bassnleo

I too usually match the trailer to the jig BUT.............. My absolute favorite combination is a black/blue jig paired with a green pumpkin trailer. I have no clue my this combination works soo well for me. I was fishing a matched jig and trailer one day (black/blue) on a football jig and was doing ok, my trailer got bit off and was too lazy to dig through my tackle to find another one. Had a green pumpkin trailer lyinhg on the deck, put it on, been catching fish on that color combo since. Mostly in clear water may I add...

How's your trailer lights after backing in? I've damaged my fair share doing the same thing but usually for duck hunting.

Maybe a silly question, is a Pickeral the same as a Northern Pike? They kind of look similar.

I always assumed that the sun heated the rock then the heat was transferred to surrounding water through conduction. FIN-S-R, I agree, that's deep....but it makes sense.

I had a part time job at a Dicks Sporting Goods, they don't have near the selection as BPS, I think I actually was loosing money! I can't imagine trying to actually bring home a pay check from BPS. I'd see how much it was then run around and spend it, LOL! Good luck!!!

At least one positive in my ordeal. I went to a factory store to have my phonebook transferred, customer secrvice rep took my phone and came back out 10 min later, said all went well, then brought up my account to print a bill, the fee is $10 She looks at her computer for a minute, tells me that I'm a merits (have no clue what it even is)customer and says that the phonebook transfer is free for merits customers. I don't even know if I'm saying it right, merits? I didn't stick around to ask, I said thanks and bolted. Numbers transferred successfully so I didn't loose any.

Ditto here. I can pour 100 in no time and usually find myself running out of ds clevises. Now that my fishing companions know I pour them they have me pouring weights for them also. I also pour tube jigs and shakey head jigs. Definately a great way to get through the winter.

Paul Hirosky Dave Lefebre Joe Thomas Gary Klein In no particular order.....

I'm assuming you mean ZOOM brush hogs? If it is a YUM product it could be a wooly hog tail or hog craw. Your not wrong fishing it the way you did. The creature style baits can be fished the same ways you fish any other bait you fish texas rigged. Personally, my most effective way to fish creature style baits is to flip or pitch them (texas rigged) into cover like wood and weeds. I have also had success fising them on a carolina rig or cutting them and using them as a jig trailer.

Compared to many on this forum, I'm realtively new to bassin. I've really only been fishing for bass for about 5 years but have been fishing my whole life for other species. I only started bassin after entering a tournament and becoming hooked . IMHO, time on the water has been the most important learning tool. I too like to read and spend hours upon hours reading everyting I can relating to bass and bass fishing. I take the pricipals and techniques I read about and apply them to my fishing when I'm on the water. I was fortunate in that I found a club where members were receptive to teaching newbies so that really helped me as well. I've moved on from that club but will always have fond memories of the guys and time spent with them. I will continue to read and learn in the same ways in order to continue the success that I've had, it's worked so far!

I'm really not the type to raise a ruckus, I get enough attention in my profession and don't need do draw any more attention to myself. It's just frustrating that my employer has a large account with this carrier and $90 was the "best" the rep could do. According to him, the replacement phone retails for $150 and if I wanted a new phone I had to pay retail. My contract is up in May 07, A change may be in order. Guess I'll decide at that point. edbassmaster, appreciate the offer but I'm not with Cingular. I also didn't have a sim card so I lost about 50 stored numbers. The phone book still works in my old phone, I just can't see it. I'm taking both phones to a retail store tomorrow to see if they can transfer my numbers. One other problem, my new phone is not a camera phone as my old one is. I also lost several pics that I really liked including pics of my daughter right after she was born back in April :-/

All I can say is "what a racket" these cellular companies have going. First off, I'm required to have a cellular phone or pager for work purposes, I have a cell phone. The phone was "free" when I signed up through an account rep that manages the accounts for where I work. Whelp, last week while steelhead fishing I had my phone in the bottom of my vest just above waist level. I had breathable chest waders on and went in to a little deeper water to recover a Drennan float for a friend that he got hung in a tree laying in the water. I heard my phone making wierd noises, "uh ooh". Yep, it got a LITTLE wet, no dripping water or anything, just a little moisture on the screen when I opened it up. The phone totally quit working. I let it dry for a day or so, I could send and recieve calls but the screen remained blank. I call the account rep, he tells me that he find me a refurbished phone so I can make it through the end of my contract (May 07) then I will be eligible for a new phone. I get the phone 2 days later and a bill for almost $100. GOOD GRIEF, I didn't pay a cent for the original phone. The account rep tells me that it's the best he could do and it is better than paying "retail" for a new phone. What a racket! They can give phones away for nothing when you renew or sign up for a new plan but when you need a replacement we get smoked! Just wanted to vent and say what a crock! Anyone else go through this? Oh ya, the "insurance" for a phone. If I had it it would have still cost me nearly as much according to the rep to have the phone repaired and I would have been without a phone for a longer period of time!

Last Spring I was on an awesome flipping bite in flooded bushes and around laydowns. The fish were hitting my tube so hard that it often knocked slack in the line. I could not boat these darn fish. I would rear back on them, get them clear of the cover and into open water and they would just come off. I did finally stick a few including a 4.5 pounder. I go into weigh in with the 4.5 and 4 dinks, I lost several in the 2-3 pound range that would have culled, ended up in 4th place, one place out of the money and by less than 1 ounce. I ended up figuring out why I was loosing fish. My rod and line set-up was too much. I was using an extra heavy 7 foot Shimano rod and braided line. I was actually tearing the fish's mouths and all they had to do to get off was shake their head and the hook would pop out. Least I learned a lesson!

I frequently fish with a drop shot and also frequently with a tube. I love both techniques for deeper structure. I tried the 2 bait technique, tube on the bottom, and did not like it. I just don't get the feel of the bottom with a tube on the end as opposed to a drop shot weight. The whole rig just felt too mushy to me.

The discontinued Fat Raps are also my all time favorite. I still have 6 or so and still get all tense when one gets hung knowing I will probably not be able to replace it. Those cranks have bailed me out more times than I can remember...

Welcome Mr. Hannon. Man, this site just keeps knocking my socks off! Every time you look something else improves!

Back in October I was faced with high, muddy, swift water here on a local river. My most productive spinnerbait color was firetiger skirt with tandem flourescent orange blades. I also often use a completely chartreuse spinnerbait (skirt and double willow blades) for low light, windy days.

Reading the article made me realize how much I do use light tackle in combination with heavier gear. I really never thought of my approaches or techniques as finessing or light tackle but I guess I'm guilty! Using properly balanced spinning gear is one of my favorite ways to skip baits around cover and under docks. Someone else above mentioned Chautauqua Lake and skipping baits under docks. The pic of me on Low Budget Hookers members video III thread, well, that's a 4 pound smallmouth that came from under a dock on Chautauqua, 8 lb floro line, and on a tube rigged with a 1 /16 oz weight that was skipped waaayyy back into a shady pocket beside a pontoon boat. That fish fought really hard and was wrapped around a post at one point, I still managed to get him out and in the boat on 8 lb test. Another thought.... I love to catch steelhead when it's to cold for bassin. It's not uncommon to catch 8-10 lb steelhead that will fight for minutes and minutes and jump mulitple times. All of this is usually on 4-8 lb test due to really clear water and spooky fish. The key to landing them? A longer, lighter action rod that will absorb the head shakes, long runs, jumps, IE: balanced equpiment. Can this be applied to bass fishing. I think absolutely, and I have. I'm firmly convincd that steelhead fishing has improved my skills when it comes to catching and landing bass on lighter tackle. Nice article Craig!

I tried..... The file type is not supported by Windows movie maker. I'm not too savy when it comes to these computer type things but it appears that I will not be able to post it. :'(

Back in September I participated in filming a TV show called Outdoors Ohio with D'Arcy Egan. This program airs on a network called Sports Time Ohio. I received a DVD of the show today! I have had some friends in Ohio tell me they have seen the show, our cable network does not have the STO channel so I was anxious to see the show. I'm happy with how it turned out, would love to post a clip of it here. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to and I'm not sure how to? The show was filmed on the Allegheny River in the Franklin PA area. Me and a fishing partner took 2 seperate boats and hosted D'Arcy and Laura Egan. They took turns fishing and filming as we fished tributaries of the Allegheny by jet drive boats. We would have fished the Allegeheny but it was high and muddy forcing us to scramble and fish tribs so we could film some action. All in all the show is pretty cool. There is alot of stuff and us catching smallies that didn't make the final show but it turned out pretty good. I could use some input from more experienced members on how to post a clip from DVD.

Norman DD22 crank, chartreuse/blue.

Man, your second pic gave up a secret bait , pink trout worms. Ya don't see them too often but boy do they work when conditions are right!

e-mail sent few days ago, LBH, did you receive it?

I think Lindy also makes some smaller weedless jigheads.

I too thought that the whole tourney idea, 3 different bodies of water in 3 days plus being on foot was pretty cool. Way to go and thanks for the reports!