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I do not offer unsolicited advice to anyone. I don't want it either. Now if someone asks, I'll mention what I've caught fish with at that particular lake, but I make it a point not to just walk up to a guy I don't know and tell him how to fish, even if it looks like he has no idea what he's doing.

Kvd 1.5 and 2.5. H2O express crs.

A medium powered spinning rod isn't really made to handle 30lb line. It's more of a finesse type setup. You'll be ok if the drag is set proper. If you lock it down, you run the risk of breaking your rod. A 6'6" medium rod doesn't really have the nuts to handle pitching and flipping jigs, in my opinion. Most people use 7'-7'6" MH-Heavy rods, depending on weight of the jigs, and the nastiness of the cover.

My opinion is --- both! And I use both. Sometimes a "lighter" bait (trick worm) gets the bite when a Senko does not. That said, if you fish them wacky, or TX rig -- slow down. Throw right up on downed trees and let them work their shimmy as they fall. Fish them too fast and they won't produce that shimmy. Also mojo (light carolina rigging) works well. Bottom line, slow down and let the worm do its thing.

Binge and purge. If it's good enough for supermodels, than it's good enough for you

Monday 5/26/14, Alligator Alley MM 41 west, partly cloudy, wind 5-12 SE, water heavy stain, Went out this morning from 7 until 11 with a good friend. There was a heavy fog so we started fishing until the fog lifted. I threw a dark speed worm that drew fish cast after cast. My friend threw a hollow frog. We were catching ten fish in a row on ten casts. This lasted for quite some time. As the sun got high I switched to a senko type bait and my friend a speed worm. We had countless doubles and several quality fish. In four hours we caught conservatively 120 bass, a big mudder and a six foot gator. Thank God the gator took a long run and then spit the hook. Another fun day on the Alley.

Like a true tackle junkie, most fish caught with the same bait but in different colors, very nice !

Fishing this past weekend was exceptional. I usually take a friend of mine fishing this weekend ever year. More often then not we go smallmouth beds fishing. It is fun we catch lots of fish but this year we decided to go fishing for some hawg largemouth. We fished all day Saturday and Sunday as well as 4 hours on Monday. In the three days I caught 46 largemouth and 24 smallmouth. My friend caught a bunch of bass as well including the three biggest bass of his life. The weather was very perfect for fishing. It was in in he low 70s each day and we had passing showers each day with relatively calm conditions. The water temperature was as warm as 65 degrees. It was mostly cloudy each day. There were still some smallies on beds but we were already seeing bass fry. We concentrated most of our effort fishing fro big largemouth. We caught them on a variety of lures, plastic worms, jigs, spinnerbaits, crankbaits and even caught a few on a frog. It was an amazing weekend. Each day we caught some huge bass. For the 3 days between the two of us we caught 7 bass larger then 5 lbs and a few very heavy 4s as well. We landed quite a few fours and a bunch of 3s. It was the best weekend of fishing that my friend and I had ever had while fishing together. It was a great time for sure. It was a bummer losing a ginormous lunker on one of the last cats of the day but, such things happen. I think that my friend will want to go fishing to that lake again soon. 6-2 5-5 6-12 5-7 6-0 5-5 5-14

Yep... What he said, except spook.. Assuming heavier vegetation

You identified they were hitting topwater moving baits, maybe switch up the bait a bit. Instead of a buzzing frog try a Zoom u-vibe worm. Spook, and fluke also come to mind. Or also slow it down and try a hollow body frof that stay in the strike zone a lot longer than a buzzing frog. Just my.02

The Scatter Rap Shallow runs and casts the best from the other Scatter Rap models. I find though that the shallow for me runs from 2-4 feet and that's using 30-40 lb braid. I've been hammering the bass on the Scatter Rap Shallow. I haven't tried the jerk bait method, will try that this weekend. Here's some pics of recent catches:

Do it all the time for inshore saltwater fish, in mangroves and Brazilian Pepper. Works great, since spinning lets you use lighter jigs and have a more natural rate of fall.

Unless the fish is mortally wounded, immediate release results in nearly 100% survival. The biggest issue I have observed is tournament fishing with bass held in the live well when air temperature is high. There was a terrible instance at Falcon (B.A.S.S.) a few years ago and we (BassResourse Roadtrip) observed a massive kill at Kentucky Lake during a FLW tournament. With today's technology an easy solution in my opinion is video recording, weighing and imediate release. The weigh-in could be staged like a rock concert with all the bells and whistles.

Fishing was pretty awesome this past weekend. I got a couple fish two cull out my two smallest. 6 lbs 1 oz 22.25 inches 6 lbs 12 oz 22.5 inches

A lot of people don't use braid just for the strength. I know that I for one only use it for the manageability and the lack of stretch. This grants you with more sensitivity and power behind your hook set. I'll tie on a mono or fluorocarbon leader for visibility reasons, but it forces me to not rely on the braids strength. If I'm using 50lb braid as a mainline, but a 12lb fluorocarbon leader, I'm definitely not going to winch the fish in like I would with straight braid. I wouldn't use anything less than 30lb braid on a baitcaster, because it would be hard to use. Sorry if that doesn't make sense, but it's late and I'm tired.

Whelp, I pulled the trigger and ordered a Lews Tournament Reel and Powell Inferno rod. Really excited to get them!

found myself shooting through those links. Good stuff.

Not apples to apples but there is no comparison, different animals. This was proven to a friend of mine, he's a stickbait addict and then one day his favorite bait was not even sniffed at, hour after hour he cast those stickbaits, that went on from 6:30 in the morning until about 1:00 PM, " well man, apparently you are not going to catch anything with those stickbaits, there you go " and I handed him a Trickworm, " no weight " , he looked at me like if I had just landed from another planet, " Yup, no weight " , he cast the bait to where and how I told him to do, the bait began to sink sloooooooooly when suddenly the line began to move sideways, " hey dude, they're calling your number ! Set the hook !" He looked at me with disbelief after he lipped a nice 3 pounder. Guess what's his " new " favorite bait ?

I just put line on it and go fishing!

HeavyFisher, yes I believe honey holes exist but I know for a fact if I found it someone else did to. Do you think you're good enough to find a "Honey Hole" no one else can find? I can tell you where I'm fishing that doesn't mean you'll fish it the way I do. I have a 230 page thread on fishing Toledo Bend, I've told dozens of guys how to fish spots correctly. The knew the areas but didn't how to fish em correctly. I would rather share what I know, see the smile on their face than take to the grave!

You may need medical attention.

I ain't married to a hippo, heck I ain't even married. Beside, all girls I have dated in every pic we took together we looked like the number 11. If I can't fight it, I flaunt it.

For some reason unbeknownst to me, bean poles love some big girls (to be a little more PC, women that are short for their weight).

5ft8in 130 you weigh the same thing my 5ft10in wife weighed when we got married. Dang it boy, you make my BIL sound over weight. He ain't but 5ft6in and weighs 124lbs. Granted this is the one that married the hippo.

I haven't weighed 130 since the first grade

Run it, if you open it up and have problems later, because of you or factory defects,,,,its on you. Once you screw with it is your baby and you have relieved the manufacture of any liability. Besides most reels worth their salt will perform just fine right out of the box, get used to your new reel then decide what to start throwing money at. Also if you don't use it before opening it up you have no idea if you wasted your money or time to begin with!!! Good Luck,,,,,enjoy

I like all these replies.. I'm not saying Im gonna be a strict trick worm guy now, I just cant get a bite on a senko this year at all, and the trick worm produced for me today. What's a favored color option for you guys? And last but not least, does the trick worm have potential to be a "big bass bait"?

I always have both baits rigged, and more often than not on deck. Most of the time the Senko/knock-off is rigged wacky, and the Trickworm is on a stand-up or shakeyhead. Either one t-rigged weightless has its place. Like Ginger or Mary Ann, the only right answer is both.

The 2500 is the same size spoolas the 3000, the 3000 is just cut deeper for the line capacity in the Shimano lineup anyway, my concern would be balancing the outfit, and weight wise there is no difference. On most 7' M rods it will require at least this size reel to balance it, my MHXF 7' with the 4000 size reel balanced great. If this different and there is an oz or more difference, see what balances best would be advice. If one of those two are your preference and balance isn't an issue, you just need to decide how much line capacity you want. I use the 3000 on Lake Erie and big reservoirs because I like to pay out 100 yards or so to drift riggs on the bottom for Walleye, sometimes you get big cats, drum, or other large fish and the capacity gives you enough to play the fish instead of pulling all lines in to chase them before you get spooled. Usually you can tire the fish enough to start gaining on him before this happens. But for most Bass fishing and cast and retrieve applications the 3000 is a waste of line. Just the way I use em,,,,,,,

Evergreen Report. I was thinking of going there later this week instead of Delevan, but I havent heard anything.... can anyone give us a heads up?

Cleaning out the bearings, gears and drag washers on a new reel comes down to personal preference. Although some reel makers do over lube to give their products a false sence of smoothness, that practice alone isn't reason to justify a cleaning after purchase. Also, inexperience can and has led to the destruction of a brand new reel. If you're determined to attempt it, do a search on reel maintainance. Greasing gears and oiling bearings with products designed for the industy (not WD40 or auto bearing grease) is the way to go. I would also suggest flushing the bearings with water after cleaning.

Very true. Aside from marathon runners, just about every other professional athlete is considered obese. I mean a 5'9" corner (you know those little guys they put on the field so I can be entertained when a big running back ruins their day) at 190-205 lbs. is apparently a larda$$ according to the stupid B(bacon)MI. What kinda moron comes up w/this stuff?

Yes that is exactly the reason. If you anchoring even in what feels like light current can cause problems pretty quickly. When i anchor in current which is extremely rare it has to be directly off the stern or bow of the kayak. If it is off to one side or another you can very easily be swamped or flipped. It is also critical to have a quick release system and a fixed blade sharp knife to cut the line should things get ugly. Personally i can count on one hand the number of times i have anchored in heavier current. If i want to fish one of those types of areas i will beach the kayak or go shallow and use my park n pole to hold the boat while i wade to fish the area. The anchor trolley is really nice on flat water as it allows you to change the position of your boat relative to the wind so you can have the best angle for your presentations.

the cabela's verano spinning reel is designed, engineered and manufactured by daiwa

My preferences... For spinning: Power Pro, 10 pound, yellow + leader of various tests. For casting: Power Pro, 20 lb test, yellow + leader of variou test. Some like other brands like Sufix, Daiwa, etc. I like PP for line diameter, which tends to be smaller than other braids. But the newer stuff offered has newer technology, which may or may not be better/worse. So bottom line, take a pick of what is offered, we here have a LOT of opinions, none of which are 100% right for everyone.

I wish I was not working that dayo or I'd be there. I live in Peterborough, so the Quabbin is not too bad aof a drive. I've never fished it because they won't allow my 90hp Nitro on it, and I have not gotten the courage to rent one of thier boats. Maybe some Friday in the next few weeks if you plan on going again. I'd love to check it out. By the way,I just saw that one of your favorite lakes is Newfound. Mine as well.

Ok, so here is my Long Lake report. Got on the water at 6:00 a.m. Started my usual a jig, nothing going on, my buddy was throwing a spinnerbait nothing there. I tried a different jig color, nothing, different trailer, nothing, rattle trap, nothing, shad rap nothing back to a jig got a couple of pick-ups fish dropped the bait. My buddy went through several different lures and different presentation, nothing. About 9:00 a.m. my buddy decided to put on a Carolina rig. 10 minutes later 1st fish in the boat a 17" bass. Another 15 minutes and another 17" bass. So I decided to put on a Carolina rig. I rarely fish this if ever, so this is a new technique for me. Got her all rigged up second cast a 16"er in the boat, about half hour later I got a 21" weighed in at 3 lbs 8 ozs. For the next two hours we slowly picked up fish after fish got a total of 12 bass that day from 16" t0 19" plus the bigger one. I am a very methodical jig fisherman, and I always catch fish on jigs. However, Sunday apparently the fish didn't like my presentation. They wanted nothing to do with it. What I noticed when I used my Carolina rig was that the bass wanted a free flowing more natural presentation and the Carolina rig was the ticket. Always learn something new when you go. Didn't take many pics below is the 3.8

The heat will def take some of the strength away. Even if your not fishing a tourney, I would still replace it cause you never know when that 10+ will hit.

1/4 oz Trap is where Bill Lewis started, the 1/8 oz Trap will get ya some huge Crappie.

×2 for square bill crank in wood cover!

It's only a few grams, maybe 6-7 on a long handle. The weight is removed from the wrong portion of the rod though. You want more weight at the butt of the rod to improve balance. A 5oz rod with perfect balance will feel much better than a 4oz rod that's very tip heavy.

In jigs any color is fine as long as it is black, in worms any color is fine as long as it is black, add a chartreuse firetail just to make you feel better.

I own both, and like both. I never really think about it. I do prefer cork over foam though. My jig rod is a Cellus, which is the rod I use the most. It has the foam grips, which I wish were cork.

Very well said. I almost didn't respond initially bc I didn't want to just sound like a naysayer, or… like I’m stompin on people's dreams. I’m not. But I think proper perspective is important. I hear too many “stretched truths” from northern anglers telling me their PBs weighed 8 to 12lbs, and then call a 1.5lb fish a "3lber", or a 5 an “8”!. I feel bad for them, rather than “like I’ve been lied to”. These numbers are derived from top southern fisheries and end up used as comparisons and expectations for the whole country. When a kid feels he has to tell me his 4lber (maybe the top fish from that particular pond) was a “6lber” I feel bad for him. And know that I can’t get the real scoop from a lot of the anglers I share waters with. I've been aware of your focus Speedbead, and your truly impressive results. Anyone who can break 7lbs on northern waters by design is doing more than one thing right. Either they have some rare waters open to them, have the know-how, or most likely, both. And probably a few other things I'm not even aware of. I've only done a little of it, just to explore that aspect of ... the food chain. And I broke my PB and several pond records in the process. As I understand it, exceptionally large bass in most (average) waters are those that have been able to jump into a different trophic level by genetic happenstance and/or pure aggression. Most waters simply don’t produce many –if any– exceptionally large bass. If one wants to see them on anything more than an astronomically low probability basis, they have to find them and then fish for them. They'll certainly earn 'em. Otherwise, do me a favor and buy a friggin’ scale!

Anyone remember the 2012 Classic and this bait?

Ohh I forgot.....did I mention I caught THIS HUGEEEEE BASSSS HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Weight was 5lbs 1oz. Shane your gonna love it I caught her on a Texas rigged RAGEEEEE CRAWWWW BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hear ya man. I'm not actively pursuing the record necessarily, just the biggest fish that I have access to. I firmly believe I have two lakes local to me (at least, maybe a couple more) that possess DD fish at certain points of the year. I have seen one fish in one of these lakes that I'd put a paycheck on it being 10 or slightly larger. So, they are here. The main issue with a lot of northern guys is they are not actually fishing for THE big fish. They fish for 5 fish, they fish to catch something. Some guys will get "lucky". They don't commit to learning the water as it applies to the apex bass, studying where big fish should be and at what time of the year they should be there. They do not broaden their fishing base to include techniques that put you in a position to catch true trophy bass (comparable to your area). That's cool if that's what they are into, it's just not for me. I will happily forego 3, 4, 5lb fish in lieu of catching something truly noteworthy. Like I said before. If you're not aiming high, you're gonna miss low.

it's doable.......but good gosh almighty who is up for a Dale Hollow trip? 10 of the top 25, amazing.

So far Im at 9. It's been tough for me. 4 dinks, 3 in the 2-2.5# range and 2 in the 4-5# range.

Great pics. I had another idea of my best pair but glad to see your post is about smallies.