WRB-2.0

I believe member Big O guides on Falcon, that is who I would contact first Tom

The 3 power works OK for jigs/worms with standard wire dia (.040-.046D) hooks. The 4 power is better suited for standard weedless jig with fiber gaurds and hooks with standard wire diameter or larger wire up to .060D.Consider a 5 power if you plan to fish heavier cover and hooks with wire diameter exceeding .060D or 5/0 sizes. 734 = 7 foot 3" , 4 power. All 3 powers, 3, 4 and 5 will cast a 1/2 oz jig very well, the 3 power will cast worms, flukes a little easier, however doesn't have the power to get good hook sets with the heavier hooks. I use both 3 and 4 power with worms and lighter jigs, 5 power for 1/2 + jigs with larger hooks. God luck with your new rod, you can always call and talk to Gary Dobyn's. Tom Tom

Getting off topic?... Taxidermy is an art form, the end result may appeal to some and not others, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The cost of a good mount, skin or replica, are equal, so cost isn't a factor. The average is around $15 per inch, higher if you want added features. I have 3 shin mounts by very talented taxidermist; trout, bass and musky and 1 replica bass mount. The replica is 19 years old and looks new, most anglers that see this mount like it. The shin mounts are older and started to deteriorate with a few years after being done, typical with shin mounts due to how the fish skin, head, tail, fins are cured and preserved, then painted. The cured skin is grey, no color. If replica mounts were available at the time my skin mounts were made, knowing what I know today, they would be replica's. if you want a skin mount because you believe this is your fish and looks more natural, that is a choice to make.Tom

A school of night crawlers is the time to fly line a worm! Fly line a nose hooked baitfish on light line and you are in business.Just pulling your line RedEarth. Very few bass anglers today will use live bait, it's like keeping and eating the occasion bass...taboo. Tom

The study of instream hydrology is deep and a topic of doctoral thesis. Go online and find what you are looking. Notice when you flush a toilet the water turns (coriolis effect) counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere. Water flowing in a stream bed also wants to spin counter cockwise, doesn't want to flow in a straight path. The coriolis effect causes stream, rivers, creeks to meander or zig zag disrupting the flow of the water. The shallow water at the edge (toe) of the stream bed flows at a different rate of speed then the deeper water. There is a seam where the slower shallower water meets the deeper faster flowing water, this zone usually has ripples, smooth slower shallow meets faster deeper water. You may be looking at these transition zones. Transition zone seams have little current and for this reason fish prefer to position in these areas. Tom

Not on your list; take a ALX rods, Zola-B off the self OBC-4-85F @ $185. 7'1" jig/worm rod. Tom

When a school or group of bass push schools of baitfish into the bank, the baitfish have nowhere to go and the bass are focused on that bait. Sometimes a lure will get bit, not often trying to compete with the real thing. You can try fishing a little deeper and get the attention of bigger bass looking for an easy meal. Tom

Today's rods are longer because rod handles went from 8"-10" to 14"-16" or longer, pistol grip to trigger grips. The rod length from the reel seat to the tip hasn't changed that much. If you make a trigger stick with a 12" handle, you have a 5' rod length reel to tip. I can't see the average bass angler buying a 6' trigger stick! Tom

I cast jigs and fish them horizontal most of the time, but avoid retrieving them up hill. Being a shore angler and using spinning tackle makes casting a jig over 90' difficult to feel strikes. You can make the longer cast, just try to prevent retrieving directly up steeper banks. Make your at a angle so the jig is worked more parallel if possible or make shorter cast. Lighter jigs in the 1/4 to 3/8 oz with longer shank premium hooks in 3/0 to 4/0 size head style is important, you want a stand up that doesn't roll over. A slider jig could work for you. Tom

Maybe Broc will sign in and tell us how he measured his pike. Chech It Stik is a common measuring device used by anglers everywhere. I mounted a aluminum yard stick onto a wooden plank with a nose stop back in the 60's to measure length and a tape measure to measure girth of a few hundred bass, not easy to do with only 2 hands and a live fish. Tournaments always have minimum length, some have slot limits, so weight is the bench mark after it's a legal fish. I know TX anglers that stepped on bass to increase the length before weighing in. Regarding fish mounts; skin vs replica, we have lots of posts on this topic, both are about the same cost and quality varies greatly depending on the artists doing the painting and both are painted. Fish replicas.com and lake Fork taxidermist are popular for bass mounts. My mount was by Robert Munos, one of the best in the business. Tom

To measure a long fish accurately you can't do it with a tape measure effectively unless it is laying on a flat board designed for the shape of groups of body shapes, mouth open vs mouth closed, mouth closed tightly, tail flattened etc, etc., as I am sure you well know. With pike for example, long body, little belly to create a chord (arch) witch can lengthens the fish measured with a tape, the tail is deep V, all you need to do to lengthen the live fish is push down on it, it will add about 1/2" with a 36" pike, pressure makes a big difference. With a deep V tail, you eye ball an line across the tail tips or measure the bottom of the V, difference about 1", depending on how each state draws their measurement method. Tournament fishing each organization has specific measure rules, measurement boards, sketches on how to achieve repeatable measurements, so anglers and judges measure using the same technique. There is a lot of variables; tape measures are not calibrated, steel vs cloth over 36" can vary. Slot limits are in inches, not fractions of inches.

Oklahoma state record White bass is 5 lbs 4 oz. a 3 lb White bass could easily be your lake record! That's is a big white bass! Congratulations. Tom

Old tactic been around for decades and yes it works. A 3 way swivel rig with a dropper weights works good also. Tom

More than ratio's go into cranking power. Small to medium crankbaits can be fished effectively with nearly any quality bait basting reel! Tom

No! My rods and reels are application specific selected by performance, warranty and customer servive. I use Ardent, Daiwa and Shimano reels. Lamiglas, Loomis and ALX rods. I believe Dobyn's has a good line of rods today, with both excellent warranty and customer service. St. Croix gets a lot of support on the site for the same reasons. Tom

Take a look at my avatar replica mount, this 19.3 lb bass was released alive and heathly. Absolutely no reason to skin mount any fish anymore!Unless you have some device that measures live fish very accurately, your pike was a legal fish, slot limits are designed with a fudge factor built in. Tom

If the other eye socket was less the eye ball, the fish was blind and used it's lateral line to detect your top water and somehow managed to get the lure in it's mouth. From the loss of body mass live prey has eluded this bass a very high percentage of the time. Survival of the fittest, this bass was starving to death. Tom

Tip on pork trailers; use a 3/4" length of finesse worm threaded onto the jig hook shank, up against the skirt. Always nose hook a pork trailer. The worm piece keeps the pork from fouling the hook point. Tom

Spectra, the fiber used to make super braids, is a natural dull white and is dyed other colors like dark grey, green, yellow, red, etc. the dye shouldn't bleed, just fade. Tom

The bass is blind in the eye facing the camera and is starving, did it favor! Tom

It seems to me you should simply use the same weight jig as the T-rig with the same colors and trailer until the bass stop biting that combo. Fishing a jig just to fish a jig when the T-rig is working is interesting. Tell me agian about your tackle, I didn't read this long thread. A jig is nothing but a hook with a ( lead ) molded onto it. The hook is very important, the head determines where you can effectively present the jig without hanging it up often. I don't believe either site sponsors offer tungsten jig heads? Tungsten is heavier, therefor smaller jig head verses hook size giving the jig more effective bite; more space between the haed and hook point. The down side of tungsten is cost, more expensive to make. Phenix Cody Myers signature jigs are excellent. Both of the sponsors offer well made jigs with premium hooks, can't go wrong. You want a stand up style stream line shape head, 1/4 to 3/8 oz for the Verde river, 1/2 oz if there is moderate current (3 to 4 mph). Tom.

If you read the initial question was about the bass being hooked and getting away after fighting the fish. Very different scenario when bass strikes short and misses a lure, this happens a lot no harm no foul. All the bass did was show you it's location or more than likely the location of several bass. Changing the lure presentation or a different lure is a common sense approach to follow up with. Keep in mind if the bass followed the initial lure a distance before striking, it takes a few minutes for that bass to return to where it came from. If the bass strike was a fast reaction strike, the bass will be near to where you missed the strike. Tom

If I was considering a new spinning reel it would be Okuma Helios series, about $140. Tom

I have only been casting a bait casting reel for 5 decades and FC line is a challenge for several reasons. 1. FC line stays dry, so it needs a line dressing to lubricate it so it will stay coiled on the spool during the cast. 2. FC line is high memory and has a tendency to spring off the spool, see #1. 3. FC line is heavier than braid or mono line, the increased weight speeds the spool up faster, you need to fine tune the reel for the added weight. 4. FC line has several hardness varieties on the market; abrasion resistance vs castible. I am not a fan of KVD line dressing because it should be applied several hours in advance of using the reel. My preference is TangleFree that you can apply while fishing every hour or so. Tune your reel with line dressing applied to the line, increase the anti backlash a little so the line doesn't spring off the spool. Everyone has their favorite line brands, I used Sunline Shooter for years and now use Blackwater Toray Solraroam Bass Hi-Class, it casts very well, good knot strength and abrasion resistance at reasonable price. Good luck with your FC adventures! Tom

Looking at thread brings up both trends and questions. The trend is spook type walk the dog lures are ahead in numbers with 16, frogs 2nd with 9, pop-r type poppers with 5, buzzers 3rd with 4, small miscellaneous jump baits and chuggers with 4. The question is; quality vs quantity thread indicated 5 to 1 preference to catch quality bass, how does this relate to the lures listed are nearly 5 to 1 quantity bass lures? Don't want to hijack this thread, just an observation. Tom