plawren53202

That's my fear as well...and if we have to start going back on lockdown again, yikes. I know there's bigger issues in the world, but I seriously worry that a round 2 of lockdown (here in MO we could fish during round 1 lockdown) will be the end of some of the public places I fish (and there aren't many to start with) including my subdivision HOA pond. Between the worm box and discarded line litter, and the bucket and bobber brigade keeping every last minnow and dink they catch...yikes. And then add on top tackle supplies being wiped out for months.

Uh oh, looks like my thread is headed for the same fate ? No one with experience with these rods? They seem to get good reviews on TW etc. but I never know how much to trust those or how many are paid by the company. Someone save me from buying a rod based entirely on liking the looks and internet reviews LOL! (or tell me it would be great, if that's the case)

I have absolutely no logical reason to get another baitcasting combo but I'm still itching to get one, and having recently purchased my first Shimano reel (a Sahara spinning) I'm really leaning toward the SLX (I don't have the budget for anything more expensive). This is good to know about the SLX vs the XT.

I gave a run at using fluoro both as a mainline and as a leader. I just found it too fussy for my liking. I recognize that that's probably mainly my fault; I'm sure I tie sloppy knots, I know I'm not great about checking for abrasion or wear after catching a fish, rubbing rocks, and so on. So this past winter I switched all fluoro applications to copolymer, specifically Sufix Advance. Now I preach it to everyone. It's the best of both mono and fluoro to me. But I've found it to be much less fussy than fluoro, especially for me with my sloppy knots and bad line management habits.

I just wanted to drop a quick note to thank everyone for their contributions to this forum. I know a lot of people who don't fish have no clue of how important it can be in our lives and think it's just kind of a silly activity. Of course most of us on here know how wrong that is. For me, the last couple of years have been rough. Last year I had surgery to remove a brain tumor and a couple of follow up brain surgeries after that. Had some disappointments with my job situation. Some rough stuff financially. All of that puts lots of strain on a marriage and family. Just kind of one kick in the knees after another. I don't say all that as a boo hoo sob story, because I know everyone has to deal with a lot of crap in life, especially seems like these days. But doesn't make it any easier for any of us. Fishing has been my one refuge through all of this. Again I know some non-anglers would think that is silly. But getting out on the water (especially when I can be somewhere alone) and successfully doing something that can be really tough to do--trick a bass into biting and then catching it--there's just a peace in that which I can't find much elsewhere in life right now. Or being able to use fishing as a way to get my 17 year old to spend time with me at a stage in life when family isn't exactly top priority. Or being able to use fishing as a shared interest with my dad as he gets back into the sport. It has literally been a lifesaver. So obviously with a job, real life responsibilities, none of us get to fish as much as we would like. That's where this forum comes in. Not the same as being out on the water, but still getting on here and talking baits, rods and reels, tactics with all of you is the next best thing, and is similarly a way to disengage my brain from all of the other stuff in life for a little while. Of all of the hobbies I've been involved in throughout the years, I've found fishermen (and fisherwomen) to be the best folks. And consequently, this forum to be a step above others in other hobbies. So thanks to each of you for playing a little part in that and thanks to the moderators and others who put in work to make this forum what it is.

Really glad this thread came up. I'm headed back down to Kentucky Lake again in the next week or two to do my first ledge fishing with deep diving cranks. To date I've been mainly a bank fisherman so not much deep diving crank fishing going on LOL. I have a box of SK 5XDs and 6XDs ready to go, but this discussion has been helpful.

This has been my experience as well. Granted, I firmly believe that the factors in order of importance are (1) location--both geographical and structure or cover (can't catch fish where there aren't any); (2) presentation/bait type (like crankbait vs. soft plastic); and then (3) color. I've fished at times where color made little or no difference at all. Memorial Day weekend, at one of my extended family's farm ponds, I was catching fish after fish on a Nirvana (green pumpkin/blue) 6th Sense Divine Shaky head worm. So many in fact that I ran out of that color. Switched to Junebug, made absolutely no difference at all and continued to catch them. Location and presentation were the same, and color obviously made no difference that day. However, much more of my fishing is bank fishing in highly pressured public waters, and usually I find that color (along with location and presentation) seems to have much more importance. Couple of weeks ago I was fishing at one of these places, lots of pressure and clear water. Was catching several on a green pumpkin/blue that was also a little translucent. Ran out of that color, switched to the exact same presentation and worm except in a watermelon green with red flake b/c it was the next closest I had. Different in that no blue, had the red flake, and also this worm was not translucent so colors were a little bolder. Didn't get a bite the rest of the day. I used to race dirt track stock cars. There were lots of little tweaks that I would do to my car, any one of which probably didn't make much difference. But a collection of 10 or 15 of them did make a difference. I view bait color in that same way. So that is the context for my observation about the green/blue combination. I think where I'm fishing, what cover I'm fishing, and what presentation I'm using are more important. BUT...if adding a swatch of blue to my plain green pumpkin worm increases the number of bites even by a little, and I'm speculating that it's because it makes that worm look more like the head region on the bluegill in my area, then I'm going to do it.

I'm going to give this a shot. Thanks for the suggestion, I would have never thought of it, or using model car paint.

I think it is definitely a combination of the Covid-19 new fisherman crowds, combined with retailers' inability to get new stock in, primarily from China. The crowds at my public bank fishing spots in the St. Louis area have been off the charts bad since quarantine hit, as I've moaned and groaned about multiple times in other threads. Based on my admittedly imprecise anecdotal evidence from being in Wal-Mart fishing sections repeatedly since this all started, the selection of gear that is out of stock tends to support that it is new anglers buying a lot of the stuff. Hooks, weights, bobbers and other baitfishing gear tend to always be wiped out (and I was recently in St. Louis' BPS to get some stuff to take my little guy fishing, and they were cleaned out of hooks and weights as well). Rods like Zebco 33 combos in particular seem to be cleaned out. In contrast, I have been noticing that numerous Wal-Marts have still been having things in stock like SK 5XDs and 6XDs, swinghead jig heads, and other gear I would not expect newbie anglers to be using. Add to all that, a WM sporting goods section worker told me that because of the difficulty in getting new stock in from China and other Asian countries, they can't restock the shelves. One (possibly the only) positive side effect of all this craziness is that I have rediscovered a couple of mom and pop fishing/hunting stores and have been getting a lot of my gear there. They tend to have much more in stock, and I have found that they have a surprising range of gear (baits I usually would only find online, like Megabass, Spro, Reaction Innovations, etc.), and, I have found that their prices are usually pretty darn close to the cost of TW plus shipping.

Anyone used these and have an opinion? I searched but could only find one thread, from March that no one responded to. I have shaken one in Academy and they seem good, but hard to evaluate standing in a store aisle. The price point is within the range I would spend for a good rod. And I like the looks of them, as goofy as that might be to factor in when buying a rod (and I can see not everyone liking the look). My main concern with a rod is sensitivity, so I'd be interested in hearing anyone's experience with that in particular.

I would always prefer to go with a jighead style hook for a swimbait but like you I fish too many places that just won't allow. For a weedless rigging I prefer EWG style hooks for swimbaits because (at least to me) the wider gap seems like it causes the hook point to push out the top of the bait sooner on a bite. Maybe if I was fishing somewhere with ultra clear water where a super realistic presentation was preferred I might want more of the hook hidden inside the bait, but I definitely don't fish anywhere like that.

Bluegill do vary in color by location or even water clarity, it seems like in general the ones that I have caught in southern states tend to be a lot darker than the ones around me here, which seem to be a little paler. I can easily see bluish-purple working well in places that have the darker bluegill.

For some reason this season soft plastics that are green and blue have been killing it for me. Specifically, baits that have a green portion and a blue portion (rather than something like green pumpkin with blue flakes throughout). This has included Moon Juice in the Strike King products, Bream in Yum Dingers, and Nirvana in the 6th Sense shaky head worms. I've had success on this color in multiple locations, different types of water, and it seems like it carries over a wide range of water clarity. Also seems like I've been seeing more of the YouTubers I watch using baits similarly colored. I was looking at pictures of bluegill online last night--originally I started because I wanted to give some thought to more often using a little chartreuse or orange Spike It on my green/blue baits to really copy bluegill. But after looking at the pics I have a theory--bluegill have that light blue or grayish blue patch at the bottom of their gill plate (thus the name "bluegill," thanks Captain Obvious). I'm wondering if bass get conditioned to strike at that blue patch because they have to swallow bluegill head first, and therefore aim for the head. This would make the addition of a larger patch or swatch of that light blue color to a green pumpkin bait something that triggers the "aim for the head" strike response, over and above just a plain green pumpkin bait. Who knows, maybe I'm way overthinking this.

Really point on observations. I have been watching something similar as so many new Covid anglers descend on the public waters I bank fish. Except in my neck of the woods they all use spinnerbaits. I think it's the dollar box at WM. In any case I had wondered why they all tend to do this, when you only have to spend 30 minutes on YouTube to figure out that a wacky rig or T rigged worm is by far a better beginner bait. I hadn't thought about your observation that people just feel like they need to cast bombs and reel back, but I think this nails it. My 17 year old son wasn't real interested in fishing for many years but this year I've gotten him to start going with me a lot more. Yesterday evening we were at a highly pressured conservation area in our area. He was fishing a T rigged trick worm and a wacky rigged 4" Yum Dinger. It was super hot, tough fishing, but we grinded it out and he caught three (on a night when others around the pond weren't catching anything). I jokingly apologized to him for dragging him out on a sweltering night when the fishing wasn't great, but I'm really glad I did. They were hitting super subtle last night, and the fishing required a lot of patience and careful attention (like watching the line more so than feeling bites), so in his catching 3 I realized he is really advancing as a fisherman.

Just discovered the Realtree UV blocking shirts at Walmart this summer. $15. I am loving them, stocked up on several. They are sooooooo much better than cotton or other materials. And I really like the looks of a lot of them. I'd love to have the disposable income to go just drop $50+ a pop on Huk shirts but the Walmart ones are really good. I also saw that Academy has some Magellan shirts in the same ballpark, though I haven't tried them yet. I've also made a much bigger effort to cover up appropriately this year rather than just burn. Pants instead of shorts; I found some Goodwill specials that are tan super light rayon-type material with lots of pockets; not the most stylish pants ever but they keep me cool and keep me from burning. And they were $4.99. Also finally got a neck gaiter and fingerless sun gloves. Again would have loved to pop for some Huks but I found that the Field & Stream ones at Dick's do a really good job and are much cheaper ($15 each).

If you want something that is good, and easy to use as you get back into things, go with Sufix Advance. It's a copolymer and truly has the best of both mono and fluoro--soft and castable like mono, but much better sensitivity and less stretch than mono. And it doesn't cost a fortune. I have it spooled on my baitcaster and use it as my leader on my spinning rods with braid. I love braid but it can be a little fussy. To me Sufix Advance is the best of all worlds, and definitely what I suggest to newcomers to the sport or in your case having been out for a while.

You can cover a lot of ground with a MH casting and M spinning combo. That's all I have (and a ML spinning for smaller fish). They might not be ideal for all situations but you can make it work. E.g., I know H with 65# braid is a better setup for throwing a frog, but I've absolutely caught plenty of fish on my MH casting rod using 25# braid. I think the bigger issue is what presentations are going to work best for essentially teaching a brand newcomer how to fish. When I have family or friends that want to "start fishing" and want to fish for bass, I always start them with some kind of worm, usually like A Jay said a weightless T rigged stickbait. You said you want him to learn feel and don't want him to have to watch the line, but to me that seems like an essential part of learning to fish. I catch as many or more fish from watching the line as I do feeling a bite, so I would want someone who is learning to fish to learn line watching as they also learn "bite feeling." I like starting people on braid w/a leader because braid can be easier to see laying on the water. To me, a Ned rig also doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world to start someone new on. I think I get more bites on a Ned rig than a lot of other baits, in part because it is small enough for dinks or even bluegills to hit. I think it is important for a newcomer to feel or see as many hits as possible, whether they're big bass, small bass or even other species. To me the biggest downfall for a newcomer to use a Ned rig is that Ned rigs can tend to hang up more unless you're fishing open bottom. Having said all of that, I definitely would get him off of the jerkbait. That seems like a really bad option for a newcomer to learn on. T rigged Senkos, and maybe something like a spinnerbait, chatterbait or swim jig that is fairly weedless/snagproof and uses more of a constant retrieve. However, in my experience a weightless worm is going to get more bites than any of those. Good luck with your efforts!

Last trip to BPS I picked up a pack of the VMC Neko hooks, size 1, no weedguard. I'll give those a try. I am hoping to be able to go weedguard free but as a bank fisherman I have to throw it through a lot of nasty stuff. I'll report back.

I had always been a one-size-fits-all spinning rod person. Within the last few months I have branched out so that I now have a M (Dobyns Fury with a 2500 size Shimano Sahara), a ML (Daiwa Aird X with 1000 size Daiwa Regal) and UL (a Bass Pro combo). I'm finding that having the precisely appropriate spinning rod for the setting at hand has really upped my enjoyment of spinning combos.

Yup, I picked up a lure retriever before the last trip down b/c I was planning on throwing squarebills to shallower cover. Also, I hadn't thought about swimbaits, but I've got plenty of those and some 3/4 oz. heads that ought to get them down to 18-20 feet without having to wait forever. Good suggestions, thx.

In preparation for my next trip down to my parents' place at Kentucky Lake, I went to BPS to grab a few deep diving crankbaits in case I want to try the ledges. Being solely a bank angler up until they recently got a place and a boat, I did not have any deep divers. Didn't want to break the bank to start out with, so I got 4 SK 6XDs--one w/ chartreuse body (Green Back/Chartreuse, literally the only chartreuse body they had in stock); two w/ white body (Citrus Shad and Chartreuse Sexy Shad); and one more natural (TN Shad). Recognizing that the BR/bait monkey answer would be "4 isn't close to enough," shouldn't this take care of me for a first trip out to the ledges? Anything obvious I'm not thinking of? Obviously if I am going to keep fishing the ledges in the future, I will want a wider selection; just didn't want to spend a fortune for the first time out (the bait monkey has already struck me several times in the last couple of months). Edit: Meant to add, I have also already gotten some big ribbontail worms and some swinghead football jig heads for fishing the ledges as well. So my range of ledge-specific presentations would now include the 6XDs I just picked up, dragging a big ribbon worm Carolina or Texas rigged on the bottom, or fishing a creature bait on the swinghead football head jigs. Anything else I'm missing? I see Jacob Wheeler tore them up out on the ledges at Chickamauga yesterday in FLW using a hair jig; that's not something I own.

Just got in a ML Aird-X spinning rod last week as I wanted to plug that hole in my spinning lineup (already had an UL and M/F). Paired it with a Daiwa Regal LT reel in 1000 size and Sufix 832/Sufix Advance leader. Fished it for the first time Saturday. It was perfect for the public pond I was fishing, which is filled with dink bass and big fat green sunfish. What a fun rod to fish. This was my first Daiwa purchase. Paired with the 832, it is incredibly sensitive for that price point, and it casts a country mile. To me the rod just has the feel of a more expensive product than $59. My only "hesitation" about it is that the reel seat is a little different than what I am used to, but once I got used to it I actually like it because I feel like my hand has more direct contact with the rod blank. Based on my experience with this one, I would like to try a heavier spinning option or one of the Aird casting rods. OP I think you're really going to enjoy yours.

My youngest has started wanting to try fishing, so I've been out a few times for bluegill with him. I've been using the small Gulp minnows and having a lot of success. On my pond, they seem to like the chartreuse and white ones. Rigged on a #4 light wire hook with a BB split shot about a foot up from the hook, and the smallest bobber that will support the weight. Adding a pink Crappie Nibble to the hook just above the Gulp minnow really seems to increase the number of bites.

Whatever you do don't move to St. Louis. Among other reasons not to move here, this area is a wasteland for good bass fishing. ?

This is exactly what I was going to say. If I'm using a frog I feel like I have a lot more work to do on the hookset, since you have to drive those thick single hooks (and two of them) through. With a Plopper, you can let the trebles do most of the work. If you're getting antsy and setting the hook too early, you will definitely pull it away from them or get a skin hook that can easily break loose during the fight. Wait, let the trebles do the work, and then sweep/reel to "set" the hook. Saturday the dinks were dive bombing my Plopper. They were mainly doing the "toilet bowl flush" where it would just disappear in a swirl. I was fishing it on a MH/MF casting combo. When I would see the toilet bowl flush, just wait a second until the water kind of filled the flush back in, then sweep to the side and start reeling. Like someone else said, those Plopper hooks are usually needle sharp, so unless you have been banging it on rocks or wood, just pause and let them do the work.