GrumpyOlPhartte

@TnRiver46: It is a bit of a pain, especially if ya forget to take a pen or pencil to fill out the form, but rules is rules. I can live with it. So far, as far as I can tell, only one lake in MA is confirmed to have the little beasties so maybe it helps.

For what it's worth, I use VMC, Owner, Trokar, and Gamakatsu. How do I make my choice? It's simple for me - it depends on what's available at my local store. Being a twice-a-week fisherman, I can't justify an order of hooks since I can't predict what I will need. All have served me well; however, because I like the screw-in bait keepers, I do prefer Owner. If you compare the keeper on an Owner with other brands, you will notice that the Owner bait keeper has a centering pin which helps align the bait with the keeper.

If at first ya don't succeed, don't try skydiving! Go bass fishing!

Good question! I thought I read somewhere that the additional cash was awarded if the angler hits some additional mark, i.e, the exact number of ounces over the winning poundage. My example is NOT what I remember reading - purely illustrative. I hope the folks at BBWC spot this topic and elucidate, then add it to their Rules or FAQ. Or, I could quit being lazy and e-mail them. First I gotta catch something big enough to make me worry about it!

I can do that! Time after time after time! And I don't even need help from the local flora. I just forget to turn all those little wheelie thingies on the sides off my reel when I change lures.

snake95: I gotta be honest. I plan on fishing the Whopper Plopper a lot more. Water here in MA was still chilly and I'm guessing I just hit a school of pups that gravitated toward the warmer shallows. I do want to pick up a couple of 110's and/or 130's for morning and evening fishing. While I love the Zara Spook and the Devil's Horse, I really stink at walking the dog from a sit-in kayak. (Mebbe if I used my old 5'6" trigger grip I'd do better.) So I'm gonna play with this guy more. Definitely a fun lure!

Two weeks ago I tried the Whopper Plopper for the first time. I used the WP 90 in the Loon pattern. I was casting from a small point on shore out past a small patch of standing "reeds" at dusk. There was a breeze and slight surface chop. I used a steady retrieve. The results were interesting. In a half hour I caught five bass. That's the good news. The bad news is that the largest was 10 inches. I figure to catch a respectable bass I have to wait for the Whopper Plopper 250 to be developed. Gotta admit those little dinks smacked the whoop out of it. One that I missed actually knocked the lure up into the air. And when I set the hook on the smallest one, I came within inches of having really fresh sushi for supper. But dang! It was a blast.

Mankind & J Franco: Dang! Never knew it was tungsten carbide! Thanks for the info. Only problem is that now I have to remember two words, not one. I'll probably forget and just keep saying, "tungsten," even though I now know better. Good stuff though!

smalljaw67: I think you're spot on. The lead ban is a reality here, so we just have to deal with it. And, yup, it's gonna cost more for the more exotic materials, no matter what. I guess the up side for me is that I'm not good enough to be able to blame the size of my weight or jig head for my failure to catch fish so at this point, I can deal with the larger size of the steel or tin components. Hence, my recommendation for using them. (Not that I have a choice.) I like the more compact tungsten products, but to be honest, i don't really know if they make me a better fisherman. It would be interesting to hear from the more skilled guys on the subject. Oh, and the lakes I fish get so weedy, it doesn't matter what size the jig head is, it's gonna get a limit on weeds. Still, I'm glad there are companies that produce the tungsten jigs and will support them. I'm just starting to have confidence in jig fishing and am not going to give up.

Ratherbefishin75: Now you're talkin' heresy! No dues? What a concept. What if that idea actually caught on? ?

Connorwallin: In my opinion, you have a number of options given the selection of tackle you already own. I really like @MassYak85's response! My suggestion would be to use what you have until you are confident in one or more of your baits, then expand your selection for that type of bait. The guy that got me started in "serious" bass fishing started me with Texas-rigged worms and a couple of spinner baits. I was moderately successful with the worms but never could catch a fish on a spinnerbait. So, I expanded my selection of worms and added crawfish. Then I added some jigs. Next was a Zara Spook and a Devil's Horse for evening surface action. I'm not saying this would be your choice, but it may help you focus on learning to fish, not learning to collect hardware. With everything that's out there, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Try to find a style of fishing in which you have confidence, then expand. Of course, you have to accept that there will be days when your method won't produce, but you will still be a better fisherman by learning conditions under which a method WON'T work. While the subscription services provide cool stuff and introduce you to new gear, they may not be suitable for you. Here in western Massachusetts, no bass has ever seen a shad and anything with treble hooks is merely a tool for gathering salad ingredients so it seems to me that I wouldn't be getting my money's worth from a subscription. I do believe they are great for some folks, but not everyone. Just some thoughts before you get assaulted by the tackle monkey. And, sooner or later, he will get you! Good luck!

cgolf: Here in MA, lead weights or jigs under one ounce are a no-no. My approach is to purchase from vendors that carry non-lead products. Nothing gets a vendor's attention like customer support. And it is tough to find appropriate equipment, I admit, but I did find Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp Tin Bass Jigs at Dick's Sporting Goods for about $3.50 each and I can say from experience that the green pumpkin with a 3-inch Chigger Craw catch fish ... well, until I set the hook on a many-pound obstruction and lost it! Will be trying black/red and black/blue. The price is less than many other tungsten jigs although I do intend to make a small order from Siebert Outdoors. I e-mailed them regarding their tungsten products and got a very helpful response very quickly which gives me faith in their customer service (something that is critical to me). I am hopeful that vendors will expand their selections of tungsten, bismuth, and other ecologically friendly products as demand increases. By the way, I got the steel sinkers at Walmart too and while bulky, they work. I'm debating whether or not to paint them to make them less obtrusive. And, as I mentioned in another forum, I suggest getting a small kitchen magnet to help sort the steel from the lead. Might even help if a game warden happens to ask about your sinkers and jig heads.

Heck, I'll get in on this! U.S. Navy (Silent Service - submarines) from 1970 to 1979. (And people wonder why I go around talking to myself.)

Several good options have been mentioned above. Just to muddy the waters, here are four cutters for under $10.00. The two Rapala products came from Dick's. The green-handled Cortland scissors and the KVD tool came from Walmart. All seem to work although the Rapala nippers have to be fully extended for max efficiency. The Rapala scissors and the Cortland scissors work, but I feel the rivets holding the two pieces together seem to loosen. That being said, they both lasted a year for me. I really like the KVD tool because the serrated blades are a much thicker stainless steel and are mated by a screw which can probably be tightened if necessary to insure the blades are snug. The split-ring pliers are a bonus. Unfortunately, there is no way to easily attach a lanyard. Oh, and I realize now I've duplicated some other responses, for which I apologize i've seen ads for a cutter called the Pitbull Tackle Cutter which is touted to be the ultimate braid cutter. Search YouTube for vids on this tool. If I remember correctly it is about $20.00. Demos are very impressive.

J. Bricker: Not sure if it's appropriate to name the club, but they have a website that lists the membership fees. Took my breath away! If ya want a deal, they have a family membership for 2K! Or four weeks for a measly $675.00. Claims to be a private 128-acre lake with a max of ten boats allowed on it at a time. I'll not bore you with the rest of the details.

Donating my $.02. For what it's worth, the only bass club near me has an annual fee of $1500.00. Heck, if I had that kind of money, I'd get a killer kayak. From personal experience, I would rather just be helpful to other fishermen. I had a spare $3.00 LED flashlight and gave it to a guy who was without. He and his buddy spent a half hour explaining the contours of the lake, suggested lures and presentations to use, and I was only out three bucks!

FCPhil: I would suggest you take a look at Z-Man soft plastics. I use their worms and flukes and can attest to the fact that they are VERY buoyant. They have a wide range of products and, in my experience, will float with a 3/0 hook - the size I happen to use. I'd try to attach a link, but would just monkey it up. Any search should take you right to the website. Might try searching YouTube. That's how I found info about them. Good luck! One note: Because of the tough, but very pliable plastic material they use, I can't thread them on a keeper hook like an Owner. Supposedly you can heat them, but I never had much luck. If you try them I'd love to hear how you screw the keeper into their products. But, they certainly catch fish!!!

Mikey: Good to see another soul getting back into fishing! I started up again after a thirty-year hiatus and am still overwhelmed by all the new gear and techniques. Just a thought, but I have several small (Plano 3700) boxes for different techniques. For example, I have a box for finesse styles such as drop-shot and wacky rigs, another for jigs and creature baits, one for worms, etc. I even have a new one, smaller, for spinnerbaits and chatterbait. ( I couldn't catch a cold with a spinnerbait until last year!) Anyway, when I go out just to fish I use a large tackle box with lots of stuff. BUT, when I go out to learn a new technique, I only take a box with the appropriate tackle. I may not catch many bass, but I am forcing myself to learn how to use what I have. Hint: Plan ahead and use these forums and the articles and videos to learn which technique might be best for a given time of year and prevailing weather/water conditions. Don't know if this appeals to you, but it does help me. Good luck!

ErikmonBillsfon: Only lake with which I'm familiar down in South County is Laurel Lake and I'm not too sure I want to deal with the zebra mussel issue. Up here, each time we launch a watercraft we are supposed to sign a form stating that we have "sterilized" the boat if we have used it in a list of questionable bodies of water, one of which is ... you guessed it - Laurel Lake. Since I use a kayak it's not too bad, but still a royal pain. Fortunately there are several good fisheries here. Would be fun to meet another bassin' enthusiast though! I gotta check out other lakes down there. If ya look at my profile pic you can see mine was post spawn too. Caudal fin was a wreck and you can see the skinny belly. Oh, she was only 19" and, according to my shaky scale she was four pounds two ounces. You should enter the BBWC if you're catching 21" fish!

Show-off! Really nice fish! I'm out in the cheap seats ... Pittsfield. Have to agree things are warming up here, well, except for the weather. I tripped over the bass in my profile pic last week using a black/blue fleck Exostick Pro. Best catch in two years. There is hope for us here in MA. Again, beautiful fish! Congrats!

flyingmonkey: I had so many requirements due to my age, limited space for kayak storage, and a small vehicle, for car-topping that I doubted I'd ever find a suitable yak. Saw a lot of inexpensive small yaks that just didn't appear to be durable even though they were lighter. I've never regretted my choice - it's still going strong and this is it's third year of use. Now if the danged thing just came with a bass magnet it would be perfect!

KenP: out here in the cheap seats, I believe there are a disproportionate number of folks that just don't think. I realize that sometimes lines break and we can't do much, but I am amazed at the numbers of line tangles that people apparently cut off and discard at the fishing site. But, from my personal observations, it doesn't appear to be bass fishermen. Most of the stuff is really cheap, light line. (Some even comes with bobbers!) Gives me hope for the sport! I've finally started taking a plastic bag to carry out some of the litter. I should have been doing it much sooner. I'm wondering how much harm is done by the cast-off line.

First, if your kayak cost over five hundred bucks, you can skip this. Second, this may only be of interest to the seven other people in the world who, for one reason or another, have purchased or are considering purchasing an Old Town Trip 10 DLX kayak. If you're curious about my rationale for choosing this particular yak, let me know. If you want more specifics on my dashboard, let me know. Finally, for those seven broke people with Trip 10s, I am tossing in a pic of my milk crate mod and will be happy to discuss it in a future article or individually if you message me. I suggest messaging me only because this is probably going to interest only a small number of folks and I don't want to tie up the forum with this. Hope you enjoy. The first pic shows the Trip 10 as is ... well, except for the anchor trolleys I installed. Bless you, all you YouTubers! Also shown are my "dashboard", a fine blue bungee cord, and one of the ubiquitous Plano 3700 tackle boxes. The second pic shows my judicious application of Velcro to the tackle box and my "dashboard". Why the Velcro? I have multiple tackle boxes for various fishing styles and I can swap them in and out for worms, jigs, flukes, crankbaits, or a conglomeration! All are easy to reach and won't go overboard on an enthusiastic hook set. This concept also focuses me when I go fishing under a given set of conditions. Also just makes it easier for my aging self to get at stuff I need. The third pic shows things in place. The fourth pic is a closeup showing the bungee cord holding everything in place. Also provides quick installation and removal. It also shows the paddle holder I added to the "dashboard" since the manufacturer's athwartships paddle holders are used to hold the dashboard. (Also keeps the paddle from banging around on a hook set!) Finally, I threw in a pic of my crate and rodholder setup. If anyone is interested in why I did it the way I did, I will just say that the commercially-available rod holders did not meet my requirements. I'll be happy to do another blurb about the crate. Don't know how many broke Trip 10 fishermen are out there who would be interested

Glenn: Thank you! Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when the Grand Poobah says,"Welcome!" I've read the articles and learned so much from your vids. Getting a chance next week to put into practice all the knowledge you've imparted since I got back into the sport. DogBone_384: Mebbe, but ya kept all the big ones out there in the high-rent district! Anyway, thanks for the welcome.

Deeare: You make a lot of sense. I agree completely. Was merely relaying what the officer said to me. Don't tell the politicos in Boston about the fish hook issue - if they ban fish hooks we are well and properly screwed! In any case we as fisherfolk can comply and I like to believe it helps. Hmmm. Biodegradable fish hooks? Hey, ya never know. At least I'm thinking the hooks eventually rust; lead doesn't.