WRB-2.0

It's not a myth, releasing bass sometimes shut off a good bite. When I am on a big bass bite, I try to keep the big girls on a special 10' weighted stringer in lieu of putting them in a livewell. We have a 5 bass limit in procession, so 5 is max for each licensed angler in the boat. Most bass anglers put their keeper size bass in the livewell even when recreational fishing and release smaller bass instantly. Releasing small bass doesn't seem to impact the bite, releasing larger bass can. So do you take risk or not? This becomes an academic question because few anglers catch more than one big bass at one spot and they usually put the bass in the livewell or release it and move on, not thinking there could be a school of big bass. Tom

Florida rigged (pegged weight) Brush-hog type soft or a buzz bait. The bass are aggressive the buzzer is good, hit on top, easier to land them. The Brush hog type baits displaces a lot of water slides though wood fairly good and will get bit. I would go with straight braid under these conditions, you heed to get the bass out of the brush. Tom

Buck Perry would be trolling A-rigs behind his Spoonplugs today! Rate of fall is important to trigger strikes if the bass are willing to react. Good to see are back Bo! Tom

Sears invented "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back" which means YOU are the quality control inspector. If you accept poor quality you will continue to receive it guaranteed! Change rod companies, there are good ones available. Tom

I only use braid in heavy cover application and use 65 lb to cut through aquatic vegetation. I tie direct, bass don't seem to care about line in heavy cover or at night. Otherwise I use FC line for jigs and worms, no braid because I detest making extra knots that fail at the worst possible time. For jigs and worms on baitcasting reels I use 10, 12 and 16 lb Sunline Super FC green Sniper, 6 lb for spinning/ finesse presentations. My hook setting technique is keeping the rod tip low and towards the bass, reel quickly when a strike is detected, then rod sweep back firmly to complete the hook set. Haven't broken off bass in a long time due to line or knot failure. I do set my drag @ 1/3rd the FC line strength and trust my drags to perform. Also take my time to tie perfect knots if possible. Look at your broken line for indication of why it failed; a curl end is knot failure, frayed is abrasion failure, clean cut smooth end is usually bad line. Tom

By stubborn you must mean the bass are not striking lures you are using? You know the bass are where you are trying to catch them because you can see them? There is common myth about bass that you can tease them into striking, like a cat and mouse game. This myth may be a result of spawner's guarding a nest site that can be teased into striking an intruder near their nest. Bass are not catchable 24-7, they rest in between feeding cycles, the rest time is generally called inactive bass, the feeding periods are active bass. When you present a lure that is something the bass wants to eat, it will strike when it's active, not when it's inactive. Look for active bass. With sonar the active bass are usually very close to the structure, the inactive bass suspended away from structure. Bass in cover are positioned at strike zones when active, deeper in the cover and suspended when inactive. Present your lures in high percentage strike zones in cover, near our on structure. Watch for birds feeding on bait, active bass feed on baitfish. Your best bet is to leave inactive bass and return when they become active, or wait them out by camping on a good spot with bass in the area. Tom

Where I fish in deep structured reservoirs my first step to solving where the active bass should be located is to determine what seasonal period the bass are in. The seasonal period determines the type of structure or cover the bass prefer and helps to establish the depth the bass may be at. My tools for this are sonar, temperature probe and eyes before starting to select what presentation or lures may be best suited for the structure or cover. Knowledge of the prey types bass prefer during the seasonal periods, the depth the bait is at, helps me to select lures. Some lakes set up well for patterns, others are spot lakes where bass tend to be located. Example; you are working a clay bank with brush stick ups in 5' of water and catch bass on nearly every stick up with a jig & craw and no strikes in between the stick ups or at different depth...that is a pattern. If you catch bass on a transition areas where the clay bank has a seam or slide of grape fruit size rocks and you catch several bass there on your jig & craw and crankbait from 3' to 20' feet of water, that is the only rock slide on the lake that holds bass.....that is a spot. Tom

1. Set your drag @ 4# 2. Do not snap set into slack line with FC. 3. Buy new FC, your line should break at the knot, if it doesn't the line bad or nicked. 4. Try trying direct to your 20 braid, it's only .009 D, shouldn't cause too many missed strike fishing in cover and will break on the hook set unless you don't set your drag. Tom

Here is the truth about plastics under pressure = creep! the plastic yields weakening the line at the knot. Physics you can't change, only ignore. Tom

Langley Lure Cast, Ashaway Diamondback braid line with a Conolin rod, in 1955. Still have the reel. Garcia bought Cololin rods, Zebco bought Langley reels, today known as Quantum. Tom

Unsportsmanlike like behavior has always need a problem and isn't going to change. Be a good sportsman and lead by example in lieu of reacting with anger. When I was younger there were fewer anglers on the water, still enough to have bad morons to deal with. Giving others anglers space to fish is common sense, what that space is has shrunk over the years and common sense is disappearing. When I see someone approaching into my space I make a long cast in that direction, letting the other angler know I am fishing the area. If the angler continues getting closer my reaction is talking to them asking that they give space to fish pleasantly instead of bouncing a lure off their boat, been there done that and it only escalates into an argument or worse. Be a good sportsman and enjoy your time on the water and ignore the morons. Happy Easter. Tom

The key word is new GLX that came out after the introduction of the NRX. This rods look like the NRX with different color blanks, everything else is the same; handle and guides. The GLX is about the same price as the St Croix Legend Xtreme. $435. The NRX is a good rod, the 3 power performs more like a 4 power and may be too stiff for your application. Tom

I look at this differently, there is a difference between jig and worm water, the worm being a traditional T-rig with sliding bullet sinker, the jig being a casting jig. If you are talking heavy cover and punching through it, then a punch rig works best. Worm water to me is a sloping bank, usually clay or more rounded hump with sticks, flatter areas. Jig water is usually fast tapering rocky bank or rocky deep structure, more vertical structure. That is how I determine to start with each type of rig, will change if this doesn't work and fish both. Tom

Not to confuse the issue; the new Loomis GLX 853 JWR would be a good choice; 3 power not as stiff as the NRX , easier casting, great sensitivity and rated to 31/6 to 5/8 oz jig weights, 10-16 lb line, right in your wheel house. Save $100 and this rod will perform for you. Tom

California doesn't have a decent fishery management program. The trout were being planted into Casitas since it opened in 1958. Trout are a valued species and hatchery raised by the DFG for recreational anglers. Northern strain Largemouth are initially planted along with catfish, bluegill, crappie, crayfish shortly after the dam was built, typical for California reservoirs. The FLMB were introduced by a local bass club with permission by the DFG in 1971, one time plant of pure FLMB fingerlings and a few adult size bass from Lower Otay in San Diego. The DFG also planted Threadfin shad and red ear sunfish in 1971. It's illegal to transport live game fish in CA, need a permit from the DFG. The Easley bass 21 lb 3 oz lake record was caught in 1981, same year I caught a 18 lb 10 oz. The planted trout were always in Casitas until a law suit preventing non native trout to be planted into reservoirs that have native trout or steelhead populations. Prior to the dam being constructed Coyote creek had native steelhead during wet years. The result was no more trout plants into Casitas. There wasn't a plan to feed trout to bass, the NLMB ignored the planted trout, the FLMB targeted trout. I don't know the total number of 13+ lb FLMB caught form Casitas, no records are kept, it's over several hundred from this 2,000 acre lake. Tom

The matte rod blank hasn't been sanded smooth and varnished. The glossy finish adds a little weight and rod weight can be critical to some anglers. My custom rods are matte because I prefer the non glare factor of a matte black rod. For example Loomis NRX series offers both matte (blue series) and gloss (green series) guide wraps. Same rod blank, matte isn't sanded, gloss is and varnished. Tom

Before Lew's speed spool that patented low profile shape reels, all bass reels were round. The level wind being push out further away from the reel spool allowed the reel mounting foot to be lower or closer to the spool lowering the overall height. The gear housing could also be lowered. The Fenwick rod company came out with the first popular trigger sticks to take advantage of the lower profile Lew's reel, before the trigger stick, bass rods had pistol rod handles that lower the center of gravity of round reels. The trigger seat design also allowed the rod to extend to the rod butt, before that casting rods ended in front of the reel, the handle being a separate part of the rod. When you put a round reel on a trigger stick design rod, the reel sits up higher, center of gravity is offset, alignment of the first rod guide creates more line drag, the guides need to be higher off the rod blank. There several reasons that come together to make low profile reels more popular to the majority of bass anglers. Today I only use round reels (Calcutta and Cardiff) for cranking and swimbaits due to the larger spool capacity and frame strength, all my other baitcasting reels are low profile. Tom

The 2 places a bass can't see well is behind them and underneath them, lures approaching in those directions can spook them. Tom

Real Magic is the reel technician best friend as it will breakdown lubricants and cause unneeded reel repairs! Don't use this product! I use TangleFree liquid on my FC and mono line, doesn't affect the lubricants or weaken the line, good product. Tom

Roger. It was only the select giant bass population that crashed, 95% of the bass population was not affected because the smaller size bass do not primarily target large baitfish like the planted trout offered. Very selected few bass that make up the top end of the population and this phenomena didn't occur as radical anywhere else where the trout plants stopped. Giant bass are very rare fish, the population varies in all our lakes and boom and bust periods are common, usually tied to high water periods offering excellent recruitment and low water drought periods creating poor habitat and low recruitment. I understand all the normal factors and have been pursuing these bass successfully for decades. The trout plants being stopped happened when the Casitas giant bass population was at a peak unfortunately. These bass should have adapted, they simply didn't. Thank you for all the background, the local biologist didn't have a logical explanation and I have learned to move on.

The bass had to compete with cormorants, gulls, herons and osprey for the trout. When the trout plants stopped the cormorants were gone the next year, better hunting grounds elsewhere. I don't believe the trout made up a big biomass of the food about 150 lbs, 200 to 250 small trout each week for about 20 weeks. Castias has a massive threadfin shad population, Threadfin are small and not much protein for the effort when the big bass had learned to feed on trout. Nothing has changed at the lake, the small planted trout are gone, the bass today are doing good, fast and healthy feeding mostly on Threadfin. . Like Catt is saying trout were easy prey, the big bass became lazy and forgot to learn to hunt anything else. I thought there was no way these bass wouldn't adjust and start eating shad, they didn't! Tom

I agree with this. However they did hunt trout all over the lake, not just feed on easy meals in the marina. The bass that lived in the closed area by the dam, 2 miles away from where trout were planted, had to chase down trout that are not freshly planted. The giant bass were conditioned to feed on trout, just couldn't make the adjustment to good shad population.Keep in mind the trout plants only occur 5 months of the year, so the smaller size trout would be conditioned holdovers. Casitas still has a population of holdover trout between 4 to 10 lbs., too big for bass prey. Another factor was the quagga mussel fear the Ventura county board had, the annual crayfish stocking to augment the lakes population also stopped. Perfect storm of bad decisions. When you look back it all makes sense, at the time it was baffling. Tom

What do you consider a casting or finesse jig? Shaky heads, dart heats, fish heads and Scroungers not mentioned. Bladed jig: tail, under or front blades? Hook size is usually associated with jig head weight or jig type. Too many variables missing to complete this survey. Tom

Roger, I respect what your opinion on this and I had the exact same position until the lake Castias giant bass population starved in otherwise healthy ecosystem. The local guides were complaining, the trophy bass anglers were complaining and discussions with the DFG biologist finally including electro shocking for confirmation. I will try to locate some photos taken of these bass. There isn't a trophy bass population at Castias today, although it may recover in time.We are not talking about a few bass, close to 50 bass estimate to be between 15 to 18 lbs before the trout plants stopped. Tom

No, that was Rolo's quote you quoted. I think we are on the same page now. The Casitas bass may have become conditioned to eating trout and ignoring everything else, when the trout suddenly disappeared the bass never learned to hunt for more difficult prey to eat until they were too weak to catch prey. Very strange set of circumstances. The giant giant bass in Castaic lagoon had the same problem without trout plants and most of those bass made the adjustment. The lagoon is smaller and water levels more stable, cooler and has a holdover trout population, the bass population didn't crash as fast as the Casitas giant bass. Tom