garvin

It doesn't have to be winter. I think about going fishing pretty much whenever I'm not fishing. I could spend 11 hours on the lake and by the time I get the boat in the garage, I'm already jonesing to get back out there. Here in the great state of Texas, we're fortunate to have relatively mild winters and power plant lakes that rarely get cooler than 60 degrees, so there's pretty much no winter downtime like bassers in the North. In fact, summer is about the worst time down here because we have so many days over 100 degrees with a heat index that brings the temps to a "feels like" temperature of over 17,000 degrees.

I occasionally bank fish at a park with a small lake around 60-70 acres. There's a fenced in dog park on the lake that opens up to the lake so dogs can swim around and fetch stuff. I frequently catch bass off a clump of grass that grows maybe 20 feet from where dogs are splashing around.

The last couple of times I have been out, 4"-5" straight worms and crankbaits have been the ticket.

green pumpkin Z-Man ZinkerZ 7" strike king 3x finesse worm in Dirt Culprit fat max - blue fleck Z-Man finesse trd in green pumpkin Squarebill crankbait, 1.5 size, sexy shad

The T-Rig is an underrated bait? Umm ok. Here are a couple: Topwater mouse Mepps or Roostertail spinners

Z-Man anything Strike King Perfect Plastics and 3X Zoom worms

The only problem I see is that's a metric bait and I think most North American bass are SAE. The gummy factor might offset it to a degree, but only if it's watermelon and not citrus flavored. Definitely not citrus flavored.

I think "bubble gum" still sounds too squirrely girly. I think pink plastics should be called "Gorilla Tongue" instead.

Choose the friends to share your secret fishing spots with the same care you would give to choosing someone to hold the other end of the rope if you were scaling a cliff.

If you don't want to pack it all on your back, there's always a solution like this: Available at Academy for $200. A little pricey, but I was there the other day and they had some simple canvas carts for like $50. Note this one from Berkley has pole holders built in.

Head mounts suck for fishing.I tried it and every time your head moves around, so does the camera. Horizon was crooked, the camera tends to roam around your head, especially if you're wearing it over a cap; most of the footage I shot one day had 3/4 of the frame filled with sky. Chest mount is more stable and captures more of the fishing action. I went with a Xiaomi Yi instead of the GoPro. You can use the same hardware for it that GoPro uses, except for the waterproof case. They make one especially for the Yi. It captures up to 1080p 60fps, and it's only about $80 on Amazon. There's no LCD on the back; you control it all through an app on your phone.

I'm looking for something use-able also that fits in with 3700 series boxes. Use-able is the key.

Strike King Shim E Sticks have a falling shimmy action very similar to the Senko, and they're more durable.

Trying to pin down one rig for bass fishing is like trying to pin down one golf club for golfing. Except golfers have fewer choices to make. That said, there are two rigs that will give you some versatility in many situations. One is a baitcasting rig, 7 ft. Medium-Heavy rod with a Fast tip, 6.4:1 reel spooled with 15 lb. copolymer. With this rig you can throw Texas Rigs, Carolina Rigs, Chatterbaits, Spinnerbaits, Crankbaits, Weightless Senkos, Swimbaits, Frogs, and Jig & Trailers, which are, incidentally, all baits that work when walking the bank. The other rig is a spinning outfit, 6'6" - 7' Medium rod with a Fast tip. Spool the reel with 8-10 lb. P-Line Fluoroclear line. With this rig, you can throw Shaky Heads, Ned Rigs, Neko Rigs, Wacky Rigs, Weightless Flukes, and smaller Jigs. These rigs and baits will allow you to have a number of options when walking the bank, looking for bass, and won't break the bank. A lot of these rigs will work for smallmouth, too. Keep your lure sizes on the smaller end. My biggest producers for bank fishing are small soft plastics and squarebill crankbaits. If there are a lot of weeds along the bank, weightless Texas Rigged Senkos are big producers for me. I even have success fishing 7 or 8 inch finesse worms nose rigged with a weedless wacky hook, twitched along the surface like a small swimming snake. As far as colors, I keep it simple. Soft plastics: any color as long as it's green. Jigs: Green or Blue/Black. Anything else with a skirt, Chartreuse/White. Crankbaits: Shad colors or chartreuse/black. Good luck to you!

Z-Man 1/6 oz. Shroomz jighead with a Hula Stickz with the tentacles cut off. Voila! Upsized Turd rig.

Clear blue skies are not generally a friend to bass fishermen. Bass don't like bright sunlight and will seek shade and/or deeper water to avoid the sunlight. If a cold front has just passed through, the abrupt change in pressure will cause them to stop feeding for a few days until they adjust. I fished a lake here in Texas (where I almost always have a decent, if not terrific, day of fishing) this past Saturday, the day after the front blew through here. Got two legitimate bites and boated one which was smaller than usual. Threw everything I could think of to try to get reactions or entice them. Fished close to cover, fished deeper water, tried all the techniques that normally put fish in the boat on that lake and it felt like the bass had all gone on vacation. I think the front shut them down and the bluebird sky had them hunkered down in the shadows. Another suggestion is switch to using soft plastics. All the baits you mentioned are great baits, but to me, nothing beats soft plastics when it comes to getting bites. Ned rig, drop shot, neko rig, Texas rig, Carolina rig, wacky rig are all great ways to get them to bite. Learn to fish them with a great amount of patience, and slowly. Senkos and Senko-type baits are my personal favorite. Weightless Texas rigged or dragged along the bottom on a Carolina rig is a technique that produces for me most of the time. Don't be discouraged. It's tough until everything clicks, then it's still tough, but you'll put more fish in the boat.

Green pumpkin Senko

Went to the Cabela's in Buda, TX. It's huge. I dubbed it "Husband Day Care." Lots of things to keep the outdoor-minded occupied for a long time. Lots of pizzazz and eye-candy, but there is one flaw... The prices are too high. If I want a good deal, I go to Academy or I order from Tackle Warehouse. I do have to give props to Cabela's Tournament ZX series rods, though. They're a great value when they're on sale for $69, and they're my favorite rods. I have three of them.

I recently bought some 8lb. BPS Copoly to use as a leader for my spinning rigs. My impression of it is... brittle. I get more breakoffs than I should with a mono line.

Ned rig. They'll also hit 5" Senko style baits. I've even caught tiny bass on a Senko.

+1 Composite rod' +1 Monofilament or Copolymer With this combo, you can , yo.

Both are extraordinary treasures. Thanks for sharing.

This Saturday I was using a craw tube on a Carolina rig and caught one that ripped the claws off the bait. I said what the heck and threw the claw-less tube back out and dragged it back in a couple times and caught another one. This time the bait was gone for good.

I own a bunch of them. Since I catch bass on them, I'd say they were well worth the price. Well made, run true, and quality components, down to oval split rings. Their squarebills are my favorite.