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Texas rig. My grandfather, who lived in Texas, taught me how to fish it like that. He didn't even know there was another way to do it until I introduced him to the Carolina rig that I saw on Bill Dance or Jimy Houston. Still, he obviously had the bass in his local lakes trained to eat those Texas rigged, purple, curly tailed worms because they'd hit those 3 to 1 over any other worm method.

Size is important. Sound is important. Color and brand don't really matter all that much, so long as it has good hooks. Also, make sure to use a loop knot or a clip. You'll get better action if you don't tie directly to the lure. I typically use Zara Spooks. Mainly, it's because they're cheap and easy to find. The one knocker in Pearl Shad is my best producer. Probably just because it's the one I grab the most often. To me, walking baits are one of those things where I'll try one, and if it doesn't work, I'll try a popper, prop bait, or buzzbait. I'll usually switch up sizes and colors when I switch bait styles. Sometimes if they're ignoring the One Knocker, but I'm getting a little action on the popper, I might switch over to a Spook Jr. without a knocker or something, just to see if it's the action, the noise, the size or the color that made the difference. If they ignore the Spook Jr., I might go back to the popper and try a different color or try a prop bait. Basically, I'm just looking for patterns until everything comes together and I find what they like. My point is, I don't carry a million different walking baits like I will crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs or plastics. Having a few with some variations are good, but generally if they're not hitting one, they're not going to be hitting the others.

Back in the days before drag was a component of the reel, this is how everyone did it. Today, it's a useful technique, but one that probably isn't necessary most of the time. I still do it from time to time. Mostly, it's because I reeled the fish in too far and need to give it a bit of slack so I can lip him without grabbing my rod in the middle. Sometimes it's for other reasons. But I probably only do it once a month or less. If you pull back on the rod, and then quickly move the tip towards the fish, you can create the slack you need to relieve the tension on the reel so you can disengage the spool. Sometimes you'll want to roll the spool forward a hair first as well. Just a quick pop will usually do it. It takes maybe a quarter of a second. I'm much more likely to set the drag low and put my thumb on the spool to get more drag than release the spool to get less drag. But do whatever works for you.

I use an old 5'5" pistol grip rod from the '90's for my topwater (non buzzbait) rod. It's shorter length and pistol grip make popping and walking lures easier to get the right action on, since you'll want to keep your rod tip low during retrieve. That's something that can be harder to do with a really long rod. For topwater, you don't really need sensitivity (since you can see your lure), and those old rods tend to be slower (which is good for keeping the bass from throwing treble hooks). You also don't really need to bomb the lures that often, so shorter rods don't really hurt you there. And since you're not bombing them, you don't need to cast two-handed. Though, they can be used for anything. You give up casting distance and gain some casting accuracy. They're probably not the best choice for pitching and flipping, nor deep diving crankbaits. But that doesn't mean you can't use them for that as well. I've also used them for squarebills and skipping, as well as casting in tight spaces, which they work really well for. But overall, topwater treble hook lures is where they're gonna shine.

Almost everything I have is either black and blue or chartreuse, yellow, and white. Most of the waters I fish are pretty stained. I have a few realistic looking lures, but they don't produce as well as identical ones in either black and blue or chartreuse, yellow, and white. So I don't buy them anymore. Green pumpkin, everyone's favorite color, doesn't work for me. Neither does red (which is the color of the water so red lures disappear almost instantly). Even chrome isn't as good as white. Every once in a while I'll hit up a clear water lake and have to dig out a bunch of lures I never touch anymore. But even then, I feel like it's more of an excuse to use them rather than a necessity. That, and if I lose them, no big deal. So I'd say color matters. But I don't spend much time worrying about it on the water. I only really concern myself with color in the store. And I don't think color is as important as lure size, sound, and action. But I wouldn't say that it doesn't play any factor.

Keep moving. That's my advice. If they're not biting where you're at, try somewhere else. Try a different depth. A different section of the lake. Different cover. Different lure with a different size, color, or sound. Different retrieval speed. Different presentation. Bass fishing, to me, is more about finding out what doesn't work and what you're doing wrong, than finding out what works and what you're doing right. Try things just so you can eliminate them from the list of possibilities. Once you find something that works, put that in your list of things to try first. But don't be afraid to eliminate it if it isn't working.

I fish alone most of the time. I like it that way. To me, fishing is about connecting with nature and getting away from the hectic city life and all of its associated stressors. It's a form of peaceful meditation. I'd be okay if I found like-minded people to enjoy it with, but honestly, fishing isn't a social activity in my mind. I do other things to fulfill my social needs. And it's important for your mental health to be social (though everyone has different requirements for that). But I tend to seek out engagements that are more based on being social, like having a BBQ, going to a bar, watching a game, etc. when I'm looking to fulfill my social quota. You know, events where being social is the goal, rather than just a distraction. It's tempting to combine the things you like to accomplish more goals at once. But the usual outcome is compromise and dilution, rather than efficiency. In life, it's better to clarify your goals and sharpen your focus towards them rather than meander about while only paying half attention.

The Coast Guard uses RHIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat). They have a V shaped hull, so they can cut through the water like a normal boat. They're primarily chosen because they're cheaper, lightweight, fuel efficient, the can be bounced against other ships without sustaining or causing damage, and can carry more weight than most vessels of a similar size (due to their buoyancy). They're not the same thing as what we're talking about here. RHIB's aren't really designed to be inflated and deflated, nor are they designed to be lifted up by hand. They use them on whitewater for similar reasons. They're extremely buoyant and they bounce off rocks and stuff without sustaining damage. They also can fit more people on them. They're often used by commercial businesses because they need less repairs, cost less to maintain, and you can fit more customers in them. You also don't have to teach everyone how to maintain their balance as well as you would on a smaller craft, so their beginner friendly. They're not as maneuverable as a rigid kayak, so you typically see them used by beginners and guided tours on more popular water, whereas the serious pros that brave waters that are typically seen as too dangerous for the general public, tend to use rigid kayaks, as they're smaller, faster, and easier to control. And true, dropping a hook on one won't cause it to pop. They're fairly puncture resistant. But a sharp hook can still rip a hole in one under the right circumstances, which can sink a craft, whereas a hook is far less likely to damage a rigid kayak, and even if it does, the kayak should remain buoyant (though you might have to bail water from time to time). It's a rare circumstance that most people probably won't face, but I think it's still something to consider. Either way you should be wearing a PFD. I'm not saying inflatables are dangerous or useless. If they were, no one would buy them. I'm just saying that, for the money, I think you'd be able to find something more enjoyable to use in a rigid plastic kayak than an inflatable. However, if you value storage space and want something you can fit in the trunk of a sedan or on a shelf in the garage, then you can't beat an inflatable. It's all just tools. Each tool has a use it performs best at. And the job is typically easiest when you approach it with the best tools designed for that job.

Sometimes you just get a bad rod. It might have been damaged while shipping or maybe it just had a defect from the factory. I bought a BPS PQII rod earlier this summer, and the second time I took it out, it snapped on the cast. It exploded right in the middle, without warning. I was casting a 3/4 oz. crankbait that was right in the middle of it's lure weight rating. There's no reason it should have snapped on me, other than a manufacturing defect or damage from the store. Luckily, BPS is really good about returns, so I returned it and got another one. Exactly the same rod. The new one works great and I've used it probably 30 times now, without a hitch. I take good care of my stuff and that's the only one that's ever snapped on me. One thing about rods, the more expensive rods tend to be more sensitive. And more sensitive rods tend to be more lighter. And lighter rods tend to be more fragile. Not that expensive rods are particularly delicate. But if you're unusually hard on your gear, the cheaper rods, especially fiberglass or composite rods, tend to handle more abuse.

Me too. I fish from a kayak and prefer to keep moving more often than not. Especially in the shallows. But sometimes I'll find some deep structure I want to hit, and an anchor is usually my best means of doing that.

For me, it depends on the technique. For bottom contact, then yes, the rod is most important, without a doubt. But for cranks, topwater, spinnerbaits, etc., then the reel becomes more important to me. By more important, I'm saying that I'll spend more money on it and am more careful with what I chose. I find that if you're not needing the sensitivity to feel every bump and nibble, then you can usually get by just as well with a fairly cheap rod (provided it's still of descent quality). You can buy a lot of usable rods for under $50. It's a lot harder to get a usable reel in that price range. For example, my squarebill cranking rod is a Berkley Lighting. The reel on it is a Diawa Tatula SV. The Tatula is more important due to it allowing me to cast lighter lures further. The rod just needs to have enough flex to keep pressure on the treble hooks. They do that job as well as anything else I could have bought. My topwater rod is a Daiwa Apollo from the 90's. I like it because of the pistol grip, short rod length, and slow action. Plus I've had it for 30 years. No need to upgrade it because it does exactly what I need, leaving nothing wanting. I use a Abu 5000D with it, which I would like to upgrade with something with better brakes, but I really enjoy the 3.8:1 ratio on it, which is really hard to find these days. That combination allows me to pop poppers and walking baits and reel in one full handle rotation, and be set up with the perfect amount of slack left for the next pop. So I'm always popping the rod when the reel's handle returns to the same location. I can fish a walking bait or popper as fast or slow as I want, and not have to think about the mechanics of my technique, and still get the action I want.

They flow to the ocean. I think the Great Salt Lake in Utah is the only water system in North America that doesn't. Everything east of the Rockies goes to the Atlantic, and everything west goes to the Pacific. Eventually. Salt water happens when fresh water reaches the end of the line, and there's nowhere else for it to go other than through evaporation. As it evaporates, it leaves behind the minerals, which is what makes the water salty. So unless the lake or river is pretty salty, then it's a good bet that it's flowing towards the nearest ocean, to deposit the salts that it's picked up along the way. Now Texoma is a special case. It's pretty salty for a lake. However, Texoma gets it's salt from the salt water springs and salty land that the Red River passes through. These were caused by the "Western Interior Seaway" that used to cover most of the central North America, from the arctic ocean to what is now the Gulf of Mexico. Then, most of that land rose up and drained out into the oceans, leaving the plains we have today, but a small section of water that was over what is now west Texas, southeastern New Mexico, and parts of Oklahoma got stranded and left a basin of very salty water behind. That lasted up until about 260 million years ago, and then that section of land rose up and again evaporated and drained off, but not until it left large concentrations of salt in the land behind it. All of that explains why Texoma is such a salty lake and can support such a large and healthy striper population (they were imported there, by they way). What none of that explains, is why you need both an Oklahoma and Texas fishing license to fish there.

Walmart has a Lifetime Tamarack Pro right now for $350. The Tamarack Pro has a stadium seat, which will be a bit more comfortable than that molded seat. And since you can't stand up in these kayaks, you'll probably want a comfortable seat.

I'd check out a Cabela's or Bass Pro. They have some good rods for around $100 in their house brands. They can be especially good bargains when you find one on sale. Their Johnny Morris line is pretty nice. If nothing else, it would give you a chance to get your hands on a bunch of rods and see what's out there. Maybe hit one up now to find out what you want, and then wait for a sale if need be. A lot of my local shops have been out of stock of most of the their gear all summer. But now that the weather has turned colder, they're getting their stock back in. Check around the first week of the month. At my local BPS, they've been pretty full of their house brand inventory around then, even during the summer when everything else was hard to find. Maybe even call up ahead of time if it's a long drive to make sure before you're not wasting your time. You might just need a stiffer rod. I find that softer rods don't transmit minor vibrations as well. It seems to me that the formula for best sensitivity is a lightweight and stout blank with fast action. Also, try this. Next time you're out in the weeds, try pulling the lure back with just the tip of your index finder straight on the line. The idea being that with the rod taken out of the equation, you'll get a sense for how much information your rods aren't passing on. If you don't notice a lot of difference in feel, then it's not a rod problem. It's probably just an issue of either your line or the bottom composition and softness of the vegatation eating all of the vibrations before they make it back to you. I learned to fish back in the days of fiberglass rods, mono line, and round reels, so we often kept a finger on the line during retrieve to feel what was going on below the water. It's a bit annoying to do it today with all of the advancements in technology that we have available, and I don't know how you'd do it with spinning gear, but little techniques like that did teach me that a good angler knows how to make their gear work for them and a bad angler only knows how to blame their gear.

Worth is a matter of opinion. I've never used one, but Intex seems to make decent inflatable boats. I'd be afraid to fish out of one, because I've hooked my plastic kayak a few times. On a plastic kayak, nothing happens when you do that. On an inflatable, you sink. Also, they're very, very slow in the water. They don't have the rigidity to form a proper hull, so you're basically paddling a small barge. That alone would make them very frustrating to use, as the wind and waves will easily overpower you, forcing you to spend more time paddling than fishing. On a small pond that was protected from the wind by trees, it might be okay. But honestly, I think this is something that you'd likely buy, be disappointed with, and just want to buy something better or give up trying to fish from a boat all together. Either way, you'd be wasting your money. If you wanted to go this route, I'd suggest looking at a fishing float tube, or a cheaper kayak. Maybe look for some used kayaks over the winter and early next spring. You might be able to find something like a Lifetime Teton or Tamarack on the used market for within your budget. They're not the greatest, but they would still be miles above an inflatable. A fishing float tube would get you away from the bank. And while you wouldn't have the room as you would in an inflatable kayak, you'd have more control, comfort, and stability, due to the way your body would be positioned. Plus, since it's a lot smaller and you can use your legs to swim it around, you wouldn't waste so much energy trying to move it around the water, and it would be less likely to get a hook in it. And you'd spend more time fishing, since you're hands wouldn't be glued to a paddle.

I've found those apps are good for telling you what time you want to be on the water. But not very good for telling you what day. In other words, I've noticed that while I will catch fish at any time during the day, I do seem to catch more during the major and minor feeding periods. It could be just a coincidence or confirmation bias though. It's not like there's a huge difference in catch rate between a feeding period and a non feeding period. But I'd say it ups my odds maybe 10%. It's enough that I believe there's something to it, but not enough to care much about it. About the only thing it changes is if I was planning on hitting the water at 6:00 a.m. and a major feeding cycle starts at 5:30 a.m., I might get there a half hour earlier. Or if one doesn't start until 8:00 a.m., I might not stress out if something pops up that puts a small delay in my arrival time. As for the day stuff. It's useless. I've never noticed any difference between an "Epic" day or a "Poor" day, or anything in between. The weather will tell you a lot more about how the fish are going to bite on any given day than the position of the sun and moon.

And I will let him! That guy definitely knows a lot more about fishing than me! And I will concede that there are definitely big bass in Dirtybird. Some of the guys who spend a lot of time on that water know how to find them. But that lake generally requires you to really know it well. There aren't many stories of people catching a limit or personal best their first time out. It's a lot like Draper, in my opinion. And since I fish Draper often (due to proximity), I might be biased towards it over Dirtybird. After all, I know Draper pretty well, and while it took me a long time to learn that lake and where to find the fish, I now can do alright there. Konawa and Lake of the Arbuckles have clearer water (none of that red mud), more grass and cover, bigger and more LMB on average, and are just easier to find the fish in. They also has less fishing pressure, as Dirtybird is next to the biggest metropolis in Oklahoma. Konawa and Lake of the Arbuckles have both been ranked on the Bassmaster's Top 100 lakes in the country, numerous times. I bet if you asked 100 serious anglers who have fished all three which one they're rather fish if travel and time wasn't an issue, 99 of them will reply Konawa or Lake of the Arbuckles.

How near is near? The reason I ask is because there aren't any good lakes that are very close to either Stillwater or Norman. But if you don't mind a bit of drive out, then you can find some pretty good bodies of water. I'd recommend Konawa or Lake of the Arbuckles for the ones nearest Norman. You're still talking about an hour to an hour and a half drive from Norman. But they're both really good bass lakes. I especially love Konawa for all of it's grass. Thunderbird and Stanley Draper are the closest lakes to Norman. Both are terrible for fishing, are as muddy as you can imagine, and neither have much for cover. Unless you like white bass, catfish, or crappie, I'd avoid them. Between the two, I'd pick Stanley Draper because it has a bit more cover and is recently renovated. The nearest good lakes to Stillwater are probably Sooner Lake and Bell Cow Lake. They're about a 40-50 mile drive away, and once again, both are excellent black bass lakes. Watch out on Bell Cow. There are like a million trees, and some are extend 20 feet above the water and 15 feet below, and other extend 20 feet above the water and 6 inches below. So it's easy to ground your boat or destroy your prop on a stump if you're not paying attention to your sonar. Carl Blackwell and Lake McMurtry are closest lakes to Stillwater. They're better than Thunderbird and Stanley Draper, but still not really worth your time, unless you're into (again) white bass, catfish, and crappie. Between those two, I'd go with Carl Blackwell, if I had to chose. It's going to be more of a party lake, but the party tends to be more along the shore than on the water.

It depends on the pond.

That's good advice. I use a bunch of different knots, depending on the situation. A few of my more common knots are knots I came up with (I'm not saying I invented them. They might be known knots invented by someone else. I just wasn't familiar with them before hand, and came up with them by my own trial and error). I typically just use the Palomar for FC line when tying swivels, clips, or lures without treble hooks. Though sometimes I'll use it for a really small crankbait that I can palm in my hand to protect the treble hooks from getting tangled up in the line. It's a fast knot to tie, and fairly strong, but I hate having to pull the loop around the lure and keep it straight. So it's not one of my favorites. But it has it's uses.

I ran across this video the other day and decided to give it a try on my kayak TM (MK Endura C2 30). I raised my top speed by .3 mph from 2.9 to 3.2! Not a huge difference, but it's definitely noticeable. It'll also add some efficiency, as it'll allow me to cover the more water using the same amount of power. I was surprised to find out how far I needed to turn it, straight from the factory. It was a good 1/3 turn. It should work on any DC electric motor, in principle. All you're doing is aligning the magnets with the commutator so they reverse polarity at the same time, versus having a little lag between them. It's something I used to do with RC cars, back when I was a kid to get them to run faster, and never thought to apply it to a trolling motor.

Maps are extremely important to me. Especially is you're fishing unfamiliar or very large waters. It also comes in handy when the seasons change and you need to look for bass in different areas. Like if you spot most of the fish holding in 20ft of water, it's good to know where to find 20ft of water. That beings said, you can usually find depth charts online, and call them up on your smart phone. It won't show your exact positioning, but you can often figure it out in a general sense and then use the sonar to key it in further. So I'd recommend having a good mapping software on your fish finder. It's basically just for the convenience of not having to use two electronics at once. That being said, it is just a convenience. You can do just fine without one, provided you have a smart phone and internet access on the water.

I usually sing a song in my head and reel to the beat of the song. It helps to maintain a constant speed, and reproduce it later on. Change songs to change the speed. It's an easy way to slow down without having to think about slowing down.

It depends on how dirty the water is. But if it's dirty enough (like all of the lakes near me), I try to match the size and use either black and blue or chartreuse and yellow. I don't worry much about realism and focus more on colors that will contrast with the water to present a good silhouette.

You can use any ratio you want. They don't require high speeds, like a buzz bait, nor do they require high torque, like a deep diving crankbait. 6ish is my preference. But I've used as slow as 3.8:1 and as fast as 8:1 and never thought any of them were unnecessarily difficult to use for shallow cranks.