dink

Turn the faucet back on til the the tub's full. ;D ;D

******REMINDER******** For anyone who can't make this one, but was interested should mark October 6 on their calendar for the next one. I am also working on a rod giveaway for the Oct. 6 tourney. It will probably be a Wizard Dropshot or Vertical Jigging spinning rod ($140.00 value). Also there will be some more lures for attendance prizes as well.

Simonton's Bait Store at the lake also has those delicious little Jimmy Dean sausage, egg and cheese biscuits as well as a selection of other sub-type sandwiches and burgers to choose from all of which are microwavable (yes, he's got a microwave too. Gatorades, sodas, chips, candy, snack cakes and jerky are some of the other things he sells there. He has good prices (lower than in town) and decent selection. He also started carrying bass fishing gear this year. A few of us "locals" got together to decide on the selection of baits for that lake. I am pushing his goods a bit, but he is co-sponsoring the tournies with Fairview Sports and myself. Oh yeah...he also has fishing licenses. dink

Fishing report: The fishies are eating at WashCo. Illinoisbasser and I ended up with 20 keepers with the six biggest a little over 20 lbs. Like cart7 said, we ran up north to the shallower water that was getting wind and threw spinnerbaits. Persistence paid off. The good news being the fish getting on a Fall feed for a day at least. The water temps around the lake ranged from 67 to 74 on the surface. Water was stained to murky with only 1-2 feet visibility. I-basser's biggie was just under 5 lbs. and mine was just under 6. Tourney update: For anyone interested in a rental boat and prices contact John @ 618.327.9311. My local bait store, Fairview Sports in Fairview Heights, has graciously donated some baits for this upcoming tourney. These will be given out as attendance prizes. Simonton's Bait Store there at the lake (John) wil also be providing some goodies for the tourney. I alsready stated in another thread that the weigh-in bags ARE provided and I have access to some small tubs for use as holding tanks if needed. As far as lake rules and other tourney rules, those will be covered before take-off Saturday morning.

Love the enthusiasm, Val!! ;D ;D

Good post Fourbizz. I too am crank-challenged but I am learning slowly. I like 'em lipless for shallow grass clear to stained. My personal faves are the old Spot "one-knockers". I have six of these in various colors that have been like gold for me. Since I don't throw cranks much, I can't offer too much in the way of advice. The Bomber Fat A and Flat A have both been productive in the shallow to mid depths and Poes 400s and Bagley DB3s for deeper stuff.

Okay guys, here's the latest. Jaskoh and possibly Illinoisbasser are going to need partners/boats to fish with/out of. So anyone with a boat and no partner who would like or need one, let us know on this thread. YET, there are rentals available at the lake. All that is needed in addition is a large cooler with a portable aerator (livewell). I will not allow stringers or baskets for the tourney. Maybe a couple nonboaters can get together on a rental and still fish. I will make sure any info on boaters without partners will be posted ASAP. As it stands now, cart7 and Valascus are definitely coming over from MO and CJ is possibly coming up from KY. The Illinois contingent is unknown since this is an open tourney. I got the word out to my old club at their meeting last night (50 - 60 members) and my favorite bait shop has posted a flyer for this tourney and has graciously donated some product making door prizes possible.

Burn it and kill it around schoolies in open water as well.

Go to the "Links" bar at the top of the page and choose "Tackle Manufacturers". Then find 'DeLong'. Check those out.

Good point, Catt. The senko is definitely a staple for many fisherman. But I will bet not many here remember how the Mann's Jellyworm absolutely dominated for so many years. The Culprit (or Bandit for you Toledo Tackle junkies) also enjoyed this kind of fanfare in the early 80s. Just wait til people start catching them on soft plastic "cubes". ;D ;D

Stained for sure. To answersome of LBH's question, I live about 10 minutes from the muddy Miss and many lakes around here are stained... some greenish and some brownish. Yet we also have strip mine lakes and ponds that have 10+ feet of visibility as well as some fairly clear Ozark streams and rivers.

I just put some 8 lb. Elite on my "whippy stick", Mike. I haven't thrown it yet though. When the water temps get down a little, I am planning on throwing a SR5 on it. I'll let you know how it goes. dink

I have had a homemade chatterbait tied on all Summer with mucho success. One thing I started doing that increased my catch percentage was to modify the hookset. Initially, I would set the hook with conviction (due to its likeness to a spinnerbait) and lose many fish during the fight. I changed my hookset to one more like I would use for small crankbaits. Once hit, I don't swing fast.... just put on some pressure and let the fish secure itself. No hookset is 100% foolproof, but after this little modification my catch ratio has increased dramatically with these baits.

They make worms SMALLER than 10"???? That's just crazy talk!

I fished one a few years back.... over 400 boats if I remember correctly. Pretty cool seeing all those boats in the staging area and then seeing them being fired off every couple seconds. We didn't do well at all. It was won way up river on spinnerbaits and crankbaits I believe. Yet, that was five or so years ago.

Call 'em. (St. Croix) I would bet that worst case you have to pay shipping for a replacement.

My best five fish limit came on one of my own spinnerbaits. I would have spent who knows how much time and money trying to locate the exact bait I wanted. Instead, I made it. Then I caught fish with it..... enough quality fish to turn around and make five more just like it. Today, I do not carry a single pre-made spinnerbait in my tackle bag. On a side note.... I noticed your sig says St. Louis. If you are worried about being 'bored' over the winter, buy an Illinois license and fish one of the four power plant lakes within 2.5 hours of you. Dress warm.

C. rig. It is also a good bait to flip TX rigged in heavy cover during a tough bite (for me). I have also hard good things about it as a jig trailer, although I have not tried this yet.

Daniel... you rule! ;D

This is better than Reality TV. ;D ;D ;D ;D I gotta go eat my fish now.

Most BBs will track to one side or the other due to the torque created by the blade. Some blades are right-turners and some are lefties. Each will make the BB track to one side or the other. Double bladed BBs with counter rotating blades usually will produce a straight track. Ceph, try adding a touch of weight on the hook shank with some sticky weight or a small shunk from a soft stickbait. ALL my BBs have some kind of added weight for increased casting distance. They have not impaired my hook-ups at all by doing this. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Terminator spinnerbaits. After snapping the third one at the "R" bend, I simply could not justify spending twice as much for an untunable spinner that will just end up snapping like steel ones. It may last a little longer, but I like to tinker with blade configuration and combinations. The tandem blade configuration on a titanium wire limits what can be done about changing the front blade.

My Loomis collection consists of all St. Croix. ;D ;D ;D

I have to mostly agree with what has been stated in relation to depth and buzzbaits. Yet, question #2 addresses "feeding fish" and use of a buzzbait. I will generally NOT use a buzzbait for feeding fish and will opt for a surface plug instead (i.e. Spook, Bow Howdy, Spittin' Image etc.). I believe a buzzbait pattern is more geared towards reaction strikes from fish else in the shallows or suspended shallow. I also like to use a buzzer as a search bait and then clean up with some sort of soft plastic.

Hush your mouth, Val! I was actually throwing a 2.5" toothpick worm with a 1/128th bullet crimp-on matched with a salmon-egg hook. Heeheeheehehhehe. Me likes 'em Ol' Monsters. dink