WRB-2.0

We can’t fish with crawdads in SoCal, due to the Quagga mussel issue, those sales are gone.PS; it's the DFW (wildlife) now, they dropped the dirty word "game", not politically correct. I don't know how far you are from the delta, you may have the foothill lakes, rivers and streams along hwy 49. Good luck! Tom

Live bait isn't an option in CA unless you are selling night crawlers or located on a lake or river where te customers do not transport live bait. Services reels and making custom rods or simple rod repairs is a good side line for a tackle store. Big part of small tackle stores is selling rod and reel with bulk line sales so you need a good line machine. As stated earlier, check out your successfull locale tackle stores. Tom

Irods Air series 6'10" drop shot rod, with holiday discounts should meet your budget. Tom

The Internet (TW) has made small tackle business difficult. Your area had Delta Tackle, now out of business and has The Hook Line And Sinker in Oakley, difinately go vist them. Tom

Some of the highlites of this years event was the guest speakers like Aaron Nartens. I have known Aaron for several years and never had the oportunity to sit through one of his seminars before and he did a good presentation. Aaron followed Jason Christy and I had problems hearing Christy and following his presentation and thought Aaron would have a difficult time and he worked his way through very well. One point Aaron was making to this western audience was how difficult it was for him fishing B.A.S.S. tournaments in the east until he realized that deep water was about 20 feet, out west 20 feet was average depth. With the deception of the Great Lakes, he rarely fishes deeper than 20 on the Elite trails. The other big change was dropping 20 presentations to 6 and focusing on fewer lures, instead of trying everything new. Angler of the year title proves his strategy worked! Gerald Swindle was cheating with everyone, very friendly and easy to talk to. Brent Elers is a little serious and detailed in his presentations. Overall it was good toget tougher with friends that you only see during these events. Tom

If the upper 1/4-1/3 of a swimbait rod isn't strong enough for the lure weight you can't effectively cast or get good hook sets. Why compromise, use lure weight for the rod or get another rod. Tom

You need a heavier swimbait rod for 8" Hudds, suggest the 68" Hudd for a med/hvy swimbait rod,. Tom

Checked out this reel today at BAT, very light weight, knowone had anything good to say about them. Tom

Smaller bass don't have the experience to know the difference, larger NLMB will more than likely ignor a 12" swimmer....too big. Plus you will need heavy swimbait rod to fish this lure effectively. Tom

Today was the annual bass seminar at Angler's Marine. This is our hallmark event where basing fishing pro,s around the country come together and get together in an informal setting, plus seminars sponsored by top tackle manufactures to show what is new. The hot item was Butch Brown's DEP side swimmer, they sold out in minutes, stampede is all you could say. What got my attention this year was the number of rat swimbaits being offered, rats in all sizes were everywhere. Did get a chance to cast Daiwa's Tatula R, very impressed! Impressive line up of pros this years, great event that continues tomorrow on Sunday. Tom

Hand poured worms are usually soft and Roboworms are a robotic hand pour, so it's soft yet consistant in coloration like an injection molded high production worm. The choice between catching bass consistantly verses saving worms that are more durable and less expensive is always a choice to make. My vote is to catch bass and Roboworms do that consistantly. Tom

A fews years back a Elite angler spent a weekend on a houseboat with a B.A.S.S. official on one of the lakes scheduled during the same year, months prior to the event. This was determined to be a rule infraction in the spirit of the rules. We like to think we know our home waters better than a visiting Elite pro, sometimes this proves to be correct, more often the top pro discover new water that leads to a win. I don't see where there is any question of what to do, you do nothing to influence the outcome of a tournament. Tom

Ardent built it's reputation on high quality US made products, this reel isn't made in the US. Can't imagine the reel isn't good quality for the price point. Will check around to see if any of the local guys are using them. Tom

Michigan the water must be getting iced over by now or close to it, so this is a subject for next season.To sart with you are trying to learn to fish a traditional jig with weed guard and trailer, the trailer being a Rage design. From what I have read your tackle shouldn't be an issue. The fact you hook and land bass on a T-rigged worm is a giant step in the right direction. My suggestion is; start with your T-rigged worm, when you locate bass switch the worm for a Zoom Brush Hog in the same color as the worm on the T-rig and see if bass react to a creature instead of the worm. Then tie on your 3/8 oz jig and use the same color combination as the T-rig and fish the jig exactly the same way as the T-rig. Jig bites are often different than a T- rig due to the weight may be heavier and it goes into the basses mouth, so they reject it faster. If you don't have or detect any strikes with your jig/ rage trailer, put the brush hog on your jig. Sometimes more soft plastic helps the bass to hold onto the jig longer. If that happens, you need to learn how to detect strikes better. One technique is feel your line using the tip of your index finger as you work the jig. Tom

Unless a natural lake is obscure, there should be a sounding map available from your local DNR or sporting goods store. Natural lakes are harder to read and most fishable water is near shore or around islands due to silt settling on the bottom over hundreds of years aging. Reefs should be marked with buoys as navigation hazards. Generally the underwater terrain is similar to what you see above water. The easiest "structure element" to learn to fish are underwater points connected to shore that extend out into the lake. Points hold bass nearly year around. The second structure element are islands, often connected to shore with underwater points or saddles and may have underwater islands known as humps attached or nearby. Another type of structure elements are break lines. A structure break can be as simple as the soil changing composition from mud to sand or sand to rocks or mud to clay with gravel, where the soil changes come together they often attract bass. Tom

My post has disappeared, no problem. My questions were; are you catching bass on T- rigged worms in the same locations you can't catch bass on bottom bumping jigs? what the type of lake bottom you are fishing. Flat mud with weed cover or sloping hard bottoms? And what weight jigs are you fishing and how deep? Tom

If your Warts are original Storm in the package, you are better off selling them as is. Tom

I own Loomis and Okuma swimbait rods, there is very little performance difference. The Okuma 7'11"" heavy swimbit rod is a great all around swimbait rod for lures up to 6 oz. Tom

You can't buy your way into BASS Elite serires, you must earn it! Giving up spots never turns out good and it's a rule violation for any Elite angler to seek information from anglers, they should discover spots on their own. Giving up presentations and specific lures is OK and within the rules. Tom

Welcome aboard Joshua. Setting your goals at an early age is good, just remember few achieve fame and fortune bass fishing. You didn't share your location and I understand that, however a broad regional location like mid west would help to reply to questions. Joining a bass club may or may not be a good option, depending if the members want a young man. The best way to get sponsors is becoming well known. Getting some recognition starts with catching bass during local tournaments or posting some pictures at local tackle shops. Some local tackle shops may sponsor you in local tournaments with discounts on tackle etc. Take your time and enjoy your fishing, study bass habits. Good luck. Tom

Recognizing the difference between natural lakes, man made lake and rivers is important. In-Fisherman during it's early years had several study reports that are fantastic regarding defining lake classifications and weed type related to lakes and seasonal periods. In general Florida is a low land classification zone with rivers, natural lakes and man made impoundments, plus the Florida strain LMB. All these factors affect how bass relate to their habitate. The factors that don't change are bass seeking a comfort zone and prey source. Dying and decaying weed beds don't provide bass either comfort and food, the general bass population has relocated. Deeper water provides comfort and prey. Look for the healthy weed growth near or in deeper water and try to locate sources of spring water. The easiest way to spot a spring is during dawn when the water is clam; look for a patch of fog or a patch of no fog, depending on the surface water temps. Faster moving lures appeal to more active bass and bass being cold blooded slow down in cold water. This doesn't mean all the bass are inactive in cold water, they still become active when feeding, they just don't feed as often. Tom

The time to catch DD bass from any trophy bass lake is during it's peak period. Anyone seriously interested in catching these special bass should contact Jeff and book a trip to Baccarac. Your odds are good, better if you focus your efforts on DD bass in lieu of catching those pesky 5 to 7 lber's. Tom PS, Matt are you attending the BAT this year?

What isn't well known is Shimano was making precision bicycle parts when Lew Childre contracted them to manufacture his BB1 Speed Spool low profile baitcasting reels. We have the BB1 reel to thank for today's Shimano reels. Daiwa and Shimano make fabulous high end baitcasting reels and I own both brands, you can't go wrong with either brand. Ardent makes a very good and reliable baitcaster but not in the same class as the higher end reels. The Ardent I own is like the Energizer bunny, it keeps on going with little maintenance. Over the years my TD-X 103/105HiA's have been very low maintenance ounce the drags and bearings were upgraded. Shimano reels always had better drags and crank handles than Daiwa, casted very well, just needed more tender loving care tp preform at a high level. If your budget is in the $150 to $200 price range, Daiwa Tatula 100 or R 100 should perform good for several years, time will tell. It was Daiwa that retired my legacy 2500c's and 4500C's, Shimano Curado's were good reel, just higher maintenance back in the 90's. Shimsno Calcutta 300 arevmy swimbait reels, great casting reel and bulletproof. Tom

Gulp must be kept wet or it will dry out. I don't believe boiling Gulp will rehydrate it?Tom

Light weight spool is always an advantage when casting long distance. Big game marlin and tuna reels are up graded with lighter weight spools to improve casting live baits like mackerel to surface feeding fish. It's like a heavy flywheel, the inertia of the heavier spool causes it to spin faster then the lure and line is traveling = backlash.