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Start talking to the wife again,see how she has been.

This fancy pice of wood showed up at my door today.

There are lots to things to do to improve your bass fishing in the off season. You don't want to be one of the guys who want to run out to the water and start throwing your baits without any regard to the weather, water clarity, water temperature, time of year, time of day, structure, cover and on and on and on. To avoid being the above type of fisherman guys who want to learn more do their homework in the winter. This includes: Reading books. Reading magazine articles. Watching YouTube videos. Visiting various pro's web sites and read what they are saying. Watching fishing shows on TV. Watching both the FLW and B.A.S.S. Classics and reading on the Internet what the guys are throwing. Reading about various baits that are out there, Going outside on a pretty day and practice your casting, flipping and pitching and especially the underhand roll cast. Have you taken your rods into the bathroom shower and wash them off with cold water? Have you checked your rods' cork handles and decided if they need some work? When was the last time you took your reels to a professional to have them cleaned, oiled and greased? Did you think of reorganizing your tackle and checking your baits for knicks and other damage? Have you run a Q-Tip around each of your rods' guides to check for knicks and other damage? Have you checked all rod guides to make sure they are still secure? Have you "searched" the Forum for various topics to read what the guys and gals have posted? Try "searching" your favorite bodies of water or a technique you want to learn more about. Have you considered Personal Messaging (PM) other Forum members about a specific bait or technique? You will be surprised at the amount of knowledge the guys are willing to share with you. There are so many things you can do when you can't hit the water and I am sure you are doing the vast majority, if not all, of the above suggestions. I find that watching football on TV and at the same time reorganizing all of my baits is very relaxing and productive. I set up a six-foot table in front of the TV and go at it. I found the Shad Rap that was run over by a car that I misplaced. Can't use it but it was funny finding it among my crankbaits. I also reorganize my plastics, starting with the Senkos and then the other thousands of worms, brush hogs, flukes, special run plastics, club baits, etc. So have some fun and attack your tackle, rods and reels and be cocked and loaded when the weather breaks and you can hit the water.

When Bill Dance was asked, "Which is more important: Structure or Cover?", Bill said 'Structure', and for good reason. For every holding site I generally end up with 2 or more waypoints. Only ONE waypoint however will be founded on bottom contour (structure), a fixed location I refer to as a 'static waypoint' for my own edification. In sharp contrast, plant coverage, weedline configurations and plant specie junctions are in constant transition. For instance, the weed pocket or plant merger that was a waypoint last year, may be a little different, extremely different or completely absent this year (Mother Nature doing her job). Changeable waypoints based on weed fingers, weed alleys and plant mergers, I refer to as 'dynamic waypoints'. Although the structural nucleus will remain essentially fixed, the dynamic waypoints tend to waltz around the static waypoints. Here's the nice thing about differentiating between the two (between static & dynamic). If the DNR (fish & game commission) kills the vegetation down to the ground, or if the lake undergoes a severe and prolonged drawdown, you are still in business. All your static waypoints (structure numbers) will serve as jump-off points for establishing your new dynamic waypoints (cover numbers). Roger

Has the ice melted yet??? Buying some blanks to start making custom rods for each of these probably later this week.

Right Here ~ Good Tool A-Jay http://www.boomerangtool.com/#!online-store/c1ur/!/Boomerang-SNIPs/c/11261038/offset=0&sort=normal

I wouldn't bother with putting soft plastic lures into plastic boxes. Keep them in their original packages. Group similar lures together in gallon zip lock bags. Be mindful that the zip lock freezer bags are a heavier duty plastic than the regular zip lock bags. I wouldn't mess with the regular zip lock bags. Sometimes you will tear up the original packaging. Have some quart size zip lock freezer bags on hand and transfer baits into that bag. Take out your sharpie and be certain to label brand & color. Take the gallon zip locks and keep them in a cheap duffle bag. Myriads of different sizes of cheap duffle bags are available. Pick one that suits, be mindful that as your soft plastic assortment grows, you will probably need more than 2. 3 or 4 is a good number to start with and allows you some room for growth. A few years ago, Walmart had cheap, wheeled, soft sided carry on size luggage on sale. The ones I found measured roughly 20" x 12" x 7". I bought 5. These stack easy in my Explorer and are easily bungeed down on the back deck of my boat when I fish by myself. I've been doing this for a few years now. After you have been doing it for a few years, you will find that there isn't any perfect system. I try to have one or two carry ons for each season. Spring soft plastics - fall soft plastics and summer soft plastics. There is some overlap, but that don't matter. The point is to have a bag that you can grab and go and have enough options within that bag. Another option is to divide baits by water color, i.e. baits for clear water - stained water - dingy water - muddy water. Experiment with your secchi disc to figure out what these different water color titles mean where you live. By this I mean that what is considered clear water in Texas isn't the same thing as clear water in Missouri. Even in Missouri, Lake Ozark clear isn't the same thing as Table Rock clear and neither of those are the same as Bull Shoals clear ( which is mostly in Arkansas, I know) Whatever soft plastic system you decide to employ, be sure and label it. Do not count on your memory because it will betray you at the worst possible time. I have went through several different labeling systems. I have found duct tape and permanent marking sharpies to be my current best system. I hope this gives you an idea of how to sort your working assortment of soft plastics. How to sort your spare & extra soft plastics that you keep back in your fishing shed is a different topic. Here is a hint for that storage issue. Dust, insects & mice are your enemies here. Go to Walmart and buy many plastic shoe boxes. I think that the ones with the attached lids are better than the ones with the separate lids. Buy several different colors of duct tape and label everything, trying to stay organized. For me, Berkley plastics are one color of duct tape, different brands of worms are sorted by length and type of tail and are another color. Baits that I have a lot of, like trick worms, get their own box (or 2). Lizards get a different label color than worms; same goes for tubes, craws, creature baits, swim baits, what have you. If I have aided you in your soft plastic organization strategy or added to the confusion, then my work here is done. On another side note, once you have decided to take an afternoon and devote it to soft plastic organization, I find that several IPA's and a blasting stereo help. Bridgeports (out of Oregon), Boulevard Pop-up IPA (out of Kansas City), O'Dells (out of Fort Collins, Colorado) and Deschutes (another Oregon Brewery) are a few good IPA choices to start with. Don't get bent out of shape if you don't get done in one afternoon. There will be more afternoons and more IPA's. Tune wise, on the stereo, I have found that Bob Wills, Billie Holliday, George Thorogood, Dwight Yokum, Lynnard Skinnard, Count Basie & Bob Marley to all be good soft plastic sorting tune choices. Oh, by the way, in your profile, it helps to know where you live. Guys who live more or less in your neighborhood will be more likely to respond.

When a local breeder fell upon some hard times, despite a heavy heart, she made the difficult and ethical decision to break up her kennel. Brody & Gunner are 14 month old litter mates. These healthy & friendly boys are gorgeous and full of life. They were welcomed into the pack yesterday just the way a malamute should be, during a serious snow storm . . . . It’s good to have a Full House again. Let the dog Sled Drag Races ... Begin ! A-Jay

That's almost to pretty to fish.

Depends on the water conditions and current. Shaky Head Jig Head - 1/18 and higher depending on the fall you want and the current. Line - 6 to 8 pound fluorocarbon or copoly. Spinning rig with at least a 7-foot medium or medium heavy fast action rod. Reel - 2000 or 2500 size but not larger. Baits - Zoom Trick Worms in the color of your choice When selecting a jig head be sure the hook is of high quality and is strong. Check out any Denny Brauer YouTube videos on Flipping and Pitching or purchase his book, Denny Brauer's Jig Fishing Secrets with Monte Burch. SENKOS Spinning rig set up like with the above shaky head. Rig Senko wacky style. Use a 1 or 1/0 hook. You can use a weedless hook if you like. Finesse Worms and Brush Hogs Spinning rig set up like above. Small #1 hook. Rig the finesse worm wacky style. Or, Texas a finesse worm with the bullet sinker of your choice. Bullet weight of your choice, with the lighter the better. Consider throwing this setup without pegging the weight. Flukes Throw weightless on a spinning rig such as the one mentioned above. All finesse fishing consists of is throwing the lightest line with the smallest hook and weight you feel comfortable into all cover and structure you can find. Using the underhand pitching technique you can guide your bait into the target with a soft entry. You can continually cast your light setup with the flipping technique. When finesse fishing you are close or on top of the bass' habitat. So being as quiet as you can is an advantage. Some of the pros say that starting and stopping your trolling motor tips off the bigger bass. I don't totally agree with this philosophy but I do try to be as quiet as possible and let the boat float towards and past the targets. There is nothing like seeing your line take off when a bass picks up your bait. Your heart skips a beat; your pucker factor reaches 100; and then you set the hook hard over your head and hope you don't throw yourself out of the boat or on the ground next to the bank. Now go out there and practice your flipping and pitching!

I just get too amped and then it's torture. I've spent the last hour flipping into a trash can with my new flippin stick

Finally got around to re-assembling the Chronarch 101B with the addition of the Yumeya shallow spool. Still haven't fished it, well for that matter I still haven't even spooled it with line. I can't decide if I want to use a rod I already have or if I need to pick up a new one.

I fish with nylon maybe 95% of the time and I dare anybody to prove I'm fishing with the "wrong" line. It ain't the arrow, it's the injun.

And don't forget, you can order online and pick up your order at the store without paying shipping. For you, that's like having the complete Cabelas catalog in your back pocket!

My adventures in the writing realm have allowed me to make friendships and acquaintances I never dreamed of having. Prior to writing in the fishing industry, I thought it was a pretty neat deal to just shake a pro's hand and ask him questions about his favorite crankbait. I never dreamed I'd get to call some of these guys friends. Elite series angler Casey Scanlon is one of my friends, and it started through doing a variety of writing assignments for and with him. In November he and I got to go fishing together on a local power plant reservoir. Obviously all of my fishing buddies wanted me to take notes about what he did differently. I didn't ask too many questions, and I didn't pay too close attention to what he did or didn't do differently. We just fished. I did notice a few things however, and I think it solidified my opinion on what makes pros better than the joe's. Time on the water is everything. Granted, I think to be a pro, you have to have some form of God given talent. Many of these guys have something most of us will never have, and that's natural ability. But another part of it is simply time on the water. On several occasions, Scanlon would point to an area saying there was gonna be a fish there. He could roll cast his crankbait to the exact spot he pointed to. He didn't catch a fish every time he called the shot, but there were several times he did. Would he have caught the fish without making the cast? I doubt it. Would he have been able to call the shot without spending so much time on the water? Maybe. Time on the water translates to everything we do on the water. Scanlon was able to call those shots, and make those cast, because of past experiences which translated to the present time. It was also amazing how quickly he could piece together a pattern. Eliminating water was a big part of what we did. If we fished an area for 10 minutes and didn't get bit, he could with confidence say it's time to move. If he knew fish were there, but wasn't getting bit, he could with confidence change his approach, presentation, etc to make them bite. This all comes with time on the water. So what did I learn? Nothing really; he honestly didn't do too many things differently that I do. If anything I think I learned how important it is to eliminate ineffective water and not stay on a single spot too long. But I mainly saw that nothing can replace time on the water. I might also add that it's not a wise idea to throw the same style of lure behind a pro. He ended up throwing a squarebill for most of the day. I didn't catch much when I was throwing one (Gee I wonder why). I switched to a lipless crankbait and ended up catching more fish. I just wanted to share my experience with you all. If you ever have the opportunity to go with a pro, jump at it. Remember, they're just dudes who like to fish. Casey's a great guy and I look forward to fishing with him some more. Here are some pictures. I did not take them- my buddy Travis Perret did.

My son, an Infantryman stationed in Alaska, squared away my Stohlquist PFD I use when kayak fishing. Along with an American flag it also displays my blood type and a "No Known Drug Allergies" patch.

I don't want to get off topic too much, but the short answer to your question is that when you do a deep clean and re-lubricate a reel, a combination of oil and grease are used. Each performs better for the protection and proper operation of certain parts of the reel. Climate and frequency of use, may dictate things like the type of corrosion preventatives used and the viscosity of the oils used.

This weekend's games are almost as exciting match-ups as the Super Bowl. Dallas headed back to the tundra...It doesn't get any better than that!

I got the perfect pitch locally yesterday and Fedex brought the loomis's today

Come on, RW, that was last year!

Is it spring yet?

In case you did not see this pinned at the top of the page. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/117976-open-challenge-to-all-fishermen-and-women/

It's a toss up between Strike King and Berkley. Strike King for their line of traditional plastics and of course their Rage Line which I absolutely LOVE. Berkley because of their vast variety ... between Gulp, Havoc and Powerbait they cover it all! If I had to choose just one ... Berkley.

I've been really impressed with my Revo Premiers. Silky smooth and nice and light.

Zoom

RageTail hands down. Now that I plugged you Steve are you going to take me fishing?

Berkley, they make just about everything and you can't argue with their success. Brian.

I have both. I was lucky enough to find myself in a position to make this choice. I chose the land first. Once I was settled in I started to look at a boat that fit the pond. I usually take the boat to nearby lakes in the spring, then set it at the dock for the summer. The freedom of walking to the water and getting on the boat is worth the cost of the land! My only regret is I didn't do it 20 years ago. Buy land, they are not making it any more. Mark Twain Boats are just holes in the water you through money into. Ward131. (USCG Ret)

I fish a lot of plastics as well. I try too keep all sizes of both the EWG and offset hooks. I have to say that I use the 4/0 EWG the most. the first row are the offset 1/0 to 5/0 the second row are the EWG 1/0 to 5/0 above that are the twistlock and weighted hooks then above those are the dropshot and shakeyhead hooks and the last row are my trailer and treble hooks. I have more hooks coming from tackle warehouse so I will be re-arranging them again. and these are just the hooks for my plastics. I have no brand loyalty as far as hooks go. Some are trokar, eagle claw, gamakatsu, owner, VMC, and I have a bunch of decoy hooks (on sale at ***) coming. Also keep in mind that the red hooks are not that bright its a trick if the camera.

So I finally decided to take a dive further into taking apart a reel. I mean I did normal cleaning and simple maintenance before, but I want to be able to service my own reels. It can get expensive sending 21 reels in. So I decided to test it out on a cheapie reel I bought from BPS. (I'm not a very good handyman normally and I tend to muck it up!) Funny part is I went to school learning how to build circuit boards and most of my career I was able to do the work on computer parts....I don't get it! You'd think the precision required would help me with the bigger things! NOT! I did do some minor damage to the paint job because there was a 4th screw too take the reel side, side plate off. It was in an awkward positions. Of course I noticed later there was another screw to remove the top part of the worm gear and it made it easier to reach that screw, first lesson learned. Anyway I'm amazed on how good this reel works now. I cleaned out the excess grease, flushed the bearings and cleaned the gears/greased. Before cleaning this thing it couldn't free spool more than 1 second and now it can go for a good 10 seconds. I didn't get a chance to actually use it on a rod yet after the cleaning but before I had a hard time chucking any baits because I had to cast hard and 1 out of 3 times would backlash. I'm thinking this thing could actually be usable now, I'm going to have to test it out tomorrow. I've started on my Citica 200G7 now and have taken it apart and the bearings are sitting in acetone as we speak. For those of you who are sitting on the fence, for goodness sakes if I can do it, Mr. Two Left Hands you definitely can and well worth the trouble!

Fish, get skunked. fish again, get skunked again, and finally realize, okay, they're not biting. So I go fish again just in case I was wrong. Then, once I'm tired of not catching much at all, I aquire and organize tackle On the side, ya'll know that guy I told you about who gave me those three boxes of finesse worms and started me off on fishing? Well, he used to fish FLW as a co-angler, and he has a garage full, and I mean full, of baits. If he were to take one single soft plastic bait out of it's bag, but it on a hook, cast it once, and put another on, he couldn't get through his soft plastics in the rest of his lifetime. Anyway, he called me and told me that if I ever want to try out a bait (this year I want to focus on craws, lizards, frogs, flukes, and jigs), tell him at church on Sunday, and he'll grab some of his soft plastics or make me some jigs, and give me the box the next sunday. As a way to help me out, he'll only charge me about 1/3 of what it would be worth used. So I definitely have a source for tackle for the spring!

Yea, if the scrim is showing, it seems a lost cause to me, but best wishes....

use roboworms 7 inch worms a 1/4 ounce head and 8 pound sunline sniper

Yamamoto. Jeff

It is an attractive reel for the money but I would compare it to other cheap reels under $60 and not to reels costing 4-6x the cost of this one new. The biggest turnoff as Ty noted is the weight. Not many guys would want a 10.5 oz reel and this is the smallest size model. It would take a longer and more powerful spinning rod to make it balance. Most guys that use spinning gear for finesse fishing would have a hard time accepting the weight of the reel compared to what can be had from the major manufacturers.

Check out the link below-- it is a blog from a guy that modified pretty much the exact same canoe that you have, on a budget, and using mostly things that he bought from the hardware store. I think that it will do you well. If you are halfway handy, you can pick and choose some (or all) of the features and have a stellar ride like some of the awesome ones that members above have already posted. AND you can have very little invested in doing it. http://www.jaxkayakfishing.com/phpBB/topic30202.html Good Luck!

Boomerang tool. I always have it when needed, or I am always looking for where I stuck the scissors or clippers.

I always get a kick out of people saying that shimanos bearings are so superior to the bearings in cheaper reels. So reels with a higher number count of bearings must use junk bearings. The ONLY bearings I've ever had fail were in shimano reels and a few daiwa line roller bearings. Having said that I would rather have a one stradic over ten of those Tokushima reels.

This!

Thanks Ed - You're a very generous man - How about tomorrow morning ? Can you be here by 6 am - I've got a tee time . . . A-Jay

Mono is called braid?....I did not know that. Hootie

I'm just wondering, was the fluorocarbon you tried the Vicious brand? That stuff is like throwing bailing wire.

For those of you that use Luck-E-Strike RC STX, here is a reminder to change the hooks. I happened to be using the only one of the RC STX that still had stock hooks. This was from one wiper that hit (or should I say destroyed) and ran then came off. It happened a couple times. The final straw was when about a 12" white straightened them. Knew it was time to change

YES!!!!! Bahahahaha! So freaking great!

^^ THIS Seems like every video of technique fishing on YouTube doesn't apply as much where I'm at. Maybe it's my region (central Indiana). I'm not naive, I know southern states produce fishing all year long, but I'd like to see more fishing videos that address northern waters, and not just smallmouth bass. Some techniques and tips for fishing up here would be nice. Either way, it's fun to watch Glenn whack em'. Last year I had no confidence in cranks until late fall, I had good success with shallow squarebills, this year I'm hoping to get more familiar and confident with cranks.

I use a Plano Pro Latch 705 XL Stowaway. Within it I use 1 Gallon bags to separate the plastics by category (lizards, tubes, senkos etc.). Within each I put the baits in their original packaging.

Spring: shallow, deep, & every where in between Summer: shallow, deep, & every where in between Fall: shallow, deep, & every where in between Winter: shallow, deep, & every where in between

Everyone on here is lying, the Ned rig doesn't work! Just move along and go back to fishing a shakyhead, that's the only finesse bait you need

A balding, white haired man from Malibu walked into a jewelry store this past Friday evening with a beautiful and much younger gal at his side. He told the jeweler he was looking for a special ring for his girlfriend. The jeweler looked through his stock and brought out a $5,000 ring. The man said, 'No no, I'd like to see something more special.' At that statement, the jeweler went to his special stock and brought another ring over. 'Here's a stunning ring at only $40,000’ the jeweler said. The lady's eyes sparkled and her whole body trembled with excitement. The old man seeing this said, 'We'll take it.' The jeweler asked how payment would be made and the man stated, 'by check. I know you need to make sure my check is good, so I'll write it now and you can call the bank Monday to verify the funds and I'll pick the ring up Monday afternoon.' On Monday morning, the jeweler angrily phoned the old man and said 'Sir... There's no money in that account.' 'I know,' said the old man... 'But let me tell you about my weekend.’

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/142319-ragetail-structure-bug/?hl=%2Bstructure+%2Bbug http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/142330-how-and-where-are-you-using-the-ragetail-structure-bug/?hl=%2Bstructure+%2Bbug http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/138465-rage-rig/ http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/138000-impressions-of-the-rage-bug/?hl=rage http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/137288-rage-bug/?hl=rage http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/138789-rage-bug/?hl=rage