Mobasser

The sound of a buzzbait, early in the morning, on smooth water.

Ol Crickety, great read. I bunked for bass as a kid along with my older brother. At our grampas farm in Chillicothe Mo. Thank you for bringing back good memories.

Glad to hear she's ok now. Hoping she continues to get better.

It's always been a good idea to be aware of where baits are in a boat. If you've got multiple rods with baits hanging around( especially treble hooks), it can be a good way to get impaled on your hand, clothing, ankle etc.

Catt, this worm rig was meant to swim. A fluke would work better for twitching or jerking around I agree.

A Florida fisherman, Jesse Payton, is given credit for inventing this rig when he retired and moved to Florida in 1964. The swimming worm rig is not fished on the bottom, nor is the hook inserted in the worm as in a Texas rig. It's designed to swim on the retrieve, usually in shallow weedy areas. The rig is simple. A straight tail worm is threaded on the hook, and left with a bend or kink in the worm. A swivel is tied on the main line and a leader of 12" is tied to the hook. Worm length is 6" or so, and hook size is 1/0 or 2/0 straight shank hook. When rigged correctly, the worm spins in a corkscrew style. My version is with a Zoom Trick worm, 2/0 Gama hook and Sampo swivel. It took a little bit to get it threaded correctly. The original was made with a Creme Scoundrel worm, always purple. So far I've caught two bass with this rig, but can see good potential here. The action is different from any other worm rig I've seen. By EVERY account I've read, this is a deadly rig, and accounted for many large bass for Mr. Payton. In the 1990s, Doug Hannon, the bass professor, marketed his own version sold by Burke tackle. Hannon claimed this rig caught many of his large bass also. I rarely if ever hear about this rig anymore. It seems this rig has been lost in time now. Have you ever tried the swimming worm rig?

I've tried every year to make a trip to our Ozark area in the fall here in Missouri. The rolling hills are a blast of fall colors, and it's beautiful down there.I like Table Rock lake, but all can be good for fishing.

Our mods and Glen are what make this place so good. There's also some really good sticks that hang out here, and give helpful advice on bass fishing. This spring, I joined a crappie site. I left after two weeks. They had mods, but they didn't do anything. Guys were making rude comments, smarting off, etc all the time. Now BR is the only place I belong to. It's a great place.

I love the cooler temps and nice scenery.

I think BR is great.Our mods do a great job here, and it's a great place to learn things. I never get tired of learning about bass fishing. For me, BR is where it's at.

I carry a small box when I'm bank fishing. It's about 1" thick. I drilled several small holes through the box to let air circulate in it. It seems to help.

It's an old argument, if fish can see lines or not. We're still not sure. I use clear or green mono in a clear weedy lake I fish. I don't know if it really matters or not. Ive done it for years, and, it's a confidence thing for me.

When I started bass fishing, I carried way too much tackle. Multiple rods, huge box, with lots of things I rarely used. If your fishing a new lake, you might want to carry more things. Now, I've got the bite dialed in on my lake, so I carry far less. I'll probably change a couple of things going into fall. 95 percent of the time a plastic worm gets it done, and I only take one rod.

Good to hear this. We've got some great folks here on BR.

WRB is correct here. Look at the diameter of the lines. I had trouble with flouro line on my spinning reels, so I stick with good mono or a co- poly line. Much less trouble with line management.

I bank fish one or two times per week. I carry worms, hooks, weights, one spinnerbait, one popper, one Buzzbait. It all fits in a small box that hooks to my belt loop. I like to be mobile, and travel light.

Hoping your dog gets well soon.

2500 is my all around favourite also.

Mike, our dad's sound much alike. My dad never talked about the war, and I never saw him get rattled. He could keep his cool in any situation.

I've held off making this thread because I know it's a personal topic for many. My father was a very old school guy. He grew up in the 1930s, and served as a gunner on a bomber crew in WW2. He was very patriotic, and the flag flew on our house all year. He was a great dad, but strict also. Poor grades in school, laziness, and disrespect we're not tolerated. He taught me about engines, tools, and how to fix things. He loved his family, and loved getting together with his grandchildren. He also loved dogs, and always treated our dogs very well. He was tough, but never acted like it, and everyone who knew him liked him. He was married to my mom for almost fifty years. When he met someone, he always gave a firm handshake, and looking directly at the person, a kind word also. I feel very lucky to have had him for a dad. What was your father like?

It makes a guy look stupid if he's constantly late, especially for a job. Hell get a reputation. Yep, here comes stupid, late as always. Did you remember to tie your shoes? I've heard all kinds of things like this over the years.

My dad was a WW2 vet. He told me when I got my first job, to always be on time and be dependable. I've lived by his words. I ran carpentry crews for years, and knew a lot of guys who were always late. I've seen a couple of guys get fired from good jobs for being late. Don't make a fool of yourself. Be on time, no matter what the occasion.

Since I joined BR, I've seen mention of things that trigger strikes. It seems like most folks have made this work when the fishing is slow. Some examples : 1. Ripping a lipless bait through weeds. 2. Banging a spinnerbait or hard bait into stumps or other wood cover. 3. Dead sticking a plastic bait, then twitching in place. 4. Reeling a spinnerbait or soft plastic bait until it hits cover, then killing the the retrieve, letting the bait" die" on the fall.( I know from experience this one works). I've had some success with these triggers, but I've also wasted time getting hung up, or ruining a good cast. Have you had much success doing this? Also forgot to mention, a stop/ start with spinnerbaits or lipless baits can sometimes draw a good hit. What methods have you used to trigger strikes when the fishing is slow?

A friend and I got caught in the middle of a horrible storm years ago on Missouri's Truman lake. We were on a point, and the bite was fast and furious. We ignored the dark black/ green clouds in the distance. Some crappie guys were fishing near us. They all left, and we stayed. We were lucky we made it back to the Marina. I lost a nice rod that went overboard, as well as a new cap, that blew off my head, and went flying across the lake. I made up my mind that I would never do this again, under any circumstances. I was 25 yrs old then. Much older and wiser now.

Ol Crickety, hunker down and be ready. I've never been through a hurricane. Catt has plenty of experience with this. I do know that here in Missouri, the bite can be killer just before a big storm blows in. Just don't get caught out there when it happens.