ClackerBuzz

I've been fishing BPS Pro qualifier for 6-7 years. They are the right combination of quality and price, especially during the spring classic for $79. I wasn't' sure how deep I would get into fishing and/or how clumsy I would be about them going overboard so they fit the bill. I clean, oil and grease every winter and do maintenance oil/grease every few weeks. They serve me well and can do anything higher end reels can do. I've also witnessed guys with $30 walmart rod/reel combos catch bigger fish than me so price means nothing. Having said that I treated myself to a cleaning from @Delaware Valley Tackle this winter. I was half tired of cleaning them and half wanting to find out how a professionally cleaned reel performed. I was completely blow away by their performance and kicking myself for not doing it years ago. I can't afford to have them professionally cleaned every season but I can do maintenance and get them done every other season. So what's the benefit? Yes they cast farther but that's not it. The main benefit is they cast smooth as butter which improves my accuracy. Being able to nail a target within 12-24" nets you so many more fish. And it makes casting effortless b/c you use far less energy/strength all day. You can back off the brakes, cast smooth and nail targets. Accuracy and less fatigue are the deal. They can both be achieved by professionally cleaning a 'budget reel'.

1 Ponds/lakes have a feeder stream, either above ground or underground. the feeder stream brings fresh water/oxygen/food. the influx of water during heavy rain and flooding flushes out a pit where they like to hold. there will always be fish hanging there, especially in summer b/c its like air conditioning. you can usually see the feeder creek above ground. if the pond is underground/spring fed the surface area looks 'swampy' ie you won't trek thru that area without waders; you can smell the moisture in the air; there is beaver activity; tall cattails etc. 2 the water must exit the pond as well. this area also holds fish i.e the deepest water 3 streams meander thru a large lake like a snake. they don't have quite the opportunity to zig zag from bank to bank in a small pond. at the very least the underwater stream favorites one side of the pond. this will be the deeper side and it holds better fish. the opposite side is usually shallow, more stagnant water w/ slimy algae on the surface and on the bottom, and tapers very slowly out to the middle. it has stumps and logs jammed in the muck etc. this would be the pond flat or cove side. i always try this area but it produces best during spawn, spring, fall. bass don't worry about predators from above as much in low light conditions so they will be more bold about sitting in this shallow water at dusk/dawn/night fishing or with wind chop on the surface or rain. i hate this area in the summer b/c its the hottest area of the pond w/ no current or wind. but i love fishing it during the cold season b/c the water warms up the fastest so bass sunbath in these coves or corners. 4 if there is a dock never walk out onto it b/c you'll spook the fish. first stealth cast both sides and then the front from both direction. then tip toe out to access deeper water. never walk directly up to the waters edge. i make my first cast from 10-15ft back. i've seen other guys laugh at me bc i look like elmer fudd but there's nothing better than silently flipping a lure into the first 1-2ft of water and having a giant bass smash it. vise versa there's nothing worse than walking right up to the waters edge only to spook a nice bass out to the deep. most guys see the swirling bass take off and say 'oh there's good activity today!' but why not catch that bass? 5 fan casting is the way to go. i'll fan cast an area and move on. i don't fish, i hunt fish. ur first cast to an area has the best chance of catching the biggest bass and/or the most aggressive bass so why not relocate often and maximize ur chances? some guys sit in the same spot all day long probably bc that's how they were taught to fish. i've literally caught 2 fish approaching a lawn chair guy...walked around him...and caught 2 more bass as i hiked away. he finally came over to ask me what my magic lure was. i know it took alot for him to approach me to i explained the lure changes each day but my hunting/hiking fish style will always be the same. hopefully it was the last time he used a lawn chair to bass fish. 6 if ur not catching fish change lures often. if i fan cast 3 different locations with a spinnerbait and don't catch a bass, it's time to change lures. ponds are small so it's easy to locate and/or draw fish in. i'm quick to change lures and go from reaction lure w/ vibration... to reaction w/ no vibration (swim jig/senko/swimbait etc)... to bottom dragging a t-rig,drop shot... to flipping wacky senkos... to dead sticking senkos, drop shot or bottom crawling jigs. if i'm not catching bass in small ponds i'm quick to change lures, and i'm quick to slow down my retrieves and be patient. if i'm not catching bass on big water/lakes, i'm quick to change location. 7 analyze what comes back on ur hook. the two best things are green vibrant weeds and/or clean leaves. these areas hold bass so if ur hook comes back with either you are in the right place. the worst thing to bring back is green slime algae so keep hiking up shore. fountains or aerators are also fish magnets b/c of the oxygen/food and cover. i fished a pond for years that had no weeds but i had an aerator which created an underwater current system and fresh mulched leaves would gather in a nearby pocket. this is where i always caught the biggest bass. it took a 80 ft cast to get out there. if i couldn't draw them back with a reaction bait i would just bomb a worm/jig out and slowly work it till they crushed it. 8 i hate live frogs. no matter how stealth i am, they are better. a frog jumping into the water is like an alarm to bass that gives away my position. if i spook a frog into the water at a good location i'll wait a few minutes before casting. i just check my text messages, tie my shoe, put on new lure etc. and let the spot settle until the bass drops his guard again. 9- do not ignore or downplay a bite. remember the location and always think of that spot as a fish holding location. it's easy to get down b/c u missed a fish but a bite is very important clue that reveals ur in a good location. it's not as magical on ponds but very important when bank fishing large lakes/reservoirs. if you get skunked but got 4 bites that day go back to those 4 locations tomorrow and start there. make them ur priority spots.

for durability definitely Booyah, and keep the clacker b/c it calls and annoys big girls. the wire is so strong you can catch hundreds of bass on it so buy a cheap hook sharpener. it takes a 4lb + girl to bend it. i always start with 1/2 oz and downsize to 3/8 oz if they aren't biting it. it runs even slower if you drill some holes in the blade. if you're ever reeling in a random lure and notice it's leaving bubbles on the water surface immediately break out a buzzbait. i forget which pro said it but it's an amazing tip. first time i noticed the bubbles i broke out a buzzbait and literally caught a bass on the first cast.

I felt bad about the handful of fish I've killed over the years but a few things happened: --the better an angler you become the less fish you kill, to the point it becomes a rarity. --you see other D bags doing far worse to the environment, from individuals to large corporations. --season after season you come to appreciate the magnitude of nature and how it replenish itself. Keep calm and fish on.

don't just think lures, think best possible conditions too: cold water on a warming trend, prespawn, prefrontal, high winds and night time. throw large topwater wake baits like rats but don't get discouraged b/c you are going for quality not quantity. buzzbaits and frogs are big bass lures as well. 4-6" paddle tail swimbaits attract large and small bass alike. big girls are fat largely to being lazy so i prefer large slower lures that you can pauses--the buzzbait and paddle tail being the exception when they are aggressive.

Fish with people more experienced than you. x1,000,000

Best water temp advice: Stable water temps are good Raising water temps are best Dropping water temps are worst The mindbender: Cold temps are relative so you can benefit from raising temps even in winter. Going from 38 to 39 to 40 is a huge warming trend which activates the whole lake so get out there and power fish.

Beautiful fish... along with good old fashion no-filter photography skills. a breath of fresh air

Columbia in summer; TW hoodie are great quality or Champion Men's Powerblend Fleece Pullover Hoodie for warmer spring/fall. the champion regularly hit $19.99 so just check frequently. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HIUTE1K/ref=twister_B01HIURMZU?_encoding=UTF8&th=1&psc=1

you might have nailed it with swivels. when I wanted SB closed I just wrapped some braid around 10+ times and added a drop of superglue. problem solved. in the end I didn't like closed loop or swivels b/c they pick up so many weeds and ruin a cast. there was no turning back once i switched to using chatterbaits around weeds.

@A-Jay advice above is spot on. i always tell guys if ur not catching bass with a jig it's b/c ur moving it too much/fast. slow drag, don't hop (although hopping works a small percentage of time. also sometimes a bass will crush it while ur reeling it back in after a cast. this is a long pause followed by rapid fleeing bite). -most hits come on the fall (while pitching at cover--docks, lily pads, timber etc). this is definitely more effective from a boat/kayak. -the remainder of hits come from slow dragging like a real crawl. the trick is finding the right locations. however ponds are small so it seems like every inch of real estate is prime. to be honest I wouldn't focus too much on jig fishing b/c ur bank fishing ponds with mucky bottom. if you have too much bottom sediment and/or weeds you can be just as deadly slow dragging a weightless senko. or with a drop shot the weight collects the sediment while ur worm is clean 12" above...but still work it slow like a jig. if you have a ton of weeds peg a bead in front of ur weightless senko. it will slip thru weeds like butter. it's really going to come down to the bottom content of ur pond. i'd base my lure selection on it.

LMAO I've had the same problem on my home lake for 2 seasons. I live on the 40+ acre lake which is a blessing and a curse. at some point i had to admit defeat for one simple reason: lakes are living organisms that go through good and bad periods (most site 20 year periods). I just so happen to be caught in the middle of a bad spell from an identifiable reason. after moving i found out the lake had been drained half pool 2 years prior so the dam could be repaired. this is what completely changed the ecosystem. the longer i lived there the more information i gathered. a local woman told me the canadian geese vacated and have not returned since the draining. that tells me the shallow weeds have been killed off along with the insects and food system that goes with them. one day i saw a fish and game boat electrofishing so of course I ran over to talk. guess what they asked me: are there bass in this lake? I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. they told me they were only catching bait fish and 6-8" bass around the extreme shallow shoreline. i asked how deep their shockers went and they said 4-5ft. i explained the water visibility is 5+ft so the bass i catch are holding tight to cover/structure minimum 5ft and deeper; and if they can't shock 10ft+ they aren't going to encounter bass over 2 lbs. i asked what their plan of action was and they said stocking shallow water bait fish like bluegill/bream and shiners. so how's the fishing? are there still bass/bait in there? you bet. more crappie than you can eat all day every day for the rest of ur life. there are bass in there too: extremely fickle bass that bring new meaning to 'holding tight to cover'. if you miss them by 2ft you might as well be 300 ft away; and if you can't stand to soak a lure for a minimum of 60 seconds you're gonna smell like skunk often. as bass anglers we get accustomed to them hitting senkos/jigs on the initial fall. but that thought process will get you skunked all day, every day. these bass like lures marinated so long you can put ur rod down, fish a second rod, then get bit once you pick up the first rod again. search baits? only with the very best of combined conditions (dusk and rain; prespawn and clouds etc). otherwise they rarely chase baits. Topwater? not a chance and I'm a frog and clacker buzzbait assassin (night time is the one except i've found but you have to be willing to cast ur arm off looking for that magical bite). no small/medium bass are going to risk their life swimming through 5ft of clear water to eat a topwater lure. i have the knowledge and privilege of fishing prime conditions at a moments notice and these bass rarely get aggressive i.e. chase baits: dusk, dawn, night, prespawn, prefrontal, 30+mph winds, post cool rain on a hot summer day, warming trend in winter etc. these bass just don't take risks. they are so keyed in on live bait that everything else is a nuisance. my lake record is 4.5lbs and that took 10,000+ casts in every condition while analyzing details and making adjustments. the last frontier is live bait. i tried 5-6 times and was skunked. i don't have a lot of patience for it. but i do like drinking beer on the dock so why not combine the two? then my favorite moment in 2 years happened. my neighbor was fishing in March (New Jersey) with a 2" minnow, 3ft under a 3" bobber, off his dock in 10-12 ft of water. the minnow had long died so he was using the whole rig as a 'topwater jerkbait' (i kid you not), smoking cigarettes, recasting it over and over and over in the exact same place (he already killed 10+ minnows). he pauses to watch an osprey and the bobber disappears. after a crazy battle on a $25 combo he landed a 7.15 lb bass. i couldn't be more dumbfounded or happier for the guy. yes there are giants still in the lake but after endless days, casts, seasons, money, lures, techniques I've finally swallowed the realization it's not worth the effort to chase the unicorns when i can catch quantity and quality elsewhere.

Pro Cure stinks wicked nasty.. and it didn't help me catch fish

my guess is it's not a hardware issue but rather a retrieve issue. make sure you have plenty of slack in the line while snapping but only 'take' a little back i.e. slack 36" of line but snapback 38". if you're slacking too little line, snapping back too much, or snapping too forceful you'll end up pull the lure which definitely shortens the glide width. don't start with long casts. practice short 20' casts so you can see the results of each adjustment you make. be light handed with your snap. it's kinda like hitting a balloon across a room---the harder you slam it the shorter it goes vs the lighter you slap it the farther it goes. i know it's difficult but forget about catching a giant for a min and just focus on practicing. finessing large lures is an art. you'll get it

I like weight to my frog so I can flick it a good distance with a roll of the wrists. returned a pad crusher b/c it was too light for my liking. I don't like to fight the wind with lures either. For that reason I like River2Sea Bully Wa 2. next order I'm getting 3/4 oz Ish Monroe Phat Matt Daddy. I thumb break my frogs for a soft landing so why not go heavier and make life easy.

I don't use it for 2 reasons: 1 if the pro's that fish for a living don't need it why do I? 2 I don't like the smelly stuff all over me, my clothes, kayak and/or boat. there was a time when i used it in winter only. when it's freezing outside you'll take any edge you can get. but i found it did more harm than good b/c it does not melt away in cold water temps. it stays all over soft plastics like goo which actually prevented me from experimenting with different size/color plastics. I didn't want the stuff all over me/boat so i'd keep casting the same plastic for hours which is not a good thing.

This is also what I do. I pick my lowest price and put "firm". then i only get serious buyers.

Beautiful....and yet so strangely convincing as though it's not your first time down that alley

I to am all about toying with them: $100 item. $50 offer. My reply: "to be honest I just want this dang thing out of my house. I even pay you $20 if you get it out of my house today." only one problem, you can't believe how many people took it serious so I had to evolve and add: "but you need to meet me in a dark alley for the trade." that put the creep into them.

just with docks catch the bass holding on the outermost position before working ur way in so think of them like an iceberg: 10% above surface and 90% of their mass below the surface. i start by working the far outer bottom edge, usually parallel to shoreline. you'll feel as soon as you hit the bottom outer logs. then work your way inward. as with most things I usually start power fishing and slow down from there. jigs and T rig are by far my most successful lures. there's just something about them tapping 'hello' on the logs

chatterbaits catch monster bass...just reference some of @Bluebasser86 work. spinnerbaits inside timber and over chunk rock b/c the long V arm deflects beautifully vs the head of a chatterbait wedges in chunk rock like an ostridge head chatterbaits around weeds b/c you can give it a hard rip and clean all weeds off plus initiate strikes vs spinnerbait swivels have weed static cling like socks outta the dryer heavy spinnerbaits for 12ft+ of water b/c they stay down better vs chatterbaits have more lift chatterbaits at night b/c you can't see patches of weeds vs you'll be cleaning ur spinnerbait off every cast spinnerbaits when bank fishing b/c the V arm can drag over cover/structure vs you'll snag/break off chatterbaits often

What's next, banana senkos?

i got really into frog fishing 2 seasons ago. here's some good vids:

meant 4th of July. I keep a stash of gift cards for every holiday, including black friday and 25 days christmas

They've always had gift cards 10% off for Father's day (June). Use them @ 15% off Memorial day sale.