Wayne P.

None of the weedless hooks I have tried are strong enough to handle big bass in heavy cover so I made some up. I used 1/8" electrical shrink tubing and some stiff mono. The left, middle and bottom hook is a Gamakatsu Octopus hook 3/0 # 02413. Just as a test, the right hook is a former Gamakatsu Weedless Finesse Wide Gap hook 4/0 that the plastic weedguard broke when the second bass was caught using it. I fixed the 3/0 hooks for rigging Senkos wacky style with a perpendicular hook insertion which gives a better hook-up ratio than the parallel hook position when using O rings.

You are correct EastTexasBassin. The backing-to-braid connection only needs re-doing when reversing the braid after a couple of years or when replacing with new braid when retying has reduced the amount needed. I use about 50 yards on my Trap/Spook rig. After several reties and when a cast makes the connection knot contact my thumb, I replace it. I use the replaced line on one of my spinning rigs for wacky rigging or I just wrap it on a spare line spool for later use when only about 30 yards or so of braid is needed for other presentations.

I took a long look at the Owner Weedless Wacky hook. It isn't substantial enough or available in a large enough size for my taste.

Catt, I pretty much have experienced the same. I don't fish history patterns, I fish present patterns.

I have some Stren Superbraid on one of my spinning reels (about 50 yards) that was installed in February 2004 that is still in good shape with minumum color loss. It is the gold color. I use that rig a lot and have reversed it once a couple of years ago.

I don't shore fish so I can't advise you of any places. The depth I have been catching them is around 8' at the outside edge of the submerged weeds.

This is the color in the Yamamoto catalog: http://www.baits.com/cgi-bin/order/038

The force needed to get hook penetration with Octopus hooks is relative to the diameter of the wire and the barb size. Octopus hooks and Octopus Circle hooks are available in several wire diameters for use when seeking a wide range of fish sizes in fresh and salt water. I use Gamakatsu Octopus hooks for wacky rigging and use the model # 02412 (2/0) for finesse worms and model #02413 (3/0) for Trick worms and Senkos. When I am fishing in snag free waters, I use the Owner Mosquito hook 2/0 (the largest available) since it has a smaller diameter wire similar to the Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap hook. In all cases, I remove the barb to get better hook penetration with less effort. It also makes removal easier.

Several nylon mono and flurorocarbon line boxes state "low stretch" but don't state as compared to what. Maybe it was a rubber band they are referring to. In the Tackle Tour tests, the fluorocarbon lines were affected by water soaking also. I see several professional anglers state the low stretch myth of fluorocarbon lines, so they are duped by advertizement and it's sensitivity.

The bass are biting pretty good at Hunting Run also. I fished there today.

The temperatures haven't changed the bass locations or catching. The windy conditions have had the most affect with presentations though.

Yep, I got some 6/0 also, but it takes a very stiff rod, heavy line and some muscle to get a solid hook set, LOL. That size is more suited for very large fish (50#+) and the tackle it takes to land them. The size 2 is a good one for dropshotting small baits.

RobE, if you look at boats set up with stick steering, the steering lever is on the port side and the throttle/shift is on the starboard side. It has nothing to do with the linkage being on the right side, it can be rigged on either side since the motor connection is at the center.

If you are fishing from shore, you won't be using a DD22 very much. I'm guessing about 2 casts will do it. The long bill may keep the slime off the hooks some, but the bill and body will be slimed and that will affect the performance.

Since I do this a lot, I can tell you what works best for me. I use a Gammy 3/0 Octopus hook with a Trick worm and a Gammy 2/0 Octopus hook with finesse worm. When rigged this way, you have to use worm colors with lots of flakes in them because the solid and laminated colors are too hard for good hook penetration. I only used the white worm for picture clairty. I catch many hundreds of bass each year this way. The Octopus hook is a hook-set hook. Mash the barb down also to make hook penetration in fish easier and removal easier also. A size 2 hook is for very small worms or even live worms. A bass, even a smallmouth, has a big mouth. You need a big hook.

I friend of mine had one of those boats in the late 80's. The set-up for a foot controlled trolling motor was very cumbersome. It rode very well in choppy water since the hull is quite deep for a bass boat. It is basically a bow rider with fishing as an after thought.

As far as its abrasion resistance, they are the same. I use both alternating between worm sizes with the same presentation in the same locations. I use the Samurai for finesse worms and Fireline Braid for Trick worms when wacky rigging. Since the Samurai casts better, it works better for the lighter weight worms. The Fireline Braid is stiffer and a larger diameter so it is best suited for the heavier worms.

Another plus for the Samurai is it's smaller diameter. The 30# is 6# mono diameter. Other superlines in 30# are 8# mono diameter. I use the 30# for finesse presentations and would recommend at least 40# for most other applications.

CanalStalking, for bass fishing, it is not economical to fill the whole reel spool with ANY line you fish with. All the line from the spool arbor to about 2/3 to 3/4 filled is just filler. The wise angler will only have new line on his reel that is enough to fill up the top 1/3 to 1/4 of the spool capacity and replace that when the joining knot comes off the spool on a cast. Even if you only use 1/2 spool of filler, you only have to replace the top 1/2 of the line that you use. It is just a waste to fill the spool full of new line and after the line level gets low enough to affect performance or re-spooling for tournaments, you throw away good line that is unused. With superlines, after the used part gets somewhat frayed/fades and the amount on the reel is enough, just reverse it by tying the frayed end to the filler and you have new unused line to fish with. Mono doesn't work as well with the reversing because of the accumulated memory, but still you only have to replace the top section instead of all of it.

broncoboxer, yep a car tire did come to mind when I stuck a hook into one, LOL

The graphite low profile Pro Plus, Black Max, Ultra Gold and USA-1 reels have a disengaging level wind but not free floating. I have all of those. I used to have one of those free floating level wind reels too. It stacked line on one side of the spool depending on how you held it for the first few handle turns. I gave that one away.

endless, yep the water is about 60' deep. As far as I know, only one person not living on that section has permission to fish it. He got special permission from the county. There is no public access and probably won't be. I got that info from the guy that works at the boat rental. I think that bass is about 5#. I have caught larger ones and on one of those days, my best 5 bass weighed 30 pounds and 11 ounces. There used to be pictures of them on the wall in the rental house.

Hot Rod, if the water molecules stay separated (kind of like water vapor/steam/clouds), they can mix with the gas and ethenol. If they are allowed to assemble in enough quantity to form an individual liquid, they will separate from the gas and ethenol and will damage the engine and fuel system. You get an "F" for comprehension.

broncoboxer, I got one of the kits and yes the worms do float, but not with a light wire 3/0 hook. The plastic is a lot tougher than most other bait brands and a Texposed skin hooked point rigging may be necessary for good hookups. I'll donate the kit to some kid that could use some tougher soft plastic baits. Thanks for the tip about a real floating worm.

I found this tidbit about water temps: "Water is most dense at 3.98 °C (39.16 °F) at standard atmospheric pressure. Thus as water cools below 3.98 °C it decreases in density and will rise, the most obvious example being that ice floats. As the temperature climbs above 3.98 °C, water density also decreases and causes the water to rise, which is why lakes are warmer on the surface during the summer. The combination of these two effects means that the bottom of most deep bodies of water located well away from the equatorial regions is at a constant 3.98 °C."