Bluebasser86

Supposed to be 56 this Thursday, anyone up for that Lake Shawnee trout tourny??

I've used them for bass on a couple occasions and they are pretty effective, about like using shiners. They're very popular for catfish bait around here but I'm not a fan of using them for catfish because they're expensive when they get as big as I like them to be for catfish bait. I've seen some monster koi in a couple of the local lakes.

I've found lots of hidden ponds on public land with Google Earth and it's a great way to scout a new lake so you have an idea of what it's like before you get to it.

I wouldn't be so sure about that, a lot of the more popular guides will book up months in advance.

I picked up a Mojo 7' 8" "Deep Crankster" this past summer and have been thrilled with how it's performed and how much my deep cranking success has improved.

Mexico is something every serious bass fisherman should experience at least once. Problem is after you experience it once you won't be able to stop thinking about next time you can get back. You guys look like you had an awesome trip.

I've never been to a Gander but I've never been to a DSG that was anywhere near as good as Academy. I'd go to Academy just for the H2O line up alone.

I've got a buddy at work that smokes some great BBQ that I'm sure whould be willing to do it if that's the route we wanted to go? Then I could just get a pork shoulder or pork butt and just figure what it costs a person. I've been to DGCO twice this year, only 1 fish from both trips but the water was 40.6 degrees last time I went.

Jig

I looked around a little and it looked like 225-300 was the average price for a 4 hour trip. I've never fished with a guide on LOZ so I can't personally recommend anyone for out there.

That's a fatty! We've got 8 inches of snow that needs to melt before the madness can start.

The average high for 27th of April at Melvern is 69 degrees, low is 47. I think we should be safe from the snow by them. If it's looking like it's going to snow by then I don't see there being much attendance anyways

Most of my shore fishing is done a ponds and then my results will depend on the pond. Some of them are more numbers ponds that I'll go to just to catch some fish (sometimes after a rough day at the bigger lakes). Those ponds will usually produce 20 or more in a 2-3 hour trip. Some of the ones with bigger fish are a lot tougher, I may only catch 6 fish in that same time span but they'll be much better size fish.

We'll be rolling out around midnight next Sunday night so we're getting down to the wire before we leave but I'd be willing to pay the shipping/trade a couple things for them if they could get here before then. I think we're pretty well settled on the oatmeal and cold granola, maybe some cold poptarts and fruit.

On a long cast with 10lb test they seem to get about 8-10 feet but not much deeper.

With a football jig I normally drag it. If I'm fishing a brush jig or finesse jig I like to hop it. If you've ever seen a crawfish when it knows a bass is close it normally takes one of two approaches to not becoming lunch. It either backs away slowly with it's claws directed towards the bass, the drag retrieve, or it will flip it's tail and try to get to a spot to hide, the hop retrieve.

Like others have said, swimbaits are a tool, not a magic bullet. They aren't going to be the best option all the time, but when they work they're magic. I've had days when I was struggling and I think a lot of the time I use to immediately switch to finesse options when it's tough. Now a lot of the time I'll switch to a swimbait first before I downsize. I fish a lot of lakes that get lots of pressure and don't produce big numbers of fish very often and even fewer keeper sized fish. Last year I started playing with swimbaits on one of the toughest of all of them, the results were incredible to say the least. I was fishing smaller swimbaits, 4-6 inchers, along the weed edges that we normally flip baits to and I was just getting hammered by fish more keeper fish than I'd ever seen come from this lake. I put a limit in the boat in under 3 hours the first day, I've only caught limits twice before and both times were under perfect conditions and it still took me all day. It doesn't take monsters to eat them. One of the first fish I caught that first day with swimbaits on this lake was a 16 3/4" fish on a 6" weedless Hudd, it almost swallowed it. This has lead me to play with them on other lakes I'd never fished them before. Another lake I fish often produced over 80 fish in a single day, most of them on this 5" Decoy Hydratail swimbait cranked slowly around shoreline weeds, rocks, and laydowns. When they're really on them you don't even have to use expensive swimbaits either. I got on a hot swimbait bite in a hot water outlet lake last winter and they really wanted a Storm Wildeye Shad burned with the current by the rocks. They were gorging on shad and slamming swimbaits and not touching anything else. I did get one to plow a 6" Spro swimbait that day too that proved to be the biggest of the day. This winter I've been playing with the Havoc Sick Fish with really good results for a mix of species. This single bait has caught almost two dozen fish and is still going strong. My suggestion to you is to start with some smaller baits so you can get some bites and then work bigger as you gain confidence. The 4" Hudd weedless shad, 4" Sick Fish, and ABT Banshee are some of my favorite smaller, less expensive baits. Pick colors that imitate the forage in your lake and go fish them. I think one of the biggest mistakes I see with swimbaits are fishing too fast. At times a fast retrieve will be best but more often than not it seems like they want a slower retrieve. If it's a day you feel like they'd eat a spinnerbait or topwater, that would probably be a good day for you to try a swimbait but they will eat them anytime.

We got 6-7 inches here today. I'm tired of it but our lakes sure do need it. A couple of them have risen quite a bit this winter with all the snow. Looks like we might be in the clear for a little bit at least after this weekend.

Yeah Chris and I will be fishing a tournament at La Cygne the 13th. I'm sure it will be tough but only one or two keepers could win it so anyone has a chance.

I've got a tourny coming up in a couple weeks on a lake where the big fish hang a little deeper and love to eat jerkbaits, sounds like I need to get a couple of these to toss at them then.

Never used that exact bait but I've caught lots of fish on Bass Assasin Baby Shads fishing for crappie. Most of them are smaller but I've caught fish up to 6 pounds on them.

X1000. Fishing with a good guide is one of the best experiences you can have in fishing. Fishing with a bad guide, however, is a nightmare that you paid to live through. I've had the experience of fishing with both kinds. Do your homework and hire a guide. It's probably going to run around $300 for a good guide but it will be very worth it.

Me too, tired of shoveling the drive way and having to fish La Cygne or for trout. triton we're having another get together at Melvern in April if you're interested in fishing it again?

Who's going to take out the loan for all the Pepto Bismal we'll need if everyone eats there?

Neither one of us have an extra microwave laying around so we won't have one with us. We will have electricity though so we can inflate our air mattresses and charge the boat batteries. We'll be sleeping outside in a tent in 40 degree temps next to a river, that's camping in my book.