WRB-2.0

Fishbowl be aware of Internet info, pay attention to valid published papers and printed books by recognized experts in this field. Kieth Jones, Knowing Bass is a good resource for example. What is known about how LMB see colors underwater where they live is an ongoing science experiment. Bass can see seveal times better in low light than a human can see above water in bright light conditions. Bass have the ability to change their vision for long distance verses close up and change the flutter rate to look at fast moving objects in slow motion. What is unknown is there ultra violet color range that the human eye can't detect unaided. There is lots of things we don't know about how bass see their world. When you get our age, you may LOL at what we think we know. Until that time keep an open mind, some of us have been bass fishing longer than you dad has lived. When I was 17 I knew everything, then discovered at 35 I actually was confident of a few things, at 70 I have forgotten more about bass fishing than most people will ever know. You posted a good thread that has brought out some very good exchanges, some are getting personal and that isn't positive and time to accept the fact it's better to agree to disagree than win a point. Peace. Tom

I would go with watermelon-chartreuse hair jig with Strike King Rage DB craw in summer craw color to start with, 3/8 oz. You can dip the craw claws (tips) in chartreuse dye. This combo will work for spots everywhere. Tom PS, the rusty craw jig with Bama craw trailer should work well for LMB or Smallmouth when target both types of bass.

There isn't a man made reservior, large or small that doesn't have a topographical map. Catt referenced a few sources, check them out. Bass anglers have this concept that bass live near the shoreline. Some bass do, they were spawned there, hatched there and spent their juvenile life there and return there as adults to spawn and occasionally feed. The fact is adult size bass spend more time away from the shore areas than they do near shore. Catt also recommends fishing " humps" and he is right agian! I would add isolated flat spots on major points and underwater saddles or benches connecting humps, islands to points are also good off shore structure elements. You can't locate off shore structure without knowing where it is. Tom PS, overheard sat views like google earth help when water levels are low if photos were taken.

When the bass wants them. A curl tail worm get action from the tail motion, creatures have several appendages to move and create action. They will not catch any bass if kept in the tackle box. Spring; Pre spawn to post spawn are good time to give them a try. Tom

You spend enough time around a luanch ramp, you will see accidents. Holidays are very busy and the more folks trying to luanch boats, the more often strange things occur. It's entertaining and can be tragic. Backing vehicles into the water until they float and sink, isn't that uncommon. One of the most bizzar things I watched was a family back down the boat and with the boat filled with family, get out and unhitched the trailer, start up the motor with the boat tied to the trailer and try to get the boat up on plane. You make this stuff up it's so strange. The most tragic event was a guy who filled his gas tank, while on the water after luanching, spilling gasoline and over flowing into the bilge, then tried to start his engine and the boat exploded into flames. Everyone jumped overboard, the boat burned to water line and sunk. All we could do was rescue the passengers; dad, mom and 3 kids. The fights, the jacked knifed rigs, running boats so fast on the trailer it ends up on top of the car and forgetting to untie the boat and of course the drain plugs missing with boats returning filled with water. the boats slipping off the trailers, lower until being smashed, amazing to watch. Tom

Alabama most common crawdad is the one that Roadwarrior posted a link to, red swamp crawdad. During the colder water months this crawdad looks like the photo, they reddish black with a tan underside. We have this crawdad out west as a transplant, along with a few others. The swamp crawdad tends to be lighter colored in neutral pH water in our deep clear structured lakes, reddish brown. When a crawdad molts, outgrows it's shell the color tends to be greenish brown and darkens as it hardens. In more acidic water with lots of vegetation, the colors are similar to the reddish black shown, This begs the question; why is black with blue so popular when black with red is closer to this common crawdad coloration? The answer maybe that 90% of the bass anglers fish black/ blue, the common choice presented to the bass. Tom

Today's plastics are soft enough in cold water to maintain some movement when moving through the water column, plus hundreds of color combination make pork ring trailers obsolete for the general bass fishing anglers. Pork rind trailers are messy, can be difficult to get off a hook and will dry out if not kept wet. Colors are limited. For all the above reasons, why use a pork rind trailer? The number of bass you catch will be fewer, the average size larger. Fishing for numbers, the variety of soft platsics in shape and colors, appeal to juvenile to young adult size bass; 1 1/2 to 3 lbs on average. Skilled jig anglers knowing where larger size bass tend to locate can and do catch big bass on soft plastic jig trailers. The reason I fish pork rind trailers year around is it works for me in catching big bass far better. I fish jigs year around and have both soft plastic trailers on living rubber or silicone skirted jigs and pork trailers on hair jigs. I catch about 3 to 1 bass on soft plastics, the 1 pork trailer bass is almost always a bigger bass and rarely under 4 lbs. the fact that I have never caught a bass over 15 lbs on soft plastic and dozens over 15 lbs on hair jigs with pork trailers is the reason I use pork year around....it's about confidence. Tom PS, good pork trailers are hard to find, unless you make your own.

It comes down to budget, big box store brands are less expensive and do not have the product support of name brands over more than a few months. Rods and reels can be returned to most store brands within a short time period, repair is almost impossible for reels, rods can be repaired. If your goal is to keep the rod and reel for several years, buy name brands; parts are available for 10 years or more, making repairs or upgrades easy. If resale is a consideration, brand names have value. Tom PS, Daiwa has entered the $100 reel arena with Exceler, $150 with Tatula, both good bait casting reels.

Really depends on how thick or heavy and type of cover is you fish. Extremely heavy cover a punch rig works good. Lighter cover a pegged T- rig works OK. The difference is the weight, the punch rig is heavier and incorporate a skirt. Go online, there are lots of stuff to look at. Tom

The OP has made up his mind on what he wants, you all are wasting your time suggesting alternatives. Like suggesting an Audi to a BMW driver, both are excellent brands, neither driver would change because they are satisfied with what they have. A custom rod builder could easily build a rod to your exact specification in this price range. Tom

We have world class spinal surgeons in the Los Angeles area, most major cities have them. The key to successful spinal surgury is researching who is the top surgeon for the procedure you need before it's time you need it, then go there. If your quality of life is OK without surgery, no reason to subject yourself to having it done. When you need surgury, then go to the best surgeon you can find to start with.Tom

Catt, The technology has changed in past few years. Had my vertibreas L5 fused to S1 a year ago and feeling better today then I have for years. The recovery is about 1 year and you need top surgeons. Tom

Back problems always have a cause, you need to determine what is causing your chronic pain. The common cause is weak core muscles, leading to hips moving out of line with your stride motion, transferring stress to your lower back L4, L5, S1 vertibreas. If you are over weight this exaggerates the problem. Injury is another cause, however you would know your history. Having lived with severe spinal injury for over 50 years, there are things you can do to reduce pain, starting with a examination to determine why you have a problem. Strengthening your core with exercises designed to reduce back stress, stretching to reduce muscle stress, lower back support brace and meds to control inflammation. It's up to you to take control of your back pain. Tom

The problem with most baitcasting reels is price, about 2X of spinning reels for the quality. A crankbait rod is the easiest type of baitcasting rod to cast because they are more parabolic bend or slow action. You lose a little feed back for bottom contact lures, but your dad doesn't fish like that. The baitcasters with line counters are specific to trolling and don't cast well. Do you have a budget set? Tom

Back when I started jig fishing the color was black, late 50's. late 60's vinyl jig skirts came out in black, brown and purple, then combinations having 2 colors including blue combined with black, brown or purple....choices. I experimented with all the color combinations and by the early 70's settled on making my own hair jigs with black, brown and purple combination that worked good everywhere I fished across the country so named it " anytime anywhere". 45 years the "anytime anywhere" color is still catching bass for me. Talk about being in a rut! During the 80's and 90's silicone skirts become available and agian I started buying interesting looking skirt materials and soon had dozens of combinations to try out. Let me warn you there isn't a limitation to colors with silicone skirts. Caught lots of average size bass on a wide variety of color combos, however only a few worked consistantly, so I adopted a few new colors to use along with a few hair and living rubber jigs colors. If you don't give it a try, you will never discover your own "anytime anywhere" color. Tom

Big mistake associating a cold blooded animal with you being a warm blooded animal. Your bloody temp is always 98.6D at 97 D your are nearly dead of hypothermia. Bass body temps are whatever the water temp is they are in, comfort zone between 45 to 85 for southern bass. In very cold water, below 50, bass preferring warmer water will tend to move into that area, if food is available. Your sonar unit is a critical tool when fishing deep structure lakes to locate both baitfish and bass. My recommendation is learn how to use the sonar unit with your boat to become a more consistant bass angler. Warm clothing is essential on the water during cold weather, dress for the elements and stay safe. Tom

Model would help.

Since you shop at BPS a gift certificate would work. You mention your dad is a multiple species angler that also trolls. What rod-reel combos does he have; make and models? Trolling covers a wide range of tactics and techniques from using a rod holder with down riggers to hand holding the rod and back trolling. If he doesn't use a down rigger a standard 7' medium power, moderate action rod works good, you want what bass anglers call a crankbait rod. Spinning reel; 2500 size should be good. Tom

During the cold water period or winter I prefer warm sunny days in the afternoon, on bright side of wind blown structure. Anything that warms the cold water helps the bite. Pre spawn through fall, then cloudy days with light rain or wind is good, getting too old to fight cold rain in the winter months. Tom

My favorite spoon was Megabait Luna jig in black shad and chartreuse shad, 3", 3/4 oz size , #2 Owner treble hook with white chicken feathers (Iovino). This spoon isn't available anymore from Megabait, however Luna Bait offers a similar spoon called Luna jig. The 3" Luna jig looks like the original, however is 1 oz.Luhr-Jensen Crippled Herring and Cast Champ with the same feathered treble hook iare good choice, in chrome or chrome-chartreuse in 3/4 oz. Kastmaster in chrome w/ blue back or gold also works good in the 1/2 and 3/4 oz sizes. Tom

If you polled what color traditional jigs the members on this site use the overwhelming choice has been black-blue and green pumpkin. A few others colors are starting to be popular PB &J (brown &purple) and Texas Craw (reddish brown). Black with blue, neon or standard, is by far the most popular seller across the country. The "if it ain't broke, why fix it" thinking leads to getting stuck in a rut. So go for it and experiment with color combinations, you never know until you give it a try. Tom

They had 2 reels in stock and they are long gone! Too bad, thanks for the heads up. Tom

Take a lok at Dobyn's Randy McAbee rod.Tom

I look for baitfish near the suspended larger fish, then I look for structure elements that intersects the depth the bait and larger fish are suspended at. If the suspended fish are near structure, they are catchable with several presentations starting with structure spoons. If the suspended fish are around bait in deep water the A- rig is the 1st choice. Tom

1/3 rd of the mono or FC line, not super braid strength. I use my digital scale to set the drag, a habit from off shore fishing. Tom