fretfishman

I don 't think so, I 've fished jigs a bunch of times without trailer and I still catch them. So if it's not the trailer - is it the skirt or the jig? Gotta be the skirt, cuz if I just drop a plain jighead I ain 't gonna get a lot of bites. What I 've found in my stay as BR member is this, people generalize a lot, also maybe it 's because I 'm old I 've seen lack of knowledge in many members which coincidentaly tend to generalize, when you say jig I don 't know why is it that you say jig aned apparently everybody makes this mental image of a rubber/silicone skirt jig :-/, man, jig skirts are not only made of rubber/silicone, they are made also with feathers ( marabou is my favorite ), hair, tinsel, alone or in combination. Can you catch fish with a jig without trailer ? ---> aboslutely yes Can you catch a fish with a plain jighead and a trailer ? ---> absolutely yes Can you catch fish with a jig and trailer ? ---> absolutely yes Can you catch fish with a plain jighead ? ---> I serously doubt it So which one catches the fish ? the trailer and the skirt alone or in combination. Lol @ a guy catching a bass on a plain jighead....youtube it. Of course, he used berkley gulp alive on it and it was probably an extremely "active" bass time or a severe reaction strike, but still...pretty hilarious.

the rule of thumb I try and use is: if you can see the outline of your bait in the water condition you're fishing - switch it. granted, sometimes this can't be avoided, but in those cases use a natural color. using phrases like "x for stained or muddy water" don't work, because everyone's definition is subjective. watch a video of kevin van dam for a good example of this - to him, stained water is something like 4" of visibility. joe blow down the street thinks stained water is a green-tinted water throughout and he can't see anything in the water. the list goes on and on.

odd. I get tap, tap, tap on quite a few soft plastics on everything from 1 pounders to lunker bass. it probably depends on how closely you're monitoring your line in respect to slack. I do think setting the hook is the best option. it doesn't cost you anything. (except maybe an eye if you come unglued setting the hook when your bait's 10 foot from you)

rocketball, you are gonna love those fat ikas. they hit 'em like a mack truck most of the time. great craw looking lure - among other things. funny thing is - it doesn't matter how ya fish 'em and they'll usually gobble them down. I've rigged them in about every way possible except wacky, but weightless t-rig or t-rig have been my faves.

grats to you, man! those are nice smallies. something about those red-eyed, ruthless fighters that just gets me goin'. hope you had fun.

one thing about st. croix rods that I've noticed (and this isn't a slam - I use st croix rods a lot) is their shorter rods in MH power and their longer rods in H power - both in fast action - are very stiff. most people love or hate this from the start, but for me it has been a grow to love it situation. I will say that, because of this, the st. croix rods won't fit all fishing styles for me, which is why I have others. perhaps others have had different experiences. I don't know if this helps at all, but g'luck!

4/0 ewg here.

thanks for all the tips, people. 8)

thanks for the advice - I'll check out the site. Cruz, I sent you a pm and I'll give ya a call asap. (probably after my surgery this week) looking forward to hitting some water with you, man!

ditto to what marty said. however, if you're up to conducting a full scale test then by all means.... ;D let us know!

Nice work, JT! very good read.

catch 5 fish over 5 lbs in a day - check. get my nephew to listen to me when I'm teaching him how to fish - check. (finally) join a local bass club - arghh!!! (no response yet from them) You're right...writing down goals is amazing and they will be realized much quicker in doing this, imo. good point!

the price is crazy, but holy hell...I throw so many perch patterns in my neck of the woods that I've got to snag that one. looks great!

I've been using Loctite's Industrial strength super glue, because it was recommended on some swimbait sites. it works very well, but my problem has been the last two tubes of it I've purchased dried up extremely quickly - no matter how well I take care of it and close the cap well. it may have to do with the fact that it dries so quickly (your swimbait is ready to go in about 5 seconds), but if I can't make use of the full bottle of it then there's a design flaw. having found nothing better out there - I'd try the mend it if I were you. hopefully someone chimes in with a good option...I need something also.

agreed. if you're fishing in less than 30 foot of water patience will pay better dividends to fish weightless. the fluttery action can't be achieved any other way and, in 20 foot or less, it doesn't take all that long to let it glide down. if you do want to move to a weight, though, I'd recommend nail weighting the senko or switching to a drop shot - either method have their own benefits and don't hinder the action like a 1/4 oz or higher bullet sinker on a texas rig would. g'luck!

agreed with rw. use size to your advantage. you can fish out the dinks first, if you choose, but it takes time you may not want to spend and you also run the risk of "spooking the bed". I'm sure you've all seen that situation where the bite stops after they've eventually become spooked. I will say that it's hard to bypass the dinks with larger lures, though - if the bite is on they'll most likely hit it anyway. the odds are in your favor, though - if there's one large lure the dinks are reluctant to hit, in my experience, it's a big jig and trailer. I'm always interested in methods of getting the big fish out of beds when the bite's on so this subject intrigues me. I'd like to become more proficient in this area.

as megastrike said, the key to landing big bass is to present an easy meal. it takes just as much energy for them to inhale a small meal as it does a large one. they obviously like to get the best bang for their buck and that's why big swimbaits work so well. they see the large trout, gill or whatever swimming by ever so slowly (or twitched with deadsticking) and it's so easy for them to get a large meal. you get the added bonus of taking some dinks out of the equation, but I have seen 1 pounders eat 8 inch swimbaits. (sigh) having said all that, I've caught some lunker bass on small roadrunners. it's entirely circumstancial, though. it's all about putting the odds in your favor and taking advantage of those circumstances, whether you choose to "go big or small". welcome back, avid.

Wayne, I know a lot of people say that - so I have no doubt that has been your experience. I've tied on a couple colors of a lure and then tied on another and that would be the only color they'd hit. I had this happen a couple months ago even. to check, I tied on some roadrunners after the crankbaits and they wouldn't hit until I tied on the silver and white. that day, color mattered more than lure - strange. I found no schooling baitfish, either, since that was my first thought...although, I knew some were near. I've experienced the color phenomenon Catt is talking about, too. some of it is wild (pink worms?!) and some of it makes sense. (black and blue jigs) anyway, like I said - color is not that important, but it does matter sometimes. I have been in fish frenzies like the one you mentioned, though, and I had confidence I could tie on my shoe and they'd eat it...if it weren't size 15.

yeah, ok. (snicker) g'luck!

often we give the fish both too much credit and not enough credit in regards to their intelligence. that's why we're constantly over-thinking things, I suppose. colors aren't that important in many situations like fast-moving crankbaits, although sometimes a certain color allows them to home in on the lure in a given water condition. I will always say color is somewhat important in clear water, though. I've seen it too often to think otherwise. the biggest thing to remember about color is that it looks much different in the water than it does to our naked eye. things like water conditions, sunlight and current drastically change the look and we haven't even mentioned flash yet - which can be a big turn on or off for a fish. if variables in the water didn't occur colors like firetiger would seem like the impossible fish-catching color, I'm sure...but it works more often than not. how about hot pink working so well for several fish species? seems odd, but it looks way different in water and is more about attraction and reaction than it is about inspection. color just isn't that important in a lot of cases. we're more fascinated and discerning about color than they are!

microfuse isn't widely available yet. add to that the fact that stren isn't as popular as many other fishing line brands and you can see what's happening. I haven't heard anything on the net about this line at all, but I've been wanting to try it. I'm probably going to order some soon and try it, but I doubt you'll get any feedback on this line from anyone soon. :-[

i watch my line while I'm developing the amount of slack I want on the fall with soft plastics. after that it's a combo of slack line watching and reeling up quickly to feel the bite. it helps to have a 7:1 or higher reel for it, but it's not a necessity. the big thing is being connected to your lure at all times, whether through line watching or controlling slack. can't really say much about it other than that. g'luck!

heya - you should check out Mike's Reel Repair site. it has a zillion schematics and you'll probably find what you need and be done in just a minute or two. just look on the left scrolling area and click schematics - then scroll to shimano, click and find your reel schematic.

tried them for a while and I can't stand them. I've moved on to other soft swimbaits like the berkley hollow belly. the money minnow just isn't versatile enough in retrieves, but is a fine 1-2 trick pony.

welcome aboard and grats on your recent success. a senko is great. have you gotten a chance to experiment with rigging on it? don't forget to try wacky and drop shotting it. have fun with those kayaks - they add another dimension to it, for sure.