Pat Brown

At what point do you feel it is not worth it to put new guides on a rod? I've never done it but have a small pile of rods in the 1-300$ range that need one or two new guides (probably just get all new ones that match if anything). I am considering using the cheaper end to learn or try to do it myself / I am also considering paying my local tackle shop to do the work. At what point do you just throw a rod away vs decide it needs new guides? I've had rods that seemed totally fine and given me years of use snap for no good reason and I'd feel pretty sore if that happened the trip after a fresh set of guides etc. Thoughts?

The shortest I'd go is probably 7'1 for flipping and pitching and I'd probably get an Irod gen3 in that size in the H/F or MH/F action depending on how hard you set the hook. My preference is a 7'6 but it's definitely a lot of rod swinging around.

Making me think I should probably just go for the TAT200 in 7:3:1 and look for a deal on it. I feel like it'll be plenty of IPT for me - I tend to fish frogs on a pretty tight line - my experience has taught me you want to do that with a frog anyway. I don't think it'll make me THAT less efficient in a day's time fishing a frog - I fish em pretty slow in general. Frog reels get gross and disgusting and beat to a pulp anyways so saving some money makes sense also. EDIT: Ordered the Tatula 200 in 7:3:1 for 15% off of 170 with free shipping (145$) to my house tomorrow on Amazon. Let y'all know how it goes!

I'm about to pull the trigger on some fancy frog gear and I'm sort of torn on a lot of Daiwa's offerings. The SV150 looks incredibly nice and seems like it should fit the bill nicely. The TAT200 is really nice - 7:3:1 is as slow as I'd go and an 8 speed would be more versatile - but I can't find a spool this deep with 8 speed reel. The Coastal TWS 150 HSL looks killer 7:1:1 is a really nice ratio and it looks sturdy and has nice line capacity. I've read some older threads (a little confusing) where people talk about deeper spools that you can drop into some of the regular Daiwa offerings? Is there a regular 8 speed Daiwa offering where I can drop in a 200 size spool and then have that deeper spool for heavier braid? Should I just get the 200 in the 7:3:1 and accept that it's a little slower than 8 and try to make it work? I've fished frogs on 6 speed reels and it's fine but an 8 speed I can throw a buzzbait and a frog and that's really all I throw for topwater and that makes 8 speed much more appealing. Thoughts bass resource hive mind?

Topwater - buzzbait and frog and walking baits. Any water conditions. Jigs - swim jig or flipping jig and craw. Stained water usually 0-8 ft of water for me usually banging into cover on the bottom or near the bank. Swimbaits - owner flashy swimmer + crush city mayor or storm largo shad etc any water conditions. Shallow crankbaits - square bills - L shaped bills - wakebaits - lipless crankbaits. Cloudy windy days or dirty water. Spinnerbaits - like them on cloudy and windy days and when the water is dirty. Jerkbait - soft and hard work great depending on the cover or depth or amount of current you're working with. Any water conditions. Punch rig/heavy t rig - dying vegetation fields.

Those are some real nice looking bass and if they come on a buzzbait they're even nicerer. It's science. 😎🫡🎣

I love my lucky craft jerk baits. I'm always so tempted to buy the lipless baits but I basically always lose my lipless cranks and 16$ is a lot of cash when a 5$ bill lewis trap will catch the same fish.

Some fun action last night at a little pond. Buzzbait and frog and Pop n fly got it done. Sunday's boat trip might be an all topwater day - pretty excited 😍🐸🎣

I think I've said this before somewhere else - @Catt knows what I'm talking about. Most days are 'opportunistic reconnaissance' every month. There's about 4-6 days a month where *you will have a shot* at Nadine. I don't get discouraged by a skunk. I expect them. I DO still catch fish but they're bonus fish. I'm out there gathering data/information so when I encounter the monthly solunar peaks - I can capitalize and be *in the right place*. I am a big game hunter. I ain't fishing for tight eyes. Most of what I'm doing is looking for where the big girls are feeding and when they are feeding - with low expectations of aggression levels conducive to biting artificial lures *most days every month*. If I can figure out where they're eating and when - I can nail them when the sun and moon and conditions all get right *maybe*. For what it's worth the only thing that will change my tune in a hurry is weather. Low pressure front? Gentle rain? Little breeze? Clouds roll in? Sun comes out? Oh yeah. Now we just might be in hunt mode and out of recon mode for a lil bit. 😎😉🤙🏼🎣

I do a very similar technique a LOT this time of year called 'tightlining' a swim jig. I cast it out - let it hit the bottom and pop my reel handle Forward 1/8-1/4 turns and then let it sit. The bait moves very slowly but naturally and stays in the strike zone a long time. You always feel the bite and the hookset can be absolutely instantly. I love doing it when they're biting it. Tried stitching but found it harder to control how small the increments I was moving the bait were and harder to feel bites and react.

I would say that the fall bite is just beginning to turn on here. Been doing well on shad jigs and topwater. Really hoping the water temp settles in the high 60s soon - that's when topwater really gets crazy.

True. But my son LOVES to panfish. He fishes often 10 feet from the bank in 1 ft or less of crystal clear water. No bass in sight. He'll catch panfish off an area for a while and he and I will be watching the area with polarized glasses for any sign of bass moving in etc and enjoy ourselves as he keeps reeling in gill after gill. Every year THIS happens at least once: he'll chuck his pop n fly in there and hook a frisky one that pulls his drag and takes him away from the beds AND the bank and BOOM - the whole deal will get smoked by a rogue 6-8 lber out of completely nowhere and he'll have them both on the line for a second or two before she spits the sunfish. I don't disagree with you at all from an efficiency standpoint but sometimes catching the big one requires us to be cunning rather than efficient.

Biggest piece of advice I can give a new buzzbait angler - keep moving.

I usually cast them out and let them hit the bottom and point my rod at the bait and start the retrieve slow and steady with some pauses but no twitching. Another retrieve I like is cast it out - let it hit the bottom - point rod at bait - twitch the reel and pause small increments like a glide bait. Another retrieve I like is cast it out and start reeling with the rod tip high so it bulges the surface and then slow it just enough to where it stops bulging and then speed it back up over and over again. Another retrieve is to cast it past a target and immediately start reeling it and when it gets to the target slow your reel and start shaking the rod tip to 'hover' the jig in the strike zone. Another retrieve I like is cast it out and let it hit the bottom. Rip your rod up and let the bait fall on slack line. Do this in little 1-2-3 rip bursts. Heavier weights are good for this one. Hopping and dragging them and merely pitching and flipping them also work! I think it's the same as any jig but the white jig is a generally more natural color despite how we imagine a fish sees our baits etc

I throw white jigs more than any other color all year around. They are excellent in clean and dirty water fished slow or fast. 'white' is more of a generic gizzard/baitfish pattern to be fair but it ain't green or black.

I don't think that's how I'd interpret what Tom is saying. No matter where you are - bass are part of a food web. They feed on things that feed on things that feed on things. This time of year, minnows and tiny baitfish are a very important part of the diet of everything everywhere because winter is coming everywhere.

Can't argue with a single thing the hack man is saying here!

I like to start looking at the creeks and flats and points etc where the wind has been blowing into it for a few days or even just for a little while if no wind for the last few days etc. The food chain starts with things that can't move themselves - the wind moves them. As far as baits to target LMB? My baits never change regardless of the forage present - so that's not gonna help you much more than saying - keep tossing stuff you're good at fishing. In the early fall when water is clear I usually go small and as water quality gets worse with rain and dying vegetation I go bigger and bulkier to displace more water and be more noticeable.

They're probably mostly keyed in on the vulnerable juvenile sunfish and bass that are in that 3 to 5-in range for the most part this time of year that are indeed targeting those little tiny phytoplankton eaters.

In my experience balls of bluegill/shiners/baby bass (much like shad in appearance and behaviour) start popping up around March and don't stop being an important part of LMB diet until the water gets to be less than 50° in shallow water and sunfish and shiners move deep. They suspend on sunny days - usually around some kind of cover for the shade and protection it provides and they swim around more open water on cloudy days and relate to the surface more (usually). I find the largest bass often relate to these extremely tiny baitfish - not to eat them - to eat what's eating them. 😎😉🎣

I feel like it's the ones I know are gonna bite - I struggle to hook and it's the one that surprise me that I catch way more often. Weird huh?

35$ spinner bait? Needs some zircon or some titanium or both - needs to have a spinner that uses Bluetooth to spin. Needs to have been used by a touring pro to win a tournament. Needs to have been hand *cobbled* by a true artisan in somewhere like Italy or Sweden. Every time you cast it the fish swim up to it and visibly fight each other verbally over who gets to bite etc

Basically you went straight to the juice - white spinner baits. Yeah they mimic all the baitfish - especially the little ones that everything eats - regardless of species - That's the juice. 😋😋😋 Trailers? Sure maybe if the fish want em. Trailer hooks? Same deal kinda. If they're short striking - sure maybe. Other skirt colors - if it helps give you confidence try it. I like to play around with the wire length and blade sizes and shapes and number of blades more so than the different colors or trailers. Now keep tossing em!

Tank on the square bill for the win! LOVE a crankbait bite - hoooo boy. Congratulations!

I pretty much always doll baits up in some way. I can't just fish them the way they are - and yet I buy them how they come. 🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️