txchaser

I’m curious why you stopped fishing them. Great idea as I have one already and can see how it goes as a basic presentation

I'm in the mood for something big, with a wake. There's going to be some time this spring where the grass isn't topped out, and I know for sure there are "bigs" lurking around.

If you are having a hard time finding "attach to the wire" bladed jig, you can hate the brand but these are a thing: I was given one and didn't fish it much.

Oh and while I'm at it, same question for the livewell. Seems like if I get that wrong everything will be wet. But I haven't ever seen water in there unless I turn the pump on.

Any do's/do not's on storing items in the battery compartment? Obviously a bunch of metal would be bad, but as an example I saw a pro organizing video that had his life jackets in there. Just seemed like a bad idea given heat, especially given that I'm in Texas, but he's a pro so ? It's pretty full already with five batteries.

below 50: blade bait deep crank Jig, or a slither rig bladed jig fished like a swinghead (let it hit bottom) - not yoyo, just low and real slow. think crayfish-ish you can chuck a-rigs around shad balls but it's hard and not super productive sounded like this lake doesn't have weeds. if it did I'd say start at the old outside weed line. barring that, I'd look for deeper (deep is relative but at least 8') flats that are by a dropoff, and on the way to shallower water that would be a good stopping place. start deep and move shallow. But you are looking for a spot where they are just chilling out, and can move up to feed on that flat. over 50 bladed jig big squarebill flatside (very strong opinion on the 6th sense 75x) big rattletrap - regular/silent/2-tap jig/slither rig (think BIG presentation) listen to the red comments sun is out and water on a warming trend they might shock you how shallow they can be so you might need to move up more than expected. same deal - draw a line from deep water/dropoff through the deep flats to spawning areas - should be able to figure out how deep they are in general. @WRB trick of idling a bit to figure out where the bait is is always a good starting place. I kind of like the bottom of the bait range for bigger fish. more often than not the big fish are a little deeper than the small fish. if you are catching little guys, move. staring at the map a lot might help - look for transition spots (glenn had a recent video) - spot on the spot, etc. Remember these big fish will literally eat a one-pound bass, and they are apex predators. here's an example - I found a deep flat that was actually on a point. about the size of the boat. dropped off fast on the other side of that little flat like Point->Deep Flat->Dropoff. Big girl was lurking there and happy to eat my lure. The red thing on cranks, lipless, and chatterbaits is very real, at least in Texas.

Sorry for the old thread revival, was perusing to make sure I had everything in my new boat. On tourniquets - a combat medic buddy told me recently that the view on tourniquets has changed dramatically because of lessons learned in GWOT. It's no longer a last resort. Don't put it on a boo-boo, but if you are staring at "they need a careflight or an ambulance vs me driving them to the hospital" the risk is way lower than though. Need a tourniquet and don't get it? Maybe dead. Don't need one and get it anyway? Fine if you get to the hospital in a couple of hours. Seems like good risk-reward. Maybe there's a trauma doc or RN on here that can share more? A snippet from the mayo clinic: The big fear with tourniquets is that limiting blood supply to the limb can result in amputation. This does not appear to be the case in most civilian tourniquet applications, notes Dr. Sztajnkrycer. Having a tourniquet in place for two or fewer hours — the time in which most patients can get to a hospital — should not have any ill effects beyond those caused by the injury requiring the tourniquet. It typically takes at least 4 to 6 hours for tourniquets to cause harm.

Welp, ended up getting a Vexus VXs20 which is about 20.5. Merc engine, all garmin, etc. I'm really happy with it so far. Feels really wide, which I like. All I can find to complain about is the lithiums don't have bluetooth readouts I decided to go all garmin instead of hbird for the console because I thought I'd get more utility out of fully shared waypoints/maps that a bit better side imaging, and with garmin the whole boat is integrated into the unit (data, buttons, etc). Not my pic, but pretty much this.

I have, worked fine. But as I think about it that was on a rod that they replaced (pre-serial) so that might have been part of it. Worth emailing/calling.

Irod's A-rig rod is pretty good, and it'd work just fine for punching too. I use it from time to time on 6" soft swimbaits (more like the whale or daingerous than a boom boom). 1.25oz chatterbaits, big spoons, etc. Fill the other spot with a H rod you like for frogs if you fish them much.

Sitting dockside has a decent amount of conversation about prey and bass behavior - mostly biologists.

Kistler and Daiwa have both exceeded my expectations.

More time I spend on the electronics the more fish I end up catching, to a point. Sidescan in particular - you find stuff that very few other people know is there. Those fish get beat on less. Now that I have FFS they are kinda the same - fishing and on the electronics. Although in less than 8FOW I'm mostly using it for "yep there's stuff here in this area" vs targeting specific fish. It is very efficient.

This last two winters (and a bassU class) taught me that there are fish that will absolutely smash fast stuff when it's cold. Not all of them.. but what used to be an outside grass edge with a rattletrap really is a thing. bladed jig fished a little bit faster than a blade bait, kind of like a swinghead can work too. Warming trend probably helps here, as does a sunny day. In fairness it doesn't really ever freeze over here though.

I hope they did a little something nice for you.

One of your best "this is the juice" videos, especially for when the fish are all over the place in volatile weather. Worth watching/reading twice - transition edges by the stacked up lines, and your spot on the spot comment ...

I'd say middle of the fairway is a 1/8 oz head with a 3-4 inch skinny bait. 10-12 ft deep right now. Kinda early to tell though. How's casting distance with that setup?

PSA, but maybe I'm last to the party. Dicks has some interesting 6th sense baits not listed on the 6th sense website or on TW. I have no connection to 6th sense or dicks, but I do like 6th sense baits for where/how I fish. Some of these are interesting. edit: looks like they are at academy too Fiction Shad https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/6th-sense-fiction-shad-softbait-246thufctn43lvgzzlur/246thufctn43lvgzzlur?color=Ghost Pro Shiner Strobe Minnow https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/6th-sense-strobe-minnow-softbait-246thustrbmnw32ghlur/246thustrbmnw32ghlur?color=Ghost Pro Shiner Strobe shaker https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/6th-sense-strobe-shaker-minnow-swimbait-246thustrbshkr33glur/246thustrbshkr33glur?color=Log Perch Panorama swimbait https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/6th-sense-panorama-soft-bait-236thupnrm35ghstmlur/236thupnrm35ghstmlur?color=4K Shad Rigged Panorama https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/6th-sense-rigged-panorama-swimbait-246thupnrgdswmbt3lur/246thupnrgdswmbt3lur?color=4K Shad

You will see structure and cover that is not obvious from above the water, and that will get you more prime spots, less pressured fish, and maybe bigger ones too.

Bait choice makes a big difference here. I mostly prefer the divine in 3.8 - it's not a very big bait compared to most and has a tighter wiggle. Lighter too. Jackall is my active fish choice - bit softer and more wiggle. IMO Keitech Fat Impacts are big huge wag, they just dont feel quite right to me. I'm sure there's a time and a place for them. I definitely agree with the comment above about no blades sometimes @softwateronly - If I had to do last weekend over again I should have seen it. They were gobbling a damiki/hover but wouldn't eat the a-rig, and I think the blades were the issue. Reel the rig slower than you think you should - they have a lot of lift.

Zako is my default. Rage bug horizontal for one specific color choice. Looks a little more craw like anyway. Going to try the blade minnow in it's stead because I like to fish deeper on this specific falcon craw in the spring, low and slow presentation. And I just bought a pack of the new geecrack bladed jig trailer that AJ co-designed. A friend had a pack and I liked them - tail looks good, and the head is much stiffer plastic so should last longer than a zako, especially burying it in the weeds. Hoping for the best of both worlds.

I'm leaning in pretty hard to the FFS, it's tons of fun. But that also means mid-stroll/hover stroll is a pretty key part of those days. The plain'ol 7' spinning rod I have is working fine, but if I'm going to be locked on this as a presentation I should (can? want to?) get a specialized rod. I'm seeing a bunch of stuff about solid tips being better because (whatever reason, maybe the shake?). Are they? I'm thinking about a little longer than 7', trying to stand off from the fish some and can't see how I could do a 80' presentation the way this is set up. But accuracy matters a lot here. Anyway, assume I'm fine spending a bit of money, but I'm not trying to buy a conquest either. Just want to buy once/cry once. But does it really matter on this presentation? Is there a bfs deal to be done, or just hush and get another spinning rod? Rod monkey is gonna win, so please help me push him in the right direction.

First 13+ in Texas for the year is usually caught in the first few days of Jan. IMO big fish prespawn starts mid-feb at the latest. But the weather is comically volatile week to week. 4746 Strike King Elite 01/03/2025 Brandon Burks Stephenville TX 11.37 24.00 J. B. Thomas Brandon Burks's fish 4727 Legacy #670 01/02/2025 Brady Stanford Millersview TX 13.13 27.00 O. H. Ivie Brady Stanford's fish 4726 Strike King Elite 01/02/2025 Steve Eldred Yantis TX 10.08 24.75 Lake Fork Steve Eldred's fish 4722 Bass Pro Shops Lunker 01/01/2025 Max Nwanebu Fairview TX 9.63 24.50 Lake Fork

IMO this is a great moving bait rod. Does fine with senkos, etc. If I could have just one action on a baitcaster (and a single rod) it'd be this unless I was getting up in Nitranium or Loomis MBR territory.

It is the TM - I need to be able to make finer movements. Some of it is skill issue, but I think the comment above about making sure the friction spots are lubricated and fiddling with the screw will help.