riverbasser

I don't have experience with any of the rods listed but IMO jerkaits and chatterbaits are best presented with different rods. I I like a medium fast action for a jerkbait and a med heavy for my chatter baits. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Like they said if its all lumped then plastics of course mostly jig trailers and swimbaits. Cranks and jigs are too close to say but I definitely have more cranks than need and it not really my goto presentation

Strike king swim n shiner Big bite baits cane thumper Rage swimmer Swim senko

I don't use this knot too much anymore but I learned to tie it with 6

I should maybe clarify my reason for the topic. You see tournament anglers run long stretches bouncing from place to place sometimes 5 to 10 miles between spots, maybe because they don't have time to fish anyplace that doesn't have some active fish and I was just curious if anyone does this as part of there regular routine? Or do you pick a general area and stay there. General area could be a square mile.

Its an average day of fishing, you have a game plan and an idea of where the fish should be. How much water will you cover? Will you stay in a general area and just pick it apart waiting for a feed time or try to force a bite from an inactive fish? Or would you move and try to locate active fish, if so how far will you go between "spots"?

Yes the mouth of pautaula has a lot of good structure in one place but it is also probably the most fished creek mouth on the lake(for good reason). I will look for more saddles though. This is something Im not used to looking for so will have to train my eyes. Thank you How do bass like to stage on saddles like this? Or are you saying that its just a transition area out into the main lake?

This still holds true today. Most of the offshore fishing only gets done around some planted brush piles. This 15 to 30' range is what I'm most interested in. I have a couple ledges that hold fish but they may only bite for an hour throughout the whole day. I need more places to bounce around

I've got all your stuff marked. Will be testing your spawn advice this spring

As it starts to get colder and I fish much less I like to pull out my map or hook up my depthfinder GPS in the house and just look at my local lake. Just trying to use what I know and places ive caught fish to sort of map out how the bass travel around. Im also always looking for things that aren't as obvious and maybe get overlooked and not fished as much. Fresh eyes are always good and if anyone cares too look maybe you will see something I have overlooked. Its a big lake but seems to have a lot of unproductive water and most of the obvious areas are very pressured. So if anyone has time to look id be glad to hear anything you see worthwhile. Thanks https://webapp.navionics.com/#boating@8&key=m|faEjzlfO

Having been and pretty much still in your situation here's my advice. I too got advice from Catt, it probably won't be an extremely detailed answer telling you exactly where to fish but read it and think about it, then apply it with everything else you know, it will be more beneficial than it seems at first. Ajay hit a lot of really good points and I can't add much to it. Wrb is a trophy fisher as you can see by his pic and has spent decades finding the big girls. I also recommend you read all of the threads in the "best of" sticky from the top of the page. There is so much to learn here and even more that can't be taught. Too me finding the fish is the hardest part of bass fishing. I too like ajay get great enjoyment from catching a fish and knowing WHY it was there. Good luck

It will probably work but will be hard to keep the bait down with them weightless. I've thrown a decent size one with my Mh jig rod, not the best setup but it works. They also make rigs with willow blades on the outside arms. you only rig the center wire with swimbait. Don't be afraid to try things. I use to fish all kinds of lures with only 2 different rods.

Hilarious! Everybody slonezp wins.

I guess your talking about some kind of specialized crankbait rod that says crank in the title? No that isn't necessary. I use a Berkeley lightning shock rod for my crankbaits/traps and jerkbaits. It does a great job and is just what you said a 6'10 medium and I think its moderate action. I also use it for topwater spooks and poppers. I plan to pick up another just for topwater but I'm not trying to downsize my rod collection.

My two front teeth! Seriously idk how much help I'll be but the only things I asked for from the wife are a reel and rod combo and some new boots, the rest will just have to be a surprise

When I had a 16ft Jon (loved that boat) the most important thing to me was SPACE! You will soon know what and how you like things after a few trips. I spent a lot of time customizing that boat to my style of fishing and honestly doing that work was almost as fun as actually taking it out. Enjoy it and keep an open mind, a lot of things are possible with that setup.

probably why this forum is as good as it is. probably a thousand years of experience around here

I have a helix 5 with only one memory card slot. I know that all my waypoints are saved to the units internal memory and not my map card but can I transfer waypoints to an empty card for backup in case the unit ever goes out? Thanks

That size is easier to cast with a spinning reel, for the rod I use a medium power which is also what I use for most of my top water. Nothing really special needed with the pop r as long as you can cast it

If you really like to dead stick it and want the rage to stay up just give the rod a very small twitch. So small you might not think it did anything. This will keep the bait in place but force the claws back straight. Do this every few seconds or so. Or just use the craws that do stand up and be done.

I don't know how much I could add to what's been said or even if I should give advice to someone like you who has many more years on the water than me but the only thing that came to mind was that the bigger bass demand the best structure, and best location on that structure. So maybe there's something on that point you don't know about and this spot, within the spot is holding the big girl.

I guess I'm guna buy a silent RES and hit it with a hammer when I get home to knock em loose.

I'll play

Have not. That's on the Alabama river right? I mainly fish the Chattahoochee river system

I actually don't think I've ever fished it below 60 deg. My answer would be about 62 deg. Keep in mind I'm in south Alabama tho.