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Lots of guys on the board have channels of their fishing trips. Those are the type videos I enjoy, real guys fishing just for the sake of going fishing. Most of the big channels are too much advertisements and too much guys trying to make a big production instead of just fishing for my taste.

1. I absolutely refuse to make fishing complicated. 2. All braid, all the time 3. I wont use flouro or mono leaders. (See rule 1 above) 4. No tournament fishing. 5. If it ain't fun, pack up and go home.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall...I use em all! Of course their effectiveness depends on water & weather conditions. I don't shelf a technique just because the seasons change.

Quick trip to Olathe this morning to try to get revenge on the fish that wouldn't eat a flipping bait last time I was out there. Caught a 2.10 first flip just shy of 18". Flipped a frog into a hole in the grass 2 cast later and caught a 18.25" that went 3lb 5oz. Only frog bite I had. Caught some flipping, some on a wobbler, baby brush hog, and a jig. Biggest 5 right around 13 pounds, almost all solid Olathe fish, but I was working for them and there was no real solid pattern. It was still a good time. I don't mind grinding when it's a good fish every time I set the hook.

No, it is not "better", it is different. You can do it all with spinning, but if you want to learn bait casting, then by all means, do so. This is what I did, and I consider myself pretty proficient at casting my Chronarch 50e, even skipping it on a ML casting rod. But I've also settled more into spinning as a better all-around setup for me. I don't do tourneys, and I'm not concerned with a ton of different techniques. But is it worth learning? Absolutely. Better? Not really.

So I've really been trying to learn about smallmouth .. I have been catching them in many different local rivers .. However I'm still dialing in my set up .. At season open I got a cheap spinning rod ,, I wanted to bring my son to the river .. Right away we started catching them .. The pics are my boy !! Anyway after one week of use from me the rod was doa ... So cabbellas gave me a in store credit for the price of the crap rod .. I just bit the bullet and payed the difference for a mojo bass 71 med fast spinning rod and wow what a difference . I couldn't be happier with this rod .. That being said I need a reel for said rod . Currently I have a 20 dollar Diawa reel lol .. But after much reading reviews I went ahead and ordered a Diawa ballistic 3000 .. I can't wait to feel this set up when I finally put it together .. As for line I'm running 6 lb braid with a 8lb flour leader 4 ft .. I've been fishing 4 inch senkos and tubes . It's been a great year so far , couldn't be happier with my son really wanting to fish every day , we really enjoy our trips to the river .. It's really awsome !! Let me know what u guys are using for spinning set up , line , baits

Things have been slow at work recently and because of that, I managed to get half a day off on Tuesday. Heavy storms were predicted overnight, but it looked like they were going to move in a little early. Nevertheless, when I have an opportunity to fish, I'm going to take it haha. I headed out to hit up a lake I've got a tournament coming up on in a few weeks. When I got there it was mostly sunny and decided to start on some shallow isolated pad clumps. Things were slow at first. I couldn't get them to hit anything around some of the pads until i started in with ol' kermy. The slight breeze died out, and for whatever reason though, they didn't want to commit. They'd come up and attack it, take it down and you'd set the hook and there was no resistance. It was almost as if they were only grabbing it by the tail. After missing 7 that way I was frustrated so I went out and started fishing some deeper points and hooked into a decent fish. When I pulled up on a hump, I the weather changed again, the wind picked up a little and it had clouded over. You could see the storms building and could hear thunder rumbling in the background. I headed back closer to the ramp so I didn't get caught in anything sever, and started fishing in some heavy matted grass. I think I made a whole 3 casts before the first one blew up on it and I had it on for a bit before it pulled off. 0 for 8...yeesh that's a great way to start haha but I stuck with it and boy am I glad I did. In the next hour and a half I caught 18 fish on the frog and only lost 2. 2 of those 18 were almost an exact pair of twins both came in at 17". They both came off the same little spot, and I think they both went after my frog the first time I threw there because one came completely out of the water and jumped over it and there was the blowup on my frog at almost the exact same instant. Sometimes being persistent...cough cough stubborn, pays off and it was exactly one of those times. I had a blast before the storm rolled in and forced me to go home a happy man.

Use straight braid & forget the leader.

No shunning here. I appreciate the feedback. I can tell you all the videos I shoot are on public waters. I don't have any access to private waters. As a result, I have a TON of useless footage of me just casting and casting and casting. I delete most of it. And there are a lot of days I go out with the intent of knocking out a bunch of videos, but only get one or two done because the bite's off, or a major tournament has just sore-mouthed them all the day before. I'm curious what gave you the impression I shot them on private lakes. I would like to understand a little bit more about that. Scripted....not so much, but rehearsed to a certain degree, yes. I got hammered on the "ums" "ahs" plus the "you ramble too much" comments on my early videos, so now I have an outline in my head of what I want to say, and run through it in my mind before turning the camera on. But that's the extent of it. My sight fishing video is probably the closest thing to the "just winging" it videos you describe because, frankly, that's exactly what I did. I had no plan when I got on the water that day. Once I discovered the fish were shallow and roaming, I turned the camera on with a "let's see what happens" approach. I appreciate the feedback. This is helpful.

As a bank fisherman of 15 years, I might be able to offer some insight. Drop shotting isn't something most bank fisherman use, although it does work. Here in Indiana, the Ned rig has become extremely popular both in the boat and out. I encourage you to look into using more finesse style fishing techniques, such as the Ned rig or a stick bait (t-rigged senko). Here's a link to a list of everything you need to know about fishing the senko. Bank fishing also pays off when you are wanting to catch quantity over quality. Lures aside, picking a body of water is very important as well. Larger lakes prove more difficult for bank fisherman. A popular saying "10% of the water holds 90% of the fish." Fishing smaller lakes, reservoirs, or ponds will drastically increase your chances of catching a fish, hot or not. Tight lines to you, friend.

Picked the yak up 2 weeks ago. Have gone out on lake, river, and inshore. Handles amazing for its size. Tracks well. Tarpon 160i.

Drive it through standing timber, then I'll be impressed. Electronic steer just leaves so much to be desired if you're steering around lots of obstacles and working in tight quarters.

I completely disagree that an un-pegged weight will cause your t-rig to hang up! If y'all can not fish a t-rig or jig cleanly through grass its operator error! Most anglers try forcing a t-rig through grass which is all wrong, you finesse it through grass. When you feel the t-rig starting to load up in the grass...STOP! Release the pressure, pull up until you feel the heaviness again but apply slightly more pressure, the release, repeat until it breaks free (at this point ya wanna hold on real tight to your rod cause ya might get your arm broke). You want the motion to be similar to & as fast as working a shaky head, you're just appling more pressure. Worm selection is paramount, ribbon tails will hang on grass more than curl tails & straight tails hang even less. You want to stay as near vertical as possible & maintain constant bottom contact, density of the grass & depth will determine how far off vertical ya wanna go. Grass is the reason I keep a Texas Rig & Jig-N-Craw on my boat deck 24/7/365!

Same ones that work when it ain't raining!

TRD's have salt. From Daniel Nussbaum, Z-Man Fishing Products general manager, via Ned:

Summer time is my favorite time to throw a top water bait. This video was shot last week in the St. Johns River watershed. Top water was the ticket until the wind kicked up and then it was a spinnerbait bite.

Before I take any reel apart to clean it, the following conditions MUST exist (no exceptions): 1) The room MUST have wall to wall shag carpeting. 2) The ceiling fan and several box fans MUST remain on full blast. 3) The floor and desk MUST each slope no less than 15 degrees (combined to acheive a 30 degree slope-minimum) 4) I MUST first have had a really bad day at work and in traffic 5) The reel MUST have been engineered by a close relative to the Marquis de Sade 6) Most of my tools and screwdrivers have been borrowed by a friend and I MUST be reduced to a pair of oversized channel locks and a bent screwdriver. 7) The cat, who USUALLY prefers to keep to herself MUST feel a sudden and persistent urge to climb in my lap. 8) All but one of the light bulbs in the room must be burned out

Don't encourage me. I am trying to downsize my arsenal some but that seems like a failing proposition. I have 14 casting and 7 spinning setups. I also have another 5 beater outfits. Add in the fact that I have 4 casting reels without rods you are not helping.

Glenn, I think it's a generational thing. I like and appreciate the more formal, teaching aspects of your videos. You're trying to show how to do something, not put on a show. In many ways, and unfortunately, that's becoming an antiquated concept. Look at the really popular channels and it's fishing for the ADD crowd with quick edits, nonstop gags and hipster music. So to compare channels is really apples and oranges or even apples and washing machines - they're just from different worlds.

Whenever I bank fish, I always have a rod set up to drop shot and I always have a Ned rig available, so I think OddChase is offering some sound advice. If you need to go heavy with the weight for more distance, you can do so. Also, don't concentrate so hard on the need to cast to the middle of the lake to catch fish because that's the deep part. First, it may not be the deep part. (This is why I check lakes with a Deeper fish finder). Second, there are always plenty of bass hiding in cover in areas that are sometimes even too close or too congested to cast to. That's why pitching is so fun. Look for shade from trees on the bank for example. Wife and I fish a local pond all of the time that has virtually no cover and little structure for the fish. While everyone is doing their best to Lob bait into the middle of the pond, we are knocking them dead 15 to 20 feet from the bank in the shade of the treeS. Any transition such as rock to dirt, grass to clear, shallow to deep, is going to be a target area for you. Also, although my days on the water where I've caught fish on three or four different colors make me skeptical of the importance of color over other factors, there have been other days when I have been proven wrong. Bass simply don't always play by the rules we have set. 90% of the time, my soft plastic color in my waters is green pumpkin. I panic if I don't have some of those white Bio Spawn worms with me though because there have been times when the color change has made the difference between slow day and no fish day.

Got him on the shaky head, 7 inch zoom shaky head worm. Caught in the local pond known for its small population of smallies. These things do fight like crazy.

Depends on what your needs are. Do you have a need for a frogging set up or a punching set up? If not honestly I would go M for smaller T-rigs weightless worms even cranks and spinners.

Bass season doesn't start for me until the ice melts..... Since April I have caught 576 largemouth bass on 41 outings, 21 % have been larger then 3 lbs. I usually target bigger fish so my numbers do suffer a bit. Biggest so far is 7-10. Last year ended with 952 largemouth bass, 18 % over 3 lbs. Going to try and break the 1000 marker like in years past. Our season is limited by ice. Most years I can fish from April - Nov. I really don't target smallmouth very much but so far have caught. Ive caught 59 smallmouth, 20 over 3 lbs. Biggest so far is 4-12.

For a cheaper alternative get a spool of P Line CXX in 10 pound moss green. It is a little stiff and breaks at close to 20 pounds. It is very abrasion resistant as well. I use that for leader material on all of my braid and could easily be a good choice for your situation.

They're good baits. Becoming a big fan of the fighting frog.

You could, but I wouldn't. I don't like leaders on casting gear. I'm either going straight braid, or straight fluoro. That leader knot is just one more thing to fail and the high impact and abrasion from hooksets with heavy gear and dragging across cover almost ensures it will eventually. Plus, as often as you'll need to retie your leader, that's going to be a real pain.

leader specific fluoro tends to be much stiffer and more abrasion resistant than mainline fluoro, which tends to be softer and more manageable. If you need the extra abrasion resistance for, say a toothy fish like a pike, then use the leader specific one, regular wont hold up.

When you need to burn a crankbait.

I had a very slow morning this morning and only put 12-15 fish in the boat. The one year that I kept track, it took me until April 30th to hit 1,000. 100 fish days are not uncommon in our lakes (home of the Ned rig afterall), they just aren't very big a majority of the time. My big one from this morning was only 3lb 5oz on a frog, which is a very large fish for this lake. I didn't see the "Any species", part. I maxed out this one before the end of January no doubt thanks to the white bass in the power plant lakes. For a idea of numbers, this trip is on a power plant lake with @gardnerjigman the first week of February. It's edited way down, with over 100 white bass left edited out. To give an idea of how many fish we were catching, I left the camera going for 5 minutes at one point.

My personality is one where keeping track of things is fun, not stressful. I enjoy looking back on the records I have kept, for me it helps reinforce memories that otherwise may get foggy over time. I don't go overboard with the record keeping, I am still out there to fish, not do data entry in Quickbooks. I keep track of just enough to make me happy. That said, as of July 2nd of this year, I have gone out 30 times (average trip 6-7 hours) and have caught 906 bass so far. The most in a day was 51, which included a flurry of 18 fish in less than 90 minutes and the least in a full day outing was 14 on the 3rd of January (although I did have a 2 hr mini-trip where I caught 6). I didn't total up the numbers per lure type yet (that is a end of the year thing) but it looks like the Ned rig will most likely defend his title of #1 fish catcher against a myriad of challengers,

Went fishing for a couple hours July 4th weekend. Found this pretty 5 and half.

Great looking fish! Looks like he's really into it. Do yourself a favor and buy the components to put together some Ned rigs, you can thank me later.

Appears to be electric steer with cable like deploy

Just about anything.

I agree it may not do 70+ mph might not do 50 either but seriously how fast do you need to get to where your going to have a relaxing day fishing. Sure if your tournament fishing and your racing to beat others to a spot OK. For some reason I suspect the OP isn't competitive bass fishing just yet. I'd much rather have a nice boat that had a gently used transom from a small motor than a 6 yr old ragged out 200hp that has been thrashing on my transom. There are positives to a smaller motor when buying used. You can always step up the motor but 90 is plenty to fish. Getting out on the water is a step in the right direction. All that being said don't over pay. Boats are everywhere. Shopping and knowledge of what your looking at are hard to beat.

Since I decided to do it right this year and started with my first bass of the year in January, I am also happy to see that I am well out of your given range. Even my wife who just started fishing in late April probably hits mid range. We fish a lot and they might not all be legendary, but they are all fun to catch. Last day I was skunked, I left early because snow was falling.

MK fan

Minn Kota TRAXXIS 55 LB A-Jay

Right here ~ http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/ A-Jay

It's generally used when trolling deep water. Not really something that one can cast. A-Jay

I have had a lot of success fishing in the rain I caught this one on a baby brush hog in the rain.

I'd be flipping & pitching.

A hollow body frog or weightless plastic right along the edge, but a frog without a doubt.

whopper plopper

I know the feeling Hootie. One day I got snagged so many times at the end of the day I took my last jig in my tackle box and threw it in the water just to make it an even dozen.

Congrats! Love me some smallie fishing. Between the fight and the topwater performance, cant beat it. Its quite a double edge sword with bass (largemouth and smallmouth) for in that seeing them come to the surface and jump, thrash, and tailwalk is both awesome and scary. Love to see it, but dont want the lure shook free. Man seeing a big largemouth surface with its mouth open wide, gills showing really gets the heart pumping. Did someone say this bass fishing thing can be addicting?

Go back ,run away before its to late. It could be the beginning of a life long uncontrollable addiction that will costs thousands in dollars and hours of time. Kidding ! nice smallie. Great start

I was in the same bass club with Bill Murphy and stitching worms technique was a offshoot of fishing live crawdads nose hooked. You can't be in a hurry and must be very stationary and that requires anchoring a boat or fishing from shore. Never had the patience to sit and stitch worms hour on end. I adopted the slip shot technique, a modification of split shotting and works very good using big worms. Tom