WRB-2.0

VW Taos towing rating on the VW site is 5,000 lbs and class3 towing kit is available for 2022-2024 Taos. Check with your dealer! Tom PS Bass Cat 17’7” Bob Cat w/150 hp is an excellent boat for your needs.

HelmsMate Tiller extension telescoping 18”-24”. Also small outboard tiller to stick steering kits available but pricey. Welcome to BR Tom

Trailer hitch class 3 w/2” receiver is appropriate for bass boats between 2,500 to 3,500 lbs covering nearly every glass bass boat 18’/21’. Any vehicle with 5,000 lb tow rating works good. If tow vehicle is lighter weight trailer with breaks are recommended. Lots of mid size SUV’s and boats to choose from. Enjoy, Tom

If you high stick the lifting weight the rod could break. Keep the bend to 90 degrees and take 1 bottle out to reduce the drag force to a force you are happy with. Tom

St Croix Victory VTS71MF, 7’1 Medium Fast. Tom

Zoom has a “G” tail worm only 6” size. Tom

What is the ID of the #3 Micro Guide referenced? 50 lb Big Game mono is .058D. Realize guide ID’s vary with mfr. Tom

I am not a rod builder but micro guides can be confusing as the size is measured OD of the ring not ID. For example; #4 OD is 3.8mm, ID is .074, 4.5 OD is 4.3mm, ID is .92 #5 OD is 4.8mm, ID is .110 As you can see ID is what matters to anglers when trying to determine if braid with leader knot will pass through. Tom

If the OP puts his bump measuring board in his lap where the bass laying then we can make a better guess at the bass length. I based the bass length based on a kayak inside gunnel width is 24”, the sitting on the OP’s lap adds height making it look longer then the kayak inside width. WAG = wild arsh guess, Length X Length X Girth divide by 1200 = weight in pounds. Need accurate length then ball park Girth to average 75% of length Tom PS, always can use your line cut to length another piece cut to width!

Talking line angle from your rod tip to the water surface, not casting position. When standing on the dock and dropping the lure straight down the line is vertical or 90 degrees. The hook set is all rod lift because the rod moves lots of line. However casting over 30 yards out away from the dock the line is more horizontal and using a rod hook set doesn’t move much line unless you reel all the slack out of the line 1st, then a firm rod sweep moves a lot of line resulting in a good solid hook set. Tom

Your goal to catch a “big” bass isn’t high a 5 lb is the target. In the LMB world a 5 lb is female or less then 50% if the population but very doable. The bass is an adult capable of eating nearly every prey type including young of the year fish species, crawdads, terrestrial critters, frogs, mice, rats etc. This bass doesn’t group up with smaller bass but hangs out with sisters from her year class. If you are catching 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 lb bass you are in the wrong location at that time outside the spawn cycle. The majority of the smaller adults are males, not the bass you are seeking. To catch big bass you must fish for them…simple but true. Study bass behavior and dedicate yourself to catching big bass. Tom

The correction is 50% higher lure rating being debated. No difference between fishing T-rigged worms, creatures or silly named soft plastics regarding the rod. Agree! Tom

893 is 3/16-5/8 rated. Tom

If you are an angler who likes to face shore cover and make short flipping or pitching casts the longer jig rod has advantages. If you are like me that likes to make longer 40-50 yd horizontal cast you would think a long rod would help but my favorite jig rod length is 6’10” because that what I used for over 40 years. 6’10” was longer back in the day then standard 6’6” jig rods and any longer the rod tips got in the if the TM mount and cables. My custom jigs were both 5 and 6 power fast action, worked for me. Tom

My story catching big bass started around the early 50’s or 70 years ago! Being a curious youngster observed everything along the shore line as walking looking into the water where I grew up. Learned a lot about the shore environment. Lots of critters live in and around the bank and LMB bass hunt the 1st 6” to 8’ of water of all sizes until the gets too cold and aquatic growth dies off. Continued being observant to this day it’s me. Why back on 1974 I put whatever knowledge I gained into a presentation “The Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar”. Nothing has changed since then, bass are bass! The water temps noted are the temps the were in or their body temp, not surface temps! Go on line a you can find my original Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar, it should help every bass angler to understand Bass behavior seasonally. Tom.

Right, loose braid was another thread the advice is still good imo. Bass that you can see can see you 1st! Try blind casting to that spot. Tom

Just a difference of opinion trimming fiber weed guards shorter stiffen it, trimming a few fibers off softens it. Standing up on the deck of a boat changes the angle of the line between you and the bass. This angle is important imo. If the line angle is between straight down out to about 45 degrees your rod lift moves enough line to generate force to hook set. If the line angle is more horizontal down to less then 45 degrees your rod may not move enough line to get a good hook set. This is why you need to tighten the line with the reel and lower the rod at the time to move more line to achieve a good hook set. Tom

Does the H Expride cast OK with your lures? Was thinking about you stating braid cutting onto itself and that can only happen with 50 lb if the spooled line is loose. Sometimes over powering the cast to get tip speed in lieu of rod flex speeds up the spool loosing the line. Let’s talk strike detection very important. I am old school and a line feeler by running the line over my index tip under the thumb. This does a few things, instant detection of lure changes in movements or weight indicating a bass may have it, finger tips are sensitive rods are not. This technique also allows me to keep the line managed going onto the reel preventing loose line. Good luck with achieving your goal and we need luck along with knowledge and skills. Tom

WAG is 22” long, 16.5” girth (75% length) bass weight 6.7 lbs +- 10%. Tom

Lots of good advice so far including the reel set with firm rod sweep is what I advise when casting jigs more horizontal. Listen to ole Catt if you want to catch bass in lieu losing them. I Don’t see a lot of jigs in your box, several swim jigs, bladed jigs, a few football swing heads and upper right corner a couple weed gaurd cover jigs. With MHF rod using 20 lb mono leader you set the drag to lift 5 lbs dead weight ( 5 1 pint plastic drinking water bottles in a grocery bag = 5 lbs). Using your tackle as you fish it hook the jig onto the bag handles and slowly, carefully lift the bag and adjust the drag to slip when the bag starts to lift off the floor. Be careful don’t high lift the rod to avoid breaking it. Now do your hook set and control the bass. Good luck, Tom PS, 15 lb FC in lieu of 20 lb mono you lose about 7 lbs knot, abrasion and impact strength! Change the dead weight to 4 lbs lift.

You said you have good equipment what do you have? Shore angler or boat? How do you lose hooked bass? The above ?’s helps to give appropriate advice. Tom

Reeling against the drag slipping creates more friction that wears the drag disk and twisting the line tight. Tom

I see no reason to use FC line for crank baits suggest using 10 lb or 12 lb Big Game mono. Inexpensive and change out as needed. FC requires (IMO) line conditioner to help manage the memory issues. 1 hr away is 2 hrs driving time and gasoline cost. Suggest spooling line at home. Using a horizontal mandrel (pencil) is simple. Put the reel on the rod, line through all the guides and use arbor knot to tie off to the reel spool. Mono no need to worry about how line spinning on the spool. Use it for backing braid. When spooling line make sure the spinning reel the line comes off the bottom of the filler spool to prevent line twist. Bait caster the line comes off the top of the spool. Join backing line to top shot using a blood knot. I just hold the line going onto the reel lightly between thumb and index fingers near to the guide nearest to the reel for mono or FC line. Use wet wash cloth for to apply light pressure for braid. Fill to about 1/16” (penny thickness) below the full level, over filling causes issues. Tom

Guess we may need to define curl tail worm vs a ribbon tail. Curl tail is a short C shape tail. Ribbon tails are longer about 1/3-1/2 the worm length and very thin ie; ribbon. We now have speed tail worms tight thicker curl tail. The original Mr Twister Phenom was the 1st curl tail I recall. Tom

Could be several different fish in the fall, Shad schools are usually deeper this time of year. Basstrix make a few excellent Shad soft plastics Bait Fry and Live Trix or Mini Trix are hollow bodies that work great on a slow fall using 1/16-1/8 oz Mini Trix jig. Tom