WRB-2.0

When I fished in Canada with my in-laws during the summer the Lake trout were in 90’-120’ deep water basins. We used 2 techniques 1) 1/2 oz chrome Sonar lure vertically dropped then reeled back up, 2) trolled a thin (.010thick) flutter spoon on a 3 way swivel rig about 2 oz weight on a 12” dropper and 36” leader for the 3” silver spoon. Drag slowly adjusting to deep changes. Both techniques worked good. A simple flasher sonar unit is all we used to determine depth and locate fish. Tom

Flea Market forum has a KastKing casting reel for $35 Tom

Trying new lures is best during a good bite in lieu of during a poor bite doesn’t workout well. With all the information available today it’s easy to get overloaded and confused with too much inappropriate techniques for your region. Tuning up your tackle and organizing is good during hard water time. Tom

Welcome to BR I am sure Texas members will share with you. Tom

You know when a fisherman is living when his mouth is moving! As I said earlier pro is for promotional . I am not a “pro” and have shared exact details on the lures used to catch my bass, including photos, believe it or not! Tom

If you have calipers measure the line diameter. Tom PS, a set of 6 lanyards, clips and balls is $50.

6th Sense Masterclass soft top hook crappie is inexpensive version of Mattlure U2 Bluegill in Crappie. Huddleston Delux top hook Bluegill in Crappie is on sale at TW for $10 can’t do better than that👍 Tom

If you can effectively cast your 1/2 bladed jig using a standard jig rod MHF or XF that is a good rod choice. Reason is 1/2 oz jig and 1/2 oz bladed jig have the same heavy wire jig hook. The rod tip bounce associated with Mod action crank bait rods doesn’t help with hook setting a heavy wire jig hook. Tom

It’s difficult to answer without knowing the shoreline contour/ topographic elevation. Example a flat shoreline tree lined vs a steep rocky terrain. My method was to locate a point that has shallower to deeper water to start with. Seasonal period plays a major role to determine where to fish. Aquatic vegetation determines what lure cab be effectively presented to the bass. Since you are fishing from shore uphill presentations or surface and or shallow running lures should be a consideration. Time of day is another factor to consider, lower light the bass maybe shallower, brighter sky they may be deeper or under the cover or docks. My favorite shore presentation is using soft plastics slip shot rigged. I fan cast the area cover 180 degrees 1/2 circle if possible. Make about 5’ distance between where each cast landed, this covers the area. Then move down to where the 1st cast landed and repeat the fan pattern. Tom

Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel were wiped out by yellow algae. Laguna Niguel just had another event this summer resulting in massive fish kill. Tom

No rules bass can’t read! Tom

The color debate has gone on as long as I can remember and that is a long time! Yellow is a color most bass anglers avoid thinking it’s a negative. Yet a hollow body frog with a yellow belly is popular. I knew a local pro who would hold up bags of hand poured worms and only use the ones with fewer black flakes, we all march to a different drummer. Color is important when it matters and it matters most of the time imo. If I don’t like the color it stays in the box, not on my line. Tom

Laguna Niguel lake in SoCal was just wiped out by a yellow algae bloom, serious issue depending on the type of algae. Mission Viejo lake was wiped out by the same algae a few years ago, both were good bass lakes. Tom

About 2+ lbs of eggs make her belly look bloated! Big girl! Tom

Missile Baits Magic worm (Roboworm poured) tends to float upright and good choice for the Free rig and Neko rig. Tom

That is Dottie snagged by Mac Weakly ending her chance to be the world record bass at 25.1 lbs…. Tom

Size 2 Owner Hyper weld snap for most crank baits, size 1 for jerk baits. I also use the Palomar knot for snaps. Tom

Black Jitter Bug has caught lots of bass across the country, black Spooks not as popular but it works good! Tom

That isn’t Dottie it’s the current world record 22.315 lbs by Japan Kurita’s bass. Dottie' was caught legally last by Roger Dickerson at 21+ lbs. I did leave off Bill Siemantel name who created the BB1 series of swim baits and rats, local pro. Tom

The slight advantage of using FC line is smaller diameter per pound test with lower coefficient of line drag cutting through the water. The result comparing FC to Mono/Copoly is less line bow using moving lures. If you want FC to float use fly line dressing on 3’ of the in front of the top water lure. Tom

Cold front may be the most misunderstood term in bass fishing. Cold front actually follows a low pressure front that brought in clouds and possible rain, the weather in front of a high pressure system following the Low pressure creating clearing skies and windy conditions. How to fish frontal conditions during the windy brighter skies….slow down and either fish deeper breaks near where the bass were before the front or tight to cover. Tom

Spinning reels don’t backlash! Spinning reels do twist line with every revolution of the bail. My guess is you are tripping the bail using the reel handle and that creates a loop in the line. Manually flip the bail over and watch for line loops. Don’t reel against a fish with the drag is slipping, that also causes more line twist. Bait casting reels require a different casting motion and more skill to cast without backlashing. Tom

Back in the day we called it a “honey hole” and kept it’s location a closely held secret. Not all LMB roam most are home guards that find a sanctuary location and suspend until their need to feed activates them, imo. There are wolf packs LMB that do roam but not the majority of the population. Smallmouth the majority tend to roam. Timing the active feeding period correctly is a good day on the water. Tom

You ever caught a blind eye bass? Catching a bass with one eye is common is all types of water clarity and at night because vision is only 1 sense bass use to find prey. Basically both sides of the bass is a long lateral line ear that feels water vibrations to alert the bass that prey is around them. They also have close range hearing and a sense of smell, vision is another well developed sense but not essential to locate prey. Water clarity affects depth of light for anglers to see and depth of baitfish that rely on their food source and affects where the bass will be located. Tom

GRats lures, Lowrance and PowerPole currently. Steve marches to his own drummer! Tom