Bankc

Weight, and color are mainly what I'm concerned with. Most jig head styles will work in most situations. The only time you really need a specialty jig head is when fishing in the extreme circumstances. So if the grass is really thick, or the bottom has lots of crevasses in between the rocks, or you're fishing around a freshly fallen tree with lots of tiny branches everywhere, etc. then you might need a specialty jig. Otherwise, I'd rather not waste my time switching them out. But if it appears I'm going to be wasting more time by not switching them out, then I'll go ahead and do it. I've only got the one jig rod, and I'll usually fish several different types of cover over the course of a few minutes. So constantly switching them out isn't a productive use of my time. That, and fish mostly bite them on the fall, and they all pretty much fall the same, assuming their the same size and weight.

The pandemic definitely played a role. But it was more the match that lit the forest of kindling that no one thought could ever be a problem. What the business world doesn't really want to admit, is "just in time" inventory management was a huge mistake. And everyone fell for it. You see, a while back it became all of the rage to switch to JIT inventory to lower overhead. They used computer algorithms to predict how much and which raw materials and parts they needed to run whatever industry at peak efficiency. This kept them from having to invest lots of money in inventory, and kept them from having to store and manage all of that inventory, and worry about inventory getting damaged while in storage. So, for the last two decades or so, it's been a real money and time saver. Why pay to store stuff you won't use for months, if you can have it reliably shipped whenever you need it? So everyone switched over to it. However, what no one realized is that when every company switched over to JIT inventory, it made the entire system extremely delicate. One tiny wrench thrown into the system could now disrupt an entire industry. Just in Time inventory is efficient, but not at all robust. And COVID was a HUGE wrench that hit every industry at once. So what we're left with is a supply chain system that collapsed at pretty much all fronts at the same time. Just about every company had ditched their backup plans because they were too costly to maintain. Their backup plans became "hope it happens to the competition at the same time it happens to us". So COVID wasn't the cause of the problem, so much as the catalyst that kicked off the chain of events that lead us here.

Anything finesse in water deeper than about 5 feet. Though I think a lot of that has to do with the muddy waters I typically fish in. And even in the shallow waters, I'm pretty much fishing those Ned rigs, wacky rigs, drop shots, shaky heads, etc. like I would a jig. Pitch, drop, raise, drop, reel in and repeat.

I heard that too. And my personal experience backs that up. "Fragile" means "fun to break". "Caution, Liquid Inside" means, "if you break it, you'll have a mess to clean up". So I always print off stickers that warn of liquid inside, even if there isn't any. It's not 100% effective, but it does seem to help.

I generally prefer a medium over medium heavy for most lures where it's acceptable to use both. You can cast smaller lures further with them, which makes them really valuable when fishing pressured waters. They also are a bit more forgiving, helping you keep treble hooks pinned.

Daiwa Apollo, 5'6" with a pistol grip. It just has the action listed as "medium". It's probably more like a medium/slow, as it bends like an old fiberglass rod. I still use it, just about every time I go out. Makes a great topwater rod for poppers, propbaits, and walking baits. When I found it sitting in my parents garage, it had been leaning up against the wall for almost 20 years and developed a good bend in it. But I was able to work it out with a heat gun.

I'm actually pretty good about it. I have one tackle bag that holds 6 3600 boxes, and that holds all the tackle I own, save a few spools of line. I typically only buy new baits to replace ones I've lost. And I've got some room in those boxes left as well, though I don't really feel the need to fill them. My wife is pretty good about keeping my hobbies under control. I was a bit of a mess with that stuff before she came along.

I pull back on the rod, but not like a hookset. You don't want to yank it out of their mouth. I try to apply smooth and steady pressure and let flex in the rod do the work. So you kind of start pulling just before they breach. Now, I say that, but it's not like I can do that every time. It's hard to predict when they'll breach. More often than not, they surprise me and jump before I can get ready.

I've always wondered why tournaments don't require anglers to wear a PFD while fishing. They usually require it while the motor is running, but on those bass boats, you're a lot more likely to fall out when you're standing on the deck, fishing. And there's not much to grab if you lose your balance. A lot of times you'll be drifting or running a trolling motor, so you're still in motion. One bad stump can send you swimming and two bad stumps can send you sinking. I don't think it should be a law, but I think it would set a good example to see the pros wearing a PFD. In any case, I feel for that man's family and friends. Since I don't know what happened to him, I can't say that a PFD would have made a difference, or even if he was wearing one. It's just a thought I've had a few times watching the TV. I've known a few people who have drowned, and while none were fishing, or even boating at the time, all were strong swimmers.

Back when it was made with Spectra, it was a pretty good line. Really, the best there was. Then, around the time they switched to Dyneema, it started to go downhill, as I remember it. I don't know if that was also around the time they got bought out by Pure Fishing, but it seems about right in my mind. Now, Dyneema makes for a good fishing line. It's what Suffix 832 uses. And Pure Fishing make quality products as well (Abu, Fenwick, Stren, Berkley, etc.). So I'm not knocking either one. But I think those events led it to being more of a budget oriented product rather than the market-leading innovator it started off as. And eventually, it just got left behind as other companies superseded it in performance. And since the savings aren't that substantial when comparing a top of the line braid vs. a budget braid, I think a lot of serious anglers couldn't see the value in sacrificing performance to save a few bucks. I think Spiderwire is fine. I bought some a few years ago, and still have it spooled up on a reel (8 carrier Stealth). But I also had a reel of the old Spectra Spiderwire to compare it to (lost that rod in a lake last summer), and the Spectra stuff was softer and didn't fade as quickly (it was 20 years old and looked like the new stuff after a few months). It also wasn't as sticky as the new stuff, so it seemed to cast better. The new stuff feels kind of waxy. But then again, I was comparing 20 year old line to line that was just a few months old, so it's hard to tell if the differences had more to do with wear and age or manufacturing. Either way, the actual, real world, difference between either Spiderwire and something like Power Pro or Suffix 832 isn't huge. But it's enough to question the few dollars in savings. This reminds me, when Spiderwire first hit the market, there was brand trying to compete with it using Kevlar for braided fishing line. Now I can't remember what that was.

The more you use it, the more familiar you will become with it. Just keep taking it out and get to know it better. One day, you will get stuck, and that's the day you'll learn how to free yourself. Worst case scenario, you can flag down another boater for help. If you spend enough time on the water, you'll either be the helper or the helpee. So no one minds being asked for help on the water, because we've all been there before.

Probably a carp. Every time I think I hooked a record LMB, it always turns out to be a catfish, carp, alligator gar, etc. You can catch all kinds of fish that you wouldn't think would touch your bait. Last year, I landed a 12lb channel cat on a top water popper in about a foot of water. I thought for sure it was a monster bass when I hooked it, because I had caught a few smaller ones in the area already on that lure. Plus, I'd never heard of anyone hooking a cat on a topwater. Turns out, it happens from time to time.

That clamp K1500 linked (or one like it) will eliminate the bounce between the hitch and the hitch receiver, if that's got any play at all. And they usually do these days, as they're often made for universal fit, which means the tolerances on them aren't very tight. Those clamps are a pain to install and uninstall, as you need to use a wrench, but they do the job. As for the hitch receiver being loose, I don't know about your vehicle, but they're usually bolted directly onto the frame of the car. You can look underneath the car to see how the whole thing is attached. There's usually some kind of locking nut or washers to keep them tight, but they can loosen over time. You'll want to do some research to find out what the torque specs is on those bolts or nuts, and tighten them down to spec. That should keep it from rattling. Then, all that's left is the trailer itself, which as mentioned, will probably bounce around a bit, no matter what you do, due to it's light weight. Adding more weight will likely help, but you probably won't be able to add enough to eliminate it all together. You also might try shortening the extension you made a little bit. That'll give it less room to swing around and shorten the distance it can bounce. It probably won't make a huge different, but it might help a little.

I wouldn't deflate the tires much below their rated pressure. You're tires are rated for 60 PSI, if I'm not mistaken (you may want to verify that), and at 10-15 PSI, you're asking for a blowout. You need to keep the sidewalls from flexing too much, or they'll quickly wear out and destroy the tire. Where's the rattle coming from? That's the first thing you need to figure out. Is it from the trailer itself, the trailer's connection to the hitch, or the hitch's connection to your car? There's an adjustment nut on the coupler that you can tighten to help relieve some play. You'll have to unlock the latch to adjust it. It also might be a good idea to adjust the balance point of the trailer. If it's perfectly balanced over the wheels, it'll cause it to bounce a lot. You want to about 10-15% more weight up towards the tongue. Then, like K1500 said, you might need an anti-rattle clamp if the rattling is coming from the ball hitch to the hitch receiver on the car. Typically you want the hitch to be level, or maybe even pointing down towards the tongue just a hair. You also may just need more weight on the trailer. If a trailer is really light and small, they can bounce around a whole lot, as there just isn't much to keep them glued to the road. You don't want to exceed the trailer's recommended weight, obviously, but anyone who's pulled an empty trailer will attest that they can get loud.

I think it's because bass don't rely on sight as heavily as humans do. A ton of baits out there don't really look like anything that a bass would eat in the wild, but they work because they produce the flash, sounds, water displacement, etc., that bass use to hone in on their prey. If you think about it, it makes sense. Humans have two eyes in the front of our head. Most predators that rely on sight have this configuration as well, because it allow for better depth perception. Bass have their eyes on the side of their heads, like most prey (which is better for seeing a wider field of view, but worse for judging distance accurately to stage an attack). So it would make sense that they wouldn't rely as heavily on sight for hunting as we would, because their eyesight just isn't as useful for hunting as ours. They probably rely more on sight for defense and sensing predators, much like how we use sound for that. Hence why scary movies love to do that loud bang out of the silence that makes you jump.

I've used straight braid many times for poppers. The only real disadvantage is getting it fouled up in the hooks. Most casts, especially if it's not windy, it probably won't be an issue. But every once in a while, you might experience that problem, hence why mono is so popular for these lures. Mono is stiffer and tends to stay out of those treble hooks a little bit better. I wouldn't recommend a snap. The reason being that it can add weight to the front of the lure and change it's action. However, that depends on the size of the popper you're using, it's buoyancy, and the size and weight of the snap. It's up to you if you want to try. You'll know the snap isn't working when the lure is just sitting on the top of the water and not moving, and the nose is slanting downward. Same with FC line. Heavier FC line might sink and add unnecessary weight to the nose. Or, it might not matter. Like the snap, it depends. You can always give it a try and see if it matters in your particular situation or not. I don't feel there's an advantage to a loop knot or snap for poppers. They're not like walking baits that almost require them because they need that freedom for that side-to-side action. You can give it a try, if you want. But I usually just go with a clinch knot (using mono) straight to the eye, and it works without any problems for me. With a popper, it's more about the cadence and pace. Usually, the popping sound draws the fish near, and they'll often bite when the lure is paused. So the motions you go through are similar to a walking bait with a popper, but the way they work and catch fish are quite different.

If the eye is bent, so you can snell the hook and keep it straight, then that's what I do. Otherwise, I don't mess with it.

I too prefer lower ratio reels for crankbaits for this reason. It seems like they allow you to stop quicker when you bump into something. Though, it's not mandatory. Though, honestly, there isn't much I wouldn't throw on a 5.2 reel, other than a buzzbait.

The Manifold Deniro Yugo Frame Glide Bait is the greatest lure ever. And I can prove it. It costs over $500. Ipso facto, it is 100x's better than a jig.

The wind direction, in many areas, will indicate what kind of front is moving through. For instance, where I live in Oklahoma, the warm fronts tend to come up from the Gulf of Mexico, and the cold fronts tend to come down from the Rocky Mountains. Storms almost always move North East. My grandfather, who lived in central Texas most of his life, always had a saying about the wind and fish. "South and West, they bite the best. North and East, they bite the least." It works here because a North or Easterly wind usually meant a cold front and a South or Westerly wind usually meant a warm front. Now, in other parts of the world, it could be the opposite, or the wind direction could be seasonal, and not really have an impact. So it's not really the wind direction that can effect bite so much as it is presence of fronts, which can sometimes be deduced from wind direction. Much like barometric pressure.

I'd fish it without a second thought.

I do 15# hi-viz braid with usually around 7-10' leader of 6# fluoro. I'll retie on a new leader when the old one gets cut down to about 2-3'.

Warm grey.

I probably experiment too much. I enjoy learning new things more than confirming old ideas. I usually save my confidence baits for the last two or three hours if I haven't had much luck with what I have been throwing. If nothing else, just to check to see if the fish are even biting that day. Then again, I'm not tournament fishing.

I was in a similar situation once. I had an old Shimano B-100 mag from around 1990 that I liked and still used, but it was no where near as refined as my newer reels. I didn't want to replace it because it had sentimental value to me (it was my first reel). So I upgraded the only bearing it had, and replaced the spool bushings with ceramic bearings. I also upgraded the drag to carbon fiber. In the end, I discovered that the new bearings were louder, and maybe added a foot or two of distance. And they didn't really make it any smoother. Where talking about upgrading from bushings to high end bearings here, so you'd think there's be a huge difference. But there wasn't. The carbon fiber drag made it a bit smoother, but only a hair. My point is, you can spend the money to upgrade these things, but in all likelihood, you're just sticking lipstick on a pig. They are what they are. And you either appreciate them for what they are, or you don't. Now, I did do one thing that vastly improved the performance of that reel. About a year before I upgraded anything, I broke that reel down, which seemed to be in good condition at the time, and I cleaned it up, really well. I polished the spool shaft and anything else that made contact with a bushing. Then I carefully reassembled it, using high quality lubricants. That made a huge difference in it's performance! The difference between a high grade bearing and a standard bearing (or even bushing) in a fishing reel is almost negligible. Reels don't spin at 30,000 RPM's. They're never subjected to the levels of stress that high end bearings have a chance to show their stuff. However, the difference between a good quality drag and gear grease and some thin viscosity synthetic oil compared to the standard stuff they put in cheap reels is enormous! The stuff they use at the factory is made for protecting the reels against extreme abuse, not for performance. They greased it, intending the end user to be able to fish with it for a decade or more without ever opening it up.