Big Rick

I've never had goose or squab. But, the rest......yum.....

Thinking about how all those birds taste and now I'm STARVING!!

In my experience, Owner Hyper Wire split rings can be used for the life of the bait. I'll replace my trebles 10 to 1 to my split rings once I've installed Hyper Wire's. They really are a "one and done" split ring that is WELL WORTH the additional costs in my book.

St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting Rod 7' Med Hvy MJC70MHMF - Spinnerbait. A perfect rod for searching open water with big spinnerbaits for active fish. The moderate fast action on the rod is perfect! https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-STCROIXRODS.html?from=basres

Ultimately, it's gonna depend on the brand. Some brands cheaper reels have a lot of the core equipment of the nicer ones, just lacking the bells and whistles. Then again, some cheaper reels have plastic items where metal should be and they will quickly wear out if you're throwing heavier baits or using it for reaction style fishing. I blew apart a BPS brand $79 reel the first year I owned it. I quickly learned that if I was gonna save money that I needed to buy the cheaper versions of a brand known for its durability, longevity, and quality. Like Shimano, Daiwa, Abu, and the like.... Another option that usually works well is to shop for used or refurbished higher end reels at tackle shops and online. You can save a bundle if you can overlook surface scratches and such.

My work schedule allows me to fish weekdays as well. On my lakes Wednesday thru early Friday are always the better days. But, I'm gonna go every chance I get regardless of the day or perceived pressure from boat traffic. Man only has SO many trips and then they're all over but the memories. And I want a TON of memories.

Me too! It keeps me from going insane waiting on the next time I can actually USE a treble hook.... I pretty much empty my boat, clean it all out, and go thru my tackle as I put it back in the boxes. Often it's quite entertaining when I pull a bait out of a box that I had totally forgotten that I bought....

Fishing would be the LAST thing on my mind......

Mine too. And my most productive. It's flat out awesome in the jerk baits.

The mayor in my town don't own a tackle store......

Waffle Weave. I was just stating that the glass towels are the best glass cleaning rags I have ever used.

I was very surprised when they broke the surface about 20 ft out. Then I was afraid they were gonna pull off before I could photograph the evidence! Yes, it was a blast. Sadly, I had JUST put my son out so he could go to work so I was the only witness. Needless to say, I shot him a photo as soon as I could to kinda rub it in, LOL!!

Welcome to Bass Resource. Congrats on a beautiful fish. I love bass fishing in La. I spent most of my life in Franklin Parish and I have 3 cousins that are State Troopers in Troop A, headquartered in Baton Rouge. One of them is actually Gov Bel Edwards personal body guard. But, I digress.. You'll find lot's of water in South La to fish. Cypress trees lakes are by far my favorite!

Use good line, tie good knots, retie often, and you'll have them for years. I broke off just yesterday on my favorite OB popper. 30 seconds later it floated up. I grabbed it, retied, and went back to fishing.

https://www.theragcompany.com/ I am a gear head that loves polishing on my cars. This company has the best microfibre stuff you'll find anywhere. Be careful! Superior cleaning cloths are VERY ADDICTING! Their window cleaning Green Glass and Window towels are perfect for glasses and shades. The Waffle Weave towels are great at everything else. Absolutely NO tags to scratch your finishes. Hope this helps.

Semi retired now. But with 6 of 8 kids still at home I'll never fully retire.....never.. I caught an 8lb 3oz bass this Feb. Goal this winter is to reach double digits. Never done that before. I really feel it'll be February before I have that chance this winter as well. But I will be increasing my chances as often as I can. With temps in the upper 90's nearly all of September winter still seems SO far away..... However, before you know it we'll be reading @A-Jay Annual Ice-Out Thread.....

Slight correction on the split ring failure pic. That is actually a ST-41BC on the SB-105. It's a little bigger bait that needed a bigger hook.

Well, since we have TOTALLY hijacked this thread, what are your favorites?

This pic shows a failure in my book. This is an Evergreen Shower Blows 105 and comes with decent hardware. However, I did take the time to swap the front out to an ST-36 and Hyperwire split ring. I was too lazy and in too big of a hurry to swap the middle hook. Almost cost me my fish!!

HAHA! Well, I'd rather catch fish on a popper than any other option, so I am ALWAYS researching and trying new options. That said, my favorites, by far, are Evergreen OB's and Don Iovino's Splash-It. A distant third is the Rico's. I say distant third because they're so blamed expensive and don't do near as good a job as the first two. The Splash-It makes a bigger presence in the water and has a more pronounced "splash" than the OB. But, in clear water the OB is the champ in my book because it's more slender, has a lesser pronounced "pop" so it don't scare skittish fish. And, it'll cast a country mile on my Tatula SV with 14lb Cajun Line....

Good enough. I'm done here. Have a good day.

Not true..... Most treble hook baits FLOAT and don't sink like a rock like Mepps do. Hence my dislike of them. But, I couldn't care less that you don't like my reason for not liking them. I'm sure Mepps is proud to have you as their self appointed ambassador, LOL!!

Just remember that the split ring is just as important as replacing the hook. Owner Hyper Wire Split Rings are far superior to any other brand/type out there. You might as well replace it when you replace the hook. ST-36's for me. And on lighter applications I like the Gamakatsu Aaron Martens TGW Finesse Treble Hook.

If you can fish at first light, go with a small popper. You'd be amazed at how good fish will react to it first thing in the morning before the sky gets too bright. At the very worst, you can locate fish with this bait that you'll be able to target with different baits until you find what they're eating... This Evergreen OB Popper is dynamite. It doesn't make too much racket, has a small profile yet easy to bomb long casts with my baitcaster, and the chartreuse mouth is very easy to track in low light conditions. It's a fish catching machine...

Copying the color may be more important than length or diameter. V&M makes a close match with their Watermelon Bluegill. It's not exact, but its close.