Troy85

Yeah, Its a really good thread. I've been slowly making my way thru it the past few weeks.

I'm no jig expert, but I'm always more successful fishing my jig around wood cover rather than grass. Also,check out this link. The 4th post is a really good get started guide. I'm sure the entire post has great information, I just haven't made it all the way thru it yet.

I want to check out Housen the next time I go up there. I've only ever fished in San Miguel.

Haha right. I never see any Watermelon Seed colored earthworms crawling on the bottom, but bass sure seem to love em.

I just finished reading the first book, I found it very helpful. https://www.amazon.com/Fisherman-Critical-Concepts-Largemouth-Fundamentals/dp/189294734X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517242584&sr=8-1&keywords=in+fisherman+critical+concepts+1 I just ordered the 2nd book yesterday. https://www.amazon.com/Fisherman-Critical-Concepts-Largemouth-2006-07-01/dp/B01K3JZWOG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1517242461&sr=8-6&keywords=in+fisherman+critical+concepts+1

Same thing when you see a bass chasing a bait fish on the surface. Almost every time, if you throw a lure near the chase, the bass almost always stops chasing the bait fish and hits the lure(at least from my experience).

I learned the Alberto last night, seems strong and small diameter. Imma give the FG a try next and see what happens.

Toledo Bend

Don't feel bad. Few years back I bought a brand new bait caster and rod on my lunch break. After work I stopped by the park to test it out, I rigged it at the park and walked over to pond with a brand new crank bait tied on. I forgot to adjust the brakes, very first cast I got a birds nest unlike anything I have ever seen. It was so bad that it popped the line during the cast and the brand new crank bait goes flying out into the pond. After trying to untangle it for about 10 minutes, I finally just grabbed and knife and cut out half the line to get ride of the nest. I was so annoyed at that point that I just got in my truck and went home.

I'll usually put on a fluke or a straight tailed worm.

I'm not sure, this is stuff I just read about in the past week. Maybe they don't feed much on those nights and maybe why they feed more on clear nights with a full moon. What I read was talking about daylight activity.

The clearer the water the deeper the bass will go, so in a clear water reservoir bass may suspend deeper than bass in a murky reservoir. I read that in general bass won't go deeper than the maximum level of light penetration, so if the sun light is only penetrating down to 15', than a majority of bass will at 15' or shallower(I'm hoping some of the deep water experts here can give their thoughts on this).

I'll give these a try when i get home from work and see which one works better.....this evening under my carport should be entertaining. If anyone buys popcorn and stops by, I'll have some chairs setup so you can watch the clown show that is me trying to learn new knots.

What would y'all recommend as far as knots for tying fluorocarbon leader to braid line? I'm horrible with knots, so trying to get some opinions on what I should use.

I usually have 6. 1.Texas Rig(I'll use a C-Rig when a lot of the grass dies off) 2.Square bill or lipless crank bait 3.Jig 4.Spinner bait or chatter bait 5.Either a weedless swim bait or topwater 6.Some random technique that I want to learn or gain more confidence in.

So I have to go to Birmingham in early August for a graduation. I figured that while I'm up there, I might as well tow my boat, stay a few extra days and do some fishing. I have been doing a little research and have narrowed my list down to Gunthersville, Lake Martin, Wheeler or Pickwick. Any locals have some good info that can help me choose, I know Wheeler and Pickwick have small mouth, which could be fun to catch, but I have never fished for them so I would be learning as I go. My plan would be to rent a place on the water and fish one lake for a few days.

I keep asking my co workers if they have been doing their research for their fantasy fishing team, I keep telling them the first event is getting close...they just look at me like I'm nuts, I don't think they believe its real.

Oh ok....I've never used a hair skirt, so I was just curious.

If the weather is bad, or super cold again I think it will be Casey Ashley again. If not him, I could definitely see Brandon P winning it, he's been on a roll.

Louisiana and Colorado. Stream fished in Colorado. Mostly Tidal bass fishing in Louisiana, and the one trip to the 289k acre paradise known as Toledo Bend. This year I'm planning a trip to Lake Gunthersville and I may even try Rayburn if I can squeeze it in.

That looks nice. Do you think hair skirts work better than silicone skirts?

Depending on the age of the motor, they can even run a diagnostic check and tell you how many hours the motor has and if it has any issues that is being detected by the ECM.

I used to have a 17' aluminum boat with a 12v 55lb thrust. The performance all depended on the wind, if it was windy it would struggle and I would have to fish out of the wind. I'd say most of the time I was happy with the 12v, but March-May it can be pretty windy and those were the days when I really wished I had something that could power against the wind. I know several guys who fish rivers and they say a 24v is almost required if you are going to be fighting current for a long period of time(most of them are in glass boats tho).

If you or a close family member are current or former military USAA gives out boat loans. I was able to get a loan for an 8 year old boat at an interest rate that was about 2.5% lower than any other bank I looked into.

Lady I work with just moved down to Louisiana from Wisconsin, she says Ice fishing is just an excuse to sit in a tent on the ice and get drunk. I can't confirm or deny this.