WRB

I have if you consider the late Aaron Martens an Elite bass pro. Aaron had the ability to sense bass being nearby, amazing ability. He asked me to teach him how I fish a bass jig fish because it was the only lure he had trouble with consistently catching bass with. Aaron was deadly with finesse dart jigs but the bigger ones he wanted help with Showed Aaron at the boat ramp how I retrieved the jig and he could watch it move stop and go. That’s all Aaron needed to see and caught bass on that outing, fast learner as he already knew strike detection and hook setting, it was the movement he needed to learn. Tom

FYI the ABEC is a bearing tolerance standard not a brand name. Tom

When Garcia-ABU amabassador reels were made in Sweden they owned the bass reel market from the 1960 to around mid 1990’s, I used 2500C, 4500C and 5000C during that time period. Shimano made the 1st low profile Lews BB1 reel before going into the bass reel market in the mid 80’s challenging ABU’s dominance. Daiwa refined their bass reels introducing HT series taking away another share of the market. For me ABU Ambassador reel died when Garcia corp started having reels made in China around 2000. Put away my Ambassador’s and bought Daiwa HTiA’s 103’s & 105’s early 90’s and never looked back. I tried a few Shimano early Bantam’s 100 & 1000, BB1’s and Roybi reels in the 80’s but it was Daiwa that came out with the fast free spinning spool that won me over. Shimano Calcutta became my go to swimbait reel. No more ABU’s all Daiwa and Shimano for me👍. Tom

Clinch knot (2-3 turns) or Uni knot. Tom

In the late 70’s BPS sold tagging kits it was popular then. The tags were numbered with a barbed straight pin to insert into the basses back by the dorsal fin. You could register the kit number with BPS for anglers register the catch. This program died out in a few years. I caught a 6 lb class bass at lake Sherwood several times over a 3 year period at the same location. This bass didn’t grow any heavier during that time. This was a very aggressive bass I am sure someone caught and killed. I did catch 2 other bass twice after tagging 25 bass at lake Sherwood, 3 out of 25 without any notices from BPS. Not worth the effort! Tom

Don Iovino has been on the water instructor teaching local pro’s how to use their new sonar units to get the most out of them for decades. A good local guide can be a good coach instructor if you ask them teach in lieu of just catching bass. When demonstrate various presentations to friends I take the time to show how to rig, tie and present the lure by the launch ramp clear water to see the movements. Tom

AFW Surflin Micro Ultra leader wire knottabke 17 lb. Tom

Being an engineer most of my life looked at things logical or black & white solutions. my other side as a race driver for example superstitions tend to sway my logic towards luck and faith. So see nothing negative about feeling lucky and believing something brings you good luck including fishing tackle. You can call them you pet lures that you have confidence using. You would be amazed how much better a lure works tied on being fished in lieu of stored in the tackle box. Tom

Cayuga lake NY is your best bet for Northern LMB over 8 lbs. Tom

How the game animal is taken care of after killing it makes a big difference of the condition of the meat quality. Tom

Elk tenderloin👍 Tom PS, record Elk taken by Washington bow hunter Casey Brooks.

Having lived through this with my son I can tell you go to Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN, nearest top hospital for you. You get 1 chance and remember you have the right to choose any trials now. Everyday is precious make the best of them with your family. Your BR family will be here and pray for you and your family🙏🏻. Tom

Sweden stand corrected again! I gave all my 2500C, 4500C 70’s vintage to Don Iovino for his reel business 25 years ago. Tom

My last giant bass over 15 lbs (15.4) was caught at lake Casitas February 2008 on a swimbait, nearly 17 years ago. I was fishing near the off limit buoy line the separates Aires creek from the main lake using a big Black Dog Tail Wagger Trout lure. I heard a splash behind me and made a long cast to the swirl spot and the bass struck the lure immediately when it hit the water. Never would have made that cast without hearing the splash. What are odds dividing 17 years into 1 bass….,(.003 % ) very low and lower today! Tom

Percentages should be based on bass population size. You can’t catch big bass if they aren’t where you fish. When our SoCal Lakes had high population of big bass in the 80’s-90’s DD bass made up a good percentage of the lakes population. Today the DD bass are rare making a very low % of the population well under 1%. A big bass today is 7 lbs a good size bass 4 lbs. catching bass between 4 lbs to 7 lbs doesn’t happen more the 25% of 8 hrs time on the water. Tom

Rubber nets high water resistance. Knot less nets that don’t tangle hooks are what you want. Tom

Contact the source in the UK and purchase a replacement net head. The thread maybe metric. Another option is buy a new net. Tom

Having written more about jigs then most members we have discussed hooks, head shapes, weight and trailers. Skirts have been discussed usually colors and strand count for silicone tabs. We talk about hair and marabou feathers. So let’s discuss what a skirts does and why use all of the above. What does a skirts do on a bass jig? We agree it adds color. Why would you use living rubber skirts vs a silicone skirts or hair? The answer may surprise you! Jig skirts change the rate of fall without changing the jig weight or shape. Hair or feathers fall the fastest because the material folds tight to the body providing a streamline shape with water resistance. When hair or feathers stop moving landing on the bottom they flare out appearing to be alive. Living rubber skirts are the opposite the rubber strands puff out when falling through the water column slowing the rate of fall and have a lot of strand movements looking alive on the fall. Color is limited. Silicone strands are somewhere in between fall faster then living rubber and slower hair or feathers. Silicone strands don’t provide a lot movement itself but colors are unlimited. Silicone skirts advantage is color appealing more to anglers imo then bass imo. Jig skirts are important for the above reasons but it’s the combination of adding trailers that completes a bass jig. Tom

If you fly to your destination and the lodge transports you to the lake that is safe. If you tow a boat into Mexico that is extremely dangerous! Tom

The only loop knot I will use is the Perfection loop using live bait hooks for off shore big game fish. Fresh water I use Owners Hyper weld snaps. Size 1 for line under 10 lb smaller lures. Size 2 for deep diving crank baits. Everything else tie direct to the lure eye using the San Diego jam knot or Palmar knot. The problem with loop knots on lures with a lot of movement is the lure wears and flattens the line, snaps solve that issue. Tom

Yep, more then once it haunts me😔

I put a 8mm glass faceted bead between the bullet weight and hook to help protect the knot and add sound. I haven’t used the 5133 larger then 2/0 w/ 1/8-3/16 oz for finesse 6” Roboworms. 3/0 I use 4107 Cover Shot hook with a bead. Tom

My 1st realization my hearing wasn’t good was at a Christmas program that had bell ringers from very small high pitch to big bells with low pitch. I could see the bells being shaken but only hear the middle bells. This was an eye opener and had hearing my hearing tested and needed aides. Surprised how many words we hearing incorrectly without aides. Never wore ear protection driving fuel race cars or shooting during my youth. Tom

The Otay bass happened in 1971 and fishing a point away from the bank where another boat was double anchor near shore. The ran back toward the bank and that doesn’t happen normally only thing I could have done was apply more pressure. The Castiac bass I was back seating in a friends boat and he got too excited forgetting to more the boat away from the point. I didn’t see Gary standing next to watching the bass with a net. Only thing I could have done was seeing Gary sooner and telling him to get out into deeper water. These giant are extremely strong and fast and take advantage of mistakes. Tom

I lost 2 potential world record LMB. The 1st was at Lower Otay that wrapped my line around another boats anchor line. I didn’t see that bass but a highly skilled angler in the other boat did saying it at least a 30” bass. Because I didn’t see that fish it doesn’t wake me up at night. The 20+ lb FLMB happened at Castiac lake at trout point and I clearly got a good look at that bass that broke me off going over the point and remember every detail as if it just happened. This is my nightmare bass that wakes me up 32 years laters. Tom