WRB-2.0

Put that soft plastic on 1/4-3/8 oz underspin so you can cast it far enough yet still retrieve slowly enough. Tom

Canyon-Plastics 2 1/2” Mini Gitzit, 99 colors to choose from. Tom

IROD IRG754F Gen3 Fred’s Magic Stick designed for frogs makes and good utility rod for big deep diving crank baits and swimbait,/wake baits 1-2 oz the OP plans to use. Tom

Wildest or weirdest, title vs opening post. Wildest hands down For was a big Mako shark that jump over our flying on 52’ Pacifica Sportfisher marling fishing that we were fighting. Weirdest there are a few that come to mind. Bass fishing Bull Shoals a limb was being pulled into the water and being from California didn’t know about limb lines. curious checked it out and pulled in the line with a big snapping turtle hooked. Thought I would knock the hook out of it’s mouth using the rent boat oar, bad decision the. Turtle clamp down on the oars end wouldn’t let go. Tied the to the anchor rope, cut the limb line and left the turtle clamped on the oar and continued fishing thinking the turtle would release the oar and swim off. When it was time to return to. The boat dock the dam turtle was still clamped to the oar. I tied the anchor rope to the turtles big tail and pulled the turtle into the boat using the oar. Now this big is in the boat tail tied to the bow with the oar as returned to the boat landing. Now the story gets weirder. As I left the big turtle out of the boat onto the dock with the rope tied to it’s tail and still clamped onto the oar I see this man standing watching. He ask me do I want the turtle and say no. The next thing that happens as I pull on the oar the guy chops the turtles head off and almost fall off the dock. When I go the the office to pay for the rental boat the same man tells me it’s free and invites me to a turtle dinner. Tom

Dobyns started his business using Lamiglas rods and their rod power ratings. 1, light 2, Medium Light 3, Medium 4, Medium Heavy 5, Heavy 6, X Heavy ALX uses the same power rating and added 1/2 or Plus ratings as rods became finer=tuned. Swimbait rod are application specific and generally more consistent between mfr’s. 4, Medium 1-3 oz lures 5, Medium Heavy 1-6 oz lures 6, Heavy 2-8 oz lures 8, X Heavy 3-10 oz lures To me St Croix is different. Tom

Call ReelEx Dan Isaac. Dan more then likely has what you need. Tom

Only type of engine* you see in south east Asia. Catt is familiar with mud engine, my experience was they are very noisy! A quick look the Mud-Skipper should work. Tom * motors are electric

My top five Smallies would be in the 4 lb class caught at Crow Lake and Height of Land Ontario Canada. Havasu and Mojave didn’t have Smallmouth the years I fished those lakes. Locally 3 lbs would my heaviest Smallie. Tom PS, FishChris posted a photo on this site of his 8.94 Smallmouth at Pardee. The current California Smallmouth is 9.84lbs at Pardee bettering 9.13 lbs at at McClure. There are world class Smallmouth in NoCal!

705 CB Crank baits, General use crank baits. 795 SB Swimbaits to 3 oz, Tom

Yes! Tom

OCdockskipper is another member faded away. Tom

FC, Copoly and mono lines the San Diego Jam knot for lures. Palomar knot for smaller terminal tackle clips and hooks. Salt water live bait to hooks the Perfection Loop knot. Salt water hollow braid to top shot leader the Wind On knot, solid braid Bimini twist. Fresh water braid direct to lures or terminal tackle the original braid knot now called double line clinch knot. Small diameter braid to leader the Alberto knot. All types line to reel spool the arbor knot, the blood knot for all line to filler line. Tom

So you cast a expensive swimbait or musky lure and another anglers cuts it off it’s theirs? Bet that can cause a few heated disputes ending up poorly.

How many Rivers did you catch? Tom

I took good care of my reels kept them clean and in good working order. Most of my reels were over 20 years old when I sold them in good condition kept most of the original boxes. Since I fished from my boat it was easy to care for them by using terry towels between layers of reels in the locker. The towels keeps dry and cushioned when traveling. My boats had smaller decks so only took out rods I was using, put away those not in use, mostly so wouldn’t step on the rods. Kept expando braid (rod socks) on the rod long before they were on the market. Abuse your equipment and it may fail when you need most. Tom

Threadfin Shad are small 3”-4” and eat phytoplankton a plant. Gizzard Shad are larger 8”-12” and eat zooplankton a animal part of the food chain for other fish. Threadfin would not survive a shallow pond do to cold water temps below 45 dregees. Gizzard will destroy the ponds ecosystem. Most ducks don’t eat fish, Herons do! Texas has a good Fishery Management program, call them before transferring any fish pond to pond. Tom

Keep in mind everything you see displayed on your 2D down looking sonar is a history what already passed over...it’s behind you in the wake. Tossing buoy markers out the drivers side behind you about 20’ will not be on top of the bass but close enough to let you know where to cast. Use 2 buoys when marking outside structure humps 1 on each end then fish between them. Tom

Makes it tough! Uphill in rip rap is the bait monkey’s friend. Try the 1st major point, usually winter bass are located there. Tom

Use your sonar to locate bass and bait in deeper water. Fish where they are not where you think they are. Tom

I learned to fish in 50’s when anchoring was considered normal along with trolling. Working on a boat landing as a teenager renting 16’ wooden row boats it’s 5 1/2 hp outboards we always had a short lesson on how to start the engine and anchor the boat. Lower the front bow anchor until it hit bottom, back the boat until the rope was the proper angle, then lower back anchor when the front anchor was holding bow into the wind. Easy procedure and most followed it. These were trout anglers using bait and usually caught fish. Anchoring quietly is simply safer then trying to toss a 20lb navy ancho like a depth charge! Bass fishing anchoring comes in handy at times you want a quire stationary platform to fish from. Bill Murphy was the expert anchoring and describes his technique in detail In his book In Pursuit of Giant Bass. Tom

You need to make a claim before 30 days of the shipping date not date received. BassMaster magazine ran a BFS article in the last issue noting the raise in popularity listing your rod and Curado BSF reel. Tom

The majority of bass anglers are honest but as Ray Scott recognized a few cheat. Ray created the blind draw tournament to reduce cheating. Trophy bass anglers are not a high % of bass anglers but a few cheat as Mike Long proved in spades. It amazes honest folks when someone cheats because we don’t think that way. Tom

Looks like the jar of Minnows and a gold fish was put into a bass bed! Yes the 1st bass USA Smallmouth the 2nd a Largemouth. Some well known trophy bass anglers put a basket of live crawdads attached to the anchor rope to cum in bass, old trick illegal in California lakes. Tom

All “mono” lines are Nylon or blends of Nylon and polyester or polyurethane called copolymer mono line. The highest end small diameter line is made by Sunline called Shooter Diefer Armilo Nylon Mono line. Co-extruded line like Yo-Zuri Hybrid is often called Copolymer line incorrectly...it’s hybrid because it’s mono line co- extruded with Fluorocarbon jacket. Fluorocarbon is a monofilament (single filament) line but marketed as Fluorocarbon line to separate it from Nylon. Tom ps, 1/16 poly tubing at a aquarium fish store. Take a hook with you to size it properly.

1st look at a Navonics lake map to determine the bottom contour. Look for structure elements like points, creek channels, humps-high spots and any saddles areas. Now look at the standing trees near the good structure features. Those are usually your better trees to target. Tom