WRB-2.0

Fishlab natural nymphs are crazy good. Tom

WhenI sold most of my stuff shipped 42 lbs of soft plastics to 1 person so I know how this happens. Tom

If you turn the clock back to the 1980’s 99% of experienced bass anglers nationwide used bait casting outfits. What happened is finesse bass fishing using 6# to 8# test light line created the spinning outfits for bass anglers. Before that era spinning was used mostly for trout anglers. The 1% of bass anglers using spinning back in the day were live bait anglers and a hand full of finesse anglers like Garry Garland and Gary Yamamoto who used spinning tackle as far back as the 70’s. Zebco came out with Abu Cardinal rear drag spinning reel followed by Shimano and Daiwa with quality reels in the late 70’s and early 80’s....game changers for finesse bass anglers. Phenix introduced Split Shot graphite rods designed for bass anglers. The Daiwa TD SS 1300 with Phenix Spilt Shot rod was “the” combo for finesse bass fishing. Don Iovino started to customize the Abu 2500 bait casting reels and Phenix Doodle rods fore runner of BFS. Spinning is now nearly 50% of today’s bass angler combo’s. Tom

Frogs! Johnson Silver Minnow weedless spoon with a white or chartreuse 3” grub trailer is a good pad lure. Tom

Just because the area looks good for bass doesn’t mean it is! Start but working the edges, pockets and any boat lanes. Frogs have 3 speeds stop, slow and fast try all 3. Look for disturbed water, swirls and pad movements indicating something lives there. Tom

Bass are bass but are they? The basic bass are Largemouth, Smallmouth and Spotted bass found nearly everywhere we bass fish. Both Largemouth and Spotted bass have 2 deferent species; Florida LMB, Northern LMB and Northern (Kentucky) Spotted, Southern (Alabama) Spotted Bass. Smallmouth are Smallmouth everywhere. Why add this to a sonar discussion? Behavior traits are different affecting location and catch ability. Smaller lakes or ponds bass are more shore located because their food source is located nearby. Really don’t need sonar to effectively cast to visual shore targets and the bass are usually in less then 8’ of water. Simple flasher works well to determine depth and helpful reading maps to pin point underwater isolated cover-structure. Manmade impoundments or reservoirs are a different story. Bass can be shore oriented or off shore located and depth becomes a critical factor. Yes, you can fish large deep reservoirs targeting the shoreline and obvious structure or cover elements without a sonar unit. Fishing blind on these lakes you mis a lot of bass that are over your shoulder or under your boat deeper then you are fishing. NLMB, Smallmouth and Spotted bass are all very aggressive feeders and far easier to catch then FLMB that tend to be more selective seeking prey and less aggressive overall. When targeting less aggressive bass sonar helps a lot locating bass and prey so you can adjust your timing. Scanning and Livescope sonar is changing bass fishing as you see real time where the bass are located and their reaction to your lures. Do you need today’s real time sonar units? Not when fishing smaller lakes or ponds. If you fish competitive tournaments you shouldn’t fish blind if you want to earn a check. Tom

Springfield 125055-L 2-7/8” Explorer pedestal comes 30” length, locking and non-locking. FYI, 3/4” threaded King Pin when tightened the bending load is on the 2” post. Take look, maybe a tall big man will reply. Tom

Superzilla thread penetrant should work. Springfield pedestals with 3/4” King Pin threaded 23”-30” and base. Never had any issues with the thread pin, just use a lubricant on the pin threads and keep it clean. Tom

Over 200 different soft plastics is insanity can’t remember what you have or when or where to use them. You are not a touring pro needing everything known to man for every regional location. It’s beyond time to what you haven’t used in the past 2 years. Target goal is the dirty dozen that work for you! Tom

Didn’t see a selection of hand pours, a few Roboworms. My last few outings all the bass caught on; Yamamoto 5” Senko GP 301 Flutter Craft 4” Reaper, Smoke S&P pearl blue in lieu of Don Iovino reapers* Jackall 4.8 Flick Shake worm watermelon candy. Fishlab natural nymph, GP Charteuse. Roboworm MMIII 6”. Uptons Customs** 6” Purple Thunder. Few made your list. Tom * Iovino no longer makes soft plastics. ** Upton is direct order.

Looks like May and late September or all summer is good for big Smallies. Try Emailing Brandon Palaniuk for guide names and season period. Tom

6 1/2” Glide Swimmer is 1 3/4 oz, your “heavy fast” will work better then a flipping rod imo. 20# test is OK, use the rod to move your glide and. Reel to take up slack line. Glides need to coast on slack line. Tom

Painting oxidized aluminum isn’t as simple you may think. The boat bottom must be clean and dirt-oxide Free. Then you need a aluminum zinc-chromate primer before painting with marine grade paint. After all this work no guarantee the leak is permanent plugged. You should find the leak source and seal it before painting the bottom. Suggest you remove some flooring to air dry after filling the boat with enough water to cover all the bottom rivets (if riveted) or welds if welded. Look for drips on the outside hull bottom. Fix the leak with A-Jay’s suggested marine epoxy. Short cuts rarely work. Tom

Yield strength for most of today’s mono, copolymer it FC is approx 30-35% of tensile ( labeled # test). So about 1/3rd the pound test the starts to stretch. A good reason to set your reel drag at 1/3rd the pound test. What confuses anglers is line bow in the water caused by coefficient of drag cutting through water feels like stretch as the bow is tightened up. Smaller diameter line has lower drag and FC being heavier then water has lower coefficient drag, less bow. What you feel the line doing is what matters. Tom

Material yield is in PSI pounds square inch, larger diameter = higher PSI, so.....smaller diameter fishing line of the same material qwill always have lower yield strength. Line mfr’s often under rate their line strength by using larger diameter then competitors and anglers believe brand Y is stronger then X. The strongest monofilaments per diameter are often stiff and hard (high memory) not a good quality in fishing line. Sunline Defier Armilo is a small strong good casting Nylon Mono, I use 25# / .016D for my swimbaits to 7 oz. Tom

5” - 6” Senko with o-ring use Owner Jungle Wacky Hook size #1 and fish it weightless. If you try the Giant TRD, then add a nose 3/32 nail weight, not the same swim action but last all day or night. Tom

What hook do you use to wacky o-ring rig? Tom

^^^^^pegged bullet weight is the Florida rig^^^^^ another term lost in the fog of bass lore. I use the Brass ‘n Glass rig a sliding bullet weight to add a little color and sound. 8mm tempered faceted glass bead with either brass or tungsten bullet weight. Tom

ALX Enox Decoy rod 7’1”, 1/4-7/8 oz Medium/fast made for finesse jigs. Tom PS, A-L-F discount puts this close to your budget. USA made in NC.

Just offering rod builders that offer warranties. Saint Croix Premier offers short straight handle casting rods with 3 different length cork Handles. I am sure you all know that. Tom

Have a custom rod built. Recommend DVL or ALX. Tom

Take photo’s when water is down, helps your memory! Lake Castiac has risen 98’ vertical feet since January storms and 100% full spilling water as we speak. The water has finally cleared, still floating debris the bite is tough but coming around. Lake Casitas is now 70% full up from 30% since January. Shore trees and brush now flooded has 15 years of growth, a jungle for the bass to hide in. Fishing is decent. Cachuma is 100% full and spilling up from 30% and like Castias the shore is a flooded jungle. Fishing is good as NLMB and Smallmouth at Cachuma are more aggressive easier to catch then the FLMB in Casitas and Castaic. So bass species plays a roll in behavior. Tom

Spring up, Fall down. Tom

Bass angers have there own definition of water clarity, no definite definition. If interested use use a sechi dish to determine depth of light. Your sonar unit is your best tool, depth of baitfish! If you can “see” the bottom that’s tells you the water clarity where you fish. Gin clear water is swimming pool clear not common in bass lakes. I am surprised how well bass blend into there environment and catch them at depths the bottom is clearly visible and don’t see them until they strike. Color breaks, bottom colors changes, shade, waves, wind mud lines all are things to look for. Changes in the soil, rocks, brush, trees are all key elements locating bass. Catching is another issue all together. Tom

OK, casting combo. Not a fan of braid with leader and 2 knots. Straight 15# (Big Game) mono or (15# InvizX) FC.* works good in moderate cover. 3/8 & 1/2 jig weight is good. Catts recommendations are spot on. Don’t recommend you start with more then 2 colors, better off having more of a few colors. Tom * FC use TangleFree line conditioner.