blckshirt98

Makes sense, and explains why all the current model CI4+ reels are being cleared out everywhere. That rotor looks an awful lot like the Daiwa AirRotor design!

Huddleston 68 Special or other swimbaits if you're looking to catch one of the big ones! If the water is spring clear try one of the phantom colors on the Hudds!

I've always thought of shaky head fishing as trying to imitate a small baitfish pecking at food on the bottom (if you've ever had goldfish and have seen them pick up gravel off the bottom with their mouths that's what picturing). So a senko or worm, and lightly lift and twitch it.

I'd probably find a Shimano Sedona on sale!

Early morning/late evening I'll fish the shallows and use either a dropshot or a shallow running squarebill. When the sun comes out and it warms up, the fish will usually go deeper. Try casting straight out with like a lipless crank and if you're lucky you'll find some areas where your hooks will come back with some grass/milfoil/other vegetation from deeper water. There's a good chance that's where the fish are hunkering down because it provides shade/cover/oxygen. Switch up to like a wacky senko or a plastic on a light jighead and work it in and around those pockets of vegetation.

It sounds like you found the fish, and what they were biting. Pitching you just need to keep moving and dropping it into as many holes as fast as you can, that isn't a "cover lots of area" technique, more of a "meticulously drop it in every hole and pick the location apart" kind of deal. Unless you're wanting to try to learn a new technique stick with what's working and never leave fish to find fish!

Agree with 15lb braid, should be perfect.

Z-Man but the entire craw floats, not just the claws. I like the Damiki air craw as well, the claws go up in a defensive stance. Agree about the claws on the Damiki being a bit prone to tearing off. I had one on a jig and after enough casts, I made a cast and the claws both popped right off and went flying.

Dropshot a 3.5-4" plastic. Something like a green pumpkin/watermelon GYCB Kut Tail, Molix Sator Worm, or Reins Bubbling Shaker.

Transition might have been the wrong word, but in the local reservoirs here the bass are always active in the shallower water/near the grassline in the mornings but once the sun comes out they mostly get out of dodge and find deeper water/cover and hunker down. If the bass behave the same way at your pond, once the sun starts beating down overhead look for the bass to move to the deeper parts of the pond where the creek channels are and in the timber. So in the morning I'd focus more on the grass side, and as it starts approaching 11am-noon start focusing more on the deeper parts.

I like that top yellow line area! I'd think the big bass will hang out in the deep creek channels, and the northern part is the shortest trip from those deep channels to the grass. i'd think they go shallow to feed in the mornings then as it warms up will go back deep so maybe you can catch them when they transition back before they go into all the heavy timber. As for what I'd use with all that timber...hopping jigs or slow rolling weedless swimbaits? If you have a boat how about even jigging a blade/spoon type of bait in some spots clear of the timber?

I don't watch too many YouTube fishing videos unless it's a pro or unless I'm looking for a review or water test of a specific bait, but how some suggestions on some YouTube people that actually offer up good informative videos? One guy I watch that I find very engaging is KeepingItReelFishing. His videos are on the long side but he's informative and his presentations are very "clean" in that they're coherent, easy to follow and understand, and he doesn't stumble or break up his sentences with a bunch of "ums". He also seems objective when he breaks down the pros and cons of something.

No one's forcing you to click a link, let them be. If anything it's a good place for people to get started and learn about how to give presentations, speak in public (though not live), and engage an audience. You can see some of these kids being really nervous or not quite clear in getting their thoughts together, I think these videos they do will help them once they need to give a presentation in the classroom or at the office.

Megabass has a good warranty, see if they'll replace it - Megabass of America will repair or replace your Megabass® rod free of charge for a period of one (1) year from date of initial purchase. After the first year, or the first claim (whichever comes first), all repairs will be charged at cost (for time and labor only; we will not charge for parts). No-questions-asked replacements will be charged a flat-fee equal to 60% off of listed MSRP (for example, a $299 rod would be $119.60 to replace).

Get some topwater muskie lures that are basically oversized Whopper Ploppers and start fishing! But what I do in the winter is buy more crap, organized said crap, then watch tv/movies and play video games until the time is right to go fishing.

I fog up the lens with my breath and wipe it off with whatever clean paper or cloth is nearby. Repeat until lenses are spotless!

For me it's because I buy rods/backup rods/backup to backup rods when they're on sale and don't necessarily fish them all that much within the first year, if at all. I know that's more my fault being a gear hoarder but still.

Ok glad I'm not the only one that's scratching his head on this. If nobody has an answer I'll try to pose this question to Zona during tomorrow's Bassmaster Live show.

Interesting, I didn't know this. I thought after the 1-year period, if you broke your rod you were screwed and had to buy a new rod. If I'm reading this right, this program lets you replace a qualifying rod for 50% off MSRP anytime after the 1-year period even if it's your own fault? This isn't the best replacement program out there but isn't horrible either.

This was just posted on the Bassmaster Blog for the current BASSFest tourney going on - "Dave Lefebre had a hard decision to make. He has a limit but what does he do now. He has a 13" spot and a 14" Largemouth. He showed true sportsmanship by culling down and tossing the largemouth. Way to go Dave." Can someone explain why he would cull down and why choosing one species over another is good sportsmanship?

The lifetime OTC free warranty was a bit absurd, I'm hoping for something more along the lines of what Phenix or St. Croix does where you pay a replacement fee that's lower than a completely new rod.

- I'm wondering if more companies will introduce plastics that are cut/sized for the Ned Rig. That rig seems to be getting popular and it seems like it would be a simple design to add if they already make a stickbait. - I think more rat-style topwater baits will be coming soon in the sub-$40 range. Spro's Rat has sold like wildfire, the new Savage Gear rat looks amazing and will be cheap at only $20/$25, and Ima's Disrat ($35) is priced low too. I'd be shocked if companies like Strike King and River2Sea didn't have some sort of rat bait being developed. - Still waiting for Shimano to announce a change on the warranties on their rods back to lifetime. I wonder how much of a hit they've taken on rod sales since they made the warranty change. The local tackle shop here pretty much stopped stocking their rods and replaced them with other brands, and on this forum and other forums Shimano very rarely comes up when people are looking for a new rod, either as a brand they're considering, or a brand someone will recommend when replying to a thread.

Don't worry so much about the technique labels that manufacturers put on their rods as often it's just a marketing tactic to get you to buy more rods. A lot of times you'll see similar numbers on a rod except one will be like 2 inches longer, and each will have a different technique on it. They're trying to get you to buy both rods when one will work fine for both techniques. Pay more attention to the Power/Action/Lure Rating and see if it'll work for what you want to use the rod for.

Chris Lane uses straight braid and he's probably caught more frog fish than all of us combined.

Another vote for M/XF, I think I only have one ML rod and it hardly ever sees the water over my M stuff because I never feel like I need to go lighter.