Bazoo

Thanks all. Didn't know that.

I'm not floating, nor on the mississippi. I bank fish a river, the Nolin, and I like to fish it where it's pretty fast. I cast up stream most of the time. I use crankbaits and curly tail grubs as well as a handful of other things. I like H20X squarebill, Bomber Fat Free Guppy, Zoom Fat Albert grubs on 1/4oz jig heads.

I learned to rig a texas rig, and any soft plastic, by putting the hook all the way through, then skin hooking the point to make it weedless. Is there ever a reason/need to not put the hook point all the way through the plastic? So that, instead of skin hooking it, the point remains buried? I seen this on a video I watched a while back. I don't remember who it was, but it was a pro best I recall, and he rigged his plastic this way, which I though very odd.

Has anyone checked the mileage when towing a bass raider 10? What did it drop your mpgs to?

Round reels for bass fishing come in 2 types, 1 having a side thumb release, the other having a thumb bar the same as the low profile reels currently in common use. Reels having a side thumb release aren't specifically for one thing or another, and can be used for general bass fishing. I would use them for things like spinnerbaits, jigs, larger crankbaits, and swimbaits. I prefer the feel of low profile reels, though I palm them both.

I'm not very experienced yet with jigs, but I liking a PBJ, GP, and brown. Not had as much success with black and blue. I'll have to try all black. I had one, and lost it before I got to feel it out a while back.

This is an interesting discussion. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences.

Love the one starting at 4:21. Yes, I know this an older thread.

Siebert looks good... until you get to the shipping part - $8.00 shipping. I can't buy enough gear at once right now to spread the shipping out.

Was a tough and slow bite earlier. Me and the boy tried various things, including spinnerbaits, crankbait, curly tail worms, and trick worms. Seems all they wanted was a baby brush hog.

Rat L trap for me.

I appreciate all the replies. I have tied several skirts on with braided line where the rubberband had gotten old. I check them before using them normally.

An older thread, but it had the answers I needed. Thanks all.

I'm ignorant of jigs and the price points vs quality. So I supposed I'd be looking for folks that have used those specific jigs and comparisons to higher priced/quality jigs.

Thanks all for sharing. I do check my drag periodically. Often times, before I use the reel the first time. I fish nearly daily, and while I'm not opposed to loosening the drag when the reels are not in use, it'll take some getting used to. Habits aren't hard to establish though when it means increasing gear longevity.

Is there any reason to steer clear of these? I'm leery of the Arkie, because of the low price. Strike king of course has the name, but what says yall?

Me and the boy visited one of our favorite stores. Ended up getting matching BPS hats, mine is in green. Got into a few today at the city lake. Started by skipping under a small bridge. This is a finger of the main lake where a trickle runs in. Few people take the time to fish it I think. I called for the boy to bring the phone, as he and it was in the car, and he stopped and took a picture of this walnut on the way to me, which he was proud of. Pulled this little guy out of some shallow water in a culvert. I got another bass at another spot on the lake, but without a picture.

I normally don't use anything over 12 pound mono, so I don't have my drag set very strong, but should I loosen it anyway when I'm done fishing?

Jitterbug is easy to work sitting down, and deadly. Torpedo or a devil's horse would be useful too. A weightless lizard does good for topwater. Unless it's floating, you have to keep it moving, but it doesn't take much to keep it up.

It sounds pretty darn awesome to me! I would be throwing texas rigs and spinnerbaits in there. I've not done it a whole lot yet, but I've had some success pulling a weightless lizard across the surface, both during the day and at night. I've had really good success not snagging spinnerbaits in wood. You can always use those cheap strike king promo spinnerbaits from walmart if hanging up becomes a problem. You could always replace the treble hooks on a squarebill with single hooks. Maybe not use it all the time for fear of losing it.

We all speak of bass eating bluegill and shad. I have always used the term bluegill to mean any similar bream, and used the term shad to mean any similar sized baitfish. So, do bass care if it's a bluegill or another species of bream such as a green sunfish, a warmouth, a longear, a pumkinseed? Likewise, do bass care if it's a gizzard shad or a threadfin, or (heck I don't even know the other types)? So I guess my question is, will some or all bass differentiate between prey species? Second question, what about a bluegill eater, if he's targeting bluegill beds and a fat shad comes swimming by, will he be just as likely to hit that or less likely?

Interesting. Along with the responses here, I've also been reading a bit about it. Thank you all. So the Hank Parker M/F rod I have is better suited to worms and jigs, and the Black Max M/M rod is better suited to crankbaits and spinnerbaits. I've been using the M/M for everything, as my all around bank fishing rod, and I'm not unhappy with it for texas rigs and jigs. I have felt it as underpowered though occasionally. I am going to use the M/F as my all around for a while, taking note of how it works. I often carry 2 rods with me when fishing, and I almost always rig one for texas rigs and one for crankbaits or moving baits. I have a Proficency Retro, which is only marked Medium best I recall, but it's lighter, and more for panfish. It does fine with things like small crankbaits. It's mushy with texas rigs and jigs. I have to really give them the business on the hookset. I've been just noticing and experimenting with what works with the different rods I have and why.

Lots of good advice. I think that being good would consist of being able to read the conditions, the water and weather, and make the best choices of lures and beginning presentation. If that doesn't result in catching fish, then determining why is the next step. Is it because someone just came before you and fished the spot, is it because of constant local pressure, is it because the fish just don't want to bite that day, or perhaps you made a mistake with your choices, or is it that the bass just aren't there? Being able to adapt is important, thinking outside the box, and not giving up are important. Learning is important. But the most important thing I think is confidence. One thing to remember, something that's helped me with confidence, is that you won't get skunked if you fish long enough. That is to say, if you go for 2 hours and get skunked, remind yourself, you'd likely have caught one in 4 hours. Rarely will someone go 8 hours and get skunked. I have no doubt that I would never get skunked if I fished from sunup to sundown. But going for an hour or two, sure, I get skunked all the time.

I'd say your list is pretty close. I would say, add to that: Spooks Buzzbaits Curly tail grubs Senko Fluke Texas rigs, carolina rigs, shaky head, and drop shot are great to make soft plastics extremely versatile. Once you master a basic texas rig, you just tweak it whenever you change whatever plastic you're using. I would suggest that if you narrow it down, you could really do well with just Texas Rigs (including weightless flukes and senkos), Spooks, frogs, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits.

Proud of the boy, he is learning to unhook them himself. He often can fix his worm too. The state record bass was caught on a junebug lizard, which I remind him of, and ya can't blame him for liking them. Never had much luck with these Rebel Craws. Boy was tearing them up.