WRB-2.0

What type of spool are your trying to tie on onto; spinning or casting? What size and type of line? A simple slip knot with 1 overhand knot to prevent slipping works on spinning reel spools. Baitcasting reels with holes in the spool, you put the line through adjacent holes, a simple clinch knot works well. If the spool doesn't have holes, the arbor knot should work, wet it first. Tom

Most pros cut off every lure they used at the end of each day and respool that reel with new line during each tournament day. The pro ties hooks and lures on before they launch, rarely the night before. When a pay check depends on putting bass in the boat, you don't risk line or knot failures. My routine is cutting off every lure and hook when I wipe down the boat on the trailer. Put each rod in a sleeve before they go into the locker. Every lure gets the hooks checked before they get put away. I retie several times each outing and check the hook point and line nearly every cast for damaged and I don't tournament fish anymore. Tom

Football field has accurate yard strips. You can take a tape measure and mark 50 yards, then mark 50 yards with a sharpie pen on you line using the measured distance. Then next time out casting on the water check the line mark to determine how far you actually cast with your standard bass tackle and lures you use. Very few bass anglers can cast 50 yards, I don't know any bass who can cast 70 yards on the water. Casting a lead weight down a paved street is like hitting a golf ball down a paved street,they tend to bounce further that way. You only need to cast far enough to catch bass, the further away the more difficult strike detection and hook setting becomes. My average cast with a jig is about 30 yards, sometime 40 yards depending on how spooky the bass are behaving. At night a long cast is about 25 yards, usually shorter because the bass are less wary. I have hooked crankbait bass and swimbait bass with 3' of line out next to the boat after making a 40 yard cast. Tom

You should retie your hooks just before using them, not the day or week before. Pre rigging means you think you know what the bass are going to eat before you go fishing! If you use the same brand soft plastic size and color all the time it doesn't matter. Tying hooks with braided line makes little difference how long they tied, mono and FC it weakens the knot. Ask yourself this "does the Elite pro pre rig the day before fishing"? I have a good idea what I think the conditions may be on the water, rig rods as needed on the water or just before launching. Nothing stays tied on over night. Tom

Making contradictory statements without knowing the facts creates animosity.I have fished lake Casitas since 1958 and caught giant bass over 15 lbs* every year since 1979 until 2009., None since. I also made the argument that the giant bass population would adjust to feeding on what prey was available when the trout plants stopped. Casitas has a good population of red ear sunfish, bluegill, crappie, threadfin shad, crawdads and young of the year catfish and carp...plenty of food choices. The big bass that grew up eating planted trout didn't adjust, they starved. Not one bass over 12 lbs was caught between 2009 to date 2014. Castias averages over 50 bass exceeding 13 lbs for 30 years...zero since the trout plants abruptly stopped. I witnessed the starving bass and hard to except it could happen, not logical, but factual.. I know the new generation of bass are doing well, 18+ lb bass may not occur, but 15+ lbs could, time will tell. Tom * 18.6 lbs my top bass at Casitas.

When a bass rod is rated for jigs, the jigs are usually 3/8 to 3/4 oz with line to match of 12 to 15 lbs. The drop shot rod are usually rated for 1/8 to 1/4 oz with line 4 to 10 lb. If you line is less than 10 lb and the jigs are less than 1/4 oz, the rod referenced should be OK regardless of the fish species you are targeting. If the jigs are less than 1/8 oz, a spinning rod/reel would be a better choice; Shimano CI4 2500 for example. Tom

PM your email address and will send you some info.Tom

Stop feeding from being conditioned to being hooked, the answer is NO.Stop feeding because the prey source the bass has feed on it's entire adult life disappears, the answer is yes. The majority of giant bass in lake Casitas stopped feeding when trout plants stopped abruptly. I thought the big bass would switch to the threadfin shad population instead of starving, I was wrong, the population crashed within 2 years. Electro shocking brought up dozens of emancipated 26"-28" bass that should have weight over 15 lbs that were less than 4 lbs and starving in a lake with healthy bass in the 12"-20" size range. Casitas was a world class trophy bass lake and after 6 years of no trout plants, the bass are recovering and has a good population of 7 to 10 lb bass today. Very few bass are caught on trout swimbaits today, the new generation of bass don't recognize what a trout swimbait is! We may think we know bass behavior, there is a lot to learn. Tom

Consider the Schwartz La Peria lake pure Florida bass experiment to grow a world record bass. The pure Florida strain were so difficult to catch Schwartz added F1 NLMB-FLMB strain into his lake so clients could catch bass. Electro shocking showed the Peria lake was full of big bass, few were caught. So now we saying big bass have good memories avoiding lures and smaller bass are more aggressive...could be. More than likely the big bass learned to avoid angler pressure by locating in sanctuary areas. The A-rig maybe successful exploiting those sanctuary zones. Consider the world record smallmouth were caught be trolling mid lake zones, today bass anglers don't troll. We are so far off topic now. Lake Miramar in San Diego had a population of giant bass living under the boat dock, about 20 bass between 15 to over 20 lbs. The water was like swimming pool clear and easy to see these giants. In a 10 year period 3 bass over 18 lbs were caught, 1 was a floater at 21.3 lbs. Tom

I believe the OP ? was will bass stop feeding because the developed a fear of lures and will starve. The answer to that is NO! Tom

Didn't know you considered yourself a dumb Cajun, I don't. Didn't say every bass. Electro shock studies on lakes and ponds that bring to the surface bass larger than reported being caught in those waters and tracking studies where bass being tracked move when boats approach. Have these bass ever been hooked??

I set my drag with a digital or spring scale at 1/3 the line strength for mono/ FC line: 12 lb test @ 4 lbs, never exceeding 8 lbs with any type of line, when bass fishing. Use your thumb on the reel spool to aid in hook setting if needed, rarely is needed with today's sharp hooks. Keep in mind that the Owner hook is a fairly heavy diameter wire hook and takes more force to set into bony mouth parts of some bass. My hook setting technique is reel set with firm rod sweep when casting and retrieving jigs with FC or mono line. Reel quickly to load up the rod, then sweep back firmly. I use the snap set when using braid in heavy cover; snap the rod hard into slightly slack line. Your drag should be smooth, not jerky at all settings. Good luck. Tom

I started using FC leader material back in the late 80's for marlin and tuna tournaments because the boats using it were winning. Talk about problems, the early FC would explode in fibers under pressure of fighting big fish for a few hours! More strikes met better chance at winning and FC improved strike ratios back then and does today. The firs FC line Seaguar followed by Sunline before domestic FC line became available. Quality problems have never been a big issue with Seaguar or Sunline, cost has been a factor. When you break off a big bass half way to the boat for no apparent reason, you get nervous, I do! But you first need to hook that big bass and therein lies the problem. At night I never use FC line! Tom

There is a population of bass in every lake or pond that never strike lures and a population of bass so aggressive they never learn to avoid lures. The over aggressive bass in high pressured lakes end up in a frying pan or swallow soft plastics and starve to death or become so mutilated from hooks ripping their mouth apart or hooks in the gullet they no longer can feed on live prey and starve. Bass are a lower animal than mammals, smaller brain and unable to perceive live prey isn't the same as lure. Some bass can determine that a lure isn't live prey and avoid it and they do! Tom

Put out 50 yards of mono behind your boat and drag it about 5 mph for 200 yards without anything attached.Then put out the same size FC line the same distance, the force on your is about 1/2, very noticeable. First noticed this when taking out twist in my spinning outfits line by dragging it behind my boat, FC had less line pressure. I will look my archives for FC drag coefficient, it was a selling point back when it first came out. Tom

Most of my standard everyday lures are old and forgotten, so they are all secrets. FlutterCraft Screamers, curl tails and Reapers. Hair jigs w/ pork rind trailers. Twin spins. Uptom's Custom hand pours Wooden Huddleston Wooden Lunker Punker and Shell Cracker 22nd Century Triple Trout 68 &8" Hudds Michaels Megabait LASlider jig spoons Ward Champ spoon Wooden Musky Jitterbug. Modified original Scroungers Basstrix Bait Fry and paddle Tails Rapala Ice jigs Etc., etc.

Don't you use the secret Rage Bug?

Read the link Scott posted, good unbiased info by TT*. The stretch factor is clearly defined as is knot strength. I use FC line because it has less drag coefficient, goes through the water easier, and sinks; both mono and braid float. I like the way FC line feels used with both jigs and worms, hate the knot strength issues. You got to get bit first and FC strike to man hour ratio is higher than mono or braid where I fish, otherwise I wouldn't bother with it. Tom * dated info! they may have an update?

The Dobyn's rods have a highly skilled tournament bass angler "you" can talk to...the owner Gary Dobyn's, try that with the other brands! Compare the cost of ownership, warranty, customer service. Before you pull the trigger, contact Ron at Valley Sports, site sponsor for best price and delivery. Tom PS, also take a look at ALX rods, custom rods in your price range.

Think about where the water enters and exits, these areas are called funnel zones, that is where the majority of bass locate during newly flooded areas. Tom

Been fishing for awhile (over 60 years) and consider myself a decent knot tier. The issues with fluorocarbon fishing line is the polymer is brittle and doesn't perform good under constant stress like knot forces. The best you can hope for is 80% knot strength, factor that into how you set hooks and the line size you use. Your 12 lb test FC is about 9.5 lb test at the freshly tied knot*. another factor to consider is FC line does stretch, the problem it yields after stretching (stays stretched) and that also reduces the line srength becuase the line is smaller in diameter. After snagging your lure and you pull it free, your 12 lb FC is weaker depending on how much force was applied. to iver come all these issues with FC most of the line sellers label their FC down one size; 14 lb diameter FC is labeled 12 lb test. You are using larger diameter line and are happy becuase becuase it performs well. Sunline labels thier FC line honestly, most others do not! Tom * tried every knot, none yields higher then 80%

It maybe possible for the LMB to go back into the pond and return to the stream if the stream water is warmer this time of year. 10 mile migration for a LMB isn't impossible, not common. Yes LMB tend to use the same spawning locations each year. Tom

This is a favorite topic; actual casting distance vs estimated casting distance, You local football field is the best judge. Stand at the goal line and make you're best cast, yardage is measured! What you find is 50 yards is a long distance! Tom

Before you cut off any expensive line try this: Spray KVD line or TangleFree conditioner on the spooled line. Wet a towel and run your through the rod guides, then in-between the folded wet towel laid flat on the ground and slowly pull off about 1/2 the spool line (75 yards). This step works best with 2 people but you can do this on a lawn. With the line between the wet towel and line laying on the lawn, rewind the line back onto your reel. The towel will add just enough drsg to keep the line snug. When the line is just below the spool edge radius, about 1/16 to 3/32" below full, the spool is as full as it should be. Retreat the spooled line with line conditioner and you are good to go fishing. Tom

You can use your line to measure with; cut to length and cut a second piece for girth. Tie an overhand knot in the girth piece of line, put the pieces in your picket and measure them later. Weight = length X length X girth divide by 1200 (average LMB the girth is about 75% of the length). A scale is better. length bass measured laying flat mouth closed, tip of lower jaw to center of tail = 16", girth = 12" 16 x 16 x 12 / 1200 = 2.56 lbs.