Bazoo

Coaxed a few the other day.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, that never occurred to me.

I'll definitely have to experiment with the rigging. Hmm I can't find my aberdeen hooks... dagnabit. Can't even find one from when we went fishing with worms last.

Thanks for the lead. Nothing wrong with panfish on this lake. I've fished there a lot and got skunked. About the best performer I've found is a 4" Fat Albert Grub Rigged Texas Rigged. It's something they don't see a lot, subtle. Rarely will they bite anything traditional bass, and even turn their nose up at neds for my buddies. I rarely fish neds myself.

1/4oz beetle spin body and a penny for reference.

I have been using the Ozark Trails worm hooks with good success. I don't like them as well as Gamakatsu, but I like them much better than the cheap Eagle Claw Hooks. They are sharp, don't rust, and I don't have a problem hooking up. I got this guy on a 1/0 OT hook and a Zoom Fat Albert Grub. 3lb14oz Got him on an OT buzzbait, but with a replaced skirt.

I've had some good success lately with the Ozark Trail crankbaits down at the river in the white water below a low head dam.

I have in mind a sneaky lure for my heavily pressured local lake; I have a small amount of artificial crickets that were given to me for Christmas. However... I cannot find anything about how to rig them. I am thinking, a small aberdeen hook rigged so it'll be weedless, and then behind a split shot. Am I thinking right? how else does one use these things?

I have mentioned my local heavily pressured public lake previously. I get bit there with some finesse presentations, and I'm always thinking of an edge for there. It got me to thinking, no one fly fishes it. Now.. I don't want to get into fly fishing, but I could perhaps throw some fly fishing lures on a split shot rig. It may be just the ticket for some finicky, pressured bass. I'm looking for lure suggestions, ideas, even some criticism. Thanks all.

I ran across this thread because I have a Black Max, not sure the version, and I've been using it a year. It's still running like a champ. I've oiled it a couple of times. I fish 4-5 times a week, for several hours each trip, plus I cast in the yard for practice and with my boy, so it sees some use. It's not my only reel, but it was my only baitcasting reel for about 4 months. I have landed 2 fish 3-5 lbs with it, and of course gobs of small ones. It does seem to cast quite far compared to other reels I've tried, and I often cast a weightless lizard or fluke and a Lunkerhunt Pocket Frog.

Sounds like an easy firewood grab to me... I'd be thankful if I owned that side of the fence.

I suggest casting a couple times a week at home. Up your familiarness with casting and gear. I fish 4-5 times a week a s I cast in the yard some too. I rarely backlash in a manner that isn’t just a few loops. When I do it’s because of hitting an obstacle on the backcast. I say braid is slightly harder to cast and slightly harder to remove a backlash from.

Spool mass explains why the Black Max will outcast the Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier 2 reels I have with light lures. Thank you very much for the information. I'll have to do some more reading on the subject.

Thanks, I was clueless on BFS. I just read an article on it. Is there a name for the light casting gear that isn't into the BFS range? What kind of fish is that? some type of carp?

I've always thought of baitcasting gear as for 1/4 oz on the lightest and preferably 3/8 oz and larger. 10 pound line or larger, normally 12 or 14. However, I've started to see that I can cast lighter lures, when using a lighter rod and lighter line. I have a cheap Zebco spincast rod made of fiberglass, and I put my Black Max on it. I've been using it a while, and I love the way the rod loads up, especially with lighter lures. Well, I extended grip about 4 inches and now it's got a great balance and good support when reeling. I can cast a weightless fluke or lizard with it. Today I used a size 3 split shot and a weightless Zoom Fat Albert Grub. I'm casting just as far as I would with my normal spinning rig. This was with 10 pound Big Game. I respooled earlier with 8 pound Big Game, and gave a few test casts in the yard, NICE! For some reason, it's intriguing to me. Anyone else experiment with light baitcasting gear? Since I've just cobbled together something I had that is working, what does everyone else recommend if I were going to buy a rod/reel/line just for this?

No question as to this being public. My question is, can I fish up the shore line of the sides are are privately owned once launching through the public access portion.

Nice to hear it. I've had both stellar customer service and very disappointing service from the companies I've dealt with in my other hobby, guns/reloading/casting.

Howdy from Kentucky.

Sorry to hear it. But I am with @ol'crickety, go after that monster again!

Howdy and welcome. Why do juvenile bass avoid crawdads? Just the size of the meal vs size of the mouth?

Howdy from the Commonwealth of Kentucky!

I throw them. I found a gold H20X Squarebill, tied it on, and started catching fish. That's all it took for me. I keep one in my box all the time now.

I was gifted this old girl a while back, and after some oil, cleaning, and some casting in the yard, she casts pretty good. I've fished with it some, but ain't caught anything when using it. I plan to though, give it at least one last hoorah. Does anyone know what year range this was from? I couldn't find anything about it when searching. Was it like.. top of the line when new, or was it a budget reel or what? What is graphite bearings? Oh, my boy who is 4, about to be 5, LOVES it. He is learning to use a baitcaster with it. He can cast some of the time without backlashing. So far, we haven't had to cut the line off, just get dads help to untangle it. He's learning the art of removing a backlash too.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. That'll get your mustache to flapping in the breeze!