Jigfishn10

6# test Goose52! WTG! Your heart must have been pounding by the time you landed that. You were probably thinking it was a huge bass...LOL

No replacement just means brown water in the shower.

I would use a split ring with a new treble, but if you don't want the added length, then you could use a dremel tool with a steel wire attachment tool to clean the old...Split rings is faster.

I like the mix of the 2. It really depends, if I string some days together and I'm getting numbers then the next day I'll concentrate on size. For me, I get bored just focusing on 1 aspect.

Off the front. My wife had gave me an argument about this. Go to a Hotel and tell me what they do? While my kids were toddlers, it went off the back, tho.

Geez, B-Dozer, I didn't even think of that while I was posting this. My mind must have went into vapor lock while I was husling to get to work. Your waters must be getting closer to ours for topwater time. PM me your address and I'll ship it down. You can be the official lure tester of this thread. kms399, I found another wally world special to convert. If you want it, do the same, PM me your address and I'll ship it to you...no cost

Well you got me thinking. There's good news and bad news. The good news is: It can be made with an overhead buzzer. The bad news: Wally World buzzers are just too compact to convert. See below: Sorry for the bad pic and skirt choice color. I did this fairly quick and wanted to post before I went to work. I think if you got like a Strike King type of buzzbait, you can make the conversion. EDIT: BTW, the one shown does work, but it seems too compact.

You can probably make one from an existing overhead buzzer. Try making one out of one of those $1 wally world specials and use it as a prototype. Just a thought.

It sounds like you had a nice hatch of some type of insect and bait fish were feeding on top. It could have been some smaller bass as well. I tend to fish like Bluebasser86 in this respect because a single colorado spinnerbait on a stop and go retrieve is great during this time of year. There is something about that colorado blade helecoptering down during the pause that drives them crazy (dying fish). Crestliner is right, you didn't mention the water temps, but I'm guessing your in the mid-50's? The surface temp at this time of year would be warmer, especially in the afternoons and I would think that bass would gravitate towards that now. Try and stay up in the water column and whatever you use for a lure, imitate some type of an erratic presention to it. JMHO Good Luck!

Hookingem, thanks for showing us your prom date...LOL...J/K...I would have done the same thing you did (who needs to change, when there's fish to catch!), no 2 ways about it! Great fish you got there! Nice fish guys! WTG!

I've never caught a musky b4 and want to catch one in the worst way. Congrats on your 1st musky, I'm jealous...LOL...I hope the next one you post, you'll need both hands to hold it up! WTG!

Like most have said, fish your bass lures and they'll hit it. They do like bright lures, no doubt about it. Then again, an empty soda can with hooks on it would work for them. Try mountain dew. J/K

I used to have success with them, but then it died off. My most successful lures have been with a jig w/a chunk trailer or a spinnerbait. I've had some topwater success, but not much. grimlin brings up a good point, try putting on some rattles if you really want to fish them.

I'd go lipless crank and spinnerbait as well. Goose52, I'm gonna try that buzzbait for those conditions, I've never tried that. Buzzbaits tend to hang in the wind, do you BC or spinning gear?

WTG WTRDOG! Mine was in the "abit" cold waters category as well. Nice looking fish.

I'm not too far from you, I haven't been out since last week, but I managed this one last Thursday, March 31st: I had 2 more 2 days prior, 1 was about 2 lbs, and the other about 1.5 lbs. Those were the only 2 times I fished. BTW, Welcome to BR!

Glad you have a sense of humor, but in all joking aside, I'm glad it turned out ok, man.

You can certainly bet I'll be doing the same thing... I have one that needs to go to confession every sunday.

Welcome aboard Thibs1. You guys are still iced out up there? You gotta be getting close to some soft water? I'm sure shiners will work fine, but if you want to fish artificials you can do that as well. Check out the fishing articles tab above, they're very helpful and ask any questions you have.

OMG, that's awful. Good to hear that your alright. Good thing your wife was home, who nose what could have happened.

You gotta go an get it checked out. Like CSimon2 points out, you could have problems down the line. Sheesh, I'd hate to be with you if a 5 lber comes unbuttoned.

I actually will paint blades on occasions. I've been using white and black for the most part. Smallies love chartreuse blades up here. I don't have powder painting equipment so i usually take a nickle plated blade and sand/scuff (220 grit) it up to take on a spray paint and then a clear coat or 2. You're gonna laugh, but when the waters here get stained to murky from a recent storm, a caution orange blade does the trick for me. Try an stay away from painting a 24k gold blade, at $1,460/troy oz, those blades are just too darn expensive to paint over...LOL Good luck and post some of those painted blades.

Nice fish for sure, Crestliner2008, I've been out twice myself since iceout. You're right, spinnerbaits were the lure of choice with them. I caught 3, with the third one possibly my new PB. Good luck this season.

Good post Bluebasser86, I personally like the skirt that way. I don't use trailers a lot, but when i do make spinnerbaits I leave the bottom part of the skirt long. I think it really changes the whole profile of the bait. If you do add a trailer hook, you could always cut the middle section of the bottom skirt material, giving the bait more of a twin tail look.

I'd be curious as well. About a week ago I caught a LM while testing out a spinnerbait I just made. It was 23.25" long x 21" girth. I went on a few sites and I got the following formulas to measure weight: Length x Length x Length/1600 = 7.85 lbs Length x Length x Girth/1200 = 9.45 lbs Length x Girth x Girth/1050 = 9.76 lbs Not that I want to sell myself short, but I tend to believe it was 7.85 lbs or in that range. Good post.