Boomstick

The rivers up here didn't freeze this year.

^9.

I have seen people tie up catfish rigs to look like a fish following a smaller fish with the idea that the fish see another fish following bait and they just want in on it, sort of like several people have mentioned. I haven't seen that used as much for bass techniques however, but it is the concept of a baitball or even a spinnerbait.

Well I often work in an office that's almost a hour with traffic away, but near some lakes I can fish on the way home, and the parking garage I park in is fairly sketchy so I would never leave a one piece rod in my car in plain sight. I occasionally took my kids 2pc ugly stick so I could fish a moving bait on the way home which fit in the trunk. Once I got a truck, I have left a few rods locked in the bed in a bazooka rod tube (with a tonneau cover), and no one's jacked that yet. You can definitely make your own rod carriers from PVC or even use a shipping tube, but the rod tube is nice and does keep the rods protected fairly well. And I have a pair of plano pistol cases for reels, one for mine and one for the kids.

I have one of the Bass Mafia's linked below and while it's expensive, it does a great job of holding many smaller cranks and is built like a tank! They also have a version for deep divers, but that doesn't fit in a traditional double 3700 slot, so I got the Plano below. I don't yet own a boat so I don't get to fish too many deep divers so I don't own too many and this fits in my tackle bag nicely. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-BMAFS.html?from=basres https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Plano_Elite_3707_Large_Crankbait_Organizer/descpage-P370708.html

I don't think MA has yet, and to be honest many of them wouldn't make sense especially early in the year because no large amount of people will be there. I was hoping to get out this weekend, but it's still gonna be quite cold so maybe next weekend I will hit the water for a few hours for the first time in 2020 and man am I looking forward to it! It's about the only thing I can do these days

It's about 90 minutes or so from me but I can buy their coffee locally as well as Dean's Beans. My office has the Dean's beans Sumatran French Roast, it might actually be a little but too strong for my liking for someone who doesn't use half and half at home or work. My favorite Dean's Beans is the Mexican Chiapas French Roast. I've had a ton of them and they're all pretty good -- I recall the Ring of Fire being pretty good too. I've had the Roadhouse Blend, but I can't remember what I thought of it.

I wasn't 100% positive that the new SV was the same platform or not as I don't own one yet, but will likely pick up a couple by the end of the year as I have one rod I do not have a reel for and the need for another reel with 17lb fluorocarbon which I would swap out with my jig rod when I'm not fishing braid, and if I'm not fishing braid there's a decent chance I'm skipping docks too.

Some of the newer ones are slimming down like the Tatula 100 for example.

I just ordered a couple of my favorite cranks to keep as backups and some more open storage boxes so I can sort this box of soft plastics -- some of it will come with me and some will stay in my cabinet at home for when things get depleted. I also got the rest of my line that I buy every year with BPS's spring sale, so I'm just about set but there are a few baits I would like to pick up as well, but I do plan on buying kayaks so I really need to leave that money alone. On a side note, what's your favorite coffee? My all time favorite is from Mocha Joe's, brewed in Brattleboro VT. My favorites are pretty much a handful of their french and vienna roasts, if I remember right the best of the lot is Brazil Blend 56, Cameroon and Mexico but I have yet to have anything bad from them. That said I normally buy the Tim Horton's dark roast because it's cheap and comes out very good in my coffee maker.

If you are sure that it is in the joint, then it is probably not life threatening, but it could make it hard in the future to do things like fish too if it gets much worse. It could be arthritis or something else but I would see a doctor if it sticks around a while (if it is arthritis, I highly suggest some diet modifications as in the long term you can control flare ups better than medicine!) In my case, my right hip is all sorts of messed up and has been since I was maybe 5. I can put my left leg behind my head but I can't put my right leg over my left knee without holding it there. They had no idea what's wrong with me back then and still don't seem to so I've kind of given up and just hope it doesn't get worse but I had a car that was technically to small for me and as soon as I got something bigger, the pain in my hip went away and has been much better ever since.

Wow. Like it's 2000 again.

It's still around $2.40 or so over here, at least last I checked.

LOL wrong virus. I had no idea this apocalypse would be so lame... As per the original topic on hand, I don't have enough land to really garden or farm, and what little land I do own gets virtually no sunlight. I have some canned goods, canned mackerel and sardines, tuna, beans etc. and a freezer full of meat. Beyond that when the stores run out of food and that's gone, I'm going to be eating cats...

Braid works fine for crankbaits -- I'd go 30lb because it's my preference to try keep braid on casting gear at least 30lb but many people prefer 20lb. My only concern is that a moderate tip would be much preferred when using braid where that mod. fast is not going to have much play left. But there's only one way to tell if it works for you...

Either will work. Hoping a bait, you can't miss the snap but when dragging a bait, the input is a little more subtle so that would be my preference.

I prefer 10lb or 12lb flurocarbon, but I have used 15lb fluorocarbon and it's generally acceptable. I used 12lb mono a lot last year to fish in shallow waters too, and that virtually never snags the front hook which is another added bonus.

I normally open that package and put them into my tackle bag. But this winter I bought some extras for baits that I normally lose, and I threw those along with the original package in an open compartment double deep 3700 box and threw that into my fishing cabinet.

Well 30lb maxcuarto will dig in worse than other 30lb line because it is thinner, but once you get up to 40lb+ line, I would not be too concerned with digging in really being an issue. It's not too bad with standard 30lb braid (only time I've ever had a problem is in cold weather), and virtually non existent with most 40lb braid.

The 734C is the heavy rod, which is more like a MH+ rod. I believe you meant the 733C which is the med heavy, which I agree would be among the best choices for these lures. I got my son one last Christmas and the tip is almost mod. fast instead of fast too. I have a Daiwa Tatula glass 7'2" MH/R that also does pretty nicely.

Are we talking winters up in the northern parts of the country or in Florida? Because they are very different. In warmer climates, I see no reason why soft plastics wouldn't work. In the northern part of the country, we're a little more reliant on a reaction strike. That said my season generally ends when the water ices over, but finesse presentations can still be quite effective when the waters right around 40 degrees, pre-freezing.

For some reason, I was thinking the 6XDs were 3/4oz but I throw them on my 7'2". I have even thrown a 8XD which is about the same weight as the C20. Normally, I wouldn't exceed the line ratings, but this is a rod seems to be able to handle a little above its 1oz rating decently. The tackletour review also said the same thing. If I was buying a rod specifically for 6XD/8XDs or similar, I would probably go with a MH rod that's at least 7'6" (might have to be 2pc so I can store it). I think the 7'4" Tatula is just going to be too stuff. There is a 7'6" Shimano Zodias glass rod and a 7'8" Shimano Curado that should fit the bill. If you can fit it in your rod locker, the 10' Wright & McGrill Skeet Reese cranking rod would be pretty sweet for max casting distance.

Oh alright so you do have a decent point of reference then

I can say that I've not caught nearly as many fish as seemingly everyone else has on a chatterbait. Even fishing the same spot as someone else on a chatterbait, they're getting bit left and right and I'm not. Then I put on a spinnerbait and start getting bit left and right. So I tend to fish spinnerbaits a lot more often. Similarly, I don't catch nearly as many on a T-Rig as I do on a jig, not that I don't catch them on a T-Rig, but again in fairness, I do tend to fish jigs more often, especially when I rent a boat because they're so versatile. I'm sure there's others -- probably better examples to be honest, but I can't think of them right now.

I definitely have some lakes like that as well, where fishing a crankbait is either impossible or extremely annoying picking out all the grass, but when you got the right spot in the right conditions, the crankbait bite can be amazing! Which part of MA are you from by the way?