Scott F

.....And he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll buy a silly hat. Show me pictures of your silly hat. Here's one of mine. Looks silly, but it kept the sun off my neck.

Suspending jerkbaits in the spring during prespawn in lakes. Senkos all year long in lakes and rivers. Walk the dog topwaters and poppers, spinnerbaits, and in-line spinners during summer on rivers.

Rivers, or lakes? Spring, summer or fall?

I was just speaking to a Garmin rep at an outdoor show yesterday. One major plus the Garmin has going for it is that it comes with over 17,000 lake maps pre-loaded. You have to buy the lake map chips for the Humminbird. I was checking out the lake map details on a lake that I fish on the Garmin and saw it was a lot more detailed than the chip I currently use. Bass Pro is going to be putting the smaller 73 series Garmin, last years model without Chirp, on sale in about 2 weeks. The rep I was speaking to said there was not much of a difference between the new Chirp units and last years non-chirp units in real life use for freshwater fishermen who are fishing shallow. His observation was that Chirps big advantage is to the marketing departments to help them sell new depth finders

Throwing Muskie sized bucktails all day is going to wear you out regardless of how light the rod is. If you don't want to get tired, don't throw bucktails.

Using a net properly and having it ready, not all tangled up in other fishing gear, can work pretty well. If the Elite anglers thought a net increased the chance on loosing a fish, they'd never pick it up. I use light line and the front of my boat is higher off the water than most bass boats so I use a net from the front. I'm not as worried about loosing a fish as I am loosing $15 jerkbaits in case my line breaks. Also, when a bass has a face full of treble hooks, sticking your thumb in his mouth may not be the wisest move.

When I first saw your post, it was on my phone and I couldn't see the blade very well. The Shyster and the Abu are so similar. I still have several Abu's from the 60's. Yellow and white ones were our favorites.

That's a Abu Reflex spinner. That was also the first lure I ever caught a fish on. That was back in 1965 I take that back, that lure is a Shyster spinner. Looks just like the Abu though.

I'm not naming my favorite lake on an open forum. It has tons of bass and almost nobody fishes for them. I spend a two week vacation there in the spring and many days I never see another bass fisherman and this is on a lake that is nearly 5000 acres. During the summer it sees more pressure, and tournaments but not while I'm fishing it. I won't pretend they are all huge fish, but I'm a numbers guy anyway and the number of fish is huge. I like keeping it a secret.

I use it for everything.

Got one....

When studies were done looking at human behavior during a full moon there was no connection made that people are crazier when the moon is full. Cops and hospital workers repeat that things get crazy during a full moon. They see stuff, look up, see the full moon and say must be because of the moon. Other times, when crazy stuff happens, they make no connections.. I think the same thing happens with fishermen. They have a good day, see its around the time of the full moon and it reinforces the myth. Other times, if they have a good day, it doesn't make any connection so they forget about it. They just figure they are good fishermen.

Studies have already show there is no connection between lunar cycles and spawning bass. As was posted recently on another thread, one specie of crayfish, under artificial conditions, peak molting activity happened under the new moon phase but no connections have been made between their spawning and lunar cycles.

What is it about the different moon phases that could possibly affect fresh water bass? Gravity? The combination of the sun and the moon causes the tides in oceans, but fresh water lakes are far too small to have tides. Your boat has more gravitational pull on a bass than the moon does. Light? If you fish during the day, the moon is generally not visible. How could the moon change how fish behave?

I used to use a #3 Mepps but upsized to a #4. The larger profile still catches the smaller fish, but also appeals to larger bass as well. I quit using the dressed versions. They cost more and the plain versions catch just as many fish. I also found that the dressed models were harder to clean when you got weeds on them.

I don't know what you mean by "minus visibility". I don't believe that visibility matters. I like braid for all my fishing. It works for me. Your fishing situation is more than likely different from mine, and different from a lot of people. You can listen to all sorts of different views here on these forums, but in the end you have to decide what works best for you.

I fish clear water all the time with nothing but braid and no leader. Visibility is not an issue for me.

It sure can be. I was fishing a clear water lake for smallies. As soon as the smallies saw the boat, they spun away. We had to keep the boat as far away from the fish as possible. Nearly every fish we caught came out at the end of a long cast. We also fish long breaklines. A long cast, parallel to the break covers more water and increases the time your bait can make contact. I also wade and float for river smallmouth. Due to deep and fast water, getting close to prime spots is not always possible. You often have to be able to make long casts to reach your target. Making long casts is pretty important to my fishing.

In-Fisherman has an article on them online http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/vmcs-gliding-jigs/

That's the first paper I've ever seen that has some explanation. It does say that molting peaks on the new moon not the full. It appears that it's the amount of light (or lack of) that triggers the activity. I'm always looking for what the connection between the moon and creatures is. Is it gravity, light or something else?

That's because there is no science related to moon phases and crayfish. No scientific study has ever found a connection between moon phases and fresh water animals, or humans for that matter

I don't know who you ordered from, but there is the possibility that the company you ordered from does not stock many of the items they sell online. When you order a reel, they put in an order with their distributor. Often they have to come up with a minimum order so they hold your order until they get enough other orders to make the minimum. That's why it could take a couple of weeks before they ship to you. If you decide on 3-5 day shipping, they may place the order right away but have to pay a premium to have it drop shipped to you with priority shipping. Just one possibility.

What is the gimmick with a nose hooked soft plastic which is what the Banjo Minnow is? Now the Helicopter lure was a gimmick.

I face enough challenges at work and I fish to reduce my stress. I try and keep things as simple as I can. I don't get the chance to fish that often but when I do, I plan my time and trips to give me the best chance at success. The more challenging it becomes, the less I like it. On days when things don't go as planned, it's no big deal. Catch bass or not, I don't fret much about it. That's the big reason I'd never fish tournaments. I don't need or want any added pressure.

If you don't like retrying when changing lures, try using just a snap instead of a snap swivel.