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Lost one today that was easily over 10lb. But we still had a blast catching them on lake Istokpoga.

Fished from about 3 on today . Post front conditions. Not a cloud in the sky. Worked hard to get 8. Most were caught on a 10 inch grape shad culprit. Its funny, but as I woke up this morning I was thinking about using this bait today. No hawgs, ( I lost one though ) but all decent fish.

If you can catch fish on these baits, you can catch fish anywhere 365 days a year.

Texas rig worm and jig

My future fishing partner!

Just a heads, I just received a new 2017 bass fishing book from Jose Alwine, Lunker Lore, that should be added to your library of bass books. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving with your family. Tom

War Eagle!

Lox Preserve, South End 6:30-Noon mostly cloudy water stained, 74* wind varied 5 to 20 NNW Little current Went to the Lox Road Ramps, with a friend Rick, at first light. There was lots of construction since my last visit. We had to take a detour to get to the ramp area and the parking area is full of pot holes. The wind was out of the N/W, so we ran west and fished the flats back toward the ramp. We both started with frogs, rick with a H/B frog, and me with Horny Toad. I had two blow ups on the Horny Toad, one with a miss, and a nice one that went airborne and came off. After that it went silent. We both switched to plastics and the bite was slow, but steady. Most were caught close to the spoil bank along the south flat. Around 9:00 the wind got so bad,and switched direction, we ran to find some shelter. We ran up the north canal until the wind died down a little. The bite in the north canal was not as good as the south flat. We ran back south and the wind dropped and shifted to the west. This made fishing much easier for us. We called it quits at noon with a 30 fish total. A lot of bites were aggressive, they wanted to play today. Rick and I had a great time with steady action and lots of conversation.

Had this guy come in checking a doe and drilled him at 30 yards.

The Terminators vibrate really well and they put out more than any War Eagle I ever used. I make my own spinnerbaits and have been for a long time but I've used a lot of what is on the market today. Terminators have a titanium wire form and they vibrate more than any other bait but it is a fast, shallow vibration versus a slower, heavier vibration felt with stainless wire forms. As for the Ware Eagle vibration more than the other brands, the answer is simple, Ware Eagle uses piano wire while Booyah and Strike King use regular stainless and it is heavy like most are around .040" diameter wire. The Stanley vibra wedge, and vibra-shaft both put out more vibration than a War Eagle, at least every one that I used and if I wasn't making my own and was buying a bait, it would be the Stanley Vibra wedge. That tapered wire and tapered blade they use make for their baits really make for the most vibration I ever encountered out of a double willow configuration. Don't get me wrong, the War Eagle is really good because of the piano wire but Stanley vibra-shaft and vibra-wedge baits are harder thumping in my honest opinion. On a side note you may wan to start hording War Eagle spinnerbaits, Pradco bought them out and I imagine they will move production to Guatemala and stop using the Sampo swivels so get what remains of the old stock before they are gone.

Agree to Texas Rig and Jig.....only thing I would add is become a line watcher.....no matter how sensitive our equipment is this is very very key to a lot of bites.

Spinning reels don't rely on free turning parts to cast, the line falls off the spool. The retreive is what's important and if the gear mechanism feels smooth and the bail is winding on line evenly, the reel is performing as deigned. Where the rubber meets the road with a spinning reel is how smooth does the drag perform under all fishing conditions? Drags must works smoothly under whatever tension set at without jerking turning. Gear handle cranking must work smoothly under all weather and fishing conditions, no binding or roughness. Simple design that relies on good components. Tom

Nice report as always Geo. Was also out this morning on the kayak but as you mentioned the wind pretty much ruin it for me. Was blowing all over the place without a trolling motor. Fished a ribbit frog much of the day due to the overcast and wind but had limited success. Also fished a grass pig swim bait and hb popping frog, swim bait with grass pig trailer as well as a junebug uvibe. Fished first light through around 10am (by that time I was exhausted fighting the wind) and had 8 on in total. Only landed 3 embarrassingly but honestly had a lot to due with the darn wind. 5 were on the ribbit, 2 were on the swim bait and one small guy on the uvibe. Even if I would've landed them all I don't think any would've hit 2.5 lbs. Heading out again tomorrow as I'm Hoping the wind will be much different. Will report back. Will likely resort to the senkos and uvibes but am planning to continue to fish bigger with the ribbit and larger profile swim bait. Good luck out there fellas. Fyi forgot to note but I fished the north flat essentially due north of the ramp. Pain in the butt to get all the way back up in there but usually pays off.

Good luck tomorrow. I caught half of my fish today on U-Vibes, w/m red, white, and Junebug.

The puck is linked to the console unit & the 360 The bow & console units are linked so everything is shared including the GPS info & the heading. The display shows 2 lines indicating direction. One is the direction of travel, if not under power that would be direction of drift. The other is the bow's heading. Helps a ton to direct presentations effectively to cover or fish - especially those indicated by the 360. A-Jay

Haha, yeah, the old saying “Hooksets are free” does not apply in EVERY instance!

+1 It doesn't matter what color the jig is........ as long as it's black and blue!!! It doesn't matter what color your worm is....... as long as it's purple!!!

The book I am reading by Tony Bean echos this. Looks like I’m going to be perfecting the jig and Texas Rig this coming season!

This . Any monkey can cast and reel . Learn a Texas rig / jig well and everything else will come easy . One of my best techniques is to work a Red Eye shad like a worm in deep water. Because I was already well versed in bottom bouncing there was no learning curve .

The best part is swinging on a fish, breaking the line (d**n pike), and then just standing there for a few seconds trying to decide which is worse, losing a large fish or the $25 hookset you just did.

Bottom contact baits are a must. If you can fish a jig or Texas rig, it makes things easier. Imo

Maybe he is talking about mozzarella "sticks". You can get 4 or so for under $10. Spiral wrapped, if you pull it apart and the cheese wraps around itself!

Broke on black Friday. Sucks, was going to bust out with the good old credit card but decided not to. I guess I won't be part of the black friday frenzy this year.

I am curious as to what makes my 3/8oz war eagle double willow tandem nickel blade spinner bait transmit vibration better than the others. (stanley vibra wedge, terminator T1 and T2's, boo ya, strike king) I just started throwing them last fall. I ask this because I may start making my own spinner baits and need to know what makes the best ones better than the rest. I am assuming the right type of wire makes the difference in feel. Blades effect thump and flash and trailer effects swimming and fall rate. Interested in what your thoughts might be? I encourage spinner bait experts and builders to share their experience. I am throwing them on... 7' mh 13 black envy casting rod steez sv tw 30lb pp slick 8 w/ 12 tatsu leader 3/8 war eagle double willow tandem nickel blades 3.75 in rage swimmer trailer

According to Denny #2 choice Texas Rig Pre-spawn flipping a tube (watched him win in Alabama). Post spawn flipping the Rage Craw, Smokin’ Rooster, & Space Monkey

Great question. Simply put, I bought the Starcraft on a whim; it was cheap ($1K) and complete (boat, motor, trailer) and it taught me a lot in the first year: how to boat, how to fish, but now that I know I'm committed (hooked), I want something tuned more towards fishing. It let me test the waters, if you will. The 1448 is shorter without being too short, more manageable in terms of loading and launching, gives me a casting deck at the bow (can't stand on the Starcraft bow), lets me get shallow with a trolling motor, is more nimble, and is set up for two pedestal seats out of the gate (I'm using the seats from the Starcraft, and bought two posts). The 1448 has a mod V hull which should allow more shallow access as opposed to the deep V on the Starcraft, better suited for fishing in the shallows while still being reasonably good in the home lake when weather kicks up. Didn't want to go with a flat bottom jon because the chop can get choppy, and I'd also have to build up the casting deck. Switching over to the 1448 didn't break the bank either. It's a relatively cheap boat. Using the two seats and 15hp motor from the Starcraft helps. What I'll miss about the Starcraft is being in the boat as opposed to being on the boat (with the 1448); the windscreen; the steering wheel; the room to wander about inside the boat (the 1448 gives you a 53" x 48" tub). With the limited space in the 1448 a steering console would take up too much valuable space so tiller control it is. There will be tradeoffs for sure, but as much as I love the Starcraft, I'm going to make this 1448 work, no turning back. Insert other media

I have the heading sensor puck on my bow. It's not bluetooth enabled. The reason for the heading sensor puck is to know where the boat is going when you are not under power and/or are under powered in the wind. The display on the graph points the bow icon the direction the boat is moving rather than forward all the time. I find it most helpful in heavy wind. It lets me know at a glance whether I'm making progress or not. If the new pucks are more accurate, I'd get it. HB has a trade up program. When you get the graph, don't open the packaging for the stock puck. Call HB and tell them you want to trade up. They charge you a fee and will ship out the HS puck as soon as they receive the stock puck.

Got a few nice ones today in a small lake back home in southern Indiana . Was looking forward to the jerkbait bite as the water there is usually gin clear but as usual get to the lake and it is stained like you wouldn’t believe . Managed a few on traps and broke off a monster on a jig but all in all it was a pretty good day .

Tell that to Denny. He won't put it down even if he's not catching them. He has a few zeros that prove that. Only time I saw him throw something other than a jig was on an episode of Zonas show. His first fish was a double digit bass and he threw that whatever that same bait was for the entire episode.

down goes Frazier

I switched 90% of my reels to concepts and am absolutely in love with them. Silky smooth, monster drag and pretty sexy looking too.

Don't get what's so hard about this? Anywhere you would throw a T-rig you can throw a jig. From heavy cover to deep structure. Nothing to it man. Tie on a 1/2oz and get to work.

Bullshad comes with #2 hooks which are way too small. I swap mine to KVD triple grips in 1/0. Split rings are already premium on this bait. The BBZ rat comes with 1/0 2x Gamakatsu hooks which I leave alone because they're really good. Spro HD split rings on that one. The rest I am not sure of.

Low Tide Everybody's been sleeping on the Badgers. That should end a week from now when the Buckeyes fall.

1.5oz punch rig, Alabama craw - 11lb flat Lake Istokpoga 3/4oz sweet Beaver, Junebug - 10lb 8oz Lake Istokpoga 1/4oz Zoom Mag II, Junebug - 10lb 3oz Lake Arbuckle 3/4oz Carolina rig, Zoom ol monster - 9lb 15oz(so close) Lake June in winter 7" Bullshad, gizzard shad - 8lb 7oz Lake June in winter

Greetings and Welcome to the forums

I find it difficult to find these quality rods locally. Where Online should I go for these value sticks?

Early this year I made up 50 fantastic looking jigs with 3 different head styles from 1/4 to 1/2oz. Fished them all with various trailers in various cover and depth and caught a few fish but overall felt like i was around more fish than i was catching. I moved to a more compact presentation with a keitech and menace combo and it flipped the switch. The difference in bulk of the jig was costing me bites. The rivers I fish showed me that the go to colors in the right profile perform. The go to colors on the bulky jig was on the outside of what they eat size wise. Play around until your fish show you the way. Profile trumped all other factors in my case

Never fished there but have heard its great fishing on par with or better than havasu. Having any luck over there?

The great thing about Shimano: lots of interchangeable parts between many of their baitcast reels.

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ I've not fished in Nevada or Arizona. Got in-Laws in Arizona though . . . . A-Jay

Aint broke...just badly bent! ?

12 years old ,got himself a 9 pointer. I think the smile tells the story. he still likes fishing the best and can give you a run for your money there too.

I'm not broke, but have bought nothing today, just like normal. My wife bought enough for both of us though.

The way I see it is this. We buy tackle to try and cover all our bases, to be ready for whatever conditions we might encounter. Could we take a single worm and hook to the lake and catch fish most days, sure. But rarely would that be "the best" way to catch fish that day. The thing is a lot of times we might go to the lake and use 1, 2, 5 lures out of hundreds. It doesn't mean the rest were useless and we shouldn't have brought them, it's just that once we narrowed down what would work. Each lure is a tool and as long as each "tool" serves a legitimate purpose and fits a condition that you might possibly be faced with, I don't think it's wasted space.

I'd rather carry it and not need it than need it and not have it.If I don't catch'em it's my own fault for sure.

No we don't don't carry too much tackle. There's always a time place and setting it all may be needed. Now to the seriousness. Don't talk about men thinking we may have too much tackle because sometimes my wife reads this. And that'll just give her fuel for her fire. ?? lol

New PB ?

If you are out on the water, look behind you, and see that you are towing a " tackle barge", then maybe you have too much tackle with you LOL. Seriously though I always carry as much as I can for the days " old faithful " doesn't do the trick, and I have to throw everything under the sun to find what the fish want. That being said, I don't have, nor can I afford every size, shape, and color out there, but I always try to carry a few of enough different things so I never have to think " If only I had brought XXXX or XXXX I would have caught fish. Jim

Got some border patrol smallies this evening