Mobasser

I say the rod

I might also add to replace the swivel with a ball bearing swivel. This will keep the blade spinning on a super slow retrieve, or on the drop.

I used lead bullet weights for a very long time, and just picked up some tungsten not too long ago. For me, the difference is on hard bottom areas, and weights over 1/4 oz. Most of my t rig fishing is up to 1/4 oz, so I can't see a big difference with tungsten.

If you search here, you'll find lots of threads on beetlespins. For bass, I like the 1/4oz model. It's also a good one to experiment with. Try a grub, shad body, tube, or small fluke type plastic. As with other spinners, try different depths and speeds too.

I'm sure we have many members here who remember when graphite rods first came out. It was actually a pretty big deal, going from glass to the new graphite. I believe Fenwick made some of the first graphite rods, with the HMG line. My first graphite rod was a Sportfisher 6ft casting rod, from a K Mart store. It was much stiffer and lighter in weight than my glass rod, and I actually remember thinking these "graphites" probably wouldn't be popular with fisherman. Was I ever wrong. Do you remember your first graphite rod?

For year round? 4" T rig plastic worm

Good thread, and thanks for posting this Tom. I appreciate your insight on this, and I'm sure others do also.

Go fishing whenever you can under any conditions. The more you fish under different conditions, the better you'll be at adapting to them.

Hang in there Catt. Sounds like it's been tough. Hoping things can improve

Storm used to make one I liked years ago. Can't think of the name now. Shallow runner. I mostly fished it like a rattletrap

Best of 2020 for me? T rig plastic worm!

I say get the best rod you can afford and fish as much as possible. That simplifies these things...

Lots of older fishing books have stated that a 1/4oz weight will sink about one ft per second. If your fishing in 20ft deep water and you want your lure to run at 10ft, what method do you use to stay at that depth? The countdown method will work most times, but there's lots of variables. Bait type, size, and wind can all affect how your lure runs at a certain depth? Do you change how you count down, for different weights, or lure types, and do you factor in wind and the lenght of your cast also?

I fish an area that has an 8acre quarry lake, along with two ponds. The quarry lake has crawfish, but the main forage in the ponds are bluegill. I've caught almost all my fish from the ponds with straight plastic worms in purple and grape, which I've come to believe imitate the bluegill. In the quarry lake, plastic craws work also, along with plastic worms. At certain times, the bass key in on crawfish here , and that type of bait will work the best.

On our Ozark lakes here in Missouri, lots of guys go out and spot schools of shad busting the surface. They cast any number of shiny shad type baits and let them sink below the shad. They often limit out doing this. What Catt says here is 100% right on. If you can spend some time and learn what your forage is, you'll catch more bass.

Regardless of brand, I like a rod with power in the butt section, and a slight tip flex. A composite rod can be good .

Just read that Johnny Cash drummer Fluke Holland has passed away at 85 yrs old. Fluke had a career that started in the mid 1950s. You can hear him on JCs 1964 hit Ring Of Fire, and Live From Folsum Prison. Cash called him the " king of the drums". RIP Fluke Holland, and thanks for the great music.

We have a haze in parts of our area now, not because of smoke from fires, but because many farmers are running combines and cutting corn. It's been dry now for over a week. The big combines throw a lot of dust.

There's lots of good ones out there. It might depend on what style you like. Double wall tubes are thicker and have a different fall action. I've done better on the thin single wall tubes.

I remember when electric( glitter worms) first came out years ago. Guys started fishing them and catching fish, especially on electric blue and electric grape. They had they're day, and are no big deal anymore. Green pumpkin has been popular for a while now, but I think something else will come along and become the new "hot" color at some point. It is about confidence. I'd take motor oil over green pumpkin, but my confidence is in grape, purple, blue and black.

Grubs, tubes, small plastic worms can all work. A paddletail swimbait is good also.

1964 Ford Falcon 4dr 289 small block v8. It was a sleeper. With the 4dr it looked like a grandma car. I drove it to school and some guys made fun of it. My older brother helped me put an Edelbrock manifold, Holly 4barrel carb, and dual exhaust with glasspacks. The car was fast. Too fast for a 17yr old. I made a lot of fishing trips in that car. My dad got mad at my brother for souping it up, and threatened to make me sell it. That never happened.

I made a post about green pumpkin not working well for me. I don't carry it anymore. I catch many more fish on purple, grape, black or blue. I'm not sure why, but green pumpkin hasn't been productive for me.

Texas rig plastic worm, various brands, 1/8 to 1/4 bullet weight, Gama hooks.

Crappie fishing often picks up in the fall here in Missouri. On the lakes I fish, most of the crappie are in flooded treetops, or if we can time our trips good, hanging around more shallow weed or wood cover. We've used standard open hook jigs, and some with a thin wire weedgaurd. These help, but we still snag up a lot. It's part of crappie fishing. I dug out some Charlie Brewer weedless Crappie Slider jigs I've had for years. Mine are 1/16oz, chartruese with a red head. I caught crappie on these years ago, and they worked well both for vertical jigging, and slowly retrieved through sunken brush, weeds, and treetops at various depths. Has anyone else used these jigs? If so, do you like them? I've used Slider heads for bass fishing for years, but looking to add some crappie to the freezer this fall. Have you had good luck with the Weedless Crappie Slider?