senko_77

Muddy - Either the fish were still deep, but were rushing upwards to take your topwater bait, then diving back down to the deeper water or there were fish that were suspended above the grass during the day that became active that night.

Jig trailer color doesn't make a difference IMO. What I think makes a difference is if the angler throwing it feels confident in it. Get something that looks awesome to you, then cast into a productive spot and work the bait in a way that looks awesome to the fish.

This needs to be stickied. Awesome thread.

Lake Varner in Covington, GA or Lake Lanier in Cumming, GA. Varner is PACKED full of fish over 8. One of our members here on BR, Randall, caught a 15lber out of Varner last year. It's an electric motor only lake, but the fish will be spawning about the time your trip is set to take place. Varner is pretty clear and if your a good sight fisherman, it's the place to go. Many of the 1-day jonboat tournaments out there are won with 25-35lbs/5 fish Lanier is still very low, but the magnum spotted bass sure don't care. They are slaying big fish on Lanier right now and that will continue all year. The water is super clear and since almost all of the 72 ramps are closed, the pressure has been low. If you choose to go to Varner, email Randall Kirkpatrick with Fish Atlanta Guide Services. He has awesome prices and will teach you more in a day than you have learned your whole life. If you go to Lanier, contact Ryan Coleman. He is the most popular guide on the lake and to add to his credentials, he won the BASS Invitational on Lanier in 2007. The dude knows his stuff. Good luck and have fun!

T-rage, listen to what Chris has to say. The dude is a machine when it comes to catching them with a crank and other reaction type baits. Nice to see you around here again Chris. You been staying busy?

Awesome post JWO, and excellent info Randall. I am definitely in agreement with Randall on this one, even though I don't have nearly the experience that he does. It does seem that wherever the bait is, there will be active fish. A largemouth's airbladder is extremely sensitive and can take days to adjust like Randall said. A perfect example of knowing this knowledge and applying it on the water was a BFL I fished on Lake Oconee in April where I placed 4th. I started the morning catching them right against the bank with a Aruka Shad and Dawg 100. Then the sun got bright and we moved way off the bank, but while my boater was tossing a jig in deep water, I noticed the bait was still high in the water column, so I chucked a spinnerbait over 30ft of water and whipped the pants off him. The fish that were right against the bank feeding just moved out and suspended up high when the sun got up. They hit that spinnerbait so hard because the bait was still there and keeping them active. If Catt and others throw in there information, this thread has the potential to really change how people fish and help alot of anglers put fish in the boat throughout the day.

On the 23rd, I drove up to Johnston, Rhode Island, and this is where I'm going to be until January 2nd. Then I'm off to Jersey for a day and finally back to Georgia where there is no ice on the lakes!

Simp, contact Thad who is one of our members here on BR. He just painted me a custom bluegill BBZ Shad that was the most realistic paint job I have ever seen. The combination of the Spro's action and the amazing paint Thad will lay down on it will make your BBZ a fish catching machine!

Baron49 - In your original post, you said to fish the weight rather than the lure. What's the difference?

The Spro has help up perfectly for me, but honestly, there have been some guys saying the tails will come off after catching a few fish. Like I said, this hasn't happened personally, but Randall, another member, has had 3 tails come off. The bait will swim arrow straight wether barely crawled or burned. I have only used the slow and fast sink, so I can't give an answer for the floater. Hope this helps.

Keep asking questions! Yes, this is a hot topic and there have been recent threads, but ask away. You will weed through the people that have no business posting in the thread because they don't contribute anything and eventually get an answer that you need. I haven't personally thrown it, but I will say the Spro BBZ Shad is an excellent bait. Thanks for posting and keeping this swimbait thread alive. I am glad that these questions are being asked, because that means there are other anglers than myself trying to get better!

I remember when I joined here, whenever I would ask a question people would be more than happy to answer it no matter how basic it was. Guess things have changed....it seems this whole forum has changed. not very "family" like anymore. It's too bad. Sorry it's not welcoming anymore BassBoss. I can't answer your questions because I don't live in Florida but I'm sure you can email some of our ex-members who left like Whittler and Flyrod who left because this forum changed. They will answer your questions for sure!

This is how I fish my dropshot. It works.

I use both retrieves. Here is an article that I did for GON magazine last month on ripping buzzbaits. This technique was taught to me by another member on this board, Randall. The article goes over how I use the technique and when it works best. http://www.gon.com/article.php?id=1758 There are also times when I crawl a buzzbait. IMO, the retrieve speed on a buzzbait makes a huge difference for the fish. A perfect example is the BFL regionals I fished on Lake Murray about a month ago. I was fishing a black buzzbait at a medium retrieve and my boater was barely turning the blades. He waxed my behind and only after I slowed down my retrieve did I start getting blow ups.

Way to go kid. Keep on keepin' on!

Oh it's not a brag post. I'm just excited to be the only angler right now with a Spro BBZ Shad in this color. They are available for purchase. Just PM Thad and he will get you hooked up!

1. Learning to eliminate unproductive water quicker 2. Deep crankbaits....I can't catch a cold with those things

Burley, how can you hate the summer sausages with the cheese?!?!?! I thrive on that stuff. My GF's dad just gave me 2 huge venison sausages and I've been devouring them 24/7 I'm not a big fan of the Omaha Steaks. One of my relatives sends that to us every year. I would rather go out and get a fresh filet.

Oh man I can't wait to get it in the water Thad. Hopefully I can get to throw it before I head out of town next Monday!!!!

She's adorable dude. Those are great pics. Kim Bain better watch out

It's a toss up between FishChris and Basshunter69

Awesome catch! When I saw the title of this thread I knew it would be good because you catch some whack stuff! What kind of techniques do you use to catch your carp and koi? I've always wanted to catch the carp around here, I just don't know how.

Love it. My favorite way to drink it is right after it's made so the chunks of ice cream haven't melted yet. SO GOOD!

I use both. For open water I use the Picasso Shakedown which has a titanium spring. For skipping docks, I use the Spro K-Finesse head. For some reason, I have trouble skipping the spring jigheads. I can skip a jighead/barb with ease

X2. The Grass Stalker is an awesome jig and it has a hook and a half on it. You won't be disappointed with it.