IowaHusker28

Ah the good ole days of building up tackle. Before you know it, you'll have more plastic and lures than you know what to do with. If I am going out to do some bank fishing here is what I'll carry. 2 rods. 1 spinning, 1 casting. Spinning rod 7ft medium, 15lb braid to 10lb fluro. Can throw just about everything Casting rod 7ft-7ft'3 medium heavy. 30-50lb braid. Can also just about throw everything Hollow body frog - white bottom, black bottom Square bill - shad, craw/red color. KVD 1.5 3/8oz; spinnerbait, chatterbait, and buzz bait in white and chartreuse, black n blue, green-pumpkin Senkos/bps "senkos" green-pumpkin. Multiple bags Some kind of trickworm. Zoom, roboworm, berkley, etc. Various Jigs. Swim/pitching/casting jig in white, greenpumpkin, black n blue. Greenpumkin craws. Rage craw, vile craw, etc. This is for jig trailers or standalone. Greenpumkin-ish paddle tail swimbait. Sk caffeine shad, swimming fluke. For trailers or standalone. VMC Neko hooks. You can use these to neko rig, wacky rig, or drop shot. Worm Hooks/ewg in 2/0, 3/0, 4/0 Weights - Worm weights in 1/4oz, and 1/2oz. Drop Shot weights in 1/4oz. Wildcard: Ned Rig hooks - you can cut a senko in half and put it on this. (fish catching machine) Wildcard pt 2. A Whooper Plopper in the bone color. Kind of a longer list but you can go to just about every pond, lake, body of water and catch a bass with these. Additional things to have fishing. A good pair of fishing/needlenose pliers with a line cutter. Polarized sunglasses (they dont have to be $200 sunglasses) this will help a ton breaking down the bank/water. A cheap backpack that is big enough to keep all of these items/big enough to hold 3700 tackle boxes.

You can ask many different members here and get a few different answers so I will tell you what to "kind of expect". In our club the co-anglers go against each other in each tournament. They have a separate pot for their limit and big bass. We make our co anglers pay a minimum of 10 or 20 dollars for boat and truck gas but help pay if you can, because running and hauling a boat is expensive... and they pay for the boats calcutta which ranges but our club is 10 dollars. Now what should you bring? Some rules will say bring as many as you want but many will limit it you to 6 rods. Ask your boater what they want you to do, and most of the time they will tell you what they expect. Also ask your boater on how they plan to fish, not exactly but you don't want to pack frogs to only be throwing drop shots in 40 feet of water on tournament day. A rule of thumb is bring what you can fit in a backpack. Maybe 6-7 boxes and a few big bags of plastic and if it is going to rain don't forget your rain gear! If you can prefish with your boater, it will make tournament day go a lot smoother. Also don't worry about having a ton of gear. Remember to find your own way how to catch fish, if the boater is throwing a black and blue jig you probably don't want to be throwing a black and blue jig (unless he's slaying them and there's a lot of cover, then by all means throw a black and blue jig) Anyway. Joining a club is awesome. You're going to realize you don't know as much as you think you did. You'll learn a ton and find some fishing buddies doing it. Good Luck!

I started using the San Diego Jam knot last year and will not be going back anytime soon. I think its easier than a palomar knot and I can tie it faster with just as much confidence. I think when you are tying your knot, you are burning the line making it curl, don't cinch it before your tag end is tighter if you want to keep tying the palomar.

A big bait will only get you so far if you're not fishing in the right areas. Yes do big fish like big bait; yes. You also have to look at what season, mood, and what stage the fish are in every season. If you were throwing a spinnerbait beating the bank, (this not knowing anything about your location or lake) you could be picking off the males or young fish. The females could have been 5-20-40ft etc. behind what you were fishing, and staging in a different part of the lake. Also not in any particular season, a lot of the bigger fish like big cover, thick cover, or anything where the fish can be lazy and still eat a big meal. A frog is an easy meal if a bass is sitting a foot below the grass where they are hiding, or when fish that sit next to the tailwater of a dam letting the bait come to them. WIguide hit it spot on.

I've usually also only throw 3 colors. Black n blue, green pumpkin, and white. I have gotten a little adventurous when it comes to the Picasso "bladed jigs" because they have some cool colors that really look like a bluegill. I also either throw a Keitech or strike king caffeine shad paddle tail in a matching color. On the river or where there is a lot of grass for whatever reason I like throwing a green/white or green with red sparkle trailer.

I also own both. The bb1 pro is a tank, I only use it for big swimbaits and the A rig. I own 2 curados and both are on crankbait rods. In other words, they are both workhorses and you can't go wrong with either. I fish with a lot more lews reels than shimanos but I love em both. Like someone said before, the BB1 pro is a deep spool meant to cast big baits and wind all day. The tournament pro would be a closer comparison.

So after everyone replying and me not catching anything that strange you will not believe what I pulled out of the local skunk river yesterday. Someone has to be upset they lost this.

I love fishing by myself, I don't have to fish a certain way or help someone do something, and I don't have to go back when they get snagged. I do fish a lot of tournaments so I have a couple things that get to me. I have one buddy that owns a 18ft bass boat, but we usually fish out of mine which is 21. He always thinks we can go into places which we clearly cant, and then we try and I just end up getting ticked because we're banging off trees eventually. I also hate when people in the back of the boat cast way toward the front, even though its a team tournament. One if I'm ever the co angler I have a buddy that will switch rods all the time if it looks fishable, but he over does it. We'll be trying to fish slow, like jigs or a t-rig or what not, then all of a sudden the trolling motor is on 100 and hes burning a spinnerbait and im trying to pitch to bushes. It cracks me up sometimes, but then again I get a little ticked off after it keeps happening. Fishing is funny, we're all different and we all have our certain ways. It clashes eventually.

I think I have 9 lews reels now at many different price points and two revos. If you asked me wether you should buy a revo s or a lews LFS I would go with the revo, but the Tournament MG is a sweet reel and I like it better than the revo s. You cant really go wrong with either at that price point, you'll get your moneys worth out of both.

This is a very interesting topic on my part since I am only 22, but have been "seriously" and by that, I mean very serious fishing for the last 3-4 years. I fish as a boater in a local club, fish as a boater at the college level, and am going to start trying to fish more federation and BFL tourneys in the next few years/this year. I love fishing, every single aspect, especially on the tournament level. I played 5 sports growing up and tried to race dirt bikes and was relatively successful at most. I love competition and after a knee injury, fishing was something I could excel at. I, of course dream of fishing the classic, or forest wood cup, a BFL all american, a bass open, a costa tourney, college tournament, etc. You could say I'm obsessed with fishing but that would be an understatement. I've worked hard, reading, watching, and spending outrageous amounts of time on a boat or even fishing from shore when I have time. I can honestly say I have little interest in fishing a tour, even if I had the chance. Hell yea it would be awesome, and an incredible achievement but that lifestyle is not for me. Now if I could make that top 1% money, then I would change my mind, hahaha. So to answer the question. I wouldn't change a thing, other than maybe wishing my parents lived in a better bass fishing state.

Today he was using an Andy custom bass lures Green Pumpkin jig with zoom critter craw with orange dyed claws. Also he was way up north in the Elk River.

There really isn't many local places around me... There is one that I will buy stuff from because I know the guy who owns it and I like helping him out, but not a lot of big purchases from their. The scheels in town is awesome, the staff is super friendly, their selection the past 2 years has been incredible and they have amazing deals at the end of the year. I stop in at least two times a week and talk shop with the fishing managers. They will continue to get my business, not because of their prices, but because they go out of their way to help and have the resources to do so.

Cant see the lake but It was too hard not to post this. I'm a sucker for Red White and Blue. From my friends boat. This was Day 1 of the College FLW Open. The biggest tournament I've ever fished. 194 boats. Also from my friends boat. This is from a tournament on Tablerock. From my boat on another tournament on Kentucky Lake

Find deals. There are stores everywhere that offer some kind of sales either at the end of the year or in the winter right before spring because they need to get rid of old product. I am up to 18 combos, ideally I would like 2 more or more lol but its not that you "need" a lot of rods but it sure makes it faster and easier. I fish for my school in many different college leagues and in a bass club. It gets expensive, so when you see deals,even though you might not use it right away. It will come in handy eventually. You can stay around 250 for a combo or heck even 180 you'll slowly build up a good quality selection. Also think about your purchases. You can get a new Tatula for 150 or a Type R for 180ish but is it worth the extra 30 dollars? You can buy a tatula or a revo s or a lews lfs for under 150 and a mojo bass or a veritas or a ghost and many more..... where I am going with this, is you can get quality stuff and not break the bank. Especially if you can find sales. Take the time to find what you need or the gap in your "arsenal" and make the best choice based on what you want to spend. Don't up caught up on trying to buy 10 $600 combos.

Like a lot of people said. Black and blue jig. I also like a big black buzz bait or a big colorado bladed 1/2oz red/black or black/orange spinnerbait. I fish in a lot of lakes that are filled with runoff from agriculture in the midwest so they get pretty muddy. Once the grass grows in and you can throw a frog or throw a t rig. I always have more luck going shallower. If you're fishing smaller ponds, don't over think it. The fish need to see the bait or feel the bait if its really dirty water. Make the fish tell you what they want. Keep moving around shore until you find em.

My DSG was almost too much for me to handle. The excalibur square bills for 2 bucks, arashi square bills for 4 bucks, shadow raps for 5, livingston jerkbaits for 5. There was an assortment of DTs and plastics for super cheap. Also 25% off of all fishing line. Hopefully your store is packed, because mine was.

I caught a 7 10oz on a 8XD, which is hilarious because I bought 5 8XDs and 2 10xds to fish Kentucky lake in the middle of summer yet caught the 7.10 on a 18ft deep roadbed in the middle of Iowa and a never sniffed a bass on it on Kentucky.

I carry 4 different crankbait rods, but it's my favorite thing to do. I think if you are throwing something that small you are going to want the medium, its going to make it a lot easier to throw and it will keep the bait pegged a little better. Of course it all depends on the situation and personal prefrence, but 95% of the time 1.5 2.5's I am throwing it on a medium rod.

Yes they are, and they have some kind of tight plastic on top of them (almost like shrink wrapped around the zipper, but doesn't snag), I don't see a way that water gets in.

Haha only fisherman refer to yellow as chartreuse, but anyway I did get the chartreuse ones! I'm not a huge fan of the color yellow in general but it looks really good on the jacket and bibs, way less obnoxious than you would think. The black camo is sweet!!! Also, La Crosse is awesome.

I just got the new 2016 Kyrptek Huk rain gear for christmas. The zippers seem very waterproof, the cuffs around your wrists also seem waterproof, and overall its not too bulky and its comfortable from what I can tell wearing it around the house lol. I did have to order it online, but it fits true to size. I will have to say from first impressions I am very impressed and can't wait to get some use out of it this year but this stupid ice needs to go away first.

I've watched around 10 or so, I think it is more worth just buying the ones you want for the 1 week. They are interesting, and sometimes helpful but every once in awhile its a complete bust and theres not much other than some voice over commentary. I would watch a couple then see if it justifies the year subscription.

2015 was a 9/10. It was a year that I will remember forever. I probably had a line wet either from the boat or from shore at least 125 days this year, fished multiple tournaments and never finished below half but also never finished in the top 10% either, hence the 9. I've never learned so much in a year and I know that 2016 will be even better but 2015 will also be remembered as the year of missed fish. This year I.... Caught a bass with the boat in 120ft of water, and also caught a bass in the backwater of the Mississippi with the boat in 1/2ft of water. Fished in my first 200+ boat tournament. Joined a new bass club. Improved the boat with new units and a #112. I learned that throwing an A-rig, 10-8xds, and big spoons are really fun but a huge hassle. I also learned how to break down a lake, mapping, sonars, contours, channel swings, current, and everything that goes along with that better. The most important thing I learned was how to adapt on the fly, whether it be boat issues, a bad practice, things not going as planned in a tournament day or just figuring out fish when they change their mood. I have never felt better going into a new season and my cabin fever started the first day the boat was winterized.

I have 3 Abu Winch Series rods the 7' 7'6 and the 7'11 which are all composite and I love how they feel and react to a bite and fighting the fish but I will say I fish a graphite Falcon Bucoo when throwing a lipless, especially through the grass, I just think it rips out easier. Just like everyone else said, buy and try, it's really the only way to tell if you'll like it.

Abu for the price and the winch series rods and St. Croix for quality and customer service along with value.