Gangley

As far as worms are concerned, I usually fish the 10" variety. 8" bass have slammed it regularly so I don't worry about the worm being too big. If you average is 2-3 lbs, thats a decent average and nothing to be sad about.

These arent suggestions, just what I currently use, take it for what its worth. Weights: With big worms, I like to use nothing larger than a 3/8 and will usually use a 3/16 or 1/4. Don't be afraid to go weightless as well, its a deadly presentation if you have the patience. Hook Size: 4/0 on Ol' Monster 5/0 or 6/0 on Anaconda The Anaconda, Manns, V&M, etc are all good, but the ZOOM you are using is fantastic as well. If you are catching fish with it, dont change it until

Micro, I enjoy shooting the Smith and Wesson, but in my opinion there are better guns for the price, and better guns for less price. The trigger has a light pull, but there is a lot of creep, it doesnt break clean, and there is some over travel. Much like the prior 1911's by S&W, the trigger still has TONS of movement and play. The barrel bushing is fit loosely and the lockup isn't exactly tight. Slide to frame fit is decent but not snug, and the grip panels have no grip. However, the scaled slide serrations are wonderful and work very well. The gun allows for quick target aquisition, and the recoil is manageble. The groupings are decent with factory ammo and it feeds SWC's without hiccup which doesnt happen often with factory 1911's. Overall, its a very polished pistol, but its a little sloppier than I like with the trigger and barrel lockup.

RW, If you are looking for a compact 1911, the Springfield EMP is a wonderfully shooting firearm, and like all Springfields, they come with an UNLIMITED LIFETIME warranty with free overnight shipping to-and-fro if there is ever ANY problem with the firearm. Peace of mind is priceless. If you want to know if a company stands behind it's product, look at its warranty, that will tell you most everything that you would want to know.

Since we are showing 1911's, here's some for you S&W E series Springfield Loaded Black Stainless Target: Springfield Loaded Parkerized, Springfield XD40:

For outdoor wear such as walking our property lines and fishing, I usually wear a 1911. For social environments a S&W MPc 9m since its much more concealable and doesnt "print" as bad.

My favorite is probably a Texas rigged 10" worm because it gets the job done. It's not the funnest technique, but it's the most productive for me and therefore my favorite. If the productivity shifted to a different lure and presentation, then my favorite would shift accordingly

If you want to stay with Gamakatsu, go with the Superline. If you dont mind changing and spending a little more for a better hook, then the Owner Wide Gap and Wide Gap Plus hooks are thicker gauge to begin with and are very hooks.

Magnum Super Fluke by ZOOM has been stellar for me this year. I have no clue whether or not it will work for your waters, but they have done very well in mine fished weightless and weighted, in Arkansas Shiner and Smoking Shad.

I've had that happen on smaller bodies of water and it really irritated me at first. However, most of the individuals who have done that to me generally aren't able to repeat the results because they don't know what they are doing. They are looking for the quick catch and don't take the time to work the spot like they should. For instance, there is a brush pile about 40 feet out from one the of the banks I generally fish from that will usually have two or three bass on it that are willing to bite at something. I can usually run a jig or worm over it and get hits, but I am rarely ever able to pull one in on a spinner bait or crank bait. Anyways, I pulled 2 bass off that pile in about 15 minutes and walked away from the bank to grab a bite to eat. As soon as I left, a nearby boater motored over to the spot in a huge rush and proceeded to fan-cast a spinner bait for the next 30 minutes. He never got a hit from what I could tell, but he sat there throwing the same thing over and over before leaving. Once he left, I walked back over to the same spot and pulled in 3 over the next 30 minutes. Since that time, it doesn't bother me so much to see somebody crash a spot because I know that it takes more than simply knowing the general area where the bass are to be successful.

ZOOM Horny Toad: Caught my first bass with it that wasnt a random occurance. I learned to fisht aht lure every way possible which taught me how to be more versatile with other lures. Basically, it got me hooked on bass fishing and taught me there is "more than one way to skin a cat/catch a bass". Bait Casters: Goodness gracious, don't even know where to begin. Drop Shot: Never caught a bass deeper than 10 feet until fishing a drop shot on Lake Fork 2 weeks ago.

Texas Rigged Plastics, Drop Shot, Spoons, Jigs, Carolina Rig. When fishing deep, that is all that I have fished with successfully.

What is the name for that head type, and are you planning on making jigs with that head type but with an EWG hook?

Brand Name = Price

His boat is white and black, maybe the color scheme of that reel was done to match his boat. I doubt it, but I hope so, otherwise that is one UGLY reel. Something that is used in so wide a variety of conditions and environments should not be white, just my thoughts.

I apologize, I was thinking that they ran about $120

There you go, he's that guy that would know for sure

Everybody perfers something different. I use Abu Garcia Reel oil on my Abu's and Shimano oil on my Shimano's. I have used Reel Butter in the past and it has worked well. To be honest, I know little about oils and assume that they are all similar, but I am probably wrong in that assumption.

Check out the Shimano Curado reels. You can get them for $20 more right now and they are definitely worth it.

I would prefer the 5500 because of the smaller spool. THe 6000+ models were really designed for trolling and had larger spools to accomodate that technique. I find the 5000+ reels to have more than enough spool for any technique of bass fishing I have attempted.

ps shallow shad raps are killer!

I base my reel choice almost primarily upon gear ratio once I know what type of fishing that I will be doing. For jigging, worming, pitching I will use a lower gear ratio (5:1) while with cranks and spinner baits I will use a higher gear ratio (7:1). If I cant decide, I always take the higher gear ratio because I would rather have too fast a reel than too slow since you can always slow down your retrieve.

I fish a lot of waters that don't allow motorized boats so I tend to do a lot of bank fishing. Because of this, a reel is extremely important to me so that I can cast to locations far from the bank, and to locations that other bank fisherman wouldn't normally be able to reach. Also, the farther I can cast down the bank, the less likely I am to spook a fish that is hugging the bank. If you can see them, they can see you. So for me, the budget heavily favors the reel, sometimes 3-4 times as much as it does for a rod. However, now that I am quickly approaching the point of having a saturated reel supply, my play money will probably shift toward rods. I guess it's a "fill the needs" type of approach, and once the need is fulfilled, the wants can then follow suit.

They are more than adequate for bass fishing. I started with the Ambassadeur and still have 6 of them rigged up on rods. I don't use them as often anymore, but they are fantastic reels that are rock solid. The 5500's are great, but the 5600C4 is in my opinion one of the best bang for the buck round reels while the Rocket is a phenominal reel for a tad more money. Keep them lubed and they will last a long time. One of my Abu Amb. is over 20 years old, one is almost 20, and the other is a hair over 15 years old, and all work like their brand new. Proper maintenance will keep these reels going forever. Enjoy them and fish with them, they don't care what type of fish is on the other end!

I use the Fat Albert and Kalins as swimjig and spinner bait trailers. Usually I have more success with them as swimjig trailers.