WRB-2.0

Tuna and bass have nothing in common other than being predator fish. Tuna don't have swim bladders and can't stop swimming or they sink. What that means is tuna are always on the move looking for baitfish. To find tuna you must find baitfish and some bird species also live on the same baitfish....birds have tremendous ability to see food, they can't smell it! On the ocean active feeding birds means active feeding predators, very important. Fresh water bass are also easier to catch when they are active feeders, the problem is bass feed on a wider variety of prey and pelagic baitfish that flying birds feed on are not always available. Watching your local ecosystem for active animal activity is a good indicator that predators may also be active, including bass. Tom

If your friend has a crankbait rod, put the reel on that. A rod that bends easier, more parabolic, is easier for you to learn to cast with. Trigger stick handles are longer (12"-15") so you can use both hands. I believe there are threads or vedio's that detail how to cast a bait casting reel on this site, read and or look at them. Tom

Sound above the water doesn't penetrate the surface of the water unless the air is moving from the sound waves. Sound underwater are vibrations moving the water. Fish hear or feel the vibrations from great distances; your outboard engine and trolling motor propellers create "loud" underwater vibrations that fish "hear" , your sonar puts out pulse that fish feel, your line may vibrate above water, but is dampened quickly underwater. The answer is; no your noisy reel only bothers you or anyone who can hear it. Tom

Legacy reels were manufactured by the company who's name is on the reel. None of today's American name reels are made in the USA today. Japanese reels like Daiwa and Shimano are designed in Japan, only the higher end reels are manufactured in Japan. South Korea and China manufacture nearly every reel in the $75-$250 range, including Pure Fishing brands, Abu Garcia. To say these reels share technology and part design is true. What makes one reel superior to the other, not the name plate! Quality comes from attention to details, materials, precision gears, bearings and quality control. The bearings and clutch disk materials can be changed, the design can't. Taking your reels to a trained technician each year for annual service is a good idea. Asking the technician which reel is more reliable, higher quality, the answer will more than likely be the Japanese reels; Daiwa and Shimano. Tom

Don't even think about Xtreme Custom Tackle Scroungers. Tom PS; use the search tool

Fish deeper and slower.

6 years old may be too young to start with a bait casting reel. He will enjoy a spinning reel/rod and have more success. Your son wants to drive your car, your boat, etc., you are the dad, he is the son. Dad knows best. Another option is you get 2 spinning outfits one for your son, one for yourself and fish together using similar lures. When he gets a little older he will have larger hands and better fishing skills. Whatever....it's your decision. Tom

Shad net! Bass get on a shad bite very little else will get bit. Structure spoons about the same size as the shad are another good option. Tom

Uptom's Customs, Josh also makes "normal" size big worms between 9" to 16", the 24" is a monster worm! Custom hand poured worms that work great. Tom

10-15 mph wind is high?? Maybe to control your kayak, that is a gentle breeze just enough so everything should work good. Tom

Try them the proof is in the pudding. Bo advocates a snap set with his jigs, so set the hook they the jig maker suggest. The *** jig has gained a lot of popularity in the west coast in a short time period because they work!Tom

With a standard worm hook you must be careful that the line doesn't contact the hook shaft barbs and nick it. You also need to be careful the hook eye where it wraps around to the hook shaft doesn't cut the line when tightening the knot. Drop shot hooks don't have barbs, nose hook the worm. Owners 5133 down shot hook is good for weedless hooking worms, no barbs. The San Diego jam knot works good with FC line, single line knot is easier to tie without getting into the hook eye or barb issues. The Palomar knot is OK, if tied correctly. Set your drag with a scale at 2 lbs! Test your knots by pulling on the line/ hook before using it. Test the line by wrapping around your hand and giving it a snap test, bad line breaks easily. Tom

Considering bass are only active feeding a small percentage of the day(10-15%) and neutral (catchable with slow presentations) about 50%, I would use slower bottom or near bottom contact lures. You were fishing shallow water,move out into deeper water or find a ditch, channel, rocks or cover, etc., that offers deeper water close to where you caught bass the day before.Deeper bass are less affected by barometric pressure changes or bright sunlight. Tom

On a normal catch rate of less than a bass every 15 minutes, releasing bass hasn't been a negative for me most of the time, some occasions it has, so why take the chance! When in a hot bite catching a bass every other cast, releasing bass hasn't ever been a negative, including big bass, no reason to keep them! I tend to stay on a spot until the bite quits, the average time is somewhere between 20-40 minutes with 2 hr down times . Rare exceptions are when big bass are very active feeding (on trout), releasing the bass had no effect, in fact may have caught the same bass a few times during a wide open feeding frenzy. On the other hand I recall when Matt Newman* was on a similar wide open big bass bite and Matt was cell phoning his buddies to unload his livewell into their boats so he could continue fishing. Matt obviously believe releasing his bass would shut down the bite. Paul Elias was fishing his spot alone as I recall and camped on it all day, was not a feeding frenzy type of bite. I believe it was Aaron Martins and Byron Velvick tried to share a spot unsuccessfully and got into a argument. Tom * google search California dreaming - Matt Newman lake Casitas big bass catch.

Where did you find factual data to support that claim?TT did a very good review on Berkley new 100% FC and graded it 7.4...good for FC. Knot strength and impact go hand in hand, depending on how you hook set. If you use a snap set you are loading up the line very fast or impacting the line/ knot. When you pull at a constant force like 1lbs per second you load the line/ knot slower, this isn't an impact test. Comparing Berkely XL mono vs XT mono will give you a wide variance in both impact and abrasion resistance, 100%FC is better than XL , not as good as XT for example. XL = extra limp! XT = extra tough.. TT uses XL for comparative results and XL has poor abrasion resistance, XT has very good abrasion resistance as does harder copolymers like Maxima, P-Line CXX, all very good where zebra/quagga mussels tend to cut FC and braids. Tom

Simple mistake we all make; you were fishing memories and not the moment. The bass were up and active, several lures may have worked, you used a specific lure that worked for you under the prevailing conditions. The bass changed activity level, whatever bait they were looking for moved, the light conditions or time of day changed you didn't. Tom

+1The more active bass are feeding the less chance releasing a bass will have on that activity. Tom

Got it, getting mixed up with another FC thread.#4 hook is more than likely 4/0. Your ? Was abrasion resistance and FC has a few weaknesses; impact strength, abrasion resistance, knot strength and yield strength are not as good as premium mono or copolymer line. It is common to snap set into some slack line when flipping, that will weaken FC. If the water is off colored, FC line really doesn't have any advantage other than it sinks, this isn't an issue with short line presentations like flipping. Tom

With a size 4 hook? How could you cast off a drop shot rig by flipping it? Tom

So you are using heavy line for drop shoting. Good knot so line size and strength aren't your problem.I believe the problem may be the Tokar hooks razor sharp cutting edges touching your line and nicking it. Tom

Either your fingers are numb, no sense of touch, or you don't understand how the rod transmits line movement to your fingers or hand. Your finger tips are one of the most sensitive parts of your body, lots of nerve endings to send slight pressure or temperature changes to the brain. Your rod doesn't have any nerves therefor no sense of feel, your fingers translate rod vibrations from line movements or pressure to your brain. Every rod dampens line movement to some degree, no rod can amplify line movement. The best test is fish at night when you can't see the line and try to interpret what is going on with your lure. The best method to touch line is to run line over your index finger tip and under the tip of your thumb, you will feel line movement in more detail. For example you can feel a light feather touching your finger tip, your rod can't. Tom

What # test! What knot, What hook type and size ??? Tom

The answer is in the details. What brand FC line? What brand and hook size? What is your drag set at?, what rod?, what reel? We know 6# FC and Palomar knot. Tom

Activity levels can be fully explained if you are open to the concept that bass are not always catchable. There are several levels of activity; very active where bass are aggressive and chase prey, active where bass are alert and hunting for prey, neutral where bass are alert, not hunting or willing to chase prey, inactive where bass are resting or sleeping. Percentages vary with water temps and seasonal periods, generally; 5% very active, 10 % active, 50% neutral and 30% inactive, 5% transitions, each 24 hour period. Not all the bass in a lake are on the same schedule, bass act both individually and in groups throughout the lake system. Tom

If you want to step up to the next level look Megabass Destroyer X7 series rod. I don't believe the NRX is rugged enough to handle shore fishing and doesn't cast as easily as the GLX because of the way this rod loads up with the lighter 1/4-3/8 oz jigs. I fish with state of the art custom ALX jig & worm rods that IMO are as good as NRX, PM and I will give you the details. Tom