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My new addition to the family and my first Conquest. Not going to be able test until Spring, but this thing is smoother than butter....

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Definitely not my target species, but it sure was a fun fight! Right at 22 pounds, kicked off my new years and continued attempt to learn blade baits with a bang!

If you do a simple Google search for Shimano Reel Maintenance, the first link that shows up (Reel Maintenance Instructions - Shimano) has a variety of great PDF files showing basic step by step instructions with good pictures to cover all basic maintenance, regardless whether you own one of their products or not ? -T9

Out of curiosity I just went on their site...couldnt be easier or more descriptive. Click on a bait, it gives you the length, weight and a description of its action and characteristics. If you are overwhelmed at the store, go onto the site, make a list of the lures that you want, and bring it to the store. Good luck.

I fished several tournaments on Cayuga, over the course of several years. One year was particularly tough, immediate post spawn, followed by a clear, cool, dry, cold front. The winner that day drowned senkos in one small cove that featured one of @riverbasser's "female points," leading to an adjacent weed flat, maybe around 8' at it's deepest. He didn't know what was so special, but he said all of the bigger fish came from a specific area, and if veered off that area, no fish, or dinks. This wasn't a guy to use his graph, and in fact only had a flasher at the console. I suspect he "discovered" some trench or other subtle feature that pro you mentioned, and KVD were honed in on. Point being, structure can be huge, and blatant, or almost invisible, elusive, as Buck described - only being able to be detected by your lure. The guy that won that day, won by a large margin. He only fishes senkos. When most of the field struggles, he usually does well.

I can tell you this, you better find something structural, that is useful and attractive to bass in the north end of Cayuga, or you aren't getting bit post spawn, and into summer. There are fish there, but if you're an impatient, chuck and duck guy, you'll think it's a barren wasteland. BTW, I came in 3rd one year at a club deal with 19+ lbs. from "particular" boat slips in the far north end, in mid summer. I think less than 8 oz. separated the top five.

Well, training your thumb is a lot less expensive with monofilament line. Another alternative is tightening your brakes a notch or two and adjusting the spool tension. You will lose a little distance, but this will reduce "professional overruns" dramatically. Finally, if you decide to stick with braided line, move up to at least 30# and I prefer 40#.

Every bait has a short recommendation on the back of the box on how to fish it. And on top of the box has legnth, weight, and running depth.. I don't think it gets much more simple than that bud.

I use the same spec rod, but in a LTB for that. Here's a little tip for those Keitechs:

Rod power is it's basic lifting strength before the rod bottoms out and lift any more weight. This sounds like it could be a standard; unfortunately no standard exist! power in number verses power by letter designator. 1 = light or L 2 = medium light or M! 3 = medium or M 4 = medium heavy or MH 5 = heavy or H 6 = extra heavy XH 7 = extra heavy XXH The numbers represent the dead weight a rod can lift before being fully bent. Action is how the rod bends under light loads pulling down the rod tip with light load. Paraboliic the rod bends from tip to 1st guide near the reel evenly. Moderate the rod bends from the tip down about 1/2 the rod length. fast the rod bends from the tip down about 1/4 the rod length. extra fast the rod bends from the tip down about 1/8 the rod length. The more a rod bends the slow the power is applied and easier it is to cast lures. The faster a rod bends the power loads faster, better feel of what a lure is doing underwater and more difficult to cast. Crank baits or deep diving lures are easier to cast using moderate action rods. Jigs, worms that you need to feel and get solid hook sets with fast action rods. Hope this helps. Tom

Combos? Dude, my last two 5lbers this year, were caught on a $22 Berkley cherrywood spinning rod, with a $9 Outdoor angler 2000 reel. This rig has held up just fine for 3 seasons so far. I like to use gear that is inexpensive, but has great value, because it is gratifying to me, to catch fish well with cheap gear, while everyone else spends hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, to catch the same fish.

I hear that - The BOAT GORILLA introduced himself to me this spring . . . A-Jay

That was a 7' MH Lightning Rod Shock with a Pflueger President baitcaster. It was actually my first cast with the whole setup. Ffo had the rods for $22 buy one get one half off, couldn't really pass them up at that price.

"Please be a bass, please be a bass......." Everytime I catch one of those........ Congrats on the new PB! Jeff

My first big fish of the new year ?

I have one and also have never caught anything on it. Ditto all the above issues and I'll add that it sinks too fast so you can't really swim it slowly. Sure, you can, but it looks like the nose it pointed up unnaturally. I agree with how hard it is to cast so I used it on MH spinning gear. I'm sure there's a good time to use it and I haven't found it yet. I also haven't used it in a place where bluegill would be the primary forage (a small pond).

Good Morning J ~ Will that work on the manual as as well ? Like the 5 & 6 speeds, and lets not forget .. .. .. "Three on the Tree" A-Jay

"Blizzard"

Rapala has certain lures that have been in production for decades because they flat out catch fish and they have a few designs that have not been replicated imo. The Rapala lures that I feel are Mandatory, and stand out from the other brands are the following. Original Balsa Rapala Minnow-Floating & Husky Jerk is the suspending version but not balsa. The BX series looks nicer, casts further, but I have not done as well with the BX swimmers, Wakes as I have with the standard Minnow and Flat Rap Minnow. Gold/Black & Silver/Black. Shad rap #7 is a lure that everyone should have, they work all year round, flat sided balsa crank that is not expensive & will always catch something. The Shallow Shad Rap is a great lure when the "Wake Bait" bite is on, people do not fish this lure enough but you can fish it as a topwater or wake, or squarebill and it catches fish when the bite is tough. I only have the shad color which is all I need. I add some chart instead of buying a sexy shad version but either way. The DT series is good, however I feel you can find better crankbaits from other companies but it is all preference, I do use the DT-6 and the DT-10 at times. Only other lure that stands out for me would be the Skitter Pop, makes a bluegill sound better than any popper, add some dressing to the rear treble, fish it on lighter line, but it is a fantastic lure. Skitter Walk Vs. XRAP Walk only means the Xrap has better colors, different hooks, comes with dressed treble but if on sale they are a good walking bait, just not much different imo than all the others. The X-Rap Suspending Jerkbait is a good shallow jerkbait that cuts aggressive & can work really well. You don't need much. Check out this site. BEST PRICES FOR RAPALA & Other top brands. Their bulk soft plastics are all BPS Brand. $4 Rapala's, .99 Bags of Culprits....They always have stuff coming in super cheap from every company at one time or another. http://www.fishingtackleoutlet.net/ I should not be giving out my favorite site...but I just ordered $150 of culprit Incredicraws, Lucky Craft lures, & reel.

Countdown is a version of the "original floating minnow". Typically it sinks 1 foot per second and will vary between sizes. The SK 1.5 is a squarebill. And the scatter rap is just a type of lip that can come on a shad rap, crank, original minnow and a few others.. even the tail dancer. So there are plenty of places to use it , and still fish the 1.5. I personally like the scatter rap shad. I caught 2 bass 4-5 lbs on it just this past season. But if the scatter rap disappeared I wouldn't be bothered. Because I've been using them long before and to me it is not really a game changer. They do work though. I've had much success with rapala and it is my favorite company by far . I have more than 150 of their lures. Not ones I bought in bulk for cheap either. Rather ones I hand selected throughout the years. My favorite all time (rapala) lures that I wouldn't ever leave the dock without are 1) shad rap and JOINTED shad rap. (Also get the shallow version of this) 2) fat rap and DT series. Don't slap the DTs on the water to clear the moss.. use your darn hand.. 3) xrap shad ( shallow version of this as well ) gettin hard to find but I have plenty. 4) original floater . Slow retrieve , dead sticked , rip and pause , small twitches . This thing catches fish. Don't be afraid to get the big ones too. I'll talk about these all day. If you want to hear what else I have to say about them. You can PM me. I might even have one or two for you to try out.

I think somebody else mentioned using a short shank hook and it helped. Or maybe they said they just took the rear treble off. Its always been one of my beefs with jointed hard-bodied swimbaits - I just can't get em to cast well. They sure do look good swimming in the water tho. Could be the heavier, larger ones cast better.

Fat Raps and Crankin Raps are staples in my tackle box . The only reason Shad Raps are not is I dont like the way they cast .

It's OK to hold them by their jaw, as long as they are hanging vertical. Just don't torque the jaw on big bass. There are several ways to weigh them, one is to attach some boga grips to the scale and then clip it on to the lower jaw, another is to attract a bag to the scale and place the fish in that, or yet another is to simply slide the scales hook under the gill plate through the gills, but not so that it's putting pressure on the gills themselves.

Cleaning up I found a couple of TW packing lists. Which got me to thinking that I should pull up my orders on TW, only goes back to 2014, and figure out the percentage of the items I ordered that I actually used. Not sure if this is smart or not, but I have been really trying to order what I need vs what the bait monkey adds to my cart;)

The box tells you diving depth, besides that just ask the guy in the tackle shop for more info. They can't attach a book to each box explaining their whole line of baits!

@TheRodFather @mixel Have you been on Rapalas website? Lots of info, sizing charts, and videos on every lure

WRB excellent job explaining about rods. The power tells you about the amount of backbone and helps in understanding the rod and its lure rating. The action tells you how easy or how far the rod will bend. Certain techniques work best with certain power and action combinations. Now please understand I have fished since I was a young boy and most of all of the first 10 years I used 1 or two rods. Many people have one rod and are thrilled with that method. If I were to go that way again it would be a medium action spinning rod probably 7 foot long. Now I own 1 or 2 rods that best allow me to fish each specific lure type. So I have jig & plastics rods, crankbait rods, a frog rods etc. This makes me more efficient, but causes me to have an overstuffed rod locker. LOL Let's look at 2 of the most common baitcasters. The first is a 7 foot medium power moderate action and the second one is a 7 foot medium power fast action rod. Both usually cast 1/4 to 3/4 ounce lures. The medium-moderate rod will usually bend all the way down from the tip guide all the way down to the 4th or 5th guide. This means it will load well and cast maybe bulkier baits, but more importantly it will "give" and absorb a fish's runs better, so lures with treble hooks like crankbaits and rattle traps will stay buttoned up. Many of the fish we loose with treble hook baits are lost because we use faster action rods that react quicker so sometimes the bass gets a little slack and poof your fish is gone. The moderate action rod bends further down the blank and reacts slower. Now the medium power fast action rod will usually bend only down say to the 2nd or 3rd guide. If you are fishing bottom bouncing baits where you hop a bait or slowly swim a bait then the faster action rod helps deliver the power quicker and offers more sensitivity. Lures such as rattle traps, crankbaits, topwaters, jerkbaits, and both spinnerbaits and chatterbaits all work best on slower action rods. We usually use fast or extra fast action rods for jigs, texas rigged plastics, carolina rigs, and even frogs. Rod powers are often chosen to allow us to throw lures by the lures resistance in the water and their weight. For example the rod I throw my 1/4 to 3/8 spinnerbaits is a 6'6" medium power moderate action baitcasting rod. If I want to throw a big 3/4 to 1 ounce spinnerbait I would use my 7 foot medium heavy moderate action rod. They have the same action or taper (just another name to confuse you but means the same as action for our purpose)but have different powers thus the lure weights they cover are different. I hope that helps. Now if we look at the three spinning rods I carry here is a good example. I carry two identical G Loomis 6 foot IMX rods. The first is a 6 foot light power rod that handles baits that weigh 1/16 to 5/16. My other 6 foot is a medium power rod that handles baits that weigh 1/8 to 3/8. They may seem to cover many of the same lures but the rods act very differently. I can easily throw Ned rigs ( a 1/10 ounce jig with a special 3 inch piece of worm) grubs and small baits like mepps spinners on the light power rod. The medium rod has enough backbone to hook a fish using larger plastics, and heavier baits. My third rod is a 7 foot medium that has a faster tip and more backbone. It can toss lighter baits further distance due to its longer length, It also has more backbone so I can hook a fish further out or in deeper water. Here is a quick guide to reel ratio uses. For baits like frogs, or techniques like pitching a jig in heavy vegetation I use a higher speed reel, usually 8-1. For baits like spinnerbaits and buzzbaits if I want to burn it up near the surface I like a 7-1. For regular spinnerbait fishing, small crankbaits, squarebills, jigs, texas rigs, carolina rigs, rattle traps, hollow bodied swimbaits etc. I like a 6.3-1 reel. And for deep diving cranks like DD22s or other crankbaits that dig their way down to 15 foot or deeper than a 5.3-1 or so is best.

Thanks A-Jay We are trying. They raised 2 good kids. We'll get there.

I'm very sorry to hear about your Parents - I lost my Dad this past year. I do realize this sounds super cliché' but I just try to remember the good times. It helps a little. Hope you & your family can find peace. A-Jay

The number of trial sites I pre-select depends on the length of my paper route. In every case though, I'll pinpoint more trial sites than I actually need because several sites will be rejected during Field Study due to subpar cover, which is something you cannot evaluate at home. Roger

The DT series are excellent baits. I'm not a huge Rapala guy but I do throw the Shad Raps in the spring. I have little experience with the scatter rap line although I know they catch fish. I just can't let go of my SK 1.5 square bills to allow the scatter rap in my arsenal. So a long story short, I'd go with the DT series and Shad raps. Just my 2 cents.

I don't find a lot of baits but as a kid my dad and his buddies would pay me a buck to dive down and get their snagged baits.

You asked a question. The answer is "no", fishing is not just a recreational sport. For commercial fishermen, it's a way of making a living.

Good deal! Take your time though I think it's impossible to digest it all in the first reading. Even after many, many years, I still find small things that I overlooked or simply couldn't understand properly the first times through. My reading copy is highlighted, page marked, and referenced constantly -T9

Thanks, T9! Perfect -- two pages....in English....with pictures!

The strangest things that have ever happened to me are, in no particular order: #1: Sunny warm fall day, my seasonal allergies were kicking my butt, and I only had Benadryl in the boat. Knowing full well it makes me sleepy, I took it anyways. I was at the south end of the lake, got bit off by a pike, trolling motored out a ways off the spot to sit down and re-rig.......................next thing I know it's several hours later when I wake up and am almost at the north end of the lake. I make sure I have non-drowsy allergy meds. with me at all time from that point on. #2: Hot summer day, I was up tight to the bank behind a point frogging and punching some slop, and shade that usually hold some good fish during the heat of the day, they didn't seem to be there that day, so I come around the point to hit the deeper water grass line on the other side, and the row of floating swim docks that are anchored over deep water. On one of the swim docks were two very attractive collage age young ladies sunbathing...........not an uncommon sight around here.............except they were buck neckid, and seemingly un-bothered by me. Let's just say I was more shocked then they were, and I quickly pulled up the TM and got the heck out of there before I made a fool of myself. #3: Doing a drift and drag for smallmouth in the fall, when I hook into a hard fighting fish.......or so I thought. It was a flip-flop covered in zebra muscles. I hooked by the strap and evidently the water resistance, and flip flopping it did made it feel like a decent fish. #4: Windy crappy day in the fall............the clouds break and the sun comes out and gets real warm, real fast. I take my rain coat off and spread it out on the back deck to dry off. Then the wind picks up and takes my coat with it. I didn't even know it was gone for a long time. I went to pull up the TM and move and seen it was gone, I idled around looking for it in the general area I lost it, but it was no where to be found. A week or so later, I am cranking over some submerged milfoil..............ABOUT 2 MILES AWAY from where I lost the coat and hooked into it. And other than a few bugs stuck to it, and a treble hook poke hole it was good as new. I still have and wear it to this day.

I hide in the bathroom from my kids a lot. I figured out a lot of navionics functions.

Perhaps this is a job for Scuba Steve .. .. .. .. A-Jay

First trip of the year started off slow. Took 2 1/2 hours before getting the first bite but was steady once we got on em. Finished the day with 10 total. Most fish were 3-4lbs, one being 4 1/2 and the big fish of the day was 6 1/2 on the boga grip. All fish were caught on 3/4 oz seiberts football jigs and rage lobster combos. 20-40ft depth.

I finally got the video uploaded.

Find the steepest drop you can - preferably one that's on an inside turn and drops directly into the main lake basin or the deepest water available. Watch the video in this link, tie on a 1/2, 5/8 or 3/4 oz blade bait and fish it exactly like Scott does and I bet you'll get bit. Try setting up on the shallow side, cast into the deep and work it back - the reverse is often very effective as well. Good Luck A-Jay

I keep all my swimbaits, including my Hudds, in a homemade box very similar to what Tom described.

I asked the bait monkey and he was very unhappy with your suggestion.

Here are a few of my reels. Shimano JDM Conquest 200 Shimano JDM Metanium Shimano Excense DC Daiwa Steez LTD SV 105XH DAiwa Steez LTD SV 103TN

I like to organize. I spent the past two weeks remodeling my garage and finally have a halfway decent fishing "workshop". I'm also the Staff Advisor to the University of Oklahoma's Fishing Team, and I just spent a lot of time working with our student anglers on a fundraising campaign we're going to roll out in a couple weeks. And of course, can't beat practicing your flipping/pitching in the back yard.

B.A.S.S. started out using blind draw to reduce cheating during tournaments because cheating was already a problem for cash prize derbies before Ray Scott started bass. The 1st 5 years B.A.S.S. had 15 bass limit that were killed eaten after the events. Ray Scott had to step down as B.A.S.S. president do to fraud handing the reigns over. When ESPN purchased B.A.S.S. they changed the format and incorgaged high speed boat racing. Gerald Swindle, this years AOY was the angler who ran full speed through anglers who were stopped fishing during ESPN's era. Swindle changed seeing the error and has become a genuine good sportsmen the sport is proud of. Abosultly correct in stating big cash purses leads to corruption in every sport, the bass tournament format today makes cheating nearly impossible during major events where big payouts are available. As we get older we see things differently and I don't believe integrity has been lost or misplaced. If you love the sport, give back to it. Tom

Got out the first time since the baby was born. The fish were not very nice but we did catch a couplegood ones. I had some baits I've been working on to test out and all our fish came on those so that was a nice bonus. My buddy had big fish with a thick 20" fish that went 5 1/4.