Carolina Rig

I’d been saving up for another project that isn’t going to happen now that I’m moving to Texas for work so I’ve “reappropriated” those funds! Revo 4 SX HS’s. One more on the way. Ordered some rods to match them, but they’re being built at a rate of 2/mo over the next 6 months so no photos of those. First delivery on 1/18, the day before the first tournament after coming back! I also picked up 2 spinning reels and 2 St. Croix Avid rods in 6’8” Medium/XF.

I usually am; but, my excitement to start fishing again coincided with a pretty good sale at Cabela’s. Also, I found out Tackle Warehouse had a discount for veterans and I took advantage of it!

Some more...

Glad someone finally replied, it wouldn’t let me add a picture until someone did! Several more photos after this if folks will keep posting. Hoping to buy a boat on 1/20, as well, when I get to Texas. Tip of the iceberg.

Looks like the Super Sally.

I didn't realize this was a thread until right now. I haven't fished bass seriously in about 15 years so I have had to buy all new stuff over the last few weeks. I'm about to start posting some photos of my purchases over the last week...

So do you then walk through the water to get your boat after parking the truck, or am I missing something?

I can be done; but, as others have said, why? When I was really young I really liked the Zoom bags so that's all I bought. I'm talking about 8-9 years old saving up my chore money to buy them. I don't really think it's a good idea, these days. I mean, if you wanted to try, by all means, go for it. I just think that some companies excel at certain things and others excel at others. If you aren't contractually beholden to any one company, why would you sell yourself short in different areas of the soft plastic spectrum?

Does anyone know if there is a way to watch these with a Fire Stick?

Buy boat. Use boat. Don’t destroy boat. Catch fish with boat.

PFG outerwear. This one hits home. Just had a spot removed two weeks ago so I’m definitely going to be upgrading my apparel when I get down there and probably loading up one boat hatch with SPF 600.

Which is precisely why I asked about new presentations of old classics. I'll never claim to know it all, and I'm not disillusioned enough to think I ever will. I've fished about 80% soft plastics since I started and I still always learn new things about them. I'm sure there have been developments in how people are using them, and I'd love to learn more so I can put a few more arrows in my quiver before I hit the water. Great examples are the Ned Rig and Neko Rig, I hadn't seen these back when I used to fish. Although, to be fair, I've fished a Ned Rig nearly all my life, I just didn't know that's what it was called. My uncle always used to tell me, "To catch the big fish, you've gotta use the big lures." Obviously he was a little off the mark; but, I used to love days where I'd boat dozens and dozens of bass so I'd take my trick worms and cut off all but about 2 1/2" of it and rig it the same way as I'm seeing people rig them in these Ned Rig videos. My logic was that if I used a smaller bait, it'd be appetizing to all of the fish, regardless of size, and I'd catch more. So, while I'm sure a lot of these things have been around for a long time, they're gaining a lot more popularity now and someone in my shoes may not have heard of new twists on the old favorites. Perhaps someone else in my shoes might stumble across this thread and find it useful, so let 'er rip!

Sorry to resurrect this, I was just curious because I bought some of those Flambeau containers. Someone else mentioned warping and such. Have you had any issues with these since you bought them and started using them? I overestimated how many bags they'd hold and probably need to buy a few more of them; but, I'd like a little more feedback on them from someone who has used them for a while. Thanks!

In my boat purchasing research I've come across those GPS guided spot lock trolling motors. That seems like it's almost imperative for a guy who will be fishing on his own quite a bit in windy places.

What is this world coming to? Cutting perfectly good Senkos in half?? I guess it's a good thing I bought about 65 bags of stick baits to get up and running again...

Up and running. Now I have more research to do! Thanks!

So I'll admit, I haven't been around bass fishing in about the last 15 years. I spent the better part of the day earlier this week reading about chatterbaits because I'd never heard of them. When I first saw one, it seemed somewhat gimmicky so I decided to read up on them and learned that they're very effective and people are now swearing by them. That got me wondering if there are more things out there that have really become popular in my time off that might be worth hearing about. Rather than spending countless hours on the internet trying to find them, I figured I'd ask everyone here and then use the responses for some more targeted research. Plus, once I found out I'm going to be able to bass fish again, buying tackle, studying, researching lakes, etc., has pretty much consumed all of my spare time and I think my wife is over it. So, if you had to list the top 5 new things in bass fishing, specifically largemouth bass fishing, over the last 15 years, what would they be and why? This could be anything from a new lure, a new bearing system in a reel, new boat electronics, new hooks, a new presentation of an old classic, etc. I'm trying to learn as much as I can between now and when I get down to Texas and get to chase them again, so your replies are greatly appreciated!

Welcome, Bruce. Those are my home lakes you’ll be fishing. I grew up down there and love fishing them. You’re going to have a blast in April!

I've read through a lot of these posts and will say that when I used to ride along as a co-angler, I'd always offer $50. As stated by some other folks, a lot of times the boat-owner wouldn't accept the money. When it was my boat, I was offered money quite often; but, I always turned it down. I'm not sure what's expected and what isn't; but, in my opinion, anyways, it boils down to common decency. Sure, you were planning to fish this tournament whether I was in your boat, or not. But, I wasn't going to be able to fish this tournament if you hadn't given me a spot in your boat and I'm happy to pitch in a little money as a sign of my gratitude for letting me have fun for a day or two. Call it what you will; but, if I take someone out along with me, even though I know going into it that I likely won't take their money, if they don't at least offer, I put a little check mark in the back of my mind beside their name. If it happens again, it's unlikely that we'll share a boat anymore. I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt - perhaps he just forgot. But, fool me once... All of this being said - if it's a buddy and we routinely fish together, then yes, I start to expect a little help with the fees. Not to say that I couldn't afford to go on my own or need help with the costs to be able to put my boat in the water; but, if he's going to tag along all the time, he should be willing to help out. That said, it's never an issue with most of my friends because we were all brought up the same way. Just my opinion, not trying to ruffle any feathers.

I've read quite a bit about folks buying their own crankbait blanks and then painting them however they'd like. This is interesting enough to me that I'm going to be taking the plunge today. I just ordered up a bunch of blanks, eyes, split rings, and a lure turner. Those will all be here tomorrow. I'm about to head to Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon to pick up an airbrush and a compressor. I was wondering if you guys could make a recommendation on any other items I might need to buy that I'm not thinking about. Cleaners, stands, etc. Basically anything you have on your bench that you didn't know you'd need and couldn't really imagine working without it. Also, I've ready really good things about the Createx paints so I'm planning to pick up a few of those. I was wondering if you could share some of your favorite colors or at least those that you're using quite a bit. I'm obviously not going to buy them all right now so I was hoping to get some of the more popular colors and be able to paint a few lures tomorrow. Thanks!

Thanks Toxic, I didn't know about that, either. I'll call some dealerships when I'm down there to see about getting some rides. I'm having a lot of fun reading about these boats. I can't believe how much they've changed since I used to regularly fish from bass boats. Can anyone comment on motor life? I know it's probably foolish to think I can buy this one and have it last forever; but, part of getting the best bang for my buck is the lifespan of the boat so if any of these brands are prone to more issues than others, that would be nice to know, as well - motors included. Does anyone here fish in Central/West Texas? I had a buddy tell me to buy the biggest glass boat I can afford because it's windy and getting blown around is no fun. I grew up fishing in a Tracker Pro Team 175 and that was plenty for a 16 year old kid. Now that I'm a little older, I'm wondering about what size to buy. I don't want to be constantly fighting the wind. However, it seems like some Power Poles and a good trolling motor can combat a lot of that. Any recommendations on size? I'll be fishing by myself almost exclusively; but, it'd be nice to not feel cramped if someone else came along. I'm thinking 19'. Would 18' be okay? Should I go up to 20'? Also, I'm seeing some boats with livewells that are like 40 gallons and others that are like 25. Can anyone comment on this? I don't remember the size of the livewells on the boats I used to fish out of. I'm aware of obvious things like "The fish will have more water in a 40 gallon livewell!!" Just curious about how that might benefit or hurt someone fishing tournaments. Sorry for all of the questions. I promise I've already found your search function and have been using it profusely. I just have a few more questions and enjoy speaking with folks about them specifically compared to looking over old information that might not be 100% relevant. Thanks kenmitch, I'm not 100% sure. The job is based out of Midland/Odessa; but, I'll be all over the place working and I'll be living at work. I'm thinking about renting an apartment while I'm down there so I have a place to go whenever I have time off. If I do that, I'm strongly considering the Lubbock area to try to put a few hours between me and work on days off. However, nothing is set in stone, at this point, so I can't really comment on exactly where I'll be living/storing a boat.

United States Army, 2008 - 2012.

I try to keep all different colors in the box in case something turns on that I didn't expect. That said, I pretty much stick with green pumpkin and junebug. I'll use black and blue when fishing a jig; but, for plastics, I almost always grab a junebug first. My PB was caught on a Zoom Junebug Finesse Worm.

Good Morning, I grew up fishing for largemouth until I was about 23 years old and joined the Army. Most of my fishing was done in the southeast and ranged from throwing worms under a bobber in a golf course pond to fishing a very small tournament circuit. I absolutely love bass fishing; but, the Army took me to Alaska and then after I got out, we moved our family to Montana. While there are smallies to be found, I've spent most of my time either hunting or chasing trout. A recent change in jobs will put me in Texas for the majority of the year so the first thing I started doing, before I've even moved down there, was buying up a bunch of bass gear to get back after it during my free time. The nature of my work is such that I won't really know when I'm going to have time off which will make it difficult to get back home to Montana to visit the family at any point other than when I take a planned vacation. Because of that, my wife has agreed that buying a bass boat in Texas is a reasonable request so I'll have a way to spend my unplanned days off. I haven't been able to fish for largemouth for about the last ten to twelve years so now that these changes have taken place in my life, I couldn't be more excited to gear up and get back at it!