SENKOSAM

Ditto! Hmmmm - single hooks huh? ...... Thanks for spilling! Usually I only use single hooks for ice fishing small spoons. F

Crap! More rain starting tonight, ending Friday. Some flooded roads will again be closed if we get another 2". I didn't mind it when I was stationed in Texas. After heavy rains we used to net walking catfish swimming across the road from over flowing streams. Weirdest thing I ever saw... (other than armadillos, scorpions and tornados. )

Flooding is everywhere, even places that rarely get flooded and the forecast is for more rain Wed. pm into Thurs. One thing is for sure - the pre-spawn bite way back into the wetlands and adjacent shallows in my local lake is going to be spectacular starting in late March to April 1st! The lake is usually not deeper than 13' and averages 9'. The various spawns of different species draw prespawn bass into 5' before the weeds begin to emerge and then 2-3' once they do. The three stages of spawn occur from April to May and the more water in the lake the better for bass and pickerel to roam the shallows. Are any of the lakes near you similar in seasonal pattern?

Lund Explorer, I hope you have a good map of the lake that includes detailed depth changes, old road beds, rock walls, stump field, etc. (if any). Bait fish aren't always in areas you expect them to be and many times bass just hang out, not immune to a well placed lure (pads, tree limbs, boulder). I fished a large deep reservoir last fall with someone who usually can pattern fish, but not that day. We ended up catching one fish per spot, spots located 100-200 yards from each other. Sonar showed schools of bait fish in open water near drops, but no larger fish beneath them. All fish caught were next to shore near cover (a tree, weed pile-ups and in a shallow weed bed). To top it off, the water was clear with temperature in the upper 40's and a 0-10 mph wind was blowing. (no wind at 7am). It's always nice to be able to pattern fish, but there are too many days where I've run into one spot/one fish.

Fine tuning to a productive presentation may be tough if you're not sure fish are present and feeding, but sometimes I guess faith in an area is all you got after 3 hours of no bites. Too often I'm guilty of not trying different lures or presentations after the first attempt and moving on. Call be skeptical but I usually assume that if fish were present, they were either completely turned off or at least bothered by my pestering. How often does a secondary or tertiary presentation work for you in the same area after not getting even a nibble on the first try? In tournament fishing, maybe that's the drawback with milk runs - anglers run & gun spots without giving them a chance with a secondary presentation with a different lure, different size lure or slowing down. My usual assumption is that I've cast to dead water after I got no hits with the same lure and that it's time to move on.

The original question: Is knowing the seasonal locations of fish attracting structure in lake X far more important than the search lures or other equipment you use? Chris, that's one way to look at it - both factors are on a sliding scale or in other words: On some days fish are more active and predictable and therefore location trumps lure and presentation selection (spring - fish shallow and easy targets). On other days, the only way you can get a reflex bite is with luck, with lures and presentations being as important as having a general knowledge of the lake or river locations(summer doldrums). Knowledge of dead water areas (maybe 75% or more of the bottom?) saves time getting casting practice. Good point.

I'd rather be in the boat with someone that was willing to learn the water with me. Equipment isn't part of the equation. New gear is always something to gaga over. Its part of the fun - toys. I agree 100% percent! I second that!!! I've fished tournaments with cluelss anglers that had no idea how deep they were fishing with lures that might not even have been capable of being fished near the bottom. I've always been under the impression that the first place to fish was on or near bottom on or near contours or other high potential fish holding structure. I guess what I was asking is, when you go to a body of water for the first time alone or with someone, is it a priority to find and learn structure that has the greatest potential to hold fish, regardless of the lures you might cast? I believe what Senile said pretty much sums up lure choices: Finding fish-holding locations is paramount. Once found, fine-tuning your presentation is the next goal. and part of presentation always dictates lure selection. The fact remains that even if you find and catch fish and give your partner the rod/reel/lure you caught them on, doesn't mean they can catch fish in the same area as RW touched on. Active schoolies are a no-brainer where presentation/lure selection is quite broad (the exception), but it's the deeper fish or those in heavier cover that require "fine tuning" (average for post spawn).

I've been fishing a lonnnnnng time and have done well different times of year either solo or with others, but one thing that smacks me upside the head is the fact that luck has as much to do with finding fish as catching them for some anglers such as myself. On the other hand, knowing a body of water and fishing higher potential (active) fish locations always puts the odds in the favor of a minority of skilled anglers. But it's like, which came first - the chicken or the egg? In other words, is knowing the seasonal locations of fish attracting structure in lake X far more important than the search lures or other equipment you use? Key spots change depending on how much pressure is applied, but generally fish will feed more often in a small percentage of a lake's area. In my club, we have a few individuals that can usually do well on large or small waters they've fished many times where many of us struggle to find fish because we don't know the lake. You could hand us the best lure for the day and still we couldn't find fish on our own that would bite it. So, it seems to me that when many go gaga over this or that piece of equipment, that maybe their wishing that their equipment (rods, reels, lures) will some how increase their odds of finding and catching fish versus first using sonar to pick apart a lake's bottom composition and depth changes or maybe even fishing with others that have a lock on that information. No doubt presentation, lure characteristics, line diameter, retrieve speed, etc. contribute once active fish are found, but in the scheme of things isn't that only 1 percent or less of your success? Last anecdote to illustrate what I'm touching on. Last fall, I fished with a very talented individual who knew a large reservoir like the back of his hand. The problem was finding fish that would cooperate in areas he had done well on in previous trips. We went bite-less for hours of rowing and a thousand casts only to change locations (in desparation) to areas I suggested might hold fish. My partner then used lures to then catch fish (some nice ones I might add) while I held the boat into the wind (only row boats allowed). I have no doubt that on a different day his locations would have produced and with a variety of lures used correctly, but on that day, one-per-spot fish locations trumped general fish location and therefore the lure, presentation and equipment used mattered as much or more than just general locaton. In other words, I'd rather be in a boat with someone who knows the water versus one who owns the best equipment and doesn't. F

www.lurecraft.com The site has over 200 silicone molds ranging in price starting with the cheapest at 9 bucks. Great service. Huge variety of other lure making components and standard items like swimbait hooks, lead sinker and spinner bait molds, spoons, silicone skirt material, etc. Bears is very reasonable for aluminum molds and his injection molds are phenomenal!

Modification isn't new, many of us modify skirts, paint jobs, blade size, etc.

I agree about color but only as long as it falls into a small group of colors I have confidence in. Who hasn't changed color in one style bait and gotten better responses in an area or during a certain time of day? I've found that flash or flashy colors may put fish off on a certain day where muted colors worked better. (Bubblegum is not my choice for summer.) Lure style changes may be the key to some bites or none, given the structure, cover, conditions. Crankbaits come in a slew of actions and I believe that different wobbles (tight/wide) have good days or work better in certain seasons. Lucky Craft plugs have advocates that are willing to pay more for a certain action not found in say Bomber, Rebel or Rapala. Bait size may be important certain times of year or on a particular day and lure size and style may dictate a rate of retrieve range as well as depth range necessary to reach fish. Line size and type are important for certain lures, lure sizes and action. They also determine how deep a lure is worked at a certain speed. Even rod action may affect a lure's action. I compromise somewhat when it comes to many of the suggestions made regarding making a fish bite, but sometimes compromising too far results in getting bit less often. Less confidence in my choices can make for a very long day and it ebbs very fast after the first two hours of fishing with no bites or having my a** kicked by my partner. Zero confidence = lessening of ability to find active fish and less efficiency working structure and depth.

Never had that happen. What I have had happen is plastic sticking to the plaster and ripping or pulling bits of plaster away from the mold.

Superb!!!!!!!

Finer crystal table salt sold in supermarkets suspends longer in plastic giving you more time to pour at least four cavities without stirring. Coarse table salt gives the plastic a Senko-like texture but it much harder to keep suspended in the pouring container. I've found that I have to start with my pyrex cups half full, stir fast and then pour fast a few cavities at a time. Just remember (if you don't already know) that the more salt, the more softener needed or the bait will become much harder in a few days and have no action on the drop.

I appreciate the clarification! Thanks! I used to do the bobbin/ thread or wire tie, but I'm kind of fickle when it comes to skirt colors and truly believe the same for bass. It's quick, easy and cheap to change a zip tie and fish don't even care it's there. With one jig and one color skirt using the zip, I caught over two dozen bass until a big pick bit it off. > My motto - K.I.S.S. and if it aint broke, ....... FrankM

Nice! What kind of action?

I always seal one or two part molds with a water soluble glossy dry wall sealer such as Valspar. I can use a new single sided mold within three hours, start to finish; two part a bit longer. I'm wondering how a two part curl tail grub mold will pour without injection. Usually the tail doesn't fill in. Most plastic lures can be remelted but I recommend using 25 percent new plastic with the old lures.

Ever wonder how you can pour a super thin tail without a mold or make thin multi-tailed soft plastics? All you need is a ceramic tile or other heat resistant smooth surface and heated plastic (new plastisol or melted down lures). My first attempt was to improve upon Lunker City's FinS Fin or Fish and Tom Mann's Shadow. All good baits, but not the best for super finesse fishing with little angler imparted action. As you can see from the following examples, a shiny floor tile was used: You can modify soft plastics as illustrated by the picture of the modified Mann Shadow. Shape and size are up to your imagination and as with my recent post about using silicone strands in grubs, creates a super finesse action lure. Method: tilt the tile or flat shiny surface, pour from a pyrex cup and level the the surface one the length is approximate. I use clay to contain the head of the lure. Use a razor to shape the tail. For thicker bodies, pour immediatly from less than one half towards the front/head. Recently I've made some creature baits: My first creations were made using a large metal serving spoon, but I've found this way a bit easier and more versatile for other designs. Spike-It lure dye and a pipe clear were used for adding other colors. Sure as h*** beats ice fishing!

Last year I started using silicone or living rubber strands pulled through a grub body after cutting off the curl tail. The action is super finesse and superb for drop shotting and tandem rigs for bass and panfish. All you need is a fine leader wire or electric wire and some short skirt strands. Skirts or skirt tabs in any color combo can be bought from lurecraft.com or fishingskirts.com. Push the wire loop either down the grub body out through the center of the back end or in the opposite direction. The silicone is only pulled through 1/4" of the rear of the grub. I add a retention drop of superglue to the exit. In the pictures below, the first successfull bait was formed using a small grub with the curl tail removed and wire pushed into the body as shown. Here are a few other examples: This year I decided to go up in body size and use a larger, thicker caterpillar grub (pictured). A curl tail is only adequate when the lure is moving, but is useless when at rest. Silicone strands have the most finesse action of any materials I've used and turn on even the most sedate fish. Even tube skirts don't compare. Silicone-skirted grubs are great for tandem rigs, drop shotting and other vertical presentations using light jigheads. Late last summer and into fall, I found incredible schools of panfish and used the tandem rig under a stick bobber. For this rig I used 1. a single hook (palomar tied above) with a nose-hooked grub and 2. a 1/16 oz. jighead or dropshot weight tied below on 12" of line.; bobber optional (but always fun to watch go down). 6# test flourocarbon line was more than adequate. I fished in 5-10' of water over hard bottoms. The number of double hook-ups were incredible. I'm looking forward to using the large unweighted grub and skirt in place of tubes after ice out all through spring. It's not as though a thousand other lures wouldn't work this time of year, but giving them something they haven't seen usually generates at least the novelty strike.

Cyberflex (3X) plastics have the greatest amount of buoyancy. To bad they catch on everything and have to be dipped in oil before every cast into the pads. 3X is superb for C-rigged baits. Pretty much any plastic that contains little hardener, floats. Super soft plastic without salt usually floats. Salt water soft plastic lures don't.

That's a mighty big tick at over 3.5" long! LOL I copied the legs from Strike King's Rage Tail and attach with a candle flame.

nice! How soft a plastic do you use?

Anyone get their jigs from http://tourneyjigs.com/ ? I like the Mustad and Gammie hook choice for jigs.

Try the smallest zip tie you can find. There's no difference in catch rate, they're cheap and easy to change skirt colors. Either cut it off or slip it down, pull skirt tabs through it and push back on. They don't rot or break.

Thanks for info. At least I know small zip ties work fine and don't rot.