Bass Junke

I went on a couple of FC journeys. When I first started fishing, I put straight 8lb Sniper on one of my spinning setups, no leader. It was fine. I also had a braid to FC leader setup. This was also fine. Eventually I stopped using leaders all together, and the Sniper ran out. I concluded that FC didn't really improve anything. So I stopped using it. Last year, listening to all the hype. I bought 3 spools. 8 and 10lb Tatsu and 15lb Invisix. Put the 15lb on my jig rod, the 10lb on my worm rod and the 8lb on my between a BFS and med rod. Like @Catt said casting was... different. I don't think I ever turned my brakes so high on a bait caster. Eventually the stuff settled down or I got used to it. Casting became routine just like with other line. After a year, my results seem similar to past years. I keep a log. My quality of fish did go up last year, but that has been increasing steadily as I improve. I chalk that up to experience not the type of line I was using. I'm going back to the lines I have been using pretty steadily. I really like Sunline Super Natural. I also use a lot of P-line Floroclear and C-21 co-polymer.

I carry between 4 and 8 rods on my kayak. They are stored in specific spots. My jig rod, swim jig rod and worm rod are the easiest to reach. I sometimes switch rods around throughout the day. Last year I re-designed my crate. I wanted all rods stored at an angle. No rods standing straight up. I was successful and was happy with the results. One of the downfalls to this setup is 2 rods are difficult to reach quickly. I have adapted, pros and cons.

Started tying hair and marabou jigs this year. Been tying lots of them. 1/8 and 1/4 have been my go to. A few 3/16 mixed in. I have been dressing lots of trebles and building inline spinners. Built a couple of full sized, 3/8oz, swim jigs dressed with hair/ marabou. Planning on doing some 3/8, 1/2oz football bucktail jigs.

22-26 gauge craft wire. I use 24 gauge copper wire coated black.

I don't watch many fishing vids on you tube. I would never listen to anyone's advice about tackle on you tube when there is a website like Bass Resource along with this forum in existence. I do check out some of Tackle Tour's reviews. Specifically their reel reviews and line reviews.

I use Siebert's G2 and grass heads. I also use many of the the Boss jig heads. Woodwalkers and the lite wire football heads are my favorite. All unpainted. I powder coat, wire tie a skirt , and epoxy in a weed guard. Unpainted Boss heads are about 60-80 cents ea. Unpainted Siebert's heads are a little more. Silicone skirts are generally 60-80 cents per jig.

No you can't buy a piece of graphite to replace the missing piece with or without a tip top. If you have the missing piece it could be repaired. It sounds like you don't have that though. There are many post in the rod builders thread on this very topic. Bottom line, if you owned the rod before you broke it you probably won't like it, but since you didn't, who knows.

I live about 5 min away from the BPS at Patriot Place. About a half hour from the Cabela's in Hudson. I stop into the BPS a few times a year, usually without an agenda. I have never been to Cabela's. Bass Resource has spoiled me. Much of the tackle I am looking for isn't available at BPS/Cabela's. I usually order from Tackle Warehouse. Better selection, better prices.

The little red bands from Mud Hole do work well on even the smallest guide on the tiniest of diameter blanks, but they are tricky to roll on. I bought silicone dental elastics that do work on micro guides. The red bands from Mud Hole work much better. The dental elastics need to be bunched up near the guide ring so you have enough foot to wrap on. The Mud Hole bands are so small that once stretched on you barely see them and you can wrap the entire guide without removing it. I really like having about 3/4 of the foot wrapped before I cut off any bands, but that is just how I work.

Happy Monday everyone. I am trying to figure out what a Wonder spinner looks like. This is apparently an older lure that is not made anymore. I found the South Bend Walleye Wonder Spinner. That is not it. I am trying to build these for a friend. Again, not having seen this lure, I think it looks like a cross between a large fly and an inline spinner. The reason I know this is that he gave me all his dad's materials he was using to re-create these. He has single looped wires, blades, feathers, hair, clevises, beads, and chenille.

Is there fishing in the summer Olympics? No ? All set.

Happy belated birthday Tom. I have learned alot from you, thank you.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/fishing/bass-species-added-record-books/ Has anyone seen this? Am I off base when I say this doesn't make any sense? Don't get me wrong, there could be some new world records for folks that pursue that sort of thing. It would be very cool to see some of the members here on their quest. Here is a discussion with a couple of the biologists involved. So I have some questions and would like everyone's opinion. 1- Who is paying for genetic testing? 2- Why would a NLMB caught in a northern state require genetic verification? 3- Why would a FLMB caught in Texas not need genetic testing? 4- Why isn't there a NLMB category? 5- If the Perry bass is the actual size reported, does anyone believe it could be a hybrid? 6- Who thinks it was possible that a pure FLMB could be in that location during that time period? 7- Who thinks Manabu Kurita's bass was not a pure FLMB? 8- Does anyone know if there are anything but FLMB in Japan? 9- Why wouldn't the Kurita bass be the new FLMB WR? 10- Does anyone believe a hybrid can grow bigger than a pure FLMB? 11- The big title question. Is this a golden opportunity or just a pile of trouble?

Anyone having success with shrink tubbing? I tried it once, caught a fish, the shrink tubbing split and gone, the Senko was still sitting in the basses mouth. I got the worm back and was fine but the shrink tube experiment was a fail. I felt the tubbing was too brittle. Are there different shrink tubbing materials? Anyone know of a brand that is a little more pliable?

I was just basically doing the same thing. Was going to buy the same unit (salt version). Ended up buying a 7SV. I may be wrong but IMO by the time I get around to upgrading to live sonar, I will want a different unit. I have been on the water several times with the 7SV. Side imaging is nice. I have found some interesting things already on one of the ponds I fish a lot.

Ya, I get it. My answer remains unchanged. Seriously though, I fish for bass and I mostly catch bass. That is about as focused as I currently am in my quest to be a good bass angler. So I am a 1, I just want to catch bass.

@ol'crickety I you are a one on the scale then I am not sure if my number can be seen with the human eye.

How do you feel about drilling holes? Can the interior of the hull be accessed?

I was fishing the 40 acre pond on my street. I just hooked a 2lb bass and was maneuvering it over to the side of my kayak I like to land fish on. I was about to lip it when I saw a good sized snapper coming out from the depths to eat my fish. I panicked and lifted the fish out of the water, high sticked my rod and broke the tip off.

I was watching a video last week, it was a few pro anglers discussing and comparing sonar units between the 3 major brands. What I found surprising was that everyone's most important feature was mapping/navigation. Now this makes sense when you are on bodies of water that are 5000, 10000, acres or more. The largest natural lake in Massachusetts is 1780 acres. The largest body of water I fish is about 550 acres. The majority of water I fish is under 200 acres. @slowworm I understand what you are saying about the loaded maps, however based on the size of the water and I am fishing out of a kayak, safety is not a concern.

Thanks again @MN Fisher. The pre-loaded maps are not important to me. I will most likely not even buy the lakes card. I am trying to get a better or equal unit for less money. I am guessing there isn't a huge difference in technology but the 74 has a touch screen, and if I am not mistaken, can be upgraded to live sonar.

@MN Fisher Thank you but I think you are missing the point. Let's try this. Which unit is better the 7SV or the 74sv? Will the 74sv operate in fresh water? Wouldn't adding the lake card for aprox 200$ make this a fresh and salt sonar? Wouldn't that put me back in the 519$ range but now owning a better unit?

I have a Striker 4CV currently. I want a unit with side scan. I am looking at the 7SV. I noticed on the BPS website that the Echomap UHD 74sv is only 350.00$. The 7SV is 519.00$. Now the UHD 74sv is a marine unit. I believe in the Garmin world that means the maps loaded to the unit are marine maps only. Is this correct? Now the 7SV doesn't have any loaded maps. The mapping feature is actually more important to me the the pre-loaded maps. Most of the bodies of water I fish would not be represented on their software. Is there a reason not to but the UHD 74sv? Thanks everyone.

I did the cork grips on one rod, didn't like the feel. Now I am waiting for it to wear off. After 2 seasons, it's still there. 😧

Hey folks, I am not trying to hijack this thread. I know what the title says but this discussion was more about Texas's lunker program and some of the programs Florida is working on to grow bigger bass. Tom Lang is one of the speakers. Some really good stuff discussed. The other two guests are Jason Dotson a Florida biologist and Monte Burke the author of Sowbelly. One of the most amazing things mentioned in this video is a 18lb. bass that was only 6 years old. That's a lot of growing, 3lbs a year Zowie!