>>682702Curly-tailed worms? Like Pepsi said, Berkley/Powebait still makes them. I've always liked the Culprit Original Worm myself.
Also what you've described for your casting is the correct way (at least it sounds like to me). I prefer lefty reels myself but with my few right-hand reels I do the same thing (casting right handed, switching, reeling right handed). As for the grip that sounds right to me too. I've only seen a handful of people do the weird grip where they sort of cup the reel with their hand. That's never worked for me.
>how do you identify "okay bass are spawning here?"Location and water temperature will help with this. Where Pepsi is you could probably already be fishing the spawn. Here in Maryland we've got at least another month or so to start thinking about spawning bass. You want the water temperatures to be upper 50's to near 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Water depth is a factor too. On average bass spawn in around 4 to 5 feet of water. On the extremes from a few inches of water upwards to 10 feet or so. So shallow, cool (but not frigid) water is what you're looking for.
In clear water you'll be able to see bass making pic related. They clear round-ish beds for spawning. Also males do the majority of the bed building so if you start catching bass with frayed, red tails they're probably male and the damage to their tail is most likely because they've been fanning out a bed nearby in preparation for spawning.
