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Earlier in the year I posted this as a question. I had purchased 2 GLX J&W rods, 804’s. I was beginning to second guess myself as to whether I should have stuck with 803‘s. After I described the lake I fish, lots of, and I do mean LOTS of laydowns, snags, brushpiles. . You guys suggested I would be better off with the hvy. I had never used anything past a med. hvy. Boy, were you right. Lots of big bass in my lake. I hooked MANY fish, that I know I would have never landed, had it not been for those hvy. rods. I had a better year than I would have because I heeded your advice. So, just wanted to say thanks to all you guys for your suggestions. Couldn’t have asked for a better fishing season. Got Questions? BR has got Answers. Hootie

This "motorcycle" you speak of. Is this the same "motorcycle" we still haven't seen curbside "pics or it didn't happen" of?

Snake River Canyon? Is that his nickname for the wife or the girlfriend?

Rods : G Loomis, G Loomis and G Loomis. Reels : Shimano, Shimano and Shimano. Never mix them up though.

Alright boys, straight from the FAQs I have a dispute with 'company X'. Can I post about it here? While we can empathize with your frustration, the best course of action is deal directly with the company. Escalate it up the ladder, file a grievance with PayPal or Ebay (if they were involved with the transaction). File a mail fraud complaint with the post office. There are other options, but attacking the company in a public forum is not appropriate nor allowed. Such posts will be removed. Lockdown!

Kids

My Scorpion had landed in Chicago. It's now in customs. C'mon, C'mon. Hootie

The days it doesn't snow here - we get an inch - when it does snow, we get these little gems . . . A-Jay Issued by The National Weather Service Alpena/Gaylord, MI LAKE EFFECT SNOW WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING... * SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... LOCALIZED ACCUMULATIONS AROUND A FOOT ARE POSSIBLE. * IMPACTS... SNOW COVERED ROADS. NEAR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AT TIMES DUE TO A COMBINATION OF HEAVY FALLING SNOW AND AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A LAKE EFFECT SNOW WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR A LARGE AMOUNT OF SNOW IN ONLY A FEW HOURS. VISIBILITIES AND DEPTH OF SNOW CAN VARY GREATLY... IMPACTING TRAVEL SIGNIFICANTLY. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS

USN Submarine electrician 1957-1978

I pitch with any length. When I am around docks or laydowns and I need to put a bait in a tiny spot, I'll often use a 6'9" length, when I am out in the grass and make longer pitches to holes/pockets, I'll usually use a 7'3" length. But that means I won't use a 6'6", or 7', or 7'6"...etc, length.

who has time to take pics when your jumping the snake river canyon??

Isn't this fun! Hootie

Not sure it will be released over the winter however when it is released it will the 14 Conquest 50....Then hopefully a 50 DC will follow.

They're almost the only squarebill I use anymore. They come in great colors, rattling and silent, a few different sizes, the hardware is decent, finish and baits are durable, I just have a hard time throwing many others when I'm just fishing for fun.

Finally got out to the glades today. Went out to 2 places actually. Our first stop was the Holeylands where I met up with Big G for a little while. (It's always nice hanging with you George). My BIL and I fished at the HL's from 830 to 11:30am. I did manage to land a nice 19" bass and a few more fish but ultimately decided to move over to the US 27 finger channels. Once we arrived on 27 I landed a 5.5lb 21" right off the bat. We fished til about 5:15pm. Overall it was great day. Beautiful weather clean water and some nice fish. We landed a total of 24 bass. Here are some pics of the nicer fish of the day.

It won't. It doesn't handle quite as well as mono, but it's pretty easy to get over/get used to. All 3 line types have their time/place, most guys have a mix of everything on their setups depending on each rod's usage.

All spinning reels create line twist when reeling. Some reels just do a better job of decreasing it.

We missed you.

Could someone explain why swimbaits need a special knot? No snaps or swivels, I tie direct. If the bait comes with a split ring, I tie to that. If it doesn't come with one, well, I don't use a split ring then!

11/15/14, Holey Land, sunny, wind NNE 7-15, water light stain, water temp down. Went out solo this morning. It seems everyone was tied up with either football or family obligations. I had the first hour totally to myself. I went with the chugbug and had a couple of swirls but no takers. I always return to my comfort bait the stick-o and the bites came fast and often. I hung around the east lake because I was waiting to meet up with Bassin Lou and bother in law. By 8:00 I already had 20 fish although there were a bunch of dinks. It was nice to meet up with Lou again. After a brief break Lou ran to the other end of the canal and I stayed out west. Catching remained consistent all morning with long stretches of constant fish. Most were tight to the bank. About 11:00 I ran in search of a bigger bite. I ran up the north canal and got into some bigger fish. Here the edge drops straight down 6 to 8 feet. Bigger fish were caught at the bottom of the drop off. To finish the day, I fished the huge rock shelf that is weed free, and only eight inches deep. Decent fish were moving around chasing smaller fish. With no clouds the water here was probably the warmest water anywhere. I caught 2 nice keepers here, and could not cast far enough to get to the others. I finished at 1:00 with about 60 caught, with 8 in the keeper size 2 to 3 pounds. It was a fun day, lots of sun, and lots of action. It was great to meet up with Lou again, and meet his partner. Lures used: Chug bug, Fluke, trick worm, wacky worm,stick-o, creature bait and u-vibe.

Picked up two H20 brand squarebills and two lipless cranks today. H20 seems to be a proprietary Academy brand of lure. I have never really fished squarebills or lipless cranks much before but am going to give them a shot. Many people say they do well in the cold too.

Introduced some "cold water forage" for the bass in a nearby pond... My brothers and I did this last year too, most of the times when we go trout fishing, we keep them live in a cooler with an aerator, then stock them. Good forage for momma bass and a nice active fish to target in the winter when everything else is being very slowww...

Where as self improvement through introspection is generally considered a good thing, there often comes a time when a man may realize that when dealing with the outdoors and nature, the vast array of unseen and unknown variables makes complete control unattainable. Some look at this as the real beauty of it. A-Jay

I switched to floro for a while, then braid a few years. Back to mono, and i mean cheap crap you buy at WM or better BPS Excel, i don't catch any fewer fish. (Definitely don't have fish coming in with a jaw ripped 1/2 off their face anymore like i did w/ braid) Didn't like the price of floro, didn't like price or the delamination of braid.

Just about every company will occasionally produce a bad lot, it happens.

Bombers are only a few bucks under the lucky which is coming down and granted they are good but a value series is not the same as the real deal 7.99 Bomber lures? Lucky craft may be a few bucks more than 7.99 but that is only because they are the in thing right now(after all they are Japanese, but made with the american stuff. It is all preference, I would never say all strike king, I would say All Matzuo, but someone knows how to use their tools. Bomber is in same range as Rapala but they offer a value line, so they may not be great but for 2.99 I say they are decent, many pros fish nothing but a fat free shad #7 or a timmy horton pro suspending jerkbait....They are proven winners in all circuits, smashing Bomber is like saying a balsa Rapala doesnt float or Mepps spinners foul to easily. I would give bomber the best Muskie Pike Glide bait as well.

I would say my all time favorite lure for bass fishing all year, and it is great over weeds, slow rolled...Bomber Long 15A, gold chart FL color and I have a few without paint, but I would not sell them for 5 new Pointers with perfect paint because they won't sound the same, or have the same action, I carry roughly 25 long a floaters, 10 suspenders, 10-15 Redfins, ripplin red fins, Rebel sbroke backs in silver black floating and suspend dots if needed for all, and of course a few Rapala F9-F13, and J11-J13 and flat raps in silver black, silver blue, silver orange...but my best long A's have some yellow and orange I added with a marker under chin, 2 lines of red near the old gills were, and depending on how rough the water is or how shallow I need it to go, I will modify diving depth and often a super fast rise is better than slow when worked mid day in summer over weeds everyone else uses a fluke. If you watch a jerkbait for thousands of hours, I truly believe I can anticipate half of the strikes that occur not counting the fish that choke it as soon as it lands as that fish would hit anything...I find Larger Bass hit the longer profile cranks and shallow wakes, and if I let it dive a few inches and I see a rise in water around the lure, usually a bass it under it and that is when you need to either kill it and wait, or snap it just right and if loaded correctly, the long a can do a 3/4 turn with a crazy roll that just looks like a nervous shiner... Now, lures are tools that we all use based on our own experiences as I know plenty of people who don't carry any and like only Rapala, but most have some Horton Pro long a suspenders, the gold chart and gold prism long a, and nothing says shiner better than a redfin or ripplin redfin and I would put that statement against a swimbait, but its about confidence. I hate crankbaits that go deep, but I know the fat free shad would be #2 behind only the Norman DD22 but I would rather carolina rig a broke back or jointed minnow instead of cranking and that works awesome with a fast floater again and using some thicker line helps.... I do feel the older models work better and they sound completely different as the new A's sound like hooks banging together, the older lures had a distant knock not a rattle, and I like hooking fish with 3 trebles in tough areas...The flat A is the cold water killer that actually can be cast far as the shad rap is light. the fat a's are cheap but pound for pound, I would say Pradco has the best jerkbaits, ripbaits, and cranks not as much, and I like Rapala but would rather go bagleys for Balsa personally...Cast a 5" gold red red fin across a pond, and if sloooooooo waking which is really trying to dive but won't, the ripplin redfin looks like it goes backwards, that is my new weapon for this year for clear water, it looks so realistic and if walleye and smallies love it the bass here will as well....I like Lucky's and all, but I have a bait from another company that I would choose over the sammy, Pointer, Flash minnow, and its all about finding your own niche, I like the stuff I know how to work, and just trust that I will figure out if I am working too fast or slow, I hate a new bait and not knowing where it is at all times or if it is maybe tilted sideways, I like seeing it at all times, steering is important for sucess in Florida.

FatFreeShads and Fingerlings are the only Bomber cranks I use now and straight out of the box, I've never needed to tune them. Go with your experiences, but IMO there are worse cranks on the market.

So tune them! Lesson #1, you usually get what you pay for. #2 I've had to tube lucky crafts and other expensive cranks. It's just part of the game.

For me it was the summer of the gunfish. I didn't really want to plunk down the money for one but was able to find a few used for pretty cheap. Man are they the bomb. Got some of my most violent strike off them. Even if they miss the fish seem to come back and get it. Great bait.

Thank you! A little bit about this catch.......I thought that he was going to die because he was bleeding and he had the hook in his gullet. I had to cut the line and reach up through his gills and rotate the hook downward and push it out. It only pushed out without a fuss because I ALWAYS smash the barb down on my T-Rigged hooks with a pair of pliers. I pushed the hook out and held him in the water for about 8-10 seconds and he swam off with no issues.

You need power as well

It'll work. Don't stress about lubricant brand. Keeping parts clean is most important.

Hmm...Is that what you meant?

20 more posts will yield 20 more opinions, bottom line is find your own niche. As far as I'm concerned braid and spinning is the perfect marriage, braid on all my reels. My heaviest bass set up is 7' med spinning rod with 15# braid, over the years I have found using a 20# leader works the best for me. I think one has to qualify their own objectives, if it's landing go heavier. For me it's the strike, the fight and the fun, if I lose a fish I'm not bothered, I'm going to release it anyway.

Thanks Glenn - Yea it doesn't take long with out the forums before I start thinking about running out to get the bread & milk . . A-Jay

I approve of any DIY project involving Gorilla Tape. (All other duct tape is obsolete garbage.) Well done, sir.

Right. I tell all the guys in my club to use Vanish for their leaders.....

That's what she said.

Copied a Jika rig, using much larger and heavier components to make Jika punch rigs:

Whenver PRADCO decides to refresh or introduce something new to their YUM line they clearance everything. That's exactly what they did when they changed LPT for F2.

Pit Boss! The thing really is the boss. Worked for me from spring to fall, mostly texas rigged but sometimes weightless. Fantastic bait, especially for the price!

Somebody got a new avatar... and it's a toad

Hillsdale is his new secret spot

Good possibility that wasn't by accident. Any of the regulars can text or PM me and I'll tell you where we were

To answer your specific question....it depends. Besides, our favorites might mean nothing if we aren't fishing the same conditions you're facing....it depends

Did Squirmin Wormin get another account? Anyways what type of rod do you have spinning or casting? This will give us a better idea of what type of jigs you should fish... you don't want to be throwing one meant for flipping on spinning gear.

Copy and paste to Microsoft Word.

I had the opportunity to fish with Beckie also on this years road trip. Great times!!!