The Bassinator

Handles on the left for spinning and baitcasting. No need to get technical just do what feels comfortable.

If the water near me wasnt about to ice over maybe I could throw a t-rigged rage craw and zoom speedcraw and tell you the results but it looks like I'll have to get back to you in the Spring!

I agree the baby brush hog is more of a numbers bait, but still catches big fish. The brush hog is like a big jig, it's the money bait.

Always good to hear somebody slayin em this time of year! WTG!

Picked up one of the 683 Medium Extra Fast Powell Max Spinning Rods for $90! It came today and my mom hid it in the basement thinking it was a Christmas present Anyway got it out on the water took a few casts and I like it a lot. Its super light and strong and seems like a perfect dropshot/weightless worm rod. Cant wait to hook into one in the spring!

x2

That an awesome idea just goes to show theres always room for innovation in fishing!

I would try the Xcalibur XCS like Kevinator said. Its silent comes in three sizes ranging between 2 and 3 inches and its $7. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

As for weather I have thrown them in the rain and sunshine and they work well. As with anything you will have to establish a retrieve just mix it up between rapid jerks and and slight twitches and you should be good. As for the where I fish them anywhere a reaction bait would be fished but since it is weedless it shines in shallow weedy water and in lilypads. I havent seen too much schooling action but I imagine a fluke is hard to beat if theyre chasing bait. If you wanna fish it deeper but still work it like a jerkbait add a swivel and it will stay down. Hope this helps

Finally got some finesse hooks and some weights tied me a dropshot and then had to go to class However I had 45 mins to fish in between classes so I went to a little back water area where Ive caught them on jigs but that wasnt cuttin it so I switched up to the dropshot. Got a little guy on my first cast and got a #2 a little while later which is good for that area. I was happy with what I got but I had one question I know how to tie a palomar knot and I know to run the tag end back through the eye to keep the hook upright and perpedicular to the line but it kept coming out funny. Can anyone explain?

Understandable I was just wondering what made you choose this rig over a regular jig other than the fact that it hangs less. Im definitely gonna try it out especially around heavy weeds and thanks for sharing it

Hey A-Jay I was wondering about the rig you posted. If it is so weedless and snag resistant in wood and rocks do you just use it instead of a jig. Besides the ease of having a ready made rig to tie on are there any advantages to using a jig over the punch style rig you posted?

Ok Im glad Im not the only one with a sob story about hanging up. I really need a boat up here at school to explore the lakes since the shoreline access is pretty limited most of the time. Ill be sure to invest in a lure knocker and Ill take a look at that rig you posted A-Jay it looks sweet!

So I went fishing early today expecting to have some decent luck and it started out pretty well. Within the first 15 casts I caught a little guy on a crankbait. After a while I switched over to a football jig. I never used one before and I was fishing a rocky point with baseball to car tire sized rocks. I didnt get any bites on it but after only a few casts I got hung up. I tried the bowstring method and it didnt budge so since I was fishing from shore I swam out directly over top of the snag and it still wouldnt budge. I eventually snapped the line trying to free it and was kinda ticked but kept fishing. Little did I know this would happen with 4 other jigs I got so fed up I just left even though I was getting some bites. I figure it was the angle at which I was fishing that they got lodged in the rocks and the fact that I didnt have a lure knocker that I couldnt get them back. Anyway just trying to vent and see if there was anything I did wrong. I was using Omega Custom Tackle Jigs the 3/8 promega, the 7/16 pitchin and the 1/2 football. I hopped all the jigs except the football which I dragged through the rocks but when it would hang up I would try to hop it over the snag. I guess I need to invest in a boat and a lure knocker

So I got back to school did some fishing at a local pond and was happy to find five fish even though they were all under a couple pounds. Started out with a crankbait just searching for fish and wound up finding a nice point that drops off pretty good on either side with the wind blowing onto it at a slight angle. I was able to catch three off the protected side of the point on a 7/16 oz Omega pitchin jig with a cut down brushhog as a trailer. I started out with a crankbait but didnt get any bites and thought maybe they were at the bottom. Sure enough after I threw the same 1/4 jig in there I got bit. I made the adjustment to the heavier jig to get it down faster which the fish liked a lot! I was glad to get a few fish out of a pond Ive only been to twice. Its been kind of a rough summer for me fishing wise and Im glad things seem to be turning around

Texas rig it and swim it, same idea different rigging

Maybe the fish were just cruising around and happened to see your bait on the bottom and after looking at it decided it was good enough to eat. Sometimes in fishing you dont have to understand why a particular technique is working so long as it is doing just that "working."

Release to catch another day!

Revo STX and ugly stick goin strong!

Since it seems like most of you use barbless hooks for soft plastics and some use barbless for pretty much all your baits I am going to do some experimenting myself. Im interested to found out how using barbed vs. barbless will affect me and my efficiency in catching bass. Ill keep you posted about my findings and maybe I can shed some light on the issue that hasn't already been discovered. Thanks for all the posts

The other day I was fishing a frog around some lily pads and had my other rod rigged with a finesse jig to pitch to open pockets. Any after no luck with the frog I was about to leave when I saw a bass with just its head in the weeds. The rest of its body was at maybe a 35 degree angle and it wasnt moving. I couldnt pass up the opportunity so I pitched my jig over to it and sure enough it bit but didnt get the whole thing because when I set the hook my jig came flying back at me. After that the bass slowly meandered off never to be seen again. I dont know if it was just inactive or what but it was kinda strange to see that. Maybe the jig produced a reaction strike since I was using a speed craw as a trailer but it began to swim off with it. Has anyone seen this before?

So would both of you say that barbed hooks are necessary on baits with treble hooks? Also when fish jump which would you prefer?

Yea everything Tim if I dont use it it just sits around and what good is a bait without a bass on it!

Are there any articles on this subject that deal with hookup to landing ratios not just damage to fish. If anyone has any personal experience on the matter feel free to chime in too.

Im gonna have to go with spinnerbaits, crankbaits and my favorites jigs and jerkbaits dont forget about that topwater too