Beverly Bassman

Merrimack River at Tyngsboro, MA was 67 degrees on Saturday. One year ago it was 81 degree. Fishing was incredibly slow. One smallie in four hours. They wouldn't even touch the drop shot. I spoke to a guy who lives on the river and he said there was a tournament on the river last weekend and he heard they did ok. But it was dead Saturday. Most of the boats at the Pawtucket Blvd ramp caught nothing.

I keep detailed records on all my fishing. I like the look and feel of rage craws. But Texas weighting them and flipping in or near cover has been unproductive where I fish.. I'm not saying other craws work better. I haven't tried. And I do ok on a few other rage products. But rage craws have only caught fish successfully for me as jig trailers. And frankly rage chunks are better for that. If you watch Extreme Angler TV on YouTube, that guys hammers them on Texas rigged rage craws. That's where I really got the inspiration to fish them heavily for a while. But when I flip Gene Larew, Reaction Injovation or Yammamoto soft plastics, they outperform the rage products in the same water and cover.

My 30 hours estimate us low. I have been on the water 34 times in the last two seasons, at least 4 hours each time. That is on the order of 150 hours. It's more than 30 hours.

I know I am going to get attacked by everyone on this board, and I know they are a sponsor of this site, but I have had very poor luck with rage craws. I have had better luck with space monkeys and roosters. The regular craws don't work in the waters I fish. I have spent probably spent 30 hours throwing them in 6 or 7 colors on Texas rigs. Maybe two fish in all that time. As soon as I put down the craws and throw something else, I catch fish. I almost think the rage craws have become a "hot" lure and fish are getting conditioned to them. I fish very highly pressured waters, so that may be part of it. I do ok using the craws as a jig trailer, where I bite off about half an inch of the body. I did recently try the baby rage craws with a very small sinker as a "finesse" presentation. Lots of hits from bluegill on that but no bass. Let the attacks begin...

What would you guys do differently, if anything, in a lake where alewife are the primary forage? I will be fishing a lake like this soon.

Very nice fish, and all the more impressive because you stuck it out through the bad weather. Congrats!

Just took a look at your profile. You like bass fishing, deer hunting and camping. The military is very lucky to get a guy like you!

Question for Shane or others: what situation calls for putting a craw, space monkey or any bait like that on a weighted swimbait hook (keel weighted). Is this really for sparse cover with a swimming type of presentation or would it be ok to flip it into the really thick stuff?

I have to hand it to you, Mainebass. You get the numbers like nobody I've ever met or seen. Most of the time, you are getting 7 to 10 bass per hour. That is fantastic! I really never get more than 2 or 3 per hour. Lots of learning and skill improvements needed on my part. Are you getting those great numbers in big water or smaller lakes/ponds? Are these lakes highly pressured? When you fish the weightless rage craws, are you using the full size, baby size or the new Denny Brauer DB size?

Nev,I have been drop shotting a lot the last two years. I don't love it, but it does catch many fish when other things don't work. I think it's the best way to catch deeper fish that won't chase a moving bait. I have tried many baits on drop shot. I have not caught much on roboworms, which are the original drop shot bait (favored by Aaron Martens). I have done best on Gulp minnows. Best success has been on 3" size in black shad color. I got this idea from a Mike Iconnelli article. The emerald shiner and smelt colors also work. I sometimes drop down to the 2.5" size if the bite is poor. I use Gammakatsu 1/0 drop shot hooks. I don't bother with the new swivel hooks. Line twist is not a problem if you use the drop shot weights that swivel. I use 8 pound fluorocarbon for all drop shot applications. It also helps to have a medium weight, sensitive rod. It's important to rig the bait properly. Bring the hook point up through the chin of the bait and just barely poke it out the center of the nose. KVD describes this in a video. Don't just nose hook the bait and let it dangle. Proper rigging makes the bait stay in a horizontal position and dart forward with a slight twitch of the rig. I use a reasonably heavy tungsten weight, sometimes up to 1/2 oz. depending on depth and wind. You have to be able to feel the sinker the whole time. I normally fish this setup in cleaner bottom areas in depths over 10 feet. Oftentimes over 20 feet. It's great for smallmouth. Many people have success with whacky rigged senkos and worms on a drop shot. I have not found them to be as effective as the Gulp minnows. If trying senkos, I recommend the 3" size or at most the 4" size. The 3" works ok when nose hooked as described above, rather than whacky style.

Bob, Do you use a spinning reel when skipping those baits? I can cast very low to the water with my baitcasters but I can't really skip baits with them very well.

Most of the research shows there are larger fish in most bodies of water. They can be very solitary and very wary of artificial lures. That's probably how they got so big. Some anglers seem to gave the skills, patience and the knack to find them and catch them. I have not really been one of them in the past. If I'm not catching anything, I get bored after an hour or so, and I start using drop shot or something to catch a few fish. I usually only have 2 or 3 hours on the water, so I don't spend it searching for the one or two lunkers in there. But in most cases, they are in there. I admire they guys who get them. I am starting to target bigger fish lately. On one highly pressured lake I know, there are big fish, but it's hard to get them to bite. For years, I have assumed that once the spawn is over, the bigger fish are on the deep edge of the weed lines or out on deep water structure. I have fished that way for years on this lake with poor results. After some reading on targeting bigger fish, I tried the opposite strategy. I fished very tight to bushes, dock pillings, rocks and other cover that was right against the shore. In two hours last week, I caught a number of fish in the 3 pound range in water I have been ignoring for years. In some cases, I went through a grass/pad field with a push pole and fished in a foot of water to some shoreline bushes. I would have never thought a 3 pounder would be there but it was. Have you guys had similar experiences?

I have no doubt there is strict enforcement of some public water supply locations. I can tell you there is zero enforcement at others. At one of them in the next town over from me, when the police catch someone fishing there, they say "this is not allowed, you have to leave soon" then they take a telescopic rod out of the squad car and fish with the person for a few minutes. Then they make them leave. I have seen this happen many times while I am on my morning run. My issue with the whole thing is the inconsistency in policy. If boating and fishing are so bad for the public water supply, then why us it routinely done in the western US? When I lived in California, all the Water District reservoirs were fishable. Now a few have been closed because of invasive species (mussels) that clog up the water equipment. That is a legitimate issue. But other than that, what is the big problem? One small water supply reservoir near my house is now closed to fishing after being open for decades. I went to the water planning board meeting to ask why. They said the two older couples who live on the reservoir complained that teenagers were dumping "oil or gasoline" into the lake. So the solution is to permanently punish fisherman??? I get the feeling those people wanted to have the pace all to themselves.

I have thrown many musky lures that are bigger than 4.8oz on a 7ft MH bass rod. I caught a 19 pound musky last august on a setup like that. You have to be careful. A heavy action rod is better. But you can fish that lure with the rods you described. Don't over stress the rod on the back cast. You can still get a feel for the lure.