Crestliner2008

Neither does the fish! It's all a matter of an opportunity to feed.

30 years ago - or more - we were tossing "jig worms". Just a plain ole' ball head jig with a worm on the back side. Caught a lot of fish then. Still does today. No special "shakey head" design is any better. Sorry....JMO.

As far as the line vs. hook discussion goes, the "logic" behind the seemingly conflicting opinions, has a bases in fact. (Not saying I agree or disagree mind you!) Line is usually transparent, (allowing light to pass through it) making it disappear faster. Hooks are opaque and reflect the color instead. That being said, I personally like red hooks on some baits and have had a lot of success with red hooks when drop shotting. It's probably just a confidence thing, but the way I look at it - "whatever floats yer boat!" And there's no denying the fact that more red/white lures have been manufactured world wide than any other color scheme.

Here are two of my suggestions. First would be a reverse Texas rigged Fat Ika. Second would be a 4" or 5" hollow bellied paddle tail, rigged on a lightly weighted swimbait hook. Both of these can be tossed in the snaggliest of cover and retrieve without hanging. Hope this is of some help!

You can also have a good shot at triggering suspended, in-active bass by using a slip bobber set-up and wacky rigged Senko. There's a link to this discussion here in the smallmouth bass section.

X3 - I use 10# test Fireline main with a #8 Spro Powerswivel on the end. Then I tie on a 2' section of 8# test fluorocarbon leader and then the hook. Do not wait too long with your hookset or the the fish will ingest the bait too deep. Never had to worry about them dropping or rejecting a Senko. And, if the cover is sparse enough, go with a size #1 or #1/0 INLINE circle hook. If the cover is too dense, then Gammy's #1/0 weedless is a good choice. You just have be quicker on the hookset when using weedless hooks. Like I said....they ingest Senkos FAST!

X4 - tried the eccentric garbage like like Nanofil. Quickly went back to my ole' reliable.

Wow! I wish our state had reports published like those. You're half way there with the suggestions thus far. Can't add anything at this moment.

Fresh meat always works!

Excellent! No going back now.

I've successfully used the 5.5" SK Shadalicious on smallies when river fishing in the spring. I use it with a screw-lock, weighted swimbait hook. You can toss them in the worse, snaggly laydowns you find and they'll bring out the bruisers every time!

The only thing with the "auto" inflatables is that if you get caught in a thundershower or steady rain, be prepared to have it self-inflate on you. And to re-charge it is a bit expensive, depending on the make/model. If I were you though, this is what I'd go for without a doubt. Out of sight, out of mind.....except when you need it. Then it's always there for you.....like insurance.

Get yourself a can of EEZOX synthetic gun care spray. This is a CLP type product (Clean Lubricate & Protect). One of the finest on the market. Our troups use it extensively overseas in the roughest of environments. I've been using it on all my guns for years now. Couldn't be happier.

Fishing from a boat, it's mainly a matter of protecting yourself and not so much if the fish can see you or not. However, when fishing from shore, I like to blend in with my surroundings as much as possible. In this situation, you need all the help you can get!

Try a 10" Yum "Mightee Worm", especially in watermelon/red. This is a straight tailed hunk of plastic that no self respecting bass can turn away from! Dy-No-Mitee!

Tubes are good. But if you do not have a bunch of 1/8 oz. ball head jigs and a selection of 3" curly tails in your arsenal, you're missing out on a lot of action.

You are fishing a small reservoir then. In summer, smallmouth bass (>2.5 lbs.) inhabit off-shore, deeper bottom structures that baitfish frequent. No bait...no fish. It won't be until mid-Sept., before they start moving in shallower areas of the lake, following the bait. Without a portable sonar unit, you are definitely handicapped in finding bigger fish at this time of the year. I'm not saying that you would use it to find the fish...rather to find the bait. The fish will always be nearby. Until you can get together a few coins to get an inexpensive sonar for your canoe, make a "hand sounder". Get a 40' length of parachute cord. Tie a 4 oz. large nut & bolt to one end. Tie simple overhand knots every 10'. You can use this to "sound" the depth of the lake pretty accurately. Thereby finding humps, holes and hard/soft bottom areas. It won't tell you which of these structures the bait is on, but it will get you into the ball park. Get yourself fishing the drop shot rig. A google search will give you plenty of advice on this technique as well as the articles at the top of this forum. Then, once you find a spot which you think may hold bait, a few probes with the drop shot will tell you if you are correct or not. When the bait starts moving shallow (as the water cools in the fall), a jig & curly tail can be dynamite. 1/8 oz. ball head jig with a 3" - 4" curly tailed worm trolled along the first break will definitely get you bit at this time. You will learn where that first break is with the "sounder" I described earlier. This should get you off the ground. Good Luck!

O.K., first off, what kind of lake is it? How clear is the water? Are you fishing from a boat or from shore? What are you using? Lots of variables to consider in giving you any kind of decent response to your question. Need more info please.

Contact your DNR (Dept. of Natural Resources) and ask them if they know what's going on with the pond.

Simple. Get yourself some floating jig heads that walleye anglers have been using for decades and nose hook your Senkos. I've never tried this, but it only makes sense. Just not sure how big a cork jig you'd need to float a Senko? Welcome to the site by the way!

Which species?

Fishing the Ika, it's imperative to be a focused line watcher. When you see the slack "twitch" - even slightly - set the hook! The sooner you do that, the greater the possibility that the hook will be in the front of the mouth, rather than down deep. Fishing plastics with an off-set worm hook, I always crimp down the barb. Have lost very few fish doing this and extraction is so much easier, even if they do take it deep.

I've always thought that the hard body baits, like a Spook, were meant to be presented on the outside edge of the weedline. Whereas the soft bodies were meant for more dense cover. Both seem to do very well in those situations. Never thought about a weedless hard body lure. Suppose you could add weedless hooks to a Spook. Just not so sure it would be of benefit.

I watched a segment of a T.V. program a few years back by Tim Horton on spoon fishing for bass. He was casting deep, off-shore structures. He used heavy, smooth gold & silver spoons, in the 1 1/2 oz. size. Cast out and let them hit the bottom and jerk them off immediately. In some cases he counted down if the bass were suspended. On another tact, In'Fisherman Doug Stange is a proponent of smaller spoons - i.e., 5/8 oz. Tony spoons - for smallmouths on off-shore structures. Again....he never lets the spoon "sit" on the bottom. Rather he keeps the spoon either fluttering down or rapidly moving upward. He believes you have to keep them curious and not allowing them to actually "see" the spoon. The smallmouth res I fish won't allow bottom contact due to a heavy bottom grass, even in water as deep as 45'. So basically I've used the count-down and jerk method. Sometimes successfully.....sometimes not.

First off, Senkos are expensive. But they work. So just how "inexpensive" should results be? However, there are cheap work-arounds to this problem. Here's a link that I posted awhile back that illustrates my method of preserving a single Senko through the catching of several fish: http://www.bassresou...rigging-my-way/ Now as far as the hook problem you are experiencing, go to a 1/0 Gamakatsu INLINE circle hook - #221311. I prefer the red, but regardless of the finish you choose, I always crimp down the barbs. You will rarely hook a fish deep with these powerful hooks and extraction is a breeze without the barb. Employing these two techniques, your problems will disappear.