Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

toddmc

Thanks for the info Drew, but my idle on my Optimax doesn't quite hold the boat in place on a steep ramp. It's nice to hear that I'm not going to trash my reeds by letting off the gas too quickly.

toddmc

The air temps at Havasu look like they will remain 10 degrees below normal for a few more days. I went there last week to get away from it all and the fishing was solid. There aren't many people on the lake during the week.

toddmc

I do know how to put my boat on the trailer guys. Ranger, and other trailers that have 6" wide bunks, have more surface area to keep your boat from sliding back on the trailer when you drive up on it. Also, the bottoms on most bass boats are much flatter than my Champion. My Champion's have alw...

toddmc

If you are looking for a 200hp engine, the Z518 is the only one of the three that will let you do it. That, and the price, is why I didn't buy the Ranger 188 when I bought my Champion 188 two years ago. Please let the people on this thread know what you decide and why! I am curious.

toddmc

To clarify my earlier post. Putting your boat on the trailer is easier when you can use a lever throttle to keep your boat pinned to the trailer while you walk up to the bow and clip the strap to the bow eye. This is not a big issue, but it is nice to know that your boat is not going to slide back o...

toddmc

This topic seems to get covered every few weeks. The moderator should make it a sticky thread. See if you can find the last few threads on this topic. They were fairly informative.

toddmc

Positives: Safer. Maybe a little easier in rough water. Better in tight handling rivers. Negatives: Tougher to put on the trailer (I usually fish by myself). Your leg gets tired on long runs. I have heard that letting off on the pedal too quickly is bad for your motor (I don't know if this is really...

toddmc

I fished pro ams as an am back in the day and an 18.5 boat is fine as long as you are organized, the boat is well maintained, and you are a good driver. One of my "pros" showed up with a 25 year old ranger full of garbage, ran out of gas, and had a bad battery. Needless to say, I was upset...

toddmc

I have used Trilene 100% since it first hit the market. I don't know if I am getting spools that have been sitting around, but the last several spools that I have purchased from several different retailers have been aweful. I can't even get 6lb. to behave. I decided to start trying different lines a...

toddmc

This event will have great fishing, great weather and it is pretty darn affordable. The basic entry is $130.00 and there are $120.00 in options. As always, the payback can't be beat at 90% of entry money and 100% of option money being payed out!! And as a reminder this is an "OPEN" event,...

toddmc

Make sure you use the harder fluoro lines, like Sunline Shooter or Abraz-X, around hard cover. The softer lines, like Inviz-X or Sniper, usualy test lower because they are also a smaller diameter. Stay away from small diameter lines! They can't handle the shock of the hookset with today's big rods a...

toddmc

It sucks when my kids wake me up an hour after I get home from a night tournament. The next day after a night tournament is always brutal. I still love them, the night tournaments that is :lol: , and I will fish a few this summer. You are right Rick about the evening bite being great. Going through ...

toddmc

The first thing I do is pray that my wild 2 year old doesn't burn down the house while I am gone and keep me from going fishing the next time.

toddmc

The Hud is the bait that seems to get tons of followers, but it is harder for me to get many to commit to it. Find structure, such as a long point, or cover, such as a tree or dock. Make a long cast that allows your Hud to make contact with the piece of the structure or cover at some point. The foll...

toddmc

I know Worm King has made a ton of that stuff over the years for saltwater. Maybe that is what you saw.

toddmc

If you have removable lights, like most bass boats, the plugs are easy to replace with just a few screws. They only cost a few bucks.

toddmc

The tube has to be one of the most versatile lures on the planet. I don't know if there is a wrong way to fish it. I throw it Texas rigged for flipping and sight fishing. I use an interior clip weight to make it skip like a rock for docks. I rip it out of the grass with a lead head in the summer. It...

toddmc

It is fun to see all of the DVL big boys come out of the woodwork and talk like a bunch of surfers whose wave has been encroached on by a bunch of gremmies. I almost feel like I'm not worthy to fish DVL this week because my last few bags were barely 20 pounds! Even the "rookies" beat me.

toddmc

I have had this happen to a few of my Motor Guide Tour Digital's over the years. Remove the top cap by loosening the three screws underneath the head and line the gear underneath the top cap back up with the lower unit and re-tighten the screws. If the plastic gear at the botton of the arrow is dama...

toddmc

Black on black vibrating jig rules the night bite!

toddmc

Remember that your weight is attatched to the tag end of the line and many knots are not designed to have the tag end pulled on. I don't know if a snell knot would hold up. The Palomar is one of the only knots that holds up when you snag your weight with a drop shot. This seems like it would be pret...

toddmc

Less tournaments=less beat up fish=more bites from healthier fish=more reason to go fishing. DVL is beat to death and I think Rick's ideas could help this lake in particular. Almost everybody seems to make good points here. I can only cherry pick a few tournaments because my wife and I have a newbor...

toddmc

Do you have lights in your rod compartments? Check them. Stuff moving around your compartments can turn on your lights. My last boat did this all the time. Also, always install a Perko shut off switch for your cranking batteries and another for your trolling motor batteries, and use them. I was tol...

toddmc

froteur wrote:7' to 7'3" - 4 power baitcaster

+1
It looks like rods in this category are dominating the poll.
I have 8 rods in this category. 6 from Loomis, 1 Dobyns, and 1 Daiwa. They are all great. You can throw almost anything on this type of rod.

toddmc

Braid slices through vegetation much better than fluoro. It will saw off tules like a buzzsaw. It is also easier to clear grass from your bait with a quick rip of your rod during the retrieve.

toddmc

This topic has been covered a couple of times in the archives.See if you can find it. If you spay a wet rag with a protectant like BTS, you will never have to use regular wax again. I use BTS (a lot of guys said they like Perigrine on the last thread) on a wet rag everytime I get off the water. I qu...

toddmc

Bass anglers in general are a tight lip bunch fearing someone might catch their bass. When money is on the line, like in tournaments; "secrets" reach the level of paranoia. Tom You are right Tom. I fish DVL about once a week and mentioning the word tournament causes muteness among DVL ang...

toddmc

"Unless you are trying to promote a product there isn't an upside to announcing to the world your big bass success. Butch Brown is promoting Huddleston swimbaits". It seems like all of our lakes in So Cal are too small to share info on where or how you caught them. The internet has become ...

toddmc

I have replaced my boards with treated wood on my last two boats. My 08 Champion already had one rotted out board and I will soon need to replace another. What a joke! My boat is perfectly maintained and garaged. It is under warranty and Anglers Marine would do a good job replacing them, but I don't...

toddmc

I want to see the answers of Gary Dobyns or the other pros that have a lot of time on all of the big lakes!

toddmc

Bigger water means bigger waves. I've been on Mead when it took me half an hour to cross the mouth of Vegas Wash. There are rollers over 6 feet on Mead on a regular basis. It scares the heck out of you when you are miles from the shore. Those rollers are so big that you can't see land for seconds wh...

toddmc

In the late 80's when I was in college, broke, and couldn't buy all new long handle rods, I had Ty at Phenix Rods put longer handles on all of my pistol grips. There are lots of old school Fuji handles where you can plug in the blank in the front of the handle. Ty just took my old pistol grip handle...

toddmc

It looks like you guys have figured out why the Elite Series is trying to change up the lakes they go to. Everyone knows the waypoints on the regular stops and it makes for some stressful shoulder to shoulder fishing. I would like to see them fish all new lakes each year.

toddmc

If you run the line through you fingers as you spool it on, you can apply pressure there. If you pass the line through a hand-held a rag with line conditioner on it and use that to apply pressure, you kill two birds with one stone. +1 Also, find yourself a decent box to hold and feed out your line....

toddmc

It certainly seems like the weights are down 20% or so over the last few years. I haven't fished Castaic much over the last three years, since I now have a boat I can run on DVL, but I was already noticing a decline in fish size three years ago. It looks like the weights are rarely over 20 pounds in...

toddmc

I've got a real nice Lightning Rod. I still use it every time I'm throwing a crankbait. My lure retriever is tied to it!

toddmc

My go to rod is a GLoomis 822 at 6'10". I bought a 7"4" GLoomis Bronzeback 882 for longer casts in the clear water at DVL. The longer rod is great for tiny cranks and reaction baits, but I feel it causes me to overwork the dropshot. I have always been a believer in imparting very litt...

toddmc

A silver Hopkins Shorty 75 (3/4 oz) with a #4 Owner does the trick. Pair it with a high speed reel, a medium heavy rod with a little tip, and 12 lb flouro and you can't go wrong! I fish lots of other spoons and ice jigs, but the Hopkins catches deep fish most consistently for me. When fish are busti...

toddmc

You 8 foot guys must be fishing mats and vergetation with no overhanging obstacles! It would be tougher to pitch an 8 foot rod around docks and overhanging trees. I guess I need to order the shake weight from the tv commercials to bulk up if I am ever going to use an 8 foot stick in tight quarters!

toddmc

You had better be tall with forearms like Popeye!

toddmc

If you catch fish, all skirts will eventually thin out. Fish clamping down on the skirts will tear off the rubber or silicone strands no matter what you tie them with. I have been making my own skirts for over twenty years and I use wire. I especially hate the rubberband collars because they break i...

toddmc

You know what happened? Your brother and Billy shut a few critics up!

toddmc

This line won best of show at ICAST last year. If you have tried it, what do you think? I love the handling characteristics of Power Pro and have used it for about 7 years. How does it compare?

toddmc

Spool diameter and drag are the most important things on a spinning reel. 2500 size Daiwas are my choice. My two Daiwa Sol's have been good to me, but they no longer make them, so the Fuego may be my next one. You can buy a less expensive reel, like the Advantage, as long as it has a large diameter ...

toddmc

Give Shaun and Billy credit for catching some great fish. They put in their time and did nothing that was illegal. They even say the new rule is fine. Stop the witch hunt. You are going to piss them off and they will fish even harder! If you want to win at Castaic you have to beat Bill. If you want ...

toddmc

Don't waste your money. Joe at Angler's Marine tried to talk me out of it when I bought my latest Champion, but I wanted to try one. I thought I would be fishing rivers more and I know a lot of the guys in tight rivers run them. Your leg does get tired. I fish alone most of the time and it makes it ...

toddmc

Oldschool is dead-on about the percentages. The only reason I still use the Palomar on the dropshot hook is because the it sets the hook in the proper position when you put the tag end through. I accept the 15% weaker knot for a hook that stays upright better. I never use the Palomar on other lines ...

toddmc

My 1997 single axle Champion did the same thing. My 2008 single axle Champion is now starting to do the same thing. It seems so odd that bad alignment or loose bearings would cause a tire to wear at such a severe angle on the outside of the tire. I'm fanatic about keeping my tire pressure up at 50 l...

toddmc

As others have said, making sure the knot is perfectly tied and properly wetted is most important with knots. But, the Trilene knot is always stronger than the Palomar with Fluoro. The Palomar will cut the line if maximum pressure is applied. I use a swivel on my dropshot rig with a Palomar at the h...

toddmc

Castaic has always been a strong winter lake for me when fishing the drop shot, carolina rig, and spoons. It has a long storied past that your friend might appreciate if he is a real bass fisherman. I've been too busy fishing DVL to fish it lately. Someone else want to chime in on the current bite a...

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