Shad_Master

Oh, I know it is a pain in the posterior but if you have to fish around it, it can be done. During the tournament last year, my partner and I were the only one's fishing in this particular area becuase of all the cotton - we stuck it out and took 3rd and 4th in the tournament and only missed 1st and 2nd by a small margin. This year there was absolutely no cotton on the lake anywhere, but the bugs were horrible - is there a rod guide that will help with that (LOL)?

What?

One of the biggest reason lures don't catch fish is we don't throw 'em. I know what you mean about not wanting to throw a high$ lure into a brush pile - but a couple of years ago, I bought one of each color of those always on clearance crank baits you find at BPS to use on a lake with lots of brush piles - threw 'em all day, never lost one and caught fish. Still wonder what would have happened if I had the cajones to throw a quality crank in that mess.

There are some things that just ain't supposed to happen and earthquake is on of 'em.

1) Not disagreeing with you, but it would take an awfully small eye to let the line through and not the cotton - I have had experience with having a fish on the line and can't reel it in because the cotton had jammed up the tip eye. 2) I think that spray soap trick is more for algae when sight fishing than cotton - could be wrong.

Actually, there are a couple of things you can do. Last year I was fishing a tournament in a section of a lake where it looked like it had snowed in June the "cotton" was so heavy. The fish were hitting frogs like crazy and I found that if I hold my rod high so that only the lure was in the water, I had less problem with getting my line fowled. If you do get "cotton" on your line, try pulling your line tight and plinking it like a guitar string, make it vibrate, this will dry out the cotton and makes it easier to remove.

Your going to get a lot of blow-ups on a frog, sometimes more than hook-ups. Using a buzz frog (like the horny toad) may improve your ratio because they have to commit to it a little more. If you are getting a lot of blow-ups w/o hook-ups, try throwing a backup lure like a Senko or a Ring Fry. This may get them to react and then you will have a better idea of what they are actually doing.

Ditto on the thanks for sharing - I sent it out to the guys in my local club, my wife and all my co-workers

BTW, thanks to who ever it was that went in an resized my avitar - Lord knows I didn't know how and now I notice it is regular sized.

They are all different ways of hooking the lure and presenting it. For instance, you can Texas Rig a Senko weightless - you insert the hook in the nose of the lure, turn it over and insert the point back into the body of the lure - then you can bury the hook, skin hook it or even leave it exposed. In addition to the articles you might want to do a youtube search for each of the rigs listed above - sometimes seeing makes understanding easier.

Of the options you listed, I chose Junebug - but "green pumpkin" is my oveall favorite and best producer.

What you say may be true - but when you are learning, you want to pay more attention to the worm than the weight. If you are just starting out you want to give the fish plenty of time to see your worm and not have it go dropping by them. That's why I said to work with adjusting your weight after you have some experience.

One thing I would add to the great tips already presented here is to get a variety of bullet weights from, say, 1/16 oz up to at least 1/4 oz. Try to use the lightest weight the wind and the water depth will allow. After you have a "feel" for what is going on, you may want to adapt your T-rig to the weight that is most comfortable for you and the conditions you are fishing. Now, go out and hang a big ole guddun!

I hear Irene warming up - how's that for an old reference?

Had an opportunity to check these out this weekend - the local bait shop at our tournament lake had "sample" packs with 5 different colors. Picked up a pack and opted for the "green" - immediately got bit - within in about 5 casts - had another big ole hog on the line - then got snagged in a brush pile and lost that lure. tried the other colors and go nothing. Jury is not back on these - I may pick up another pack of the greens and give them more try. BTW, they now come 5 in a pack for $5.99.

Well, sort of - if the hook is straight in where it may have penetrated a tendon or something - you really do need medical help to get it out - after deadening the area, the doctor will insert a small blade along the path of the shank of the hook and lay it on the barb allowing the whole hook to be pulled back out. This is not something that a lay person should try to do.

I first saw the drop-shot about 14 years ago when I hired a guide on Table Rock - I thought the guy was nuts until we started snagging spotted bass in 30' of water. Used to use it a lot and then got away from it. This year one of my fishing buddies decided to start d/s'n and has been calling me every evening to tell me about the numbers and the size he is catching from our local lake. Thinking in may give a try this weekend at our club tournament.

When ever I see a dead keeper floating on the surface I tell my partner we can take turns catching that one (LOL)

On my third trip to the ER to have a crankbait removed - I was being worked on by a young intern - I had to explain the procedure to him - when he asked if I was a doctor, I said "no, this just ain't my first rodeo".

I figure any bass that I catch in the morning during a tournament and measures 11 7/8" is bound to be a keeper by weigh-in time

The original question was about hook size and weights - I use 3/0 and 4/0 EWG Gamakatsu hooks 90+% of the time. Try to use the smallest weight you can get away with - 1/16 or 1/8 is my standard (1/4) on windy days.

We have a guy in our club who is a non-boater and fishes a lot from shore. He really loves to fish, but will throw every odd ball bait that comes along - only thing is - he catches fish with 'em. Nobody smirks at him anymore.

"the Kinami flash is the exact same as a Senko. Same formula/specs used in making it" Actually, NO. The molds (specs) are the same, but the formula is different.

I was fishing in a club tournament a couple of weeks ago and we were fighting a 30 - 35 mph wind. Late in the day, I had moved to a wing dyke that was open and started letting the boat drift me up the shorline. There was another guy (not in our club) fishing about 200 feet off shore and I was about 50 feet off shore. I really didn't even consider him as when I saw him, he was dinking around in the boat and looked like he might be leaving. All of a sudden he started yelling that I was going over his brush pile and he couldn't believe I was so rude. I knew the brush pile was there, but he was at least 100 feet away from it and I was working down on the other side. I tried to turn the boat, but was having trouble because of the wind. I apologized and started working back down the shore line. He pulled up his trolling motor and moved down the direction I was now heading and and set up again 200 feet out from the shore. Was I in the wrong?

I've thought about this some. I wonder if the AOY format last year left a sour taste in Skeet's mouth - I know it did mine. There is no way he should have been shut out of the AOY, but he was. I believe he will be back, but a blow like that takes time to heal.