MediumMouthBass

Im curious if theres a difference with Country Bros in the north vs the south of these here United States? Up here its usually the guys between 20-30, squatted trucks, 300 credit scores, just moved out of moms basement, have a "im a country boy" sticker on the bumper but live in a city and dont know how to start a lawn mower. Windows down but blasting music. Seems counter productive.

Most of the mainstream colors, whether for soft plastics or hardbaits dont work for the bass in my waters. I spent years trying black and blue, junebug, green pumpkin, watermelon seed, watermelon red flake, white.... Resulted in either very few bass or no bass. The only colors that work for me Black, not alot of people throw all black baits. This at one time was my #1 bass producer regardless of water clarity. Strike Kings Okeechobee Craw, this would probably be my #1 color so soft plastics. And then Magic Craw from Netbait, with a jig skirt with similar colors it just does very well. Option 2 and 3 are very odd choices for me, they are still a green pumpkin with some sort of blue in them, but something about the colors mixed just changes the way the bass bite them, individually those colors couldnt catch a bass starving where i fish. These colors arent exactly the most unpopular, but they arent the most popular either. Havent really seen many people fishing anything in these colors locally too.

Spinners/spoons. Smaller crankbaits and jerkbaits. But bigger trout like Browns will and have hit full sized ones. Berkley Powerbait micetails. Have caught tons of bass and trout on them. These are often overlooked, they work quite well for trout. Years ago at the Salmon River i was going to try some pink TRD's but didnt get to try since the river wasnt good that weekend. If you are fishing near brown trout, and pretty much brown trout only for that species, but are near bass try some big mouse flies. They can be casted with anything just use a weighted bobber.

Ive experienced several times where when im fishing near the bank on my kayak, a boat, or several kayaks will come right next to me and fish. Its usually a im bigger than you so move over mentality. Also have been kayak fishing near the bank on a mostly empty day at the lake, maybe a few people bank fishing on the other side. And with plently of areas to fish people will see me, and go right infront of where im fishing. And try casting into my area to get me to move. So i move over and then they leave that spot. I try avoiding kayakers and boaters fishing, theres tons of places to fish even in smaller bodies of water. And from being a former bank fisherman i give them plenty of room when they are there. Ill fish near a dock when able to do so. But will avoid them if anyones around. The human race today is nothing like it once was, everyones entitled and thinks the earth was built for them. The only time i would ever go next to a dock with someone on it fishing, is if they caught my pet bass. He wanders off every once in awhile.

The SLX A is priced very odd, for the $25 more for the XT the price jump is worth it. And those Tatula CT's go on sale often for $125.

Ive fished my whole life, only got into bass fishing a few years ago though. Its beaten every other type of fishing ive ever done. Ive fished in many different states, even in the salt (Maine). All types of different bodies of water. The journey so far sadly cost me to break up with my love for fly fishing for trout and panfish, i still do it time to time but nothing has come close to fighting a bass through fields of lily pads, trying to keep them from running into trees or wood, and the excitement and joy they bring, whether big bass or even the 1-2lbers.... My absolute favorite is the 20-60 acre ponds or swamps. Often overlooked by most people heading to the bigger lakes, no fish finder or tech needed, easy to memorize the bottom and whats where. And you can cover most of it quickly if in a rush. The bass in the ones by me are usually 2-4lbers but several have been caught and posted over the last decade either at or above 10lbs. So they can definitely grow big in these smaller waters. Usually they are restricted to trolling motors or paddle only so no jetskis or wake boats either. And after awhile you can read the place like its a book written just for you. But river fishing for smallmouth and walleye comes very close.

99% of fish are in the water. Never underestimate how close a bass is to the bank, or how shallow they might be. Ive caught bass in inches of water, inches from the bank. Line, lure, bait, color, and size mean nothing most of the time. If i took yarn, tied it to a hook with a piece of a plastic straw a bass would probably bite it. Do some things work better than others? Absolutely, but our human minds love to over complicate every single detail and next thing you know, youve got a room with 1 bait in 40 different colors you wont even use. 10 different brands of line, and enough lures to start a tackle shop. Its a rabbit hole within a rabbit hole. For trout fishing i can understand it, but bass arent line shy, and remember they need to eat to survive. Some days are great, and some arent. Try making the bass-less days a learning day, maybe pracitice casting or skipping, try new lures and techniques, etc. And just because you didnt catch any bass, doesnt mean you have to tell the guys at the boat ramp that? You caught a 10lber for sure, state record, for sure, and stick to it. Do the complete opposite of what the popular guys on youtube are saying to use for that week, if they have hundred of thousand of views, than more than likely the people in your local lake have heard about that bait, in that color. And remember, fishing is all about the fun.

The SLX XT, SLX, and MGL 70 SLX are all the same size, not sure if the new "A" models are different frames but i thought they only added small things to update them. The Tatula CT, SV TW, and Fuego. Along with most Lews reels feel the same size in hand. The Tatula 150 is the only bigger sized modern reel i have, its probably the size you are looking for. Oh and the Zillion is even smaller, i prefer the size of the SLX's and Tatula CT's. I hate using the Zillion, for many reasons. One of which is its small size.

Put the spool in hot water, fixes mono memory for me. Try San Diego jam or palomar knot.

FB marketplace is an absolute clown show of a circus. Guys are selling "practically brand new, but used for 4 years" SLXs for $10 less than new. And then ask me to sell my $200-400 rods and reels to them for $50-100, used once or with tags still on them.... One time selling a lawn mower a guy offered to trade me a goat. And for the car side of it, its even worse.... Old Japanese performance cars that were never worth much and were mass produced are being sold for $30-40k or more, but locally can be bought from used dealers for $10-15k.... And when you ask them about it they say a few stickers and a aftermarket exhaust make it super rare.... It was once a great platform for buying and selling, but now is a disaster. And the people are really interesting.

Using a spinner might be the cause, while they work very well for panfish, trout, and pickerel. Bass fishing with spoons and spinners is very hit or miss. And using a treble hooked spinner will catch alot of leaves and wood. Try a spinnerbait, bigger profile and flashing blades to draw in the bass, even in dirty water. And does great in leaves, grass, and wood since its a single hook, and they are designed to come through some unpleasant places in the water.

Remember the good old days, when we watched Terminator movies, or various other movies and that gave us fear of AI and mass surveillance. Now we choose to actually pay for both. I am young, but i dont want any of this. Id rather go back to the stone ages. (And isnt AI just a bunch of weird cartoon like silly images? Or giving respones that are completely the opposite of what history has taught?) To me thats not worth bringing Arnold out of retirement.

I have a mixture of really clear/clean lakes, mainly rock bottoms and you can see down between 5-15 feet. And others that look awful, 1 foot or less visibility, junk on the bottom as well as the surface. If i stepped in the lake id probably sink a foot or more in mud and other stuff thats on the bottom. Always having to pull slime and grass off the hooks, and getting stuck in wood frequently. I always did better at the nicer lakes, until i learned how to fish the junk filled ponds and smaller lakes. Now i prefer them, i catch more bass, and much bigger bass to. I usually stay away from the bottom though, i cant imagine a bass digging through mud for a bait, but it has probably happened. Ill either use different search baits like lipless crankbaits or Chatterbaits and rip them through the vegetation, bounce them over or off of the wood, and just cast out and reel back in. Or ill try fishing the bottom without getting dragged down into it with a weight, i like weightless senkos and flukes for this. Lets me fish the bottom without the mess or getting pulled into a never ending void of mud. Try moving up in the water column, search baits are a good choice, same with the weightless soft plastics, but weighted soft plastics moved fast or hopped up and down can be good producers too, top water baits are great for places that dont have vegetation on top, and if there is use frogs. And try a spinnerbait through those wooded areas.

I saw where the market/economy was heading early. Inflation/price gouging was high on gas, cars, homes, certain foods, but most things were still priced normal, i figured it would go bad with everything. But right then fishing gear was absolutely insanely priced with how extreme the sales, deals, and promos being offered were. It truly was a once in a lifetime kind of thing. I spent way to much on baits, tackle, hooks, weights, rods, reels, kayaks, line, sun shirts and hoodies, as well as fly tying materials along with jig making stuff. I usually only spent less than $100 per year but there were several websites having sales including gift card promos, like for example Midway and Omnia had some deals that were practically buy $500 worth of certain brand reels or rods and you got $500 back in gift cards. Tons of shops online had sales that were frequently 25% 50% 75% and sometimes even almost giving them away for free (line baits and tackle). Example i got Lews rods and reels from midway 50% off with the GC deal, Several Shimano and Daiwas for the same off Omnia, Several times got certain odd colored hardbaits for say they cost $5-8, id get them for $1.75-3. I bought, and i bought in bulk. Soft plastics and terminal tackle were pretty much the same across a few different websites, sometimes they were the good colors and sometimes the weirdest colors you could imagine. Then with the Midway $275 St Croix rods giving you $200 back in gift cards i had to do that too. Tackle Warehouse had the Daiwa Aird X rods normally $55 but if you bought in bulk they would get lower and lower. I bought over a dozen and probably got each one between $27-33 a rod. Dicks sporting goods had several events with Yum, Zoom, Strike King where it would be buy 3 baits get 3 free.... Bait WRX had some holiday sales that would stack on top of already severely discounted clearance items. And then when DSG near me closed their Field and Stream they were selling fly tying materials 75% off. And then DSG wanted to clean house with the SLX's awhile back, saw a post on the latest sale thread here they were selling them for $40. Called every store near me and only one store had 1 single reel remaining. I got sucked into the sales, its like a timeshare. I refuse to buy anything now. even if Jackhammers were selling for $1, i couldnt care. Bought so many reels in the wrong hand retrieve, rods that are nice, but i prefer my Aird X's more, to many crankbaits, jerkbaits, and various other soft and hard baits i cant stand using, and tons of line from different brands when i only use YZH... Reason i wrote all of this is because no matter how good a sale is, even if its truly a once in a lifetime deal. Spend nothing but the exact amount it will cost to get only what you will need. It got to the point i thought hmmm you know what? If i were fishing and this bait got stuck in a tree ill probably need 15 extras because they will be over 100% more expensive to buy next time. And while that is correct now, the baits will just collect dust. But that was 1-2 years ago, this year so far (since January) i have spent probably only $20, the rest was with spent with remaining gift cards i had. And out of curiosity i checked the places i ordered from several hundred times, and their sales are an absolute joke, its like 10% off. If even that. Everything in the fishing industry is now MSRP for the most part, although there may be a good or great sale here and there, but thats how it used to be almost daily, for the whole year.... Not anymore, the economys water flooded into everything. If i had to pay todays prices, i would just fish with a stick that has sewing line, and use a hook from a soda can with a worm. I started an LLC, got a business name, and am starting the process of setting everything up to sell off the overflow of stuff i bought, but the main thing will be tying flies and selling them. Did i spend more money than i should have? Yes and no. I couldve lived in Vegas for half a year, but instead im doing what i love, meeting and talking to good people that love fishing (all types of species not just bass, sorry) and im working for myself, not some jerk in corporate America. I work when i want, go on vacation when i want, and fish when and as long as i want.

The Mach series of Lews is a sad excuse of their name being even on those rods and reels. When i first got into baitcasting gear i saw their line up and thought it was cool, several sponsored youtubers said they were great, and the colors were better than most of the plain black and cork combos on the shelves. Did a bunch of research on these and learned just how bad they are, its cheap components that arent good quality at all. No where even near it. The rods snap like twigs and the reels are getting horrible reviews constantly on the places websites that sell them. Subpar materials, and once in a DSG i tried one out, it felt worse than my $30 used Black Max that was never cleaned. The entire Mach series is 100% social media influencer hype and marketing geared towards beginners at its finest. Now are they okay and will be fine for most people? Sure. But they are worth about $30-50 for the entire combo. Instead using the marketing to their favor they charge more for them than their actual high quality, highly reviewed, and made wtih quality parts better rods and reels. For context a Mach 2 SLP reel costs $100-120. LFS $60-100 depending on sales.... A LFS is a very basic, nothing fancy reel. But built like a tank.

Im going to have an opinion that 99% of you will either be against or just shocked. I dont clean my reels much, if at all. I will either just wipe the spindle on the spool and add a drop of oil every 4 years, or i just wont clean or oil them at all for their whole lives. I know some people clean theirs religiously, but in all my years/entire life of fishing i havent had 1 single reel go bad from not cleaning them or even heard of one in real life aside from here or youtube. And ive put my reels through quite alot. Ive got reels from $30-400 and all but the defective ones from the factory work, and all but the Black Maxes are flawless still. I have done a few quick 2 minute cleanings on my nicer ones, but its uncommon that i will. Because all the experiences ive had so far give me no reason to do so, others may vary and be the opposite. What i will add is this, if you dont think you can do it, theres probably 50 videos on youtube that can and will teach you. If you focus, make a plan, and take notes you can probably do it without issue. Just get a clean/neat area, have a few trays to separate each category and area of parts. I personally dont think paying someone to clean a reel is worth it, especially a deep clean. Most reels that are commonly bought are between $75-150, most cleanings/deep cleanings cost about $25-50, and then add $25 for insured shipping. So after tax you are either paying half or full cost for what your reels worth. However if you really want to have it done try finding someone reliable thats much more cost effective, and if its a antique reel, or something handed down from a family member then maybe it would be worth it. I had a deep clean and fix done to an old Ambassadeur before i became more mechanically inclined. The cost i paid for it to be done just to sit on a shelf as a nice decoration was twice the price of the new C5 i got on a great sale a bit later... Now that im more mechanically inclined from different work and projects ive done lately i probably couldve spent 1/8th of the cost and did it myself.

What rod for a poop bait? Well that DEPENDS.

Honestly, it probably wouldve worked without the cleaning. Its amazing what this reel that costs $30 is capable of. Before i got my nicer reels, i used one i bought used that i never cleaned for frogging in weeds. Still havent cleaned it, and the bearings are dryer than the desert. Still keeps going. Also the insides are filled with dried green slime. This post really makes me think about why i ever upgraded to more expensive reels, this will outlast them by decades...

I have a 7' MH TP1X casting rod, i usually prefer cheaper rods but this one was almost half off so i bought it. Its a very stiff/sturdy rod. This was one of my first impressions of Lews rods, i really like their reels but wasnt sure about the rods. It does excellent paired with my SLX for throwing just about everything, it does probably the best with football jigs, swim jigs, and spinnerbaits for me. I havent been to kind to this rod, its been thrown on the ground, and the rod tip was also wacked into the ground a few times as well, its also been the victim of lures stuck in rocks and wood. Sometimes i thought for sure the rod wouldve snapped in half the way it bent trying to get them unstuck (i have to get a wooden dowel). Still flawless. Really like the color too, its something different. Handle is really great, unlike the KVD rods.... Those make me confused as to why Lews doesnt sell them at Walmart for $30. Its a nice rod, i really like it. But its not worth the full price, try getting it on sale if you can wait. Its price is close to St Croix and Dobyns, also Falcon and several others, and at the end of the day its still a Lews rod.

Another vote for the Aird X, goes on sale a few times a year for as cheap as $33 to as high as $55. Out of 14 of the ones i have (13 are 1 piece) only 2 broke because of slamming them into the trucks tailgate (but its only the top guides that are bad, a $5 rod tip kit will fix both). The rest have been wacked into trees, smashed into rocks and gravel, thrown on the ground, thrown in the truck bed or the car, clumped together walking for miles, hauled in over a thousand pounds of weeds, grass, lily pads. And hundreds of pounds of bass, crappie, trout, and pickerel. I have every rod in the Aird X line up (1 piece) and when compared to my rods costing double, triple, or even up to $300. The Aird X remains my favorite. (have used braid, mono, and hybrid lines, all did good)

I dont have a clue how to measure the lb of drag i have, but after losing a ton of fish on a MH fast rod using a treble hooked lipless i changed it to where if i pull hard line comes off the spool. Havent lost many hooked fish since, including some giants. And ive brought in more bass on that rod using cranks than i have by using expensive specific moderate cranking rods. I used to believe drag had to be locked down 100% no matter the bait, i lost alot of bass because of this.... Their mouths are thin, our hooks are weak given enough stress, our rods can break, and our reel gears can become meshed together. Somethings gotta give when theirs that much force, and the weakest link always will. Fighting a bass, especially bigger bass is very much give and take. Some might come in easy and straightforward but others you might pull them in 20' and they might take half that back seconds later. I fish alot of open water with heavy grass vegetation, but they usually dont dive for it. Weeds and lily pads however i could understand needing that drag to be a bit more tight to avoid letting them dive into that mess of vegetation. But you just have to be ok with losing some bass every now and then.

For bigger guys i think Nucanoe is the best option. Very, very wide kayak, has a 360 swivel seat, tons of room. Lots of adjustment options, and an extreme weight capacity. The Unlimited (kinda pricey) has a 650lbs weight max (for kayaks weight capacity maxes take your weight plus the weight of the kayak combined, if its under the max you are good to go). Example, i weigh 210lbs, my kayaks 77lbs, weight capacity is 450. So ive got about another 163lbs of gear i can bring before things start getting sketchy on the water. Its a big kayak, ive seen them at my local shop and i want one some day. Its like a boat, but lighter and easier to move. The budget kayaks are what most newer people gravitate towards (think Walmart kayaks for under $500). Stay far away from these. For the average guy they wont be enough or even hold up well, for anyone that has balance issues its an immediate no. These kayaks tip so easily, even when sitting. Sadly fishing kayaks are very much a pay to play type of thing. And the more expensive ones are definitely worth it, but they arent for everyone. Most people decide they would rather keep saving for a boat, or just pass on the kayak for the moment.

Ive heard the stories, many.... many times.... And not just for fishing, in all things in life. Unless you are living paycheck to paycheck if you have a wife thats anything even somewhat like a control freak, that gets mad about fishing purchases (other than a $50k boat, cuz thats understandable) then you dont have a wife, you have a boss. And this is the reason why ill either never get married, or ill do it 5 times. Remember guys, marriage is supposed to be a 50/50 partnership, and also a friendship. If its neither, than the marriage wont last. And if anything other, it will just eat away at your soul.

I would really like to buy all remaining stock. But sadly they aren't expensive enough.... I dont want those pike bullying me for being poor, so ill have to pass on this one! Let me know if anyone has a swimbait that costs half a current mortgage (or twice a used car), thanks.

I hear alot of good reviews on them, ill have to pick one up someday to compare to the other legendary budget rod, the Aird X. $55