Jeremiah T. Bagwell

There are way to many regulations to list. Not only do they vary from state to state but they can also vary from one body of water to another. For example in Illinois where I live, the Alabama rig is not allowed at all in the Mississippi river. I can use it in a couple of lakes but there are lakes only 30 minutes away that the Alabama rig is illegal. The laws are crazy. You just have to be sure to check the regulations for wherever you are going fishing. JT Bagwell

I think the hottest and most controversial thing right now are one and the same. That thing of course is the Alabama rig. Although it has been out a year or so now, everyone is still talking about it and whether or not it should be allowed in competition.

Thanks Newt. I am a Bass Fisherman from the US. I am also the author of the Bagwell's Bass Tactics column and also a variety of other fishing related articles. I am not familiar with LRF.

Hey buddy, what's up? I saw your name on a post and instantly remembered all of the chats we used to have on here back in the day. Glad to see you are still around. I am still chasing those green fish (Largemouth Bass for those in the UK that don't know) and now chasing 2 kids around too. JT Bagwell

Great Response JT Bagwell

Hi everyone, Not sure if any of you remember me or not. I used to swing by and chat from time to time. I am a Bass Angler from the U.S. and write a lot of fishing articles (some are used on this site). Just wanted to say hi to my old friends and introduce myself to new friends. JT Bagwell

If anyone has a question about anything in the article, feel free to message. Facebook, Twitter or email are the easiest. JT Bagwell

Peter, Last year I did fish with one of my old favorites a couple times. I could not believe how much heavier my old rods were compared to the ones I use now. They made me wonder how I ever fished with them all day. JT Bagwell

I would probably choose Lake El Salto in Mexico. I would fish for Largemouth bass. The reason I would choose this lake is because of the large population of trophy sized bass. LOL Plus the weather is a lot warmer there right now. JT Bagwell

My favorite rod is made by one of my sponsors. It is the MBH665C from Rogue rods Magnum Bass Series. The reason this rod is my favorite, is because it is best suited for my favorite still of bass fishing which is Pitching Jigs into heavy cover. I like the sensitivity of the tip and the tough backbone of the rod. It allows me to pitch a jig into the nastiest brush piles and have the power to pull out big bass. JT Bagwell

The senko is an extremely soft plastic bait that has the shape of an ink pen. (That is what the original mold was designed with) It has a lot of salt in it and it is fairly heavy and easy to cast. The way I use it is to cast it to any form of cover or structure and let the Senko fall on slack line. If a fish hits it you will see the line jump. Then you reel up the slack and set the hook. If it makes it to the bottom with no strikes you can give it a little hop and let it fall again. Typically I only give it one or two hops and then I reel it in and start over. You can see the Senko at Yamamoto Homepage It is a very productive bait that I just recently mastered. JT Bagwell <small>[ 26. September 2003, 12:10 AM: Message edited by: Jeremiah T. Bagwell ]</small>

I was just wondering if you all use the Senko made by Yamamoto? It seems like everyone over here in the states uses it and it gets mentioned daily on U.S. fishing sites. I just realized I had never seen it mentioned on this site. The bait works great even though you don't really do anything to work it. Pretty much just let it sink. JT Bagwell

I agree completely with alan. Schooling is a must in todays fishing industry. Also keeping a notes of the details from your fishing trips will provide a great deal of helpful information. JT Bagwell

Below is a link to an article that I wrote about sponsorships. I am assuming that the process in the U.K. should be similar to the process here in the U.S. Basic Guidelines for Obtaining and Retaining Sponsors As your career moves forward, it is extremely beneficial to go to college. Studying Business Management and Marketing will help a great deal. Good Luck JT Bagwell

DG, Can I ask what your point is? Ok let me guess, I can hear it now. I only say good things about PowerPro because they are a sponsor, right? Wrong. I am sure there are some people that will plug any product for the right paycheck. Not me, I want to use something that works. Would $5,000 be enough to get you to use a fishing line that snapped everytime you set the hook? It wouldn't be enough for me. Every company that I work with, is a company who's products I had used and been happy with. I am just fortunate that have the ability to either get paid to use a product or simply get the product for free. As I always say "Don't hate the player, hate the game." JT Bagwell

DG, My trophy is a lot bigger than that one. I am not going to mention the names of other lines that myself and my friends tried. I am not in the habit of mentioning products that I didn't particularly like. I only mention the ones that I do like. Some might not like this practice but it's my choice and that's all there is too it. I think you are spending way too much energy worrying about what I wrote in a product review. The point of the review is simple. I feel that it is the best line that I have used and that is why I continue to use it. The review was just a way of expressing my feeling about the line to others. I am sure there are lines that others like better. That is great, you have to use what you like best. You do your tests and publish the results. I will read the results and take in all the information. Just don't expect me to spend hours creating and replying to posts about your research. That takes too much time. Good luck with the tests, I will be looking for the results. JT Bagwell [ 15. September 2003, 08:34 PM: Message edited by: Jeremiah T. Bagwell ]

Oh almost forgot. DG, No I am not doing ANY tests of my own. I don't have time. I will leave that up to you and the other experts. I think mono probably stretches a lot more when it's wet. But you are the expert. I am just a dumb fisherman. JT Bagwell

Wow this turned into a very long thread. Newt, You were correct, I was out fishing and thankfully winning. I won the last 2 tournaments of one of the circuits I fish. This weekend was the super tournament and it was cold, windy and raining a ton. The river came up over a foot. Saturday the fishing was decent but sunday was a different story. After spending 3 hours trying to lock downriver to make the 50 mile run to my spot, the fishing was very slow. Then I had to make the run back up river and once again got caught by the locks. This time it was for 2 hours. I ended up being late to the weigh-in but thankfully I had a big lead from the first day and it helped that the 2 other guys in the top 3 were late also because of the locks. The win this weekend gave me the 2003 Angler of the Year title. So now I am getting griped at over the trophies being in the living room. Anyway, I hope you all have fun testing the different lines. It will be interesting to read all of the results. JT Bagwell

Elton, No problem with the delay. I have been fishing too much to realize it. LOL Dang, winter is just around the corner. DG, As I stated in response to the email you sent me. I am a bass fisherman, not a scientist. I get paid to catch fish, not to do lab tests. Since I don't do lab tests I must rely on data that is given to me by the people that do the tests. I honestly think you might be looking a little too deep into the article. The point I was trying to make is that PowerPro is great line and that is what I choose to use. I am sure some people agree with me and others may not. That is how everything in life goes. Thank you though for reading the article and taking all the time to do your own review of my article. Have a great week. JT Bagwell

LOL That is funny. If I was going to make up a name it would be more like Jeremiah T. "Bass"well or something cool like that. I have had more than one person from this site ask me if that is my real name. LOL Here are a couple names that are better for fisherman. These are REAL names too. Mike Wurm and RIP Bass. I am sure I could probably come up with other guys that have cool fishing names, but its a little early here. Have a great one everybody. JT Bagwell

LOL Newt, My friend that was with me, did tell me to kiss it before I through it back. LOL She just wasn't my type. JT Bagwell

I was bass fishing yesterday and accidentally snagged a 14 pound 8 ounce carp in the tail. It gave me one heck of a fight. JT Bagwell

Yeah, That is exactly what our "Wax Worms" look like. They are a favorite for parents that want to take their kids to catch a lot of bream. They cost about $1.00 for 24 of them. JT Bagwell

DG, A berkley rep gave me a spool of the 30 pound test Stealth. I put it on my reel and headed out to go test it. I didn't even get one cast out of it. I throw my lure out and in mid air the line snapped at the reel. I never saw that lure again and I never tried SpiderWire Stealth again. A week or two later I saw the rep that gave me the line, so I told him what happened. He said "Hmm that's weird, you are the third person to tell me that already." So I decided to stick with PowerPro because I have never had a bad experience with it. If you try Stealth, let me know how you do. JT Bagwell

Can someone post a picture of what you all call maggots? I know what I call a maggot and all of our local tackle stores carry something very similar. It is called a wax worm. They are used for smaller species such as bream and crappie. So to answer the other question, yes we have bream here. A lot of them to be precise. I went bass fishing yesterday and it completely wore me out. The wind was 15-25 mph all day long. So I had to work to keep the boat in position. Bass will often school up during the summer near wind blown, main lake points. What this means is you either stay directly in the wind or you don't catch a lot. After 8 hours of fighting the wind, I just wanted to go home and take a little rest. It didn't help that I lost a nice bass just as I was heading back to the boat ramp. It was a good 4 1/2 - 5 pounder. It was only hooked by the rear treble. For those that haven't fished for bass, they are known for their explosive jumps. This is often the time when the will throw the hook out of their mouths. I call it the "arial hook remover." That is exactly what happened to the big one yesterday. At least that was the only big one I have lost so far this year. The rest have all been landed. JT Bagwell