Crestliner2008

6" Smoke Senko, wacky rigged.

Find the fish as you have been. Anchor. Shut off ALL your electronics and sit tight for 10 - 20 minutes. Be very quiet! When the environment has settled down, lower your DROP SHOT with a 4" finesse worm. Twitch it a few times....let it be still....twitch it again....then hold on!

You really need more than just one rod to accomplish the tasks you need to deal with smallies. A light to medium light action for drop shotting with 6# test line and a medium action for tubes & jerkbaits with 8# test. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on a rod either; BPS makes a decent line-up of rods which will put a lot of fish in your boat - and on a budget.

Being in the "zone" you are referring to may be just an active feeding period for the bass. Bass are normally in a negative to neutral feeding mode throughout the day. But once in awhile, you least expect it, they suddenly turn active. Biting and hitting on anything that moves. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, pray you are on the water!

;D ;D ;D Do you have to wear the "mask" when you fish it????

Seems like you folks liken the "Rage Tail" baits with frogs? Two distinctly different animals in my view. I've use the "Salad Spoon" for years with a great deal of success - for that "type" of bait. For FROGS, I'd go with the Spro Bronzeye. In any case, you really do need to separate these two baits. They act and perform entirely differently. JMO.

When fishing Ika's I use Fireline with a 3' leader of fluorocarbon line. Tie with back to back Uni knots and you're good to go. Just don't have too stiff a rod action or you'll rip a lot of lips!

I thought it was Florida !

Excellent smallie indeed!

What kind of fish are you fishing for? How deep is the lake? How clear is the lake? Are you fishing from shore or from a boat? Need a bit more info in order to help.

I believe a bass is a bass, is a bass. He has to eat whenever the opportunity avails itself regardless of where he/she is. He has to, in order to survive. He can wait until weather, moon, tides, barometer or whatever conditions are "good" to start eating. With that being said, here's what happened to me yesterday here in Western MA. We've been in a real hot, humid weather pattern for quite a few days. A severe cold front was coming toward us, from the west. Winds were high. Clouds were getting dark fast. Severe thunderstorms were predicted for the afternoon. At noon, I ventured forth to a local pond, with some Senkos, fishing from shore. A hot wind was blowing at about 10 - 15 mph. A couple of casts to dam abutment and my line zoomed out. Landed a fine 21 1/4" largemouth; admiring her briefly and releasing her. Another cast to the same area and my line zooms out again. Another big largemouth....this time closer to 20". Released that one too. Another cast and there goes the line again! This one appeared to be even bigger than the first and I saw several other huge bass along with her. (My hands really started to shake!) She rolled twice on the surface and came unbuttoned. I may not believe in some things with regards to weather and it's affect on bass behavior, but this event has driven home some things. First & foremost would be that if an impending severe front is coming through, I have to pick up my rod and go fishing!

I've had a great deal of success using a circle hook. Mine is the red Gamakatsu Oct Inline Circle, #221311, size 1/0 (smallest size made). I wacky rig using "Goodys" and when the fish starts off with it, I just start to reel normally. They're hooked in the top lip 90% of the time. Rarely have I ever had a fish come unbuttoned. I also pinch down the barb on these hooks. Facilitates hook removal; in the fish as well as your hand!

One thing you can be sure about. If you were catching fish and now you are not, they are just not there...period. It's all about location. As rw said, try to go deeper. Find bait (using your sonar) and depending on the bottom content, use blade baits, spoons or drop shot. I love the blades, but this time of the year the darn things hang with weeds far too frequently. The spoon and drop shot have paid off in 30'+ water this year. That's where you should be looking.

4 lbs. 13 oz. Quabbin Res., MA. 2007. Maybe this year I'll break 5.

How about this 4.3 taken this past Sunday: Took 9 others between this and 2.9 lbs. Decent way to end the 4th. of July Holiday weekend!

After fishing one for a couple of hours and taking a couple of bass, my senko was looking pretty beat up. So, I reversed it...putting the hook thru the small end. I caught one more bass; the Senko did have a different look to it fished this way. Am I wasting my time or is this a valid rigging technique?

Texas rigged Senkos.

Fish love the rain......I hate it!

Forget them! For awhile anyway. Just remember the location. They won't ever be very far from it. But, if you can see them....they certainly see you! And they will shut down right away. Give them time, then "sneak" in to within casting range. Stay low in the boat. Stealth is the name of the game .

Having a good sonar unit is critical. As well as having it set-up properly. Your goal should be to find bait, first & foremost. When you do, the bass will not be far away. This is what you should be looking for: That's the anchor line going down btw. And this can be your net results: These pictures were from a trip to a deep, hill-land reservoir here in MA, yesterday. My partner & I both caught about a dozen smallies each yesterday, from 2 to 4.3 lbs.; and 4 salmon besides! Here's the biggest salmon: Hopefully this will convince you not to be afraid of deep water. Just find the bait and fish close to it and you will do just fine!

A No. 7 or No. 9 floating Rapala is hard to beat for strikes and heart stopping action on a river! Then, when you've settled down a bit and want catch bigger smallies, try Ika's, hooked backwards and drifted down along eddys and into backwaters. Also stock up on a few small sized spinnerbaits. You'll have your hands full - fer sur!

Follow up a missed strike with a wacky rigged Senko. You'll hook up then!

The only time I use mono now is with top waters. Fluoro, or fluoro + braid is what most of my fishing is done with.

95% of my fishing is with spinning rigs. No real need to go to $300.+ baitcasting reels. Not if the objective is to just catch fish - IMO!

x 2 - but I go lighter (fishing for smallies here) and fill my 2500 Symetre with 8# test.