Hi Ton,

I fish for bass at night because the summer heat here in Ga is unbearable. Also being light complected I sunburn easily. I don't care for slathering myself with sunblock and the UV blocking clothing is hot. Besides, the night sky is beautiful with the stars and an occasional meteor streaking across it.

Safety first. If you fish from a boat take it out during the daylight hours and learn the lake or the part of the lake you plan on fishing in the dark. Memorize all the danger zones. The lake will look a lot different at night. Easy to get turned around on a big body of water. Make sure your running lights work and keep them on whenever you're on the water at night so some guy running 60mph doesn't run over you. If there are houses around the lake watch the reflections of the lights off the water and remember, dirt don't reflect light. Always dress appropriately and if you fish from a kayak or boat, wear your life jacket. You want to catch fish, not sleep with the fishes.

For gear, I use a medium heavy or heavy action rod, baitcasting reel, with 10-12 pound clear or green line. I fish both lighted docks and dark docks. 3'-20' deep. If you're fishing a lighted dock work the outer edges of the light ring or right next to the dock. The bass like the shadows at night as well. They hide in the dark and ambush their prey if there's enough light for them to see.

My best producing lure is a 7½" Culprit worm in Junebug color. I fish it Texas rigged with a glass bead between the bullet weight and the hook. The key here is sound. The weight and the 8mm glass bead make a nice clicking sound. Bass usually hunt by sight but when they can't see in the dark they locate and home in on their prey by sound and vibrations in the water. Thats why the the guy told you about the frog and the Jitterbug. They produce sound. When fishing at night, knowing the fish doesn't have use of it's prime senses, slow down the speed of your lure presentation. Drag that plastic worm across the bottom and let it make noise. I've not had too much luck with the Jitterbug but I do fish one occasionally. I fish black chatterbaits as well. Some people say color of the lure doesn't make any difference at night but one year the hottest lure I had was a bubble gum colored plastic worm. But most of the time the darker colors work best. I like a worm that has a little glitter in it as well.

Buy yourself one of those lights you wear on your head. You'll need it for retying lures and picking out the inevitable backlash. Or, unhooking all those nice fish you catch.

GOOD LUCK!

Vieenie sausage. Take nothing to drink as you can drink the juice in the can. I'm partial to the hot n spicy flavor.

Gun laws? I have always felt it was better to be judged by 12 than carried by six. I carry everywhere I go these days. I'm too old to run or fight so I do what I have to.

You will love that reel. Good Luck!

Agreed, accuracy us more important than distance but I was trying to get you to where you could cast the reel without those nasty backlashes. That's the reason for the cheaper mono instead of the higher priced copolymer line. If you have to cut a bad backlash out it doesn't hurt as bad cutting the cheaper line. Once you get a handle on using the reel then you can spool the more expensive line on it and work on your accuracy.

If this is your first baitcaster, I'd spool it with 10 pound mono line because you'll probably backlash it a few times learning how to use it. Don't buy the cheapest line you can find though. To start with, turn the mag all the way up to max. Tighten the spool pawl behind the crank handle a bit and depress the spool release. Loosen the pawl until the lure just slowly falls from it's own weight. Now try to make a short cast and stop the spool from spinning with your thumb just as the lure hits the water. Don't try to cast it across the lake. When you cast, turn your wrist so that the reel is on it's side with the handle pointed either up or down. Some say doing this helps. As you get used to casting the reel, back off on the mag and try slightly longer cast. After a bit you'll get your timing right and you'll be able to make long accurate cast with low line twist.

4.8:1= slow retrieve 7.3:1 = medium retrieve. 8.5:1= fast retrieve. Match the retrieve speed to the type of lure you want to fish with.

After all I've posted about the split grip I never said that I liked them. I see (and feel) the advantage of the split grip but I too prefer the full cork grip. I still.have two of the USA made Allstar WR1 rods with the full cork grip. Allstar still offers the full cork grip on their Classic series but they are no longer American made. Seems most of the other manufacturers have gone to the split grip on their better quality freshwater fishing weight rods.

Different rods for different types of fishing. I fish for bass and never use rod holders. I'm casting from the time I hit the water until I leave. Every gram of weight reduction makes a difference. I find that the lighter rods give me a better feel of what my lure is doing.

But if you only bait a hook, cast it out, and sit and watch a float it don't matter how heavy your gear is. If you're bass fishing and casting a spinnerbaits a thousand times a day every ounce matters. Weight is one of the differences between a $50 reel and a $250 reel.

Usually the reason for the two piece handle as opposed to a one piece solid handle is weight reduction. That few ounces of cork can get heavy after a few hundred casts.

I was trying to be nice? 🤣🤣

You're probably better off going fishing. Much less expensive.

Fly guy, I feel the same way about non-poisonous snakes but poisonous ones get no quarters. I too had that happen to me many years ago. Pulled my stringer and a large cotton mouth had the last fish on the stringer in his mouth. I hope he was REAL hungry because I gave him the whole stringer. Had a friend that got bit by a cotton mouth. Not pretty. I give them no quarters.

Warren you may be a beginner but you're doing something RIGHT. Keep doing it and share it with us as well. Good Luck and tight lines.