Tatsu Dave

No and have no intentions of ever doing, although it would probably be fun except for the welts.

Yeah its gonna be a cold winter they say.....but what do "they" know? The water up here is still major high and rivers are running fast as well. Good hunting and fishing for all as we slip into fall. Dave

Wow does it raise a welt!!! Only took part in one and thought better of such things. Shot local benchrest matches and was surprised at how well I did. Does go thru barrels however.

Carry a 45acp handgun and won't ever wish I had something too late. This state has a concealed carry law for all that are not felons. Amazing how much more polite people have become since that law went into effect. Our boat ramps are in the woods and lot of sketchy people hang around them at all hours. Carry and learn how to use your firearm.......well.

Fall is here up in Maine, boats all cleaned up and winterized and now I shift into hunting mode. Leaves are almost all down and we've had some cold weather already, my how the summer flies by! Fall is my favorite time though........leaf color, crisp air, geese going over house in large v-formations. Don't know how much longer we'll be able to dress and eat deer, our fish and game is telling us to avoid any head and neck handling.......long gloves and safe disposal of head and internals. How will this work I wonder. Only a few seasons left for me, can't see me climbing up in trees and dragging deer for that much longer. Feel bad for my son and the younger generations. Good Hunting to all and stay safe! Dave

There it is.....the big difference between tatsu and every other FC line I've yet used. I run smaller spinning set-ups and a spool of tatsu fills two reels completely. If a larger spool use some backing, haven't hit the bass yet that can take a football field(100yds) of line. Also haven't found an easier to manage FC to this point. Buy KVD conditioner in bulk, its a lot cheaper. Couldn't put it any simpler than that. I figure if we can afford good rods and reels than we should consider line just as important........its what connects the rod and reel to the big bass you just hooked. My six FC rigs have two going into third year and two going into second year on spools of tatsu. I will suggest its one of the most abrasion resistant FC lines out there for sale.

Pflueger is my choice, heard all the bad being said online about em' but don't see it in the ones my son and I are using. 3 president xt and a president and zero problems. Getting another xt this winter as well, smooth and light with nice drags (and yes they still have anti reverses). Less than $100.........am considering a legalis Diawa also to try. Dave

Probably just me but the grubs w/ that undulating ribbontail swim look always seem to outfish the conventional paddle or boot tail swim motion. Again probably just me......

That ^^^^ you can't reel fast enough...........

So would I, sounds like a good idea but never seen one up here. Also seems giving them to someone is a very popular choice. The melting and repouring of plastics I never considered but maybe should. Near as I can tell I'm around 30lb's of plastics at this point ?

Thats what I want to get into or get started, would work well for me. Maybe I'll start things w/a yard sale kinda thing and see who comes by that may be in the same situation. See if I can grow it a bit........

Hmmmm......didn't think of throwing them away as an option. I was thinking new condition stuff you don't use for some reason or another.

Heres my question.....what do you do with lures you never use, store them - trade them off - sell them - or give them to someone. Its got to happen to any of the experimenting bass fisherman.....what say you? I'll just say I sell mine locally usually online buying/selling/trading sites. Dave

I use only lures that have won my confidence in past situations where and how I fish. Colors are an opinion they either don't matter or they do. I have about 8 colors that are my go to favorite's and about 10 different lures I use. I have a huge box of plastics that is all unopened stock, I have another big box that's all lures and colors I just don't use at all. I have a current list of new baits and colors to buy this winter (it's pretty big). I think most bass fisherman have a ton of lures and baits and some they don't know what to do with. I use a local trade and sell site online and eventually sell it to someone local. Dave

Well maybe where you live but not where I fish. What kind of animals have fins and gills in Maine? I don't advocate killing eagles or ospreys, the latter which I've never seen anywhere I fish. I'm merely stating facts about here in Maine where I fish. Otters eat fish but very few compared to eagles, its a nationwide forum and when you get a dozen eagles feeding on fish at one time (after the young are fledged) they kill and eat a lot of fish. Doing what they are born to do (thats why so many nest along rivers and lakes) but its still a fact where I live. We take pictures of the large magnificent birds of prey all summer in fact. You haven't lived till you've seen a heron and eagle face off over fishing territory. I just showed a SM cause I just caught one all bloody from a large bird encounter, actually we catch far more LM with scars and damage cause they are easier to catch in shallows.

Where I fish they are eagles and large fish eating hawks almost big as the eagles. I posted a pic of a SM over 3lbs that was raked and bloodied by these birds. We watched an eagle dive and hit a bass at least 4lbs and he was flipping like they do when jumping with a lure and wriggled free about 40 feet high and splashed into the water. Wasn't floating so probably survived, we were pulling for the bass. They are all protected and both our spots had three nesting pairs of course separated by about a mile. Takes a lot of fish to keep a nesting pair w/2-3 young ones fed on a daily basis.

Agree totally Fins is another good one that won't fade in black. Sufix will fade quick and to a lighter color.

Thats for sure, at a steady pace they have to decide quickly and react. Actually I fish reaction style with stickbaits, not slow crawl on the bottom or a hop every couple seconds. When people see me fishing they think I'm using a jerkbait the rapid and quick jerking retrieve. Actually its why I only use ochos and senkos anymore, they have that great dying shad left/right twitch that fish don't wait with they hit. I learned it with sluggos years ago and could follow another fisherman using worms or grubs and catch fish that ignored their baits. You also need to target your casts where you think the fish are,near cover or right on the edge of weedlines. Yesterday I dropped a stickbait right on a big fish that was holding close to cover, could tell by the quick swirl and instant hit when it hit the water.

Wow.....good post. You are right, its a time when you can actually spend some time doing what you really want. In fact I think I'll go fishing this afternoon to celebrate, probably won't go like yesterday but any day doing what you want is a good one.

Well I'm one for sure, should have been with me yesterday........only sucking sound I heard was bass sucking in my stickbaits ? It won't get any better than right now. Dave

I catch them both in water I fish and enjoy the mix, SM prefer the harder bottoms and both species use the same structure. SM just fight in a different league, can usually tell before I see the fish which one it is. I just posted pics of both in the Fishing Reports Thread from yesterdays trip.

Trust T-Billy he has quite a lot of experience w/ buying rods ?

Dip of JJ's now before fishing, used to use Pro Cure or Megastrike but too much to keep applying every so many casts so I just stopped. Haven't really seen any difference to tell you the truth, I would have went back to them if it would have made a noticeable difference. Not saying anybody is right or wrong.....just my experience. I will say in the tube baits a little on a piece of earplug lasts a long time (thanks A Jay)Now whats with the water based question? Is OP going to elaborate on his thread title?

Sorry for double post but heres a bass that has just a tinge of that yellow orange coloring I posted about a while back....gotta be the craw's. If I would have had a pic taker w/ me I could have held him like my avatar, his mouth was colored inside some, oh well. What an old war veteran w/ the scars to prove it. Looks like an eagle or big fish hawk tried but failed, Love them ol' brown fish.........

Well son had Wed off so we planned a trip, problem was they called him in to work so bummer. I still got up and slogged to the water solo and started out, forecast was cloudy and calm, water temp was low sixties. Started casting and noticed the other nights rain had raised the water noticeably and hid a lot of short stickups and stumps. Great gotta rely on memory to not practice bumper boats with the wood ? slow start but had no way to hold any fish and take pics anyhow. Then it started getting dark and a thunderstorm let loose w/ strong winds, day just got better I thought, but I noticed the wind and current had teamed up with the chop and was beating the shallows on one side. Kept casting cause that's what you do, the fishing changed quickly and the bass bite was on! First bass was 3 1/4lb's and they started coming steady, lost count of the total but enough chunkies to keep it fun. Lost a big one right at the boat when he dived into some sunken timber, threw back 2lber's as fast as possible to keep throwing that lure. Don't get days like this as often as I'd like but sure appreciate them when they come. Sorry had to hang them on my net to hold for pics but fish understood and we got thru it. Tatsu Dave