RDB

I sold my Conquests and went all NRX. Nothing wrong with the Conquest…I just prefer the NRX. My first Conquest was an NRX upgrade through the Xpeditor program. They told me I had to stay with the same model initially but finally agreed to let me pay the list price difference (not the Xpeditor difference). I doubt they will let you upgrade at the Xpeditor price difference. Edit: Another option if they won’t let you upgrade. I broke a Conquest and G Loomis deemed it a defect and replaced it under warranty. I wanted to drop down to an NRX and while they agreed, I would get no credit for the price difference. Instead I had the rod shipped to Am. Leg. and they gave me store credit which I used to buy the NRX. If you go that route, you need to clear it with Am. Leg. first and make sure they do not charge you the $100 restocking fee.

Like you said, you are talking about a 2 v. 3 power but IMO, for wacky it shouldn’t matter as both highly sensitive rods. I use the NRX 852 for wacky and have no issues. I personally switched to all NRX but there are many who prefer the Conquest.

First thing I would do is figure out how they are relating to the tree. Everyone always wants to go straight to the center but they will often relate to the outside edges, top, etc. If they are relating to the edges, you have many options. If I had a nickel for every fish I have caught ticking the top of a brush pile.

No…just like mammals, fish go through a complex cascade of reactions (clotting cascade) that leads to a blood clot and there are many similarities between mammals and fish. Fish do not need water to clot. As a matter of fact, clotting times for fish are studied in vitro (outside the body) and like mammals, the clotting process starts immediately following injury. They usually use the same PT and PTT times they use on you if a doctor needs to identify your clotting time. Fish generally have faster clotting times than humans and it has been shown that environmental factors like stress can negatively impact clotting time.

Are you able to change the cup/curvature of the blades (I.e. can you create shallow cup willows).

You did the right thing and holding it or using it would have diminished your original good deed. I understand the frustration in not being acknowledged but at the end of the day, you did this based on your morals and values. I remember a story from Leo Buscaglia (The Love Doctor) regarding a discussion he had with a person who was upset because they would often greet strangers but the strangers would not acknowledge them back. Leo’s advice was if you were greeting them with the expectation of reciprocation, then maybe your motives weren’t pure. Your motives here are obviously pure, so it doesn’t really matter if they acknowledged you. And you’ll probably catch a new PB this year ?. And the award for the poster who referenced the “Love Doctor” in a fishing forum post goes to………ME “I’d like to thank the academy, Leo, and all the posters here who motivate me to up my game…I’m sure I’m forgetting someone…thank you Jesus…thank you to my 8th grade teacher who read us excerpts of Leo’s books…let’s see…hold on…stop the music, I’m not finished…this is my time to shi…………….

Look for a bass club in your area. I would bet there are a number of folks around you that do rod repairs on the side but don’t advertise. There are 4 in my bass club.

Assuming the appropriate rod is being used.

You should not have issues distinguishing cover with that fish finder (HDS). I would do a Google search for videos and make sure you have the settings dialed in properly. Edit: Graphing a small lake is no different than graphing a big lake. The cover/structure is either there or it isn’t.

IMO, for normal flipping, there is no need for a rod over 8’. For situations where I might need something longer, I wouldn’t be doing traditional flipping. Then you have the storage/rod locker issues. A telescopic rod is a deal breaker for me. I don’t feel like I miss any water because I don’t have a 10’ rod.

If you type in Katie’s Woods Park on Google Earth and it will recognize it (you may have already done that). It does look like there is decent shoreline access but the lake looks pretty low so who knows at full pool.

Call it what you want…opening, window, option, situation, blah, blah blah…it’s just semantics. People should try to consider the context and not try to break apart every word. The point was some neutral (non active) bass may be caught is if an easy opportunity (opening, window, etc.) is present. That is neither inappropriate nor misleading.

Apologies in advance for the rant…this is long. To the comment above, is it luck? I say no. Bucks follow patterns, just like bass. I’m not suggesting the patterns are always the same and never alter but IMO, it’s much more than luck. Scrapes, rub lines, staging areas, edges, etc., etc.,…there are many things skilled hunters utilize to put themselves in high potential places, same for bass fishermen. There is a reason most anglers have marginal fishing success. IMO, the biggest thing that separates marginal from good from great fishermen is the ability to find fish, put their offering in the right place, and get them to bite. The idea of never fooling a bass to bite is silly. Every time you get a bass to bite a fake lure, you fooled the bass. If people think they never fool a bass, why are they adding action to their lure. Why don’t they just have one color. Why not just one lure. Why switch lures? For that matter, why do we even need Bass Resources? It shouldn’t matter right? I can’t remember the last time I was out fished by a co-angler and we often use the same lures and share the front deck. My brother is super competitive and I have to twist his arm to fish with me because he knows he’s going to get thumped. As far as relating to structure/cover, most of the time even suspended fish relate to structure/cover…it’s usually the proximity to that structure/cover that can give clues to their catch-ability. A bass may suspend on a bridge piling, a dock pole, a brush pile, on the edge of vegetation, etc. Those bass are probably more catchable than a bass suspending 20ft away from a ledge, 10 feet above a channel swing, deep in the slop. In all of those situations they are still relating to cover/structure. As far as why each bass decides they are active or who gets to decide, who cares. As far as active or opportunistic feeders, I think people know what that means and I would be shocked of those are really controversial topics. Anglers often turn the trolling motors on high and burn the banks looking for active fish. Fish that are actively looking for a meal, just like you are actively looking for a meal when you drive around looking for fast food. Are you passing some catchable fish along the way…probably. If you slowed down and worked the area more thoroughly, might you catch more…probably. Why might that be so? One reason may be that the fish you passed were in a neutral mood and unwilling to chase. But if you gave them an easy meal or the right meal, they might not pass up the easy opportunity (opportunistic feeders). This is not unique…most ambush predators exhibit this type of behavior. You see tournament anglers looking for active fish all the time. They fish fast, looking to fill their limits, then slow down and work areas more thoroughly, looking for a kicker. There are so many inconsistencies in the arguments on these threads. On the one hand we talk about high pressure blue bird skies, post front conditions, fishing pressure, rising/falling water, etc., etc. and how that can influence fish locations, activity, and our approach. Then we turn around and suggest that it is all chance, bass are completely random creatures, and our abilities, skills, and knowledge have little influence on our success. I’ll say it again, though I don’t know @A-Jay, I have a lot of respect for his fishing knowledge and skills based on a lot of the feedback he provides on this site. I also think that the previous post he referred to rubbed him the wrong way for whatever reason and his comments here were more of a vent. I apologize @A-Jay if I am wrong.

You might make a post on Texas Fishing Forum. There will be a lot of posters on that site with experience on Grapevine. Might even find someone who will let you take the back of the boat. It’s amazing how friendly people are when they don’t worry about you stealing their spots.

It depends on how much you value brass gears. My opinion was no and that’s why I bought the JDM version.

Sounds like maybe you were set off a bit. You are an experienced fisherman and I don’t think for a minute that you don’t believe or don’t understand a lot of the questions you posted.

?This? IMO, it is not true that a fisherman can only be successful targeting actively feeding fish…they are opportunistic feeders. I’m not hungry right now but if someone put a Snickers in front of my face, I’d probably eat it. There are too many variables that influence behavior to focus on a singular approach. Also, we are talking about several different types of targets (structure & cover) and the time spent will vary. When fishing offshore, cover may be a small brush pile that requires fewer casts. On a structure like a point, you may need to hit it from different angles and depths to determine how fish are relating. Whether offshore or shallow, ideally you will eventually be able to identify how bass are relating to cover/structure and run that pattern. It may be focusing on the outside edges of deeper docks or the walkways but you are going to have to work them more throughly to identify the prime spots. Then you can cover more water by focusing primarily on those areas. Also, a lack of bass on imaging doesn’t mean there are none present as bass will often belly down to the bottom and are difficult to see. If I find an ideal offshore spot in the right conditions, I’m likely going to test it whether I can see fish or not.

I’m a fan of Wind Alert for wind conditions.

This may help give you a start. https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/raven/ https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/lake_survey/pwd_rp_t3200_1366/ Edit: I keep saying I am going to pull out the kayak and give that lake a shot. The nice thing about many of the state park lakes is they do not allow motors so you don’t have to fight the boats (not sure about Raven). Also, some of them were part of the Operation World Record program and have produced some big fish. Marine Creek is about the same size (200ish acres) and produced a 14.5 a few years ago.

This is the stocking history for bass. Notice the ShareLunker stockings. Stocking History for Raven Return to main search page | Major lakes search | Small lakes search Species Year Number Stocked Size Bass, Florida Largemouth 2019 20,613 Fingerling Bass, Florida Largemouth 2013 12,451 Fingerling Bass, Florida Largemouth 1998 952 Fingerling Bass, Florida Largemouth 1996 142 Adult Bass, Florida Largemouth 1991 22,487 Fingerling Bass, Florida Largemouth 1987 16,850 Fingerling Bass, Florida Largemouth 1980 338 Adult Bass, Florida Largemouth 1979 10,800 Fingerling Bass, ShareLunker largemouth 2013 12,375 Fingerling Bass, ShareLunker largemouth 2010 2,375 Fingerling Bass, ShareLunker largemouth 2007 5,088 Fingerling Bass, ShareLunker largemouth 2005 5,901

I’ve never fished it but it has some BIGS. I think the lake record is over 13 lbs. It has produced a lot of double digits.

Did you go to Lake Raven at Huntsville State Park?

So I think I get what you’re saying. You are talking about the placement of the line tie on the head right? In the case of the fluoro or Brauer jig, it has a zero degree line tie v. say a football jig that might be as much as 90 degrees.

It depends on what you are trying to skip…Senko - no for me, jig - yes for me. All of my bottom contact rods are NRX and I have no problem skipping with all of them This might be a little ambitious. You can skip with most any rod depending on what it is you are trying to skip. You are going to have a harder time if the rod is overpowered or doesn’t have enough tip for the weight you are throwing.