Bass Junke

Removing a treble will mess up the action on a crank. There are replacement hooks that are single shanked if you are adverse to trebles. Seriously by the title I thought I was going to have to post the fishing line extraction method for removing trebles from someone. Once I learned that I am much less fearful of trebles. Easy, painless (pretty much) and effective. It's an occupational hazard and anyone who throws a lot of treble baits will eventually get snagged. I am not worried about myself, I have a fish grip. It seems that it is always the treble that doesn't have the fish hooked that is stuck in the fishes eye or hooked to it's underside drawing blood. That is the reason for my question.

Not a big fan of treble hooks, however I did fish a whopper plopper last year and plan on it this year. I also plan on doing some crankbait fishing. Most of the crankbaits, lipless crankbaits I plan on fishing are pretty small. Are 2 treble hooks really necessary? I get it Whopper ploppers, spooks, swim baits are long and 2 or 3 trebles are needed but these tiny crank baits. If one can be removed which one?

Looks like you have a sit in type kayak. Drilling holes isn't a big deal. Nobody talks about a nice place to place your rod when you catch a fish or need to re-tie. I put 2 of my rods in the water last year trying to just put them down while I had a fish on the line. I have a Vibe and it has 4 flush mount rod holders. The 2 in the front of me are kind of useless so I spun one of them around. This seems like it is going to work out perfectly might spin the other one around. Railblaza make some nice mounts. Their rod holder II has a nice lock to hold a rod for trolling and the rod tube looks nice for a net.

Maui Jim's are no joke. I have owned quality sun glasses my whole life and tried many brands. Vuarnet, Ray Ban, Revo, Oakley (plastic). Maui Jim's best all around lens for life, best all around polarization I have ever experienced. Are they the best lenses for fishing? Not sure, they really aren't made for fishing, Costas are. I cannot look through plastic, scratches to easily and to much distortion. Today's glass lenses are scratch and shatter resistant and are not that fragile. I have snow skied, mountain biked, used my Vuarnet's for paintball goggles (stupid). Took a paintball right on the lens (dangerous). I have sent many a pair of sunglasses back to Vuarnet through the 80's for repair, meaning I broke my lenses several times doing stupid things. Never once did they shatter or chip. They usually just crack like a wind shield. We were once skiing and my buddy just ahead of me caught an edge and face planted right into the mountain side. When he got up his Vuarnet's were snapped right in half. Nylon frame broke but the lenses were unbroken. There is no comparison between glass and plastic. IMO glass is far superior and there is nothing I can do on a kayak while fishing where I would worry about shattering a lens and endangering my eyes. I don't think I can swing that hard.

Let us not forget this is coveted information. 20 or 30 years ago the idea of strangers sharing fishing secrets might have been frowned on by most serious anglers. " Don't tell me boy you just showed them yanks the Texas rig. Go help your mamma in the kitchen" While a lot the guys on this site have been fishing for the past 25 or 30 years I have spent those years studying, training, and teaching martial arts. In that world information is also coveted, you just don't go around teaching total strangers how to kill people. The reasons each group is reluctant to offer up knowledge are different but my point is this: Even if you found a pro angler who was willing to advise or respond to an email, would he be as candid or as thorough or as nice. I have read some pretty comical posts where I would have expected some friendly jokes and jibes. Sure there is some joking but usually it is just honest helpful answers from hundreds of fellow anglers that are here only to share knowledge, stories and experiences. I want to thank everyone here for getting me through the winter and teaching me so much along the way but here in southern Mass we have open water and I'm going fishing.

I just decided to become a serious bass fisherman last year, it was my wife's idea for us to spend time together, which meant it was just for the 2 of us. I needed to learn how to fish on my own. I started watching the BassResource and learned tons. At the end of his vids he would mention Bass Resource. I started reading articles and learned even more. Finally I discovered the forums. Zowie! The guys in this forum are amazing. I am not trying to butter anybody up or get brownie points. Why is the advice from a "pro" better than a guy that all he has been doing is fishing for the pass 50- 70 years? I have been trying to contribute to this forum by asking some questions, sparking some interesting chatter, but every question I have has already been answered somewhere here. Some of the folks on this site have taught me so much I would be more "starstruck" meeting one of you guys that a actual pro angler. I have learned more from this forum than all other resources combined. Want to learn to fish? Look no further all the info is right here in these forums. If you can come up with a question that has not already been answered (I can't), just ask you will get an answer.

I am a pure lefty( hand, eye,leg). I can cast and reel with either hand but to really work the rod with deft and dexterity I need my left hand. For me, it's cast left reel right both bait casters and spinners. Switching hands seems kind of crazy, there is a significant amount of time you are not in contact with your bait as you switch. However I am pretty sure most people " palm" low profile bait casters, but I don't cast holding it that way so I also move my hand to a different position at the end of the cast. Do we all loose contact with our bait momentarily when fishing with bait casters? Maybe we need to design a better bait caster. Maybe anglers that switch hands are not psychopaths ( at least not all of them).

I saw a guy made a live well from a laundry basket and a pool noodle. Not a bad idea, use the lake as the live well. Drag it along behind you.

When I was a kid my dad gave me a reel that was not even as refined as redmeansdistortion's was. It was basically a deep sea reel. No brakes, no drag and no line guide. Not only did my thumb have to learn to feather the reel pretty quick, I had to use my thumb and index finger to weave the line back and forth on the spool. I cursed my father for years for buying me that until the day I bought a baitcaster. I felt like Ralph Macchio, wax on wax off. Needless to say the learning curve for my first baitcaster was not so steep thanks to Mr Miyagi ( my dad). IMO the most difficult thing to learn with a baitcaster is casting. What makes it even more difficult is having to learn to work the rod and crank the handle with hands you are not used to. I am quite happy the fishing world is a little backwards when it comes to baitcasters, I am a lefty and enjoy the vast selection of right handed baitcaster speed options. So Pikeman if you decide to go with a baitcaster don't make the learning curve so steep get a lefty.

I just bought the Patriarch this year. It was my first baitcaster so as far as comparisons I have nothing. I can tell you by mid summer I was casting everything but the lightest weightless plastic. Many people say that 2 braking systems are redundant. I have read that Centrifugal brakes affect the beginning of the cast while the Magnetic brakes affect the end. I believe I have felt and seen that while experimenting with the settings. It is ultra smooth, compact so it fits nicely in your palm, and very light. With the right adjustments, you can cast anything with this reel.

Thanks Lionheart. I figured the lower gear ratio would give me a little more torque to drag em out. There are still Patriarch's out there for 80$ off, I just didn't see the benefit of another reel with such a high gear ratio. The deal on the Patriarch is way better than the deal on the Supreme XT. 80$ off as opposed to 40$ off. With that being said the Falcons do seem rated a little lighter than most other rod brands so buying a heavy Falcon rod should be fine. The rating is 3/8 to an ounce. In my neck of the woods, I don't see myself fishing anything over an ounce for the next year. Thanks DHP. That is the plan. Should have said that in the original post, I was trying to be brief lol. Check out Amazon, you might be glad you did.

Greetings all. 2018 was my first year of serious Bass fishing. I have been reading articles and posts on this site for most of the year, first of all, thank you to everyone. I have gained a wealth of knowledge from this site, so much so that I have been able to find answers to all my questions without ever having to ask. 3/4 of the year was spent on the bank, from late August to now, all my time on the water has been in a kayak. Most of the fish I caught this year has been finesse fishing. Drop shot was #1 followed by the Ned rig. I also caught fish on various jigs from 1/16 oz ball heads to skirted 3/8 oz football and cover jigs. Bunch of fish on Texas rigs a couple on a wacky rigged senko, and about 4 or 5 fish on C-rig/ Mojo rig. Oh, and 1 fish on spinner bait. My current arsenal Pflueger President XT spinning reel 5.4 to 1 Abu Garcia Vendetta 6'9" med lt ( crazy sensitive). Obviously my finesse setup. It currently has 20# braid on it but I plan on re-spooling it with either 10# braid or 6-8# florocarbon. Pflueger President XT spinning reel 5.4 to 1 Abu Garcia Vendetta 6'6" med hvy. (my wife's setup that I am commandeering because "fishing is boring"). I think this will get 20# braid and I will keep a Zoom horny toad on it most of the time. Could I use it for a C rig? Pflueger Patriarch bait caster 7.9 to 1 Falcon Bu Coo SR 7' med hvy. It currently has 12# mono on it (my first bait caster). I currently use this for everything but the lightest of baits. For about 3 months now I have been planning on buying a rod and reel for mostly jigs 1/4 to 3/4 oz, fishing weeds and grass, ect. I am in Mass. and fish mostly small ponds and lakes. I do not plan on tackling any huge bodies of water any time soon but do plan on getting some electronics next year. What I have been planning to buy was the Pflueger Supreme XT baitcaster in 6.4 to 1 on a Falcon Bu Coo SR 7' heavy. Here is my question (Finally, holy crap he is long winded).Is my current Falcon med hvy stout enough to be the " heavy cover rod" and I should be buying a 7' med because it will be more useful to me?

Usually, my cotton tee shirt. Or run them under the water and then my cotton tee shirt. I only wear glass lenses, plastic distorts and scratches to much. Glass may not stop a bullet like polycarb, but it does not scratch as easily either. I will not preach as to which brand is the best, my advise is to buy a pair of glass lenses from your favorite manufacturer, your eyes will love you for it.

I have the 3" I have been using on the drop shot. The tail is thin and fragile. 2 baits used only 1 fish, that is a bad ratio in my book.

It is really just a standard size backpack. Fits about 4 clear plastic full size cases. It just looks big because of the side pouches but they come off. That is the beauty of the MOLLE straps, you can add almost anything to this bag and the internet is loaded with MOLLE accessories.

What about something like this? There are hundreds of options in these tactical style backpacks. With the Molle straps you can attach all your tools so they are easily accessible or add different pouches and such that have Molle clips. They are cheaper than " tackle backpacks" I think 35L is the size of your basic school back pack and that should be able to hold at least 3 plano boxes.

Once I get to where I want to fish, I park my main paddle and use the assault paddle for the rest of the day. Usually slowly "trolling" and fishing my way back to where I launched. The main paddle can be awkward, the assault paddle is quick and easy. It makes it easy to quickly adjust your position and angle with one hand while your rod is in the other.

I have a Vibe Skipjack 90. It is a 9' fishing kayak 32" wide. I teetered between a kayak that would have what I needed but not to heavy. Probably should have went with the Yellow fin 100 for the better hero seat, next time. I my opinion this is something every angler should have on their kayak. It is like a hand held trolling motor. yakgear.com/product/backwater-assault-hand-paddle/

This site might be a little better http://www.omfishingsinkers.com/ Largest selection and cheapest tungsten I have seen on the web. This was posted in another BR forum, don't want to take all the credit.

I have been tying the uni for a while, it truly is versatile. It is easy to tie but what I believe is so great about it is the way it finishes perfect every time as it cinches up to the eye of the hook. Other knots you sometimes have to fiddle with to get the knot to set up right. Lately I have been using the Orvis knot. It is tiny but strong. Incredibly easy to tie and finishes like the Uni, clean and perfect every time.

That is a whole other topic that probably requires its own post

Hey, new guy here. I went with a tactical backpack. There are tons of them anywhere from 20-80$. They fit most plastic tackle storage plus the Molle straps are awesome for hanging pliers, scissors, ect