Gangley

To be honest, most of the bass i catch with swim jigs hook them selves when they strike. Its usually a pretty solid hit and very little force at all is required, just pulling back when you feel it does the trick 90 percent of the time. I have used fast action stiff rods, and slow action parabolic bend rods, and neither seems to shine more than the other. I generally use the slow action rod in sparse cover and the stiffer, fast action rod in heavy grass so that I can pop the jig out if it hangs up in the grass at all.

most everything you mentioned is top water with the exception of a few mid level lures. With a high of 60 degrees in a body of water that small, the water has probably cooled off a lot and the fish may be starting to shut down and stay deep. Basically, I would be fishing the bottom and slowly. Lures: Large Jig and Large Trailer worked slowly Large Worm (10+)worked slowly Creature Bait worked slowly If none of those work, I will generally go in the opposite direction and downsize. Go with a smaller compact jig and trailer, or a finesse worm on a shakey head. Again, both worked slowly.

Yeah, I have found them to run pretty true witht eh double wire weed gaurd. The jigs you made for me have worked out well and have produced good numbers recently. Though I never really used light jigs before, I have found a good purpose for some of them you sent my way and there is now a spot in my jig boxes dedicated to 1/4 and lighter jigs.

Weight is dependant upon the depth I want to swim it, and the above water weather such as wind and waves. For deeper applications or on windy days, I will go with a 1/2oz. For mid level applications, I go with a 3/8 oz. For shallow such as when you bring it through lilly pads near the surface, go with a 1/4 oz. or lighter. for colors, try to imitate the bait fish in teh area. Some lakes have bass and perch as the food source for other bass so I will use skirts that imitate them. Other lakes have large populations of shad as the local bait fish in which case I will throw white, white/grey, white/black, blue/grey. I will almost always match the skirt pattern to that of the most abundant baitfish in the area What brand? Brand isnt important, type of jig is. I prefer a double wire weed guard because I can bend them to meet the needs of the situation that I am fishing in. I also prefer a bullet type jig head or a pointed jig head of some kind to keep the jig flowing smoothly through the structure/vegetation that I am bringing it through, which is usually grass of some kind. A low cost good quality jig that gets the job done is a backwater jig. The guy who makes them is on this website so look up backwater4, I think that is his username. He can make whatever kind of jig you want and make it to your specifications. Also chek out the Poison Tail jig from KaRu Lures, it comes through weekds very well and has a double wire weed guard.

7/0 .....wow, that is large, but if it works for you, then awesome. As far as long worms are concerned, I mostly fish ZOOM ol' Monsters and Berkley 10" Power worms, but add others to the mix on occasion. I use 4/0 EWG Gammy's for both and have never had issues. A common myth is that longer worms require bigger hooks. The selection of hook size should be rendered based upon the thickness of the lure, not the length. I try to maintain a hook width to worm thickness ratio of 2.5 or 3 to 1. Basically, I want the hook width to be three times that of the worm. Now, that is purely personal preference, if a 7/0 is working for you, then keep at it, that's what matters. An interesting point to note though, my average fish size has not increased dramatically using a longer worm. I do catch larger fish more often, but I still catch all of the little dinks as well. I have caught more 8-10 inch bass on a 10" worm than I care to admit. The reason I say that my average size hasn't changed much is because I still catch tons of smaller fish. The bigger fish that I do catch simply don't adjust my average very much when figured in with the multitude of smaller fish. However, before I started fishing with big worms, i didnt catch nearly as many large fish. Also something that I have noticed with larger worms, is that the fish generally bite the head of the worm first. With smaller worms, I get a lot of torn tails from where the bass will bite the tail and try to drag the worm off somewhere else, but with the big worms the bass generally hit the worm head first. Because of this, I can generally slam the hook home with a big worm on the first tap and come up with a bass, while if I do that with the smaller worms i sometimes come up empty handed or with a torn off tail. As far as fishing styles, I generally fish both size worms the same. However, I do not fish the 10" worms on drop shots or carolina rigs. I'm not saying that it couldn't be done or isnt a good idea, but I personally haven't had any luck with them presented that way. If you want to look at some other larger worms or worm-like plastics, check out the Rage Anaconda and the V&M Bayou Giant (14")....its a big bertha worm

Didn't see this before my last post... Agreed. Simply ask, have common courtesy, and dont have a sense of entitlement and do it anyways if the boater says not to.

I never presumed to say how much or how little i invest into fishing. However, a non boater who isn't investing the time and money into pre-fishing, lodging during the pre-fishing days, and other expenses incurred during the days leading up to the tournament, cannot say that he has earned, or is in anyway entitled, to the rights to that boaters work. If you were invested into fishing as much as that boater was, you would be out there with him pre-fishing the tournaments with him, and wouldn't need his way points now would you? Many people have posted that if a boater doesn't agree with a co-angler taking his locations, then he simply shouldn't take a co-angler to them, putting the boater between a rock and a hard place. I would think common courtesy of the co-angler would dictate that if the boater prefers you not to map out his locations, that you abide by his decision, but obviously the notion of common courtesy doesn't abide within all anglers. in that case neither does the notion of public waters public waters have nothing to do with the argument. People can go anywhere on the water that they want to, did anybody ever argue that, or did I ever say that people couldn't? Your not getting it, and thats fine. I am through with this thread.

I never presumed to say how much or how little i invest into fishing. However, a non boater who isn't investing the time and money into pre-fishing, lodging during the pre-fishing days, and other expenses incurred during the days leading up to the tournament, cannot say that he has earned, or is in anyway entitled, to the rights to that boaters work. If you were invested into fishing as much as that boater was, you would be out there with him pre-fishing the tournaments with him, and wouldn't need his way points now would you? Many people have posted that if a boater doesn't agree with a co-angler taking his locations, then he simply shouldn't take a co-angler to them, putting the boater between a rock and a hard place. I would think common courtesy of the co-angler would dictate that if the boater prefers you not to map out his locations, that you abide by his decision, but obviously the notion of common courtesy doesn't abide within all anglers.

Then don't fish draw tourneys or don't take your "unknown" co angler to your "secret" spots. The minute you take them there your spot is no longer secret. Do you boaters put blindfolds on your coanglers and drive in circles to confuse them so that they can't find their way back to your honey holes? The analogy of cheating of your test is ridiculous. What you're really doing is giving your answers to your coangler. It may not be "fair", but that's how draw tournies are setup. If you don't like it, don't fish it. Complaining about it just seems lame to me. But, I'm not a tourney angler. Don't need these headaches. it has nothing to do with taking a co-angler to a spot, its about them gps'ing your spot without asking, ie taking your hard earned work as their own. If they can find their way back to it without GPS on their own, then that's great, go for it. But plotting other people's work as their own is ridiculous. Would you expect a guide to take you out for free and show you his best spots so that you can mark them on your GPS? No, because he put hard work into finding those spots....boaters in tournaments do the same, so what makes you think that its ok to mark their positions without asking first? Would you have a problem if somebody came up to your boat while at the ramp and started downloading all of your waypoints from your system, then smile and walk away? Because that's the exact same thing as a co-angler who records your fishing spots via GPS without asking. It's the same end result, they took something from you that you worked hard for, without asking for permission first. They stole that information from you.

If you have a buddy with you when its like that, have him cast right behind your fish and bring his lure by it, and odds are he will pick up a bass as well. It's not as challenging, but it can be fun none the less

I'm a non-boater, but I completely agree with most of the boaters here. If a boater puts the time, money, work, and energy into finding a location in hopes that it will in return provide him with some financial reimbursement, them there is absolutely no reason why he should share that information with anybody. As an example: I put in time, dedication, and energy at work to make sure that I get a paycheck. There is no way in hades that I would let some other co-worker who invests a quarter of the time, dedication, and energy into his work, to copy my work and claim it as his own so that he can get a paycheck. If he wants a paycheck, he needs to earn it, he needs to work for it. Now if he has a work product that is different and beneficial to me, and my work is beneficial to him, then lets hold a meeting and see what we can work out together, but don't think for one second that I should freely give to somebody else what i have worked hard to obtain, this isn't socialism. Another way to look at it, is if I spent 10 hours studying for an exam, I sure as heck wouldn't let the guy next to me cheat off my test and write down my answers as if they were his own. There will always be free loaders looking to live off of other people's efforts, but it's each individual's responsibility to make sure that it isn't them that is free-loading. This is not Obama-nomics, this is fishing. A sense of entitlement only leaves you standing by yourself on the doc with your empty hands laid out in front of you. You only get what you earn, so if you want something, go earn it.

year round

I go much longer than 5 casts simply because I may be casting in an area with no fish and so I can't really eliminate that lure. I will generally have 3 setups: top water, middle, bottom. I will fish them thoroughly, at least 20-30 min a piece, and then switch those out with different lures that fall in the same water columns. For instance, in the morning I will start out with a frog, then go to a spinner bait, then go to a tex-rigged worm. If those don't do it, I will start over but with a popper, then a crankbait, then a jig. However, what i use for the middle water column is also used for the upper and lower columns as well. As an example, I would start with a frog on top, then use a spinnerbait to create a bulge on the water's surface, then drop it down a bit and run it through the middle, then slow roll it on the bottom, then go to the worm. Basically, I spend roughly 1 hour going through the 3 basic layers of the water column, then repeat with 3 different lures. Once i catch a fish, i focus a lot of my attention on that depth and presentation style, and try to mimic it with other lures if necessary.

If you are trying to stay above the crud while using plastics, weightless is the way to go. When rigging the soft plastic, make sure that you initially drive the hook through the plastic a little farther than you normally would to make sure that when rigged completely, the plastic will cover the not rendering it more weedless. Also with jigs, you can still use them, but since there is nothing to cover the knot, make sure you trim the tag end as close as possible to the not. Weightless worms and flukes have produced well for me in weedy/algae/cruddy areas, with the worms doing better in more congested areas while the fluke does better in more open areas. lightly tugging the worm through the weeds has been killer most recently.

If its clear water, take a swim with some goggles and have a look around. Almost every quarry here is fairly clear water. If its too cold to swim, take the bottom out of a bucket, put seran wrap on the bottom, put it in the water and have a look to see what kind of structures or weedlines you are dealing with. My first thoughts would be a worm through the weeds or a spinner along the weedlines. If they are exploding on top, try a spook, pop-r, or a subsurface lure like a bomber model b or a rapala DTFAT01

Do you have a link to that study, I would like to take a look at it. I don't doubt you one bit, I agree that craws are the preferred bait, but all supporting information is nice to have and that would be a great technical paper to read if available.

EXACTLY...what ever is most abundant, is generally easier to catch. Every location is different, and right now, shad are most likely easier to catch because they are schooling. The rest of the year, crawfish. So, I voted craws as the most common source of bass food year round.

yours had bubbles in it causing it to float. However, certain colors are more bouyant than others because of their density (addition of flakes and dye density). The bullfrog color seems to consistantly float for me while watermelon red will sink. This isnt always the case, but most of the time it is.

Redbug Junebug Watermelon Red Green Punpkin Motor Oil Bull Frog

ZOOM Ol' Monster (Faster Ribbon Tail) Berkley 10" Power Worm (Slower Ribbon Tail) Clear Water: Redbug (Day) and Junebug (Night) Dirty Water: Junebug

10+ inch Worms and Jigs I started the early part of the year dedicating trips to fishing the jig, and learned a great deal, one of my go-to's for sure now. Mid-summer to present, I have been dedicating time to worms, and have really found a good deal of respect for the 10"+ worms. They catch all size fish, from 8 inches up, and are great for probing structure. One of the best times fishing i have had in a LONG time came this past sunday night fishing a PB&J Poison Tail jig with a chunk trailer. Almost every cast (within a 30 minute window) with the jig was a bass, it was just amazing.

That is why most crankbaits come with a split ring. If they don't, either add one or use a rapala knot. X2

To further clarify, I am not saying that bass will not key in on shad during certain parts of the year, because they do. What I am saying, is that through out the entire year, I consistently find more fish with crawfish in their bellies than shad, and so the shad isn't always neccesarily number one on the dinner plate. When they can school them and the pickings are easy (fall), then definitely, but most of the year that isn't an option, and so it goes back to "whats the most available and whats easiest to catch", and shad generally aren't on the top of that list.

I have to disagree. Throughout the year I will take a few stringers for eating purposes, and the forage by far within the bellies of the bass is crawfish. I can cut open 10 fish, and 7-8 will have crawfish in them while only 1-2 will have shad. I have yet to open a bass and find a sunfish in his belly, but I have seen them go after sunfish before so I know its a table fare for bass. I think priority of food for bass isn't based on type, but on availability. The waters I fish have a large crawfish population and a decent shad population. I'm guessing its easier for the bass to pick off a few crawfish in these bodies of water than it is to chase down shad, but I am not a fish so I don't know. Basically, I think forage selection for bass is determined by the various populations of forage within a body of water, and not based on the type of forage. Whatever provides the easiest meal with the biggest payoff, will generally be the most sought after food source, generally regardless of type.

The magnum trick is a pretty good producing worm. Don't hesitate to give longer worms a try too. The Ol' Monster by ZOOM produces nicely, the Rage Anaconda does good too, and I have heard good things about the 14" V&M Bayou Giant. Though big worms will increase your average size for the most part, don't be surprised if you reel in some 8 inch bass on a 10+ inch worm, big worms seem to catch all sized fish.