fireandice

Right on, Toxic. I've been a pretty die hard jig fisherman for a lot of years. I make my own and hardly ever miss a set. Just figured with 6 hooks, this thing should never lose a fish. Lol

Just had a 5-6 lb largemouth spit out my new Fat Free Shad crankbait. I was hooked up well and keeping him low coming to the boat. One small jump and he tossed it. Killed me to lose it. Just a fluke thing, or does anyone upgrade the treble hooks on these? Full disclosure... I hardly ever fish crankbaits, so I don't know if they tend to get spit out.

I have not but I'm ordering one as we speak. Did you ever get it? Can't go wrong with an IM6 blank for $27 on Amazon right now!

Wife recently bought me a Quantum Code reel that has the pitching/flipping switch. Great reel for the $$. You can buy one of these for around $80. Very low and smooth profile. I have it mounted to a St. Croix Bass Mojo 6' 6" MH rod. What a great all-around combo. I can throw almost anything with this setup. You could be into this rig for under $200, including a spool of braid or flouro. I like this reel as much or more than my Curado's. That's tough to admit, but it's true. No, I'll never bee a full on Quantum guy. My son bought 3 different Quantum Smoke spinning reels before he got one that would work past the first week. Just my .02.

I'd name it "Flub" or "Flubber." And I used to talk smack on my teenage stepson when he would make "ghetto baits" out of a bunch of crap in his box. I stopped making fun, when he outfished me twice in a row. My opinion is that you were throwing something that the bass had never seen before and hadn't been conditioned to ignore. Well played!

What is everyone's favorite frog these days? The jig is my go-to bait of choice, but with all of the great frogs out now, I have jumped on the bandwagon just a bit. I found these Lunker Frog's at Wal-Mart. Wow. Drag this dude over some lily pads, and DANG. Just saying. So what is the best in your opinion? Spro, Lunker Frog, KVD ?? Colors?

Nothing but respect to you Choporoz. To each his own. I can understand why.you want a reel that works well. I guess even my worst reel I would consider to be good equipment. I just tend to reserve my smoothest casting equipment for making long casts with Carolina rigs or light baits that need to go a long distance. Either way, I'm glad you are a fellow jig thrower. I appreciate your take on the subject. I'm no guru by any means. Lol

Jig = Best bass lure of all time in my opinion. My tips for success: Leave everything else at home Find a jig mentor - I didn't realize how wrong I was doing it until I fished with someone who had it mastered Watch your line !!! - Most 5 lb+ fish I catch take the jig with a very light gulp. It may only appear as a line twitch Set the hook hard and fast. If you're not sure it's a bass, at least you didn't miss one for failure to set the hook ! Throw that thing up on the rocky shore and drag it off twitchy. Some of my biggest fish appeared to be sitting in 2" of water! Colors: Black, Brown, Green, and I carry one that most folks do not... White (for bedding bass in early spring or very bright days and clear water) If you're fishing heavy cover, use a jig that handles it well, such as the Denny Brauer Pro Model Jigs are expensive. Find one you like, stick with it, and then buy several colors and sizes of trailers instead of buying 10 kinds of jigs. Use heavy line for pulling fish from heavy cover. I prefer 14 or 20 lb. Trilene XT or Berkely Big Game mono for heavy cover. Buy a quality rod! Do not cheat yourself here. Throw away the Ugly Stik and spend $75+ on a good rod. You'll be amazed at what you can feel. The reel is not that important! Any decent baitcaster will work. You don't need a $600 Calais to pitch a jig all day.

Fish for Bass long enough and you'll eventually learn that you usually get what you pay for. You can catch bass on a $1.00 spinnerbait, but if you are a serious fisherman, you'll learn save up and buy the good stuff. They usually have cheezy wire, clunky swivels, cheap plastic skirts that can melt or turn to goo, etc. I am currently fishing a Terminator that's on it's 3rd season and still fishes like new. It tracks straight, hook is still sharp and not rusted, heck it still has 50% of the paint on the head! I've probably put a skirt or two on it every season now and it's still going strong. Tell me that it wasn't $6.00 well spent and I'll argue all day long. http://www.terminatorlures.com/spinnerbaits/

I am the sole heir to a beautiful piece of property just south of Toronto Lake with two huge, spring-fed ponds. They have always been great bass fisheries, but now the ponds are overpopulated with bass which has caused the fish to become stunted. You can catch a bass almost every cast, but they're all 10-14 inches in length. I would like some educated response if possible, not just a guess. Should I start thinning the schools out, or should I introduce a predatory species like pike or stripers? I'd really like to turn this into a future trophy bass spot. I also have a parasite that affects the whole population. It's a larvae of some kind that infests the fins and even the body of these fish. I've been told that they don't hurt the fish and you can still safely eat them, but I'd like it gone if at all possible.

Caught this 4lb. 7ozer today throwin' a 3/8oz. tandem chart/white Terminator in the wind. I've been doing well with these this fall and a double willow in the summer.

On the Senko, I've caught: Largemouth, Channel Cat, and Walleye. Funny, I can't remember catching any Smallmouth on a Senko, but surely I have.

I have a fishing guide book that relies on the solunar tables, mixed with some other key factors for our area. It's written by an elderly man, published by him and his wife out of their home, and I almost swear by it. Granted he can't predict the weather, but he couples past weather trends with the solunar table, and then gives a guide that ties the barometric pressure into it. If you follow his guide, it seems that it almost always produces for me within 30 minutes of what his peaks are. If there's a dead spot on the day, I don't seem to catch much if any on that timeframe. To prove to myself that it works, I make sure not to look at it now before I go fishing. I record or remember the highlight times of my day, then compare it when I get home. This guy is a genius fishing predictor for Kansas. I'm sure some of you have heard of him... Bill Scheffler. I have contact info. if anyone want's to PM me for it.

I'd try and find some easy small ponds to start with that don't get a lot of fishing pressure from ski boats and weekend warriors. If you can get hooked up with someone on some low pressure water that holds bass, then just about any technique on this site will produce fish for you pretty quick... even if you're no good at it. It's definitely a learning process. My good fishing buddy and I have been at it for about 20 years now off and on, and when we go out now, we still find ourselves learning from eachother. There's got to be someone in your vicinity that can teach you/take you fishing with them where they know you can catch bass. Ask everyone you know. Some friends uncle or cousin or nephew will surely we willing to take you, and if not, get out and hit the tackle shops in your area. They will probably give you 4 or 5 spots to try just from asking them.

Okay, so I guess Basspro48 has been rummaging through my "secrets" book! Everything he has posted here is great JIG info. After fishing quite a lot the last few seasons with a tournament winning JIG fisherman, it is now always the rig that I grab first, and has consistently been a big fish producer. Take this mans notes and store them in your brains hard drive! And yes, JIG is in all upper case. Here in my little KS fishing click we now say the word, "JIG" with a deep, long pronunciation that sounds like the hawgs that it produces.