papajoe222

Welcome. Keep a look out on the forums and you can learn, teach, or just give your $.02 There are a lot of great folks here and we even have some fun once in a while. (Just don't take A-Jay to seriously). BTW, there are a good number of old farts on the forums, too. Just saying.

It's a Toyota. I wouldn't think of selling it as it's barely broken in. $2.5K is like $225 a month which, grant you is a little high for up keep, but I doubt you could trade/sell and end up with a payment that low. If you're happy with it, I'd stick with it. Then again, I've 233K on my 2009 Honda and plan on keeping it to at least 300K.

Welcome Both jigs and T-rigs can be rigged with a variety of plastics and presented in similar places. They can also be fished on a five foot rod with success, but to get the optimal results possible, matching your lure/equipment to the cover and conditions will increase the odds of not only catching, but getting bit in your favor. Jigs offer, not only different options for various cover situations (A-Jay's punch rig is the perfect example. It is the best presentation for punching matted vegetation), they can offer different action on the fall, give the bait a different attitude at rest and as mentioned, the skirt adds another attraction to the presentation. Versatility will increase your catch rate and jigs add that factor to your soft plastis.

Welcome to the forums. Bak in the day I used rubber core sinkers. Same idea, but I could put one together while on the water. Jigs with bigger hooks were hard to come by and the ones that were available were expensive.

The first guide replacement I did, I used a thread bobbin like the one pictured. I ended up stripping all the guides off that rod and re-wrapping them. It was easier than I thought and I have since gotten into rod building, I enjoy it so much. The videos on the sites mentioned were a big help. Be sure to check them out.

Congrats! You know, it's not to soon to get him a combo for his first Christmas. I did that with my grandson born on Dec. 10th. Just to cover the bases, I also got him a baseball glove and some infant size hockey skates.

Welcome to the forums. For the lipless cranks, the lighter ones will be easier to keep shallow without having to reel fast. For spring fishing, flat sided baits seem to produce better than fatter, egg shaped cranks as the have a tighter wiggle. However, you may want to add a Mann's -1 or other wake style crank.

One question I didn't see asked was; Are you having the same difficulty using the other reels that you have when casting that bait? My first suspicion was the rod and not the reel. Check the specs on the rod you're using. If it isn't loading up when casting, any attempt at getting distance on the cast is going to produce backlashes.

I don't recommend keeping your rods stored in your vehicle. The temp. inside on a sunny day can get very hot. That, along with the line cooling quickly can have an adverse effect on, not only the line, but the rod.

More than likely, the lake will experience early weed growth. If weed beds normally appear after the spawn, it could affect the fish's choice of spawning location. I've seen it with largemouth, though I don't believe it will alter the smallies habits as much.

Question: If light can only penetrate to a certain depth and color perception is indescernable pass that point, why are there fish that live hundreds of feet below the surface so vibrantly colored? I guess the other fish can't see them

Hats off to you. I'm well aware of the time you and the mods put into the site and hopefully some of the changes you've made will also speed things up for you and make keeping this the most informative bass fishing, information sharing site around.

The old Strike King Diamond Shad was my favorite chrome crank. Similar to a hammered blade on a spinnerbait, it would reflect the light in multiple directions and outshone any of my current baits.

I, too, have the green lenses and I fish mainly clear, natural lakes. They also double as driving glasses as they reduce glare so well.

Welcome. I use 50lb braid for both my flipping and muskie bucktail fishing . Grant you, I use different rods and reels for those applications. The heaviest test I use for muskie is 80b. and I have never had line breakage on any of those set-ups.

I picked up a Lew's LP1SH at Cabela's for well under $100 and love it. However, it is geared at 7.1:1 with 31in. line recovery, external brake settings, 10lb. drag and it's only 7.4oz. You may find that a little fast for spinnerbaits, but it really shines when you need to pick-up line fast when a fish is rushing at you.

Seeing as you mostly fish braid with a leader, why don't you try an orange or yellow braid? They're easy to watch and with a leader, there is little concern with spooking the fish. As for fluoro, or mono; I find Yo Zuri Ultra Soft Hybrid fairly easy to pick up when fishing stained water. I used Original Stren for years because it was easier to line watch than most monos. I would say that any line that contrasts the water would be a big plus. You might consider sticking with the braid you're currently using as it's likely to loose it's color (most do) and become easier to see against the surface.

Great info Tom. Another myth debunked by Bass Resource members. :thumbsup1:

I'm not sure what the bass relate to in GA, but up north here the craws are gone once the water temps dip below 55 or so. I prefer less action and smaller presentations as the water gets colder and a white BitsyBug is my preference until I start throwing hair jigs (no trailer) from the mid 40's until ice up. My response to the OP was to his comment about the pros using those types of trailers when the water starts to cool down.

The switch to a twin tail grub or something like a RageCraw will affect the jig in two ways; First, it will slow the jig's fall rate and second, it will add more drag/lift to the package. The first will get you more bites as the jig is falling and also gives it a more natural bottom presentation should you decide that is where the fish are holding. The second allows you to slow your retrieve speed down, but still maintain the depth. Slowing down a horizontal retrieve is always a good choice when starting out in colder water. A good starting presentation here would be to cast out and let the jig fall to the bottom, raise your rod tip and reel for a couple of yards and then let it fall to the bottom again. Work your way up the water column letting the jig fall a few feet (not all the way down) when you pause.This will tell you which type of retrieve the fish may prefer with the first one you catch. You can adjust your retrieve speed along with the depth until you find out what the fish 'prefer.'

I prefer a longer slide/barrel for shooting paper. Springfield offers an XD 5" that fits the bill for me. Decent sights and trigger and that extra inch or so makes a big difference in accuracy.

YoHo. Wish I could still find them

It could be that it was reassembled incorrectly. If you have the parts diagram you should be able to check that Give Mike a call. If it's something simple you may save yourself some time.

That knot that Gary Klein demonstrated has been called by many different names, including the Jimmy Houston knot (LOL). It's a pitzen tied with the double line. Simple enough for me as I've been tying the single strand version for years. Looks like my second option.

Thanks a bunch everyone. I can eliminate the line issue as I've tried a number of brands,10lb.-12lb. as that's what I use for cranking. I'll be concentrating on my knot tying, I'd been using a straight uni, but my first attempt is going to be the Fishin' Fool knot which is basically doubling the line through the eye first. Plenty of time to experiment and practice over the winter.