels%2F_%2FN-1102770%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105742980

Phenix is amazing - no questions asked warranty, just pay the replacement fee they have listed for your rod. The M1 should also have a lifetime warranty so registration wouldn't matter. Call them if you have any questions but it should be one of the easiest replacements you ever send in.

I usually start out with about 12-15" from weight to hook because I'm casting from shore and with the angle of the line the bait will still be sitting only about 6" off the bottom. If you're dropping straight down shorten it up, if you're casting out start out with more than you think you need and just move the drop shot weight up the line if you think you need to shorten it. As for weeds/moss you're kind of screwed there. I nose-hook my dropshot plastics so they catch any weeds/moss in the water. If there's weeds I'll be cautious about moving the bait too much and re-cast fairly often if I feel I hooked onto some weeds. You can always texspose the hook so it doesn't catch onto the weeds as much. Moss is another issue altogether and I have no solutions. The moss will get on your plastic, your hook, your dropshot weight, your braid/fluoro knot and you'll spend more time cleaning than fishing. On top of that I saw an Aaron Martens video where he said bass will freak out and avoid your bait if they see any bit of weeds/moss on your dropshot bait. So weeds you might be able to work around depending on how dense it is, moss you might want to try a different option.