MFBAB

Also, crimp the rivet so it won't turn, and rough it up a little too. This helps the squeak.

Wow, 30 votes so far and no love for spinnerbaits, that is a shocker. Live bait and Spinnerbaits were both high on the Bassmaster list and both have 0 votes here so far.

That sounds like a great idea for another poll!! Maybe we can get a few of these going in the future. I agree with you about an average as opposed to one bait, but even then you couldn't possibly list all of the bait options in a poll like this. I think I could have put in 20 options for this poll, which wouldn't even cover every color of Senkos people use This isn't the end-all here, just hopefully a fun topic of conversation for us and maybe we'll see some unexpected patterns emerge in the percentages. I'd like to do a time-of-day poll for when people caught their PB's next. One cool thing about these polls is that people are pretty much voting anonymously. You don't have to post what you used verbally and give away any secrets, I think maybe some people don't participate in the other threads for that reason. All you have to do is be a member, and logged in. Also, you only get to vote once, so the results should be reasonably accurate. Obviously, the downside of the poll is that we don't get the details of the rigs used, but nothing is perfect. This is just another way of looking at the dataset I guess.

Deep, You are correct, and that was mentioned in the article. It was published in the March 2010 issue of Bassmaster, and they noted that swimbaits were on the rise, but had not yet become even as mainstream as they are now, particularly outside of Cali. However, in the other current "what bait" thread, there are a lot of big bait guys listing other baits as their PB baits, so there's that Let's see how swimbaits fare in this poll, I'm hoping we get a good turnout here so the results will have some meaning. Another stat from the article: Florida and Cali led the Largemouth Lunker Club entries, in that order. No big surprise, I think Texas was 3rd. Thx, Rob

I know (or read) that it was originally designed as a jerkbait/stickbait, but I still think of it as a plastic worm. For "Other", I was thinking creature baits, Grubs, Flukes, everything else. It's impossible to list every bait individually but this should still show us some pretty neat trends. Thx for voting! Rob In hindsight, I think I'll try to add another category for jerkbait/Soft Stickbait to the poll.

That was an awesome read Tom, thanks!

I know Senkos are pretty well known on the forum here, but out in the rest of the world, there are A TON of guys I know personally who have been bass fishing their whole life, who would not know what a Senko is. And if they did try one, they would T-rig it with a weight, not wacky, not drop shot, not weightless, etc... These are just guys who fish for fun, not tourneys, don't read articles or internet forums, etc...they walk among us, and in great numbers Also, as far as the oiriginal question, I think RoadWarrior said it best: "From a human perspective, they're like twinkies" - I haven't ever asked him, but I'm pretty sure that's a reference to Senkos

Sorry, this was supposed to be a voting poll. I filled out the poll info but it's not showing up at the top, not sure what happened. Never mind, I got it fixed Voting is set up at the top. Thx, Rob

I thought this would be a fun poll. I know there's another thread going on this topic, but the poll will show the results in percentage form. I look forward to seeing the results! Thx for participating! Rob Also, if you used something that isn't on the list, I apologize. I tried to think of a lot of options but I know there will be some who fall outside of the choices given. One other thing: Bassmaster Magazine published an article about the Lunker Club a few years back, they didn't really do a thorough job of reporting everything, but the numbers below show the results from their poll - this is largemouth over 10 lbs and I think there were around 1800 entries at the time the article was written: Plastic Worm -------- 25% Live Bait -------------- 15% Jig ---------------------- 10% Spinnerbait ---------- 8% Plastic Lizard -------- 7% Swimbait ------------- 3% Tube ------------------- 2% Plastic Craw --------- 1% _____________________ Total ------------------- 71% **As you can see, only 71% of the entries were accounted for in the article, but plastic worms dominated. Other baits that would be included in the missing 29% would be Cranks, Topwater, Spoons, and anything else not listed above. Still, it will be interesting to compare these percentages to the ones we wind up with in this poll if enough people participate. Another interesting point from the Bassmaster article: - The 10 AM Hour accounted for the most entries!! - The Spawn-Prespawn months were the most productive too, Feb-April Takeaway Message: Chunk a Plastic worm at around 10 am near spawning time, that's the basic formula for success :)

Heads Up: There's a big sale on Rage stuff at the Sycamore View BPS right now. There is a bin right before you get to the rod and reel counter at the end of the main aisle, $2.79 a pack for Lobsters, Thumpers, Anacondas, Grubs, and maybe a couple of other types - this is Friday afternoon, so they will go fast Again, it's not all types and not all colors, but the price is more than a 50% mark down on what's there. Maybe Kent will see this and let us know if the sale is also at the Pyramid. Good luck this w/end, I plan on fishing both mornings, I'll probably hit Grove 1 of those days so say hi if you see me! I'll be the guy sweating profusely and wearing a camo fanny pack! Rob

I call it "The Hurt Locker" when crappie fishing :)

The Game Warden, Mr. Green Jeans, the Rabbit (or Possum) Sherriff J/K, they are generally pretty good guys as long as you stay in compliance, but the trouble is there aren't many of them around. I think there is 1 guy in my county, and there are about a million people here. As far as jusrisdiction goes, I don't think they have boundaries (like county or city lines) within the state that employs them. It's the same thing with hunting leases or for the landowners. As much as your little patch of heaven means to you (and costs), it means very little to the rest of the world, hence the laws are usually pretty weak and hard to enforce. Something like 5% of the population loves hunting and fishing, 5% hates it, and around 90% DO NOT CARE!! 1 guy with a spotlight can ruin an expensive hunting lease and waste thousands of dollars of other peoples money, but the odds of him getting caught are almost nonexistant with 1 Game Warden per county in most places. Poachers are just an unfortunate part of the landscape in this game, lifes too short to worry a lot about it.

That or on a skirtless bitsy bug jig. One of the best cures for lockjaw I've ever seen! YUM crawbugs, the small size, are magic on a 1/8 oz. bitsy bug jig. http://www.basspro.com/YUM-CrawBug/product/14071007470130/

There are MS River runs and oxbows near there for sure, and the bass fishing can be pretty good depending on the river level. Tunica Cut Off is nearby, but I don't know about guides working in that area. Also, if you're into crappie fishing, you could probably find a guide for Sardis, Enid or Grenada along I55. That will be trolling crankbaits right now, and it can be a lot of fun, trust me. There are some ponds and golf courses in the Tunica area around the casinos but I don't know about fishing access, I think it's mostly private stuff. It doesn't cost anything to ask though Good Luck!

So, if Shin Fukae is being credited for the red head, should we call it Far-East Finesse or just stick w Midwest??

RoLo, that is so true. I look back at some of my best trips sometimes, and it is pretty crazy how many details I have revised in my feeble brain from what I wrote down that day...and these are the really good days, the ones you think you would remember perfectly :) To me, this is the whole point of keeping the log, it doesn't lie, and it doesn't forget details either

I can tell you for sure, almost every golf course pond EVER has grass carp in it Getting permission is the hard part on that one. I've played most of the courses here and carp are ubiquitous wherever water is found on a golf course. I'm pretty sure I saw some at the Bartlett ponds located behind the shopping center at N/E corner of Stage & Whitten also. There is an old pay lake near Shelby Forest called Lyles Lake, if you google the Shelby Forest General Store they can probably give you contact info for it, it is located just N of the store but not affiliated with it. That pond used to LOADED w big carp, and some nice bass too. I haven't fished there in 15 years, so not current info They have boats available and the flats in the back of the pond are silted in and were always full of carp. Orgill Park might be a good place to look, but I can't say there are carp in it for sure. This is a large public pond adjacent to a public golf course with heavily silted creek arms. I think it might be a slam dunk for carp. Generally, I would look for ponds w grass, because carp may be stocked to control it. Also, look for silted ponds, because if they are there they will be easier to locate in shallow water. If you like catching all UGLY fish , spend some time on the TN river, it is loaded w drum and they will hit anything a bass will, but shiners are preferred. Oh, I almosat forgot: If you have an aluminum boat, run it around on the Mississippi River or anything connected to it, the Asian Carp will be jumping in the boat before long - wear a helmet. Good Luck!!

Sorry for the jack, but.... A couple of years ago there was actually a rock dropshot sinker on the market, I saw it featured on a Jimmy Houston Show one time. They drilled a hole and epoxied a swivel into real pebbles, then sold them as weights. The marketing hook was that they were supposed to click like a crawfish or something like that, it was pretty hilarious

This is actually WHY I use a log. I can't remember every detail about every tripp on every different lake from year to year, but with a log, I can get a quick refresher when I see certain conditions and it can help to put you ahead of the trend instead of behind it. This works great for me, I fish for multiple species of fish on multiple lakes, I can't keep it all straight any other way

100%. I switched from Word to an Excel Spreadsheet this year, but keeping those logs has helped my fishing probably more than any other thing I've done. It makes you start paying attention to details a lot more, you will begin to recognize trends/patterns faster because you're thinking about more variables. If I want to know whether I catch more on a certain moon phase, or a certain time of year, time of day, water color, whatever, I can just look up my stats in the log and the numbers don't lie.

I prescribe saying 10 of these: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. ....and then go cleanly catch and release as many fish as you can until you feel you've offset this egregious violation Seriously though, I agree that this is poor handling of the fish, but you will only stress yourself out worrying about things you can't control. If there was no law broken, you really just have to let it go. The time spent worrying about this would be much better spent fishing, IMO And believe me, I fully understand that it doesn't feel fair for one guys actions to potentially have a negative effect on your fishing experience (by maybe killing that fish), while your actions don't have a neg effect on theirs; but whether you are right or wrong, you will encounter situations like this one in areas of life, and that is probably why the little prayer I quoted above was written in the first place - maybe someone was jacking up the guys fishing hole when he wrote it :) Good fishing!!

Wt, We've got close to 100% largemouth in the ponds here. There are a few spotted bass/ Kentuckies in some of the river systems, like the wolf. No smallies here though, you will find them in the tn river and to the west in Arkansas as well. Nice profile pic!!

I was trolling for crappie at Sardis a few years ago and had a ski flea buzzing all around me and waking me. I don't think the noise hurts the fishing any, but the wake is really obnoxious while trolling. Fast forward a few hours later, I'm finishing up my limit further up the lake and I hear some voices in the distance. As I get closer, I realize it's the same idiots from before. They are now out of gas and in need of a tow. I just kept fishing as I closed the distance, about a mile, until I got my last fish. Then I towed the dipsh*t in about 7 miles and just asked him to return the favor to someone in the future. You can't fix stupid, but I may need help on the water myself one day and it was the right thing to do.

Another way to do it: Get some dish washing tubs, fill w quikrete, put the pvc in, then let it dry. Afterward, just pop it out of the tub and re-use the tub to make another one. This just saves a few bucks per mat on the 5 gallon buckets, and I like cheap Also, if you just want to make an anchor, use the dish tub form and put a piece of wire or a wire hanger in it with a loop hanging out. This will give you something to tie brush to. Brush or bamboo is obviously even cheaper than pvc, but also snaggy. One other point: I think the best mats for forage fish or fry survival are high density, like a wad of brush or a bunch of milk crates tied together, something that a predator can't follow them into. Lower density mats like the typical pvc ones will attract predators and some forage fish, they just don't offer as much protection for them. A happy medium is to stick a bundle of brush or milk crates beneath the pvc mat, these will produce better most of the time in my experience and you can still fish it without snagging too much.

If anyone hasn't been to the pyramid yet, you need to check it out, It is pretty mind-blowing. I haven't run into Kent there yet but the store is incredible, I've been in 6-7 other bps stores and none compare. It is an instant hit on the tourist attraction list, everyone we've taken there so far has loved it!