DitchPanda

Jig...everytime..can swim it bottom fish it..any cover any depth..all year ice out to ice up...can change the trailer size or color to do whatever you need

That is indeed a largemouth..I have caught several lately with the red eyes at My local pond

Usually I eat before and then just water during. If I'm fishing close to home sometimes the lady will bring me some carnitas tacos from the Mexican place in town.

That's closer to what I want..mine looks decent but that's better..May have to pick up some whiskey tabs

My girlfriend just bought me one of these off Amazon..tested it this morning compared to her digital food scale and it's within .02 of it..that's close enough for me

Ha..watchu talkin bout vilas? That's great

Yes you are correct I should have posted a picture..I don't however currently have a device capable of taking a decent one.

Nope I bass fish probably 2 or 3 days a week for 3 to 6 hours a day from April through November some years. I do fish for panfish a decent amount as well. By that I mean 1 time to every 10 or 15 times I bass fish.

So after I posted this I went downstairs and just made one up..it looks pretty bassy in my estimation. I used a few strands of black a tab of army green pumpkin black bars a half tab of a watermelon/root beer looking color half a tab of living image green glimmer shad and 4 strands of pearl white. Good call on the Ayu color that will look good on there for sure. I also use the swing shad and have good luck with them. I will either go with that or the yum pulse in the ayu color

I'm thinking of making a baby bass skirt for a swim jig and was curious what color tabs to use? Also what's a good color trailer to compliment this? Not sure if this belongs here or in tackle making

I've always done well with curly tail worms and still do.. But the past few years a zoom trick worm has outfished every other worm except a senko for me. Also if your in shallow water try fishing them weightless it will give the bass a lot more time to see them before they are in the mud.

Right on...it's time to do a little on the water lab work...and learn from the outcomes. Best teacher there is..time on the water. Now when I answered it's because I'm a largemouth guy..they may act different than smallmouth. If I had cool rainy days with any breeze at all if throw a spinnerbait all day!

Went out to my local lake where I have been smacking bass lately...had a tip the panfish were pushed up. Ended up catching a decent amount of crappie with some bluegill mixed in. Even got a 12 and a 14 inch crappie..big for around here. I let the big girls go and kept enough eaters for a fish fry tomorrow.

55 and a 40% chance of rain if go no doubt. Also I'm a northern guy.. 55 is not cold even with the rain..not even close. And tho I agree it's smart to save PTO sometimes a guy just needs some time off. I myself work a rotating schedule and took a pto day today...I get a 4 day weekend and get to spend the day with my girlfriend. Last but not least I will add that went Monday when it was sunny and 65 and caught 11 dinks. Went Tuesday when it was windy with some rain and a high of 60ish...caught 12 including 3 quality fish.

So I've never fished a super fluke style bait. I understand the technique and have settled on some brands and colors I'm going to try. One thing I'm wondering is what is your hook of choice?

For me it's hard to say it's the absolute best. 5 years ago I would have no doubt said yes...but the last few years I've gotten heavy into jigs. I feel like jigs catch bigger average fish but the Texas rig gets bit more..at least for me. So I would say those two are 1 and 2 ...and they switch often. One thing I will add is both a jig and texas rig are the only 2 things I can catch them on ice out til ice up. Many times there's a hotter bait depending on time of year but they still produce.

All I use is mono and copoly..only knot I tie is improved clinch. Never had any issues with it so I never changed.

I love all the times I've heard even guys in bassmasters talk crap to other pros about using fairy wands. I've heard guys like Ish Monroe give guys like Amart flak for using them...usually right before Amart beats the brakes off em with it!

Or when dudes are sponsored by Booyah or strike king but they are caught throwing a jackhammer...uh oh bubba pants are down!

That was interesting..I feel like I had heard this before but it was nice to read it again. Spinning reels are outdated technology like spincast reels? Hmmm

Yep pretty much holding the rod straight up and lifting the fish up instead of out if that makes sense...takes the strain of the weight off the backbone/spine of the rod and placing that all on just the tip section...I've never done it personally but have seen it alot..easy way to cause rod failure regardless of toughness or quality...I bet an ugly stik could take it tho

I love how different price wise the setups mentioned are...nothing wrong with it just shows there is more than one way to skin a cat! For instance I am using a combo in the 250 range...some combos mentioned in here are 3 to 4 times that much. That's awesome! The two jigs im using are the BOSS bullet heads and the BOSS standard swim jigs which look very similar to the siebert shot caller from what I can tell. Both I use the 1/4 oz size since I only shore fish. I make my own skirts..I throw a bluegill pattern 75% of the time and a shad the rest.

I've caught about 60 bass so far this year since the first week of march. To my recollection I've caught 1 on a lipless and 6 on a jetkbait..the other 53 have been on a jig, swim jig, spinners or texas rig. You've got this man...shouldn't slow you down at all...especially now that it's warming up hardbaits aren't near as important in my experience. By the way I'm glad to see your feeling good enough to still get out..I hope that continues.

Well it All depends on how hard of banging around we are talking about. I've only broke a few rods in 20 years of bass fishing. Broke one walleye fishing trying to get a snagged lure free when the line snapped and the tip hit a bridge I been and snapped off...my fault. Another time I was using my first gen Garcia villain and it snapped on the hookset. I had the rod for several years...had taken pretty good care of it...and when if got it I bought it refurbished and it had been banging around in a trash can with who knows how many other rods and how many people handling it...that one I don't consider my fault. I had a rod show up with a guide broke off and had a fenwick pop a guide insert like the second or third time out...both also not my fault..either manufacturing or shipping defects and both replaced free of cost. Now back to your question this is how I see it...I don't try to beat up my equipment but I buy it to fish and not baby it...so some level of abuse is expected. Also I'm a bank fisherman and I go off the beaten path so I expect to acquire some dents and dings.

I'm currently throwing my swim jigs on two setups: In light of no cover I'm using a 7ft veritas medium fast with a 7.1 to 1 reel and 12lb izorline xxx For cover in using a st. Croix 7ft1 medhvy fast spinnerbait rod with a 7.1 to 1 reel and 15lb izorline xxx What does your guys rundown look like? Also what are your favorite swim jig brands?