Junk Fisherman

An anchor trolley was a game changer for me.

I just picked up a left-handed reel so that I could work a jerkbait with my right hand, my dominant arm. The downward jerk with my left hand feels awkward no matter how much I practice while it feels much more natural with my right hand. I reel spinning reels with my left hand so I am hoping that reeling a baitcaster with my left hand will be a quick adjustment. I like the idea of not switching hands after casting so I if I like this left-handed reel, I could see switching to lefties moving forward.

Great stuff. Thanks. Looks like I should give them another chance this summer when I want to cover deep water looking for brown bass.

As I have been going through my tackle, wobble head jigs and scroungers take up a lot of space in a tray and getting virtually no use. Taking most of them out except for 1 or 2 of each. I don't have the feel for the wobble head jigs.

I'd go with the 6. There was a time when 6.3 to 1 was fast. Like Franko said, I'd rather speed up than slow down.

6 brands Dobyns (5 spinning, 6 casting) Loomis (3 casting) Daiwa (1 spinning) St. Croix (1 casting) Shimaon (1 casting) BPS (1 casting)

I agree 100%. A ML spinning rod covers the majority of finesse spinning presentations for bass fishing. Ned, dropshot, finesse swimbaits, wacky, shakey, Neko, small jerks and cranks. If you go to a medium, why not just go to a casting rod and enjoy the advantages of using a baitcaster? I have a medium spinning rig and it is good for skipping docks and areas where you have heavier cover but still want to use a spinning rig. But overall a ML spinning rod is much more versatile than a M IMO.

I have wondered about this in terms of when I retire. Will I have so much time that I only go when the conditions are perfect and will I start making excuses not to go? Right now, I go one day every weekend for 8-10 hours pretty much regardless of conditions. Then, by Tuesday I am ready to go again and am looking forward to the weekend to get back on the water. When I take a fishing vacation I will fish heavy every day for 3, 4, 5 days in a row. I have intentionally cut back on some days when the fishing is not great just as a way to conserve energy. I think 2-3 times a week is perfect and that is my routine when I have an extended amount of time off and I am not on vacation. Granted, I spend no less than 8 hours on the water so I am putting in full days. In terms of losing appeal and excitement, I get more tired of actually getting up, hooking up the boat, driving 45 minutes or so to get to the lake. If I lived close or even had my boat moored at the lake, I could see fishing more often. And to answer your question of have I ever grown bored of fishing, the answer is yes but I get over it in a couple days.

Couldn't agree more. I will watch some videos on Bass U and Youtube but they are always on specific techniques I am looking to improve upon. But no I won't watch videos seeing people smash big bass since it only makes my cabin worse.

This is my main starting lineup: Spinning Daiwa Steez 761/Tatula 3000- Ned, hairjigs Dobyns 741 Champ HP/Ballistic 2500- finesse swimbaits Dobyns 742 Champ HP/Ballistic 2500- dropshot, tubes, shakey head, wacky, neko, bladebaits Dobyns 763 Champ XP/Procyon 2500- 1/2 oz tubes, stupid tubes Dobyns 702 Champ/Emblem Z 2500- all-around, spybaits Casting Loomis 843GLX/ Tatula Type R- Plastics, Sleepers Loomis 844GLX/ Daiwa TDX- Jigs/C-Rigs Dobyns 703 Champ XP/Daiwa Advantage 153- secondary plastics, senkos Dobyns 704CB Champ XP/Zillion SVU- jerkbaits, light topwater, shallow cranks Dobyns 735 Champ XP/ Daiwa Advantage 153- frogs, football head jigs, heavy scroungers, swinghead jigs Dobyns 742 Champ HP/Curado 70MGL- finesse swimbaits Dobyns 742 Champ HP/Zillion- dropshot St. Croix 7' MH Sweeper Spinnerbait Rod/Tatula SV TW=- chatterbait, swimjigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits Shimano Compre 7 MH/Curado- secondary jerkbait rod, topwater, shallow to mid cranks BPS Crankin Stick 7'10 H/Tatula- deep-diving cranks, A-Rigs

The Tinley show has been cancelled as well.

I give you a month.

I catch a lot of bass throwing a 3/16th oz leadhead jig and a 4" Keitech swing impact (not the fat) swimbait. Go with a basic ballhead jig with a 3/0 hook. A slow retrieve will catch fish and with the exposed hook you will not need much of a hookset. Chatterbaits and swimjigs will definitely catch fish and often bigger fish but to start gaining confidence in moving baits, I'd go with the 4"Keitech. Good luck.

Last fall I got into a very good jerkbait bite which is a technique I knew I always needed to develop. So with my renewed confidence in jerkbaits I have added a bunch of Lucky Craft, Jackall, and Yo Zuri jerkbaits. Going to add a couple 110s when I can see them in person. Besides jerkbaits, I have a couple techniques and lures want to work on- Jika/Tokyo rig, free rig, Jackall i-shads, and a variety of finesse swimbaits I want to experiment with.

What's worse than being skunked is when something goes wrong with the boat or you break something. Sorry you had a bad day.

I agree. The reason need a dozen+ combos overall is for the variety of fishing I do. Largemouth, smallmouth, clear Great Lakes, shallow dark water reservoirs, finesse, power fishing, ect.. But on any given day, I don't need more than 6 combos in the boat.

P-Line Fluoro is $14 for 250 yards on TW right now. I bought 10 and 12 lb for jerks and cranks. Solid line for a baitcaster and a gread deal at $7 to fill up a reel.

Wobble head jig is the only technique I have tried that I haven't caught a single fish on. I've never thrown a glide bait, a swimbait over a 4.8" Keitech, Whopper Plopper, or a jigging spoon. And I gotta say that the Chatterbait responses really surprise me. What kind of trailers are you guys using? When I started using paddle tail swimbait trailers my big fish numbers went way up. Before then I used to always catch 'em using a grub trailer. I thought just about every bass fishermen was using Chatterbaits so I stopped using them as much.

That 742 is a great dropshot rod too.

I have a couple pair of Costas and while I like them, the Suncloud polarized glasses that are a little over $50 are not far behind in quality. The Suncloud glasses are my everyday driving glasses but I often wear them fishing. If you are fishing ultra-clear Great Lakes water then I can see getting the Costas but otherwise I'd get the Sunclouds and spend the $150+ you save on other fishing gear.

For me it really depends on the circumstances. I've never been on a body of water when pros were there. I would leave an area or just sit back and watch if someone came to an area I was fishing. I figure, it is there livelihood and watching them fish would probably benefit my fishing more. In terms of amateur tournaments, I couldn't care less if someone is fishing a tournament. I encounter this on a regular basis fishing weekends locally. Just because someone chooses to pay an entry fee and fish a competition, that doesn't mean I am going to get out of their way or give up a spot. I'll be courteous and treat them how I want to be treated but they are just another boat on the water in my view.

A couple weeks back I felt my arsenal was complete and then I started thinking about how a left-handed reel for my jerkbait rod would make working jerkbaits much easier. Ordered a closeout Zillion last night from TW. Now the arsenal should be complete but this might change in another month,

Congrats! I completely agree about learning from the back of the boat. When I did it, it wasn't just about learning what to do but also what not to do. But after I had a small, non-tournament boat for a couple years it really became tough for me to fish as a coangler with some people when I felt like I had better spots and would make better decisions if I were running the boat. But for people who can't afford a bassboat yet, fishing as a coangler is a great option.

100% agreed. I think my success with finesse on smallmouth has actually reduced the number of big largemouths I have caught the last few years. I do so well with the smallmouth using Neds, finesse swimbaits, and dropshots that I end up using those baits for largemouth. While I catch more largemouth than ever, I don't catch nearly as many big largemouth as I do big smallmouth. Granted, I fish a lot of highly-pressured largemouth waters so maybe I should just be content with my results.

There is some outstanding information and advice in this thread. I like Zcoker's advice of not drowning in the bass fishing scene. This is my perspective as well. I know what my core confidence techniques are and while I am constantly trying to refine them, I never deviate too far from what I've been using for years. I only fish about 6-8 different bodies of water a year and I know them all pretty well so I when I come across new techniques or hot new lures I instantly know if and when they have a place in my arsenal. In terms of the OP's question, I am trying to improve by listening and watching pros. I love the Bass University videos and watch the videos that apply to my fishing style and locations. You can learn things even on your confidence techniques when you listen to the pros talk about about the presentation for 30-60 minutes. Besides those videos, I will watch guys like Zona, Seider, KVD, and other smallmouth guys who have videos on Youtube. The Smallmouth Crush podcast is an excellent source of information as well. And when I go out I'm always working on something. I'll have my 4-5 confidence presentations always ready but I always have at least 1 presentation I am working on. In the past, the Ned rig and dropshots were presentations I was simply working on and now they are mainstays in my arsenal. Nowadays I am working on cracking tubes, hair jigs, jerkbaits, and dragging swimbaits in deep water. Besides presentations, when I go out maybe I am trying a new knot or line. Plus, I always scout a new spot every time out especially on Lake Michigan where I am always side scanning and looking for new structure. So to summarize, while I have my confidence presentations and locations I fish, I am constantly trying to learn and improve different presentations and locations to fish. Listening to pros is the main way I try to learn and improve when not on the water.