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It could be a part is slightly out of tolerance. Or maybe a lube issue. Hard to say without taking it apart and examining it in person. If it's a tolerance issue, it'll often sort itself out with some use.

I fish jigs with both a MH and H. Either is fine. Rarely is there a good reason to choose one over the other. Though if I had to pick, I'd go with the MH. It has a bit more give for pitching lures, and pinning fish in close combat. And you can still fish a MH in thick cover, though a H would work better in that situation.

30#-40# braid is my answer to almost everything. It's thick enough so spool dig-in isn't usually an issue. And thin enough for long casts and good bait action. As for brand, I don't think it matters very often. I've used just about all of them at one point or another, and while there are differences, none that I've come across actually put more fish in my boat. I'm much more picky about Fluorocarbon, and slightly more picky about mono, both of which I rarely use.

I discovered long ago that I catch more fish on cheap baits than I do on pricey ones. Find the cheapest solution, get a hook file or small sharpening stone and you're golden. The great thing about cheap baits is you don't mind throwing them into places you won't get them back. And those are the best spots to fish.

One of my best days with a craw this year came after I lost the pinchers off of a craw. After the first catch, I kept ripping them off, and the bass kept biting. Keep in mind that a defensive posture for a crawfish might be a bad thing. It signals to the bass that the craw is aware of their presence, and is willing to put up a fight, or possibly take off. It's a defense mechanism for the crawfish, and evolved to keep them alive. Of course, it all depends on the mood of the bass. Sometimes aggression inspires aggression. Sometimes they'll wander off to find an easier meal. The Berkley "The Champ" craw has pinchers that float. The rest of it doesn't, but the pinchers themselves will wave in the air.

Cut some brackets out of wood to hold the v hull and bolt them to the hand truck.

Since around 1983. I've always fished for bass and crappie with both bait and lures. The only time I target something else, is when I fish in the ocean. In which case, I still catch bass, despite my best efforts. However, there was a spell between 1996 through 2018 where I probably averaged two fishing trips a year. So I don't know how to calculate total years. Is it 38 years? 16? I'm not good enough to claim either. So I'm gonna say 3 years.

Check the gauge currently in there. Don't assume they did it right last time. Electricity isn't well understood, and a lot of people just play with the wires until it works and then call it good. I'm the fourth owner of my house which was built in 2003. Therefore, it has passed an electrical inspection four times. It was never up to code. I had a closet light that would trip the breaker when I turned on the ceiling fan. None of my fixtures are in junction boxes. I've got a few outlets that were wired in series. They didn't even follow the standard for color coding wire. Often times, the common and hot wires were reversed, and then later down the line, reversed back again. It's been a mess as I've slowly had to rewire it all.

True. A lot of the pros are now switching from being sponsored by a sonar company, to being sponsored by a store that sells sonars. The reason being that each company seems to specialize in different things, and a lot of the pros don't like to have to compromise. My philosophy is to first determine your budget, then determine what features you need. After that, the fish finder will find you. Between the big three brands, it's hard to go wrong.

I haven't caught anything since November. So I'd gladly take a week long fishing slump at this point. Though this time of year is always bad for me. The sun is only up while I'm at work. The weekends are almost always too windy for my kayak. I can occasionally fish a large pond (small lake) from the bank near my work on my lunch break, but it's frequently iced over. Just being able to get out on the water for a day to get skunked would be nice. But I do sympathize with you. It's a tough time of year. We finally have a warm weekend (that same front you're looking at, but arriving a day sooner), but I probably won't make it out because I'm going to be installing a trolling motor on my kayak this weekend. I have to build a mount, a control box, run a bunch of wires where I have not access, etc.

I think most of us younger guys kind of grew up in a world where the traditional gender defined roles don't really exist. It's not a woman's or a man's work. It's just work that needs to be done. So you do it, and if you see the other one doing something, you help them out.

They're typically not worth the money, even for a toy. Usually, an underwater camera won't show you much more that you'll see from above the water. Polarized sunglasses are your best bet here. I've done a bit of underwater photography. As noted, the limiting factor is going to be light, and powerful, underwater lights are expensive. And even then, the water clarity is going to be the main problem. If you can't see further than three feet down in the water with polarized sunglasses, then you'll probably see less than three feet in front of the lens even with the most powerful lights. When I was doing some underwater photography in the clear waters off Maui, I noticed that your eyes can see a lot further in the water than the camera. Which makes sense, because your eyes are much more sensitive to light than even the best camera sensors. Now if you're wanting to document this type of stuff for later research, then it might be worth it. A cheap way to get into it might be to look into a used Go Pro in a waterproof housing, or a used waterproof point and shoot camera with video capabilities. But typically, an underwater camera is best for publishing videos to YouTube and watching how baits run in a swimming pool. Outside of ice fishing, they're not of much use to the angler on the water.

Yeah. I kind of regret it now though. I'm not really a big fan of his work. I mean, I like his stuff. He's very clever. But I wouldn't put him in my top 100 of all time. It was a spur of the moment decision that I'm too lazy to go back and change.

I was just suggesting to look at open pour molds for ideas on what can be done and how it's done. No need to go out and buy those. Not for an open pour mold, anyway. If you're going to invest money into premade molds, I'd suggest going the injection route. As some examples for baits to try, you could pour a 6" zoom lizard. They're really flat on the bottom. Not perfectly flat, like what you'd find at the store. But flat enough that if you made a mold, and used some release, you could probably pour one and still be able to slip it out. Same with something like a Berkley Powerbait the Champ Swimmer, only leave the top flat. And the Durham's Water Putty is probably cheaper than the Plaster of Paris. 16 oz. bottles are like $2. If you've already bought the PoP, then go ahead and use it. It'll work. It just doesn't do detail as well and is more prone to cracking.

It happens so often, that I work on a fluffy white towel to help prevent them from reaching the floor. And I always sweep the floor ahead of time. More than once, I've completely lost a part and had to either fabricate or purchase a new one.

Try Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty instead of plaster of Paris. It's stronger, will last longer, and will preserve more detail. You'll still need to seal it. But it works a lot better and is still readily available in local hardware stores. I don't think you'll find a whole lot in the commercial sector in the way of flat sided plastics. It's easier to do injection molding on a mass scale, and it makes them look like they're a higher quality product when they're finished on all sides. But many plastics, like swimbaits and craws, will do just fine if you leave one side flat. If you look up some pourable molds, you'll get an idea of what's possible.

I don't do it in freezing temperatures. But as long as it's not too windy and above freezing, I'll go out from time to time. High winds are very bad. The spray will get you wet and make your clothes worthless. Actually, full-body rain gear might not be a bad idea, though I've never used it myself. Otherwise, dress in layers and wear rubber boots or waders, since you'll likely have to step in the water to launch. And I like neoprene gloves, as I've found no gloves work well for keeping my hands dry, but neoprene does well at keeping my wet hands warm. And bring along some hand warmers. I'll throw these down in my boots from time to time. Not a necessity, but a very nice luxury. It's also a good idea to keep a dry bag along with an extra set of clothes or something in case you do get wet. Basically, it's not the cold, but the wet that you have to watch out for.

I went fishing yesterday. It was 60° outside, with almost no wind. The lake surface was smooth as glass. First cast, my lure bounced and skidded. Apparently, the sun had melted the surface of the ice, leaving about an eight of an inch of water on top, making it look as though it wasn't frozen over. But it was. Despite three days of highs in the 50's, it was still frozen up. Those night time lows were erasing whatever work the daytime highs had done.

Coming to OK to do some striper fishing? So I guess that means Texoma, right? Texoma stripers tend to be a bit smaller than saltwater stripers. 35.12 lbs is the record. Still a big fish, mind you. And they can put up a real fight for their size. But it's not quite the same thing as fishing true salt water. 12lbs is a big stripper there, but 20+lbs isn't unheard of. The average is probably around 3-4lbs. When you go, be sure to double check all of the fishing regulations. Since Texoma is on the boarder of Oklahoma and Texas, it has some special rules regarding licenses. So a regular Texas or Oklahoma fishing license won't worth there. And a Texoma license won't work outside of that lake.

Well, the blank is only a fraction of the equation. The epoxy makes a huge difference as well. I don't know anything about the new Lew's KVD rods. Typically, lighter and more sensitive rods are more prone to breakage. However, most anglers don't experience a broken rod through normal use. Usually, if a rod breaks, it's because you did something to it. And if it breaks during normal use, it's usually because of prior damage. The only time I've had a rod break was due to a manufacturers defect. It snapped in half on a cast on the second time out. I got an identical replacement, and that one has lasted me, going on three years now. So, if you're worried about breaking your rod, it might be a good idea to change up how you treat it. Just don't try to rip out snags using the rod alone. If it won't come loose and you're gonna try to bend the hooks to free it, point the rod with the line and pull straight back. Don't step on it. Don't throw it around. Don't high stick fish with it. You can still rip through the weeds with it and fight a giant catfish or whatever. They're pretty durable and can take quite a bit of abuse, but do treat it with a bit more respect, and I'm sure it'll last decades.

I use an anchor trolley and just push my garden stake through it. I don't even tie it off. And if it slips off, which hasn't happened yet, the stake floats, so I'm not worried about losing it. Plus, it didn't cost me anything. Though I typically will just drop a grapple anchor and use a very short rode. I have issues with the stake holding still. The bottom of my lakes are usually soft mud with a layer of hard clay below it, so it's hard to get it to get enough bite to be effective. That, and there's usually not a lot of areas where the water is shallow enough to use a stake without being just a foot or two off the bank.

We've got some walleye and saugers near me, but I never have any luck with them. So I typically gravitate towards crappie. Also, there are a few ponds that stock trout in the winter, so I'll hit them up from time to time as well. Cold water crappie taste best anyway. It's really the only time of year I fish for them.

About the only time I throw a wacky rig is after I've missed a bite while power fishing. It works pretty well in those circumstances. I don't have much luck with it otherwise, but I always have one rigged up for that purpose. Finesse fishing doesn't work well for me. The water is too muddy usually. But if I can target an exact spot where a bass is and drop a finesse lure there, I can sometimes get a bite. That means usually the only time it works is if I can locate deep cover on my sonar and somehow stay above it or get a missed bite to tell me exactly where one is. Typically, if you don't hit them in the nose with it, they won't find it. At least that's been my experience. But no, power fishing doesn't seem to bother the bass most of the time in my local lakes.

Anything that keeps water out, will also keep water in. And that's going to lead to mold and mildew. And neoprene isn't fully waterproof. It's water resistant. Anyone who's been swimming in a wetsuit will tell you that the purpose of the wetsuit isn't to keep you dry, but to keep you warm. So in a heavy rain, it'll absorb the water and not let the water out for a very, very long time. I second the advice on a two piece rod. I keep a two piece rod in my car for this reason. Plus, if you leave your rod in your truck bed all of the time, eventually, it's gonna get stolen.

About 6 mph. At those speeds, my arms are paddling as fast as they'll go, and I'll run out of breath in about three minutes. Now, in a strong tail wind or swift current, I can get it up a bit higher. I've been known to risk it all and push 11 mph on occasion! But hey, you only live once, right?!