tyrius.

If they are totally missing it, then chances are you're fishing it too fast for them. Try slowing it down or switching to a hollow body frog. If they are actually hitting the toad you may be setting the hook too fast. Don't set the hook when you see the strike. You'll pull the bait from them. Wait a bit and then set the hook. This "wait a bit" takes practice. You've already gotten plenty of good advice regarding rigging the toad.

Tell me about it. This is the first year of jig fishing for me and I really don't know why I bother bringing my other setups. I may fish them for five minutes and the jig gets the rest of the time. I've been catching MUCH bigger fish this year too.

And sometimes even if it DOESN'T move they STILL eat it!!!

I don't know what line you fish, but 275 yards of Ultra Soft is like $8 and 330 yard of Trilene XT is right around $6. That price difference is negligible. Plus, with US you're getting a copolymer and not straight mono so it should cost a bit more than straight mono. With that said, I haven't used Ultra Soft but the price is most certainly NOT expensive.

I'd send a message to harshman or gman here on this site. One of them would probably be able to make exactly what you want. I just got my first shipment of gman's jigs and they look real good!

When I first got back into fishing the largest lure in my tacklebox was a 3/8 oz spinnerbait and I rarely used it because I thought it was too big. I also didn't have a regular skirted jig in there. Now I've got 2 3600 boxes full and I keep buying more!

Prior to last year I had not fished in a LONG time, but last year I got back into it. I fished the same way that I did when I was younger, which is to catch a lot of fish. Catching a lot of fish means fishing smaller baits and not catching many big ones. I don't even remember catching but one or two that would have been 3 lbs. This year I've switched it up and bought a couple of baitcast rigs and have been fishing mainly 3/8 oz jigs with bigger trailers. In 3 hours of fishing in the last two Saturdays I've caught 2 that were 3 lbs or better. I saw on the lure section that you're pitching bitsy bugs. If you want to catch the bigger fish I'd recommend changing that up to bigger jigs and full size trailers. You may not catch as many but your average weight will increase.

Contrary to popular belief flouro stretches nearly as much as mono. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewfluorocarbon2.html

Do you mean 4/0 or 2/0 hooks? #4 and #2 hooks are really small and may be a reason why you aren't hooking up.

The "scientific approach" seems to be about answering "why". Why do bass react the way they do after a cold front, why do they prefer certain presentations during certain seasons and other presentations during others, etc, etc. Answering these why's doesn't necessarily mean that one will catch more fish but the angler will have a better understanding of the bass and that could help them squeak out an extra fish here and there. The ability to consistently catch fish seems to be dependent upon taking the variables of the day (time of year, weather, location, etc) and translating that into what areas within the lake will likely hold fish. Will they be spawning, buried in vegetation, staged on points, deep structure? Veteran angles seem to refer to this as common sense. Beginners have no idea what it all means, but as they start putting the basic pieces together their ability to catch fish regularly will increase even if they never understand why bass react they way they do after a cold front or why they act a certain way during the spawning cycle.

I'm patiently (well not really) awaiting delivery of my first order.

Same as you. To answer the second question: any color that they sell. I fished the evo jig last weekend with great success. I was fishing a shallow rocky bottom so I could see the jig on the bottom. It sat perfectly nearly every landing. Looked good. In about an hour of fishing I caught a 3lb bass (Northern IL means this is a good size), a few smaller bass, and a 9 lb carp!

Plastic cost is only one variable in the price of swimbaits. A company has to pay for the price of the mold. They have to calculate the total output potential of that mold. It's MUCH faster and easier to pour solid worms than it is to pour hollow belly swimbaits. Demand is another aspect. Etc, etc. If you want cheap ones I think the Mann's hardnose paddletail are the cheapest I've seen so far.

Type in "Hannon Snake" and change the "This post was made in the last..." selection to (all posts). You'll find them then. Make sure you allow for 150 results or select the "Display only one result per thread".

Well, we'd really need more info. Do you fish rocks at all? Or anything else that causes a lot of abrasion (mussel shells, etc)? If so, stay away from braid. Terrible abrasion resistance. I only use braid when fishing weeds (toads, worms, jigs, etc).

Something happened this weekend that made me think of this thread. I was fishing a jig through scattered rocks and got a "bite". I'm still no jig expert so I wasn't sure but set the hook anyways. Well I hooked into a nice bass. Got him to shore and I had actually hooked the fish through his side! No where near his mouth either (was about half way down). I'm guessing I missed the actual bite and set the hook when he spit the jig back out. Just got lucky that he was between me and the jig!

Because of its zero stretch nature braid has a lower impact/shock strength. With a heavy rod and really hard hooksets it's possible to break braid on hooksets.

They are different strains (species?) of largemouth bass. Florida bass can not survive in the north. Genetically they are different.

Sounds like it was old. Heinekin has a long way to travel to get here and if it sits for much longer it's not going to be good. If you have fresh stuff it is very good. If you have old stuff it is not. I LOVE beer. I make my own and try everything I can. Trust me, color is meaningless. Now if you're just drinking to get drunk then just buy a case of bud light and drink it ice cold, but if you want to drink for taste then try some better beers. You like in NC, so I would recommend some east coast brews like Yuengling or Dog Fish Head beers or something like that.

And also buzzbaits may vary between each one, even if they are the same manufacturer and the same type/weight/color. One may squeak more or less or a higher or lower pitch. The blade may have gotten bent a bit differently between two baits resulting in a different gurgle. Your buddy may have been retrieving his lure at a different speed or with a trailer or he may have been running his lure into the structure or a myriad of other things. Also, it could have been the color difference.

Another viewpoint to consider is that if you move a bunch of big bass into another body of water you could seriously throw off the predator/prey balance in the new water creating fish management issues, which would be an unintended consequence to something that should have been a good thing. I'd make sure that I thought it through thoroughly prior to doing anything on a large scale. It may end being best just to let the fish die (sucks big time, but it could be true). I'm not a fisheries biologist though so don't take my word for it.

Motoroil Berkley Powerworm If I can't catch a fish on that then it's going to be a LONG day.

According the laws of physics it is impossible for this to work. In order to change H20 to HHO (Brown's gas) electricity must be generated and passed through the water. Because it is a physical impossibility to get more energy out of a reaction than was put into it converting your car to a water car will actually cause it to use MORE energy and not less. These stories have been around for YEARS and if they would have worked someone would have patented it and we'd all be buying the conversion kits from Wal-Mart for $199.99.

I think we could be friends. From what I hear Heineken would be too dark of a beer for me, but that's just what I hear. Heineken is not a dark beer. Heineken is a pilsner which is very light colored. Aside from the appearance the color of a beer has no bearing on its taste. Guiness is dark but smooth while a Belgian triple is light but very strong. Oh and beer in Europe is serious business Bud Light and that swill does not hold a candle to the beers of Europe.

Neither do I. Also, thanks for giving your opinion and discussing it without getting upset. It helped me to understand where everyone is coming from on the backplay issue as it isn't something that I have noticed with my reels (just simple citicas).