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At 5:09 PM on 12/17/2016, my wife and I welcomed our second son into the world. He was 7 pounds 10 ounces and 20.5" long, and we named him Finn Momma and baby are doing great, we should be going home tomorrow.

St. Croix LXC70MHF + Daiwa Steez SV 6.3

Have you determined whether or not there are fish where you are fishing? If there's no fish, you can change baits a hundred times and never get a bite.

My favorite grass bait are weightless soft plastics texas rigged .The thicker the slop the better .I use a heavy flipping hook to give a little extra casting weight and be strong enough to bring in six lbs of bass and 6 lbs of grass .

I hope you included a first aid kit and hook extractor...bad santa.

I got my package from @j bab . I went ahead and opened it. Nice selection of baits. I kind of had to, because we had another package show up yesterday

My fish catching machine ?

For me, I try to keep it simple. I've tried a huge amount of lures in my day for smallies. Cold weather, it's hard to beat a hard jerkbait on one rod and a blade bait on the other. If there are smallies on the structure you're targeting, one or both of these presentations will net you results.

I have a '13 Shimano CI4+ 2500 that does everything from ultralight to inshore saltwater depending on the rod it's on and the line I'm using.

The 2500 size, in general, is an extremely versatile reel. You could spool it with braid or light mono and have enough line for virtually any North American game fish.

I do like baitcasting rods in that price range as I feel you get a very good bang for the buck. A few months back I picked up a couple of St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting Rod 7'1" Med Heavy and I feel like I have found a series of rods that I can use for years and years. Throwing a jig is my favorite presentation. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-STCROIXRODS.html?from=basres

Took advantage of the $20 off orders of $100 or more from Dick's. Have a cheap rod and some hooks for the horny toads still coming.

I've been called a lot of things by females in my time. My favorite is and will always be, "Daddy".

Yes take the job. Your chance at the other job may not happen right away. The upgraded position at your current employer shows you're working hard & considered for more responsibility. That will look good on your work record. If the other job does come up be honest with your current employer for your reasons for leaving to pursue your dream & give adequate notice. You have to look out for yourself first then others.

The reel he used is serious money. $500 is the cheapest I could find it at. Normally runs between $600 and $700. No chance of me trying that reel out.

There are lots of great choices if you make your budget $150. First I love WRBs suggestion of the Irod Genesis II rods. If so, I like the 704C personally. However If we go with your original budget look for a Falcon Bucoo either standard or Micro series. Look at their Amistad model or lizard dragger. Dobyns makes the Fury FR734C which should fit your needs well. Lastly the most versatile rod that I own is a Powell Max (original series) 683 CEF. That rod is now available in the Powell Mx3D series as well as the Inferno series. Go read tackle Tours review of that rod. They threw everything from 1/4 ounce baits up to 2 oz baits. I love this rod, especially around docks and tight structure areas, but it works fine out in open water. I throw primarily regular jig/plastics, swimjigs and texas rigged plastics on it. The Max3D goes for $159 and if you can swing it I would be choosing between it and the Irod Genesis II. If not, consider the Inferno for $100.

OK, you have both a ML spinning and a MH baitcasting outfits with braid line and good detailed explanation of your tackle. You are setup to bass fish nearly any standard lures and rigs. It comes down to where to fish and what lure presentations will be effective where and how you fish. Grass and laydowns to me me are both cover elements, the lake terrain, bottom, dam, points, dock pilings etc., being structure elements. For simplicity let's look at bass location as being the spawn cycle and balance of the year. Bass spawn in wind protected areas with shallow water 1' to 6' deep as a general rule in small lakes. During the spawn most of the bass population will be near this type of areas. Before and after the spawn most bass will be located near the points close to the spawning areas or in deeper water near the dam. I always like to start fishing near dams and points except during the spawn. Start there. Select lures and use presentations that allow the lure to work properly where you fish. You can't use crankbaits in weeds effectively, use weedless lures. Fishing from shore limits how and where you can fish, you are fishing uphill so select lures and presentation that work well uphill. Surface lures are good choices and deep diving lures are not a good choice where and how you fish. Lures that tend to snag on the bottom easily are not good choices. ML spinning tackle; Rapalas floating/diving F13 original minnow in silver black back. Split/slip shot or mojo rig using 1/8 oz cyclinder or bullet weight and Carolina keeper with 1/0 hook. 5" to 6" inch soft plastic worms that float and use 8 lb mono ( 3' to 6' long) with 14" to 20" leader length from weight to hook. Rig the worms weedless. Weighless 5" Senko with 2/0 weedless wacky hook, use 8 lb mono leader, 3' to 6'. Attach leader to braid with Uni-Uni knot. MH baitcasting tackle; Spinnerbaits, buzz baits, super spook, for open water and nail weighted Flukes and hollow body frogs for grass areas. Carolina rig using 1/4 to 3/8 oz bullet weighs with Carolina keeper and 12 to 15 lb 6' mono leader, Uni-Uni know and 3/0 hook. 6" to 8" worms and baby brush hogs, eight 14" to 20"* above hook. This should keep you busy next year and catching bass day and night. Good luck. Tom * longer leader lengths are OK if you can effectively cast from shore.

The NJ striper season has come & gone. So unfortunately it is for the most part over by now. There may be a few sporadic straggler fish is the wash but the bait has long since made it's way south. Thanksgiving weekend there was a pretty epic blitz that saw tons of bait literally washing up on the beaches with big bass & blues right at the anglers feet. I'm no longer in NJ but do follow Chris and enjoy his adventures - this was crazy. A-Jay

Make all you videos 45 seconds long. Colt's 45

OK that's good to hear. I didn't fish soft plastics much until this year, and just following this board has had a huge effect on my success. I love crankbaits, rattlebaits -- really all types of hard baits, but I find that learning to fish soft plastics has really been key to success in the kind of water you are describing, because they don't get hung up in all that grass. The flukes you have can take the place of the hard jerkbaits -- in fact they can be even more versatile because they will still attract strikes as they flutter down when you park them. I have had luck jerking them close to surface and when the bass are active and hitting baitfish near surface, skittering them on surface and letting them flutter down can be effective. You may need some larger EWG or straight-shank hooks for them than you have on your list, though, 3/0 will be OK but 4/0 and 5/0 can also work. I find the hook itself can provide a good weight balance for a fluke. On that note, you might have luck with those yo-zuris - not as many hits as with smaller baits, but bass as small as the lures will hit them for sure. Regarding the 30 lb braid on a baitcaster - you'll get the full range of opinions on that here, and from guys far more experienced than I am, but as a rookie I find 30 lb braid to be too light for a baitcaster. Again, that's a function of experience and opinion - but I know others on the board would also go heavier. Ned rig has been a miracle worker in soft-bottom ponds for me. I don't believe in wonder lures, but this is the closest I've seen to that. A surprise for me has been that lighter is usually better - I mean really small and light - 1/16 or even smaller. They offer ones with weedguards and you can get creative and rig sort of Texas-style - but I usually just bear with it in terms of the weeds. There have been some good threads on this subject that you can find. I'll try to link.

Congratulations!! You know Finn will be an easy to get along with child, he chose to come into the world in time to still let you grab dinner later and then get a good nights sleep as opposed to making you stay up until 3 in the morning for his arrival. Plus he is giving you a full years tax deduction for 2 weeks worth of care. Very thoughtful child!! Best to you & his mother.

Bass like to hangout in those weeds.. and ambush. The jig being pulled through the grass gives off vibrations to the bass's lateral line.. if its really thick I would use a more compact trailer like a beaver style bait.

No set rule . I always make an educated guess on what to do next .

If your willing to drop 100 you might as well drop 130 and get something better.St. Croix Mojo Bass is a fantastic rod for 130. For 100 look at the Falcon Bucoo,Fenwick HMG,Abu Garcia Veritas 2.0 or Duckett Ghost.

@Bluebasser86 I hope you like them and get some use out of them. Merry Christmas!

CONGRATULATIONS!

When I saw the topic I clicked so I could reply "worms!" Sass beat me to it. When bass fishing there is never a bad time to use a plastic worm. That being said until about 10 yrs ago I didn't think you could catch bass in winter. We always went after trout when it was cold. Then I kept reading articles about float and fly and silver buddy. Didn't have any silver buddy's back then (hard to find here) so we used little Cleo spoons and started catching smallmouth in winter!!! Nowadays winter is my favorite season to fish. Still haven't had any luck on float and fly for bass but fly without a float is very effective for me on bluff walls. Got some homemade silver buddy's now that work great but what really happened was they gave me confidence that bass will bite in the winter. Now I catch them with almost any lure in winter, I just needed that confidence. Small tube and shakey head are usually where I start but jerkbait crankbait, jig, Texas rig, fluke, hair jig, blade bait, and all kind of things will catch fish in winter. Tightlining a fly of small Berkly gulp minnow is the way to go here in east tn once the water gets to 45 and below. But once you find them you can make them bite a lot of things. I caught what was probably my biggest largemouth dec 27 a few years back on a gold silver buddy, probably about 8 lbs but I didn't measure it.

Spinnerbait to easily get threw the grass swim jig for the same reason and a wacky rig on a circle hook I find a circle hook to less likely get hung up in grass.

I like a little a mod fast action for those since they're often being popped off the weeds. Power dictated by lure weight and cover.

No clue, and I'd argue it almost doesn't matter. $2/spool for backing sounds fantastic.

If ya wanna speed up the learning curve with any technique try night fishing! I don't mean try it for a night or two but dedicate an entire year to it. I guarantee you will amazed at much it improves your sense of feel!

it's in a tree , BlueBasser86 will get it !!

I forgot to mention - during the "unwrapping process" please be advised (and wary) that there are treble hooks under at least two of those "wrappings" - I know, shouldn't really be that much of a surprise . . . A-Jay

Danny, My youngest son left home the day he turned 18 and spent a year couch surfing and doing drugs and alcohol. He was raised right with sound values. I would not and will not compromise our family's values. Neither would his brother, sisters and mother. I made it clear he was responsible for his choices. It was a very frightening time. I see what drugs do to lives every single day. I gave CPR to a guy who overdosed on heroin today. it's painful. I've read every response and this tremendous insight and wisdom in them. What I, we did was let my son know we would be there for him when he was ready to seek our help, genuinely seek our help. We allowed him back with love but a level of accountability. He had had enough and realized he missed us and our unconditional love for him. He relapsed twice and we worked with him. The hardest issue was his addiction to pain killers. We've been through it for years. My wife and I finally moved him back in with us and helped him address his addiction and his other mental health issues. I won't lie. It's been difficult and at times exhausting but we refused to enable him, EVER. He's sober, back in school, has a son and is a fantastic father. He has something more important to live for than himself. I once interviewed a burglary suspect I had arrested numerous times over the years. I told him to be honest with me and I would do everything in my power to get him to treatment even while he was in prison. He told me he didn't want treatment. He told me, " You don't understand Doug, I love it. (heroin) I love how it makes me feel and more than that, I love how it doesn't make me feel." That's a quote, word for word and it hit me like a bucket of crap. Your boy will have to search his own heart and I pray he will seek you out. I know you will be their when he does. I wish he could talk to my boy. Even then, he may not listen but my son would tell him sober is better than on the knod. Praying for you Danny.

In my neck of the woods you better be well armed, most of the times you will catch tons of dinks so you might be tempted to go around and play with the idea of messing with Mickey Mouse gear, after all, you catch nothing but dinks ...... until you catch your first 10 pounder out of a that cattle watering hole just as I did, my first 10 lber came from a half an acre pond.

I remember that Great fish as well. Paul Bailey of Kelseyville is a well-known bass tournament fisherman and fishing guide who has caught some monster bass down through the years. But even Bailey was in for a shock Sunday while filming a video at Bullards Bar Reservoir in Dobbins where he landed what could be a new world record for spotted bass. The bass weighed 11.4 pounds and easily topped the current record of 10.4 pounds. The fished was weighed on several different scales and Bailey attempted to contact a biologist from the Department of Fish and Wildlife to certify the species and weight although he was unsuccessful in getting an official to respond. Bailey even offered to transport the bass in a livewell filled with water but was told it was illegal to transport any fish alive. In the end, Bailey released the bass. To be confirmed as a world record a certified biologist must examine the fish and it has to be weighed on a certified scale. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. That entire affair did not shine a very good light on the governing officials. A-Jay

Not if it was a giant mouth full of razor sharp teeth....

Picked up 2 spro little johns and 2 little john md's for 7.97 each at gander today.

Nothing stings quite like losing a premium lure on your first outing with it, before you've even been able to land a fish on it.

Last one for me was a Rapaly Husky Jerk 7 casts in.It was to windy and i knew it.Nice gust put it in a tree.Luckily only 8 bucks

If using 8 lb line you certainly don't need the 3000 size.

Well I finally received all the baits I need to ship out. Some where custom colors which is maybe what took so long. Will be shipping out Monday morning and will probably be express so they make it in time. There headed to some guy named Kent in TN. I don't think he's very active on the forums so y'all might not know him.

Just sell the President if you don't like it. They're great reels and you'd have no problems selling it. A 2500 size is pretty standard for bass.

I once mooned a full auditorium at a 50's and 60's concert. As security was running up the stairs to the stage the crowd demanded an encore...twice Mike

Bill Lewis uses the following terms for the following sizes. Tiny trap - 1/8oz Mini trap - 1/4oz Original trap - 1/2oz

The Original Rat-L-Trap is offered in 1/4, 1/2 & 3/4 oz. The 1/2 size has been the standard for a long time. A-Jay

Congratulations Cody, beautiful fish. 10.8 lb Spotted bass new world record, everything was done right! 6 lb Tatsu and using his sponsors Daiwa products. 42 lb 5 spotted bass limit is incredible! Bullards Bar has produced 3 record Spots in 2 years! Tom

@FordsnFishin got my box today, I resisted a whole five minutes. Lol I've never really tried lizards but I've been wanting to, so now I have a reason to! I'll be using the deep diver and the lipless crank tomorrow, gonna try yo-yoing it for deeper bass. Thanks again man! Merry Christmas!

I had a bunch, they're not the same thing.