Sphynx

The global supply and logistics chain got one hell of a disruption all over the world with the beer bug and various responses to it, we will probably need a year or two before the flow of goods catches back up and smooths back out to a somewhat normal level, and that obviously applies only to the companies that survived all the upheaval, so lots of things may be gone permanently on account of that.

If they are discontinued I think I'd be sad, they are a great bait for the price, they work fabulously as a 4x4 type exploration bait for guys like me who haven't got any electronics, and they come through most every bit of structure, cover, vegetation, rock pile or whatever you want to throw them in, and I'll probably go buy a bunch of them just to have as expendable baits, great thread necro too lol, these things are pretty fun.

Personally I consider both styles to be essential tools for specific tasks, I can say that a 4lb river smallmouth on a spinning setup is infinitely more exciting to me than a baitcasting setup, but the baitcaster is much more efficient once you become well versed in its use, I never go to the river without at least one of each style in hand, and it really just depends on what I'm doing for which one I prefer, skipping is an exclusive activity for spinning reels in my world, but I don't have much opportunity to skip under docks to get good enough to justify practicing with the casting reel, on the other hand my preference for a jig rod is a 7'3" St. Croix Mojo Bass MHF rod with a 7 speed Curado K, 30lb maxcuatro braid to a 15lb maxima ultra green leader, I'm sure I could do either task on either combo, but it's just a preference thing for me.

I find this hard to answer without more quantifiable data available, I catch lots of fish on a buzzbait, the caveat to this being that because buzzbaits are one of my very favorite presentations I spend a disproportionate amount of time throwing them, so if you just want sheer numbers, buzzbait, but if you want something like fish/hour spent with given lure? I'd need a few years to get that information together for you.

If it is of sufficient concern to cause you consternation, bringing this to the attention of your local fish and wildlife department enforcement staff is probably the best thing you can do, I don't like to give the government credit for a lot of things, but when it comes to tracking numbers and documentation of things, you won't find many places with more passion and zeal than a government office.

I do not own any electronics (thinking hard about one of the Deeper platforms, but haven't pulled the trigger yet) so for me, I have to do it the hard way, if I had a full day to fish and had electronics and a boat/kayak/canoe, I think I would spend enough time researching and or scanning to get a general idea of what patterns I can reliably recognize, I'm there for one day, it's very unlikely that I'm breaking the lake or state record on purpose that day, so I'm just looking for a reliable pattern of where the fish are, then it's time to start seeing what they will eat.

I may be in the minority for the position, but I am not afraid to make sure that a gratuity is commensurate with the services provided, and have several times in typical tipping situations not tipped if I felt the service rendered was subpar or undeserving of the reward, most frequently this comes in dining scenarios where servers consider a gratuity a requirement, then proceed to ignore at least half of the jobs responsibilities, by that same token, I am also not afraid of tipping in excess of typical standards if I feel that the service rendered warrants such a reward, I vastly prefer being able to do the latter and avoid the former if at all possible, but occasionally there are situations that demand an uncomfortable display and they are just as important to the individual in question as the exceedingly generous rewards.

Long lining, and most competitive fishing environments prohibit the practice, that said it can be very, very effective

It's all relative, lots of things work like that and it's amazing these days how many people do not think about the costs a business comes up with in the course of operation, doesn't stop them demanding lower prices of course, but it's nice when folks DO have an appreciation for that side of the equation

Maybe...but what expense does the guide get put to? Out of that 5k or so I would be shocked if the "income" part is much over $1000 or $1500

That is a very interesting way of approaching that problem, and I am going to shamelessly steal that for future use!

I think that the sentiment expressed by a couple of the guides here is in line with my views on the subject, a tip is a gratuity, not an expectation, in my line of work I know exactly what the standard is, and my standard is always set to exceed the industry's standards because I consider it a point of professional pride, I want to do the best job for the best price because it makes me feel like I have given the customer what they paid for, and because word of mouth has been, is, and will likely always be the most effective form of advertising around, a gratuity is nothing more than an extra expression of gratitude, the work I put in is already covered in my fees, and some of the best tips I have ever gotten were referrals and follow on business worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to the business, which unless I'm working for Oprah or something probably is more valuable than any tip a person could ever give me.

Well...I suppose since it hasn't been mentioned yet, there are deep divers that will work in that range very well if you have the time, money and patience to dort out the rods, reels, and line you'll need to get the bait down into your target zone, just remember that numerous factors (line diameter, line composition, length of cast, water temperature, rod tip, reel speed etc) will all play a part in how quickly and how long your bait will stay in the depth range you want it at.

This has become a theory I heavily subscribe to, tonight is a perfect example, last 2 weeks have had them feeding on rip rap and rocks out here chasing minnows, the wind has kicked up hard, throwing breakers on the river the last couple days, and poof, that pattern is gone like a fart in the wind, I can tell you after just 15 minutes out here, they aren't here and they want something other than a baitfish profile, my guess is they are either in the grass hunting, or else are looking for a crawfish imitation of some variety, but either way, they aren't in my usual spots last couple of days.

If there was a 1 size fits all solution to how to catch a few solid bass, there are thousands of pages here that would be superfluous, and tournaments would be a very boring affair, best advice I can give is to become a student of the bass, and of its environment, it's virtually impossible to learn a ton about the bass and where it likes to live, how and what it eats, etc without becoming a more effective bass angler as a side effect, tons of articles here, a boatload of stuff on the YouTube (including some stuff @Glenn does on a fairly regular basis which is a fabulous place to go if your looking for visual examples of stuff) and from there just put a game plan together, go out and execute, when you get home, take some time to think about it critically, what were they biting? Not biting? What did the baits they bit imitate? What environmental factors were in play, time of day? Year? Do that enough and some of these patterns are going to become glaring and obvious over time.

Be honest, your giving him a half pound or so penalty for the hat aren't you? ??

Lol, I remember my first smallie catch, was about 12 inches long on a C-Rigged trick worm, I thought I had caught a rock, then got excited when I felt a head shake and felt him dig, what a shock it was to see the fight so little a fish put up, definitely a different world than bucketmouth's, that's for sure.

Yep, sounds like a case of "listen to the fish" and after 4 hours I'm not sure they could say "No frogs today" any louder, hell, I am finishing up my night as I type this and I couldn't solve the puzzle tonight, it happens though, yesterday I was catching a bass every 5 minutes on a paddletail, tonight they wouldn't touch that, or a chatterbait, a jig, a pop r, or a crankbait, I am coming to the conclusion in my case that I might be fishing where the fish aren't, in your case, if you stick with something for over an hour and you haven't gotten bit, there's a pretty good chance you haven't been offering the right lure.

My rule of thumb has always been if his mouth is about as big as my fist, it's around 4lb, maybe a little under, maybe a bit over, nice fish, congratulations!

I take a trash liner with me every night when I go fishing, I have probably filled up well in excess of 100lb of garbage this week, beer containers, fishing lines, all sorts of things, it irritates me, but I guess it's become obvious that it doesn't bother anybody else where I fish...It will if I catch them in the act though, it'll be a mighty big bother then.

This is good to know, getting anybody out here to talk about a non-salmonid is virtually impossible it seems, so lots of places I go are just shots in the dark hoping something will turn up.

If your not cheating, your not trying... I don't necessarily measure success in size of fish, or in quantity, I think for me finding opportunities to explore when and where a given lure will or won't work (especially one I'm unfamiliar with or not confident in) is an enormous part of my enjoyment for fishing, this is terrible for my wallet of course, but it doesn't even have to be new gear, finding new scenarios that stuff I already have will work great in is just as exciting to me, the reward for finally putting it together often is a larger fish, or a pile of fish period, but often I am looking for the less obvious patterns, and it feels really great to find a technique or a bait that is absolutely on fire which is by no means obvious to the masses in my area.

I'd recommend something with some kind of a thump to simulate life at depths with very little light penetration, most of the deep fish I have ever gotten had at least a moderate amount of action to them, and the bites seem always to come when the movement is going on, if you want to spare yourself the obscene deep cranking costs, you can use a jointed structure head (or whatever the other companies call them) and a soft plastic to bump the bottom with similar results to the more expensive options, just switch between beaver style up to something crazy like a rage craw until you get bit a few times then wear them out

What are you looking for specifically, smallmouth or just for anything?