Catt

5+ for spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, & crankbaits 6.8 & 7.5 for everything else I throw a Calcutta for years that are 5.8:1

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak! Like @TOXIC I used to fish 150-200+ days a year. A tournament day was from first light until dark thirty. During summer months that can be 14+ hours. With 3 ruptured disc those says are long gone. The desire is still there, the knowledge is the there, the body isn't.

I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was! Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance.

Let me explain it this way! I could put any high end reel on any high end rod, spool it with braid for maximum sensitivity, tie on a Texas rig & then give it to my wife. She could not "feel" any difference if I had rigged it up on a Berkley Lightening rod! Why? Cause what is transmitted up the line, down the rod, through the hands will be lost in the brain. She doesn't fish & would not be able to interpret what she is feeling. Even for the average angler a certain amount of "sensitivity" is lost in the brain.

Lew's which uses a combination of internal and external brake settings.

Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 5000 (red) Heddon Mark Special Purpose #6271 5 1/2' MH Fiberglass with a cast aluminum reel seat & handle. Total weight about 2# plus! I started tournament fishing with only one setup.

Until you get slack in your line, then ya got nuthin.

C'est Fini 😉 Sensitive has 4 elements: Line, rod, hands, & brain. The absolute most essential element is the brain, interpretation of what's going on with our lure.

There's a video of P.D. Vinson handing me the keys to the truck. It was strictly ceremonial, I had the truck sold & the check was in my wallet.

@MN Fisher My English grades in school were impeccable but my teacher said I don't practice it.

I'll purposely misspell words in memory of @Long Mike

Y'all need to catch up 😉

During the 50s & early 60s all we knew about bass fishing was tule dipping, jigger pole fishing, & doodle socking. Traditional bass fishing wasn't until mid 60s.

Y'all had rod-n-reels! Musta been nice! Growing up in Southwestern Louisiana sporting good store were local Mom-n-Pop stores & catered mostly to saltwater anglers. I started with a cane pole, a cork (not a plastic bobber), shiners, crawfish or earthworms. Round '62-63 I graduated to Zebco 202 "ZeeBee" spincast. Lure selections were even more limited. Bass fishing was mostly walking rice canal levees, marshes, swamps, & river banks.

@Mike L Effectiveness of baits from year to year Zoom's Magnum Ultravibe Speed Worm in Junebug Guess bass ain't learned that yet

I do exactly like @Mike L but i throw the standard & the Magnum. I also cast, flip, & pitch both. @Pat BrownTry those Speed Craws Texas Rigged

My birthday is December 20th, I combine both, my list is short. #1: 4-5 days on the Big Pond #2. See #1 😉

We raised 6 kids & have 13 grandkids, the youngest is 12. I've served my tour of duty!

For map reading @WRB & @Glenn Fishing this lake @Team9nine

Uhh! I pretty sure pre-spawn may have something to do with it. After pre-spawn the colors change but the bass doesn't stop bitting Traps.

A friend & his wife love eating bass. Every pre-spawn he goes up to Toledo Bend for a week. He catches enough to last months throwing nuthin but a white spinnerbait. I seldom if ever take a lure out of my rotation but I will on occasion add one. If I'm working into a "pocket" with a spinnerbait, I work my way out with a chatterbait. Different profile, different action, different angles. Now firmly believe each body of water can require different lures.

Rayburn Red Rat-L-Trap ripped outta grass has been killing em for years and will again the spring. Did the bass stop biting it or did we stop throwing it?

Hate to burst y'all's bubble Established in 1894, Heddon Lures Established in 1926, Fred Arbogast Company Established in 1936, Lauri Rapala Bill Lewis Bomber Lindy/Little Joe Mr. Twister Norman Smithwick All are still major players Y'all have a nice day!

2025 TRACKER® PRO 170 Mercury® 9.9 $17,445

We call those "schooling" bass for the lack of a better term. Quite often there is so much live bait available the bass simply won't touch any artificial.