pawpaw

Gotta love 1982! This is where I would normally say Go Cards, but this years team just isn't very good. I don't think they're going anywhere for a while. So, I'm just gonna have to go along with you on the "Choke Cubs" thing. Anybody BUT the Cubs!!!

I would probably choose 7' mh casting & 6'6" med spinning

Yep! You fished the wrong lake. I recommend going back and dragging your yak up the hill to West lake. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised.

WOW!! NICE!! You let out a loud grunt and a crow hop on that cast didn't you?

I fish the 1.5 the vast majority of the time. I've had quite a few days that they were smoking a 1.5 and I switched to the 2.5 to see if I could improve on the size. I can't remember a time that my numbers didn't go down and I can't recall the size ever increasing. Not saying it never happened, but if it did I can't remember it. For this reason I see no reason to throw anything other than a 1.5 on a square bill bite. It just flat out catches more fish for me. The big fish don't seem to mind it either.

I've done best by reeling them in steady with the rod low and at a 45 degree angle to the bait. Experiment to find the speed they like. Some times though they want a pull and reel up slack retrieve. Similar to a Carolina rig. There's probably no wrong way to fish them.

THANK YOU!

Very cool. Thanks

I try to keep every thing my Grandkids use Texas rigged. I'm afraid of them hooking themselves or others with any open hooks. We mostly use a 4" plastic worm with an 1/8 oz weight and a 2/0 hook. That set up is about as weedless (snag proof) as anything I can think of. If they HAVE to cast and retrieve to be happy we go with the little swimming fluke Texas rigged. We ALWAYS make them wear some sort of glasses as well.

Nice fish. But.....You're kinda lacking on giving up the details though. Sooooooo????

Crock o gator for me.

Japan Tackle

I try not to go anywhere that carrying is prohibited by law. It's not always possible but I do my best to avoid those places.

Ok, makes sense now.

For me the old saying "When in doubt..... don't" has served me very well over the years. As for you, I would suggest you do/say what your conscience will bear. Is there more to the story to explain "lesson learned #1" or am I not getting something?

This article should help. http://***store.blogspot.com/2013/02/choosing-megabass-jerkbait-colors.html

Neither do I, but if I remember right that was their pitch.

Easier penetration

I have found that there is no one retrieve that works every time. Sometimes it's a series of jerks and pauses, sometimes it's pulls and pauses. Other times it's some combination of the two. The one thing that is the real key is finding the shad in the area. If I can find the shad and then locate fish suspended over brush piles or under docks etc. near them, I find my success rate goes way up. The deeper the fish are suspended the deeper diving jerkbaits i will use. I like to keep it just over their heads. In water temps in the 40-50 range I use a more subtle retrieve with longer pauses. In water 50 to about 55ish I like a more aggressive retrieve with shorter pauses. I will seldom throw a jerkbait in water over 55 as I find I can cover more water with a crankbait, spinnerbait etc.

I have the Daiwa Zillion SV TW and would highly recommend it as a jig reel. I also use the Lew's BB1 Pro and BB2 Pro wide spool on several crankbait rods and would recommend those as well. I have a bunch of Shimano Chronarch's with some dating back to the 90's. They have always been a very solid reel and are one of my all time favorites. I would think if you are in the market for new reels this weekend is going to be a good time to pick them up, price wise. Some models sell out fast though.

My micro guides are just about unusable when air temps are below freezing. They freeze up before I can finish retrieving a cast. They are harder to de-ice too. It's like they freeze solid. The conventional ones freeze up too but I'm usually able to get a couple casts before I have to pick them clean. They (conventional) are much easier to clean out too. Other than that I have no problem with micro guides.

No, not for me at least. I like the moderate fast action like on the Loomis CBR for most crankbaits. There's not enough flex in a ex-fast to keep the fish hooked up when it jumped and threw slack in the line or from tearing out when it surged at the boat.

Do you ever do any deep crankbait (6-8-10Xd) fishing? A-Rig? Flip or punch heavy weights? Drop shot or shakey head or any type finesse worm?

Welcome to Bass Resource.

I doubt the anger or the sadness will ever leave many of us. I know neither will ever leave me.