Tackleholic

Good choices, I've caught fish on all.

When I purchased my new Vexus VX21 in 2020, I equipped it with all the latest and greatest from Lowrance; 6 months later it was outdated, but what the He_l. I use it mostly to go through an area looking for baitfish, but seldom go chasing after a single fish; many fish lying on the bottom cannot be seen anyway. I prefer to chunk and wind while following a bank, not waiting for a fish to show itself before casting.

Curious what you were baited up with??

Liltanker colors I ordered are Copper Shad, Matte Black, and Matte Chartruse; also ordered 2 of the Over Rev.

Just ordered 3 of them, on sale today for $16 at the Hookup.

Welcome home; stick around this time!

Where did you recently purchase the ORC Burning Shad? I've been looking for them, but only find out of stocks with no indication if they will again be available.

It's possible but not likely, that only the trim switch you show in the video is the only one not working. You probably have 2 or 3 more trim switches in your boat; try each one before going to a mechanic, and be sure you did not forget to remove the Transom Saver. (I did that once)

I have 2 older ones, had them deep cleaned by DVT, and they are now back in regular use, workin' good.

I still have 2 of them from my wade fishing days and guard them carefully. I remember climbing an overhanging thorn tree to retrieve one; another time one was saved by a Northern Pike getting it lodged up and down in it's mouth, preventing it from being able to close down and cut the 4# line.

They cast like a rocket and get great distance. I use it as a cleanup by allowing it to settle to the bottom, yo-yo it twice, then burn it in. I always have one tied onto a 7'11" rod and pull it out when the bite stops but I can still see fish in the area.

Anything that relates to chunkin' and windin', as long as I can keep the trolling motor on; sitting still bores me, but is sometimes necessary.

I forget the name, but Zman has my favorite frogs, poppers and walkers; the soft body collapses really well; I'll look into the Swamp Lord.

I always have at least one wake bait tied on; hands down favorite is the Berkley Wake Bull which was discontinued a couple years ago. I still have 4 in different colors, but my favorite lost it's bill to a rock only recently; sad day, it served me well. I have two boxes of wake baits, but the Wake Bull is number 1.

Bait casting for me whenever possible, with good equipment I have few problems with lures down to 1/4 ounce without reaching for the BFS; as others have mentioned, wanting something to fall on slack line means spinning. When people want to go fishing with me and do not have their own tackle I hand them 7ft. mh spinning rods with 12-15# braid and 10# leaders; that way they are able to use just about any lure I'm using on baitcasting. My casting reels are tuned to my own touch, and letting others use them would lead us to backlash city.

A lot of loose line is discarded on the banks; when the water rises is when it becomes problematic for boaters. Trot lines and jug lines are also constant issues for man and beast.

I'm not even trying; early mornings work for me.

I tried pegboard, it's ugly and I didn't like it. Vinyl slatwall looks good and is more versatile; costs more though.

Me too. In past years I would carry one rod and re-tie for each lure change. Today, with dwindling eyesight and fumbling fingers, I will have each lure already tied on with a different rod. Golden years.

Excellent thoughts and common sense article by A-Jay; reflects some of my own beliefs. I will add that red and chrome hooks on a bass lure will catch more of those annoying little bluegill and sunfish.

I purchased this reel in 2004, probably have not used it since about 2006. 5 speed gear ratio, it's kind of heavy at 7.4 oz., large line capacity for it's size. It's too nice a reel to discard in a garage sale, but I'm in a quandary for it's most effective application. I remember originally using it for tossing small spinnerbaits while wade fishing in tight quarters with a 5'6" custom made rod; today I mostly lake fish from a 21' bass boat. I'm looking for suggestions from Forum members who have experience with this reel; what applications do you use it for?

You might find something you like in the Spro Littlejohn and Megabass Karashi. When I lived in Northern Illinois and fished mostly small rivers and streams, in early spring a Firetiger spinnerbait could never be beaten or equaled for Smallmouth.

When Wacky hooked; forget a hard hookset, just pull and reel.

Berkley Dredger 8.5

The above suggestions cover everything an inexperienced angler needs to know to begin catching Bass. I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THIS : when fishing worms and Senkos, it takes time to learn when to set the hook, and while in the learning process most anglers experience a lot of gut hooked fish which results in mortality. To reduce the mortality rate, pinch the barbs or preferably get some barbless hooks. Another way, especially when wacky rigging, is to use circle hooks.