BigAngus752

My go-to is a Zoom Trick Worm on a pegged Texas rig with the lightest weight I can get away with. That's the worm rig that I fish the most. I was wondering if the Neko might work better in the brush but it sounds like maybe not. Thanks

I love the action of a shaky head (especially the stand-up) with a worm or a Ned rig with a ZinkerZ on it. The "head down/tail up" thing is just killer for the bass around here. What I'm struggling with is the lakes that I fish the most are all man-made and the majority is covered with either standing timber or fallen timber/brush at all depths. Rarely do I run across sand or gravel and the only rock is where they've put in riprap. I have much difficulty with hanging up Ned rigs and even Tex-posed shaky heads. Is the Neko the answer to this? I bought some "weedless" Owner Neko hooks but didn't get a chance to try them before the hard water. Watching Neko videos it seems like the Neko would come through brush better even with the exposed hook since the hook is coming up sideways with the weighted end of the worm pulling it that way. Does anyone fish them in wood? Am I on the right track or do you have other suggestions?

This advice about colors seems like extremely sound advice. Currently, we (depending upon who is fishing with me wife/son) only put the PFDs on when we are going to go up on plane. Mine is a cheap, camo fishing PFD. My wife and son wear their brightly-colored ski vest which are not comfortable. I would like to have a bright-colored auto-inflating PFD for each of us but the only place near us that sells them is Field and Stream and everything there is way overpriced. Does anyone have a recommendation for finding a reputable inflatable online? And recommendations for what is "reputable"?

Are you self-diagnosing? I've been an avid (non-competitive) bodybuilder for 27 years and my strongest suggestion is to visit a respected sports therapist and get an eval. Even if you are correct in your diagnosis, you can greatly increase your turn-around time by getting a pros help. Otherwise you can find some appropriate exercises online. I generally trust some of the articles found on this website if you want to take a look here: https://squatuniversity.com/2018/09/27/strengthening-the-serratus-anterior/ Good luck!

I bought one at the same time you did. I asked my wife if she wanted it and she jumped at the offer. When my wife isn't with me, will it be rigged and sitting on deck ready to go? Heck yes! I don't care if it's pink. It's a good reel. In the words of Homer Simpson, "Just because I'm wearing a pink shirt doesn't mean that I'm some kind of a pink donut eater!"

Most chest exercises will work the serratus anterior to some extent. The more important question is why you need to work that muscle directly. Do you have shoulder issues? Or stabilization problems while doing heavy overhead work?

This has always been a very interesting statement to me (and I use it sometimes myself) but it distinctly implies that we do not intend to keep the item we are referring to. The market value of an item we already own makes no difference at all unless we are going to sell it or use it as collateral. I think sometimes when we are buying something we really want and we talk about how well "they hold their value" we are, at least subconsciously, admitting that we probably aren't going to keep it forever. I know that when I'm looking at an expensive toy like a Jeep or a Harley and I start talking about "how well they hold their value" my wife looks at me sideways because she can see I'm about to throw away a couple grand! LOL I've grown to prefer to buy the things I'll keep forever. I've had a few Harleys come and go, but I have one that bought in 2002 that I will eventually give to my son. I've had more vehicles than I can count, but I've had my Mustang for 29 years. I still waste some money on "stuff", but when you find just the right thing it can become something more than "stuff" and, at that point, market value doesn't matter. One man's trash is another man's treasure!

Your favorite pro doesn't use the best available equipment. He uses what his sponsor gives him and then he tells you it's the best available equipment. It's not nefarious, it's just the way capitalism works. Fortunately you have the common sense to figure out what the best stuff is for you!

You deserve a brand new boat just as a reward for your patience and positive attitude!

Thank you! Just ordered the Lady President and my wife is thrilled.

Just within the past few years I've come back to bass fishing and I've been making a concerted effort to become as proficient as I can as a bass fisherman. Trying to learn by watching and listening to the pros and experts has been frustrating because so many of them teach techniques that conflict with other pros and experts. I feel your post is dead on. My plan now is to Brett Favre my way into the spotlight. My technicals are low but my intangibles are off the charts!

Are you fast enough to grab this St. Croix Legend from my hand?

Also, maybe this only applies to me but I found it is the absolute perfect line for walking the dog. I love the Zara Spooks and I find that mono is too stretchy and braid is not forgiving enough. I use a Med/Med rod and YZH and I consistently get comments from other fisherman about my ability to walk topwaters. For the sake of full disclosure I will tell you that, along the lines of @J.Vincent and @reason, it's time for me to respool all of my YZH reels and I've decided to fill them with 12lb Big Game for the year to compare the two. I will leave YZH on my walk-the-dog set-up though.

That's definitely something I will continue to throw! Love those frogs! I used to think so, but I have to disagree now. What I learned this year from trying to use that lipless as a "search bait" is that I was missing fish. I started experimenting by drifting shorelines and dropoffs with the wind using the lipless. I found that I could consistently catch a couple fish with the lipless and then troll back against the wind going slower with a Trick Worm and catch at least one or two more. Not a huge believer in the "search bait" anymore. I think it's important to study and pick an area (based on all factors) where the fish SHOULD be and then figure out what they want. That's awesome stuff right there. Thanks. Unfortunately it's 12 degrees here right now. I could park my truck on most of our water.

Excellent for cranks. 12lb is perfect. And if you use KVD line conditioner it's even better. I have used it for two years on all of my treble hook presentations.

I'm almost 50yrs old, I am an avid bodybuilder, and I maintain a consistent body fat percentage of about 10% year round. I work out five or six days a week and I eat an extremely strict diet which typically results in me eating the same foods every single day. My co-workers call me "The Food Police" because I encourage them to eat clean and I never give in to temptation, even when our workplace is stacked full of holiday treats. Sticking with a single technique 99% of the time isn't going to be a problem. It's my personality to suffer. What I don't want to do, though, is be so stubborn (or inexperienced) that I don't recognize that a specific set of circumstances makes a jig or plastics an inappropriate choice. Pre-spawn for example. Other than a bladed jig, I'm not sure pre-spawn and the need for moving baits is going to work out well if I just stick to jigs and plastics. I feel like the bladed jig is cheating a little but I'm going to have to have a bunch of @Siebert Outdoors Fogys standing buy when I need a mover.

That's just my personality. My life pretty much revolves around testing my self-discipline, LOL. This is what I have in mind, I just don't want to fall back to something else unless absolutely necessary. Thanks for the input. This is encouraging.

Yes, I've been all over this for a couple months now. I've got my various jig styles/weights and I've got set-ups for them. I got to practice a little at the end of the year. The only thing I'm really not sure about is the rate of fall and how trailers relate but that will come with time on the water. I appreciate the tips. I've got some experience with plastics and Zoom Trick Worms have been by fall back for catching fish for the last couple of years. I recently found I love the Ned Rig with Z-Man ElaZtech stuff. I'll be going through a lot of those this year. Thanks for this. I get pretty stubborn. This will help.

Okay, so it's MY top lure of the year and I am probably the only one that cares but please keep reading as I could use some expert advice. Looking back at my 2018 fishing logs I was surprised to find that this was the lure that produced the most numbers. And not by a little either. Not the biggest fish, but the most by far. I sat down to figure out why and this is what I came up with: When 2018 opened I set down one ground rule; no spinnerbait fishing. This was important because it has always been my favorite way to fish and I use it as a crutch. So, I decided to set them aside for the entire year so I could focus on other (any other) presentations. The result was that I fished a whole bunch of techniques that I had little experience with and some I had never tried. I very much enjoyed it but it turns out that, in an effort to be successful in finding fish with these new techniques, I would almost usually start with this lipless crank as a "search bait". It was perfect for that role because it only cost me $1.96 at Walmart and I was willing to throw it ANYWHERE. I mean into any location that was sure to snag, and I hung it up a million times but always managed to get it back and, apparently, I also caught a whole lot of fish with it. As you can see some mean, old bass plucked his eye out and he's been roughed up quite a bit for one season of fishing. I'm not complaining about catching all those fish, but I think I can do better. Here is where the advice comes in. I have a new plan for 2019. I'm not choosing to set aside one technique, instead I am going to try to focus almost exclusively on jig fishing and plastics. Is it viable for me to expect success through all the seasons if I limit myself to just jigs and plastics? I feel like the jig is such a productive lure that I could have a successful year with just that. I'm sure I will break down and throw the occasionally hollow-body frog ('cause it's the most fun you can have on the water) but I'm a very inexperienced jig fisherman and I want to get good at it. Do you envision me getting frustrated with this rule I have made for myself? Any tips for jigs by season?

I've had State Farm for all of my homeowners and vehicle insurance since 1987. I've had multiple claims and all have been handled very well leaving me with no complaints. I hear many people complain that State Farm is expensive but I have shopped all of my policies with all of the major companies several times over the years and no one comes close to beating State Farm, HOWEVER that is ONLY due to the fact that I have everything with State Farm. Their multi-line discounts are enormous. If you try to get a policy for just one vehicle the cost will be high.

That makes sense too. It just felt natural to me going LH but that sure isn't how most people feel. The only downside for me is the LH reels are harder to find, especially used or on clearance.

I fished my entire life with spinning and didn't try a bc until I was 47 years old. It's definitely worth it for many presentations. As @Koz pointed out: There is a learning curve with this...but I fixed that by buying left-handed baitcasters. That is just as natural as can be for me. I'm just surprised at how many guys prefer the right-handed and switching hands with the rod. If you decide to go for it, borrow a lefty from someone and give it a try before you buy your reel.

If you can't outrun molasses you really need to work on your cardio. ?

Bobcat. From a distance they can sound exactly like a woman screaming. Had one that came to drink at a pond near my house when I was a kid. Would scream a few nights a week after drinking from the pond. Makes it hard to sleep when you're 9 or 10!

What???!!!!! This is the worst sentence I've ever read. Please tell me what part of the country you are in so that I NEVER accidentally move there.