Red

It dosen't bother me one bit. As long as they perform, it dosen't matter to me. I bought them to fish with, not to protect like it is a Mickey Mantle rookie card or something. ;D

Thanks again guys, I am soaking it all in. Can't wait for a decent NON windy day to put it all to use.

Like someone mentioned, watch the flea market here. Can find some great deals for sure!!

Wow! Thanks y'all for all this great info! I will be putting it all to good use as soon as the freakin wind lets me!! AHHHHH I hate the wind!! I went out tonight with intentions to get onto that roadbed but it was way too windy, so I just went home. I will keep you all posted on how I am doing, keep the info flowing!! Thanks Cliff

Well I recently got a new depth finder and I also recently stopped catching fish shallow. I have been doing a bit of "looking" with the graph and have located some deeper structure. I haven't had the chance to really slow down and fish it yet, but I plan to this weekend. I have found a roadbed that is about 15 feet deep in which tonight I saw some sort of "stuff" on it and also saw what I believe was balls of bait fish. This roadbed is also within a good long cast from a set of flooded trees where I caught a nice 5lber a few weeks back. Those trees are in about 7-8 feet of water. I have also located a creek channel that drops from about four feet down to 12, and the shallow part of this is an outside treeline. I also noticed several bends in this channel. The last thing is kinda hard to explain. The creek channel comes up to a flat then drops back down forming another channel. Picture the letter "T", each line being a channel with a small flat in between. This side channel is lined on both sides with flooded timber in about 8 feet of water. I caught one that was also around 5lbs from this treeline. My question is how would you approach these areas when it is 100 degrees out and bright sun? This is all new to me so lets have it. Thanks for reading my long post, any help is much appreciated!! Thanks Cliff

I have never drop shotted one, actually I have never dropshotted anything! But I have caught alot of fish on the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad by fishing it either weightless or on a weighted EWG hook and just chunkin and reelin it. Great bait.

Spinnerbaits, trick worms, bullet weights, power worms, topwater baits, jigs, and some plastic craws. A rod and reel will also be needed. ;D

I caught alot of pike and walleye when I lived in Minnesota, even have a couple scars from their teeth. That is nothing like any pikes mouth I ever saw. I don't have any ideas what it is, but isn't a pike, muskie, or walleye in my opinion.

all by hisself. He made the cast, set the hook, and reeled them in. They were both caught on chartruse rattlesnakes rigged weightless. Thanks for lookin! Cliff

I tend to try to slow down when I am in a skunk. Sometimes I just throw it out and let it sit, then the bit comes. Like they say if you think your fishing slow, go slower.

Right now a successful day would be one where I can fish for more than an hour before having to fight the freakin wind!!

I have been working on getting my 5 rod arsenal built up for about three years now. I have managed to build four custom baitcast rods paired with Revo S-L's except one has a black max, it will be a revo in two weeks though. I also have one spinning rig which is an american rodsmiths rod with an abu 801 cardinal. Once I get that last revo I wont be replacing anything until it gets broken.

Yeah and just imagine having to deal with it in an 8' Bass Buster that weight less than 200lbs!

What other techniques/baits would be well suited for a good crankbait rod? I have one but I don't throw cranks alot. I feel bad just letting it sit there getting no attention. Cliff

I went out this morning, didn't get much time in before the wind dang near blew me off the water! I threw spinnerbait and topwater for a while with nothing at all. Then I moved up into the timber and pitched a jig. I caught one small keeper right off the bat then I had no bites for a while. So I moved out onto the creek channel edge and threw a deep crank. I got one super dink on it, but I gained a bit of confidence however because this is not something I typically throw. Then the freakin wind picked up so I bailed. Someone is catching decent fish on this lake, I saw two of them dead on the ramp this morning. I will be out there every chance I get for the next three days, all depends on the wind. I hate the wind. Thanks Cliff

Wow if I had y'alls expectations I would be very disappointed!! Right now I am just hoping to get my first bite for the week!!! I caught four bass a few weeks ago in one trip, the best ever for me. One of my goals this season is to catch a limit of keeper size fish, that day was close.

Your my hero! Amazing!

So I am in central texas and the weather has been typical. Bluebird skies and freakin HOT! But this week storms moved in from the north and it has been cloudy and scattered rain everyday, and much cooler. I went out Tuesday evening but only got in an hour or so before the lightning scared me back to the ramp. The winds are now back from the south. I am going to try early tomorrow, weather permitting. My question is how will this drastic change in the weather effect the bass? I am thinking that with the overcast skies that they would be moved away from cover a bit. Maybe in the mood for chasing down a moving bait rather than a jig or t-rig. What would you do with the weather change? Also this weather moved in on Monday and has been like this all week. Thanks for your help! Cliff

I was a hardcore skater for many many years. I have seen my share or sprained and jacked up ankles, both still "click" today. I wore those lace up braces on both ankles. I don't recall them being very expensive and they were great. I would recommend them.

Bottle cap? It might be a little big though. Or maybe one of those little rubber caps that are sometimes found on the foot of a chair or table with metal tubing for legs.

I voted split grip. All my rods are this. However I have never owned a quality full grip rod. All my rods are customs except my spinning rod. When I was learning to build them, the split grip was the "cool" thing so I guess thats why I did them like that. But more importantly, like others have mentioned is the lack of the foregrip. When It comes time to buy new rods, that will be what I am looking for, not the split grip.

In my experience, especially this season, I am feeling the tap tap and catching dinks. When I am catching bigger fish, I either feel one single solid TAP, or nothing at all. Like Catt said, line goes slack, starts moving etc. But I feel nothing. I too set into wood on occasion.

Never caught in a storm, but one time I had to ride about 3/4 of a mile into about 25-35 mph winds.....in my 8' bass buster!! Felt like I was on deadliest catch! The inside of the boat had about 5 inches of water in it when I got to the ramp. It was a bit scary with all the water splashing in, but there wasn't one time I felt like the boat was going to flip or anything, it is VERY stable for what it is.

I love his sausage, it makes for a mean breakfast burrito.

I had a bass do this once. I threw a shallow crank just past it, then cranked it hard and fast and hit the fish with the bait and stopped. The fish turned and looked at the crank as it was floating back up, then I gave one more hard crank and she inhaled it. The fish was just over 5lbs.