blckshirt98

Man, you posted a month late but this organization in Oak Lawn, Illinois was being shared around Facebook looking for gear donations for their April event - https://www.facebook.com/Helpingveteransgofishing/info/?tab=page_info Maybe contact them and look into heading out next year, good luck!

From what I understand carp don't eat bass eggs, but as vegetarian bottom feeders they stir up the bottom as they rummage for food and in the process they smother bass eggs so they never get to hatch.

I have a few bags of the Shakey Shads that I use on a dropshot. Unique colors you can't find anywhere else and the plastic is very sturdy and durable (I nose hook my dropshot baits). Body is a little stiff compared to other dropshot baits (like a SK Dream Shot, GYCB Kut Tail, Jackall Crosstail Shad) but the long tapered tail has good action. Profile is a little larger than the dropshot baits I like to use (4" and under) and the "nose" is a tad large for the size 4 hooks I like to use. If you use a size 2 or larger hook and like a slightly larger profile on your dropshot baits I think you'll really like them. Also the way the nose is shaped, they'll work fantastic doing double duty on a shaky head.

I buy tons of hardbaits after watching the pros but when I get out to my local places if I don't get any strikes after about 15-20 minutes of trying for a reaction bite I'll revert back to my trusty dropshot. I always end up fishing a dropshot most of the time.

The Ugly Otter was the bait I used when I caught my first bass on a Carolina rig. Love the action of the flappers in the water and they make some great colors.

Profile and movement/action are the main things that will draw a fish to a topwater bait. Like the reel ess said from underwater a fish will just see a silhouette. Maybe in crystal clear water a dark vs light belly will make a different but for the most part it's the bait profile and the movement/action that will get the fish to strike.

Phenix M1, length/action up to you but I'd go with either the 72M or 78M XF action rod!

Pretty much every single body of water out west here has a population of carp in them. I wish we could bowfish for carp because they cruise in packs near the shoreline all the time.

I can cast a 1.0 KVD squarebill on a 7'2" spinning rod a country mile!

As a shore guy I like to fish alone. I move around and trying to coordinate with someone can be a distraction. If it's a place where shore access is limited and you're mostly confined to similar areas, I don't mind. But yeah, part of why I like to fish is to be out there without the distractions of people or computers or machines or concrete, just me, the muddy ground, the plants, and the water.

At a local tackle shop event a Berkley rep was giving away some sample bags of plastics and he gave me a couple of bags of the new Shaky Snake. He said it was designed for a shaky head, and the way the back half of the worm is designed with "coils" it looks like it'll work really well.

About a year ago I made a post or commented on a post about how one day I was using my DS setup with a reel spooled with 8lb Nanofil and a 7lb FC Sniper Finesse leader and one day I started getting strange breakoffs where the line would fail in random places along the mainline (not at the usual points of failure like line connections and knots). Both on hooksets and when trying to free my rig from debris in the water, I had these strange line breaks about 4 times in the same morning. I stripped all the Nanofil and respooled from a fresh spool of 8 lb Nanofil. Fast forward one year to now and I've used that reel minimally, and this morning I ran into the same issues. I use a swivel on my DS setup to connect 7lb FC Sniper Finesse with 8lb Nanofil and I had FIVE breaks ABOVE the swivel this morning when trying to pull my rig free from debris/plants in the water. This is the same debris/plants that I can break free from with 8lb PowerPro/7lb fluoro leader. Something about the Nanofil makes it fail catastrophically that none of my other lines have been able to duplicate. Maybe the way the line is spun the slightest nick will cause the line to cut at the nick (like how once you have a loose thread the whole thing just wants to unravel). Either way there's some characteristic with the Nanofil that's making it fail where it shouldn't. Stripping the line and spooling with more 8lb PowerPro no more Nanofil for me! /endrant

FYI I believe there's a time limit for you to edit your post at which point it's no longer editable.

I got an Orochi XX Swingfire for small/medium crankbaits and it's a fantastic rod. I was going to get the Levante Swingfire but someone at the shop talked me into it after about a 10-15 minute pitch on the Orochi XX over the Levante. It's a hybrid glass/graphite blank, and after using a Phenix X3 glass rod for med heavy/heavy crankbaits I'm sold on the whippy action on glass for crankbaits.

4" and 5" single tail grubs on all my bladed swim jigs last year, though this year I'm going to try the Rage Menace and some paddletails.

If you're considering the Bass Recon 2 I strongly suggest giving the Phenix M1 MXS72M consideration. It's my primarly DS rod and I've caught more fish on that than all my other rods combined. The M1s are built like tanks as well, they tested the blank lifting 6lb weights off the ground which equates to like 90lbs of lift.

I'm also thinking you didn't put the tag end back through the eye of the hook. If you don't loop the tag end back through the eye of the hook it'll sag like a limp fish once you add a plastic Also make sure the knot on the hook didn't shift, sometimes it'll push down into the eye of the hook/under the hook, make sure it's "back and up" away from the hook, so to speak. Also when you tie your palomar make sure you put the line into hook eye first from the top down.

19th and 20th for me too. Days right after a rain have always been super tough for me so 16th and 17th are out. 18th there's almost no wind. 19th and 20th you have some cloud cover and a slight breeze coming through and the rains are 3 days past.

Kastmaster, Phoebe, and Rebel Minnows!

I run 15# on most of my spinning setups and it has always worked well for me! It's sturdy enough for reaction baits, and thin enough to tie to a fluoro leader for finesse!

"Moderate" isn't a really popular action, F/XF is probably 99% of the bass rods out there so you're going to have to do some legwork to find the right rod for you with a Med/Mod rating. You might want to find a Big 5 or Wal Mart nearby that might carry some of the lower priced fiberglass rods and see if you find one with the action you're looking for!

I'd run 15lb PowerPro. You can fish reaction baits tied direct to either reel, and fish finesse with a fluoro leader on your spinning setup.

I'd avoid the Levante, but add in the Phenix M1, Powell Max 3D, and older Shimano Cumaras (the grey models not the newer red ones) to this mix.

It's no different than flipping through a BPS or Cabela's catalog before going to bed. I also sometimes take a casting reel with no line spooled and will reel it in and flick the spool on free spool and watch it spin. I'll also get a bag (or a few) of plastics and look at them and squeeze them through the package. Don't judge me!!!