ElGuapo928

Sometimes it just happens. Even fun fishing I usually keep one livewell full with a cap of Rejuvenade in it….any fish that doesn’t look or act “right” gets 10-15 minutes in the ‘well with the aerator running. 99 out of 100 bounce right back and are ready to swim away. The ones that don’t bounce back go in the other livewell (with the ice) and head home to the Weber.

I carry a long (10”-ish) hemostat for this very purpose. I picked mine up at a local medical supply place, but just about every hardware store on Earth has them anymore.

I typically use either the Gamakatsu mentioned above or the VMC swivel shot, with 12lb mono as the drop leg - the bigger mono seems to have better traction on the sinkers and is a little more forgiving in the rocks.

My first worms came from the tin foil pans at Yellow Front in 83 or 84…purple and red 4” straight tails at 3 cents a piece. Add in some 1/4 oz “Tournament Tackle” jigheads and I was set. Went to San Carlos Lake the next day, not having much understanding of technique, was throwing them out and cranking straight back in, with nothing but a bluegill to show for it. A couple weeks (and a couple episodes of Orlando Wilson) later, we went back to San Carlos and I was slowly dragging them across the point, and got my first bass - weighing probably 10-12 oz, but enough to get me hooked. 40 years and untold thousands of dollars later, the worm, in all of it’s various forms, accounts for the majority of my arsenal.

I’m left handed, but cast with my right hand…..after the cast I switch to my left hand and reel with the right. With the spinning rods I reel left handed. I bought a left handed baitcaster a few years back and absolutely hated it - just felt wrong across the board.

For my money, it’s hard to beat an OG Roadrunner. Not really fond of the long drop wires for the most part.

I haven’t used the anchor in years, only carry it in case of emergency. My brush grippers on the other hand, they get some use. One of these years I’d like to upgrade to a spot lock system, but for now tying off to the brush works fine.

I actually throw them both ways - the wacky more so for short pitches/flips, and always for skipping. Texas rig for casting/beating the bank. While my not very scientific method of observing bears little to no repeatable accuracy, It seems to me the Texas rig Senko goes a little more nose down than horizontal, and goes a tad faster.

Where the wacky shines is isolated targets - docks, bridge pilings, brush clumps, etc. The slow fall brings out some non-commital fish.

Usually start with a spinnerbait - 1/4 or 3/8 oz, if that isn’t working go to a straight tail T-rigged, and have the dropshot warmed up and ready.

3 with 8lb Fireline 2 with 10lb Fireline 1 with 8lb Siglon (Liked the orange, haven’t used enough to form an opinion yet).

Grape Jelly Worm FTW! Probably 75% of my plastics are variations of purple, but always dig the old school Mann’s. Purple Westy will always have a home in my bag as well.

I don’t make too much change from any other time of year, but I do start keeping one rod rigged with a 5”Shad/Gold Zipper worm at all times…..don’t know why, but they seem to be extra effective when the water cools off.

You d**n near have to have a reel designed for, or super tuned for BFS fishing if you want to get that light, and then a rod to match. The Rebels *might* go fairly well, but the Rapalas would pretty much be an exercise in frustration.

Of the three, I would rank them: 1) Dropshot 2) Wacky (or Neko) 3) Ned Rig For whatever reason, all I’ve ever caught with a Ned rig is brush and rocks - I’d save a lot of time by throwing the heads/baits in the lake and never bothering to tie them on. I’ve always got a dropshot (or 2) on the deck, and usually have a wacky Senko at the ready. I’ve been tinkering with Neko rigging a floating worm and getting some good results.

Yes they will - used all sorts of straight tailed worms on a dart over the years. Can’t go wrong with a Roboworm or RI Flirt on a dart. OG Mann’s Jelly Worm has an awesome action on a dart too.

Sorry to hear about it. I feel your pain, I’ve been there - I lost about 1.5”-2” off one of my favorite rods (old American Rodsmiths topwater special) in a door mishap and it was killing me. I took it to a local shop that builds/repairs rods, and he charged me $10 to put a new Fuji tip that fit right and looked right. Ultimately there wasn’t any real loss in performance, just kind of funny looking. I had the Wally World “emergency” tip on it and it sucked - none in the kit fit even remotely close, 1 was too small, the others were throwing a hot dog down a hallway.

1/16 oz darter head and a 4” grub (smoke sparkle or firecracker) has always been a favorite of mine. I’ve always preferred Phenix darts for the grub - they just seem to swim better with it, Gamakatsu for worms. A buddy of mine has been throwing a 1/8 dart with the 4” Shad Shape Worm and putting up some good numbers with it.

Those are the ones! I’ve still got a broken one out in the shed somewhere.

To be completely honest, I don’t even carry jigheads or sinkers over 1/2 oz anymore - 90% or more of my plastics fishing is done with 3/16 oz or less. Specifically to the deep water, it’s 3/16 on doodling, 1/4 on dropshot. Carolina rigs are 1/4 to 3/8 depending on the bottom. About the heaviest I ever go is 1/2 oz football heads with a spider grub.

I’ve got a mix of everything- as I’ve gotten older I just prefer the feel of EVA over cork though. Now if I had my way, someone would either reintroduce or duplicate the OG Shimano “Fightin’ Rod”…..never had anything else feel as good in my hand.

There’s always *some* fish shallow….one of my preferred winter tactics is chucking a weightless Senko along the bank - especially around isolated brush/rocks on south facing banks.

Good point!! I’ve caught fish on topwater close to the dam (300+ feet showing).

I keep my leader around 12-16”…..I just let it drop and slowly work it back up when I go vertical, or I’ll cast to a bluff wall and work it until it pendulums back. I still use pretty old school electronics….simple 2ds is all I’ve got on the deck. Around here anyway, you can pretty much count on finding a school somewhere along any bluff wall without even using your electronics.

Once I get below the 50’ mark, I pretty exclusively go to the dropshot or doodling. Doodling 6” straight tails in 30-50 feet along bluff walls is a winter tradition around here. A couple years ago we were dropshotting suspended schools in 45-50 feet and pulled 30 fish in the span of 2 hours, mostly largemouths with a few yellow bass thrown in..tons of fun.