bobbyg

Famous. . . Bill Dance. Still where a Tennessee Vols hat fishing a lot of the time because of him. But in my life, my Grandpa and my dad taught my how and had the biggest influence on me. My grandma, however, provided the biggest inspiration for me to bass fish. When I was 10 she caught a 12 lb 13 Oz largemouth that hangs in my parents house now. Biggest bass I have ever seen that I knew who caught it!! Been trying to catch a bigger one ever since!

Full disclosure. . .never have really fished any. But, I am planning on using some this year. I have bought 2 whopper ploppers, 1 XPS double down plopper, and the new Booyah Toadrunner. We'll see how it goes!

I just got one in the mail! I opened it up and am very excited to see how it does on the water. A few observations though. . . First, it comes with an extra tail. Wasn't expecting that, but thought that was awesome! Second, The tail is very pliable, don't know how to judge if that is a good thing, or bad, as it seems very damageable. Third, it is a little more "stout" than the Padcrasher. Hooks have a molded in little indent where they live on the body of the frog.

Nice!!! April 5th can't get here soon enough!!! I wonder what the water temps will look like the first week of April this year.

BPS also sells XPS kits. They are sets of 5. They have about 5 different varieties. I can only speak personally about the lip less set they offer. It is a great set and they are only 15.99. XPS is an in house brand of BPS, but I have used them a lot and they are holding up well.

https://www.facebook.com/tacklewarehouse/videos/10158978801807355/ This is the video I first saw it at. TW and DSG have them for 9.99 each. Like the Teckel, but also has some "legs" like pad crasher legs only shorter. Looks interesting. I also have an ad for it at the top of the BR forum page. Maybe because I have been searching the WP and other topwater stuff so much the last couple of days.

Now I see Booyah Pad Crasher has a Toad Runner version that is basically a clone of the Teckel Sprinkler Frog. . . . .

If I were going to use an UL for bass fishing I would use bait that has an "easy" hookset. No plastics, or jigs. Maybe lipless crankbaits, or my son uses a 6' UL and uses beetle spin crappie jigs, and actually catches some decent bass on them, and they don't have too much drag for the UL. I will say this, a decent size bass pulling on an UL rig, is a lot of fun to bring in.

My dad lives in Muncie and he goes over to Summit Lake State Park in New Castle. It is a horsepower regulated reservoir with a bunch of tree trunks sticking up in a lot of the lake. I think it would be a great lake to kayak fish on. He has caught a lot of bass and crappie out of it. And they have a very nice campground at the park.

I recently converted to a tackle bag with 5 of the 3600 size trays. I have them by bait type, one tray of lipless, one of crankbaits, one of topwater, one of spinners/buzzbaits, one of soft plastics and jigs.

Easily accessible . . . Arbogast - Hula Popper Can't find anywhere, but have 1 left and it is awesome. . .Hydrilla Gorilla Buzzbait - the loudest topwater lure, I have ever heard, it drives fish crazy!!!!

Growing up, it's what my dad called a five dollar bill!!

If you use 2 O-rings and cross them like I have drawn, you can put the hook under both of them where they cross. this lets your hook be perpendicular to the worm instead of inline with the worm.

There is also an older thread called: Bass Pro Shops XPS lures in the forums as well. If you search that, it has another 15-20 comments about the lures as well.

I have used many of the XPS lures. I am a huge fan of their lipless crankbaits. I went to basspro.com and found a 5 piece set of different color schemes for 15.99 so I bought that. They are great to fish with, as loud if not louder than any Rat-l-trap or strike king lip less in my box. And they swim great and don't tip sideways on the fall. Definitely recommend those.

I have 5 kids, and each one started at a different age. I waited until they showed interest before I started with each one. So far 3 of 4 love it, one does not. The fifth is only one, so not happening yet.

I am probably not the best person to ask about "best" when it comes to fishing gear. I have always been the "best for my budget" type of buyer. This included 2 years ago when I bought that one on Walmart.com. I figured for $20 bucks, it was worth a shot, and I have been fairly happy with it. I couldn't tell you if it has great feel, action, or any of the other buzzwords that more experienced anglers would have for a rod. I just know that when I take my kids out, and I want to use a jig, or rat-l-trap while they are catching bluegills, it has been perfectly fine for me.

I have a Shimano Solara 2-piece and have been very happy with it. Also, it ran about $20-25, so I thought it was very good for the money.

That's why I don't carry a scale. . . they are all "this big"!!!!

Those are some good lookin smallies!! Now you got me excited. Color?? I ordered Bluegill and Terminator

I've never seen a bass shoot a lure 4 feet out of the water before!!!! OK so I just ordered a bluegill and a terminator colored 90. . .worth a try at least. That is perfectly sound logic. My all time favorite top water bait was from the 90's called a Hydrilla Gorilla!!

I am a fan of top water bass fishing but haven't been in the tackle buying game in a while. A few days ago I learned of the existence of the Whopper Plopper. Is it really that good? I have seen many posts on here talk about them, so I know I have come to the right place. Usually a hula popper or a buzz bait guy, but very intrigued. . .convince me why I should buy one. And if so what colors do you like?

Went to BPS yesterday morning for a few things one of whuch was 5 for $10 booyah spinners that were supposed to go from the 19th-25th. Was told they were out of them. Apparently corporate called them and told them to put them out on Saturday. They sold out of them by 3pm on Saturday, 2 days before the sale was even supposed to start. . .I am probably done with them. That just drives me nuts when a store does something like that!

I have a Pflueger Monarch reel that I got at Walmart for less than $40. My son is learning on it. Seems to be a good reel to learn the skills without a big dollar amount attached. As for the rod it is currently on a 6'6" medium heavy rod that was on clearance at a local store here, don't even remember the brand, but the reel does well for a newbie.

I am going Monday. Just for a few items though.5 for 10 spinners is why I am waiting til Monday. I agree that aside from about a dozen things, there aren't any "crazy" deals.