MGF

I prefer a rod of about 6'6" and I generally see a bite before I feel it. If I feel a bite first it's usually because of a "mistake". A weightless senko type bait rigged wacky or Texas is one of my favorite baits for skipping under cover so I'm more concerned with the how well the combo casts.

Who says there are better fish to eat? Who says that nobody needs more than a filet or two? It's fortunate for us that you won't be setting any regulations.

Ounces are easy enough and I know what an ounce or fraction of an ounce looks, feels and fishes like. I don't see how changing units would make anything easier.

Nope...don't think I know any of them but thanks for sharing.

If a ned gets hung another option that works in similar conditions is a "tiny child" rig. Texas rig your TRD (or whatever you use for a ned) on a 1 or 1/0 hook and put a nail weight in the other end. It's pretty snag proof and I've been catching a ton of fish on it. My other trick this time of year in shallow clear water is a 4" finesse worm on a split shot rig...snag resistant, quiet, natural and the fish eat it.

Is there a web page or something or do you just contact him here?

Someday somebody might lose their phone by running around pointing it at people. I guess it's what people do these day and it's creepy.

I think my river is a good teacher. The current takes the bait one way, the wind takes the line another was and both the wind and current are usually trying to do something completely different with the boat. Through it all you can learn to do a decent job of detecting a bite but it isn't like something I often read about. Sometimes the bait just stops going down river...sometimes it just goes down river at a different speed or goes back up river. As you mend your line it often feels different even though the line isn't what you'd call "tight" and there are no taps or jerks. Even though I don't always detect movement exactly it doesn't feel like a snag either. It feels alive. Don't ask me to explain what that means. The other night they were almost tearing the rod out of my hands. Sometimes the people I take fishing tend to hook fish "deep". Those fish are obviously hanging out after eating the bait and the angler hasn't a clue...but they still catch fish. I've taken to smashing down the barbs on most of the hooks in my boat.

The main reason that I have so many is because of the number of ways that I use them. Only a very small percentage of my plastics fishing is a TR. I fish several very different weightless plastics...wacky rigged stick/worm or a jerk bait like a fluke. I have a few different plastics that I use for jig trailers and bladed jig trailers (they're different.) I have the ned and "tiny child " stuff. Tubes The stuff I lead head...like twister tails or paddle tails. This is the time of the year that I'm using a finesse worm on a splitshot rig in the river. And then the occasional TR where some of the above can do some double duty but here I add the ribbon tail. LOL I do have some that get used far more than others but I think that's just because I don't get to do enough fishing. Options are good.

I'd go with the rabbits any day.

I've never owned any "high-end" equipment...not my rods/reels, not my boat and not my electronics. I could afford to upgrade some but I'd be fishing for the same fish. Where I live isn't a bad place to fish but it isn't the best either. When it comes to the river brown bass I chase most I think I do better than average and maybe much better than that (it's hard to gage since I don't fish tournaments). Since I don't have the time, funds or desire to travel I'm going to be catching the same 2# bass whether it's on a $60 outfit or a $500 outfit. I just don't think an extra couple hundred bucks in a rod or reel is going to do much for me other than give me something to show off. It's a running joke. I talk about bass in dollars per pound. Don't get me wrong is I were fishing different conditions I'd probably do things a bit different.

I hope there isn't going to be a test on all that.

The last time I was checked for a license was at a local pond. My wife was helping the granddaughters catch little bluegills and my son and I were back a ways watching and talking. Neither of us were anywhere near fishing tackle. The DNR officer asked to see our license without ever even addressing my wife who was the only adult fishing. The only other recent check was in the dead of winter. There was very little open water on the river. It was cold, windy and there was so much snow that I barely made it into the access site. I just had the urge to do some casting...practice skipping or whatever. It was so cold that after a few casts I had to chip the ice out of my guides and every few minutes I had to get in the truck to thaw my hands out. A DNR officer pulled up and asked to see my license. In both cases I had my license, presented it and there was no real issue but I really don't understand why they checked me in the first place.

I'll never buy another one but I'm currently fishing out of a flat bottom boat. I learned my lesson and just stay off of water where there are large fast boats and that includes bass boats. It's like they're trying to sink me. There's more than one reason that I love my shallow rocky river. They have to make it through the rocks to get me. LOL

I have a perfect record with these hooks. I have NEVER hooked a fish without first cutting off the weed guard. It might be ok with an o-ring but when hooking straight through a stick bait there doesn't seem to be room for the weed guard to move out of the way....using a 1/0.

I've used it a lot in the river for smallmouth. I just let it drift with the current and give it an occasional slight twitch. I do sometimes get bit when reeling it in. I've lost a lot of them to pike too.

I don't know why but here's what I've seen. I used to fish a lot of stone/gravel quarries that were relatively new and many of the bass were extremely pale. The water also had a unique look/color to it although it was fairly clear. That was 50 years ago and those lakes have silted in a bunch and there's a lot more vegetation now. I see pictures from people who still fish them and the fish look more "normal". I've also seen bluegills that are very pale. Our local river is quite clear for most of the summer. Most of the smallmouth fit into what I would describe as a normal range of coloration. Most look about the same with some just a little darker or lighter. At times they're extremely dark (almost black) when other conditions appear (visually) about the same.

I'll try not to let it sneak up on me this time. LOL

For territory like that I use my jon boat and a push pole. I expect it from jet skis and speed boats but lately the worst offenders are other fishermen.

I have a 1 or 2 acre public pond that I fish quite a bit. Last week I was there on a hot sunny morning about 10 am and caught 7 bass in a little more than an hour. It gets some pretty thick weeds at times but they kind of come and go. That day I was using a wacky rigged dinger and the fish were hitting out away from the bank and mostly near the bottom. I've caught bass on a lot of things in that pond...wacky rigged worms, weightless flukes, floating worms, Texas rigged ribbon tailed worms, unweighted Texas rigged worms and jigs. I guess that's all I've thrown but if I threw something else I'd probably catch fish on it. A torpedo used to be one of my favorites but I haven't thrown one lately.. I like to keep things kind of quiet in these little ponds...but I don't know that you have to.

I've done a lot of fishing with kids under widely varying situations so I'd say that it depends on the kid and the goals. My daughter put us all up in a cabin near a lake for my 60th birthday. I took my grandson (12 years old) out specifically to bass fish. He was already using spinning tackle and had already done some panfishing...his casting was still pretty rough. I set him up with a wacky rigged stick bait and he caught some fish. I took the younger grandson and his mom (my daughter) out for crappies. The first evening we caught a bunch and turned them all lose. Then they decided that we should have a "fish fry". The second night we caught and kept enough to feed the bunch of us with a little left over I was a single custodial parent from the time my kids were 5 and 6 to 12 and 13. All of my fishing was done with at least one of them with me. Additionally we didn't have much money so weekends were spent together and usually around a lake or river and/or the woods. You can get in some fishing when you have kids with you but you have to be flexible. When it was the three of us I'd set them up to fish and get in what fishing I could until they let me know that it was time to go climb trees or something. When it was just my son and I we fished for real from the time he was just a little guy. Sure he got tangled and snagged but we learn by doing...as long as the interest in there. Once when he was really young I took him and my car top boat for a weekend of fishing Mississippi river pool 13 (one of my favorite places on earth). I could get the boat on/off the car alone but he was too small to help me get it to and from the water. I just hung around the ramp with my stuff spread on the ground and waited for somebody willing to give me a hand. LOL We caught a lot of bass that weekend. My granddaughters are better suited to a float and live bait.

In my state there is a slot limit on the rivers (12"-15"). I remember the state citing the push by anglers for the limit. I don't know what if any science was referenced.

My father. My first bass fishing was traversing the wooded banks of some local Forest Preserve lakes throwing unweighted Creme worms that my father pre-rigged himself...when I was 5 or 6 years old. In those early years I remember spending a lot of time "learning line management" as I worked to keep up tromping through the brush. LOL Later my dad took up musky fishing so we took a couple trips to Northern Wisconsin every year. We also had the annual trips to the Wolf River and Illinois River for white bass and sauger. Our boat was a 14 ft car-top with a 6 hp Johnson. I still have the boat and motor. Later my father got a 15 1/2' Lund glass tri-hull with a 25 hp Evinrude.

I would love for somebody to convince me that I'm wrong but I've been watching our fishery and wildlife managers for a long time. My opinion is that our resources are managed to maximize the sale of fishing and hunting license sales. If people were willing to purchase a license to fish in a lifeless bucket of water that's what they would provide and happily sell you the license. Sure a population can withstand some amount of harvest. Some populations, no doubt, even benefit from some amount of harvesting but dead fish floating all over after a big tournament isn't what I think of as harvest. I don't really have a strong argument against tournaments but I d**n sure prefer that they be held on your lake or river instead of mine.

I was 28 or 29 when I caught my pb but I don't know how big it really was...just didn't have a way to measure or weight it. Beyond that I've been fishing all my life and never caught a really big bass. Every year I catch a handful of 20"+ small mouth and/or largemouth. Last year's biggest was a 21 1/2" smallmouth. Nice but no giant. In recent years I can't seem to break 22" with a black bass. Not to make excuses but I don't really fish anyplace where something larger is very likely. My wife and I like the local river and we try to avoid crowds. BTW I'm 62 years old. If I really had my heart set on a trophy I would definitely have to do some things different and that isn't likely.