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Some days I'm good. Other's, not so much...

In my estimation, it takes longer than 47 years.

I do not fish competitively however getting out on new & especially bigger water and producing results is very satisfying. Having success on places that offer different types of bass habitat and require an adaptive approach can help one feel confident & excited about the prospects rather than anxious & mostly lost - which is often seriously detrimental to success, it is to mine for sure. As for being 'good' - like you said, that's a relative term. One thing's for sure "I'm an excellent driver". A-Jay

Back when I was a teenager, I joined this organization called BASS, read their magazines and after a year or so, thought I was a pretty good bass fisherman. In my 20's, I got married and would vacation at the California Delta or Lake Mead. After fishing those lakes, I realized I wasn't so good as a teen, but had become a good angler since then. I cut back my fishing when my kids were young, but as I got in my late 30's, I started taking my youngest out to catch catfish & bass. I realized then that, as a 20 year old, I really wasn't that good but the experiences I gained fishing with my child had made me pretty good since then. In my late 40's, as my kids became more independent, I started back bass fishing more consistently. As I gained skill & knowledge by spending more & more time on the water, I realized how ignorant I had been just a decade prior. Now in my mid 50's I believe I finally have reached that status of being a good bass angler. To Be Continued...

Below is the a video of a few catches from the epic 30lb day but unfortunately didnt get all the fish on camera again! Was such an amazing day and pretty irritated they werent all on cast to catch. Check it out!

I wouldn't worry about how long it takes. Just enjoy the trip. Days on the water will be your friend.

Most days, I think I'm pretty good, then I take someone out who has just started fishing and they beat me bad and I realize I still have a lot to learn.

I will never be as good as I want to be. I live by a moto " Don't practice until you get it right, practice 'till you can't get it wrong, so I figure a lifetime should just about do it

Fished in the sideways snow from about 9-1:30, it was cold but not @Bluebasser86 cold. If you're wondering why I'm wearing a life jacket on the bank, I was walking up and down cliffs next to the lake all day like in the last picture. Fish were quite active, Caught 5 but had a big one swipe my lure at the bank when I was pulling it up to cast again. The largemouth and one smallmouth not pictured (~16") took the bait right at my feet

The bass were going nuts chasing this swim jig I was tossing from the bank last evening, as a storm moved in from the west, pelting the water surface and my rain jacket. Just before sunset, the clouds cleared and the red sun lit up the sky, and the bite shut down. I sloshed across the wet grass back to my car, quite satisfied with myself.

Just when you think you know what you're doing and have it figured out, the fish show you otherwise.

Being good doesn't matter, getting better is the fun part.

I was mostly referring to this ~ . . . A-Jay

A lucky year for me. Filled my bow tag and my late season muzzy tag, havent done that very much. It has been frigid here in Iowa and only supposed to get colder. Glad I don't have too sit out there anymore! We had this guy on trail cam in august. Shot him at 8:45 this morning at about 60 yards and dropped him.

The one offering unlimited equipment and paying me to use it. Kidding aside they all make good models.

As stated previously by others, to attempt to determine if one is a good bass angler is a subjective task. And while we all want to be good enough to obtain maximum satisfaction from fishing, the desire to always be better than the next angler can evolve into an egotistical undertaking which is something I choose to avoid. I am not saying that competing is a bad thing, but I am saying that if your only reason for improvement is to beat the next angler, at some point you will tire of bass fishing. I have improved over what I was before. Every time I think I possibly have arrived, something happens on the water to show me I can be better. All I can do is strive to become better and the fact that the process never ends is what I love about bass fishing.

so far 45 years............................................

Back in the day, I’d flatten the lead on a snagless to give it a slow, gliding fall. That and a split-shot rig got me my limit in more tourneys than I can count. I only use them now when I’m fishing alone. You gotta keep some things secret.?

After reconciling all of these insight opinions, I’m going to ditch the mono and substitute my main line with #40 PowerPro braid. That knot size comment made a light bulb go off -because it gives me flexibility to switch and tie on a 3/8 oz jig. Plus the type of veg is moderately dense in the summer, but I wouldn’t say heavy by any means. Flouro leader is always there too for some clear water swim jig situations when I fish those pressured waters. Boom

I really don't think of myself as good, bad, or otherwise. I think more of a good day, if we caught fish, if it was just a good day on the water,or just a good day together, my wife and I. As far as a scale, If we see a spot we think should hold fish, and we caught some, we did good. If we catch fish when no one else seems to be , we did good. If we see fish on the fish finder, and then catch them, we did good. We love catching fish, but at the end of the day,( at least for us ) it's the company, being on the water, and having fun. Jim

Rod is fine. You MUST change lines. I personally have used as low as 30 lb braid to frog in HEAVY slop and had no issues so I don't necessarily agree with others that are saying 65 lb or whatever. Use 45-50lb. 15 lb mono will NOT work for frogging, period. I have actually found braid backlashes to be easier to deal with than mono or fluoro but maybe that's just me. I can almost guarantee that next year you will want a dedicated frog rod....but it can wait.

Angler is a board term that includes catching all types of fish. This being a bass fishing forum I will assume the OP is inquiring about becoming a good bass angler. The definition offered is consistantly having the ability to catch a few bass without regards to size. So I think size is a factor so let's add keeper size bass of 1 lb or more. A good bass angler needs to be able to catch keeper size bass in multiple lakes, ponds and rivers, not just one. I considered myself to be a good bass angler at age 12 based on the above criteria and continue to be a good angler to this day. Tom

This year we are starting a new series of jigs. We are going to release a new custom color each month. This month is the Chris Craw. The series will be available in the Extreme (Trokar) Dredge (Owner Deepthroat) Grid Iron (Owner XXX strong hook) Swim Jig (Mustad Ultra Point) (http://www.siebertoutdoors.com/Chris-Craw-1619.htm

I'm not even close to good. But... I do believe I have the ability to be put on any body of water any time of the year and find the bass. It would be very disappointing if I blanked on a day, but I will have gained knowledge from it to get me one more step closer to being "good".

Ever watch MLF? Every contestant is a top professional bass angler, not just your average pro bass angle and few often struggle to catch a single bass while about half the field figures it out and catches enough bass to qualify for the next round. The MLF anglers are beyond good, the are the best in the country competing in tournaments. My point is some days you will not figure out what the bass are biting that day and that doesn't make you a bad bass angler, it's called fishing for a reason. I started seriously bass at age 10 and read every Sports Afield magazine articles by Jason Lucas and Out life by Robert Linclon writing both letters with questions that they answered. My mentor was the boat landing manager who was a good bass angler, Red thought me how to cast, what lures to use and where to look for bass. 2 years fishing nearly every morning and evening during open season I was consistantly catching bass. I believe anyone can become a good bass angler in 2 years if that is your goal. Tom

When the family touring New York City wanted to go to Madison Square Garden, the father stopped a local New Yorker and asked, "how do I get to Madison Square Garden?" "Practice, practice, practice," replied the New Yorker. You need to do the same thing plus study the weather, water, temperatures, bass and forage movement cycles during the year, physics, math, English, setting up fishing logs, boating safety, tides, currents, structure, cover, electronics, mechanics, electrical systems, trailering, types of line, reels, rods, guides, hooks, weights, techniques and few other things. After you master all of that then you can go out and become a good angler. Then, with all this knowledge and high end tackle those small little green monsters will still make you look like a fool at times!!!

One of my favorites. I really like the Skinny Cutter 110. The first one I have barely has any paint left on it. A nice added bonus is they come with really good hooks too.

I have had a camper at a camper park that is on backwater of the Mississippi river for about ten years now . There was this kid who befriended me because I fished and he liked to fish with me . I bought him a cheap spincast combo one day and he was thrilled . They left a few years ago but we remained friends on Facebook . He is having a rough time with other kids and I just found out his parents are getting divorced. He just graduated mid term .I'm going to make his day and give him good rod and reel that I havent used in several years .

Falcons, Steelers, Pats, Saints Pats, Saints Pats

I use it for a lot of things, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, cranks, traps, buzzbaits, jigs, T rigs, almost everything except topwater.

Pats, falcons, jags and vikings. Probably not gonna happen but a vikings jags super bowl would be something new and unexpected

That and the fishing shows tell me I'm doing it all wrong if I'm not using bait "brand xyz" rigged on hook "brand abc"

Ditto that. One of the best bass fishing books out there. A real gem. I cut my bass fishing teeth in the 70s with "light tackle jigging" following Charlie Brewer's lead pretty much. It was the first time I started catching bass consistently, while others around me throwing the big stuff were catching inconsistently, if at all. I gained something of a local reputation then. This type of fishing, I just called "jig fishing", is most fundamentally about depth and speed control. Charlie's "Do Nothing" approach meant that you only really had to concentrate on those two most important elements. You could develop a "feel for fishing" that I still argue is the best way to learn -how deep you are, what's down there, how fast, and what fish bites feel like. The Ned-Rig, Shaky, Hair Jigs are pretty much the same game. Some old pics from the early to mid-70s: A "jig-wormin'" catch with homemade jig heads -split shot crimped to a long-shanked hook. (I think they call 'em "Shaky Heads" now.) This one was from a newspaper article about the local kid who would have won the big bass contest, if he'd caught it the previous day, and had been registered. That same summer I took 2nd in another such contest on another lake, but I wasn't registered.

Frogging of the most exciting, exhilarating, stressful, disappointing, rewarding technique IMHO. I love it! I personally think your fine like others said. Just change the line to 60+ braid. It's not about needing 60lb rated line. It's about bone jarring hook sets and being able to rip them out of heavy cover. There are a ton of good frog rods ranging from 7' to 7'10" and you have to find the right rod for you. I like the Irod Genesis II series. Specifically the 754 and 704. Good luck!

Use a live red breast bream ?

I would suggest getting another rod for froggin'. I find a 7'6" is too long for me to work a frog. I am using my 7' Falcon Heavy for my frog fishing and my pitching. I use 50# Power Pro braid. Works for me besides you can never have enough rods.

Do you need another rod most likely not. Could you have two rods that split the 4 or more tasks that your trying to accomplish, yes. One rod with braid for punching and frogs while the other does what you do with it already would make it easier. It just depends on how much you do these things if it will be worth the added cost. In my yak i dont like to bring a bunch of rods 3 or less and when in a boat i bring 5. If you want to run braid to leader for your secondary usages then running 40 or 50 lb braid main line would work the best. Not a ton of heavy veg where i am at and never need more than 40. I still have rods with 65 and i can cast a frog a long way even on 65. The reason i would recommend 40 is for the knot size for your more used techniques.

7.5 6.5

It isn't to bad, unless I'm skipping I almost never backlash (not including very minor overruns) with frogs. And 90% of the time, what looks like a bad backlash comes out by just pulling line off of the reel with braid. Much less likely to damage itself when pulling out a backlash when compared to mono or flouro also.

I use 50# braid. I've never had a need for any heavier. 50 casts more easily than 65. The neat thing about braid is, when it gets old and dull looking and you want to remove it, you can reel it onto another reel and you'll be using the new end. It doesn't go bad. You can also mitigate the cost by filling half your spool with some cheap heavy mono like Big Game before finishing off with braid.

Got out today but due to it being the dead of winter i figured i would do some testing. I played with a tungsten weight in front of my owner beast hook and trash fish. Because the weight is so dense i could use a very small weight and get the bait to the bottom with no issue. I did not get any bites but i really did not expect to, This also would work well for bed fishing because it makes the bait sit nose down. I caught it on a video with a pro doing it and sad i did not think to do it earlier. Might be even better if you used a tungsten bead and could color it to match eggs.

Ever seen what happens if you don't get that CO2 cartridge all the way screwed on? They fly a long ways with a surprising velocity, and if your wife happens to see it, she'll laugh really hard at the dumb look on your dumb face, at least mine did.

Nope, should be good.

You're safe.

As much as we are both in a deep state of bass fishing hibernation ~ My rods spend the vast majority of it in the garage as well. Temps hang around 30 all winter out there - never recognized any ill effects to them from it. Wish I could say the same for myself . . . . A-Jay

I swore to myself that I wouldn't buy any more Siebert jigs until we had open water here in PA...

Not sure if you are open to suggestion outside of what you listed in your original post but if so I would HIGHLY consider an MBR GLX 844 or 843. You can also look at the MBR 843 NRX. All of these are, have been, or will, be available in a rep sample model meaning the prices will all be under $400 and with full warranty. The MBR or Mag Bass Taper rods from Loomis can pretty much do anything you want from a bass'n standpoint. Great feel as well! There isn't a bad rod on your list but I would lean more towards the MB Destroyer if those were my only options.

By the time this tech reaches the rod market, there will be built-in power, or tiny batteries that slide in the butt end of the rod that can also be used for counter-balancing! Or we might even have solar-powered-self-healing rod blanks!! We'll have to get Phil Swift to do the promo.

The new Helios seems like one incredible stick. I have had the pleasure of handling a few and between the shape retention technology and offering more than one tip, they're doing some really interesting things. I think the biggest thing happening in fly rods is that manufacturers are beginning to learn that anglers want specialized rods for streamers, nymphing, etc and that simply beefing up a blank on a great 4 wt doesn't necessarily make for a good 8 wt. The St. Croix and TFO lines designed for specific applications seem like excellent rods, as do the new Sage ultra fast action rods designed to be over-lined for streamer fishing. I'm very happy that it seems like that industry is moving past inconclusive science like Winston's insistence on boron.