WRB-2.0

The lighter the better as long as the combo is well balanced, cast the lures I use and power enough to handle the fish. We pay a premium for light weight high performance rods and reels. Tom

The older icons were in their early 30’s when winning tour events. Add 30 years of grinding pro tours it isn’t fire that is going out it’s physical stamina. Any pro bassets over 60 are close to retirement, they just don’t know it yet! Tom.

Crank bait today covers a wide range of lures. What crank baits are you using? Deep divers, medium and size/wt? Tom

Gary Loomis did sell his rod company to Shimano and Shimano operates the Loomis Woodland WA facility but Shimano rods are not manufactured there. $250 budget for rod & reel is a challenge to find quality with good customer service and warranty. Reel Shimano Miraval; MIR2500HG Rod Shimano Intenza A; NTZS73MHA, 7’3”, 1/4-3/4 oz, MHF. Tom PS, JDM sites saves your money however warrant is ? Tom

Manual closing spinning reel bail doesn’t prevent line twist it prevents line loops that end up creating a mess of looped line tangled in the rod guides. Spinning reels twist line, the fixed spool having line wrapped onto it causes line twist. Simply manage the line by untwisting. Tom

Lamiglas, SC and some Loomis blanks are made (rolled) rod blanks and build their rods in the USA. ALX assemblies rod blanks made to his specs and assembled in the USA like most rod companies today. I am unaware of any BPS rods made domestically. Tom

You have the White River in the area, good trout fishing. Trout style spinning rods & reels are decent for finesse bass fishing. 1 suggest using Maxima Ultra Green 5 lb line. 2. rigs that work with your tackle are drop shot and slip shot. Drop shot use 1/8 or 3/16 drop shot weight and size 1 Owner or Gamakatsu drop shot hook. Slip shot use 1/8 Mojo ( cylinder weight) , Carolina keeper for adjustable weight stopper and Owner #5133 size 2/0 down shot hook. You use this hook for weedless drop rig. Drop shot start with the hook about 12” above the weight. Slip shot is a longer casting rig with the weight about 24” above the hook. Suggest starting with Roboworns 5” to 6” worms in both straight and curl tails. Colors that work everywhere Oxblood w/red flake and Aarons Magic. Welcome to BR. Tom

The tail eye hook hanger is sideways and the coffin bill should help ID this lure, I don’t know! Tom

The Tokar straight shank finesse worm hook doesn’t have barbs to hold the soft plastic. IMO you need to peg* the worm head to the hook eye to prevent the worm sliding down the hook shank. Hope you are skin hooking the worm body in lieu of center hook hooking a big worm. Try those 2 changes and you should be ok. Tom * I use rubber Peg-It thru the hook eye after tying, pull snug and cut off ends with 1/8” sticking out. When weedless hook the soft plastic pul te head just past the hook eye, the rubber hold the worm head from sliding. The old wooden tooth pick or Heavy mono line works.

Describe your hook setting technique. Your tackle isn’t the problem. Are the bass coming off after hooking them? Tom

Spell Fluorocarbon line “rattlesnake” it bites you without warning when not listening. mover the past 30 years I have tried every premium FC available. Started with Sunline Shooter early 90’s, excellent FC lie but price increased. Tried Torsy in several types great line but priced increased and availability decreased. Seaguar Toray FC is good lie but pricey. My opinion with FC is buy the best and change it often. FC time on the water is limited. Tom

Length to girth measuring must be accurate. Lay the fish flat and close the mouth then measure from the tip of the closed mouth down to the end of the flattened tail. Girth is measure around the widest area with the dorsal fin down. The “average” body girth of a healthy LMB is about 75% of the length. Some bass are heavy body mass that exceed 75% girth and can be up to 100% so girth is variable factor. L x L x G div 1200 works for LMB body mass. Tom

Here is a test you can do in your garage to measure line stretch. My garage is 19’6” from the roll up door to the back wall. 1. Put 3 pint plastic drinking of water in a grocery bag, weight = 3 lbs. 2. Tie on a hook or jig, I used a jig w/ SD Jam knot. 3. Hook the jig or hook onto the bag handles and lift using you M or MH rod, adjust the drag to the point the lifts off the floor. 4. Hook the jig to the garage door hinge. 5. Put a ruler on a chair or table 15’ away 1” facing the garage door hinge. 6. Point the rod tip at the door hinge and snug up the loose line until the rod but is even with the ruler 1”. 7. Take your thumb off the reel spool and pull the rod straight back without bending the rod until the drag slips. 8. Measure the inches the rod butt moved back, Do this 3 times to get an average. I just did this using 12 lb Tatsu FC and 11 lb Armilo Nylon mono. Results Tatsu stretched 3 3/4” over 15’ of line. Armilo stretched 3 1/2” over 15’ of line. For fishing use the lines are equal @ approx 3.6% stretch. Neither FC or Mono lines are stretchy under 30% of their tensile strength. Tom PS be careful lifting 3 lbs of weight it’s far more force then you think!

Some of us have the pioneer spirit regardless where we live, it’s who we are. Growing up in SoCal you would think it’s all dense populated cities but we have remote wilderness areas, nothing Alaska or Canada but if you are willing to make the effort it’s here. I was fortunate that my mom wanted to live near her mother at Big Bear Lake during WW2 and my dad had a plane to commute with. We didn’t have power or water and had to get ice blocks for refrigeration and drinking water from grams well. What we had was open land to roam, no fences or private property back then. I grew up fishing and hunting with few restrictions, be home for dinner! How you are raised has a lot to do with our pioneer spirit. Today anyone could drive to Bishop CA, lunch a canoe, kayak or tin boat and float the Owen's River to Tinanaha reservoir about 75 miles and not see another sole. Fishing for brown, Rainbow trout and Smallmouth bass. You see lots of mallards and geese plus deer and elk, no people. You can get lost in the High Sierra’s. I loved Ontario’s wilderness when my father in law his float plane he was truly a pioneer loved to explore new lakes, me I loved to fish them! Tom

I learned the New York / London name from a college professor, looks like he was wrong and never followed it up further. Thanks for setting the record straight👍

Monofilament doesn’t mean Nylon it means single filament. Fluorocarbon, mono and copolymer lines are all single filament lines. Yo-Zuri Hybrid is co extruded monofilament line made up of at least 3 polymers.. Is a blend of 2 or more nylon types with UV inhibitors a copolymer line? No it’s blend of polyimide polymer. Copolymer is a blend of 2 different polymers; polyimide, Polyurethane or polyester with UV inhibitors. At this point in time mono means Nylon to fishermen, copolymer means anything you it be. Tom PS, Nylon was a joint venture between New York and London during WW2 resulting in a new polymer polyimde NyLon.

If the worms were torn up they may indicate you found something that is working. Keep in mind your 3 lber was probably 6 lbs in mind of the other angler. Tom

Musky often bite down on a lure and you can’t move the lure because of their teeth gripping it. The musky decides to jump and release the lure nothing you can do. Smallmouth bass rocket out of the making aerobatic flips a gymnasts envy, you can do but keep a tight line. Largemouth are not jumpers in the class if Smallmouth but they often make an initial jump when hooked and if the bass is over 60’ away you can’t horse a big bass on top of the water, just hope it’s hooked well and keep the line and rod loaded. Big fish that jump acrobatically like Tarpon and Marlin try to keep up with them and enjoy fight, Tom

To start with Roadwarrior recommended Armilo and I said “if you can find it” knowing it was taken off the market about 6 mouths ago. Armilo is small dia per lb test mono line with high knot and abrasion resistance with superior casting performance. Yo-Zuri is of if not the largest diameter per lb test with lower knot strength and abrasion resistance along with P-line CXX. Good lines but not close to Amilo performance. Sunline Super Natural is also small diameter mono without high abrasion resistance or knot strength. Sunline Shooter Defier Nylon is very similar to Armilo, little less impact strength but excellent performing line and will not be available much longer do to cost of premium mono production. Tom

What is your budget? Fish ID is a gimmick. Take a look at eBay Lowrance for example has lot of choices around $200 including transducer. Tom

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As I said Armilo been discontinued! Try eBay and look under both Sunline Shooter Armilo Nylon line red label 165 yard spool and Sunline Shooter Defier 100% Nylon line green label 330 yard spool. Tom PS, looks like Shooter Defier 100% Nylon 11# test 330 yard dark green is available direct from Sunline site.

As I recall the boat racing events came as a result of ESPN buying BASS. My thought was it’s a mistake to join tournament bas fishing and boat racing. I wrote to the new owners having tired fisherman race after competing 3 days was an accident looking for a place to happen. Weekend bass anglers like to imitate their favorite tournament pro anglers. Boat racing isn’t anything new but sanctioning bass anglers to race each other isn’t going to end well. My background of being a racer is you can’t focus driving a fast boat when exhausted after 3 days of competition bass fishing. Excellent article thanks for sharing it. Tom

EVA can absorb oils and need to be cleaned using Dawn soap in warm water. Work up a good foam using a nylon brush or tooth brush. Rinse well with warm water and towel dry. I had a few swimbait rods that would get slippery from Pro-Cure trout gel and needed cleaning nearly every outing. Tom

Looks like a Daiwa TD Minnow 75SP ghost Ayu with added feathered rear hook. Tom