BassThumb

I know someone who was visited on a lake by a warden for that issue. Apparently some old lady was watching them fish with binoculars. My buddy whipped it out in their direction and peed in the lake. They were many blocks out in the lake. Lady called the cops, cops referred it to the DNR, DNR officer came and told them to be more discreet. I generally take a leak over the side, careful of any overly-sensitive prying eyes. Sometimes it means motoring over to a quieter spot if need be. I have a hospital urinal that I use on big water with big waves. In a live tourney, I'm assuming the camera man turns the the camera off for a couple minutes. Usually they have someone else to cut too. It would be no different than if they motor for a few minutes to a new spot. Rarely do they show that either.

Yo Zuri Hybrid. Still using up my 1- and 3-pound spools I got from Outlet Bait and Tackle when they were blowing them out around 2012. ? I use the 10 and especially 12 the most with casting gear for moving baits, with 6 goes on spinning rigs occasionally (I prefer braid). The 4 is unbeatable for ice fishing walleyes, if anyone is interested.

Put your location on your profile. The recommendations will differ based on the size of bass in your area. I'd recommend a different rod if you were in Texas vs. Massachusetts, for example.

The kid will be fine with his Quantum. They're not my preference, but he'll learn for himself what his preferences are.

I've love to win this. There's not a better value on the market than Invisx. I have had big spools last 5 years without noticeably degrading. Just have to store them in a cool, dry, dark place. I use a Rubbermaid under the basement stairs with bunch of desiccant packets in it.

Korkers. Felt without spikes. Amazingly good grip while wading or walking on slippery rocks. Spent a decade in my teens and twenties wading the Upper Mississippi in boots like these.

Seibert's Dredge or Northstar Baits Black Series. Basically the same skirt and alien-style head with recessed eye, but Seibert uses an Owner Cutting Point hook and Northstar uses a heavier 3x needlepoint Mustad. Strike King Rage Tail Craw, Netbait Sr Paca Chunk, and a Zoom Super Chunk. Rage Tail is a fast paddle, Sr Paca Chunk is a slow paddle, and Zoom Chunk is more finesse.

Another vote for the Caffeine Shad. Only fluke I've fished that shimmies on the fall. I'm pretty sure it's the flat underside of the tail. That's basically a homemade Banjo Minnow. Fantastic action and a subpar hookup rate as compared to a weightless Texas Rig.

I piled up Ochos from Academy last year also. I did so because I think they're the second best stickbait on the market. I strongly prefer the GYCB Senkos, which have a much better shimmy on the drop and a faster rate of fall when fished weightless. I also like the extra weight of the GYCB for skipping, which allows for a little better distance.

Limit 1 pack per person. It also says 4 baits per pack. Normally they have 8 in there.

That looks really hot. I would cook in it.

Break-offs are going to happen. Nobody tries to do it. What we can all do is try not to litter the lake with waste that's preventable. This being plastics, short lengths of cut-off line, miscellaneous stuff that likes to blow away, and cigarette butts, which are especially trashy to toss in the lake

Sold, LTrain1985! Great share. Thanks for taking the time to write that out. I really dislike how the WP 90's roll unless they're just crawled along. They're the perfect size for river smallies, but they roll like crazy when you hit seams of current or just need to buzz the bait back to the boat for another cast. I'll get one or two of the Choppo 90's on my next order.

I tried this hook for the first time after Seth Feider was promoting it for dropshot during the AOY at Mille Lacs. It works great for that. It's also a terrific wacky rig hook. I like that I can straighten it and bend it back when I get snagged under docks. I've never had a fish straighten it. Fish almost never come unglued, either. It's almost locked into place in their upper lip. It's nice to be able to use the same hook for dropshot, split shot, wacky rigs, and Neko rigs. I'll be getting another 25-pack of the #2 on my next TW order.

I've been using a lot of the Rapala Shadow Raps (three hooks) and Shadow Rap Shads (two hooks), both standard and deep. I use a lot of the Berkley Cutter, too. I've usually paid about $4-6 for them. I really like the LC Pointer 78 and 100, too. They are my favorite jerkbait. Problem is, my local waters have so many northern pike that I lose jerkbaits to them all the time, sometime one or more per trip, so I try to use the cheaper versions. There's no way to stop this without using some sort of fluorocarbon or light wire leader, which will badly affect the action.

I use a Dobyns Sienna 704SF 7' MH/F spinning rod with 20lb braid and a 12-15lb flouro leader. Most of my Senko fishing is around and under docks. I never felt there was an advantage to fishing them on baitcasting tackle, regardless of style of presentation.

Deep cranking on weedy lakes gives me the most trouble. It's very difficult to consistently run the crank along a deep edge while avoiding outcropping clumps of weeds, especially on long casts. When I can get it right, the fish love them, especially the big ones. I think it's because they rarely see them because the presentation is so difficult.

Heavy tubes, heavy dropshot weights in the waves/wind, heavy football jigs, swinging football heads with craws, Rapala DT 10/14/16, LC Sammy 100, and LC Pointer 100. I think just about everything else I regularly throw is under 1/2 ounce.

I have about 8 different brands and The Rod Condom is by far the best. They're dipped on both ends and don't fray, even after years of use. You'll never have a rod tip pop thru the end and break, which can happen on the ones when the ends are just folded over and sewn. They're also really slim, which I really like on the baitcasting covers and not as much on the spinning rod covers. I still use them on spinning rods, but it takes an extra second or two to get the end of the cover over the largest guide. What's nice about the slim tip is that I'm able to really pack the rods in my box. The covers with floppy tips are harder to guide into a box packed with rods. I just get the 'simple' ones. The 'custom' one have a piece of foam on the end, which I don't need or want to pay for. https://trccovers.com/collections/frontpage

If you have to ask on here, then you already know the answer. Use your gut. How often do you give feedback? I rarely do. That said, I would pass. Spend another $20 and get it from a reputable source. PayPal will put you thru the ringer just like any other insurance company will at times. Really, that's largely what they are. They don't want to pay out any more than they have to. I initiated a PayPal-protected return on eBay of some very nice car audio speakers. The seller gave me the wrong return address via the eBay messaging system. I shipped the product to that address and it got returned back to me. Now the return window was closed. I had screen-shotted the message showing the incorrect address. The seller actually went back and edited the message to show the right address. I didn't have the option to edit messages once they were submitted, but somehow they did. That's a nice cheat. Even despite the screenshot, PayPal sided with them. I was out $40 on shipping. Hours spent on the phone getting bounced back and forth trying to explain my case to people who could barely speak English. I had to re-sell the speakers on eBay at a net $110 loss after shipping x 2 and the eBay avg price dropping a bit. So just because it's "PayPal" doesn't mean it's foolproof. You still have to be a cautious buyer.

I like a little backbone for snapping Ned Rigs free from the weeds. A little extra length is useful for steering fish away from obstacles. A soft tip is nice for being able to handle lighter line, like a 6# leader on braid. My overall favorite spinning rod, the Dobyns DX742 gets a lot of use with Neds.

I never eat bass. I do a lot of ice fishing and eat plenty of fish. In fact, it'll be pan-fried parmesan crusted walleye tonight. Bluegill or crappie next week probably. Got some brown-sugar cured smoked pike in the crisper right now. Fish caught through the ice after living for months in cold water taste so much better than warm water fish that it's hard to settle. I rarely keep fish in the summer, period. Furthermore, largemouth bass have hands-down the worst taste and texture of any freshwater fish I've tried. Mushy meat that tastes like lake-bottom silt, even in the winter. Yum! On the other hand, if it's legal, have at it. Bass are a dime a dozen. Please throw back the breeders so it stays that way.

Best summary in the thread. Besides, what separates them from us is how and where it's fished.

Watch the first day of the second Mille Lacs Bassmaster AOY championship from 2017. Brandon Palaniuk calls me and my dad out on the Bassmaster Live feed for fishing literally 3-4 blocks away from him. He said we zig zagged back and forth to cut him off on Indian Point, which is a gigantic rocky flat about the size of a small city. Mille Lacs is also 330,000 acres. He won AOY that year. I emailed him after the I saw the footage and basically called him out, telling him that I was out there supporting BASS and spending money, and actually was a fan of his. I never fished within three blocks of any angler or dropped waypoints on the spots they fished. I never fished the key structure or big boulder piles I was aware of. The only difference between me and the other fans was that I carried a fishing rod and they stared at their phones, watching Bassmaster Live. Brandon was apologetic and acknowledged the misunderstanding. Seems like an alright guy. We were just out there drifting around and throwing Ned Rigs and watching the Elites fish. We stayed at Eddy's where the take-off was, ate at the casino where the weigh-in was, watched and enjoyed all of it, checked out the bass boats, mingled with the anglers. I'm an Ike fan for life after he gave me a 20 minute tutorial on how to break down a huge smallie lake when I walked up to him and his boat while he was rigging with only the intention of saying Hi and good luck. Man that guy loves to talk and teach. It was crazy to see the types of lures anglers were experimenting with. All their stuff was laid out on the carpet of their boats at the weigh-ins. 1.5oz bladed jigs, 7" swimbaits, monster crankbaits, etc. All on a lake were the Neg Rig and drop-shot are most people's go-to.

Hard to narrow it down because each type of soft plastic bait has different colors that produce. For example, what works for a 7" plastic work may not be ideal for a Senko skipped under a dock or a swimbait used as a swimjig trailer.