DitchPanda

Yeah your right...not a good big bass fisherman. Caught the world record bass or at least it was at the time...then caught a 14lber. Definitely didn't know what he was doing.

I haven't been in a BPS in 10 years is guess and haven't ordered from there in 4 or 5. Tackle warehouse has been my go to...they have better selection, prices,sales and customer service. Other then that I get odds and ends stuff at wal mart and my local Scheels because I usually get gift cards for Xmas.

Who said he only caught 1 giant bass? We are talking about his record but how do you know its the only big bass he ever caught? I understand your point but I'm just making on of my own. Was he the best bass angler ever? Probably not but how can you know? In response to some of the shade getting thrown his way...none of us were there to see it so its not fair to make a judgement call. Do I think his fish was that big? Maybe...maybe not. I'm definitely not going to insinuate its was done falsly or he was lying or any other dumb crap like that. Besides it really doesn't matter what my opinion is because it is the record. Only way to dispute is to legitimately beat it...everything beyond that is a moot point.

I recently had a post here asking when people reach for a popper just to get some idea of what other guys are looking for. I've thrown a popper for years and I've always done it early morning or just before dark usually in the post spawn all the way up until it starts to cool again coming out of the dog days of summer.

Plastics are less economical in a sense yes but consider a few things. Lets say you buy a nice megabass jerk bait. Thing is awesome fishes perfect but it set you back 27 bucks after tax. Yeah in theory this thing could last years and hundreds of fish. Or you could snag it, have a bad cast smack a rock break it, have a toothy fish bite you off. Any of these could happen first cast and you never catch a fish on it. You could have taken that money and bought hooks,weights and Plastic worms and caught hundreds of fish. My point being is fishing is a gamble. Yeah we study weather patterns, fish behavior, water temps, forage activity etc. But none of that guarantees success, sure it puts it in your favor but still no guarantee. Its just the nature of the beast. Like any risk reward endeavor in life there is always a chance of losing money with nothing to show for it. My advice is buy what you can afford and expect to lose it...all baits hard or soft are disposable or they wouldn't make more. If your biggest gripe is all the soft plastics your using because of fish catches..1) switch to zman-much more durable...2) be thankful for all the bites-its a good problem to have.

I'm in between..I ain't Tharp but I sure ain't Swindle either. In more ways then one.

About the only thing ill use on a swim jig anymore

Had an older guy I worked with years ago that swore by this. I was always skeptical but may need to try it.

I've always agreed with this. So a team wins game 7 of the world series but its only by 1 run...so now they aren't champs and have to play over because they didn't beat the other team by enough? To me more is more and a win is a win.

We had taco salad tonight which we don't have often and it occurred to me I don't know what sauce or dressing to use. Why do you guys use?

Strange...you don't strike me as a shiny new thing type of guy. I mean that as a compliment btw.

Very little pressure for Bass around me...everybody is focused on pan fish, walleye and cats. Guess the secret is there is alot of fairly good bass fishing around me if you know how to target them. But for some reason I keep forgetting to tell people about it. I think it really comes down to people not knowing what they are doing. Had a guy last year tell me its to cold in April to catch bass around here...this was right after I had caught a 7lb lmb.

Any reason you don't fish them anymore?

There is a video of Ruck Clunn on his YouTube channel explaining the evolution of the Pop R technique that he started using with Zell and Randy Fite and how he hooked up with lobina lures to create those baits.

Lots of great baits mentioned above ...poppers flukes walking baits lipless and spinnerbaits all work great. One of my favorites the past few years is a white swim jig when they are chasing shad.

Actually had one memorial day weekend up at my parents place from a local donut place there called spudnutz. It was amazing.

This is true to a point but even in any price range there is still variance in quality from brand to brand. Take for instance I bought a cheap $50 bps reel and compared to my black max which is the same price the bps reel is junk.

Whoa that thing has a heck of a tail on it. Looks like it would be a good summer hot water worm. Anybody throw these?

I think if I had a worm, a spinner bait, a buzzbait and a jig I could catch fish most of the year no problem. That said variety is the spice of life...its always fun to throw new or different stuff. My suggestion to new guys is learn how to fish a bottom bait like a Texas rigged worm and a moving bait like a spinner bait...get good with those and you can transfer that knowledge to alot of similar baits.

Two jigs I use most are a swim jig and a finesse flip. Specifically 1/4oz bluegill swim jig and a 5/16th green pumpkin finesse flip. BOSS makes good heads for both and just put you a skirt on them. Or go the @Siebert Outdoors route and get some green pumpkin 5\16 sniper jigs and 1\4oz bluegill shot caller swim jigs. Both quality...can't go wrong either way.

UFO above your head in that top pic

I'm young...and crabby. I also refuse to deal with all the free fishing degenerates.

Weedeater 100% snow blower and snowmobile If somebody called it a snow machine I'd asked if they meant snowmobile or snow blower...the are both snow machines after all

Long cool woman is a solid hollies jam...I also really like bus stop

In general do you grab a popper based off of time of year? Water temp? Certain set of conditions? Anything else? Normally I think of a popper as my hot water bait for mid summer when I'm not around vegetation.