dropped shot

I'm looking to invest in a heavier combo for flipping pads and throwing some smaller swimbaits like the gantarel jr. My budget is pretty decent maybe $300 for the setup. Thanks

I am well aware that Bozeman is a trout place. Is there any decent bass fishing within a reasonable distance?

This applies more to people not fishing. The vast majority of other fisherman I've ran into have been very respectful.

Its possible to fish finesse stuff on a casting rod, but spinning makes it much easier for a couple reasons. You can throw lighter lures on lighter line, and the rod is usually more sensitive to bottom contact and the light bites you get on these kinds of lures. It can be a pain to throw a weightless trick worm or even a senko on cheap casting gear. In addition you'll get better hooksets for these types of baits, watch Gary Yamamoto's tutorial on the sweep hookset. Also spinning gear is much cheaper. Go for a Pflueger president running 10-15 lb braid to a 10lb or even 8lb flouro leader. For the rod look at the Okuma reflexions 7'2 ML. Whole setup is around $100.

Same thing happened to me but I ended up catching her again prespawn, look at my profile pic

Most people never catch that many fish that size in their whole life....

Thats exactly whatd Id say if i wasnt too lazy to type that much. Socal has HUGE bass in almost every body of water big or small, and most lakes have teeners. The issue is the fishing pressure. I caught my first bass ever on private property near Fresno in the sierra foothills, and theres great bass fishing there with not a lot of pressure. Cali is definetley more diverse than florida its apples and oranges.

Ive caught a completely black largemouth

#1 winter tip- Stop wasting your time fishing Just kidding, youll get less bites but youll get the biggins. 7 of my 10 biggest bass ever were caught in february. I probably sound like a broken record, but fish slow, like painfully slow. Jerkbaits are the least boring way to fish in the winter, and they work even though most people would consider them a "fall bait".

-flickshake -drop shot robo/biospawn -senko dark colors on all 3

Norcal, clear lake area. Fishes year round and theres a bunch of lakes and you arent too far from the delta. You can fish ponds or bigger lakes.

id say cali if youre trophy hunting and like throwing hudds or dropshots only, but for quantity go to florida, theres a lot more water there, you can stop pretty much anywhere and fish. not saying theres a lack of fishing in california, but theres ponds everywhere in florida with a ton of big fish, and then you have the big o...