Mike Thomas

Once every couple of years, I cull through what I've accumulated and start filling a box with all the "it seemed like a good idea at the time" baits that I either bought and didn't use, didn't like or just didn't fit the way I fish and haul that box over to a pond not far from the house that a lot of kids fish at, set the box on a picnic table by the dock and let them have at it. Easier than a yard sale and I think the bait's go to a better purpose.

I have a few of these as well. For one specific lake and one specific purpose. When that bite is there, It cannot be matched with a faster reel. I'm a huge believer in matching reel gear ratio to the technique to maintain a comfortable cadence in retrieve.

My theory is that the best knot is the one you can tie proper every time. I've tried a bunch of them and can tie a lot of them well but the 2 I always settle back to ( depending on the application ) for line to lure are the Palomar and the Trilene...... and the occasional improved clinch if I have reduced myself to a bug whip for stream slimers.

I rarely dropshot. Can't stand it, really. BUT I do keep a dedicated dropshot rod in the boat at all times. I have a very hard time not "reaction" fishing but every once in a while, you see something too good not to drop on.

I've actually been messing with that the last few days here. Used to fish it religiously every spring and early summer but just kinda forgot about it. I found a bag of 065 color code "old purple" trick worms that spurred the thought as that was always THE color here, turns out it still is

I live out west and fish mostly deep water impoundments. As soon as fish have started to go "pre-spawn" It's all about big topwater and slow sink glides for me. big hens start looking for big meals after they've had a chance to recover and it's probably some of the most violent topwater bites you'll ever get the chance to witness. Get's me excited just thinking about it👍

Well Sh@t! I would have given you 3 cans of expired pringles, 2 can's of chipoltle vienna sausages vintage 2005 and a half dozen coors lights that have been sitting in the livewell since 2018 and 800 bucks for just the motor, gauge and control package. Just pulled the blowed up 200 HO off mine and sold it. Offer stands🤪🤣🤣

I hadn't heard of Holschlag. Just ordered 2 of his books, Thanks for the heads up. There are a couple copies of the original Big Bass Zone books available on Amazon as well as an updated edition that I wasn't aware of

Most T-rig and C-rig bait's I go with the "old school" offset worm hook. Punching rigs with bulky baits Like a Sweet beaver or Double wide beaver, EWG is where it's at. Really, the only time I ever use straight shank worm hook's is with 4 " & 6" "finesse" style straight tail worms on light line with light weight.

If you're serious about it and willing to put the time into it. The books authored by Hannon, Murphy and Siemental are pure knowledge, they give you the framework. Take what they've written and bend it to your means. I read everything Doug Hannon put out when I was a very young kid, sucked it up like a sponge and applied it where I could for the means that I had. Murphy extrapolated on that even further. Siemental's Big Bass Zone dropped the final bread crumbs I was looking for to put the puzzle together with big bass, whether swimbait's, reaction baits, topwater, jig's or a bobber rig with a tiny little hair jig. All of what those guys wrote coupled with coming from a hardcore, multi-species fishing array of family members, East Idaho fly fisherman, strict bass fisherman to offshore salmon, marlin, tuna, you name it, to nothing but chasing striper from the ocean through the bay and into the delta. I had the knowledge pool to draw from. Those 3 books played a huge part in me being able to put it together and all of it plays a huge part in the baits I build now.

The first time I did it was on my '97 482vs. I was the second owner of that one, It was a local boat that the original owner took amazing care of. It was about 6 months before I sold it, I was blown away at the results. I've done it twice now on the 518vx that I currently own and you wouldn't think that the carpet is now 26 years old. The only reason I'm replacing the carpet is that I'm going to re-power with a Yamaha SHO and swap out for aluminum deck lids. This boat fits the way I fish perfectly plus, the miser in me can't justify spending over twice as much as I bought my first house for on a boat lol

When I get around to replacing mine, I'm going to seadeck the floor of the boat and go back with carpet on the decks. With the heat and sun in my area, I don't trust the seadeck to last as long as carpet on the decks. If you're going to try and ride your existing carpet out for awhile, Jump on youtube and search Barbasol shaving cream for boat carpet. Sounds crazy but it works.

Time on the water is the biggest thing. A huge part of it for me (back in the stone ages) figuring it out was paying attention to the structure and contour when I would catch them. If I'd gone down a bank without getting bit and start catching them when I got to a point, I'd fish it out and pay attention to things like the depth, How the point broke (was it steeper on one side) and where the bites came from on the point, was it in direct sun, which side was the wind coming from, all that kind of stuff and then I'd sit down and drive until I saw another spot that looked like it and fish that one. Or if I was fishing down a bare dirt bank and started catching them where I'd come up on a patch of chunk rock, same thing, study the area and go look for more like it. Theres a ton of little details like coming into where you want to fish with the sun in your face. Maybe it's just me being superstitious, but I'm a firm believer that if you throw the shadow of the boat on fish that are up feeding, game over.

Never been to Guntersville but I'll say this. Study your quarry, Prey species and their seasonal habits and it will all fall together. Technology or not, if you don't know the fish, you won't gain consistency. I'm not anti-FFS, I've ran plenty of boats equipped with it, I lost interest in it quickly, simply because it's not how I want to fish. To me, it takes the "hunt" out of the game and the "figuring it out from scratch" part is what makes it fun and keeps me engaged.

I used to absolutely wreck. face. with the 1/4 & 3/8 weights of these in Chartreuse, white & blue when I was a kid. I'd run them until the wire wobbled loose in the head or just plain broke, tie on another and keep going. fun times

The bait monkey is a sly little sucker, He takes your money a little at a time so you're less apt to pay attention to how much is gone. The boat monkey on the other hand is a lot more brazen about it. He just looks you in the eye and takes you for anywhere from 500 to 115k in a shot without flinching. Pretty sure the last time I ran into him, he had a gun in his pocket.

If you haven't already pulled the trigger on a reel, look up The Fly Shop in Redding California. They have a "house brand" reel that is inexpensve, has an awesome warranty (like run it over with your pickup, send it back and they send you a new one. Like no questions asked) I bought one for my 8 wt. for a one off steelhead trip. Ended up buying another for my 5 wt. when I got back. they're light weight, durable and they have a very nice drag

Suspended bass that are on schools of threadfin in fall / winter is where they really shine in my area. Swing them through the shad school or fish them vertical, much like you would a Hopkins spoon. The only problem is, you run the risk of catching every species that is down there looking at that shad school... it's pretty disheartening when you get absolutely smoked and for about 1.5 seconds, think you have a big spot hooked until you feel the "roll" and know it's just a big trout that is about to cover your front deck in slime and scales while you try and wrestle the hook out and get it out of the boat🤣

I have to agree with you. 035 = more vibration = more and bigger bites. Wrap the R bend and have at it. I get the standpoint some have with heavier wire = more durability. Personally, I'd rather err on the side of vibration. Just my .02 on the subject

There's a period in late Feb. to mid march on overcast days if the water is stained that fishing the Lucky Craft Pointer 100 in Aurora Craw with a slow pull & pause retrieve on the weed edges or breaks close to spawning area's is a deal. if the sky is clear, no dice.

In regards to fishing in general, I don't think there's one hook manufacturer that "has it all". Different companies have different hooks that suit some applications better than others. Worm fishing, I'll use Gamakatsu, Decoy depending on the specific technique. I do like the Owner light wire mosquito hook for wacky or Neko rigging Senko's, probably my favorite hook for that, actually. Large soft swimbaits, most of the time I use Owner for my "stinger" rigs and Gamakatsu for my main hook on line through style baits. Topwater baits, I use a combo of Owner and Gamakatsu. Jerks and cranks, most of the time, straight Gamakatsu. Big Glides, Gamakatsu. Big topwater baits, most of the time, Owner. As far as what I build, I use Gamakatsu in everything. I like the Trokar from the standpoint of penetration but I have had a couple of times where the hole from the hook was surprisingly large.

Back in the day when triple trout were a hot commodity and nearly impossible to get, I managed to get 3 8" slow sink Kokanee at around 100.00 a piece at a store grand opening we had a product display at. The first one got tied on a swimbait rod that I had hung a bait up on the previous trip that a bind in the line down in the spool (that I forgot about in my excitement) needless to say, first cast and POW off into the abyss

Copy. I had heard rumor of that a not too long ago. I figured they would figure out a way to renew it and keep every other bait maker out of the game. Thanks for the response!👍

I'm a little behind the times on this, Does Z-Man no longer have a patent on the direct to head blade connection??

I had to throw in with a "yes" because "yes & no" wasn't an option. Bass fishing When it comes to crankbaits, most of the time yes, it has to run dead straight and get down to where it needs to be and cause either contact with or deflection off of structure. There are times when paralleling steep bluff or drop off's that it really pays to throw a little bend in the tuning to get it to run into the structure. Same goes for a buzzbait, add a slight bend to one side or the other to get it to run towards an edge, or if you build your own and want to get tricky, clockwise and counter clockwise rotation blades help you to really make them go places. Jerkbaits, If they don't pull straight, I don't want them. Spinnerbaits that won't run upright at reasonable retrieve speeds drive me absolutely insane. Salmon/trout/steelhead If a plug will not run down dead straight and cannot be tuned to do so, it is nothing more than a Christmas tree ornament