JediAmoeba

The bait monkey confiscated your goods?

I am on the opposite side of the spectrum....i bought these baits originally because of the packaging and clever names. ?

Jigs and worms will snag and catch weeds on the fall. You need to go with compact creature baits with 1oz+ weights. It can be very slow, tedious fishing with short pitches into holes and pockets. Angles are your friends - the higher up you are the less angle your line has to get snagged - so a long heavy rod works well. You need heavy line and stay away from leaders because the knot can hang up on the weeds.

Yes it is.

That bag is from the the store - I like this color on the back of jigs.

This cost way more than one would think. ?

TRD Worm, Lucky Craft 78 pointer, tex-posed finesse worms I usually throw tubes on 10 or 12# line on a baitcaster....never considered them light line lures. ?‍♂️

I am curious why this thread was moved to this subforum after all this time - it's mostly tackle.

Unfortunately Tom made his decision and sold the boat already. I don't know if any of us can truly understand the grief he is experiencing. I just hope he sticks around here to help us inexperienced anglers catch a few more fish because he is a wealth of knowledge... his input would truly be missed.

There is nothing to be said but my thoughts and prayers will be with you. I hope your family finds some solace and peace. I hope my son will catch his first swimbait fish on that G2 Shellcracker.

My thumb has never had this problem unless I was dumb with a pickerel, pike or muskie.

Went out for about 5 hours last night 12am-5am and managed 2 small ones and lost a huge one.

I have been all over the place this year - fishing tournaments in my friends boat, fishing from the bank, fishing from the yak, fishing with my kids and fishing a lot of new water. I find myself fishing new water because I am searching for a bite that I can't find. Even the ned rig is a dog this year in waters I used to kill it with. Don't get me wrong, I am catching some fish but I really have to grind for them. I have the time so fish around 30 hours a week. The other day we fished a new lake - Lily Lake. It's a natural glacial lake and basically a bowl - the whole outside is sedimented in with coontail extremely thick...i got skunked and its first time in a long time thats happened. 6 hours and a few bites but nothing - Not even a pickerel. I threw the kitchen sink out there and left thoroughly dejected. I have only had 2 double digit fish days this year, one was a 28 bass day in a tournament a few weeks ago and only a 5 fish bag of 7.25 pounds, so nothing stellar. So this week the kids and I are packing up the car and going catfishing/carping for an evening since the wife is away for 5 days at a bachelorette party. That should be enjoyable with very few expectations beyond snacks and skipping stones.

It's funny you say this...I am fairly superstitious with things like this. I had a favorite fishing hat that is chewed up a bit from my dog when he was a puppy. Anyway, back on February 1st of this year he died very unexpectedly of bloat at 7 years old. He was my pup and went fishing with me here at the house a lot of times...i couldn't wear the hat anymore and it was pretty ragged so I threw it out. I think you are right - I need a new hat with some new mojo.

Beyond the curveball life has thrown at us this year, it is proving to be really tough for me fishing wise - I have fished more this year than almost all the years of my life and the number of fish I have caught is terribly low... 235 bass and sitting around 1 bass for every 1.5 hours fished. Nothing really big either. Is anyone else having a tough year or am I just crapping the bed? Maybe I need to take up golf again?

If your house is like this, I am coming over!!!

This guy, Epic Eric, takes the cake.

Also, people used to operate more under the assumption fish are line shy - they really aren't. Most light line applications are more for lure presentation.

You don't want to lose a fish for a few pounds test of line. Plus, with added fishing pressure from the increased knowledge that is out there these days the big and smart fish have gone deeper into cover so it takes heavier gear to horse them out.

I see no reason to use fluoro - I see it being recommended because pros probably aren't paying for their line. I use 30 lb braid and I can't say I have ever missed a fish with a buzz bait. Buzz baits have a pretty solid hookup ratio. Considering the weakness of fluoro knots I also don't see any use in using it... Fluoro and Mono stretch significantly and I throw buzz baits over some crazy cover and with braid I can easily yank them through. Have your drag set properly and no problems should occur - I set mine loose and use my thumb on the spool much of the time anyway.

Mine are all kept in the original packaging and then sorted by brand into huge ziploc bags and then stored in 2 huge Rubbermaid totes. I have a few baits that I have a lot of that are in their own ziploc like finesse worms, TRD'S and Structure bugs. I am not a huge snob of colors like most bass fisherman so I throw multiple colors together a lot of the time and mix them in the original packaging. I.E. if it is a green color, it's the same as any other color with green in so I mix them together. I see the world of fishing as having pretty much 3 colors - natural, unnatural and black.

Honestly, i can get along fine without ever using a crankbait. I have a lot but they are not needed usually. Jerkbaits - I need a lot of these. Megabass and Lucky Craft are my favorites. Top water- Megabass popmax, Lucky Craft Sammy and Heddon Torpedos. Soft Plastic - Finesse Worm, TRD worms(all sizes) and a creature style.

Yes. I would say a trailer is even more important than the skirt that comes with it

Sometimes the best learning experiences are when you don't catch anything or only manage a few bites...those days they are hitting everything seem to quell learning.