PhishLI

Me either. More like a drastic drop off due to a lack of desire to use it any longer. That may be another element of the equation with me. I can't say that I'm rejecting vintage lures necessarily. The curly tail worm is exactly what I referring to when I wrote "spinnerbait and others". I really put a killing on them in '18 with both ribbon tails and curly tails, yet by '19 I'd barely tied one on and for no good reason. Well, perhaps it was because I was doing so well with paddle tail swimmers by that point I figured there wasn't much point in using those type worms which are distance-limited wind catching baits. I could cover water far better with swimmers.

First disclaimer: I don't fish tournaments or for food. I fish for my amusement. For the rush. So consider this issue in that spirit. I could've titled this thread "Why formerly effective lures sometimes fall by the wayside" but that would denote failure to perform in some way. That's not my intention. This isn't about fad baits like the whopper plopper either. God bless you if the whopper plopper is still railing them as well as it did in the beginning when they first started crashing into your home lake. This thread probably isn't for you. This is about the "How-come" or "Why" certain tried and true conventional baits that were perfectly good normally either got shelved somehow or barely ever get used anymore. Second disclaimer: I think most people would agree that there are some ways to catch bass that are much more exciting than others. Personally, a frog getting blown-up on that I'd precisely dropped in to a hole in some lily pads is much more of an adrenaline rush than getting bit on a Ned rig that I was soaking. These are two ends of the spectrum, and I'm not really talking about this either. For myself, I could claim that I evolved away from certain baits like spinnerbaits of all stripes and others because they were outperformed situationally by something else, but that's not really true. Initially, I would switch off to baits which were clearly good elsewhere for others but had kicked my azz relentlessly. I needed to understand or decode them more than I needed to catch a fish on what had previously worked just fine. I have to say, in most cases my persistence paid off in that I usually figured things out and these previously failure-mode baits became part of a new rotation or another tool in the box. Yet the perfectly fine baits of yesterday rarely get picked up again with the vigor they once had been. Perhaps catching fish had initially come easier on the older baits and the fact that I had to work much harder with the azz-kicking baits to crack the code caused a greater affection for them? Perhaps. Over time, no hobby of mine has endured with the intensity fishing has. I think the actual bottom line is boredom though. Not bored of catching fish, obviously, but what bait I might be using to do so. For the record, and off on a bit of a tangent, I feel most biting bass would have bitten a multitude of baits besides the type that I'd divined was the right one at that moment, especially in grass lakes. Maybe it's a personality trait of mine, or a flaw. I don't know. One thing I do know is if I'm chucking something with less enthusiasm, I'm less likely to do well with it, even with baits that were the deal in the past. Replace enthusiasm with confidence if you like but the outcome is the same. While those two words might not be synonyms by official definition, they might as well be in the context of bass fishing. So, have you given up on a perfectly good bait or baits for no apparent reason, and do you think you could ever go back?

I'm thinking the same thing after taking a look at a few spots today. 1/2-3/4 frozen still, and the paths had plenty of snow on them still.

I don't find it burdensome at all to be mindful of the condition of my stuff. I hate door dings on vehicles, so I don't stuff them into tight parking spots just to be close to the front of an establishment or park them next to jalopies. That's just begging for it. Besides, walking is good for me. It's painless for me to slip a reel cover on or off between uses as well as a rod sleeve. Same as above, I don't like looking at scratches and dings on my stuff, especially due to my carelessness when it's easily avoidable. That's double irksome. That said, I'm with @newapti5 . If I had to choose between either losing a new PB or dropping my favorite rod/reel onto sharp rocks in order not to, it's getting dropped.

My brother and I chose a 12' flat bottomed Jon boat. It can go super shallow, just like a kayak. Also, we don't need a trailer. Gets strapped down in a 5.5' pickup bed with the tailgate down. I rigged up a set of wheels that gets strapped onto the rear allowing one man loading and rolling down to the water a breeze. My brother at 56 easily does all of that by himself ever since my back surgery. Also, we're electric only which isn't a bother and we fish up to 250 acres. Just a 30lb thrust Minnkota and a 50ah LiPo battery zips us along just fine for over 8hrs. A 50lb thrust would be even better. Figure 500 lbs of brothers and gear. Just something else to consider.

Download this chart and print it then match up the originals to find the size you need. Parts Sizing Chart | Janns Netcraft

Locally I wade as all of our lakes are lined by trees right up to the shoreline and no boats are allowed anyway in my county. Wading gets me out just far enough that I won't snag tree limbs on the backswing, so I'm basically a glorified shore fisherman most of the time. Otherwise, I get out with my brother on our john boat every other weekend if weather and schedule allows. The majority of my very best fish have come while wading or bank fishing. My best numbers sessions have come on the boat.

Same here. No chemicals. I even wear a wool beanie so they can't bite my scalp. They sting right through a baseball cap here. This is in August

For any system. Once you're accustomed to using only the brakes with zero tension and get a feel for loading and unloading the rod, you'll get the best distance. You'll have to apply thumb a tad earlier before splashdown though. I fish at night most often, so I can't see the lure in flight, but I'm calibrated to the sound of the spool and its associated vibrations.

Ideally, you'll set your spool tension to zero play/zero tension and leave it that way.

Well, that's a horse of a different color then. There are plenty of conventional reels with spools in the 10-12 gram range that'll nicely cast 7 grams and up. Actually, some reels with even heavier spools will do just fine. The Met shallow spool has been recommended, but your thumb game had better be on point. These are fast reels and not very forgiving. The Alphas SV TW 800S I mentioned earlier has a shallow spool and is a real breeze to fish with. Check Digitaka for pricing. Skips great too, mindless actually. Just crank up the brakes for that and go. For those who feel that any Daiwa with SV brakes is over-braked, turn them down to 2 or 3 and you'll find out differently. Also, '20-'21 Daiwa platforms could be built exactly the same way for the next 10 years and would hold up nicely to the competition. They're that good. A throwback to the halcyon days of Daiwa. Yes, the same old 20 whiney cross posters on several different fishing forums and a reel tester on YT would definitely complain about why there's nothing new, and that would no doubt bleed out into the ether to be regurgitated by people who base their second hand opinions on other people's whining. The rest of the world would be quite happy.

Finding an accessible rod/ reel combo that'll effectively cast a legit actual 3/16oz total weight up through 3/4 oz is asking a lot.

The unloaded spool of the Tat 80 weighs about 15 grams if my memory is correct. Fully loaded I think I remember mine weighing about 25 grams. That's a bit too heavy for the bottom range that the OP is looking to effectively throw.

I run a Daiwa Alphas SV TW 800S (shallow spool) on a 7' Muse ML rod. 165' of braid mainline to leader.

My brother and I have a goal of eventually fishing every accessible water body on this island. With schedules and life in general, who knows if we'll get to them all. About 5 years ago we fished a spot and had a crazy numbers sesh. I stopped counting after my 38th bass and my brother wasn't that far behind. I was well into catching 50something when we called it quits. The thing was, they were all between a pound and a pound and a half for the most part. It actually got boring. It was fun for a minute, but enough of that. Been there done that. We didn't go back there for several years and only because the nearby lake we were heading to was blocked off. This isn't the only place like this that I've been to. They're one and done for me. The only exception I'd make where I'd purposely hit spots like these is if I were to get skunked 10 times in a row at one of my special places. Then I might go to one of the dink lakes for a mental health trip, maybe.

Sez the OG, the big Kahuna, the Grand Poohbah of party poopers.

The road is a lonely place. ***t happens.

Ahhh, you're just having visions or 30-50 1lb bass kebabs, hungry boy.

That's a fact. Believe me, I know. I'm not looking to pull out my malady card on a fishing forum, but I was myself disabled for a good chunk of last year after receiving a nightmare diagnosis followed by an even worse prognosis which included having my last rites read to me in a hospital bed. So, trust me, I appreciate every extra breath I get to take. After the back surgery to stabilize my spine, and 50lbs lost in the process, and by the time I was able to be carried into a boat by my brother, I didn't choose a dink lake to go fishing at because I truly didn't know if I'd get another chance to go. I chose a big fish lake instead. That's just how I see things. So, fair enough, we have a difference of opinion. Good luck with your health, sincerely. Peace.

Personally, given the choice, travelling to a dink factory to fun fish is low on my list.

WoW. I guess I'm not a purist. No way would I travel to a lake like this to fun fish, so it's hard to watch, IMO.

I haven't, but I haven't had an issue with the mono jig as I'm using it with light drag to locate active crappie in very cold water. If I can find the crappie, active bass will often be in the zone too. If I can get some action on the jig, I'll switch over to something like the 5" Bucca Floater also shown in my previous post which will have weight added for an ultra-slow sink which will allow for a slightly below the surface sitting-duck presentation on a painfully slow retrieve.

Coupla things I really needed. 😁

Blk/Blu is my #1 color across the board and it isn't even close. However, one of my best fish came on a shad colored CB, and we don't have shad around here, but that was a one-off. Never got another fish on it. Not even a bite.

Oh Boy!