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A few years ago, I started a project to build rods for members with military service. We built a few with member donations. And then the idea just stalled. Glenn suggested we should start this up again, so we did. Glenn reached out to Batson Enterprises to see if they wanted to be a part of this, and they graciously agreed to donate everything needed to build four rods, to get us up and running. They deserve a huge round of applause for supporting this project. Special thanks goes to Bill Batson, and his entire crew for their generosity. I contacted some guys about building rods, and got Scott Hovanec, Mike Lawson(DVT), Ronnie Van Huss(Alpster) to join me. We built four rods using Rainshadow Immortal blanks, and components from Batson Enterprises. Another special round of applause to Scott, Mike and Ronnie for joining me in this project. Many thanks gentlemen. We have started shipping these first rods, and they should be arriving soon at the doorsteps of the first four BassResource members who have past or current military service on their resumes. I expect to see posts from four surprised BR members in the near future. They do not know what's coming their way. I've seen some pics. There are some fine lookin sticks going out. Now, this time, I would like to keep this going. I told Glenn I would build as many as we could raise money for. I am asking for any and all BassResource members to consider making a donation, so we can keep this going. It doesn't need to be a big donation. A few bucks from a bunch of members will go a long way, if we all get together. Roadwarrior agreed to be the "bank" last time we did this. I'm hoping he will do it again. Hint, hint, Brother Kent! There are alot of BassResource members who either have served, or are currently serving. Let's come together, and say thanks this way. They certainly deserve it, don't you think? Edit: just heard from Scott. I received an Immortal blank. Scott got a Revelation blank. Dont know what Ronnie and got. Sorry for the confusion. I assumed since I had an Immortal, they would all be that. You would think at my age i would not assume anything! ------------------------- Here's how YOU can be a part of this great project!

Lately I have taken under my wing an 11 year old boy who loves to fish. His dad died of cancer about 2 years back and his grandpappy can't fish much anymore (heart condition). He's an enthusiastic little bugger and is always wanting to try new/different baits, etc. I've been hesitant to lend him my baitcaster as I can envision many backlashes in our future but he's used my spinning gear to good effect. Some of the baits he's wanted to use haven't been particularly suitable for where we were but I've endulged him as I think it's more important to satisfy his curiousity rather than catch fish (which he's done anyway). As I am getting older I've been wondering WHAT I was going to do with some of my surplus baits but I think I now have the answer/solution. I've already made up a small box for him and will probably add to that as time passes. Everyone should adopt a little kid.

I would like to add one of the great lessons I learned in life. If you chew Redman put it in your mouth BEFORE adjusting your jig trailer you just drenched with Kick-N-Bass craw. Allen

I don't know exactly when it happened but Lunker City finally allows us to buy direct on-line. I imagine most don't care but I'm a fan and nobody around here carries more than a couple of their baits so I've been waiting (a long time) for this to happen. Barlows had been my best source previously but now, finally, I can get exactly what I want! Anybody else a Lunker City fan?

There's a lot of chat about weed-lines and mud-lines, but not much chat about 'Shade-Lines'. In the AM, west facing slopes offer a long wedge of shade that extends to the west. In the PM, east-facing slopes and drop-offs provide a long wedge of shade that extends to the east. The steeper the drop-off, the more extensive the wedge of shade, yet too few anglers are exploiting these twilight zones. Roger

There is more to the arm length than just vibration. I make a bait that is an Indiana blade on the top and a Colorado blade on the bottom, I also bent the wire at a steeper angle on the blade arm and made it shorter. I did this because the bait I made is for fishing weeds in dirty water so the steeper angle helps it come through the weeds while using blades that aren't great for weeds but the shorter arm is so the end of the spinner blade is even with the bend in the hook. In dirty water the fish are going off of feel more than sight and will often hit the blades, so having the blade arm short and keeping it close to the hook makes the odds of hooking a fish that hits the blades higher than if the blade arm would be longer. I know, a long example but there are also other things it does, like killing a bait, just letting it drop, the shorter blade arm allows the blade to spin or "helicopter" better on the fall than a long arm bait does. Then you have the vibration part as what you read but there are cons as well to a shorter blade arm. It is true that you get faster vibration but it also makes the bait unstable at high speeds no matter what size of blades you run. For me personally, I don't use trailer hooks so my blade arm is shorter so that only 1/3rd of the blade extends past the hook bend except for a burner which I use smaller blades and a longer blade arm. You really don't see a ton of difference in vibration unless the arm length is around 2" or less, that is when you really notice the difference like the Zorro Short arm aggravator but they are meant to be fished as a drop bait, guys on Dale Hollow fish them at night and they cast to bluff walls and let the bait helicopter down and the rip it up and do it again, that is where the tight, lipless crank vibration really pays off. I'm sorry about the long rant, I get too deep into spinnerbaits as I have 2 full notebook pages of different size wire forms that I make for different reasons and I know some differences are slight and can be made with just a change in blade spacing but I like spinnerbaits so I get too involved.

Just a quick Public Service Announcement about using scent be sure not to get the scent all over you and on your watch that you wear everyday or you will smell like fish oil and garlic and it will drive you nuts trying to get rid of the smell. thank you

I've always had the best luck at night on flats near drop offs. Generally I would start around the drop with a shad rap, or other deeper diving crank and work my way more shallow. I try to upsize both in size and noise at night, and if I go to the surface I either fish black or something really highly reflective, especially around lit docks. Not surprisingly, I've had the better luck on the surface not right "on" the doc, but around the perimeter of the light range. I'd generally cast towards the doc and get bit way off, or if perpendicular I'd cast well past the doc and light, setting my retrieve to be about 20 or 30 feet off the front of the docks as it came by. I had an ugly ugly ugly torpedo looking thing, with reflective paint on it akin to what you see on a safety vest. Never caught a fish off it during the daylight, but along the edge of the light at night, it worked wonders. Lost it to what I am sure was a record breaking bass... although it could have been a striper or cat or beaver, I have no idea lol. All i know it hit like a monster and I set the hook into something as solid as a sunken log. That was the end of my ugly lure. I hate losing a fish, but I hate not knowing what I lost worse...

You know if you didn't hold 'em all so close they could all be 4 pounders.

Actually Jeff, I've been ordering direct from Lunker City's online site for a good many years. I've ordered their 6" Slug-goes, Fin-S-Fish and Shakers for pike fishing. Like you, I love their stuff Roger

I like the idea & the sentiment behind it. Please let me know how we can donate. A-Jay

My wife Carol walked up on the bridge above us & asked "dang Tommy what happened?" Before I could open my mouth Aiden yells "operator error"! Knew I taught that boy to well

tried out new lake this evening wow! is all I can say, caught 18 lost 4 more six of them above 4 lb. got two 4's two 5's one 6 and one pushing 7. two hogs right at the boat lost them. guess my new favorite lake!! they hit a frog a sammie a spinner bait and a bubble gum trick worm. i'm still grinning !! yeee haaa!!!

My dad died of cancer when I was 11 so when I heard of this boy through my friend (who works at his school), I felt it almost mandatory. Well, not mandatory, exactly... or even necessary. Perhaps "irresistable" is the right word. I just know how much I would have enjoyed having an adult take me fishing. And I enjoy it anyway. I call him "Bubba" and, sometimes, "Crappie King" (because he caught more crappie than I did last time we were out). We sing "Crappie King" to the tune of the Spiderman theme.

His rant was about the idiots that leave the gripper hanging from their jaw, or torque the jaw with it. No different than jaw-jacking that you see on TV all the time too. My other favorite is when guys shake the fish out of excitement. These goofs on YouTube are setting an example for their fans. They should step up.

I do fish them. This is it to a "T." HAVE FUN!!!!

Most 12-14' boats are much higher, like 800+ lbs. Heck, my plastic kayak is rated for 550. Some boats have a person weight recommendation, too. But you do want to take the additional weight into consideration.

If you are going with braid, I would not spool up with less than 40#. I prefer how 50# handles. It's not about break strength, and all about how the line handles on casting gear. 50# is the equivalent diameter to most 10-12# single filament lines.

Surface Preparation of Aluminum for Painting Sand paper: 80-100 grit Scotch-Brite Hand Pads: part # 7447 Conversion coating: acid etch primer/Alodine/Chemfilm Paint: automotive or marine grade polyurethane Paint & Coating Stripper: Eldorado Solutions' DoradoTM Industrial Products part # 2021 or 5051 Steps 010: Clean the aluminum surface with a good cleaner using Scotch-Brite Hand Pads to remove all dirt, old paint and oxide from the surface. When sanding I prefer 80-100 grit it gives better tooth and paint adhesion. Sanding must be taken into the best previously adhered surface in order to have the new coat of paint hold properly. Start with an orbital sander; finish by hand with Scotch-Brite Hand Pads. Rinse thoroughly with clean water & let dry completely. 020: Apply a coat of acid etch primer following the mixing and application instructions to the letter. 030: Within 24 hours of applying the etch primer, apply the topcoat finish. In your case use an "aluminum" wire wheel" to remove old paint or paint stripper.

I understand both of you guys as I too have ordered direct from them. The difference now is you don't need to use the order form and the codes and then call it in, now you can just add what you want and checkout. I too love a lot of Lunker City stuff, I've been using the 4.5" Slug-O since 1988, to me it is a different bait than a Fluke and one I prefer over the fluke. I also like their Trailer Bait, I use them as hair jig trailers and like Jeff, I too would use Barlow's tackle more than buying direct since it was more of a pain to do it that way but now it is easy.

When planning to fish a new waterbody for the first time, all my searching, studying and site selection is conducted at home, long before I wet the boat. Using an AC/DC converter, I create all my waypoints with the bathymetry in my Lowrance chartplotter. By the time I finally launch the boat, the lake will be as familiar to me as my backyard. I'll hopscotch from waypoint to waypoint, while totally ignoring the rest of the lake. If the lake is very large, I'll probably be fishing less than one percent of its area (the best 1%). Although the expressions 'search lure' & 'locator lure' are in my vocabulary, they're not in my repertoire. To my mind: No lure is a search lure Every lure is a search lure. Roger

Let me know

Use a wire buffing wheel on a arbor with a drill motor in lieu of a flat sanding disk. Wash the painted area with TSP after buffing off the loose paint, rinse then let dry. Check to see if your coating requires a primer, aluminum usually needs a oxide inhibitor for good adhesion. Tom

Casting setup 12lb YHB for general purpose. Spinning 6 or 8 lb XL. Both lines are cheap and are proven time and again.

Straight braid, NO leader for both. Should I discover a need for a leader, I'll get back to you (be very patient) Roger

I am ~ But there's really no need to advertise it . . . . . A-Jay

Thanks. Ya, it was windy. I tend to bring lake advisories lol. Just decided to go back in Sandy. Caught 12 on a spook from 4:30 to 7:30.

When fish coloration is very dark, it's generally due to gin-clear water. In waterbodies that have perennially clear water, bass tend to exhibit a pronounced dark median line. Conversely, bass taken from perennially muddy water will usually be silvery fish with washed-out color. Roger

Lures are intended to catch fish not search for them. I search by studying maps and using my sonar unit, determine what seasonal period it is and what depth the bait and bass are using, then I go fishing using lures I have confidence in using for the current conditions. Tom

For me this comes down to priorities. And mine start with my own safety first and then for the safe handling of the fish. That said, I feel confident that I'm taking reasonable care to handle & release the fish responsibly. When landing a fish caught on a bait with treble hooks, after netting it in a Frabill Conservation series net, it's placed on a clean, food grade non-toxic silicone mat, I then use a Boga grip to hold / maintain control of the fish. I choose to use a 'hemostat' type pliers to remove the hooks. This is a light wire tool that does not possess much in the way of grip, so care & finesse are required to back out the hooks. This ends up being a little easier on the fish, (and the hooks) as well as being safer for me. This process keeps me away from the trebles mostly, and allows for minimal handling of the bass. Beyond whatever damage the treble hooks inflicted, I have not ever noted additional injury or hardship to the fish as a result of this process. If there is any at all, I have to believe that it's fairly minimal and I'm perfectly willing to accept that. YMMV A-Jay

I've very confused. I like JJ's so much that I sprinkle a few drops in the car every now and then...just because I miss it. And don't ask if I've ever just cracked the lid in January and taken a good whiff.....just because

Simplicity pal: spinnerbaits & lipless cranks, those work for me anywhere.

Couple nice ones from last week. Caught these all day (about 20 total) the largest went almost 4 lbs:

Cast to catch video of a nice Wisconsin bass, caught on a 8.3" Mr. Zorba perch glide bait.

Took the Skeeter out for a few hours this weekend. I planned on being out all weekend but..life! Landed a handful. No size. All on the 2k Jigs Deposit Spin in Bluegill. Also, I have my first tournament of 2017 at the end of May on Houghton Lake. Haven't been there in a decade or more. Anyone have an advice or tips on this lake for this time of year? I plan on practicing up there next weekend.

Quick pic - nearly 100 hair jigs in mini bags all placed into one sandwich size bag, and fits perfectly into the small side zipper compartment of my 3600 soft bag.

Just a recommendation but I'd pass on the tactical and pre order the tatula sv through Tackle Trap for $199. SV spools are way more capable of throwing light stuff than a tatula is. They are still a good reel but the spool isn't exactly the best for light baits. As for the T wing... it's a nice idea and works fine but it's not the game changer they try to market it as.

Over 58,700 members on BR - perhaps only a few will "get it"... So - the explanation: How to get the classic offset-handle style BUT with a modern blank? AND, keep it all in the family? Easy - start with late-60s/early-70s Garcia Conolon rods, salvage the handles, add modern Abu Veracity blanks - presto - form AND function! How to do it? Buy some old Conolon rods off of eBay that look like this: cut off the fiberglass blanks, strip the original handles until they look like this: send the lock rings in the photo above over to Hawgtech for anodizing, repaint the handles like this: THEN, send the handles and a couple Veracity rods to DVT for some "hybridization" ! So, what did I end up with? Well, with the slow IPTs of the Ambassadeur reels, what is their niche? For me, that would be cranking and slow-rolling spinnerbaits and bladed swim jigs. To accomplish that, I started with a 7' Veracity Winch Med-Mod, and a 6'6" Veracity MH-F. Due to how the handles turned out and getting the Veracity blanks married up with the handles - we are left with a 6'10" Med-Mod and a 6'7" MH-F. Perfect matches for the Ambassadeurs. MY THANKS to Mike (DVT) for taking on this very weird project ! I have a whole bunch of classic Ambassadeur round reels that will be rotating on and off these Conolon/Veracity rods in the future...

12# Stren on BCer 8# Trilene XL on Spinning Probably not the "best" but inexpensive and hasn't let me down. If fishing heavy cover maybe bump it up to 14 and 10.

The Heddon Original Zara Spook has really bad hooks, the super spook series has Excalibur Rotating Trebles and they are quite good. I lose a few fish on them but not many. Most of the time, it's better to replace a treble than sharpen it IMO.

On occasion and It most certainly Is operator error. The last bad one was taking a short trip to a local pond and a total lack of attention. I carry two rods on trips like this because I know It's going to happen. I rarely fish from the shore in these ponds and that's why. My wife loves that particular pond and usually wants to go there once every two weeks. To say she gets a big kick out of seeing a champion of a backlash Is an understatement.

Spinning or casting? Tom

Not everyone's cup of tea but I think they're pretty cool as well. I had heard there was a JDM run of uber-expensive offset handle rods like these which was mostly the inspiration for these builds. Too bad there's no source for graphite offset handles - if there had been, I might have gone for complete custom builds instead of using the Veracity blanks. Here's the rods again from this morning:

Here's another PSA on scent: If it is spray based, DO NOT SPRAY INTO THE WIND. I smelled like shad/crawfish until I got home and showered. Hey, look, wind can do crazy things when you're in a kayak. I swear the wind changed directions just as I was spraying the bait.

Think the Russian's hacked it & deleted that part

I think I've decided to get a 6'3 mh moderate fast taper baitcasting rod Fitzgerald

I've played with them when they were getting popular and I see why there is a special way to fish them. I think you are having luck because you're on active fish, in clear water when the fish are suspended you'd probably starve fishing them on braid in shallow water. I hate fluorocarbon but with a spybait it is the only option to keep the bait at depth and it has to be light and to me it is more of a niche bait because you are using it for fish that wouldn't normally hit other baits. I've tried it on mono in 4lb and when the bait was rising is when I knew I had to go with fluorocarbon and that did work but if you use 8lb fluorocarbon you can really notice the difference in action, with 6lb line the bait has a shimmy on the fall and a slight roll on the retrieve but with 8lb that subtle action is gone almost completely. I tried to make them work for me by adapting my line choice area I use them in and I wasn't having much luck, in fact I didn't get a single bite, so we decided to try them on a lake when the water was clear and we found fish just off the bottom in 17' of water and we ended up catching a good bag. The thing that really turns me off to them though is the how specific you have to be in order for that bait to work in those conditions, as I said, we tried it for about a month and we messed with lines, and rods and we fished in stained water, dirty water and clear water and the only way we had success was with 6lb fluorocarbon on a 7' medium power spinning rod in clear water but it was from late June to the beginning of August and there was only 3 bodies of water that we used it in but we dedicated full outings to learning this and it just wasn't for me, my fishing partner has done better using them in spring and fall but again, I'm fishing side by side with him and I'm catching more fish on other baits during the same time period and that is why I said you probably found active fish or those keying on minnow forage for that bait to work like that but I bet another presentation would have produced better results. That is a finesse presentation meant for pressured or inactive fish in clear water that wouldn't normally bite other presentations.

Lemon Pledge. Spray it on, let it sit 30 seconds to a minute, wipe off with a microfiber towel. The citric acid eats away the hard water spots. Can't remember which pro I heard recommend it, but it's worked great for mine.

Thank you for inviting me to participate in your project. It was a fun change of pace. Enjoy the results !

Like the SK 3/8 swim jig,Trailers i like Rage craw,Rage swimmer or kvd swimming Caffeine shad.