Tokyo Tony

The surface really won't have much to do with the depth. A friend of mine once insisted he saw a dropoff, based on the ripples on the surface, but he was not right. Your best bet is to look at the surrounding land - if it drops off steeply, odds are that it continues that way underwater, and the same for gradual slopes. You can always throw a jig to see how deep the water is if you don't have a locator, but you're best off getting a locator. There are some pretty good portable ones sold on Cabela's for a reasonable price.

Thanks for the replies guys. I think I may salvage the skirts and dump the jigheads. I just don't want to take any chances, especially because at least one of you has had straightened and rebent hooks snap before. I have no problem rebending worm hooks because I usually have the drag set around 6 or 7 pounds with my spinning setup, but with my jig setup the drag is maxed out. I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if I lost a PB because I wanted to save a few bucks... Tight lines

The setup I usually use when I'm pitching jigs into the thick stuff is 7' casting rod with 50lb Power Pro tied directly to the jig. When I've been getting hung up on branches on a nice spot, I've been just forcing the jig off of the branches instead of moving in and spooking the fish. The problem is that this straightens the hook out, so I end up putting on a new jig for fear that if I bend the hook back it will be too weak. Anyway, I have about a dozen perfectly good jigs, but the hooks are bent out too far. Do you guys think it would be ok to bend them back and keep using them, or should I salvage the skirts and just add the jigheads to my box of Christmas tree decorations? I might add that all the jigs have high quality hooks - I don't know if that makes a difference...any advice is appreciated.

When I was a kid living in Miami, FL, I used to save all my old baits (plastics included) that caught nice fish, put them in a ziplock and write a note as to how many/what type/how big the fish were that the lure caught. Sometimes a barracuda or something would just wrench apart a Rapala, so that the wire hook holders tore out of the body, and I'd still save those babies just so I could look at them and reminisce. Ahhh, good times. I wish I could find my old collection of those lures.

Forgot to mention a side note in my previous post... I watched this episode of Roland Martin and he was fishing wrecks for Jewfish using 5-10 lb Jacks for bait (I think they were Jacks). I laughed out loud when he went on one of his blatant and annoying rants endorsing a product, in this case MegaStrike. He freakin' smeared a bunch of MegaStrike all over this 8 pound dead Jack, saying it would probably help. Totally ridiculous, putting MegaStrike on actual bait. Anyway, just thought I'd share that little ditty.

I can't say for sure that it definitely helps, but in my mind it does, and I don't feel comfortable throwing plastics without first applying some. Sometimes when the bite is tough I'll even apply it to my hard baits. Just the other night I was having a tough time with a rattletrap, so I smeared some Megastrike on both sides, and within two casts caught a fish. Can't say it was because of the attractant because there are so many more important variables, but I will say that I have a lot of confidence in the stuff, and that I believe it works well.

Here I use these "stops", one before the weight and one after the weight. They 'trap' the weight between them and they(along with weight) can easily and smoothly be moved anywhere on the line. They won't damage the line as toothpicks might. Dan lightning - are these the types of stops that you can reel through the guides onto the spool? reason I ask is for slip-floats

Sounds like an in-line spinner could do the trick - I love using those in rivers.

If you just look at the head that fish looks like a 5 pounder :'( I've never kept a bass, don't really have much of an interest in keeping them (I heard they're not the tastiest fish in the world), but would have nothing against keeping the smaller ones. With the bigger bass, I just have too much respect for them to be able to kill them, even if it's for eating. I'm more tempted to kiss them than throw them in the livewell.

A Zara Spook would be a huge friggin' bug 8-) I don't know that there's anything in particular it's supposed to mimic. A lot of times when I watch my Zara it looks kinda like a little animal struggling around, and when you're walkin' above a school of baitfish it could be a really messed up baitfish. Basically, it's just supposed to look like something that's alive and messed up = easy meal for Mr. Bass. Or it could be something that makes him angry. I don't know exactly, but I do know that it works.

Welcome cc112 ;D I was just gonna put up a post with the message below, but his is a good spot to put it i guess. This site is AWESOME. There are so many people actively reading and replying to threads that there's never a shortage of reading material while I sit here at work on a slow day, and there's just so much to learn. Thanks everyone

Baby duck http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod-wrapped.jsp?id=0031286&navCount=1&parentId=cat20344&masterpathid=&navAction=push&cmCat=MainCatcat20166-cat20344&parentType=index&indexId=cat20344&rid=

You need at least one million spinnerbaits. Seriously though, it depends on a lot of factors (e.g. type of water you're fishing, depth you're gonna be fishing the baits, etc.). I probably have about 30-40 spinnerbaits, but I don't use them all that much except sometimes when I'm fishing the edges of weedbeds or sometimes in submerged trees and such. They're also great for night fishing. Probably a good all-around spinnerbait size (this is very generally speaking) is a 3/8 oz, white for clear water, chartreuse for stained water, black for muddy water (I prefer multi-hue skirts like white/grey or chartreuse/red, etc.). The standard deal is willow-leaf blades for clearer water, single colorado blade for muddy water and night fishing. There are so many variable for spinnerbaits that it's pretty ridiculous: different variations and numbers of blades, sizes, skirts, arms, etc. That's probably one of the reasons that they're so appealing. You can find several articles on here for spinnerbait tactics. One thing that IS a rule is that you need to buy a quality spinnerbait. I have some old cheapo spinnerbaits that I used once or twice and will never use again. It's really tough to tune them, so they're always running crooked, and they have poor skirts and dull hooks. Not a good combination. Terminator, Strike King and Booyah all make quality spinnerbaits. For an decent spinnerbait it will cost you 3-5 bucks, but it's worth it. One last word of advice is to use a trailer hook. I know some people don't use them and still have success, but I for one feel naked without that trailer hook. Half of the fish I catch on a spinnerbait got themselves hooked just on the trailer hook. Back to your question though, how many you'll need depends on the lake where you plan on using them and the conditions there. Read up on some of the articles on the site for which specific types would be best, then buy a couple in different sizes and colors. If you really like them, then buy as many as you can afford. And if you're ever feeling a little down on life, go to your favorite fishing store, buy a bunch of lures, and you'll feel better in no time ;D

I guess I have a different night fishing experience than most. I'm usually kind of search-casting a general area when I night fish, and I've found that noisier baits are much more efffective (and fun to use instead of slowly working a senko). But like I said, I could see them working well if you're fishing an area where you know there are fish, even though I would still prefer to use a more active bait. Even in those situations though I find a rattle trap or a chatterbait will get more strikes than a plastic. This is mainly on several smaller lakes and ponds in central CT, by the way.

My brother and I had the exact opposite problem this past summer when we went down to Miami, FL for a "wedding" (moreso a fishing trip). We did a deep sea charter and when we ran into a school of dolphin, on the first strike my brother set the hook so hard (and missed) that he almost fell over backwards. The captain was looking down from the tuna tower, laughed and said, "Sonny, we ain't fishin for marlin here!" Then we were fishing the Everglades for snook/tarpon/redfish/trout and lost several fish from hooksets that were too hard. It seems like an easy adjustment, but when you feel that strike and get all excited, it's really tough not to do your reflexive hook-set. I can easily see it being the same way going from salt to fresh.

you can also try using assist hooks, although I have yet to find cheap ones... http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod-wrapped.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166-cat20291&rid=&indexId=cat20291&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=1&parentType=index&parentId=cat20291&id=0018202

Oh and LBH do you use scents at night with your plastics? If so, any preference?

Good point LBH - I'm usually night fishing on stained water and not targeting any specific structure, hence my preference, but you make a good point.

RW - because I've found that they just don't work as well as the noisier baits in most circumstances, and I'm talking mostly about finding fish. If you have a good spot where you know there are fish, by all means drop some plastics in there like your Fat Ika's. I just feel like the fish can really key in on a chatterbait at night.

And I forgot to mention - the reason for these baits is that they make a lot of noise and are easy for the bass to locate. And they work.

My three favorite baits are chatterbaits (aka boogie baits), spinnerbaits (black/red or black/blue with single colorado blade - strike king makes a great spinnerbait for nightfishing), and topwaters (i like walk-the-dog types - zaras or lucky craft sammys). Unless you have a good spot where you KNOW there are a bunch of fish, I'd stay away from the plastics.

Another thing you can try is when you see that the fish is about to jump, lower your rod tip to the water instead of keeping it high. This will usually at least keep them from jumping too high. Sometimes it can't be prevented, but keeping the rod tip low should keep them from jumping two feet out of the air (unless it's a huge smallie ;D). I remember watching Jimmy Houston once on t.v. and he said anytime he has a big bass to the boat with some kind of crankbait and the fish only has one hook in it, he maneuvers the rod so that he gets the other hook stuck in the fish also. I've never tried this but if I get a huge fish to the boat with a crank, you can be sure I'll try that little technique. He's really good at landing fish if you watch him. He can almost always prevent the fish from jumping too high, and he always knows when the fish is gonna jump. As for the Trilene flourocarbon, I use it mostly for leaders, and I'm not a big fan of the "transition" (gold-colored) line. It's not as friendly as the clear version, although I've never had a problem with it breaking. I just spooled one of my spinning outfits with P-Line flourocarbone and I actually like it more. It's softer and the knots tighten more smoothly (leading me to believe that the knots are stronger).

I don't know if you're confident with Rapala X-Raps (or Lucky Craft Pointers), but when the bite is tough, especially in spring and this time of year, try one out. If the water is clear, try an all white or white with blue back (or if smallies white/pink back is my fav), or if the water is stained, my favorite is clown color, and experiment with retrieves in water around 12' or less. You don't even really have to target visible structure - just move along the shore (and try different distances from shore) and toss it in all directions. I've never come across a situation where a steady retrieve works better than a jerky-twitchy retrieve, and I always start out with a very aggressive and fast twitchy retrieve with pauses at certain intervals. If you can't get a bite with the aggressive approach, try lessening the force of your twitches and increasing the pause in between. This pattern works really well when you find schools of baitfish as well, most of the time better than topwaters. You'd be surprised how far off the bottom a fish will come to slam an X-Rap. The only problem with X-Raps is that I find I catch smaller fish in general with them. If you're lookin for the big ones a jig is the ticket, but personally, when the bite is tough, I'd rather catch a bunch of smaller fish than fool around all day with a jig to try to get a big one or two. Still workin on my jig fishing. Anyway, give the ole X-Rap a try next time. It's one of my most confident baits and if you give it a shot I'm pretty sure it'll become one of your favorites.

Try never to touch his skin - holding bass by the lower lip is the best way to go, but if the fish is large, don't hold him horizontally by the lip. This could damage his mouth/jaw. All the things you hear about the slime are true - touching the body of the fish and especially laying it on the ground could make it vulnerable to infection. I know with some saltwater species like tarpon you're not supposed to hold them up by the lip alone, but for bass it's the best way.

That's one of the reasons bass are so awesome - they can live almost anywhere in almost any conditions and just adapt to them. Those are some funny lookin' bass ;D