VTFan

I was taught "Leave it better than you found it". If I leave someone else's trash and so and so knows I was the last to fish that particular spot then in his eyes that is my trash. So, yes, I do pick up other peoples trash.

I guess I should have also asked what's a decent pair of split ring pliers that won't break the bank? I've got a pair of Berkley's that I don't really like.

Ok, thanks fellas.

What size split rings are the norm on 1.5 size crankbaits? Don't want to order the wrong sizes. Thanks.

My brother and I fish small lakes...9.9 hp or less so we mostly troll. But..we realized that we used to catch more bass in his old boat that we could easily anchor. So he now has anchors on his new boat. We have much better luck when fishing wacky's, drop shots, etc... if we are anchored.

I too fish a plastic bait until it falls apart or the bass steal it, whichever comes first. Mend It and a lighter help prolong the life of a plastic. As for opened packs of plastics, I've got packs that were opened 5 years ago and still work as though they were new.

I'm with you. To me it's like sitting there with a cane pole. Just my opinion. My brother loves a DS. I will say though, I do have one rod that is set up for DS but it very rarely gets used.

It's interesting you said that because I have almost the same issue with Gammy's not bending, but breaking. I've broken at least three 2/0 and 3/0 EWG Gammy's and I don't have what would be called a bone jarring hookset. It baffles me. More baffling is that I haven't had that problem with other brands. I'm at a loss.

I have a question related to this topic. My uncle insisted that only the tail of a buck deer could be used, Not...a tail from a doe. My question is, is there a difference other than male and female?

What's the general consensus as to EWG vs Straight Shank hooks for Texas rigging? I've been using EWG's but after a few fish the heads tend to get torn up and I either have to bite off the ends or use a lighter to melt them back together for a few more fish. Just wondering if straight shank hooks tear the head of the bait up any less? Also, how is the catch ratio one compared to the other?

I think I remember seeing Denny Brauer fishing one of these on tv once. He said it was one of his favorites.

Wacky rigs and chatterbaits. Used to be my go to baits. Not anymore!!

The one that comes to mind first is a crankbait. A couple years ago my brother and I were out on the lake one day beating the banks, catching a few small bass. Then on a whim I tied on a KVD 1.5 sexy shad squarebill and started casting to a flat behind us and immediately caught my PB 8 lbs. 8 oz. largemouth and proceeded to absolutely wear them out that day. Since then a squarebill has become one of my favorites.

Talk about finicky bass!!! I was down at my local pond the other day, air temp in the upper 60's, mostly sunny sky but windy. Did I say windy? I meant WINDY!!! They would not touch a spinninerbait, bladed jig or any other moving bait. So for kicks and giggles..and I can't believe I did this as gusty as the wind was...I tied on a watermelon/red Brushog with a 3/8 bullet weight and immediately started catching bass. What was so crazy, I thought 'ok, if they like the watermelon/red brushog let's see how they like the same color wacky stick worm'. Result?? Not a bite. Went back to the brushog and resumed catching fish. Two different soft plastics, same color and they ate one and gave the cold shoulder to the other. I told my brother, fish are like women, you can't figure them out....sorry ladies.

Every baitcaster I've got is Abu Garcia and under $100. They are all in the 'Max' line of reels and I think the most I spent on any one of them was $60-$70 bucks. 75% of my fishing is from the bank even though I have a boat.

Yessir.

I hope this is the right place to asked this question. My brother has a 9.9 hp Mercury tiller steer motor, 3 yrs old, 15 hrs run time, plus fuel tank, line and flush muffs he's wanting to sell. What would you guys say it's worth?

No sir!!! My inventory of rods and reels number only 10 or 12 and that's counting both casting and spinning total. I do however have one reel that is high speed that I do use for topwater stuff (didn't realize it was high speed until after I'd bought it and even it gets used for other stuff) but otherwise all my stuff is multi-use. All my rods are either mediums or medium/heavy's and do double duty most of the time.

Last Wednesday it was 80 here so my brother and I fished. Didn't get skunked but close. The next day we had snow and 30's.

Just curious. How long do you make your leaders when connecting to braid on spinning gear? I've heard some anglers say no more than a rods length to keep the knot from going through the bale. Then some say it doesn't matter and use 8+ feet of leader and let the knot go through the bale. Just curious what you guys think. Oh...and I use either the FG or Albright knot. Thanks in advance.

Someone else already said you'll get as many different answers as there are users on this one. That being said, I use PowerPro on both spinning and casting.

I bought some Strike King Contra 15 lb. Fluro from WallyWorld yesterday. Only going to use it for leader line. Just wondered if any of you have used it and what do you think of it compared to Vanish? Thanks.

One of my problems is if I go for a period of time and don't tie an FG I forget which lines to pull to put tension on when I seat the knot. If I pull the wrong ones it's back to the drawing board and start all over.

Deep diving cranks. Some I bought, some I found. And a few hard jerkbaits.

Thanks guys. The Youtube videos aren't very clear on what constitutes "one wrap".