Sifuedition

Lot of good replies. For me, it was perch that started it. Typical kid with no attention span, but, you get into the perch and it would definitely keep me going for a while. Then one day when I was five, that perch just kept pulling more and more line even though I was reeling like a mad man. My snoopy closed-face didn't have a chance against the 8 lbs catfish that decided it wanted a worm, too. Dad had to hand pull it in. That was the moment I was hooked for life. The keys as I see it: Get the parents at least into taking them Get at least one of their friends going with them Keep them busy with easy to catch, schooling fish; perch, white bass, crappie Let them reel in a bigger fish. Hook one for them while they are busy with perch, if you have to Until they have the bug, keep the trip fun, even if it's not fishing. Stop for donuts or something on the way. Let them catch worms, grasshoppers, etc to "help" with the fishing if they get bored. Let them swim or something if worms/bait is not something they are ok with.

Like most of us, grandfather(passed) and father are obvious ones. Brian Latimer - hasn't made a name on the FLW tour that I can tell, but I like his youtube vids and he has a charisma that I think I would enjoy fishing with him. I would actually love to fish with anyone who can teach me more.

Any suggestions? I saw this one, but that's about it: http://www.okbassnation.com/index.html For a co-angler, this is $100 per event. Is that pretty typical? What is a common payout schedule?

They are all ~7:1. HG models of each. 7.1:1 on the Chronarch 7.4:1 on the other two.

Consider a Curado 150 DC. Only about $50 more and it's a DC. If you are looking to cast light lures with overrun protection...seems ideal since you are close to that range anyways.

I have a Fury MH/F and I love it. I don't have other Dobyn's to compare it to, however, so I can't help you there.

As Homer once said, "Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter." How do you do this?

Rods: Favorite Big Sexy H/F 7' Dobyn's Fury MH/F 7' AllStar Classics M/F 7'2" (upgrading this to a better quality medium will probably be my next investment; thinking Dobyn's Fury M/F) St Croix BassX MH/F 7'1" (feels more like a H/F, which I found out is a trait of this specific series after I bought it) Reels: Curado 200 K Chronarch MGL Curado 150 DC Personally, I'm thinking of putting the Chronarch on the Dobyn's as a MH feels right to me for the most all-around. This puts one of my strongest reels in my hand the most. Then put the Curado K on the Favorite Then, put the DC on the medium rod where the DC advantage on light lures and wind will pair up with the castability of a medium rod. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance.

The logo covers up the login so much that I sometimes spend 5+ minutes trying to find that sweet spot so that I can click on the member sign-in without accidentally clicking the logo and just going to the home page. Does anyone know an easier way to sign in?

Does that ball actually stay pinned in there well? Seems like it would pop out easy after you push it in. The smallest they sell is a 4/0. Is that small enough?

I've considered that. Problem is, I had a stroke 5 years ago. Big surprise at 35, lol. Point being, my balance can be sketchy and my left hand is somewhat uncoordinated. 'Yak doesn't seem like a great idea.

Yukon. Need to find more places to fish, but, Overholser and Hefner are not great from the banks, so I stay close with a pond. I know of a couple, but I still pretty much with the one that has been the best, so far.

Thanks. On tacklewarehouse, 4" seemed pretty common, so that was what I assumed, but, there are some other sizes. Saw a good bassresource youtube on tube jigs, but tacklewarehouse doesn't have the weedless jig heads he uses. They do have some of the hooks like he demonstrated for the t-rig, but, the only brand they have in them is Eagle, and I'm not much of a fan of their stuff. Also, they have them in like 1-4/0 and I'm not sure which would fit the best in a 4". I would, too. Unfortunately, they really haven't. I've tried some mini-jigs, with a few catches to show for it, but not many. I've also tried 2.8" Keitech Crazy Flapper, but nothing to show for it.

I frequently fish a pond where subtlety seems to do better, most of the time. Most moving baits have been worthless on this pond. Most jigs/worms have been worthless, too, unless they were small, and even then, they've never gotten hot, just a single fish here or there. I've caught quite a few on LCB, but, I'm catching them more consistently now that I am using more Keitech's and flukes. I rarely run into anyone else fishing there, but today, I did. He said he's had luck with tube jigs along the bottom. I've never fished tube jigs for bass, only crappie. My local Academy doesn't even carry anything but the crappie sizes (Oklahoma). I will need to be able to rig it weedless, because this pond has a TON of moss and salad on the bottom everywhere. Anywhere it's deeper, the salad starts about 3' deep. So, can anyone tell me the size I should be looking for and suggest good terminal tackle to rig it weedless? Thanks in advance.

I actually have that reel. I bought it to test out left-handed retrieve. I have since bought a Curado K and a Chronarch in left-handed retrieve and only use my lefties now. Having said that, I have really enjoyed the black max. It is surprisingly smooth and good for throwing even light lures. The drawback is that after a year of decent use, it definitely shows a lot more signs of wear than my higher end reels. It still works well, but it is starting to sound rough. This is likely my own fault as I really don't clean and lube my reels. The kid should learn good reel maintenance. Learn how to lube and clean it and it will be a good reel.

I've hooked exactly one fish on a chatterbait. It was a 1.5-2 lb that I got all the way to the bank when he simply nodded his head at me and swam away. I REALLY want to catch fish on one, but, on the pond I usually fish, they just aren't having it. The pattern I'm developing is they seem to want more subtle presentations. For instance, jerkbaits and hard-body swimbaits have not worked, at all, but, plastic swimbaits have been working. So, is the chatterbait just the wrong lure for this body, or is there a "subtle" presentation for chatterbaits? I've tried slow-rolling it as slow as I can and still feel the wobble. That was how I got the one bite I did.

I have definitely struggled a lot in the last year. I am fishing almost exclusively local ponds, and they are new to me. I am finally finding some patterns, myself. Lipless crankbaits work well sometimes. SMALL plastics like ned rig or baby craws work sometimes. I only recently found that small plastic boot-tail swimbaits are working. I have thrown jerkbaits and hard-body swimbaits galore and they didn't work. I really hadn't tried the plastic swimbaits because I thought "aren't they basically the same thing"? Well, it seems that to the fish, they are not. This is not a high-pressure pond, but, it seems I have to stay subtle for the majority of my bites, and the LCB picks up the hungrier/more aggressive ones.

One of the most productive actions of a crankbait is what they call "seeking" behavior. Each crankbait "wiggles" in a specific frequency. A quality not all crankbaits share, however, is some will "seek" which is the term for when they randomly path back and forth. For an example of this notice the old-style wiggle wart (from before Rapala bought out the pattern) in this video. The idea with bumping a crankbait on the bottom or off of structure is to cause some of this random pathing. Also, stopping and starting randomly has triggered the most strikes, in my experience. I try to have the most random, erratic behavior I can create. Viewing my post today, it looks like my link to a youtube was removed....

Hooked a dink a few months ago. Being small, he was mostly moving along the surface, even though I don't really burn them in. He suddenly decides to put up what little fight he could and starts angling off to the deep part of the pond, straight at a turtle. I had just put new Gamakatsu EWG trebbles on the lipless crankbait which were very sticky, and sure enough, he snagged the turtle. Got lucky and was able to shake the turtle loose by grabbing the hook with my pliers and just shaking.

With braid, my "worst" overruns were weird. It wasn't the nest that was bad. I would hit a spot where the line disappears under a LOT of line that isn't even nested. Looks like if you pull too hard on it and it buries the line deep into the spool. I have no idea how this happens on a backlash, but I have stopped using braid just because of this happening on multiple overruns over the last year. Speaking of...what is the best way to cut this out? I've scarred up a new Curado 200 spool cutting out those nests.

It was supposed to rain all day here in Yukon, too. I risked it anyways. Got a little wet this morning, but this 3.6 lb made it worth it. Wicked sharp lips. He was so tight to the bank, I'm surprised he was even wet.

@fishballer06 BPS made a really good Senko alternate. That seems promising, even though they are not a lot cheaper. There were some really good savings posted, too. I'm definitely going to try some of the cheap ones. Even if they don't work out, they are too cheap not to try. Nothing to lose by giving them a shot.

Some really good suggestions. Thank you everyone. Nice range of options as to price and style. I probably will try a few of them, but I'll definitely need to keep an eye out on the sale for the originals. Any idea when those happen, or is it random?

I've recently fallen in love with a keel weighted Keitech Fat Impact. That is, a weighted Owner Twistlock hook rigged with a Keitech. This setup allows the bait to "swim" with more body movement. Obviously the boot-tail paddles, but, with this specific rig, the front gets some wiggle too between the hook and the centering pin. Looks fantastic in the water, and works pretty well. The drawback, as usual, is cost. Keitech isn't using the most durable plastic, and it seems to me, this rig is somewhat prone to tearing up at both points. The centering pin can rip up the nose such that you can't re-rig it and the keel weight can tear up the body in a hurry if the fish manages to push the bait over the weight. This wouldn't be so bad if Keitech didn't charge accordingly to being one of the most popular brands. I have tested Big Bite Baits Suicide Shad, Havok, and a few others, but, even on this rig, they only get the boot-tail wiggle, not the body wiggle. I've caught fish on them, but not as many. I just bought some Z-man to test out the ElaZtech in a swimbait, but haven't fished them, yet. I suspect the action I'm looking for is highly reliant on the ribbed body the Fat Impacts have. Anyone have a suggestion for a cheaper alternative with a similar action?

I'm just concerned about spending that much on a combo when my fishing time has been going down. Went out today. Had a decent day. Hooked into a 3ish lber on about the fifth cast, but he spit my lipless crankbait about half way in. Hooked into an easy 5 a little bit later. Could see him working the shallows as his back kept breaking the surface. Took about 5 casts at him and he finally nailed the spinner. Fought him all the way across the pond, but the bank was too steep and he still had quite a bit of fight in him. Walked him about 5-7 steps down the bank. Lifted his head out of the water and got on one knee. If I said he shook his head, I'd be exaggerating. He just gently nodded his head "no" and swam away. Still kicking myself. Caught a 3 and a 2 later, but somehow, that still doesn't add up to the same thing as a 5.