WRB-2.0

Side Scan you don’t go directly over the fish, Down scan you do go over the fish. Fish in water deeper then 20’ boats don’t tend get spooked bass easily. Tom

4 lbs of drag is about right for MH bass rods, it’s what I use. Contact Smooth Drags for carbontex drag disk for your specific reel, about $3. Tom

I see said the blind man, the fish in the avatra. Tom

Dorado are called Mahi Mahi in Hawaii and common along the Pacific coast Mexico south. Tom

Use a lighter weight like 3/32 oz Mojo cylinder weight and rig the worm weedless (Texas). The light wire Owner 5133 Down shot hook with floating worms, Finesse the rig through brush works good for me. Tom

Get another opinion from Dr who specializes in Pancreatic and Whipple procedure. Preying for you Tommy🙏🏻 Tom PS MD Anderson in Houston is a good choice.

California has a population of Mountain Lions that are protected species and over populating some areas. The big cats need about 20 square miles of hunting area for each cat. Without any reduction in population they over whelm the natural hunting zones each cat stakes out so they invade neighbor hoods with live stock or pets to hunt. We have crazy animal lovers that promote building over passes on freeways so the cats can crossover. We have overpasses for cars the cats use why build special for cats to use to go into populated neighborhoods? We have mountain lions collared every year near and released nearby. Deer population is very low in our area so the big cats chased out of good area ends up in our neighbor hoods looking for prey, not a good situation. Tom

CF is California registered and looks like a river boat. Tom

Started looking at my electronics (flasher) over 50 years ago and it became essential to meter around the marina to determine depth of the life zone every outing. My sonar was my eyes underwater at depths I couldn’t see and feel blind without looking at the screen now. Ounce I know what depth to target I check the area fished to see if anybody was home and missed the bite window to determine if returning later was in the cards. So yes I look all day every time on the water if possible. Tom

Before marijuana was legalized in CA the Emerald triangle was the Wild West and lawless. The Movie Murder Mountain documents how dangerous Humboldt county was. Tom

Customer service includes having personal contact with rod company, a live person who knows their product. The ability to exchange a rod is another factor to consider. Tom

ALX St Croix Dobyns Kistler G. Loomis Tom

Get well soon! Tom

Welcome to BR. Water temps are misunderstood today with most bass anglers using sonar units with temp probes showing surface water. Bass don’t live on the surface that is warmer then the core water where they are located. When bass body temps reach 55-58 degrees warming from the cold water period they are Pre Spawn and relocating to staging areas near spawning areas regardless what regional area they are located. If you fill out your regional area location on the profile we can answer more in detail. Low Land reservoir indicates a coastal area so it could tidal influence? Pre Spawn LMB the males are up in shallower water then females looking for high protein prey sources. 2 very different bass behavior and locations. About a week of warming period without wind warms up the water fairly quickly increasing activity. Start searching using your sonar unit in deeper water near spawning areas looking for bass and baitfish. The bass will be in groups not singles. Depth is everything during pre spawn period, want to target that specific depth zone. Lures for pre spawn I use are jigs, jigs, big worms , jerk baits and swimbaits. Tom

my PB at Castiac in ‘93 was a amazing bass for power and it’s jumped clear out of the water after hooking about 100’ away. The big girl looked like maybe 12 lbs at a distance. This bass then ran towards the boat then under it and out the opposite side running another 100’, I knew it was a bass because it jump but fought like a big stripe bass. When I hand landed this bass it looked like a record to me and very exited. 19.3 lbs see my avatar. Tom

Irod IRD 783SB is a good choice for all the lures you referenced; $150 Tom

You can network Lowrance TD’s so the location should accommodate the largest Side Scan TD at the stern, down scan on the TM. I would put the larger screen at the bow on a adjustable mount and use split screen to view both. Both TD’s are not live it’s a history of what you passed over. Tom

Rods cast lures reels hold line is the old tried and true phrase. Aerodynamics is easy to understand think of 1/2 oz lures 1 a buzz bait with a big blade the other a jig. The blade on the buzz bait spins in wind slowing down during the cast, the has little wind resistance to slow it down. Everything being equal the jig will travel 2X distance then the buzz bait. A moderate action rod with more parabolic bend will lunch lures of the weight further then fast or extra fast action rod of the same length. So many factors come into play as we select rods, reels and line to perform our presentations with ease. Tom

Where 10 degree water temp drop in 24 hours is the limit for NLMB to survive the same 10 degree water temp drop drop is fatal FLMB that must find warmer water. Air temps don’t impact core water temps fast unless accompanied with wind to mix up the deeper water. Florida being mostly shallow water the FLMB reacts to cold water temps by becoming very inactive. Tom

Been using the Rap ice jigs about 40 years in our deep rock structure lakes. Suggest flattening out the nose & tail hook barbs and going up 1 size treble hook. Use care removing the treble hook as the hanger can break. Bass tend to get the lure sideways in thier mouth, that is way to flatten the bards. Practice working the ice jigs with the rod tip so it swims in a circle where you can see it. This takes easy rod tip work and the action you want. Tom

PM email and will send you photo’s and how to make pork rind for jig trailers. Out of the country at the moment it will a few days to respond. Tom

Both spinnerbaits and Chatterbaits have heavy wire big hooks so use a MHF casting rod of choice. Spinnerbaits have more wind resistance loosing some casting distance vs moderate action rod but hook setting is better with the Fast action rod. Tom

Fishing has been in my life since an infant and a way of life so it’s hard to separate from what defines me. My family mon, dad, brothers all gone now were very competitive and that shape me. Racing boat, cars completing in sports from water skiing to gymnastics shape me both physically and mentally. Career in aerospace from the Mercury program, military aircraft and weapon systems to last Shuttle flight was 50 years covering a lot of changes in a short time period and shaped me a great deal. Outliving our only son is a grief no parent should ever experience that too many go through and can’t say it’s character building. Tom

What separates one line from another factors into line choices. I look for casting performance on the reels being used. For example line with high memory like FC tends to spring off the spool. Line with lower memory tends to be poor abrasion and impact strength along with weak knot strength. Diameter is important I prefer smaller diameter line per lb test with all the good properties. Very difficult to find and Armilo combined all the performance properties and hope another mono/ copolymer line comes around. Tom

All I use is my Viper head 7/16 oz (actual weight w/ hook)jig since 1971 with tri colors buck tail hair and pork rind trailer. Every one of those 5 PB’s listed were caught on that jig. Tom