BrianSnat

I like poppers, particularly the Rapala Skitterpop, Heddon Torpedoes, Zara Spooks and Jitterbugs.

I've used most of the lures mentioned here but never saw or heard of the Weed Wing before. I just googled it and see there are some being sold on Ebay. Interesting looking lure. Looks like a spinner/spoon combo.

I will twitch and sit about 4-5 times, then steady retrieve the rest of the way. I've had bass hit both. It is one of my favorite calm morning/evening/night lures. I use mostly the Tiny Torpedo, but have a Baby or two in my box.

I try to keep my tackle box out of the hot car in the summer but once in a while I forget. I was re-organizing my tackle box last night and noticed that all of my Zara Spooks were contorted into odd shapes. They had obviously softened in the heat. None of the many dozens of lures in my tackle box had the problem. Well of course the wood lures wouldn't have an issue but my hard plastic crankbaits, poppers, jitterbugs and other lures were fine. Only the Zara Spooks were ruined. Maybe I should try fishing them the way they are. Could start a new craze if the bass hit them.

It's mid June so I guess you are here now. Bass have been off beds for a while. The lake I've been fishing is a few miles from Green Pond. I've been doing very well during the day and evenings in 4-8 feet of water using weightless, T rigged Senkos, Yum dingers and swim Senkos. And after sunset using a Rapala Skitterpop in about 2-6 feet of water. Water temps last week were in the high 60's and low 70's.

I have a coupler lock that keeps someone from being able to hitch up the trailer. I guess they can hacksaw it off, which would probably get the attention of the neighbors, or hook up the safety chains and drag it that way but I think it would be noticed by the police.

I was fishing with a friend yesterday. We were using identically rigged pumpkin Yum dingers. I boated 8 bass, all in the 2-3 lb range and hooked up and lost 3 others. Friend boated 3 bass, all under 2 lbs and had 2 other hookups where he lost the fish (one was very big and snapped his line). The only difference was that I was using a red hook and he was using plain metal. Maybe it was just luck or maybe the hook made a difference. It wasn't an intentional experiment but maybe next time we'll do it again to see what happens. I'm sure my friend would want the red hook next time though.

I vary it. Sometimes soft twitch, sometimes loud pop. Generally in calm water its a soft twitch and I go with a loud pop in choppier water. But most often I'll mix it up. As far as the rhythm I'll mix that up too. Sometimes 1 pop or twitch then stop. Sometimes 2 or 3, then stop.

I was always under the impression that it was both a popping and steady retrieve bait. However if I knew it was the popping action that caused the hooks to tangle I would have stopped doing it 40 years ago.

Well the local Wal Mart and local bait and tackle shop devote about 2/3 of their pegs to red hooks. Red hooks are available in more sizes and styles. It's not like all the pegs with plain hooks are empty and there is nothing left but red. A basic retail principal is to devote more shelf space to big sellers, so it's safe to assume they are selling more red hooks than plain, at least in this area. Since 5-6 years ago I didn't even see red hooks and now they outsell plain ones, I'd call that a rage.

Red hooks seem to be all the rage these days, at least judging from the amount of shelf space they get in the tackle stores. Do you prefer red or the uncolored hooks for fishing plastics and bait? Do you think red really makes a difference?

I generally twitch then let it sit about 3 or 4 times, then use a steady retrieve the rest of the way

at $16 each I would hope so.

I've been bass fishing for 40 some years and always loved topwater plugs in the evening when the water is calm, but had a love hate relationship with the Jitterbug. When I could retrieve it without it tangling it worked great, but it would come back tangled in its own hooks over half the time. Very frustrating. It got so I barely used them anymore. The other evening I tied one on for the first time in a long time. True to form it came back tangled 4 of my first 5 casts. I was about to give up, but I took another cast and it came back OK, another caught a bass and the next came back fine. I used it the rest of the night without a single tangle. What was different? After 40 years, I changed the way I worked it. Previously I would give it a good jerk, kind of like I do with a popper. I'm guessing that is where the tangling occurred. This time I gave it only very light twitches, enough to make a little splash. It made all the difference in the world. Too bad it only took me 40 years to figure it out. Oh, and I nailed 5 bass with it.

For topwater I like the Rapala skitterpop. For deeper water why not consider plastics? A Texas rig Senko or Yum. No weight needed if you're in shallow water, 5 feet deep or so. Or try a slip sinker Texas rig or Carolina rig plastic if in deeper water.

That's good. I guess white nose syndrome hasn't reached south Jersey yet. In northern NJ there are very few bats left. I used to see dozens when on the water in the evening. Now maybe one or two, if any.

Other than a bowfin I've caught all of them while bass fishing (I had to Google warmouth, we call them red eyes, or rock bass here). Particularly perch and crappies. Also a lot of chain pickerel. A lot of them haunt the same areas as bass so it stands to reason. But until yesterday catfish while bassing were a very rare occurrence. In nearly 40 years of bass fishing I can probably count them on one hand with a finger or two left over.

Ran into two guys today who said they caught 25 bass, all on a jig in the shallows.

I went out this evening on the local lake to get in some bassin' I used the swimming Senko for the first time because last week I met a guy who was doing well with one. In an hour I pulled in 4 good sized bass, lost another couple but strangely enough, caught 3 catfish. In all the years I've been bass fishing I probably caught a few catfish while going for bass, but three in one hour? Weird! I guess they are also on their beds. I was working water that was about 3-4 feet deep. Does anybody here normally catch cats when going for bass?

It's the summer and you're fishing a new (to you) lake. What lure do you start out with? If you get no bites how long does it take you to switch? If you switch do you stay with the same lure and simply change colors, or try something totally different? Or do you stick with the your first bait and try different depths? Or a combination of some or all of the above? I guess my question is how do you work a lake and what drives your choices?

I fish topwater in the early morning, evening and at night. Sometimes during the day as long as its calm and cloudy and the fish are in shallow. With the hula popper I use the twitch and sit method. 1 quick twitch and let the popper sit for about 30 seconds, then another and repeat. I also do that with a jitterbug, but will also slowly and steadily retrieve a jitterbug. My favorite topwater lure is the Rapala Skitterpop

Anybody else have lure they like to use because it seems like it should catch fish? It appears to have everything, good finish, great action, but it just doesn't produce. The Yo-Zuri suspending jerkbait is that for me. I find myself tying it on because it looks like it should catch fish but I've actually caught very few on one. But it looks too good in the water to put in the deep recesses of my tackle box.

How do you rig it?

Organized tackle box? Don't make me laugh. I tried it a few times and each time it lasted exactly 1 trip.

What is a spot? The only spot I'm familiar with is the small, saltwater fish that I catch in the surf. A 12 lb one of those certainly would be news.