Happybeerbuzz

I don’t know why a camera is mounted on the stern of every boat isn’t part of the rules for these pro events. It would objectify everything and make everything more discrete which would result in less drama and more confidence in the system.

Whopper Ploppers and Choppos have really fallen off for me these past few years which is particularly unfortunate because I acquired quite a few of them when they were my goto top water along with poppers. By last year, wake baits completely replaced them in calm water and walking baits have replaced them when there is wind. I think I will end up taking them all out of my “starting roster tackle boxes”.

I have started tying my own jigs now for over a year now and have decided that I want to start using tungsten heads whenever possible. However, I can not seem to find any swimjig heads with weed guards. I am looking to get a dozen or so to start. Can someone point me in a direction?

I feel like I have been in a funk for well over a year now. I probably made it out less than a dozen times last year which is probably about half of what I have generally done for the prior 5-6 years. Part of it is expense, part due to age I suspect, but “funk” feels like the majority of the reason. Even when I did go out last year, it seemed like it was less about having fun and more about escaping and resetting.

In 2025 I was disciplined and denied the monkey. I have the same intentions for 2026. With that said, I needed some mono and a Rapala Original Floating Minnow in size 18 also made it home with me. I love the smalller ones on calm days. I am hoping the 18 size will be just as effective but a little more usable with a little wind.

“Lures are designed to catch fishermen, not fish.” No single thing is disqualifying, but for me, price is a factor, along with where it was made, aesthetic appeal, etc. It’s a bunch of factors combined with the right timing. I do not need more lures. I can not fish all the ones I have, but if I come across something at the right moment, it’s going in my e-cart or coming with me to the register. That is basically how all my lures were acquired. With that said, I had lock jaw in 2025 and did not buy much. I made a resolution to fish the new in package stuff I already had. I think I am going to renew that resolution for another year.

I don’t have a traditional meal, but I am grilling New Yorks as I type which is somewhat of a treat recently.

I just came onto BR to see what the latest posts were, and I am saddened to get this news. Whenever I run into a post that peaks my interest, I, out of habit, always looked for Tom’s take on the matter. If he had not commented, I would look again later as the thread would evolve. Him being gone is going to leave a void. For those of you that know his family, please add my condolences to the chorus and let them know how important he was to the BR community.

I’m not suppose to crank my jerkbaits, but I do about half the time. With age and arthritis, I can’t twitch it all the way back to the boat if I am paralleling the bank like I use to. A steady retrieve can still get bit.

This sounds like a job for the Strike King Hybrid Hunter and Hybrid Hunter Shallow. They have become my go to cranks for beating the riprap banks and around tule islands on the San Joaquin Delta. They come through vegetation better than any crank I have used. Between the odd shaped bill that seams to work it through vegetation and it’s extreme buoyancy which lets you control depth by pausing or just raising your rod tip. the lure is great at negotiating vegetation. You can even wake it over the dense subsurface stuff.

I think this is it in a nutshell why adding on any new technique is hard. When you have confidence in a multitude of other options, the temptation to go with what you know is at least distracting if not down right irresistible. I mentioned earlier that I keep trying to punch mats. By that, I probably give it on average 5-10 minutes each time I go out to the Delta before I go back to techniques I have confidence in. About the only time I go longer than that is as a last resort when I cannot get them to bite in general, and I probably do not have the best mindset by then.

Punch rig. I have yet to build any confidence, but I keep trying. Like the OP, I am patiently waiting fora break through.

Shallow is all I have been throwing since the Golden Mussel closures hit California. For all practical purposes, I have chosen the CA Delta as the body of water to be exclusive with so not a lot of depth involved. Shallow: Hybrid Hunter exclusively. (Not counting wakebaits) Mid depth: Red Eye Shad (yo-yoing outside weed line which is still pretty shallow)

Thanks to this thread, I busted mine out and caught a few this morning. I love how it wakes immediately upon retrieve. Other wakebaits require that you hold tip up and coax the bait up, not the Egg.

@WRB-2.0 Prove that you are the real WRB by responding to the following: 1) If you could only throw one bait for the rest of your life, what would it be? 2) How do you feel about leaders and the required extra knot? 3) React to the following statement: "You can't catch big bass on mono."

I recently extended the handle length of an old rod. It is my first and only endeavor into rod crafting. I ended up watching hours of instructional videos on rod crafting. If I had it to do over again, I would have made all of my own rods beyond my entry level Basspro and Berkeley rods. The tools and equipment are not cost prohibitive. The required skill is not overly demanding. You can tailor everything to your own specifications using components of considerably higher quality than what I am using now which could be the rods I fish with until the end.

I use 8-10’ leader of Suffix Elite of either 8# or 10# on 20# braid main line. Suffix Elite is on the thicker and stretchier side of mono lines.

One month later... $15 on epoxy, $9 on parts from Mudhole, and $6 on tools, my $50 rod is 4" longer! I have to say, the process has been very satisfying, and I can see why people enjoy rod crafting. The process was fun for me, and it turned out better than my initial expectations. Thank you all for your input.

Donkey rigging also works.

Thank you for the offer, but I'm about as far away as possible in Modesto, CA. I found a video on YouTube that makes me think I can pull this off. However, I am struggling to find the grip I think I need which I believe is a 6" Grip. Any thoughts on where I might find an EVA grip for a reasonable price? I assume EVA is cheaper than cork. Thanks. I will take a look on Mudhole.com.

I got this rod many years ago. It served me well and the superstitious part of me considers it lucky. However, as I have gotten older and my tackle has better and more refined, this old Berkley Lightning Rod Shock never finds its way onto the boat. It is too heavy compared to my other rods to get much action. My thought is to extend the length of the handle to make it easier to cast and tuck under my arm to retrieve. The problem is that it is an inexpensive rod, and I want to throw as little money at the project as possible. I have never done any rod building so I do not have any of that sort of equipment. What I have at my disposal is a friendly neighbor who is a handyman, a broken rod that I can cut an extension from and some epoxy. My thought is that I can carefully strip off the butt that is on there currently, glue on the extension, slip a new section on butt grip on their that is long enough to cover up the extension as well as the scar left from stripping off the original butt. While aesthetics are nice, I am more concerned about cost and functionality. First off, is this a flawed plan? Second, where do I go to get a new butt grip and what is that piece actually called so I can search it? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I heard of this brand a while back, and remembered thinking it was about time that sort of technology was developed. However, I haven’t heard much since. I guess I just assumed it was a marketing gimmick. Do the soft plastics actually breakdown is what I want to know.

Tournaments seem like a pretty long day. By the time I got a boat, six hours from launching to trailering was a full day. Some days were a little longer some a little shorter especially when I discovered annual launch passes. Getting to the launch early to check in and hanging out to see the way in just sounds like too much for me.

It feels like it is safe to say "all of them" including the ones that have not been announced or released yet.

I have been trying to narrow it down from about 90% of the ones listed. Personally, I have been overwhelmed by all the recommendations from the BR members here. All I have been able to conclude is that there are lots of good options.