RDB

I don’t think it’s whining...it sounds like frustration which is an emotion I think all fishermen can relate to. I have been there a thousand times but was to probably to proud to ask for help. I credit the OP for asking for feedback from other anglers.

I guess if you want to split hairs, life is just reactions. What I was saying and what you will hear on every tour (including our regional tour) is that either bass will feed out of hunger or you have to find a way get them to strike (curiosity, anger, surprise, etc.). In other words, react when their inclination is not to feed. Just this week at Pickwick you heard multiple pros talk about the slow fishing and changing techniques to try to elicit a reaction strike. Not my term, you will hear it from the mouth of every pro.

Reaction is a motivation, finesse is a style, they are very different. Bass feed based on hunger or reaction, both of which can be achieved using finesse. Techniques within certain styles (I.e. drop shot) are ways to trigger one of the feeding motivations. Your choice of style and technique will be influenced by conditions and fish motivation. Breaking fishing into the 2 categories of reaction or finesse is like saying the reason I hit someone is out of anger or with a baseball bat ?.

The conditions you mentioned do not set up very well for finesse fishing. Less than 1 foot visibility, super windy, not able to see what you are fishing are all situations where finesse presentations are not super effective. Someone may try to say that Ike got out fished by another fisherman using finesse in pea soup or one time I had a great day doing this but the reality is that finesse is better suited with better visibility (they have to find your small bait to eat it) and light baits and line can be difficult to fish correctly in high winds. In my opinion, under those conditions you would have been better off going even larger and louder in your bait choices.

I might as well be the oddball and say that I don’t think that finesse fishing is just about dragging and not reeling. While I will agree that when most people finesse fish, they are using things like drop shots, etc., I think most would agree that a spy bait is a finesse technique or a small hair jig is a finesse technique and those are moving applications. To me, finesse fishing is about the presentation. Downsized tackle, downsized lure, trying to present the bait as natural and non threatening as possible. Iaconelli says that you can finesse fish a large crankbait but I haven’t quite figured that one out.

I don’t think you need a $300 rod for the techniques you listed. Not knowing how you are fishing or where you are from, I think you are missing a good bottom contact rod for heavier applications. The enhancements provided with higher end rods is not necessarily useful for things like topwaters and cranks but are quite useful in feel applications.

Another option is the used market. You can get a lot more rod for a lot less money. The Texas forum has 3 like new Shimano Zodias rods for $130 each. If you want to learn more about different rods, Tackle Tour does good reviews and you can check the comments on Tackle Warehouse.

Sorry... that’s the challenge with the written word. It can be hard to tell.

I use a Bass Mafia Deep Coffin for all my terminal tackle. I buy the small zip bags from an arts and crafts store (Michael’s) and label each bag as well as each slot. Slots hold 3-5 different sizes within the same style (I.e. 3/0, 4/0, 5/0 flippin’ hook). I have 120 bags in the pictured box. For me, it’s the most convenient and efficient way I have found to organize my terminal tackle. However, I don’t think it would be practical for backpack use.

I guess a long cast is relative but both Marty and JT know a lot about fishing. Both had very successful professional fishing careers.

I don’t know Canyon Lake well but if it were me, I would be focusing on the spawning areas this weekend. There are a lot of fish moving up on beds, especially at the upper ends where the water is warmer. If you don’t like fishing beds, pull back to the nearest cover, structure, deeper water and look for the females who haven’t moved up yet (they won’t be far). Finding bass is pretty easy this time of year.

It’s about $30 above your price but the new Shimano Vanford is a really nice reel. I haven’t found anything that I don’t like about it.

I have a bottom contact paired with a Steez SV TW and love it. I wouldn’t be afraid to go to it’s rated 1 oz...it handles it just fine.

I vote for Florida unless you’re a crappie guy...Texas has too many bass fishermen as is ?. Edit: And Texas isn’t full of Texans. Half of California has moved here ?.

Lot’s of great advise. When I fish a new lake, I find it helps to break it down into smaller sections. A new lake can be overwhelming but if you take a smaller area and look at it like a lake unto itself, it is much less daunting. Eliminate what you would consider to be dead water, focus on high potential areas, and keep moving until you get some clues. I would add that as a fellow Texas, I can appreciate the frustrations with the tremendous amount of cover in many of our lakes. When fishing a new lake, I think there can be too much cover. I am not going to spend hours covering a 50 acre flat of trees unless there is something unique within that flat (ditch/channel, etc.). I would rather focus on an area with a little less wood and pick it apart more efficiently. If they are relating to wood, I can always go back to the larger area with a better understanding of what I am looking for.

Lol...I didn’t even catch it the second time. I had to go back after this last post to realize you said write and not read. Gotta stop sniffin’ glue.

Wasn’t trying to be the thread police. I was referencing you not using snells yet having to read 10 paragraphs. It was meant to be tongue in cheek but I obviously missed the mark. Got ya...I agree.

Not sure I follow. You would use a snell knot on these.

The knot is fixed. The cam comes from the line that goes over the hook eye which is not fixed. The direction the line goes through the eye determines the direction of the cam. If you tied a knot without going through the eye, you would get no cam. That’s awesome...I use Palomar knots too. And this is a thread about snell knots. I think there may be another thread about Palomar knots and not pegging weights.

The cam action of a snell comes from resistance placed on the hook eye. Because you go down through the eye (hook point up) and tie the knot to the shank, resistance on the eye causes the hook to cam in the same direction as the line goes over the top of the eye. If you look at a snell knot, there is a slight S shape from the line going down through the eye to the knot on the shank. When you have resistance to the eye, the tightened line straightens the S shape by kicking the hook up. If you went up through the eye in the other direction, the cam action would be down. Yes the weight can and most often does create that resistance but any resistance can cause the cam action. Put a line between two fingers and pull up and you will get the same cam action. As far as vegetation, I’m not sure I understand the point. First off, a palomar knot is not going to create a lot of bulk to catch weeds. Secondly, I bury my eye in the bait so my eye is not exposed anyway. I use a straight shank snelled the vast majority of the time but it is because of the cam action and the fact that you have the maximum amount of point exposure with a straight shank v. an offset.

For home storage I use the plastic clothing containers with lock on lids. They are the perfect size for 3 rows of plastics in their original packaging. When on the boat, I use smaller 2 row containers that go in the boat storage compartment.

Cool story...a lot can be gleaned from the old timers who had to learn how to catch fish before fishing became such a big business.

Many fluoro lines and most in the premium category are stiffer and less manageable. That’s why many of these new digital casters have settings for braid, mono, and fluoro. Tatsu is one of the few premium lines that is very manageable.

It’s always interesting to see different comments on this site. I would have bet the house that more would say they don’t than do use swivels. It may have more to do with the number of toothy critters up north which aren’t a problem around here. It takes me about a minute to tie an FG knot...super small and not noticeable going through eyes.. My leaders on spinning reels are usually 8-10 feet long tied to high vis braid so casting would be a nightmare. Plus, I have too much invested in my rods to risk damaging the inserts.

When you say worm hook, do you mean an offset (z-bend below the eye) worm hook? If yes, I don’t know that you would get the same efficiency. When you think about a straight shank flippin’ type hook, the point goes into the bait at a 45 degree angle while an offset hook sits parallel (on top of) the bait. When the hook kicks up on the set, the point would not be in an optimal position. At least that’s my theory.