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Don't know about the CQ14 being the GREATEST reel - but it's a pretty dang good one... Actually - a lot of those gold-colored reels are pretty fair fishing machines...

Bow down to the master

Bunnielab, I work with Z-Man and wanted to address your concerns directly. Sorry for the issue you experienced with the TRDs - I don't think we've received feedback like this, so it is definitely not typical. We stand behind our product 100% and will gladly send you some replacements if you like, just let us know. We have not changed the formula for this bait, but it sounds like maybe the couple of baits that tore easily may have inadvertently had a slightly higher salt content or may have been exposed to moisture inside the bag, which could explain the spongier texture. One difference between the TRD and the ZinkerZ is the amount of salt impregnated in each. The ZinkerZ is molded with 45% salt by weight to cause the bait the sink and counteract the buoyancy of ElaZtech, while the TRD is made with only 25% salt, which allows it to retain its buoyancy. The reason we impregnate the TRD with salt is to duplicate the texture of a worn ZinkerZ - once the ZinkerZ loses some salt, it takes on a spongier feel and becomes buoyant, and those are characteristics that Midwest finesse anglers feel increases the effectiveness of the baits. That said, it's difficult to maintain 100% consistent salt content in these baits, which is more noticeable in ElaZtech than with conventional plastics given their buoyancy and stretchiness. Whether you're using the ZinkerZ or TRD (or Hula StickZ for that matter) for Ned Rig applications, one thing we recommend is that you stretch and rub the baits before using them to loosen up and remove some of the salt. As noted above, this adds to the baits' buoyancy (allows them to consistently stand up off the bottom at rest and slows the sink rate) and replicates the spongy feel of a well-worn bait that is so desirable. Salt effectively stiffens the baits as well, so stretching and rubbing them makes the baits more pliable and limber and ultimately adds to the fish catching action. If you would like us to send you some replacement baits, just let us know!

I strongly suggest you consider bass fishing at nighttime during this time of year.That's how I been mostly bass fishing this summer and I have caught many +5 pounders this way.

New to the forum...with a new reel lol

Went back to what is quickly becoming the favorite new lake. The pre Dawn still dark ride to ramp included a good bit of zero visibility in Fog: especially in those low lying areas. Last trip the 1.5 squarebill accounted for most of if not all of the better bass. 3lb plus. Today I ran through the same cover, Except this time I burned a 2.5 squarebill. And they were all over it for like 90 minutes. A-Jay

What ya catch her on? That's what I'd be throwing!

What have you found to work at particular times of year that are noticeably different in other seasons? At the top of my list is the Alabama Rig. I have no idea why this thing works so well in winter, early spring and fall, but is worthless during the warmer months.

...the '14 Conquest 100/101 is greatest reel ever made. That is all. Disclaimer: I had a root canal today and Hydrocodone may be responsible for this post.

The new stick: Gonna pair it with my Pflueger Supreme XT

Grabbed a Fenwick HMX MH casting rod in the end of summer sale. Shout out to the latest sales/deal thread. Just gotta pick a budget reel to go with it.

Got it back today.

The local Wal Mart still has USA made Deep Little N's in two colors . I bought 2 last week . Norman got the N series right .

I bet if you go to Guatemala and buy a norman, it's made in the USA.

Oh well I had Brook Thomas booked for the party but since no girls allowed I will cance

When I was fishing yesterday.....and catching fish......there was one other guy there as well and he was not catching fish. He was using a white spinner. I've got plenty of fish on white spinners before, but I'm telling you, if the bite is near non-existent, you are going to catch something with a Ned rig. All you need to do is figure out the presentation they want and get in an area where fish should be hanging out. Hot summer days I always look for shade and you will find fish. My jigs are 1/20 oz. so they are not really sinking too fast. Many times I am certain that the fish watch them slowly drop and then when they hit bottom, they figure, what the heck, easy meal. The light weight makes it look like a natural meal. Too much weight and I feel that you might take away that tantalizing dinner bell drop. It's like a slow walk down the buffet line for us before we grab a plate and dig in. The heaviest line I use on my spinning reels is eight pounds, but I really don't think that your Trilene is the biggest piece of the puzzle. When you change line, I would drop it down a bit personally, but our "guest" rod has 12 pound Trilene on it because it gets some catfish action, and it has caught plenty of bass.

i've caught fish in lilly pads, with surface temps in the 88- 93 range, consistently. That would make me think that mats would be even more likely as it blocks more sun and also creates a more oxygen rich environment. I am a believer that there are always fish shallow no matter what the temperature of the water and having caught fish in under 5' of water in temps ranging from 34-90+ makes me think i am not crazy lol

Okuma guide select swimbait rod $90-110 Shimano cardiff 200 or 300 reel $70-100 About the cheapest dedicated swimbait combo you can buy. 2oz is on the lower end for 'big' baits. so you'll also have enough rod for heavier baits when you decide to do so.

A young Tom Mann kept his family in protein during the Great Depression by fishing for sunfish. The world record largemouth bass won a small cash prize (IIRC) and then was used for food -- again, during the Depression. Fishing for survival has been done for thousands of years, way before anyone knew what a calorie was. Were I to fish for survival, I'd use a number of techniques, including rod and reel. Fishing for food does not have to use up the calories you claim, nor does it have to cost what you claim. Josh

Who said it was a her? Did you go find out?

I hate unwritten ethics of fishing as much as I hate unwritten rules of baseball. There is nothing ethically wrong with keeping your legal limit of bass for food. Plain and simple. the only thing that would be ethically wrong with keeping your limit would be if you are not going to be able to eat it or filet it properly and create a waste of the resource. Honestly in my opinion we keep bass at a higher pedestal than they most likely deserve simply because of the sport that we have placed upon their heads.... Personally I keep my fish keeping right in line with you as well though...and I do keep bass from time to time. Don't fish weedy lakes much so my bass always taste pretty much bland quite frankly.

She's only $1000 to book for a fishing trip I bet we could all pitch in and get her out here for a fish fry lol

Please know I'm not complaining about having decent access to Slab Bronzeness . . . And thank you kindly for the offer. I have LM waters available but I'm having a hard time getting to them. Every time I pull out of the driveway, my truck just always seems to end up in Smallmouth country, A-Jay

Exactly. I've posted awhile back about it,but from a little different angle.My home lake is only16 acres but it's just big enough to be interesting.Deepest water is 7-8 feet.North end averages maybe 4 feet with a couple of holes up to 7.This end of the lake is nearly covered with eel grass ,niad,and algae.This is the man made end they created in part by damming a shallow Creek.T he middle section has an island with a lot of brush and downed trees.Water averages 5-6 feet around it.Good shade here at different times of the day.T here are a couple of good drop offs here too. The south end we call the circle.Its wide and round.Deepest avg.water of 5-8 feet.Has several distinct holes.Floating islands of eel grass sporadically.Was originally a Cypress pond that the creek originally flowed into and was logged out in the 50s. I have several big fish spots at each part of the lake that consistently hold big fish.The south end probably holds bigger fish,but I've caught more big UN's at the North end because I live there. I have caught big fish on frogs,large worms,Flukes,senkos,brush hogs,trick worms,curly tail worms,and of course,live bait. They seem to bite better in the morning in spring and in the afternoon the rest of the year.Catches of 20 in half a day ( one person) are common. The lake is fairly clear.T he best color is anything watermelon. The lake is best fished SLOW with t- rigs.Frog bite is just fair , the same as all top waters here. I really appreciate living where I do.Got a j- boat and kayak ready to go 30 feet from the back door.Its nice to head out after work for a few hours and appreciate the beauty of creation,and of course,the Creator.A few bass and I'm even better.

Not a pelican boat, but this is what I did to my Sea Eagle SE8.

New handle made all the difference in the world Best Rod ever made in my opinion, amazingly right and is the perfect power for so many applications

The 2 lakes I know well and well known are Castaic and Casitas in SoCal. Started fishing Casitas in '58 and Castiac in '71 shortly after each lake opened to fishing. When you see a lake filling and fish it for decades there isn't much you don't know about them. Both lakes received Florida LMB in 1971 and both had been stocked with adult size northern LMB from nearby reserviors. In '71 I caught my 12.25 lb PB NLMB from Casitas on a jig I made. '81 I caught a 18.6 lb FLMB off the same point on the same design jig. Casitas remains my favorite bass lake because there isn't any water contact sports allowed....no jet ski or water ski allowed and the terrian is oak covered hills with lots of wildlife. Castiac is about 50 miles east of Casitas and allows water contact sports like jet and water skiing. Being closer to Los Angeles Castiac has higher boating, fishing pressure and sage brush covered hills very few trees. Caught my PB 19.3 lb FLMB at Castiac on the same design jig in '93. Between these 2 lakes I have caugh 5 bass over 17 lbs and more giant bass have been caught over 18 lbs than all other bass lakes combined in the world. Casitas may rebound to it's former glory, Castiac may never recover due to accidental introduction of stripped bass into the lake. Tom

The amount of jealously this post causes me is disturbing..... Freaking Awesome collection!

Bought my first St. Croix rod, its Triumph figure will start at entry level see how I like it. My son got bit bought himself a Fenwick HMX, I like that rod a lot also. Picking up some lipless crank baits next. Man summer is going by much too fast.

Well that sucks.

How do you guys stand carrying two or more rods? I tried it once and the amount of time wasted fussing with the second rod just killed me. I tend to bring a single rod, usually a ML or M spinning rod and a small chest pack of lures. I usually bring the following general categories, a topwater or sub-surface lure, a "swimming" lure, and a "dragging" lure. These are usually soft plastics and I try to pick ones that can use the same hooks. If there is room in my pack I will toss in the odd hard bait but when I am bank fishing I like to travel light and that means plastics. I am currently hunting for the "perfect" tackle sling, one with a flyfishing "workbench", exterior points to strap a coat or jacket onto, and will hold a 3600 box, a 3500 box, and 3-4 bags of plastics. It can't hold more, or I will jam it full and kill my back

This is why I like the south. There's no messing around. Fishing in the dark in south Florida is mans work. There are any number of things that can bite, sting, or poison you running around and a few that could eat you. That my friend, is dedication.

I made a video on how I use shrink tube

I don't think the OP is asking about the the lake best known by the public. Instead, I believe the question is about describing the characteristics of the lake that you know best. If that is indeed the question, then let me start by describing my home lake as a shallow (12 ft max), bowl shaped development lake (i.e, a lake made in order to build a housing development around it). It is small (100 acres or so) with a retaining wall around the entire perimeter. The predominant cover is boat docks, but not the style you see on most larger lakes. Instead of floating on the water or having pier type supports, nearly all of these docks hang out over the water similar to a balcony. Some are inches above the water, others are over a foot above, but they make great places for the bass to hide under or around. Throw in broken concrete from the retaining wall and some bass become homebodies at some of these docks. Vegetation is nearly non-existent except for some Bushy Pondweed (actual name) that starts growing in the 3 to 7 foot zone in spring, maxes out in summer and dies off in fall. The yearly changes in amount & thickness of pondweed then changes the locations that I find many of the fish every year. Another factor that changes the locations of the fish from where one might expect are the two dozen or so aerators placed in the coves & main lake. The oxygen & current created by these often draw baitfish & predators, especially in the summer & winter.. Most fish caught here are on bottom bumping baits, with the Ned rig and Wacky rigged stick-baits leading the way. The fact that these two baits work well for skipping as well as around the pondweed help their production. Most of the fish are dock oriented, but where they are positioned (roaming near the docks, positioned in front of them, hidden underneath) is dependent on the time of year, time of day and weather conditions. Moving lures will have their days when the conditions are right and can catch more than the slower alternatives, but that is not the norm. Best of all, despite have thousands of people living on the lake, most days when I fish it, I have it to myself. Very few people here fish, those that do are just tossing hot dogs off their dock for catfish or would prefer to go out on a cattle boat in the ocean. It is really odd, I am never out of sight of at least a dozen homes, so I never have any secret spots, yet me & 1 other person are the only ones that fish it seriously (and half the time we fish together). That's Southern California for you...

Picked up a few MB prototype baits for the display shelf. Also some 110 jr's in limited pro staff colors. Feed the monkey!

I'll fish a Quantum any day over a Shimano. Sorry, I've fished my friends Shimano's and will stay with my Quantums. Not impressed with Shimano reels.

it's not always the bait....there is a reason why it is hard to be a good fisherman, the bait is only one part of a very large equation.

Phenix K2 paired with 09 Aldebaran BFS

More like diaherrito

Thanks for reminding me, Clayton. That is all.

I am determined to learn how to fish a jig. Next time out, these are all that are coming with me....

Seriously they are only 4ft deep? Not sure where your at but here in Texas that would dry up to a puddle every summer.what I'm saying is there would be no fish. But hey if there are fish as you say and big ones I'd take some worms to t-rig and spinnerbait or chatterbaits for sure.

I'm not a pro by any means but a week or two back, I had a shallow water hot streak in water less than three feet deep. Water temp was 87. No overhead cover, but it was early and cloudy. No need for me to go deep that day. There were probably bigger fish deeper, but my only competition is myself. I never completely ignore shallow no matter how hot it is if I think there is any thing at all that might be drawing them in. Bass have a tendency to take all of the knowledge that we gain and toss it out the window.

My reactions seem to be gender specific ~ I'll often go with either . . . . "She Choked it" or "He Hammered it". I'll also openly admit that I can never determine gender by virtue of just the strike. Once it's in the net - I don't actually care. A-Jay

my dad would say he "swallered it" (swallowed)

Take a look at ALX Dragger for this application. Tom PS, I have no affiliation with ALX rods, they are state of the art at reasonable prices, good customer service and warranty.

It's only anecdotal evidence!

Quick answer is "NO"....You don't want to become a spot fisherman.. Try using Seasonal Patterns to Locate Bass. By Jim Ratley http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/seasonal_patterns.html

There's still a lot of older ones floating around out there, get 'em while you can. Not much news on what they're doing with the entire line yet. They were based in my hometown (just outside it) and so is a division of Pradco. They haven't made any more announcements that I've found since the acquisition at the end of last year.

I just bought a Deep Lil N thats from Wal Mart that has made in USA on it .