senko_77

Ok so RW and McAlpine are not answering OP's question, just giving their take on flipping plastics. I got it now. I'd be interested to see how a wide gap hook with a chunk of lead on the belly of it, would get through heavy cover. Interesting.

Master Bait'r, I'm sure one will be hitting the market soon enough. The popping frog design is relatively new and just like when the first big wave of frogs hit the market, eventually companies started making them with the "real" legs. The same thing will happen here. Just give it some time and soon you will see poppers with frog legs. When this does happen, I'll post on here to give you a heads up. Judging by your name, you may miss it due to you being preoccupied. Lmao.

McAlpine....so you are telling me that the 1 1/2oz flipping weight gets it through the junk, and then it flattens out on the fall because of the weighted swimbait hook? That isn't clicking in my mind. I feel that the 1 1/2oz weight would overpower the weighted swimbait hook and cause the bait to continue to drop nose down. Im confused how the weighted swimbait hook benefits the OP with such a heavy weight pegged above it.

BEAUTIFUL Spotted Bass but I gotta go with Wbeadle on this one....looking like an 8 to me. But on the flip side, pictures can be deceiving. And on a wacky rigged senko! That is what's up! I'm assuming he was using light line. I'm sure that was an unreal battle.

OP, one thing to keep in mind is that when you have a bunch of anglers flipping, try switching baits. you can still punch with a 1 1/2oz weight and use a finesse style soft plastic. Make sure to include some french fry style baits or a 4" senko. Grande Baits makes a lure called the RattleSnake and it is a KILLER bait to flip and pitch around shallow cover. Thing also works great on a c-rig.

That is exactly what I was thinking, Tartan34. RW, could you elaborate on how flipping with a 1 1/2oz weight and a 3/8oz weighted swimbait hook would benefit the OP. Also, can you explain your experience flipping with a weighted swimbait hook? I've never seen nor heard of that....maybe he is on to some secret that we don't know about!

Definitely the darter head. It helps it swim better and track straight and if you come into contact with any brush or grass, it will help it come through a lot easier. I also believe the darter head casts slightly better than a round head. It may be in my head but I seem to get a little more distance with a darter. As for swimming grub applications, Winter and Summer are the most productive times for swimming a grub. The fish tend to be suspended and grouped up which is perfect for this technique. It will catch a ton of schoolers in the Summer and in Winter, you never know what you're going to hook in to. I like curl tailed grubs in the warmer water and the stingray, no action grubs in colder water. Also something to note is that you will get more bites the lighter you go in your line strength. That goes for just about any technique.

I didn't get to read all the replies, but here is my 2 cents..... 1. 100% agree with WW2Farmer....do NOT listen to J_Francho. A double digit would probably flip that kayak of his 2. Look for stable weather. Although I did catch one of my 10+'s as a thunderstorm was moving in, pretty much all of my big bass have come when the weather has been stable, sunny, and just relatively calm for 3-4 days. The longer the stable weather, the better the bigger fish bite in my experience. 3. As it's been said for the last 10 pages of responses, look for the area where a big fish will live out most it's life. The area must include a prime feeding location, a sanctuary where the fish can be inactive, and easy access to and from these 2 locations. P.S. - The bait you throw really has no effect on making a big bass bite. My biggest (14.7lbs) ate a 2.5" finesse craw threaded on a 1/0 hook in about 18ft of water. I've also caught a 10-4 on a 4" finesse worm and a 12lber on a small crankbait. Yes, throwing big baits will eliminate a lot of those smaller fish from biting, but don't think for a moment that if you put a small bait in front of a fat female that she wont eat that thing up.

Temp, it's actually quite opposite my friend. Mono is the least sensitive with fluorocarbon being the second most sensitive because of it's higher density, and the most sensitive being braided line because of it's zero stretch properties. No stretch in the line transmits the vibration of a bite better and you feel it way more. A bite on braid feels very sharp, hard tap on the rod where monofilament is a soft thump that feels kinda mushy. I suggest you try braided line and if the water you are fishing is very clear, read how to add a fluorocarbon leader to reduce the visibility of the line, underwater. Also, I know Wal-Mart sells the Zoom Trick Worm as well as the U-Tale. the straight tail worm has much less action that the ribbontail worm and this time of year, the fish tend to respond better to less action which matches up perfectly for the Trick Worm. Any color will work. Honestly, I've caught loads of fish all year on worms that are bubblegum pink, black, purple, blue, green. It really doesn't matter.

Templeton, it is crazy that you can't get a bite on a texas rig. Like others have said, in my experience it will get bites on any day of the year as long as there are fish in the area you are fishing it. I guess keep trying it out and make sure it's staying on the bottom. I remember that being my biggest challenge when I started on the texas rig. And I guess try dragging instead of hopping it so you're sure it's staying in contact with the bottom. That's huge with that rig. My worst bait is a deep diving crankbait. Gah I wish I could get better with them but I just can never seem to get consistent results on the deep crank. Oh well. Guess I'll never fish the elites because 50% of the tournaments are won on the deep diver.

As you found out tonight, you can chuck frogs all day on baitcasting gear. Honestly, your doing yourself a favor by doing so. Fish that bite a frog usually need a solid hookset to get them put on the hooks well and a baitcasting setup is just better for this situation. Also, it is a must to fish frogs on braid. I throw 30-65lb depending on the nastiness of the cover I'm fishing. Mono/copoly have too much stretch to consistently hook and land bass that strike the frog. And throwing it on fluorocarbon is impractical because it sinks and the frog wont walk right and you will miss every fish that bites because of the line sagging underwater. Now here's some suggestions for modifying that frog and getting it to walk. First thing I do is trim the legs so they are about an inch and a half long and I leave one slightly shorter than that other. This creates drag on one side and helps it do its thing. Next, put some superglue where the hook is coming out of belly of the frog. Make sure it is airtight after it dries. Basically, when you squeeze the frog, it wont deflate because no air can escape. Next, take a razor blade and cut a small, quarter to a half inch slit on the back 1/3 on the frogs back and try your best to make it centered perfectly. This allows for 2 things.....one, the bait wont take on water like it does when the hook opening is open on the frog's belly. SInce the air's escape route is now on the part of the frog that is out of the water, you spend less time squeezing and more time with the frog in the water. The other thing is this allows you to add a rattle if you want. There are certain scenarios when a rattle can help the frog bite, like when the water is off colored or the cover is real thick. It helps them locate it and at times I think it makes them curious to at least come and check it out. If there following it, you know now where they are and can usually catch them on something else. Now to make it walk.......it's all in popping slack line. Point the rod down and snap six inches of line or so with each wrist motion and do your best to time the pop to where the line goes taut at the very last second of the downward snapping motion. Once you get this mastered, you can literally walk it in place and even to get it to swing wide to one side or the other to navigate it to run into cover. Actually, as I'm writing this, I am seeing the Bassresource backround photo with the angler fishing around the Cyprus trees. Scroll all the way to the bottom of this page and you should see the picture. That's a perfect example of the angle you want to hold the rod at when making the small twitches to make the bait walk. Hope this helps out. Come update this thread after your next try with the frog and let us know how it went. Frog fishing is addictive, dude.

This is exactly what I'm thinking. Fall is when the forage fish are reaching their largest sizes of the year, so you need to actually upsize the baits your throwing. You can still "finesse" a 1oz jig or a 10" worm. Finesse is more about how you present your bait than the actual bait itself, imo. So my suggestion to you would be to take the medium light rod and put as big of a popper or spook style bait as it can handle and on the medium power rod, put on a 1/2oz jig or a spinnerbait with big blades to mimic those larger baitfish. I would focus on finding the retrieve speed and type of forage they are feeding on (shad, bluegill, crawfish) on that given day and base your lure selection off of that. Good luck, man!

No disrespect, WRB, but I gotta go with Matty on this one. There are TONS of sponsors on this site and none of them get pushed like Strike King's Rage lineup. I think it has to do with 2 things. 1. Steve Parks (creator of all the Rage designs) gets on here and will answer every question and comment, whether positive or negative, with a professional attitude and great, in depth write ups on how to get the best out of each bait. Anglers apply that out on the water and end up catching more fish, thus, a ton of Rage Tail fans. Roadwarrior pimps Yamamoto like his life depends on it and is a massive presence here on this board, yet, when a senko thread comes up, you don't see the response in loyalty to GYCB's Senko. The Rage Tail line up is one set of products that straight kicks a$$, and I HATE most of Strike King's products they offer.

I'm one of the few people that haven't had any issues with Berkley Vanish. I used it for about 3 years and never had any issues with it breaking and I loved the Transition version. I've since switched to Sunline and Sufix, but I didn't have any issues with Berkley Vanish. As to your problem....I agree with the majority of the replies here about checking the guides. If it's breaking off in the same place over and over, there has gotta be something either on the guides or the line guide on your reel. Something is nicking your line and the force generated by the cast combined with the weight of deep diving crankbaits is breaking it there. I know it's already been said, but I second the suggestion to take a q-tip and rub down all the guides and also where the line is coming out of your reel. If the q-tip snags on something, you've found your problem.

Bucktail jigs are KILLER on every kind of bass. I have caught smallies, largemouth, spots, shoal, red-eye, and striped bass on them. It gives the fish a different look than the 100000 times a day that a traditional rubber skirted jig falls in their face. Now I'm not saying the silicone skirts don't still work, but I'm having really good results with using different types of hair on numerous bait styles (jigs, senkos, hollow bodied frogs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits). I've really incorporated it into pretty much all the baits I throw and there is no doubt I am getting more strikes. I've had my clients throw them on my guide trips in North Carolina and the fish have slammed them. I really think that it gives the bait a much more natural appearance, and again...you gotta be different that everyone else with the kind of fishing pressure our lakes are seeing all year. I'm also having a lot of success mixing bucktail or marabou with square and/or round rubber skirt material. I'll add like 10-15 strands and crank them down hard to get them to flare out. check out the lure making section soon because I'm getting ready to start posting the different thing I've come with during the last 8 months I've been tinkering with this project. I'm hoping to launch it into a side business soon....just gotta get all the green fish fisherman to understand that a beefed up hair jig ain't just for catching subzero temp. brownies in the Tennessee river system.

I like to play around with my trailers a lot. Most people don't understand how crucial your trailer is for your jig to have a good appearance underwater. I break my jig trailers down to 3 or 4 different things I'm looking for out of my jig.... Minimal action, slower fall: Uncle Josh Pork #11 or Zoom Super Salty Chunk MInimal action, fast fall: Zoon Tiny Chunk or Bass Pro Shops IncrediCraw (caught my pb on this) Moderate vibration: Berkley Chigger Craw, Paca Chunk, Zoom Ultravibe Chunk Maximum vibration: Strike King Rage Craw or Lobster, Culprit Tailgate Special (sleeper trailer), and Berkley Crazy Legs Chigger Craw Another AWESOME trailer that no one uses anymore for when you want a streamlined lure package, ultra realism in clear water, or lethargic fish that have seen jig after jig hit them in the head, is the Luck E Strike Guido's Bug. That thing freaking destroys fish for me. I like to fish it texas rigged as well and pitch it around cover or drag it on a heavier rig on offshore structure.

I think a lot of people do both. I like to keep my straight tail worms and senkos in plano boxes since there shape works well in the trays and I think it helps them not get bent out of shape like they can in the the bag because they are encased by the hard plastic sides rather than the flexible packaging that they usually come in. Another thing I do is have technique specific boxes with a mix of plastics and terminal tackle. Take jigs for example. Sometimes I'll pack a box that is 75% jigs and then 25% trailers. I try to do this if I know I'm on a certain bite. It helps save time rather than having to search through bags of plastics for a trailer, then digging through other sections of tackle to find the right jig. If I condense them at home before my trip, it gives me more time with my bait in the water. Another example is drop-shotting. If I'm gonna drop shot, I'll put hooks, weights, swivels, and different kinds of plastics in a box to try throughout the day. I change out my tackle trays a lot! Before and after each trip, I usually modify the way my tackle is stored in some way or another. If you choose to put your plastics in tackle trays, make sure you watch for water in there. Nothing worse than not fishing for a week or two, then finding all the soft plastics in your box swelled up with water and useless on your next trip.

If your having trouble getting a spinnerbait to work in the current, try throwing the Scrounger Head with either a paddle tail swimbait, grub, or fluke style bait threaded on and make sure the Scrounger is the long billed model. Throw past the rocks they are sitting on and swim it by them. Lights out.

If you use any of the braided lines on the market, you won't have to worry about losing any of your jigs. Braided line actually cuts through vegetation like a knife, so if your jig gets bogged down, a sharp snap backwards will clear it out of there....and maybe trigger a reaction strike. And to answer the flipping/swimming thing....you can use that jig for both. Pretty much any style jighead can be used for any of the usual jig presentations. You can go down a row of laydowns and flip that jig, then turn around and go back down that row swimming the jig. And to swim the jig, all you need to do is reel it in just like a spinnerbait or crankbait. Shoot, you don't even have to change trailers when you change from flipping to swimming. As you become more confident in the jig, you can start experimenting with head shapes, weights, trailer types, and skirt colors and lengths, but for now I would suggest just keeping it simple and using those Pro Model jigs you have to get some fish landed and your confidence up.

As much as I love the Cavitron, and Bobby(Megastrike owner).....the slowest buzzbait that I have found is one I got my tail whipped with on a tournament on Lake Murray in South Carolina. It's called the Warpath by Warrior Baits. It has a willow leaf spinnerbait blade attached to the underside of the head of the bait and it causes that thing to sit on top of the water at a snails pace. The difference in speed between the Cavitron and Warpath is barely recognizable, but in late fall when I need a super slow retrieve, the Warpath gets the nod. Other than the fall/late fall scenario, I use the Cavitron and Lunker Lure Buzzer for regular to burning retrieves. My favorite color combo is a black skirt with a gold or copper blade.

I used to do a ton of fishing for stripes while fishing dams along the rivers here in Georgia. As annoying as the current is, your definitely fishing the right place. From my experience, the harder the water is pushing, the closer to the actual dam the fish get. We call it the "Suck Theory" because when the river is RAGING it seems like every freaking fish will move upstream until they run head first into the dam, like the river is sucking them all up to the dam. So basically, the harder the current, the closer you want to cast to the actually gates letting the water out. Get used to losing your baits. It's a part of river fishing and there really isn't much you can do about it. I've had my best luck using heavier weights on my jigs, like 1/2oz -1 1/2oz. To save money, I would order bulk, unpainted jigheads online in the weight you want and learn to tie your own bucktail jigs. It saves a ton of money. Here are my top 2 baits for the river stripes.... 1. The bucktail jig. I've had a ton of success using white/pink bucktail with a zoom fluke as a trailer. I don't want any action with this setup. Just a nice, streamlined jig gliding through the water. I like to throw this directly upstream or at a slight angle and let it drift straight back at me. 2. The scrounger head. I take a 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 (all the long billed versions) and tie bucktail to these as well. For a trailer I use either a curl tail grub or paddle tail swimbait. This bait works better for me when I'm throwing across the current. It puts off a ton of vibration and this is the setup I've caught my bigger stripers on. Good luck, man. Nothing like hooking into one of those linesides in heavy current. Those massive tails of theirs let them have there freakin way with you. PM me If you have any questions about river fishing or if your interested in tying your own stuff, I can point you in the right direction.

Drug testing in fishing.....LMAO. The drug testing industry is such a scam to begin with. If someone goes home after a long day of work and smokes a joint rather than downing a 6-pack like most, then they will test positive for up to 30 days, and in some rare instances, even longer than that. Yet the person that snorted cocaine or took ecstasy during a party on a Friday night would be all good if he/she were randomly tested the next Monday at work. A lot of businesses aren't even doing drug testing anymore for this exact reason. It has been proven time and time again that marijuana doesn't effect brain function in any way. I know that if I were an employer, I would much rather have an employee that was sharp at work and relaxed at home with MJ versus the person who is so stressed from work and everyday life that they are popping doctor prescribed Xanax and other benzodiazapenes that bog you down and make your decision making horrible while at work. Back on topic with drugs/alcohol on tour....I've heard from numerous people that alcohol is a pretty big part of tour life. I also agree that some sort of amphetamines like Adderall, Vyvanse, or street amps like meth could be a possibility due to the extreme lack of sleep that goes with the lifestyle. I agree with what Speedbead said about being high on the water in the first place. Why would you want to do anything to cloud your decision making in the slightest bit when 100k and a classic berth is on the line.

I HATE fishing senkos! They suck

I have never seen or heard of a case when fish were turned off by adding scent to your bait. I have seen numerous cases where it absolutely got me more bites. You are really the only one who can answer that question. Order some JJ's, wait until the bite is tough and you have to break out your watermelon fluke, and alternate casts with a scented/unscented bait. Now do realize that with jerkbaits, scent doesn't play a huge role in my mind. I think scent helps more when you are using slow, bottom bouncing baits where bass follow or "stalk" the bait and the scent helps leave a small stink trail behind it. That is when I think it can help a following bass commit.

If you're wanting to go back to basics, take a white or smoke colored grub, rig it on a 1/8oz darter or ballhead jig with the hook exposed, cast and reel. If they are a bit deeper, count it down to the proper depth, then retrieve. If the fish are in shallow cover, rig that thing weightless and reel it in just fast enough to where it is making a small ripple on the surface. No one throws grubs anymore and it's just about the best shad imitator there is. For hardbaits, there is no better shad imitation than a jerkbait. I like different ones for different seasons, but for this time of year, you cannot go wrong with the Rapala Original Minnow. I like gold or silver, both with black backs. Throw it to any shady pockets, especially if there is cover in the shade, and let all the ripples settle after it has hit the water. After about 30 seconds, give it one twitch, then wait another 30 seconds. Twitch it twice. Let it sit another 30, then one more twitch and a few second pause. If no one hits it, move on and find another piece of shallow, shady cover. Good luck!