WRB-2.0

It’s difficult sometimes to keep your tongue in your cheek and let things take their course. When my son was just learning to fish I would let him pick through my tackle and choose a lure after already initially rigging his rod. So I would tie on a snap and he pick out something. Good learning experience for both of us. If he asked I would give him advice but letting him do his own techniques he caught bass using the lure the wrong way imo. I am so stuck in my ways to change but different strokes for different folks is a good life lesson. Only took me about 50 years to learn this lesson. Tom

I don’t recall when reel seat deign with exposed rod blanks became a standard item? I do remember when fore grips disappeared replaced by the reed hood nut exposing the threads was around 2000. Loomis and St Croix kept their short fore grip and the industry is slowly returning to this design. The reel foot hood nut has also evolved to add a comfortable design. Imo casting rods with micro guides have become standard and adding 2 additional guides 9 in lieu of 7 for example on a 7’ rod. I’m still in favor of the 1st 2 running guides to be slightly large ID size to gather the whipping line with lower friction. Single foot running guides are also standard practice with today’s bass rods. Split grips are another common deign and reduces weight. Reducing weight is today’s goal without the rod failing under “normal” use. caution on inexpensive guide train for 2 reasons, 1) they break when trying to straighten and 2) the ceramic guide rings pop out randomly. Both Fuji and Kagin offer quality guides. Rod blank sensitive is totally subjective and dependant how each individual interprets line movements and how the completed rod with all the components dampens line created vibrations. Tom

Old School top water techniques when the Zara Spook was designed was cast and let the lure sit still until the splash down ripples disappeared. We call this dead stick. Next was twitch and repeat the dead stick. This is flowed by a pull then let sit followed by another few pulls, let sit. Now walk the dog several feet and let sit with a few twitches. This is followed by walking the dog several feet let rest and repeat. Today everyone is in a hurry to make the next cast and forgoes all the dying bait fish moves, just walk the dig 1/2 way back,reel fast and make another cast. Tom

Welcome from a vintage bass angler👍 Tom

Slip Shot rig. Cylinder weight-glass bead (optional) Carolina stopper and hook. Adjust the stopper for leader length. Finesse I use 5# Maxima UG copoly line, 8mm faceted glass bead and Owner 5133 hook size 1/0 or 2/0 depending on soft plastic. Worms; Roboworm 4” Sculpin, 4 1/2 curl tail, 5 and 6” straight tails. US Co. 3 1/2” Reapers and 4” Screamer ribbon tails. If you use a #4 round split shot make sure you crimp the shot onto your line then pull about 2’ of line through the shot to cut a groove into the lead, cut of the damaged line, tie on your hook and lightly re crimp the shot about 18”-24” above the hook. Mono or copoly line stays off the bottom FC sinks and drags on the bottom. Hand pour worms float, injection molded worms sink. I prefer keeping my soft plastic off the bottom if possible. This is a slow drag presentation with weight bumping the bottom in-parting action to the worm. The bite maybe a tick but with a crimped split shot the bite is a rubber band slow pull. Slip Shot eliminates the weight so you feel strike easier. Tom

You never had high speed bait casting reels until Smaller more compact 100 size reels with small diameter narrow Spools became popular. The reason is IPT after casting 30 to 40 yards reduced the IPT up to 40%. This means your 8:1 gear ratio is only recovering 18” to 20” of line per handle rotation at the end of the cast. The ABU Ambassador reel of yesteryear are equal to today’s 300 size casting reels that hold the IPT rate after casting. The Ambassador reel with 5.3:1 had a higher IPT after casting 35 yards todays 100 size reels with 8:1! Tom

Megabass makes it $$ Tom

Crow Horse posted a collapsible kayak anchor rigged to break away when snagged and pull up backwards. Most are listed at 3 1/2 lbs, around $25 complete kit. Tom

FC requires TLC when using it. TLC includes a good line conditioner to help it stay on the spool to reduce backlashing and perfect knot tying to improve knot strength. 12 lb FC knot strength is about equal to 10 lb mono for example. I use 2 knots with FC line; Palomar and San Diego Jam knot. Line conditioner Tangle Free or KVD. either 12 lb or 15 lb are good choices,15 lb will have more memory it’s larger diameter line. Stay with Daiwa Samuari, Seaguar or Sunline brands. If you use a top water lure just add about 3’ of fly line dressing to float the line in front of the lure. Tom

Owner Twist Lock finesse hook and add a rubber core sinker. Remove the rubber and pinch on the weight of your choice. Tom

You describing a saturation bait in lieu of a search bait. A Fluke to me is a soft jerk bait and doesn’t have any action falling down through the water column. A paddle tail swimmer rigged like KVD demonstrated has action on it’s falling down through the water column, a better choice imo. Tom

What region of the country are you located and what type of tackle do you use; rod, reel and line? Tom

^^^^👍^^^^ well said! Tom

What rpm’s are turning at 58 mph? Does the boat plane on the pad, bow up? Tom

I made my 5 year son a 4 1/2’ Spinning rod with a Zebco Omega trigger spin reel with 5# Maxima UG copoly line back in 1987. I rigged him a slip shot using 3” Reapers and size #1 worm hook. Tommy used this UL combo for about 3 years and caught hundreds of bass between 1 1/2 to 5 lbs. when he was 8 years old I bought a signature Don Iovinio Phenix split shot shot rod 6’ 6” MF spinning rod and Shimano Stradic 1000 reel using the same 5# line. Tommy was an expert with the slip shot rig and fished that rod until he passed away at age 38. Over that 30 year period he caught hundreds of bass over 4 lbs, a 35# 5 bass limit in a tournament and a few DD. Set your drag at 1/3rd the line test and trust it. Don’t reel against a running fish, keep the in front of you and the fight of a bass is rarely longer then 2 minutes. Tom

Iaconelli said about hundred time catch 1 doesn’t mean a pattern, catch 2 doing the same thing you got a pattern. Some lakes set good for pattern fishing others are spot fishing. You can set up a milk run doing either pattern or running spots. I actually prefer spot fishing and determine a specific pattern at each spot For example our lakes have hundreds of similar spots with rocky points but only a hand full will feature specific elements the bass prefer that day or time of day. If the rocky point has a few stick ups and those points is where you catch bass, then that’s is a pattern on those spots. I going to milk run all the points with stick ups as possible. Tom

Pounding the bank by casting a lure of your choice to anything looks good to is fishing blind imo. How do you know what the bass want and where the bass are located. You may catch a few bass or may blank and never know why. All the locations you can’t see are more then likely where the are located. The lures or colors you didn't try where those bass were located was probably the pattern you missed. Tom

Bass have learned striking the head kills the prey. Tom

Nope!!

ALX Zolo Deputy 7’1” MHF is a very good bottom contact rod with excellent customer service and warranty. Tom

I have been detecting light strikes for over 50 years using jigs because I use my finger tips on the line. So yes I am sticking to that statement. My 10 year old ALX customs jig & worm 5 power rods weigh 3.8 oz with state of the art Lamiglas blanks so weight, balance, guide train, line and reel are import to make long accurate casts and get solid hook sets to control and land the bass. Strike detection for me is and always has been feed back from the line movements touching fingers. Tom

Rods don’t have sensitivity! Bottom lure contact feedback is all about detecting slight changes is lure resistance and line movements. I would say the line plays a critical role is detecting lure movements. Your finger tip is sensitive. Higher modulus materials and very resistant guide train plus how the reel seat is made and overall weight and balance all play part is what everyone thinks is rod sensitivity. It comes down to how you feel about the combination of all the above with a $300 budget, lots of choices. So curious what length rod, reel and line do you plan to use? Tom

Creative Angler Universal is $35 comes with 3 jaws for different hook sizes from light to heavy. Tom

The Man who had the most impact on how I Fish was Jason Lucas editor of Sports Afield magazine in the 50’s. Being a young teen my questions were limitless and Jay would answer my letters with suggestions on what rod, reel and a few lures to start with. Later Jay published a book Lucas on Bass and that was the 1st time I could a picture of this man that I never met in person. Jason Lucas was a exhibition caster a true expert and promoted light line use. Jay also promoted fishing off shore structure by drifting with a anchor until the boat stopped on something off shore. When Lowrance came out with their Green Box flasher I bought it in high school and never looked back. Being a very curious person always wonder why drove me to learn more about the bass I wanted to catch. The result was my Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar and whatever success I had catching big bass over a lifetime. You can say I marched to a different drummer with help of my mentor. Thank you Jay. Tom

Just James is into golfing the last I heard. Anyone know what happened to Rolo, Roger been missing? Tom