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But have no clue what it weighs while it's hanging off their thumb . . . A-Jay

Pushing atleast 30lbs. I swear.

Sounds to me like your not feeling the bite as well on the heavier rod and letting the bass swallow it before you set the hook once I get a really good feel for a lure on a certain rod I don't like to change it up because things like this happen. Either I dont work it the same or miss strikes, it just throws me off

i always find it funny how people can get a judgement of weight when it got away....

5 Falcon Bucoo, 7ft micro guide rods brand new for 19.99 each at a walmart where my daughter goes to college. All had original tags, with 129.99 each. They had 5, soooo i bought 5

So This Just Happened ~ Sometimes it works out. Introducing my new 2016 Lund Pro V Bass ~ for me, it's a Game Changer. I’ll be loading in the gear tomorrow. The Maiden voyage is scheduled for this weekend, weather permitting (Big Rain in the forecast) Here's the Stats ~ Length 18’ 9”, Beam 96”, Standard Boat Weight 1475, Weight Capacity 1650, Fuel Tank 36 Gals Powered by 200 HP Optimax w 21 Tempest Prop, Mercury Smart Graft Gauge Upgrade, Sea Star Hydraulic Steering w/Tilt Helm, Vinyl Main Deck, Removable Port Console w/Wind Screen, Dual Pro PS4 4 Bank Battery Charger, 36 V system powered by 4 Optima Blue top 31’s, that's the power for the Minn Kota Fortrex 112/62/US2, 12 ft Talon x2, Hummingbird Helix 10 SI KVD X2 (flush mounted at console & bow), Hummingbird Precision GPS Receiver, all sitting on a Custom single axle Galvanized Bunk swing tongue trailer, w/ LED Lighting & a Travel Cover. Huge Props go to Maple Bay Marine in Brutus, MI. True Professionals in every sense of the word. Both the Sales & Service dept displayed a real commitment to working with me on getting this as close to right the first time as we could. With the Pro V Bass being in a totally new model, there were a few items that needed some TLC. Additionally, I had a few A-Jay Alterations I wanted to make that required some fitment modifications & in house fabrication. These guys were all over it. So this project came & went together seamlessly. I couldn’t be happier. Massive thunderstorms on the way home from the dealer required the custom cover - worked well. More pictures & info later. So who's Crazy Excited ~ This Guy ! ! ! ! A-Jay

One cool thing about this bait is we are privileged to have the designer here to answer questions. Thats pretty darn cool.

Depending on who replies, the answer will likely be: Uni-Uni, FG, Alberto/Modified Albright, Albright, Seaguar, Blood, or J knot The best one is likely going to be the one you tie best. If you can't tie a good knot, it doesn't matter how strong someone else says it is. Personally, I pretty much stick to just the Alberto, with the random FG, Seaguar or 'J' knot thrown in for variety and testing purposes. -T9

It's hard to imagine how small SoCal trophy bass lakes are; 1,000 to 2,000 acres at full pool. All these lakes are within 1 hour drive from big populated cities and local bass tournaments every weekend along with general public recreational fishing. The term high pressure fishing discribed these lakes year around. California doesn't manage bass populations, no bass hatcheries, no restocking program bass are on their own outside of a 12" minimum length and 5 bass limit state wide. When a new lake is created bass are transplanted from a existing lake. The Florida bass in CA came from Cypress Gardens Florida area back in 1959 by Orvile Ball the city manager from San Diego to improve the city lakes bass fishing, the state DFW had nothing to do with the introduction of FLMB. Our lake have always experienced boom & bust cycles due to over harvesting and drought that lose year classes from draw down during the spawn cycle, very little cover ....our lake primary use is water storage for consumer use. Northern CA is like a different state, lots of water, bigger lakes with lower fishing pressure, the bass populations do a lot better, however colder water than SoCal. Stripe bass have severely impacted some SoCal lakes like Castaic, not enough biomass for both predators to grow well combined with no trout stocking over the past 6 years. Trout stocking has resumed on a limited bases this year. When I was fortunate to catch a lot of giant bass was during the late 80' to early 90's when the populations were good and fewer knowledgable bass angler targeted those big bass. Still catch a few DD each year, just not Giants over 15 lbs since 2006. Tom

Do yourself a favor and buy some Megastrike Cavitron Buzzbaits. They are the best ones out there. When you take it out of the package use some pliers to crimp the rivet piece at the bottom of the blade. As far as color.... black on black. It's the only one I use. I throw it all the time there is a top water bite.

If ya catching little fish it's cause ya fishing where little fish are!

Me personally as long as I'm catching something I'm happy. Just put them back and keep on fishing. Most people get to focused on catching the biggest fish in the lake and fail to enjoy fishing as a whole.

Change location.

Most guys will think I more than a little crazy (and they'd be right), but I don't fret over fish that get off. Don't get me wrong, it's disappointing. I like to look on the bright side, the fight. I don't beat myself up over what I could have done. I try to rember what I was doing and where, when the fish hit. If I stay awake at night thinking about it, I'm reliving the excitement. Now, rewind to my tournament days and I can tell you honestly that I've lost plenty of sleep over lost fish. Is the glass half empty, or half full?

what have i done??? NRX 853cJWR came in yesterday! Will be my new jig rod, teamed up with a Team Lew's Pro Z 7.1:1 and 16lb Sniper.

I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread were we can post the latest deals and sales we see to help each other save some money, sponsored by the Bait Monkey!

Slow Down. A-Jay

I have found that spending thousands on reels has nothing to do with being rich, at least for me lol.

Spent the day on the water with @kickerfish1 and his dad hoping to put them on some Kansas smallmouth, the fish did not disappoint. Over 100 fish came to the boat, a mix of smallmouth, largemouth, spots, white bass, crappie, walleye, sauger, and drum. The water was still high and muddy from the constant rain, which normally produces tough fishing, but the fish are post spawn and hungry apparently. The white bass and smallmouth were all skinny from their recent spawns, but very active and cooperative, the whites were frustrating at times they were biting so aggressively. Lots of fish were left out just because it's hard to get good video with 3 in the boat. I fished from my kayak for 45 minutes before a big storm came out of nowhere and chased me off Monday morning, but it was a productive 45 minutes, including my first catfish from the kayak.

I've met Big O in person twice at the Classic in Tulsa. Last time he joined us for dinner after he finished up at the Expo. Nothing short of a class act. He even took the time to talk to my buddy for over an hour about fishing Lake Fork because he was going down there the next month, and my buddy ended up catching his new PB following his advice.

@Keith "Hamma" Hatch my current ride Fished Toledo for years out of a 15' Jon converted to bass boat with a 25 HP Suzuki!

All the fish I lose are huge obviously. At least a few state records.

The variables concerning bedding are endless, there are many things that can start the spawn, stop it, re-start it etc... Also, bass will move up on the beds in stages, They dont all move at the same time, some will bed while others are still staging and considering the biodiversity of the water this can be a long process. Plus,.. One lake they may be bedding and another they havent even started to stage yet. Just because you saw a bass, or even a pair on a bed today, and 4 days later they are gone from that same bed, doesnt mean the spawn is over. bass spawn all over the small lakes up here in mass,.... some may spawn close to shore and others out away from the shore in 12 feet of water. Its usually a month and a half long process,.. depending on the weather it may be shorter, or longer. Nothing is written in stone when it comes to mother natures decisions

yes, its a common thing during the unpredictable spring months when spawning takes place.

I want to Thank EVERYONE for ALL of the comments and discussion points in this topic! I would click the like button on every ones responses but it allows only so many at a time or per day and I often run short of days that I can be in the office, lol... otherwise I'm FISHING I 'm also one who tries to take all of the different opinions and ideas into consideration especially with this group here at BassResource. It's the FIRST forum I became involved with over 10yrs ago and basically the only one I relate to nowadays. Up to this point, all of my soft plastic designs have had the patented Rage Flange on them to add hyper action to otherwise low action bait designs. Also, this is the first boot tail style that I've been asked to produce. As you know, Boot tail swimmers have been around for years and have gone through an evolution of design changes as well. Rib designs on soft plastics were also implemented long ago and one of their biggest benefits is giving a softer texture or feel. Making the swimmer ribs to forward angles plus tiny short straight tips basically gives the same soft texture but adds more deflection when contacting grass, wood or other objects, as well as other benefits. Regarding the action and fish catching results... IMO, they're RIGHT and I hope you find the same Being able to produce them here in the U.S. for a good price plus adding 1 more bait which equals approx. 20% improvement over others is also important to me. I'm SURE that there will be several more colors added in the near future but I'm pretty happy with some of them we have now, like the KVD magic and the Grn Pmp/Pearl, they're getting Smoked in my waters! Is there another NEW Rage Tail bait coming out at ICAST??? YES and I'll give you a look at it in a week or so... It's just a different size model of one of my other designs that I LOVE!!! So I'll let you guess for now

Man o man I have been in a small drought for finding big bass. We have had a lot of rain and the ponds look like chocolate milk. Welp, I have a few ponds that I fish from the bank but I also have 3 that I put my boat in. One is great. I've caught my PB of 7.13 last year at this pond as well. I had 3 hours last night and so I hit it up. It was muddy...not orange but still. After an hour I had thrown a black zoom worm, a black/blue Ned rig, a black and blue jig, then with a rage craw trailer and was getting ready to throw a spinner bait but then..... With a black 4" lizard, I casted into a spot that I had caught a 5 on the spawn last year. It's under heavy cover and I can't skip sitting down so... My lizard landed on the bottom of the tree limb. I get this a lot but this time my lizard was dangling in the water. Well, since it was slow fishing and I hadn't had a bite, I let it set there and pulled it up and down letting it tap the water and go in and out. Since it was up in there deep I thought "hey maybe I'll get lucky" so after about 15 seconds of this I let it fall to the bottom (2 feet deep here) and I pulled it back and let it rest on the surface and this big fat girl took it!!! The entire limb went underwater!!! I set the hook so hard that my back is a little stiff this morning!!!! She fought and fought hard! I knew it was a new PB! Maybe over 8 this time! She went under the boat and I knew it was over but my 30 pound braid and 5/0 hook stayed true. She finally gave up the ghost and I netted her. She was just 3 ounces from last years PB! 7.10. I haven't checked my notes and pics but she may Just be that PB from last year. I just wanted to share. It's been a tough grind for a week for me. A total dinkfest but that's why we go back right?!! For the record her tail was mangled and had open sores on the belly side as well as her stomach. I was sure the spawn was over as its so late in the year but she was in an area that holds beds and was in 2 feet of water but I just don't know. This water has been in the 70's for a month now. Besides her bite I didn't get a bite at all. Nothing. Hence the title I'll take lucky over good any day! Have a great day guys!!! And yes she went back in. Big catch and release guy here. I have also got full video of this. May slap it on YouTube. I'll post a link if I do. It even shows the limb going into the water lol.

Caught this little girl this afternoon. Just wanted to share.

Me and a friend did a total length tournament since we didn't have scales then.Just total every fish's length for the day.To make it fun, we divided the lake into 4 sections and switched every hour.I started at one end and him at the other.One interesting thing that happened was that right as we passed halfway down the lake he caught a 21.5 inch fish.He had just got out of sight and I caught one that was 21.5 on the other side of the lake!!.I ended up winning by 8 inches.I caught more but his were bigger overall. Loved the suspense of not knowing what he had caught until the end.But you could take abreak in the middle to compare results.

Biospawn has 35% off through their website Code MEMDAY

Another vote for the H2O Mettle. I have 3 and they've all been great reels for the money. Those paired with an H2O Ethos rod and you can get a nice combo for around $100.

So after further inspection, My SnL noticed what appeared to be an inverter tucked behind the batteries. It's hard to see under there especially for a guy without his glasses. This got me to thinking. Why would there be an inverter by the batteries? Then it hit me. That's not an inverter but an on board charger! I started looking for a plug by the bow which is where the plug has been on every boat that an on board charger that I've ever been in. No plug? I go back to the battery box and start looking in there w/ a flashlight. Wa La! All coiled up, tucked out of sight was the plug cord! I plugged her in and we're good to go, except I just realized the wife turned the garage light off which is the plug the boat is hooked up to. Could have been bad since we're leaving tomorrow. Thanks for the help. I post pic's when we get back.

I rarely fish any other than my own homemade ones, which are the ones that GJM, Senko, and kickerfish1 are referring to. In all fairness, I haven't tried many others because I haven't felt the need to.

And huge gators.

I love the weedless hudds and the swaver. Cant go wrong. I also really like the big storm shad swimbait I forget what its called.

How long do you think a 14 lber in Georgia is? Length is the only way to guesstimate bass weight in the water, can't see it's girth clearly. The big fish always gets away, it's part of fishing. I haven't ever had a bass straighten a hook to get away in over 60 years. Tom

And then double it.

I thought about this the other day Deak; good point. I, as many others, are members of different forums in different hobbies...ie, bodybuilding, musclecars, mercury outboard forum, Rugar forum and the list goes on. I can't think of another forum where I have the ability to contact a designer like Big-O. And to have him reply as professionally as he does and share his knowledge is something you don't get every day. I tip my hat to him.

After reading all the positive reviews posted here on BR, I bought a couple packages of Z-man TRD's and mushroom heads. I'm currently on a trip in northern Wisconsin on a lake that's known as a numbers lake and the Ned rigs stayed in my tackle box for the first half of my trip. I've been doing very well with small jerkbaits but I noticed a lot of hard bottom areas with gravel, small rocks and not too much downed wood that were perfect for "Ned". I have to say it worked exactly as described. I got some bigger smallmouth, lots of largemouth of various sizes and rock bass. My fishing partner was suitably impressed enough, after being greatly out fished, to go to town and buy the jigs and plastics. He was too cheap to spring for the VMC finesse half moon jigs, so he got some painted 1/16 oz jigs and some 3 inch Yum stick baits which worked just fine. Thanks guys for turning me on to a new, very effective addition to my arsenal.

From the original post: " If I can't snell them do u think it will affect my hook up ratio? " Clearly some debate on this topic still exists. Is it closed to discussion? Regarding the rest of his question, it seemed like it had been answered pretty unanimously. Those flipping hooks were designed to accommodate a snell knot, so yes, it works. Admittedly, I haven't tried using 25+ lb mono or flouro on a Trokar so I'll trust your guidance on that. When I tie on a hook like that I'm using 50 or 65 lb test braid and have experienced no problems with running out of space.

Leave the drop shot, jerkbaits, and warts 1/2oz jig on points (with or without brush) trig brush hog or 10" worm dd22 topwater on same point from the jig up shallow early I the morning. (Walking bait) I did catch one about 3lbs skipping a jig under a deep dock the other day, but I'd imagine that bite isn't consistent at the moment.

Look at the hull # (should be on a plate on the transom) & call Ranger for specifics on the boat. That model was made from 88 to 94. If it is an 89 or newer it is guaranteed to have a glass transom. 88 may have a wood one, but probably not. The Mercury is probably an XR4, not a bad motor, hates cold mornings. Get it checked out before you buy. I have an 88 374v (same hull) it's a great little boat. Paid $3000 2 years ago, a stupid good deal and way low.

Bravo to Lews... Purchased a tournament MB roughly a year ago and recently had issues with the worm gear. Sent it in to Lews speed service and they sent me a brand new reel. If you have a tournament MB and your worm gear malfunctions, send it in to Lews because some apparently have defects and they will replace it.

That's one seriously Fugly Bass ~ Immediately reminded me of Blinky A-Jay

Smithwick Rouges are available in both floating and suspending models,different sizes and color options, Rapala Originals and Bomber Long A's are a few.

Got myself a little graduation gift.

Everyone on here knows I have nrx, glx's, and imx rods. Also Shimano Core's, Chronarchs, Curado's Calcutta's and Scorpion reels. Yet this season I have been using almost exclusively Berkley lightning rods and Citicas, yes, the dreaded "G" series Citicas. My fishing success has not suffered one iota. Neither in numbers or quality. The lightning rod has decent sensitivity and is light enough. Nothing at all wrong with a lightning rod. You don't have to have an $800 dollar rig to fish. It's really nice, but definitely not a necessity. Hootie

This is what I'm using a LOT in the bass post spawn, and the shad spawn being in high gear... It's the Strike King Swinging Swim Jig and the 3.75" Rage Swimmer in Green Pumpkin/Pearl. This is on the deck basically all of the time recently. The jig is a brim color and totally weedless, so it goes through everything making it terrific in shallow brush... and Green Pumpkin/Pearl is a NEW favorite color for me in many of the products we have... Hope yall like it too!

Looks like Im buying another combo when I get back from vacation. DSG has Duckett 300 reels for $129 and you get a Duckett Ghost Rod of your choice FOR FREE.