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Beetle Spin. Tom

Got to the lake this a.m, about a 40 minute drive from my house, and realized after I launched I had taken the tackle bag out last weekend to clean the boat out. And I always have some bags of this or that laying around, but not this time! Cleaned the boat real good last weekend. That will teach me. I had what was attached to the rods on board which were: 1. A 3/8 double bladed white spinner bait. 2. A 3/0 worm hook with 1/4 oz weight. No worm. 3. A 1/2 oz Cordell lipless. Silver 4. A 3/8 oz football jig and trailer. 5. A 1/4 shaky head with a Zoom finesse worm pretty chewed up. 6. A 1/2 frog. 7. A 1/32 oz panfish jig. I caught a couple on a spinner bait, but the real pattern I think was the Shakyhead. I caught 4 in a fairly short time, all 2-3+ pounds. This guy here either ate half of a worm or left it in the lake, but that was all for that worm. Pretty good day actually, moral of the story is I don't think I always need all of that stuff I bring.

Here at Batson Enterprises, we’ve always been proud supports for causes related to the military and we couldn’t have been happier the provide blanks and components to these builders when asked. Thanks for the builds, they look great!

WELCOME Aboard! You've certainly made an excellent choice in joining this forum. Everything you need to know is here and the folks are the best with help and assistance. To start off, start reading and learning from the articles and posts here on this forum. Put into practice what you read. Then, read some more. It's a tough row to hoe if you just start fishing and expect to catch bass, without having the basic knowledge of bass behavior and the predator/prey relationship. Try to get your hands on a copy of the book entitled, "Spoonplugging" by Elwood "Buck" Perry. You might find a copy in your local library or you can buy one online. Buck is considered to the Father of modern bass fishing. And, if nothing else, you'll learn just what the term "structure" is and how bass relate to it. Digesting even a small part of this book will put you way ahead of a lot of other fishermen out there - I guarantee it! Finally, to get started right off the bat. Try tossing a "wacky" rigged 5" Senko where you fish. Watch your line. When it starts to move off, set the hook.

Then you need to get out more. Zebco's higher-end spincast reels (Bullet, Omega, Delta, and even the 33 Platinum) get excellent reviews from just about everyone who has actually used them. The only folks talking trash are the ones that are worried about how they'll look to other anglers with a spincast outfit in their hands. I've owned an Omega Z03 since shortly after it came out, 33 Platinum since '07, have a Delta due to be delivered within the next few days, and may pick up a Bullet this summer just for the hell of it. The Platinum had a minor assrmbly problem when it was brand new, but customer service was on the ball and had replacement parts in the mail right away. It has been flawless since then, and the Omega gas been flawless since day one. Admittedly, I don't use mine for bass, but they've had no problems with decent-sized cats and panfish. I have added two more Emmrod Packers to my collection in the past week or so, which means they'll be seeing even more use as "spur of the moment" fishing setups to keep in the truck or in the panniers of my motorcycle. Omega Z03, Delta ZD3, Platinum 33...

I'm a sucker for squarebills and this didn't help any.. I've got 11 coming my way now (in all seriousness, thanks for the heads-up)

Nice day of Trout fishing!

Come on folks, this isn't rocket science. Just keep checking in to their web site. If nothing shows up, there is no sale. If something shows up, there is one! Man. . .

Went to Hemlock yesterday; fished about 5 hours from noon - 6, taking a break for lunch and to stretch out. Was a little windy with wind gusts, so stayed close to shore. Caught 7 small ones ranging from 1/2# to 1#. All LMB. Caught one somewhat larger one, approximately 2#. All were caught on shakey head rig using Gary Y mini craw. Had numerous hits on the weightless T rig worm but they must have been small because I couldn't get a hook set on them. First time out this year, so all was good even though I didn't catch too many. Picture of biggest one below.

The air temp was 52º and the water temp was 60.2º at 7:30. The north wind was blowing about 20 MPH. I much preferred this to the 97º heat two days ago. I didn't know how this radical change would effect the smallmouth's appetite, though. I love the way smallies try to rip the rod from my grip when they attack a 1/2 oz. tandem willow spinnerbait burned a foot under the surface. Didn't happen this morning. Maybe they'd like a Spin Bait 80 sashayed deeper. That got the cold shoulder too. Alright then, I'd nag them with the Ned rig. Action wasn't fast - a fish would move up every half hour or so. This was my third trip with this 3/32 oz. mushroom jig head and Z-Man Finesse TRD and it is now secure on my "go-to" list. Late morning the wind calmed to maybe 10 MPH. Smallies like a Super Fluke Jr. behaving erratically (worked like a Spook) over rocks on a breezy day. You can argue with me if you like, but I say this presentation is as exciting as topwater. It drives the bass mad and sometimes the same smallie will attack the Fluke several times before you get a solid hookup. Next outing I will take the few minutes needed to apply sunscreen so my face won't match my shirt. Let's look at this trip's tools for snookering smallmouth, top - bottom: Zoom Super Fluke Jr. with #1 Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap Red. The smallies will chew the red off. I don't care. Gold plating is just fine with us. The Ned rig. The several other colors I've tried worked too. That slightly bent hook is an Eagle Claw 500BP ("Lil' Nasty"). It's plenty sharp and it's inexpensive: $5.55/100. I haven't lost a fish because one bent out, but I have turned the points on several. For the next batch I mold I'll be using Owner 5313s in size 1 at the budget busting price of $30.62/100. These are one size smaller than the ECs I've been using but made from a heavier gauge wire. This well used Duo Realis Spin Bait 80 accounted for one smallmouth. It will get more play when post spawn smallies are hungry and cruising flats. All up it was a fun day on Quabbin with 15 smallies. None were big (3.24 lbs. best), but all were feisty.

They just got the results finalized... And we're in the state championship this July!

I went out this morning on Big Lake for a few hours and we did really well shallow (like less than 8') with a dropshot and minnow-style plastics. I was using a finesse worm and didn't get bit, but we changed to a power team hammer shad and started catching a lot of bass. I got no action on topwater or square bills. I did get a few nice bites and one good fish on a crappie colored swim jig in about 9-10' on the outside of a growing weed line. Was a fun morning!

IMO, the stuff actually effecting the fish are the bigger changes - Like cloud cover, wind speed/direction, rain, temperature swings, and water levels/clarity changing from rain/runoff. I know some people swear by it...But it's too small of a detail for me to focus on. If I ever get to the point where I'm analyzing barometric pressure, I'm past the point of trying to figure something out and I'm just making excuses for why I ain't catching them .

Beetle spin- YES! Catches everything. 82 cent at Walmart

St. Croix Avids. While I do like my Mojo and Premier Series rods the 2 Avid rods I own are my best rods. Drop shoting and split shoting use.

Picked up a bunch of TrokarBig Nasty Octopus hooks in both 2/0 & 5/0 for some ocean fishing I've got coming up. I love these hooks, and besides they just look incredibly badass. For heavy gauge wire they give phonomenal hook penetration. Also picked up a 2oz Lucanus jig, a SW 110 +1, a couple ronz 8"/1.5oz worm jig sets and a couple different size weights for ubersized saltwater drop shotting as well as a spool of 17# CXX and a sabiki rig for my spinner to keep the bait bucket full. Those pieces should round out what I've already got pretty well. Kind of worries to throw a 110 into salt but whaaaaaatever haha Saltwater is fun- moreso when it's someone else's super expensive boat and gas too! Makes possibly losing a 110 seem like an afterthought ????

There doesn't seem to be a wrong way to fish a swing jig but it is a little different than a regular football jig or shaky head. The one thing that is different is how it is used in the most common way, and that is like a crankbait, it is reeled at a moderate pace along the bottom so the free swinging soft plastic jumps and darts very erratically. A shaky head doesn't have as much movement and is normally used in deeper water and fished slower, while a football jig is most often used in deeper water and also doen't have the erratic action of a swing jig. I know there are some who do fish it like a shaky head and it isn't technically wrong but it really was meant to be fished like a crankbait and if you look you can find articles and videos showing how it is used most often. Davey Hite use it in replace of a Carolina Rig, he said he can cover more water and it is just as effective at finding fish as the C-Rig. The one big difference in how it is fished is in the depth, a football jig in heavy weights is usually fished in deep water, the swing jig, even in 1oz sizes, is rarely used past 15' and is most often used in 1/2oz and 3/4oz in water less than 10' deep but again, this is the most common method but there are other ways to fish the swing jig and still have it be effective.

I've never found a need to use a neko specific hook. It's just a wacky rig with a nail weight so I use wacky hooks.

Got out tonight. 15 between two of us. A few 19's. But more 16, 17, 18s. Mostly caught on senkos. Light colored ones got all the fish. Zero on my black and blue. Just the opposite from opener. Still up shallow hugging the reed edges. Water temp 59.

Local Academy Sports has 300 yd spools of 10 lb and 20 lb power pro on sale for $10. It's normally $13 for a 150 yd spool.

My best friend and I just got back today from Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet, CA and had an epic day. There was a really bad algae bloom going on but for some reason when we switched to drop shot wacky rigged senkos we started nailing em. We caught about 10 fish total between the two of us and it was my friend's very first time fishing ever. His first cast on the senko and he nailed a 3.97lber and ended up catching more fish than I did. Beginner's luck. On his first cast with his wacky rig drop shot senko that I rigged up for him he caught a 4lber which at the time was bigger than my personal best of 3.5lbs. I was so happy for him but was so taken aback that on his first day bass fishing, he caught a fish bigger than my personal best. After catching some nice 1-2lbers working the coves with fairly little algae bloom I was able to hook up on a really nice fish. Right when he thumped it I knew it was a big one. I caught this 5.97 lber. and some 2lbers I'll try to get the pics of my friend's 4lber. I also ended up breaking my new Daiwa Tatula casting rod after losing a really big fish. I think I got hit by a 5lber or so early in the morning because he just took off with my senko and pulled out my drag and quickly wrapped me against a tree and freed himself. It happened so fast he was for sure bigger than 4lbs because my drag was set fairly well and he pulled it with ease. I was too anxious in trying to untangle from the tree that when I was yanking on the line with both of my hands that I came too close to the tip of my rod and broke off about 1". I still fished the rest of the day and caught that 5.97lber around 1pm. All in all a great day even though I broke my new rod. Fortunately I called a reputable tackle shop close by that said the repair would be pretty easy and cheap to fix.

Was out today on Chisago for 6 hrs. We (my son and I) caught some fish but worked pretty hard for them, maybe 15 between us and biggest was 17"(x3), most were 13"-14". Surface temps were 58-59 deg. I figured it'd be a tough bite but I was still expecting warmer water. Docks and shoreline with jigs and plastic cigars is what worked. I could find nothing on flats at mid depths with spinnerbaits or jerkbaits. Lake is WAY up.

Ditto on the Beetle Spin .

I would think a topwater plug like the Heddon Tiny Torpedo might be a good choice. It floats so you won't snag bottom and for young anglers being able to see the lure keeps their attention.

Yes. Also try angles to the dock.

Bitsy bug and rage chunk... So fool proof my gf landed 4 bass with it last time we went... And I was catching them on a 1/4 oz SK bluegill swim jig with a menace trailer... Cast and reel slowly was all we were doing. And we were getting hammered . I'm giving credit to the active fish and rage products

Remember, it's not always about the actual rod weight. Your combo is going to feel lightest when it's properly balanced. One of my most comfortable, "lightest feeling" outfits is a 7'6 XH Kistler Helium with a Team Daiwa Zillion. Those both weigh a fair amount but the rod is so incredibly balanced that the combination feels super light and comfortable.

I'm trying to understand this.....you guys are using long nose pliers and expect to cut braid with them as well? I've never seen any pliers that cut braid worth a darn. I use a Boomerang for that purpose and a simple long nose pliers for just about everything else. I'm also not impressed with the combination of long nose and split ring pliers, all in one. I have separate pliers for split rings. Combination tools just don't seem to do any one job as well as a tool designed for just that one purpose. You can easily carry specialized pliers in many tackle bags these days without much inconvenience.

You need electronics to fish ?

I've logged over 50 years of detailed information with most of that being night fishing. When night fishing I tended to pay attention to the New & Full moon, believing these to be peak times. Night tournaments were even scheduled around both major moon phases. About 20 something years ago I started night fishing every possible moon phase & the only constance I've noticed is there aint one! Tidal waters are affected only because of tides which has an direct collation to moon phase. Roger, I do show an upswing in activities round moonrise & moonset very similar to sunrise & sunset. Does it hurt to schedule trips around these charts/calendars? Nope! Did it for years until I realized the supposed off days were as good as any. As for activity feeding bass A bass's metabolism is finely tuned to its circulatory system temperature which is the same as the surrounding water temperature. In warmer water bass digest their food fast requiring them to eat more. Being a predator they will not pass up an easy meal! How's that for rambling

What's embarrassing about the duck?I'll throw a pink vibrator with trebles on it if it works.Ill even turn it on for extra water displacement .

Finally got my new PB bass this weekend! Fishing was tough and I decided to pick up my crankin stick. First cast out with it (Berkley Pitbull) and this big girl said she was hungry! 21.5" and 4.13lbs might not sound huge in some states, but for WI that's pretty dang good! I had been trying to beat my previous PB for 6 years, and just so happens two months after one of my best friends/fishing partner died it happened. I believe he had a hand in it.

That's putting him in a pickle Roger

We use a 4 inch senko with a 3/0 EGW offset worm hook Texas rigged for all our little folks when we switch over from what we call bobber klobbing. (Live bait). They catch a lot of fish with this rig.

Grapes. You kosher with that?

Have you considered a superline and just changing fluoro leaders when switching from crappie to pike?

I usually fish 15 lb fluoro for everything and have never had a break-off yet. When specifically fishing for pike I would just tie a 12 inch wire leader to this. 8 lb test is risky imo. I think 10 lb is the lightest I would go for pike. If you want to fish crappie after you are done pike fishing, just tie a 6-8 lb leader to your mainline if line visibility is an issue. Best of luck

I went back to the covered bridge at Matthews this morning to fish the Mississinewa River. It was muddy when I got there -- and got even more muddy once the rain started. I stayed for three hours (until the lightning & thunder started) and only got one bite. I tried a black & blue spinner, a neon green & white squarebill, and a ned rig. Oh well... a bad day of fishing still beats a good day at work.

I'm limited to fishing a few hours weekend mornings so I dont want to spend a bunch of time running all over the lake I'll fish down the bank throwing various topwaters to any cover and then I'll come back down that same stretch flipping some type of jig/texas rig to the same cover. Some days I'll get that first blow up on the topwater and I cant put it down the rest of the morning

I actually fished before electronics, I've fished with the little "green box", & I've fished with the " Super Sixty". Before electronics I study the topography around the lake, once on the water I looked for anomalies in the shoreline. I then positioned the boat with casting of the bank. I worked the anomaly from the shoreline & 180° out by fan casting. Next I would move to that "casting distance" from the band & start the process over. The only problem is you're fishing a lot of unproductive water!

Depends on where I am fishing. If it's the lake I've been guiding on for 15 years, I pretty much already know what is down there. I may graph some areas looking for new brush piles or structure but for the most part, I could fish it without electronics. Now, the Potomac river is a different beast altogether. Grass beds change and the water is not clear enough to visually see how the grass is positioned (clumpy vs solid) and if grass has returned to an area or failed to grow in an area.

fish rivers. you don't need a sonar if you can read the current, even in large rivers its obvious where the deeper water is and where the current breaks.

If you can't possibly afford a boat, Top Water close to the bank around cover, especially grass. In the small ponds and some lakes,you can usually see the grass in the summer.

I've fished with electronics and I've fished without electronics, but then again, I've walked in the rain with rain gear and walked in the rain without rain gear. My vote is for rain gear Roger

You know if you didn't hold 'em all so close they could all be 4 pounders.

I got into some bass on the White River right in the heart of Muncie (under the Washington St. bridge) this morning.

Fished Chinook fish and wildlife area for the first time today in a canoe. Only fished a few hours, had two bites and caught one small one on a weightless senko:

Caught a few nice bass yesterday pictured , about 15 total on Webster lake . Bass were caught on Texas rigged craws in 18 fow and spinnerbaits in the shallow weeds . I also managed to catch my 1st ever Muskie yesterday , it was on 24 inches long but it was still really cool , about 30 minutes latter I caught another 20 inch Muskie . 2 in one day is pretty cool even if they were small ones !

Caught a nice 5lb lmb down below the four way in concord that connects rt4 and 106. Also a 2lb'r the day before. This was probably on saturday....