WRB-2.0

I sold nearly/all the reels purchased new over the 70 years of fishing, mostly to BR members via Flea Market forum. My salt water rods and reels I sold locally to a BR member. Reels dated from 1947 Langley Target and Lure Cast casting reels, dozens of Shimano, Daiwa, Abu Garcia, Royobi, Penn, Shakespeare, Newell, Zebo, etc. Tackle Collection was something planned to hand down to my late son. Hope the BR members are enjoying my tackle. Tom

Yo-Zuri Hybrid 15# is .016D same as 20# FC and 25# Armilo. You can use the Magic Stick for swimbaits to 2.3 oz (68 Hudds) no issues. Don’t know how heavy your frog cover is but 25# Armilo works but doesn't Cut through vegetation like braid does. I would consider 40 or 5O # braid, it’s easier to handle. Tom

The IRG rod will cast 1/2 oz, it’s made for that. Your reel shouldn’t be an issue, what line do now use? Tom

Most lipless sink, suspending means it suspends when you stop retrieving the lure. Tom

Welcome to BR from a WB member👍 The Colorado River Smallies are different regarding lure preference but similar bass behavior. You also have Pardee in NorCal with big Brown bass. With the US Open at Mojave now good time to focus the Smallmouth. Tom PS, AJay is a phenomenal resource.

You should have a 50 amp Battery switch to isolate the OB from the cranking battery when charging. This allows the cranking battery to be fully charged independently from the OB and house electronics. DC power drop is related to wire size over distance, 6 gauge is recommended. The house battery is very popular today to run the boats sonar units because of the voltage drop issues. Tom

Our bass lake are impacted by lack of rain during droughts and too much soiled run off rain water during extreme storms every so often. The silt is a big problem reducing the reservoir depth drastically the fish must servive the silt and decaying brush lowering DO levels grown durn low water periods flooded during storms. This cycle finally impacted both Castiac and Casitas this Calendar year. Trophy bass lakes to you can’t catch a legal bass nearly over night. This isn’t a fishing pressure issue it’s a water quality problem that will resolve it’s self over time. Ecosystems age and change over time, nothing we can do except volunteer instead of complaining. The crash didn’t happen from tournament pressure, it was the ecosystem that crashed. Tom

Casting or spinning? Spinning rods in general have lighter power ratings vs casting rods. What affects how a rod cast is the action. In bass rods the terms Moderate = more even bend from the 1st guide to the tip or a parabolic bend. Fast = the rod bends under light casting force more in the upper 1/4th from the tip down. Extra fast or XFast the tip is actually softer then the Fast bending more u;dear light pressure from the 1/8 the tip down. confusing you bet! Every rod maker has a different rate of rod power and action. It become try it to know for sure. Options yes, ALX (Alex), Dobyns (Gary) and St Croix ( no contact?) have excellent customer service that can suggest a rod to fit your needs. Tom

I think rod technology over 15 years hasn’t changed by leaps and bonds. 3M Nano resin is older then that but Pure Fishing bought the rights to use 3M Nano resin in fishing rods limiting competitors use. scrimles rod lay up technology isn’t new either but more labor intense limited use to higher end rods. The cost came down when domestic rod builder went off shore with the newer technologies eliminating patent infringements and lowering skilled labor cost. Few bass rods are made domestically under $200 today. My 13 year old custom rods using state of the art Nano resign scrimless Lamiglass blanks MH+ JWR rods weigh 3.8 oz with a 2” fore grip, cost was $260 each made in USA. How did we catch bass 30 years ago, with the state of the art of the day like Fenwick Techna AV and used our finger tips to detect strikes like you should be doing today. Tom

Curl tail down the worm tends to swim more side to side and split shot rigged can chase the worm to twist the line. Tail up worked better over all for me. Tom

The cover story reminded me of Camelot Bell project to raise a world record LMB. I don’t recall the 2nd lake developed to solve the issues of Camelot-Bell and believe Texas Parks and Recreation Share a Lunker program took over the management. Any updates? Tom .....

Look up my Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar. I define 5 activity levels, the level you are interested is active about 20% of the daily 24 hour period. Tom

Ribbon tail

Both predators seek and eat baitfish. Don’t have a great deal of experience with walleyes but they will work weedlines more then Smallmouth that tend to hunt more open reef areas in Lake if the Woods. On off shore reefs I caught both walleyes and Smallmouth on the same structure targeting muskies. Tom

If you have toothy big predators like Pike and Musky the perch color will attract them. The Phantom Rainbow trout is a lighter green and would be my choice for clearer water 6+’ of visibility, the darker rainbow trout for less water clarity. ROF 12 w/top hook improves strike to hook up ratio. The 68 Hudd is 2 1/3 oz but fishes heavier imo. I don’t use braid with soft swimbaits as the line cuts the lure. 25 lb Sunline Armilo Nylon line is ideal. The IROD Gen 3 IRG 783 SB is good with Shimano Cardiff 300A series reel. Tom

Darter jig with Mister Twister Phenom curl tail worm was the Ned rig of 70’s and 80’s. Still works very good for today’s bass. Hovering is the new name for this old time jig & worm presentation. Tom

Our local lakes have good water clarity and seeing bass free swimming isn’t unusual....if you look! I am surprised how few bass anglers see bass in the water, they are focused looking at sonar missing these visible bass outside the spawn cycle. Yes, Smallies in more remote lakes are very curious and often roam around in groups and try to take away a lureca hooked Bass has in it’s mouth. Tom

This year 2023 was and is extremely difficult to catch any bass at my local lakes Casitas and Castiac. Never had an opportunity to fish Casitas but did get a few shots at Castiac thanks to member Big Hands offering to take me out. Jeff ( Big Hands) has a son whom like to fish with his dad so taking me out isn’t an easy choice for him. Jeff and I fished Castiac right after it opened when the launch ramp was cleared if tons of floating wood debris. The lake surface was inches thick of floating bark and branches, not the usual clear water conditions. We managed to find bass in the back of coves that had running water and did OK catching several decent bass in very isolated areas. We learned later that zero bass were caught during a tournament that day and days following. Somehow we stumbled onto the bite going for the next 6 weeks. Jeff offered again to take me out with his son on the lower lagoon and we had one of those unforgettable days catching over 40 bass between 4 to 5 lbs....off the charts when no one could catch a cold. My hats off to Jeff for making my year👍👍 Tom

The answer is yes. You hook set like a crankbait strike....reel to load the rod then sweep back firmly while continuing too reel. Stay with swimbaits in the 6” to 7” length no reason to use the “big “ swimbaits. Line through with a magnet require less force to hook set. Back in the day I had to make my own magnet hook holder line through. Today you have a selection to choose from. My advice is s l o w down on the retrieve. Tom

In the 90’s Champions were popular, then Bass Cat came out with a faster wider hull with drier ride. Back then Ranger was the boat all other were rated against because they held the value but didn't do anything spectacular but were built like a tank and very reliable boats. Skeeter was another boat that was and is popular, fast hull but the storage wasn’t the best. Pro Craft was a good solid popular boat. The fast hulls like Allison, Bullet and Gambler never were popular out west do in part to no dealers and didn’t ride well in white capped water. Stratos at one time was popular when Earl Benz owned the company. When Benz came out with Triton they were popular out west. Today if I was looking for a new boat Bass Cat or Phenix would top the list for 19’-21’ boats. Why, local dealers, lots of storage, dry fast comfortable rid. Tom

My boxes are labeled Hair Jigs, Jigs and finesse jigs. I do short the jigs in each box by color, no need to label them. I also have zip lock bags of spare jigs and often put a few in a bag in lieu of carry the heavy boxes. I use 5 colors; Anytiime Anywhere, black-purple-brown Summer craw, black-green-brown Midnight, Black-blue Shad, dark green-chartreuse-white Fritz, brown-chartuese-red The above covers everything I need. Finesse jigs are mostly darts, mushroom and ball heads shorted by weight. Tom

The short arm single Colorado blade Spinnerbait was or is a popular night bass fishing lure producing a lot thump to attract bass. Bill Dance had a model named after him by Strike King and Jimmy Houston a model with his name by Lucky-Strike. The originals used vinyl or flat rubber skirts and hammered size 4 blade. Black with copper blade was very popular back in the 70’s. Slow drop with lift and reel keeping bottom or close to bottom contact. Red Man comes from the Red Man tobacco co sponsored tournament trail in the early 80’s as I recall. Tom

Cold water seasonal period or water under 55 degrees the vast majority of bass lakes the thermocline has dissipated allowing the fish to be at nearly any depth. How deep depends on how deep the schools of prey/bait fish are located. Sonar is your most important tool to determine how deep the life zone is located. 29’ deep is 1 atmosphere and bass can easily withstand a pressure that change. 30’ is a good overall answer. My deep limit for catch and release bass is 45’ any deeper can do brain damage from fast pressure change. Fizzing means poking a hole in the air bladder to release gases to reduce pressure on the expanded bladder. If you are releasing the bass immediately you use a weight to sink the bass back down to the depth it was caught. A simple method is using a 8 oz torpedo weight placed in the basses throat with your line clipped on the opposite end and lower bass down, lift the rod to pull out the weight, works good. Vertivle jigging structure spoons, jigs, ice jigs all work good. Tom

If you are a trout fly fisherman matching hatch is critical. If you are a bass fisherman using fast moving bright noisy lures you are not matching anything in nature. A soft plastic slow presentation you are using lures that look like something living and editable to the bass. Jig fisherman for bass you are imitating crawdad and some prey the bass are feeding on, not match but close enough to get a bass to strike. If you are a swimbait fisherman your success is more matching the hatch then other presentations. For example bass feeding on rainbow trout a rainbow trout color and swimming movements often generate a strike. What hatch needs to be known. Tom