WRB-2.0

If put loose line in the water by raising the rod tip a spinning reel doesn’t move the lure. BSF you just cast with more arch to create loose line as the lure lands, same result. Tom

Learn to tie the arbor knot. Tom

I now have only 3 rod combo’s to take back seating in lieu of 6, the 3 spinning combo’s are no longer needed! 1. MHF custom JWR rod for jigs and big worms. 2. MF Splash-It rod for utility top water and everything between 1/4-5/8 0z lures. 3. BSF Falcon rod for everything spinning. 3 combo’s life is easy. Tom

Gary sold his business and no longer involved. Tom

BPS lost me buying Cabela’s then shutting down the Sidney NB headquarters killing the town. BPS supports our troops and that is a good thing! Tom

Good hook that didn’t exist back in 2012 when this thread started. Tom

Thank everyone for remembering July 16th is my birthday…82! Tom

The few good guides I knew really enjoyed people regardless of their behavior. Taking out people you know is easy, guiding you take what you get! Kate you offer a unique wilderness experience fishing from a canoe and it may work for you, just be aware some folks can be wonderful others horrible. Tom

Wacky rigged 5” Senko with spinning tackle is easy to skip under floating docks and ideal to catch suspended bass located in the shade. Bait casting tackle takes a lot of practice to skip any lure. Tom

Tommy, thank you for sharing time with us. You may not read this as you have a lot more on your plate then BR friends. You became a good friend over the years and regrets not coming to visit you, I don’t regret our disputes and only wish to hear from you again 😢, Tu me mangues! Tom

LMB is a different fish and as noted tends to live around cover and/or structure, they usually don’t run over 100’ before turning to dive deeper or come and jump to free the hook. If they come up we can win, if the dive into cover we can lose! Caught a lot of these giant bass, each was different and on mono line between 10 to 12 lb test. The skill needed is keeping a big fish in front of you, follow the fish! Back in 1983 caught a line class world record 14 lb Pacific Yellow tail fishing a tournament using 4 lb test Maxima UG, the fish was weighed and verified due to the tournament. This record fish lasted a few months topped by a Pacific Yellow Tail caught in New Zealand. I was using my bass tackle at the time and had the advantage of fishing in a tournament Marlin/Tuna boat with skilled anglers and no kelp for the fish to get into. Comparing other big fish to big bass is like comparing apples to oranges. The ultimate big game fish are bill fish, they run nearly 40 mph and jump over 20’ high and caught a lot Marlin weight 2X my weight using 30# tackle. It’s a team effort. Tom

Bass don’t usually stack up vertically the fish you metered may not be bass. Our local lakes the active life zone is usually a few feet above a thermocline. 35’ is fairly common during the summer period and several presentations are effective. *Drop Shot worms both wacky and nose hooked. Structure spoon Blade baits Ice jigs bass jigs (stroked). * dart jig w/finesse worm *Doodling finesse worms T-rigged (w/ brass & glass). Shaky head jig & worm Yo-yo lipless cranks Tail spins Under spins *Use finesse tackle with 5# to 7# FC or mono line. Tom

I have a few mounts on the wall, no water😎

A bass is a bass…..or is it! Actually Black Bass family including 8 or so species are Sunfish, not true bass. LMB both NLMB and FLMB adapt to their specific ecosystem that supports them. I fish a hand full of local lakes and each have different preferences regarding what lure and presentation they prefer, the size and colors. Tom

Welcome to BR from SoCal. Tom

Actually crawdads can change colors to match their environment. Tom

Weightless Senko works! Tom

Tommy always praying for you🙏, get well friend . I night fish you and wish it was true! Tom

Is it winter already? Tom

Welcome aboard Eric. Tom from SoCal

Dick Trask used 3 1/2” Screamer ribbon tail* worm on a 3/32 oz dart head jig to catch limits of suspended big bass 30 years before FFS! How Dick knew where the bass were located….he never disclosed his secret. Tom * U.S. Baits own’s the Flutter Craft tooling for Screamers and 4 1/2” Flutter Tails.

Straight 12 lb Big Game is what I used for decades for all my bass lures except big heavy swim baits. Good casting distance with strong knot strength and abrasion resistance. Tom

The original B.A.S.S. was good for the most part. Being a Western bass angler the only chance you had to become a B.A.S.S. touring pro was to move to be more local as very few events were held outside of the Heartland. Kevin Van Dam was a 1st outsider from Michigan opening the door to a wider range of touring Pro’s. The early days at B.A.S.S. was a close knit of good o’ boys, those days as gone! The 80’s-90’s was a prime bass fishing period not because B.A.S.S. Tom

When I 1st started night bass fishing the popular thinking was use black plastic works or black with blue or red flakes ribbon tails 10” long. black jigs with rattles and 4” black trailers. Big noisy surface lures like buzz baits or Jitter Bugs. All the above worked good so the black color scheme was considered a fact and all you needed. When I started night bass fishing tournaments the above was my lures of choice, but the tournaments started around 7 PM, still light until dusk around 8 and didn’t get dart night until after 9 PM. I like to use diving crank baits and various color jigs normally in the late afternoon to dusk, so added those lure until it was dark. My 1st derby I was catching good bass using a ghost white Poe Cedar 300 and used it until the event closed at 2AM in morning because it worked! This event changed how I thought about low light bass fishing, black wasn’t necessarily the only color chose. In fact everything that catches bass during the day will catch bass in low light or night conditions including off color water. Tom

The only books I would suggest is In Pursuit of Giant Bass by the late Bill Murphy and FinesseBass Fishing and the Sonar Connection by Don Iovino. There is a weekly news fishing paper available and it also has informative articles and will PM you. I can help on specific presentations and Glenn has several good finesse bass fishing video’s. Tom