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At a recent family gathering my 11 year old cousin Dax expressed great interest in bass fishing, had read up on all sorts of lures and techniques, and said he wished someday to have a baitcasting set up. Well, I indulged him. I bought Dax a Lew's TP-1 MH rod, a Lew's Speed Spool reel, filled it with FC line, tuned the reel, picked up a box full of great baits and accessories, and last week brought him with me to a local pond an hour before sunset. Dax became rapidly adept at casting a baitcaster, and with the help of some tips from me and perhaps some beginner's luck, within the hour had landed this 3 pounder and this 5 pounder, along with three or four smaller fish. Pretty darn amazing, Dax!

Yesterday I finally broke the four pound mark for the first time this year. This one went 4 lb 8 oz and I caught it on a black jig and black craw. Wind started coming out of the North about 8:30 AM, and the lake I was fishing was very muddy, less than a foot visibility.

I recently bought a Radar 115 and today brought it out to a 15 acre lake. Third time out in it, first two resulted in 0 fish. That all changed today. I caught this one on a hollow body frog casting into the middle of lilly pads and walking it across. He was 20 inches and weighed in at a nice 3 lbs 15 ozs. Caught 5 others after, 2 on the same frog, 3 on texas rigged Senko's. The smallest came in at 16 inches the others were all around 18 inches. I only weighed the biggest. Nice morning on the water and nothing beats watching a big bass hit a top water frog!

Been a rough go lately. Fish are scattered and tattered, trying to recover and regroup from the spawn and get into their summer patterns. Went to one of my favorite local lakes Friday and it beat me pretty bad. Green sunfish were attacking my bait every cast, no matter what I tried. Water was backwards, main lake was pretty clear and river water looked like a dirt road mud puddle. Still managed one beat up gal back in the mud on a homemade bladed jig.

Y'all seen one of these?

That is a bandit crankbait. The color is FRIED SWASH. It is sold at TW

Where fish sticks come from

Another shot.......

Lol once per use? I don't see the need. Unless you're running your bearings without shields and drop your reel in the lake every time you go, there's no way the oil is going to get depleted that fast. I would think doing it every trip would just be adding too much and would eventually HURT performance.

Did you buy it in a factory package at one time? It looks strangely like a Bandit that someone customized with a felt die marker. Iv'e never seen that pattern before. It is a Bandit and the color is called fried squash. New to me. There you go.

There you go. Melanin is the same compound found in humans. The production of melanin is stimulated by exposure to sunlight, it's the compound that gives us a tan, and the reason why humans living in the hottest climes generally have darker skin pigmentation. Roger

The beauty of the old centrifugal brake system was the set it and forget it. An ultra adjustable cent brake is pointless to me. If you need more, dual breaking is a better system imo.

Racing stripes

Actually I think its one of those new NASCAR racing bass. If you look at the other side its sponsored by STP, Pepsi, AT&T and the state of Virginia tourism bureau.

Looks fun to me! Have a gander at the ball python breeding world. This bass reminds me of a bumblebee ball python. Other than that, I have no idea except for @Glenn's article reference. Maybe we can start breeding different bass sub-species!

If y'all ain't on the water yet y'all need to be me and dad had our first 100 fish day of the year this morning. The shallow bite on crome and black back traps is on fire on San Miguel. Dad landed 64 and I landed 53 from first light till about 11 today be back on the water at 6 this afternoon for the evening bite. Most bass came in at 12 to 13 inches all total we landed enough keepers to limit out but we only keep 6 just enough to fry some for supper tonight. Bass are holding on grass lines in 2 to 5 foot of water that is within 20 yards of a creek channel that is 10 foot are deeper the grass line run's along a sand bar that is no more then 5 foot deep, where there is a current running pass the grass they are slamming the shad by the bucket loads. Hope this helps someone get on some fish, tight lines fella's.

Large Pike. Forgot my tape in another bag. One of my biggest.

I had read this thread on Friday and oddly enough I was at Walmart last night and they had both the Shryock and Ike series of Renegades. I believe they had 6 or so different models of each. $14.88

I, no mather what time of the year or body of water i´m fishing, allways have one rod with a texas rigged craw on the boat! These are my chosen six: From left to right: -Rage tail Lobster -Rage tail Craw -Zoom Z Craw -Zoom Super Speed Craw -Zoom UV Speed Craw -Yum Craw Papi

The B.O. is back guess I need to get back to checking the BR! Jacky-Boy has Baseball three nights a week, so that's pretty much my life now. We did get the boat wet yesterday at Gardner pretty much the same song and dance I had a solid fish on a 6 inch rage swim bait. then he whipped me on Da"Ned, Never a bad thing when the Boy-O boats more than me, the look on his face never gets old. Did have one of those Gardner brutes boil on a bubble walker but, before I could get a follow up cast a toon decided to beach right on the boil. THANKS TOONERS! Going out to the Dotte next Thursday, sounds like numbers and quality are up.

you ever thought of opening up a tackle shop ??? just saying.............

Thanks for all the replies! I have a pegboard set-up right now and would like to continue that. I will show a couple of pictures of what I have now and we'll see If y'all think It's doable. Keep the replies coming folks!

Lots of "25%" off prices on baits this week + upcoming weekend: DSG has buy one get one 50% off all lures except megabass. (Essentially 25% off). Cabelas has 25% off "all" jigs and their own house lures. (Strike King squadron jigheads are not included for unknown reason, I love them but maybe I'm the only one). Not sure which of their house brand lures are any good but my 5-year old daughter convinced me I needed a "grave digger" in Vegas lights and a pack of their chartreuse 5" hand-pour shad swimbaits. Not my choices but she's my own personal bait monkey. Continuing the worldwide sell-off of some apparently retiring Rapala lure lines, in store the Cabelas near me had Clackin' raps of all types and sizes down to $4 each (mostly just reds left). They also had Storm Arashis down to $3 in a big bargain cooler, and they show up as $3.88 online. (I can't imagine they are killing off the Arashis?).

I love Table Rock. If I could fish only 1 lake the rest of my life, that would be it. It gets tons of fishing pressure and the boat traffic is starting to rival Lake of the Ozarks though. A boat on every good point or bank and a couple more waiting their turn isn't uncommon. I prefer to fish the colder months to get away from some of that. My last couple trips there have been excellent. @gardnerjigman and I won a tournament there in March, it was a blast.

First confidence bait - Jointed Rapala floater (perch color). I fished those things not stop as a youngster.

I thought it was a rare largemouth peacock bass fish.

Have you noticed an increased number of black blotches on the sides and fins of the bass in your lake or pond? Here's why. https://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/bass-blotch.html

"Honey, what is that in our driveway?!" ..."That's my new rod"

Probably a 21 foot Ranger with a 250 E-tech, and all the goodies. I am not smart enough to know what to do with rods and reels of that quality!

Yep looks like melanosis . It's not harmful to us or the fish.

Looks like this deal is active again. $2.69 for hard knockers and $2.99 for one knockers.

Ah gotcha. Seems petty but I understand

When I was a young boy growing up in South Easter Kansas I lived with my Grandparents on their large farm... The farm consisted of a large pasture for the dairy heard to graze in... The farm had a Creek running thru the property from surrounding areas... The pasture had three Tank/Ponds that had Cat Fish, Bull Heads, and Bluegills in them... My creek fishing consisted of live bait fishing with Night Crawlers, Grub Worms, and Crickets, that I would dig out of the ground from the barn yard areas, plus the Cray Daddies that I would trap in the Creek... The Grasshoppers would come in season during late Summer and were very easy to catch with a Butterfly Net... I used these baits in the three Tank/Ponds also.... I can't remember the exact month but my Grandfather had to go to town on his once a monthly business visit and I went with his to the General Feed Store in Arma Kansas... The owner had started selling fishing supplies... I saw this rod and reel combination which I pick up and played with it and kept asking the owner Mr. Norman a bunch of questions about it, most of which he tried his best to answer... Well my Grandfather saw that I have fallen in "LOVE" with the fishing rod and reel and ask Mr. Normand how much it was... Apparently he was told what the price was and my Grandfather told him that I had taken a very big likening to it that he would buy it for me... Mr. Norman told my Grandfather that he would give it to me if that was ok with him and this is how I acquired my first rod and reel... Prior to this all that I had been fishing with were two 8' Cane poles with some kind of braided line, Red/White Bobber, a clamp on lead sinker and a "Eagle Claw Live Bait Hook"... Next month we had a out of town trip and were going to Pittsburg Kansas because my Grandmother needed some sewing supplies to make a Winter Quilts... There was 5-10 BEN-FRANKLIN store in town, I ask if I could go and see what else they had in the store... Much to my delight they had a small area that sold fishing items... I bought some "Three Beetle Spins" in assorted colors and some "Small Pinky Jigs" for Bluegills... Now I was really something, at least I thought so at the time... Now 60+ years later I can remember it like it was yesterday. WOW! time sure does fly by very fast when you grow up and get a job, go into the Army, get married, have children, spend time fishing with your Children, Grand Children and Great Grand Children and are active in your community's... Some where along my path in life I lost my First Rod and Reel...

Fished by itself, the 'Strike King Rage Lobster' (that was easy). Roger

Nesting Osprey (Nest made largely of Spanish Moss) Roger

Larew Salt Craw . I dont like the fatter craws as much as the skinny worm like section on the Salt Craw. Black with chartreuse pincers is my favorite .

Rapala Original Floater (balsa wood plug) Back in the 50s, nearly everyone called this lure a "ra-PAL-uh", but Lauri would be pleased, because today nearly everyone calls it a "RAP-al-uh". Rather than work it like a 'crankbait', (a word that didn't exist back then) we fished it as a 'twitch plug' to exploit the buoyancy of balsa wood. After the lure was cast, you simply wait until the ripples flatten away, then deliver one crisp twitch. This routine is repeated for 2 or 3 twitches, then the plug is burned back for the next cast. Needless to say, the floating Rapala still works as well today as it did 60 years ago. A pre-rigged Creme Scoundrel was the lure responsible for my love affair with plastic worms, which we called "rubber worms" back then. A grotesque creature with a propeller, two red beads and tandem hooks, yet it caught more bass than any lure in my tackle box. Shortly thereafter, my go-to worm was the Original Culprit Worm (ribbon-tail worm). My first go-to spinner was a Shannon Twin Spin, first go-to spoon was a Johnson Silver Minnow, and first go-to lipless crank was a Heddon Sonic. Roger

I am with Jon....

Rage Craw is my favorite. Nothing even comes close to being second.

For me it was, and to some extent still is, just a plain ol ribbon tail worm... Mike

It's hard to beat the Berkley Lightning Rod Shock's for $39.99 at Walmart for a good all around general purpose budget rod. For casting the 7' MH is stout enough to use for frogging, flipping, and other heavy cover situations, yet with it's mod. fast action, versatile enough to through almost any reaction bait. Likewise the 7' M spinning in the same line is a good all purpose spinning rod.

I keep all my stuff in my shop even when temps get in triple digits and haven't had any ill effects.

dear whit, i will glady store your tackle overflow here at my house in mooresville. your pal, lo (certified tackle custodian llc)

Assuming you are talking about traditional sonar and/or down imaging (and not side imaging) then this image might help explain where the fish could be located when you see them on your fishfinder display. Your marked fish can be anyplace within the cone and depending on the frequency you are running the cone can be wider or smaller.

Shoot, I get as much enjoyment, if not more, in buying fishing equipment then I do in landing a fish

Eight years later and still using the product as well as recommending it to others.

KVD L&L? No idea if it works - have never had the need to use it. But I am impressed with the resurrection and quoting of an 8 year old post Nicely done guys

It really depends on the line. Some lines need it far less than others. But yes it works. It works very well. I've fished some lines that I just couldn't stand the coiling and the memory, backlashing all the time. Used the line conditioner on it and it made the line way more fishable. Now if you spray it on a line that has very little memory then obviously the result will be a on a smaller margin.

He definitely endorses his products. (Ya know, this biggie poppa will certainly catch you some monsters, ya know, ya know, my frogs are the bomb, ya know, ya know)