Jason Admin : Fishing Forum Posts

Mike,
We don't have signed contracts from all the pros yet, so we don't want to share instructor/topic information until it's set in stone. Because of the expenses related to having in-person classes, we do sell tickets to these events, but we have a early bird discount going on through November. The code is EARLY25 which is 25% off tickets. I've also provided the direct links below that should already have the discounts applied.

Anderson
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-bass-university-fishing-classes-anderson-south-carolina-tickets-407087468577?discount=EARLY25
Gadsden
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-bass-university-fishing-classes-gadsden-alabama-tickets-403468343677?discount=EARLY25

Our Hobie partners just had us send out our "last chance" Cyber Monday offer, check your email, they make great sunglasses!

Profession Fishhead Justin Kimmel would probably say that anything other than Clemson orange and Roll Tide red should be ok, but Georgia Bulldog red is the least likely to scare them. Seriously, though, I don't know the answer, but most of my SPF sunshirts are light blue. I figure, it can't hurt to have sky color, and it doesn't absorb heat on hot days like dark colors do. I've been out on a 100 degree day in black and I thought it was going to melt to my skin. Gillz makes good shirts, I have never worm Huk or Aftco, but I hear good things. I always wear long sleeves because these SPF shirts are light and breathable so they are comfortable and convenient (because I hate remembering to put on sunscreen, and having it on my hands).

We've brought back the holiday pricing on the gift cards. Check out these excellent deals on 3 month, 6 month and 1 year Bass University gift cards, they make a great Christmas present for the bass fisherman or fisherwoman in your life. https://bassu.tv/gift-card

We just added a new Bass University in-class location for 2023. We will have several pros (usually 6) anglers presenting classes (usually 12 total) in Athens, Texas on January 28th - January 29th
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-bass-university-fishing-classes-athens-texas-tickets-471284162617

What bodies of water do you fish? A common goal among bass anglers is the elusive 10lb bass. While, because of the abundance and growth rate of Florida strain bass, this goal is more readily achieved in places like Florida, Califorinia and Texas, for the majority of anglers, it's attainable if everything lines up. Growing up, people called bass over 10lbs. a "trophy" the same for 6lb smallmouth in the area. Until I got older and started reading bass fishing magazines, I thought this was universal. As a result, these have been my lifelong goals, I've achieved neither. I didn't have a scale when I caught my biggest largemouth, but it was around 7lbs. I'm pretty good at eyeballing, but I'm probably under a little to say it was 7lb even. My biggest smallmouth was 4lb 12oz. I've never considered setting goal just for the year, but it's an interesting prospect, particularly if you want to reevaluate your progress and have room to set more lofty goals in the future.
Ned Kehde (who is famous for the Ned Rig) was on our live show, and he has interesting goals that he and his wife set for each fishing trip. In my opinion, this is one of our best live shows. I found Ned fascinating and informative.
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/ned-rig-innovator-ned-kehde-july-2020

I have never fished for smallmouth in the winter. They are curious to me, as Pete reports smallmouth liking different conditions than largemouth. I have found this to be true with spotted bass as well. I'm not sure if smallmouth are active where you are in the winter. Gerald Swindle did a class on ledge fishing (I believe this is the right link), where he's fishing a big spoon. I wonder if the technique he demonstrates would work. https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/gerald-swindles-summer-ledge-fishing-techniques
I would imagine, from what you describe, that finding the bait with your electronics would be the key to success.

That's true Dave G, if you happen to know what your fishing buddy likes, TackleDirect is a great place to get a bass fishing Christmas present. They have some sweet holiday deals going on and free economy shipping on orders over $50. Check out The Bass University tackle shop, powered by TackleDirect for some great holiday deals. https://tackle.bassu.tv

I have several of the same reels with spare spools, the easier way to do that braid deal is to just put a spare spool on another reel and reel it off one and onto the other. It's nearly the same effort, as you save the time of stripping the line off in the first place. Additionally, if you do it Ned's way, I would just do it at the ramp. There's usually a long grassy area somewhere around the perimeter of the boat ramp that makes it easy to do. Speaking of line tricks, have you ever let out about 30 yds of fluorocarbon or mono line, closed the bail and dragged the line behind the boat at idle for a while? Awesome for getting out line twists. Probably my favorite technique is dropshotting, and before I used braid to fluoro, I had twisty knotted line all the time. Dragging it behind the boat makes it nearly as good as new. I am almost completely sold on braid to fluoro now.

Oh, important note, take everything off the line first, cut off all lures, swivels, etc. and let the water pull it off the reel as you idle, then flip the bail over when there's more line out than the distance you can cast. That lets the line pull the twists to the end of the line. I realized that if I forgot to mention cutting the lure off first, you might wind up with a tangled mess if you dragged it with the lure. Additional tip, I also do this with extension cords in my yard. I find the middle and drag it in a "U" shape across the grass for about 50 yards, pulls all the tangles out.

Here's an article on wired to fish. https://www.wired2fish.com/fish-biology/how-to-quickly-and-safely-clean-your-livewells/
It is my understanding that you should NEVER use bleach, no matter how diluted. Naturally, that was my, and probably many people's, first inclination.
I hope this helps.

I know that Pete would suggest Gamma Edge for the fluoro. I'm content with P-Line (I like their fluoroclear copolymer as well) or Spiderwire's fluorocarbon. I haven't tried Seaguar Basix, but 175yds of 20lb for $9.99, you can easily spool 2 reels (with some backing) for under $10. It appears to have good reviews, so I wouldn't hesitate to try it https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=c1UQEdGla5o&mid=38416&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tackledirect.com%2Fseaguar-basix-fluorocarbon.html
All my soft plastic spinning setups are braid to fluorocarbon now. Just the reduction in hassle of line tangles is worth the 2-3 times a day I have to tie on a new leader. I detect bites much better on this setup than straight fluorocarbon also. I fish 14lb mono on topwaters like Zara Spooks & poppers, but I would want braid for frogs or anything that doesn't have ultra-sharp trebles dangling from it.
Here are a few classes you may want to check out:
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/lipless-crankbaits-gerald-swindle-remastered
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/cold-water-cranking-secrets-gerald-swindle
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/tennessee-river-lakes-a-guides-guide-secret-spots-ryan-salzman
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/tailrace-bass-fishing-dunkin
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/flipping-pitching-in-productive-grass-areas-gerald-swindle
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/flw-pro-alex-davis-on-hot-guntersville-lures

I don't recall the class where it's covered, but leader line is usually made from the absolute highest quality fluorocarbon. I would imagine, given the quality Pete touts in Gamma products that Gamma touch has to be very close. I know that Gamma also makes a dedicated leader line https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=c1UQEdGla5o&mid=38416&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tackledirect.com%2Fgamma-fluorocarbon-leader-line-27yds.html

I will reach out to them and attempt to get an updated code. Thanks for letting us know.

Gene, I'm sorry I didn't see this message before. I hope you were able to get in contact with our support team, as we do allow paying in advance and adding time to your subscription to claim offers like the gift card. Again, I apologize, the holidays were insane with our promotions and setting up for 3 on-location classes with 6 anglers at each location in January.

All but one angler has been announced. Please check out the instructor list for all locations at https://thebassuniversity.com/class-training
We've got a nice mix of BASS & MLF guys this year.

Hey, these are great goals. The Bass University is a great place to stay on top of #1. While time on the water is great, I've also learned that 45 minutes learning from a guy that's done it for decades will fast-track your success when you are on the water. On top of that, sometimes you just can't be on the water, and the bassu.tv video library is great to keep building knowledge. As for lure making. I've done a good deal of pouring jig molds, and I've carved poppers, but that's as ambitious as I've gotten. I'm very interested in making caulk molds from discontinued soft plastics I have in my boat.

I'm afraid not, I've went to the auto-inflatables some time ago. I got used to the lightweight comfort and I can't go back to the foamy ones.

Robert Field is involved with Ligthning Kayaks. I've been looking at them. A pedal-drive kayak for $1600 is intriguing. Not a load of dealers for them though, so you might have to take a road trip to pick one up. Hobie makes a good one, but $1600, they are not. Everyone I've talked to that has one prefers the pedal-drive.

I'm sorry you feel this way. Unfortunately, most sites don't allow you to combine offers. When I tested the code at Missile Baits, I got free shipping after $50 in products in my cart. With the code, I saved $15 and my shipping was $7.40, which saved me $7.60 more than getting the free shipping.

Thank you. Again, I'm not sure this is an unwillingness on Missile Baits' part to do this, and certainly not on our end. Most shopping cart softwares only apply 1 discount deal at a time to stop people from accidentally getting too good of a deal (better than you intend the customer to get). Missile may not even know that this code negates the free shipping. I expect though, even if they knew, they can't force their shopping cart to keep the free shipping if they apply the 30% discount at checkout.

Man, I'd love to tell you it's ready, but there are so many moving parts, not just to maintain our production schedule, website, mobile app, live show and support program, but now that we're in peak fishing season, we've also got all the tournaments & trade shows coming up. Allowing downloads has to be done carefully to ensure that our exclusive video library isn't jeopardized.

Working targets more thoroughly and sometimes more slowly seems to be one of the key themes from our instructors. Here are some other great resources:
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/simple-approach-to-fishing-flooded-cold-muddy-water-bill-lowen
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/how-to-fish-muddy-water-crochet
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/muddy-water-bass-fishing-jordan-lee

They could be biting the blades. Some guys swear by a trailer hook, if you're in mostly open water, this sounds like a great place to employ a trailer hook.

I'm sorry, I forgot to respond to this. I got your message and researched the bait. Apparently, you can also fish this like an alternative to a spinnerbait. Some of the other colors have like holographic colors in a semi-transparent ball. With the solid red in the image you sent me, I assume that's more for stained and dirty water or this time of year when they're supposed to bite the red baits. Thanks for sending the image, I've never fished one though.