Gangley

Two of my medium weight worm rods have parabolic bends. Both are loaded with braid, one has a 5-6 foot mono leader. I have no problems getting complete hook penetration with either rod. However, if I increase my hook diameter to a Superwire, I will then sometimes have issues with good penetration on larger bass with the rod that has the 5'-6' mono leader. I never have hookset issues with the %100 braid setup, regardless of wire diameter.

I once read something similar to the following: "It's good to keep an open mind, but don't keep it so open that your brains begin to fall out" I relate it to fishing on a frequent basis. You can question every fisherman you know about what techniques to use and during what scenario, but you will walk away thinking that you need to understand a thousand various techniques and be able to implement them all. In reality, if you attempt this you will at best turn into a jack of all trades, but be a master of none. Keep an open mind, learn a few techniques, then use them and learn them well. Learn them well enough that you can catch fish using them even when it's not the best conditions for those presentations. There is never a time when all the bass in a body of water will only strike one presentation with one lure, using a specific color, at a specific rate of fall. That's simply marketing working against you. Have a thorough understanding of 2-3 basic techniques for each water column and you should be set to have a decent day fishing where ever you go.

The beautiful thing about a worm is that there is no definitive way to use it. You can use your imigination and come up with loads of presentation techniques. However, that being said, there are techniques that generally work better than others, and Catt mentioned a favorite of mine. Another favorite is to reel the worm steadily in, but with a super slow turn of the reel handle (approximately 7-10 seconds per complete revolution of the handle with a 7.1 ratio) along with a steady and slow lift and drop of the handle from 3:00 to 2:00 back to 3:00. That presentation is generally best with a ribbon tail in my experience. Don't worry about messing up a worm presentation though, its hard to do because they are so versatile. Good luck and enjoy the time spent on the water.

How can you leave off ZOOM's Red Bug? If not Red Bug, then Junebug

I understand what you are getting at, and it would be great to know what the sink rates of nearly identical plastics are. However, weights of identical plastics (identical in color and shape) vary drastically from one bag to another, and even within a single bag. Too many variables are needed but not accounted for, and combine that with the fact that not all molds are of equal or even porportional size resulting in variant volumes, means that weight alone doesn't give you the information needed to determine sink rate. Basing sink rate or even underwater characteristics on weight alone can actually provide you with erroneous results and lead you astray when determining sink rates in this manner. Like J Franco said, knowledge is great, but wisdom trumps knowledge, especially when the knowledge of a subject is incomplete. I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm simply saying that there are too many parts of the equation that cant be accounted for when basing sink rate on weight. Tie a lure on and wet a hook, that's the quickest and most sure-fire way to determine general bouyancy.

Its a great casting method for getting under overhangs. Most of my casts are similar in mechanics to the roll cast you describe, but with a larger radius and a little more "oomph"

Thanks for the replies everybody, I greatly appreciate it.

I can't say that I taught myself because I have learned quite a bit from this and other websites, but I can say that I didnt have a mentor and most of what I have learned was from my desire to gather information on my own. I wish that wasn't the case though, learning by watching others is a much quicker avenue than reading and attempting wihout counsel.

Cigar Style Top Waters. I have one tied on most times and try them quite often, but I just can't seem to get a bite on one. I've become proficient enough to walk them with ease, even getting them to almost do 180's on command. However hard I try though, I get no love from Zara Spooks, Torpedos, Devil's Horse, etc.

I agree and really don't concern myself too much because I have never encountered the situation where the bass wouldn't take any lure. However, I thought it would be an interesting topic and was hoping that maybe somebody had at some point came across literature on the subject, but I have been unable to come across any myself so opinions on the subject matter are as relevant as anything else. Thanks for replying, I appreciate it and agree witha majority of what you presented.

How long does conditioning last? I know this is an overly broad question that doesnt account for many variables that affect environment and behavior, so I'll try to castrate the loose ends and leave the scenario as simple as possible. Scenario: Lake "A" is approximately 20 acres and during the spring, summer, and fall it is fished 3-4 times a week by a total of 2 individuals. They use identical lures and so the fish are exposed to the same lure quite often for extended periods of time. By the end of fall, we will assume that a large population of the bass have been exposed to, and become conditioned to, the lure of choice and have "learned" to avoid it. Winter rolls around and the lake recieves zero fishing pressure for a time period of approximately 3 months. Questions: 1. On average, how long will the bass stay conditioned to the lure that was used extensively during the prior spring, summer, and fall seasons. 2. Do the bass become conditioned to the specific lure, presentation, the color, or all the above? 3. If the bass, after going for 3 months witout seeing the lure, are no longer weary of it, then how quickly will they become conditioned to it once exposed to it again? Does the conditioning process interval shorten? Sidenote: I know there is no way to account for individual bass behavior, and that larger bass (being primarily solitary) can't really be included in population characteristics, but please try to answer the questions as best you can from an experiance stand-point as well as through information gained through article/research/peer reviewed literature. Thank you. If I have horribly confused you by giving a scenario and asking questions that are innapropriately matched to eachother, then a very basic question that will ask is: In your experiance, how long do fish stay conditioned to a particular lure?

Last year on a trip to Lake Fork, the guide brought out a few spoons to use and I just kinda stared at him funny thinking to myself "what is this guy doing, spoons dont catch bass?". The guide tied one on to a rod and dropped one over the side of the boat to show us how to use it because I had never used one before. As I sat there and watched/listened to this guide go through the technique trying to convince me that spoons would catch a bass, his rod suddenly doubled over and was almost ripped from his hands. He quickly landed a 7.5 lb bass and I quickly got a spoon tied on, haha. Spoons do catch bass, I never would have thought it, but thats because I had lure blinders on. Keep an open mind and you'll be surprised what works.

I agree, I didnt want to like shimano, but i tried one because they did so well on so many reviews. I now have 2 E7's and one E5 and could not be happier. I wont say that it will never happen, but its gonna take a whole lot for another reel brand to sway me.

what about the way they run isnt correct? Do they tumble, swirl, swing out wide to one side in particular? More information would allow members on here to more properly diagnose the issue at hand and possibly come to a conclusion/solution for you.

the LMS is a chatterbait and spinnerbait trailer extraordinaire.

I've heard two stories, but I doubt either is correct. 1) Some fisherman would discard their coffe grinds outside their house and quickly realized that worms were attracted to the location in their yards where the coffee grinds were being discarded. The worms were then used to fish with and somebody thought that the fish hit the worms pulled from coffee grinds better than worms pulled straight from the ground in other areas. 2) Old-Timers would mix their coffee grinds with the soil in the containers that they used to grow their fishing worms because they thought it added nutrients to the soil. Over time, people started to think that fisherman added the grinds to the soil for the scent instead of the nutrients, and thus the coffee scented lures were "created". I doubt either scenario is correct, but sometimes its neat to read/hear how people think things came about.

I have had decent luck with their Yo-Mamma. I am interested in their Squirel Tail since I havent seen anything similar to it before, but I am not really sure what the intended method of fishing for it is, shakey head maybe?

Rattle Trap (Chrome Blue Back) Strike King Rodent and Big Bite Baits Yo-Mamma ZOOM Ol' Monster

MontesSS.... Try making them with football heads as well. The blade nicks the head on both sides of the hook eyelet and creates a lot more noise/vibration. After time, the blade will have knocked all the paint off of the front side of the jig head.

KaRu Vibrashock Trailers: LFT Live Magic Shad YUM Money Minnow ZOOM Fat Albert Grub (Single Tail) I usually have great success with them in the spring and fall, but I don't do very well with them during mid summer months.

I hadn't thought of that, but it's a great suggestion. Have you had any issues with the glue melting the mono/flouro/co-polymer lines?

Smokin Shad and Arkansas Shiner are two great colors. A steady retrieve usually doesnt work for me unless I am using them as a trailer on a chatterbait. Generally, I will fish them weightless, or with a very lightly weighted hook. Cast them out, let them sink/glide/flutter to the bottom, then yank them off the bottom and let them sink again. They will generally fall or glide downwards in a circular pattern, and that's when I get my hits. I will either see my line move, or I will feel weight once i start to reel in the slack after it has had a few seconds to fall. I love this technique in spring and fall, especially when the bass are schooling shad.

Head design and the angle relationship between the line tie/hook/weedgaurd are the most critical components to beeing weedless, but something that not many people notice is the tag end of the knot. Most people dont realize that the tag ends need to be snipped really close to the knot otherwise the knot will pull in more weeds than the jig will. When I say close, I mean that unless I look very carefully, I cant even see the tag on the knot, much less feel it. With cranks and texas rigs, I leave a good MM or 2 of tag end on the knot, but with jigs, you will not see a tag end on the knot and you will definately not feel one. Tie a good knot, trim the tag end close, and use a jig style that directly relates to the style of fishing you will be doing. Its amazing how few weeds you get once you start clipping that tag end down real snug against the knot.

I stopped after I broke my second tooth doing it. Scissors were my next aquisition, and they have stayed with me since, whether fishing from bank or boat.

Agreed. Most of my larger larger fish were caught during midday between 12 and 2. The fishing is slower, but the end result can be a lot nicer. Now that it's basically summer weather here in Houston (90's) I generally slow things down a bit mid day and go to large worms and jigs. Once the pads start to get thick, I will toss frogs in them hoping to pull out a nice bass hiding from the mid day sun. Like mentioned above, most everything depends on where you are at and what type of waters you are fishing. Most of the water I fish is shallow by a lot of people's standards, so the fish become very structure oriented and seek cover (as opposed to depth) to get a way from the heat. Tell us a little more about where you are fishing and maybe we can be of some additional assistance.