BrianMDTX

My “rule” is this: never regret a decision made in the past, unless it was something said or done to intentionally cause pain and suffering to another. So in this case, have no regrets.

I have no experience with the Lews Mach 2, so I can’t give first-hand comparisons. But I’ve never been a big fan of pre-packaged combos. I’d rather select the rod and reel I prefer. A Buccoo for $99 is a great rod. Paired with a Revros and I think you’d be happy.

A Daiwa Revros LT2500 spinning reel can be had from $44.00 to $49.00 online. It’s a great spinning reel for that price. I have a 2000 and 2500 and love them both. Pair that with a St. Croix Bass-X or a Falcon Buccoo and you’ll be a happy camper. For less $$ a Daiwa Procyon is a decent rod.

I have an All-Round Fast as my primary T rig rod. It’s a great rod for Texas rigs. I don’t really use Carolina rigs often, but it’s done well with those, too.

Got out a little early this morning off the bank. Just brought my St. Croix Bass-X ML/XF and Daiwa Revros LT2000 and a few bags of soft plastics. Started with a #906 blue/black laminate Senko weightless TR and got no bites. Switched to an X-Zone True Center Stick in Carolina pumpkin black flake. About the third or fourth cast it got bit close to the bank, missed the hookset and it hit it again. Hard. Set the hook and saw this lol. I rigged another X-Zone and started working it. It got whacked again. This one did not miss the hook. Was just shy of 2 lbs. Good fighter. Don’t know what he ran into at one point, but if he won the fight, I’d hate to see the loser!

Kirk: “Scotty, what happened to all the crankbaits?” Scotty: “Aye, Captain. I beamed them into the engine room of the Klingon ship.” Kirk: “You beamed them? To the Klingons?” Scotty: “Aye, Captain! Where they’ll be no treble at all!” Captain Koloth: “QI'tu' tangqa' targhwIj! qIrq!!!!”

Arbor knot mono to spool Uni knot for braid to mono backing Lefty Kreh knot for braid to leader IC knot for pretty much everything to terminal tackle except Palomar knot for dropshot rig

This is a great bass! Because it’s the one that beat the skunk! Caught it on a 5” #906 blue/black laminate Senko TR. But that’s not the whole story. I know there are baby bass and bluegills in this pond, and as there are some good-sized catfish, there’s gotta be some baby cats as well. But I’ve never truly seen scads of baitfish in this pond like I did today. Got on the water just after first light. Had a Zara Spook rigged up and before I made my first cast, I saw several spots where baitfish were breaching the surface being chased. I’ve never witnessed that before here, and yet today it was happening all over the pond…for hours. I tried the Spook. A Whopper Plopper. A Pop Max. A fluke. A paddletail swimbait. A jerkbait. A squarebill (had something take a swipe at it as it hit the water). Several different plastic worms and stickbaits. A Fat IKA. A tube. Nothing until I caught this bass around 11:30. It looked so promising! If you have any suggestions on what I should have tried, let me know. Also, I did have another bass on the hook with that Senko, but I lost it. The braid-to-leader knot broke. And that was 100% on me. I tied a new leader on during the week. Twice. The first one I cut off and retied another as it didn’t look right. This one I thought was probably ok, but deep down I think I knew it wasn’t up to standards. Lesson learned!

Wasn’t that an episode on Star Trek? The Trouble with Trebles? ?

A 7-1/2” Mann’s Jelly Worm is one of my favorite plastic worms on a classic Texas Rig. It has a great action. A classic bait that still works.

I rig the Fat IKA both ways. Sometimes one attracts bites better than the other. Great bait!

Currently 10 lb. Big Game mono on a Daiwa Tatula 100H. It’s a great squarebill rod.

I use my Fury 705CB, which is a MH/MF. I have no complaints.

Bites are slow and sizes are small. Started off fishing in Lake Woodlands (first time). At 200 acres it’s not huge, but substantially bigger than the ponds I fish. Was there for two hours and never got a nibble. Went back to the pond I normally fish. Lake Woodlands is stream-fed so it’s not low, but the pond sure is. Almost a month and a half without any measurable rain will do that. Caught six total. First 3 and last one on a Zoom Z-Craw in California 420 and the other two on a blue/black laminate Senko. No other baits got touched. Had fun regardless, but I’m ready to perform a rain dance or sacrifice a chicken or something!

I was fortunate enough to watch ST:TOS when first broadcast in the 60s. Growing up during the Space Race, my brother and I loved that show. Just think. 1960s. Civil Rights. Cold War. Women’s Lib. And here’s a ship in the future with a black bridge officer (also female) as well as a Russian, and an Asian. It was a show definitely ahead of its time. You hear the phrase “hailing frequencies, Captain” and Nichelle Nichols instantly pops into focus. Godspeed, Lt. Uhuru.

Never met Butch Ward, but I did meet Lefty Kreh a few times as a kid and a young man (also Bill Burton who was a well-known angler in Maryland back in the day). I use Lefty Kreh’s leader knot on all my braid-to-leader rigs. That, and his loop knot, are classics that have stood the test of time.

Congrats on that PB! Mine was the same. UL rod, small #6 hook,1/2 a nightcrawler and a bobber. How the heck it didn’t throw the hook amazes me to this day. Heck of a fight, huh? You’ll never forget that one!

I fish ponds like that. One side is landscaped like a park and the other side is heavily wooded. You can find two or three spots you can flip out from, but not cast. Basically no one fishes that side, which is why I bought an inflatable. I can fish 100% of the ponds and it makes a huge difference.

We are definitely in a drought. It rained yesterday for all of five minutes. It’s basically been no rain in over a month. The pond is down about 2’, which is huge in a 7’-8’ pond. I only caught bass in one spot (and shallow at that), and except for the last one (#5) on a wacky rig with a #956 Senko, the rest were only interested in a purple Zoom Mag 2 Texas rig. No bites on topwater, squarebills, spinnerbaits, etc. But they did like that Mag 2! All were this size

I believe it was 168 mph. Threw a FB through a fence wearing a one hiking boot and a bare foot lol.

Was his name Sidd Finch?

So, fished from 6:45 to 10:00. Had two missed strikes on a Senko TR and something small hit a squarebill about 2’ from my boat. That was it until my last cast, when a humongous 10” bass whacked a #297 Senko TR. Just before I left, I saw a pickup with a 16’ aluminum boat on a trailer park behind my truck. The boat had a small outboard on it. I thought “is this guy really going to try and launch that boat here?” Turns out he works for the Parks Dept. and was treating the pond with algaecide.

I’ll find out Friday morning!

‘E’s a cheeky li’l git, ain’t ‘e?

Umm, no lol! It was like that. Now it looks like the Chicago River on St. Paddy’s Day.