Crestliner2008

I started carrying a bottle of 7-Up with me after reading the article about it last year, but have yet to test it out on a bleeding bass. I use barbless hooks most of the time (except drop shotting), so the only time a bleeding injury occurs is if a bass takes a worm hook into it's gills. Very infrequent occurrence, if you're on your toes.

1/4 oz. Daredevle, red/white with copper bottom. Back in the late 50's.

To my way of thinking, it depends on the mood of the fish. If they are finicky, I nose hook to give them a subtler presentation. If they hungry and chasing, the extra action of a wacky rig can sometimes give you a really great day on the water. It increases the attraction factor. When I nose hook though, I'm usually using the smaller 2 1/2" - 3" baits. When wacky rigging on a drop shot, it's usually the larger 4" & 5" worms; although I will nose hook that size fluke sometimes. Further, I believe the Senkos (and those kind of stick baits) - any size - are best used wacky style on the drop shot, but that's just me.

Fantastic job for KVD. A true competitor. However, this was very close for him. He performed poorly the first half of the season and I thought for sure Reese would pull it off. I think it's getting harder and harder for KVD to stay on top. I hope I wrong though....he's tops in my book.

Have been fishing for over 55 years myself and had to do some "improvising" to learn what the bottom looked like. Get yourself about 50' of 1/4" line from the hardware store. Tie on a 4 oz. saltwater, lead sinker. Tie an overhand knot about 10' up and again at every 5' intervals. Within these overhand knots center a 4" length of colored ribbon - a different color for each 5' interval. Keep this in a small bucket in your boat and use it to "sound" your bottom at various points of interest. It will not take very long for you to pattern out the bottom contours in such a fashion. Did this for many years before getting my first "Green Box" (Lowrance flasher). I would not consider going out on the water now without a sonar of some kind. But the above suggestion will help you out in the mean time. Save your pennys and pick up a "Fishing Buddy" bottom finder. This is an inexpensive (~$100.), clamp on sonar, which is operated on regular AA batteries. It'll do until you can afford better. Above all, don't let anyone tell you that you can be just as successful on the water without a sonar. This baloney about "feeling" a good spot is pure, unadulterated BS! You can get "lucky", but that's only an occasional shot in the dark. Use the drop line for starters. Save your money and get a sonar. And start to really learn how to fish.

I use a 1/4 oz. most times, even fishing deep water (30' - 50'). Remember, once the sinker touches down, it's job is done for the most part. You impart no action, little action, or a lot of action to the worm via the rod tip. The worm is on slack line at that point. The job of the sinker is just to get your offering down to them quickly and maintaining a distance above the bottom. The small hooks work because the point is up and as soon as the bass closes it mouth on your offering, it's all over - for most of the time. I'd highly recommend you use a Gamakatsu "Split Shot/Drop Shot" hook in size #2. Tiny....thin wire.....and viciously effective in keeping you connected.

Maybe your right!

The drop shot? In fast eddies and currents? I find that perplexing. The drop shot needs slack between the bait and sinker in order to do what it does best. How is that possible in current.....unless you drifting with the current? I've done that in a river before, but I believe there are other presentations that work a lot better. What advantages are there in fishing current with a drop shot? Especially with casting a drop shot this way, as the original question suggests. And how much weight would be required in a changing and quickly flowing river would be another issue. Just curious.

One book that can teach you a great deal about bass and bass fishing is Buck Perry's book on "Spoonplugging". If you haven't read it, you're missing out on a lot of knowledge about structure fishing.

Debarb your hooks. No need for barbs. Unless of course, if you're fishing a high stakes tournament. But even I was, I'd still fish debarbed hooks. Rarely have I lost a fish that way and extraction is very easy. Nets are a pain in the you know where! ;D

Absolutely agree with changing frequently, if something isn't working for you. Figure on working the 3 most important portions of the water column; the surface, the bottom and the mid depths. If you have lures on your rods to strain good structures in these 3 areas, you should be able to figure out a pattern in the least amount of time.

X3 for sure....hands down.

Garmin 160.

Do a "google" search on Dan Gapan. He is the king of river fishing and an advocate for "slipping" a river. What this amounts to is using your main engine powering with your bow upstream, and allowing the current to move you backwards - at less speed than the current itself. This allows you to get your bait down and alongside eddies quite effectively. I've slipped rivers for quite a few years back and bit and it really is a very effective form of boat control.

Yep! Awesome slop bait. Has accounted for a lot of LM bass for me over the years. I don't fish the slop as much as I use to, but this is also a great pad bait as well.

Right on Shad_Master; keep it simple! Get yourself a "360" (or 3600) size, soft-sided bag, with pockets around it. They will usually hold about 5 of these medium sized plastic boxes. That's even more than you really need. But you don't want to loose confidence during a tournament, in saying to yourself, "I should have brought this or that with me today!" The 360 size is considerably smaller than the 370 series bags and will give you more than enough "selections" to choose from. I don't fish tournaments, so this is just a regular "fisherman's" opinion.

I totally agree - one of the most productive <inexpensive> lures on the market today. They'll catch LM, SM, walleye, pike, stripers, catfish - you name it. I usually just cast it out and let it hit bottom, then start a slow retrieve; keeping it as close to the bottom as you can.

Crestliner, are you talking about lakes or rivers? Just curious. If you came to my river right now, I could completley flip that theory on it's head: Big girls in shallow riffles and chutes all day long, as well as shallow flats early and late. Now, my river is much warmer and lower than average right now, which is something to consider. Dissolved oxygen is a hot commodity during these conditions, and the big smallmouth flock to locations where DO and food are abundant. Deep holes tend to be slow and stagnant deserts this time of year on my river while riffles tend to be slampig-filled oasises. I had assumed he was asking about lakes. And that's what my advice was predicated on. Rivers are a whole 'nuther ball of wax!

Not sure just how "cheap" the unit you have is? Does it have setting adjustments? Like ping speed, chart speed, sensitivity? If so, do the following: 1) Set your ping speed at max. (if no adjustment, we have to assume it's there already!) 2) Set your chart speed at 70% - to give you the maximum amount of "pings" per movement of your chart, for greater definition. 3) Sensitivity level should be adjusted to about 80% depending on the speed you want to see that bottom at. You should be looking for structure and bait on the bottom (forget about fish). If you find bait on structure, the fish will be there as well. If this is your intent, then the 80% setting is ideal. At full throttle, you'll get a lot of "clutter" throughout the water column, but that will subside when you slow down to really do your searching. 4) Get rid of the "Fish I.D." setting, if that's what it has. Looking at little "fishies" is cute, but sucks up a lot of definition in your unit. Learn to use fish arches instead. Will increase your visual definition tremendously and you won't get as many false readings. And for goodness sake, take off the "beeper". When you want to look at your sonar, you will see what it's showing you. Sound affects do nothing to enhance your sonar experience. Try this. Betcha your life gets better.

This is my 5th. season using Startron. No problems, no worries. Do you have a water separator installed? If not, maybe you should think about doing that. The gas we are given these days is pure crap (10% ethanol). It sucks up water out of the air like a sponge. You have to do everything you can to mitigate circumstances. If you decide to go with the separator, get a Yamaha filter. The only 10 micron filter on the market. All other are 20 micron or higher, which doesn't give you as good filtering. And when you do your tune-up, dispose of the engines gas filter and put in a new one. I don't care how "good" it looks - change it yearly. You've got to put the odds in your favor. I do not believe one additive is any better than any other. If it were that clear cut, all manufacturers of this stuff would be using the same formula....right?

I use to fish in an inflatable years ago. Very susceptible to wind. You'll have a hard time in any light breeze, to hold your position. Accept that. Get a decent slip ring anchor (doesn't have to be very big) and drift sock (Cabelas). These will aid you in holding position, so that you can fish.

How deep are you fishing? 25'? 40'? Big SM's go deep in summer - no ifs, ands, or buts about that. Find ledges, drop offs and humps directly adjacent to deep water. The search those structures for BAIT. Forget about looking for bass. Find bait first then probe that particular section of structure. Do not give up on the drop shot. And try taking along your X-heavy bass stick, with an 8" ROF-16 Huddleston in rainbow trout pattern.

Assuming you are mobile (have a boat), move out! Find a break dropping to deeper water and probe likely structures. Use bigger baits; 9" Slammers, 9" Sluggos, 7" Senkos, 10" Texas rigged worms. In very short time you will find bigger fish.

I don't really care what hours you normally fish - what hours is the tournament scheduled to be conducted? If you're fishing the hours you suggest, then tie a Slammer on your heaviest rig and hold on. Have another rod rigged with a (Texas rigged), 7" Senko. You will catch fish.

Music = focus distraction.