Boomstick

Thank you @bigjean663. Terminator jigs are some serious quality jigs, plus as it happens the lures I still have on my to buy list happen to be a dark colored chatterbait (as I lost mine in rocks late last year) and I didn't even do an inventory let alone resupply of my soft plastics yet, so these are going to get some serious use next year!

I own the same rod! It's on the lighter side, so if you prefer a stiffer drop shot rod or regularly catch large fish on a drop shot, you might prefer something a little stiffer. For me, it's perfect however and if you miss a bite, you have something seriously wrong with the nerves in your hands!

Wow, that's pretty awesome! Merry Fishmas to you

Well I know that I have always used interstates in my car and never once regretted it!

Ordered mine on Sunday night direct to be sure it would get there on time -- I don't trust anything I order in December to arrive on time after several experiences in years past.

Does it have to be anyone famous? I really like fishing with my kids -- although I'm a bit peeved at my oldest one who likely got himself expelled from school today (the superintendent was not in, but I'm sure it will become official tomorrow).

I always thought somewhere southwest of Salem Oregon might be decent. No idea about the quality of bass fishing there, but there are quite a few lakes to fish and you can get to the ocean as well and it's a reasonable drive to lakes in Northern California which are supposed to have mondo bass. One of my life goals is to someday visit and fish at Crater Lake and the park streams as well, although there are no bass only trout and salmon there.

Last year, I caught more fish on a River2Sea Ish Monroe Biggie in smalls size and horizon shad color. Seems to work well in just about any conditions as well. I also had good luck with a Lucky Craft LC 1.5 and a Norman Fat Boy in early fall and late spring. I picked up a few new ones to try this year.

I typically change mono out at the start of every season, and often midseason if I notice it's getting a lot of memory and it's becoming problematic. I can usually use it quite a bit before it becomes problematic, but once it does, it goes fast.

Here's some recipes I make a lot that are easy and delicious: Cajun Catfish: Coat each filet generously with cajun seasoning and optionally spray with canola oil (helps keep it from teargassing you but otherwise not necessary). Cook in a seasoned iron skillet on medium high for a minute on each side, then two more minutes on medium on each side. Also makes great soft taco meat! The secret is the cajun seasoning. I have been getting mine from Heartbreaking Dawn's which is the best I found, but but it's not currently available on their website. The second best option is to make your own. Use this recipe but add 1 tsp of white pepper, replace oregano with marjoram and instead of 2 tsp salt, use 1/2 tsp of red Hawaiian sea salt. I usually double the cayenne as well and often use de arbol powder in its place. This would be rather hot on a less fatty fish like cod, but the fattier catfish tames the heat nicely. Lemon pepper salmon: Generously coat a salmon fillet in lemon pepper and sprinkle on a little garlic salt. Grill on high and cook the non skin side on the grill first so the fat starts to drip down, then cook the skin side so it crisps up the skin. You can either remove the skin, but it's actually quite tasty if you manage to blacken up the skin right. Fried cod/haddock/bass/pollock/perch: 1 cup flour 1/4 cup of corn meal 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning One cup of beer (you can use 2/3 if you like your batter a little thicker) Fry in canola oil until golden brown. Fried catfish: Same as above but use 2/3 cup of beer, 1 cup of corn meal and 1/4 cup of flour.

My goals last year were pretty simple: Improve my finesse fishing game (primarily drop shot and ned rig) Fish more crankbaits. My youngest son was catching bass by the school on crankbaits at times in 2017... Catch more and larger fish Unfortunately I was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in May and chemotherapy knocked me out most of this summer, so I did not get to rent a lot of canoes or rowboats to access deeper water to finesse fish in. However as I had caught more fish by the end of July than I caught in 2017 and caught a 5 pounder on a crankbait, I would say I greatly succeeded with the other two. My goals for 2019: Improve my finesse fishing game Improve my soft plastic fishing game Either buy a bass boat or come up with a financial plan to get one in 2020. Catch the 23.5" smallmouth I caught in 2017, but this time with a scale. There's a good chance it's a Vermont state record.

I would go with Glenn's suggestion personally. Of course, in the summer I will be fishing frogs and poppers as well but that really is a solid starting point and a ned rig or drop shot is great in clearer water as well, but those are a fairly reliable 7.

We don't have spotted bass, but I can testify that smallies are definitely strong fighters pound for pound. There were several times I hooked a smallie thinking it was possibly a 5+ pounder only to find out it's a 2.5lb smallie once I got a better look at it and on the scale!

So I thought I should post an update. I ended up getting the St. Croix Mojo Bass Topwater rod (M/XF). I figure I will go with action first. I also got a Daiwa Tatula Glass M/R cranking rod, so should I find that I do lose too many fish on the M/XF rod, I can always try that however I get the impression that even while it's an XF rod, there should be enough give to land most of the fish I hook without problem. I can't wait until spring now

You might get them with scent, but they certainly don't chase scent like a catfish or trout. And I'm not arguing that you can get catfish on lures too, but anything with a blood scent is just so effective with catfish, and garlic with trout so why not? As my friend would say, catfish are like goats -- even more than bass. If they can fit it in their mouth, they'll swallow it.

Oh, absolutely! But when fishing live bait or even power bait, if there's trout within a few feet they just smoke it right up. They're scent feeders where bass are not, so I'm much more likely to use live or dead bait with catfish or trout for that reason. I'm also more likely to keep trout and catfish as well.

Thank you all for the good wishes and continued support throughout this life changing event. Everyone on the forums have been incredibly supportive and I am really thankful that we have such a great group of people and so few trolls!

The crank that I have had success with in pretty much any condition is the River2Sea Ish Monroe Biggie Smalls in Horizon Shad. Catches them in warm water, cold water, the clearest water I've ever fished, dirty water, etc.

After last year where most lakes around me were frozen until the very end of April, my target date is going to be early in may.

I'm the opposite. I haven't used a smartphone in about 6 months since the battery went from lasting 4 days to maybe 4 minutes if I'm lucky pretty much overnight and didn't have money for a new one at the time. Turns out, that's money better saved by throwing it into my bass boat fund as I don't really miss it.

Gone Fishin'

My Christmas letter goes something like this. Dear Santa, I was already given the best Christmas gift possible, the gift of life. On December 12, 2018 it was confirmed that I am now 100% cancer free! While I would like to upgrade my tackle storage options somewhat and will need some line for next year, I already bought myself new rods, reels and lures for next fishing season so there's really very little that I want or need -- besides a bass boat but I will have to figure out a way to work towards that. I guess if I have to ask for something else, can you do something about my oldest kid's poor worth ethic and please help see that he doesn't fail out of high school (and maybe helps out a little around the house too?).

There's two things here. Slimmer baits are smaller in profile, which will naturally be better in early spring when the baitfish are smaller, and they will also naturally have a narrower wobble than a bait the same size but fatter. The other thing you want to pay attention to is the shape of the bait. A bait with flat sides, like your typical lipless crankbaits will have a narrower wobble and a rounder bait like the Wiggle Wart will have a very wide wobble. The wider the wobble, the more water the bait moves and the better it is for more aggressive fish, but early spring fish aren't that aggressive yet. I haven't honestly fished a Wiggle Wart very often, but I have success with the Norman Fat Boy in late spring and early fall. I would wager the Wiggle Wart would be best at the same times, although I would wager it's slightly less aggressive than the Fat Boy so it might due a little better in colder water. I have heard a lot of people say they are good year round cranks, which isn't what I'd guess from their shape at all.

It's only cheating when fishing a tournament where it's against the rules! Also, let's not forget there are plenty of times when artificial lures will outfish live bait as well and at times quite heavily too in the same location on the same day and with the same person fishing it, which suggests that it does not necessarily give you some sort of unfair advantage. Myself, the reason I prefer artificial lures over live bait is the same reason I prefer fishing for bass over say trout or catfish, which is that bass are reaction strikers and with artificial lures, you are responsible for giving it the proper action for the fish at that day. It makes it basically more interactive and engaging that way. They're also easy as I can grab my tackle bag and go!

I'm in! Sorry I'm late to the party