WRB-2.0

1/4 oz Flashy Swimmer works good with 4.8 Fat Impact, Tom

All super glue gels can glue your fingers together in an instant! Better to glue a soft plastic spike to the hook at home. Tom

It doesn’t matter what lure you choose if you can’t control the bass after it strikes and runs into the cover. Until we know what tackle you fish with lure suggestions using tackle inappropriate for those lures are wags. Tom

In general backing saves money allowing a top shot of line you use. The OP question is specific to BSF casting reel with shallow spool designed for small diameter low capacity line. The OP concern is adding weight by adding backing. The answer is fill the spool with the braid you plan to fish with. Tom

I like to try something new to me if I know through the grapevine it’s working. On my own prefer trying old like rediscovered Screamers and Reapers. Hard to put a % value maybe 95-5% on my own incentive, partner kicking my butt I change in a heart beat. Tom

Search bait is a term coined by Rich Tobar after winning the US open at lake Mead describing using lures to cover a lot of water fast. Bank angler fishing heavy wood cover you are not looking for a search more a saturation slower presentation. What rod, reel and line you have determines the lures you can effectively use. So what do you have? Tom

Depends on the fish you are targeting, FC or Copoly line suggesting .0070-0085 diameter, trout .0040-0060D. 5 lb is available in Tatsu FC and 5 lb Maxima Copoly UG (measures .0075D). Tom

Could start a new thread on the topic on favorite vintage lures. My 1st lure in the 50!s was a Hawaiian Wiggler #3 weedless spoon that I learned to cast and catch bass. Doll hair jig got me started using jigs. Bomber size 300 black orange spook and Christmas tree colors are up there as a favorite in the 60’s caught my 1st 40 lb 5 NLMB limit on the Bombers. Honorable mention is the wooden Heddon Cobra , looks like a Rapala Minnow but very different swimming action similar to a side to side glide bait in lieu of a tight wiggle. Deadly big bass lure with a fatal flaw the tail hook hanger broke off. All time favorite surface lure was the Smithwick Buck ‘n Brawl rear prop lure, still use it. Jig ‘n pig goes without saying as #uno. So many so little time. Tom

Kapton Tape

Line color only matters to how the fish see and react to it. Line colors we can see easily helps to detect line movements on the water surface. Trout have micro vision to see small insects and line diameter can be critical trout fishing. Bass are not line shy fish but can react negatively to line that hampers lure movements or rate of fall. For example use line too big in diameter can hamper the live bait like Shad move and bass tend to avoid that bait but eagerly strike the same bait on smaller diameter line. Tom

Most spinning rods prior to 70’s had full cork handles with 2 sliding aluminum rings for a reel seat. The Tennessee handle removed the 2 aluminum rings and used tape to mount the reel. Very few off the shelf rods are made without a reel seat today. Tom

Low’s Kolbalt 8” bolt cutter has a wire latch a lanyard could be attach to. The cutter needs to cut the hook wire or slit rings using the tip about 1/4” in lieu of back at the hinge. Tom

No reason to add the weight of mono line. If the BSF shallow spool has holes to tie the braid to so it doesn’t slip no problem. Tom

If you set the drag the way I suggested you will know what properly set drag feels like. Setting by guess pulling line off the reel eliminated the rod loading under drag force. The reason not to tighten the drag fighting fish is it ends up breaking off a big bass or any other hard fighting fish. Trust your drag, set it properly, avoid using more 1/3rd line strength. Tom

Good timely article👍 The Creek Chub Darter, Injured Minnow and Heddon Lucky 13 lures were very common in bass tackle boxes back in the day. The Darter has disappeared and works great today. A floater shallow darting lure very similar to a jerk bait retrieve. Injured Minnow double prop lure that can be walked is another that changed when made of plastic in lieu of wood. Lucky 13 is a good wake lure that can dive. Bomber lure and Arbogast mud Bug with metal lips are good today. So many lost in the haze of time. Tom

Use a compound 8” cutting pliers like Crescent Pro. Tom

What recommend is set your drag and trust it. What very few bass anglers experience is fast hard fighting fish that make long runs. When say set your drag I recommend having reel on the rod and line through all the guides how you use it. Use dead weight like 1 pint of plastic drinking water that weighs 1 lb each. Put 3 bottles in a plastic grocery bag, hook the bag handles and lift until the bag lifts off the ground, adjust the drag so it starts to slip when the bag lifts. 3 lbs for Medium power rod, 4 lbs for MH and 5 lbs for heavy power. By doing this you will know what the lbs of drag feel like and how your rod handled the weight. I caution you this is more drag then you think so be careful lifting the weight because your rod is near it’s power rating. If or when you need more drag use your thumb to increase pressure in the spooled line, Index finger on a spinning reel spool. Do not tighten your drag during fighting a fish. Tom

F1 is 1st generation FLMB + NLMB intergrade. F1’s usually retain the traits of FLMB becoming harder to catch on standard bass tackle the average angler uses. This means catch rates go down significantly out side the spawn cycle. Eventually after 5 to 7 years F1’s will show up as DD size bass occasionally during pre spawn period. How this helps the overall fishery is questionable IMO. Tom

Back in 1955 I was helping my older brother st Pleasure Point Biat Landing, Big Bear Lake when a boat renter came in with a stringer of big trout and a few bass. The trout were 4 to 6 lbs big for this lake. The guy asked we have any “Finland” lures and showed us the lure he caught the fish on trolling. The lure was a minnow shape about 4” long with silver foil sides, gold back with Finland printed on the belly. The manager had no idea what it was. Around 1960 the Rapala minnow was available and it was the same lure and caught everything the swam back then. Tom

Inline spinners are considered trout lures by the majority of anglers. Shyster out dates Rooster Tails. Mepps, Panther Marten, Blue Fox etc catch bass occasionally when anglers are fishing streams with Smallmouths. To me old school are lures popular back in the early days of bass tournaments. Texas rigged w/sliding bullet weight is the most commonly used old school lure and technique still used today. It!s a long list! Tom

Vintage vs antique; antique is over 100 years, vintage over 20 years. I use a antique lure nearly every outing a jig ‘n “real” pig, everything else is vintage. Tom

Everything I fish is “oldschool”😎 Tom

I choose lures after deciding the seasonal period, depth the bait and bass are and where they are located. After having a good idea what those are then choose lures that effective for the conditions. Love to fish jigs but sometimes not effective under the conditions. Top water is limited rarely use a frog usually a walking lure or popper. Drop shot and Slip Shot out fish T-rigs where I fish, more wacky rigged. Tom

Natural lake this time of year would think the aquatic plants would be an issue using crankbaits, that is where the bluegill and crawdads should be. Colors are usually lake specific and the bass have no problem finding prey that are camouflaged to the ecosystem. With crankbaits my 1st thought isn’t color its size and running depth followed by color that gives me confidence. At night and very low light conditions bass have developed keen senses of lateral line nerves to detect creatures moving, close contact hearing, odors and vision to track down prey. Most important the lures needs to be able to perform without snagging. I find lures with contrasting colors work good most of the time in off color water and purple highlited are good in green water. Tom

Make sure you have acitone handy to un glue your fingers😎 Tom