Big Hands

Most of the time, I like to fish: S----------L-----------O----------W----------L----------Y or S----------------L-----------------O----------------W----------------E----------------R I enjoy creeping a bait up, over, and through cover. Up one side, wiggle it a bit here and there, creeeeeping, feeeeeeling every little pebble, stick, grass, whatever. I love feeling the 'tick' of a bite as I'm creeping a bait around. I will make sure there are fish around the area first, but I can even sit on a spot anchored and fish the spot for a couple hours or more before moving much. Having to concentrate on keeping the boat in one spot with the trolling motor can be distracting when I am in that mode. I can really concentrate on whether a bait is moving because a fish has it, or because the boat is moving. I'm a little surprised to read that so many seem to actively dislike fishing a bait slowly.

February 27, 2020. About 8 pounder on a Megabass Vision 110 from a lighted fishing pier at night. Saw the fish, tossed the bait out a ways past her. Gave it a couple rips, and stopped it. Then she charged about 8 feet over and CLOBBERED it!

I have now!

As in (?): Nadine, honey is that you? Oh, Nadine, honey where are you? Seems like every time I catch you But you're up to something new

I don't think they can make the nut end up in the perfect position for all reel feet. Reel feet differ in length and thinkness even among the same brands.

Bluegill Flash (Keithech Swing Impact), and Bluegill (Jackall Flick Shake) has been my backup color on some baits this year. When my primary/favorite color slows down, or I run out of my primary color, I will switch to those colors. They're not my best color, but they're pretty decent. They produced at night too. Neither one has any orange in it. Just blue flake and either silver/black or gold/black flake in a smoke-ish colored plastic.

I have seen that number on a couple of sites selling the hooks, and I did see one that recommended them for "up to 10 lb test". That said, I would not be surprised to have one come up bent with 8 lb test, and can all but guarantee I could bend one with 10 lb test. It's definitely a finesse hook. They do have some flex to them, but my hope is that the fine wire and very sharp point will sink the hook well past the barb where the hook is much more likely to maintain it's integrity.

Our saying was always "Drive for show, and putt for dough." ======================== As for winter boredom, I was thinking about that during the Zoom call last night. Much of the conversation was about things people were doing in preparation for fishing once the water softens up. I'm actually really excited to be going fishing tomorrow because this time of year has been (at times) really good for catching big fish. There was a time when I thought bass fishing in the winter was terrible, but not so anymore. My PB was caught in December (many years ago) in about 10' of water. And, this year, I have still been consistently getting bit and catching fish without having to fish deeper than 25' (something I have struggled with in other years) and both bodies of water I am fishing have plenty of water deeper than that. I see others fishing deep water and catching some fish. I know how to jig vertically, but I'm just not interested in doing it for deep water bass. Because: All bass don't do the same things. Some go deep, but others don't if they don't have to. And, they still have to eat. My challenge is to figure out how to consistently get them to bite what I am able to present to them. My goal going forward into 2021 is to not fish deeper than 30' and still catch fish. If I can't do that, I plan to go into 'winter mode' until mid to late February. But I don't think I'll have to. I'll just have to try to keep my tackle organized a little bit at a time. So, I do indeed feel blessed to say that I am not subject to conditions that significantly restrict my options this time of year and I feel for those of us that aren't able to go.

I'm making long casts with a carolina rig with a 3/4 oz or 1 oz tungsten weight and dragging it over and through stickups or weeds, so I prefer to have a stiffer rod. I have to stray somewhere and choose between keeping bottom contact, being able to work the weight and bait through stickups or weeds, and keeping fish pinned once I hook up. A more limber rod makes it more difficult to finesse the rig through cover (which seems to be a key component of the pattern). I can still usually keep fish pinned with the lighter line although most of the time I use # 8.

Gonna try some of these tomorrow. They're fine wire Owner Twist-Lock, rated for up to 8 lb test, so may be playing with fire a little bit. I'm using 8 lb leader, but I won't be surprised if one opens up if I horse one too hard.

I have 30 lb Smackdown on a Daiwa SV TWS on a Daiwa Kage 7'3" MH-F rod. It's my favorite combo. I am using leaders from 6 lb to 10 lb mono and fluoro and fishing finesse-ish baits with it (mostly c-rig for the time being). First, the cons: Smackdown is super limp. At times it can be difficult to get through a wet sliding sinker when retying because it is so limp. Also, when I cut the tag end, the tag end of the line kind of just poofs up. It will get roughed up fishing it through wood, rocks, and stickups, but all braid does to some extent. I just retie as soon as I see any wear or fraying. Now, the positives: Smackdown is super sensitive. It has a great feel to it, like silk. It casts wonderfully. The true barometer of how much someone likes a product: I would buy it again.

1) All of Mike Long's records should be removed. In retrospect, it's kind of funny to read the comments in this thread about him. 2) 'Documented' is the key word here. IMHO, there are many fish that could have made the list but weren't formally documented.

It's listed on the package as: SCSD4-47 GRN PUMPKIN/PEARL

That thought occurred to me. I picked up some of the Owner Twist-lock Finesse hooks this evening to try out. The pleasure was mine as well!

I've been staring at the hook, and and the one part of the design that keeps jumping out at me is the last bend before the barb looks to be a pretty sharp 90° bend. It might be difficult to get that point moving forward with that sharp bend. It could possibly be easier to get the barb moving forward if I angled the path of the point going through the plastic to begin going toward the front of the bait before it exits through the top. I stopped by the local tackle shop this evening and chatted with a couple of the guys working at the shop. One of them suggested that I put some attractant on the hook before pushing it through the plastic to act as a lubricant and the plastic might be gripping the hook when under pressure. It's something I hadn't thought of before.

Your point is well taken, and I don't normally get to worked up about one lost fish. I was just checking to see if there is something obvious I missed that someone more familiar with this bait has already been through.

This is kind of a follow-up to a post I made back in November, the results of which has helped me significantly. So, I am back with another 'situation' to work through. I have been mostly having good results with the sweeping hookset and trying to keep from having to let fish run so far to get them stuck. So, yesterday, I was getting bit enough to make me feel like I could get bit on something different if I tried. I decided to try a KVD Swim'n Caffeine Shad with the offset wide gap hook pictured below. It got absolutely HAMMERED as it popped off of a stickup and I instinctively cranked down and swung for the fence. It was a decent fish that took drag a couple of times and was close enough to the boat that I started looking for color and then the line went limp. When I got the bait reeled in, I was expecting to see the hook possibly opened up, which is an issue I have been having with the Cover Shot hooks I've been using on the Keitech Impact Swing baits I have been mostly using on my c-rigs. But when I looked at the bait, I was surprised to see the hook still perfectly in place, and the point was still skin hooked down in the shallow groove. If I had possibly had a half-assed hookset, I could maybe understand that happening, but I busted him pretty hard. The plastic on the Caffeine Shad bait is relatively firm, so maybe I should leave the point exposed in the shallow groove? And I am wondering if being skin hooked possibly prevents the hook from driving forward given the firmness of the plastic? Since I am fishing this in areas that have either a hydrilla like grass or through scattered stickups, I don't want to have the hook totally exposed. So, although it could have been that rare time when the fish just clamped down hard enough to keep any hook from moving and penetrating, I am looking to tap into the collective wisdom of the BR Tribe for suggestions that may help with this particular bait. . . . .

SW isn't near me, so no biggie from a B&M standpoint. But if you can't beat a competitor, buying them is probably the next best strategy. I live in a county of over 10 million people. The nearest BPS is almost 100 miles away, in a different county. The Dick's near me removed all of there fishing gear. The Walmarts do have fishing gear, but nothing too fancy, all very basic. I have a few independently owned tackle stores that are 12 miles (two of them), another @ 20 miles, and another @ 35 miles away from me. The only time I go to BPS or Cabela's is when I visit my friend in Texas, where there are several of them. They're definitely not the same place they used to be, and maybe it's just been an odd time when I visited, but they don't seem to have been bustling with customers the last few times I have been there.

Mid-1960's. Lake Lahanton near Fallon, NV. We had a yearly summer outing with 80 to 120 of our closest friends and family. The adults were playing volleyball on the white sand beach, and I was sitting in my dad's ski boat fishing with a piece of hot dog for bait. My rod went bendo and I was hootin and hollerin, and reeled in a HUGE carp. One of the adults playing volleyball said "here, I'll get that for you." He waded out and promptly cut my line with a pocket knife. He said, "that's a nasty ol' carp, you don't want that." Snip!

I have been dropshot fishing a Kage LT 2000D-XH with the Kage 6'10 medium fast jerkbait/tube rod since mid-summer. I checked in a store that had a Tatula LT 2500D-XH and a Kage LT 2000D-XH, and found that the spools are interchangeable between the Tatula and Kage reels and the 2000 spools will fit the 2500 and vice versa. The spool arbor diameter is the same between the 2000 and 2500, only the outside diameter of the spools is different. I couldn't feel any discernable difference between the Tatula and Kage in the brief in store 'test'. I went with the Kage LT 2000D-XH reel to match my Kage rod as the $10 price difference seemed fair given the extra bearings and cork handle.

The 28th works for me.

This bait is still kinda flyin under the radar for how good it really is.

Welcome! El Dorado Park gives up some nice bass every year, especially in the spring as do several of the urban park lakes in the LA area. Before transporting bass in livewells became illegal, there used to be a lot more stocking of those urban park lakes, but that why it's important to practice C&R there. If you know anyone with a small aluminum boat that is up for a little adventure, fishing the outside of the Federal breakwall in Long Beach harbor . . . . at night . . . . with your bass gear can be a blast fishing for calico bass, sand bass, and sculpin.

Hello from just an hour or so down the road.

Dealers would cut prices on rods and the small retailers couldn't compete. So, with the Kage stuff, only small retailers can get them, so no online price competition. There are small differences in the features on both rods and reels, but not much (bearing count, cork handles on the reels), and the rods are not the same length and actions across the board, though some appear to be. The price is not that different either. They probably fish more or less the same. I like the matte finish on the reel seats on the Kage. Just different enough to be different, but either Tatula or Kage are good choices.