JPascavage52

Tube jig, drop shot, jigging spoons.

What davecon said.. But if I had to fish with one lure for the rest of my life, would probably be a black w/ blue flake senko.

Not wrong at all, some people are just standoffish idiots, who think that giving one iota of information is too much "spoon feeding." As long as you aren't asking for their secret spots, or a thousand questions, there's nothing wrong with conversation. People who are jerks about it worth getting aggravated over. Reminds me of the Fish USA forums a few years ago. Seemed like every time I put up a report, there would be some idiot PMing me telling me how I just "spot burned" and put 20 guys on that spot, and I wasn't even giving that much info.

Too many of these stories, OP, I appreciate the opportunity to rant. - Raystown Lake here in Central PA, there is a section in an area known as "7 points," which is known for the drunk pleasure boaters congregating, and causing 4 foot rollers everywhere. Not to mention houseboats going full throttle right next to you, or those towing tubers or skiers, with the driver not even looking where they are going. There are some excellent points, ledges, and smallie habitats in this area, but I won't even fish this until at least October. Unfortunately, one of my favorite spots is near the dam of this lake, and most of my tournaments launch up lake from this, with about a half hour run to the dam, so I have to go through this area. - Presque Isle Bay, there is a shipping channel that goes out into the main lake, and there are some seawalls that hold good numbers of bass on either side. The whole area is no wake. So, gotta love the idiot in a cabin cruiser that is goes by full throttle, not even ten feet away. Throws a wake so big it crashes over the rail of my bass boat, and about throws me out of my seat. Guy looks back at me even after he passes, and despite the fact that I glare and throw my hands up in a "what h*ll are you doing" body language, he just looks at me with no expression, as if this has happened a thousand times before. - As a boater, I try to make the experience as good as possible when I get paired up with a rider. I'll give them tips, avoid front ending them, even show them where my plastics, jigs, crankbaits, etc, are stored on my boat, and tell them they are welcome to try anything I have. So, I don't mind some good conversation, and like some company, and, as an aspiring guide, I like to help people out. But, when I draw the guy that is constantly shooting his mouth off, seemingly has a story about "catching a four pounder here, a fiver pounder there, missing a giant over there last week, etc." on every spot, exclaiming "that was a nice one" after every single missed fish, tries to tell me what spots were gonna go to, etc, it's a bit much. - Was down near Fenwick Island, DE last weekend on family vacation, doing some surf fishing. Had two rods out, one with synthetic bloodworms for kings and croaker, and the other out with bunker for blues, stripers, and sharks. When, a family of about ten people come and set up their beach umbrellas and chairs about 20 feet away. Of course, they start swimming right next to my lines, to the extent that I'm concerned about hooking them. Meanwhile, their kids are running around and slamming their shovels right next to my rods, and the parents are doing absolutely nothing, except for the shmuck who was doing his "1, 2, 3, swingy swingy" thing with his toddler so close, that if a fish hit, the rod would smack him in the head. The more infuriating thing, however, was that, to the left of us, there was a section of about, I'm guessing 200-300 yards of beach, with only a few umbrellas set up, and only a few people in the water. Oh, and the next day, were two cuties in bikinis who swimming a bit too close to my lines for comfort, when suddenly one of my rods about doubles over, and I set the hook into something fighting real hard. Line starts peeling, and the fish is swimming towards them, and I"m yelling to get their attention, to no avail. Fortunately was able to steer the fish away, and land it, it was a large stingray. While, I was unhooking it, I noticed the two chicks were looking at what I just caught. They quickly scurried out of the water and back to their beach blanket. - I go up to the Lake Erie tributaries here in PA in the fall to fly fish for steelhead and browns, and it is very similar to what the Salmon River poster said. Lots of big aggressive fish around, but lots of idiots as well. Drunks, litterers, crowding, snaggers, are the common offenders. Always a good "punk crossed the big guy's line one too many times and ended up getting thrown in the drink" story. But I remember fishing a trib last year, with hundreds of steelhead visible, and having good luck. There was a group of three extremely whiny teenagers, who were complaining about having no luck, were arguing with each other over what to use, would move and stand right on top of someone when they caught a fish, even one who was on his phone with his mother, and yelled "g*d d***it mom, I don't want no f***ing pepperoni." I even gave them a fish I caught just to try to shut them up. Finally, a nearby fly fisherman has had enough, and loudly says "ya know, if you guys quit whining and just fished, you'd actually catch some," drawing giggles from everyone else there. The three teenagers faces were white, and we didnt hear another peep from them the rest of the time there. Oh, and, two years ago, was fishing next to a couple of Russians throwing big weighted streamers, and "hooking up" (ahem snagging) almost every cast. I took one step forward to get a better look at the huge pod of fresh steelhead, when one of them suddenly explodes into rage at me, saying "you know, people like you who get that close are the ones spooking all the fish!" I just smiled and walked away, and said real loudly "don't snag too many, now," when, unbeknownst to me, the fish warden was doing his round down the bank. Not sure what happened to them after that, but the look on their face was payback enough. Unfortunately, there are idiots out there, but it's a small price to pay to enjoy our wonderful sport. Also, while I'm all for standing up for yourself, and putting your foot down when something is unjust, not big on picking a fight, or pulling a gun on someone, unless they are harassing, threatening, or causing you physical harm. Be smart about it, and remember that, at the end of the day, they are just fish. If someone is really going to be that big of a jerk over some fish, they aren't worth your time, and you are better off just moving on. A moment of rage over some fish isn't worth a criminal record, job loss, lawsuits, etc.

Have fished flukes for years, but have been turning more and more to the D-Shad, as well as the Berkley Gulp Jerk Shad. However, the later is getting harder and harder to come by.

Yes, easily.

It was my first baitcasting reel, and it works real well, easy to set up, learn on, and use, and I still keep it as a backup/ alternate.

A few things: - Finding areas on a body of water that produce with the techniques you're most proficient at, and being able to catch fish on them, while still being able to use a wide variety of techniques, not allowing yourself to become one dimensional and make adjustments for weather changes, bite turning off, etc. With that said, in my opinion, eliminating water and unproductive spots is almost just a successful as finding productive spots. - Developing a system for preparation for trips, and getting everything ready ahead of time. Making sure everything works before you leave. There is nothing worse than getting out on the lake and getting stranded, or arriving to the lake and finding your trolling motor doesn't work, or arriving the morning of a tournament, only to discover you forgot that new bag of baits, or that your motor won't start. This immediately takes you out of your bubble, and makes you lose focus. - Not panicking if you don't have success at first, and focusing on staying in your bubble, and grinding it out. If you lose focus, you increase your chances of missing a bite. - At tournaments, avoiding chit chat and "dock talk" with your competitors as much as possible until you arrive at the weigh in at the end of the day. It's okay to be friendly, but chances are they will only try to "trash talk," "one up" you, and even psych you out with stories about catching big fish there on another day. Couple years back, in a club tournament, had a rider who would not stop talking for a second. Seemed like every spot we went to, he had a story to tell about "catching a four pounder here, catching a six pounder there, hooking a fish easily over five that jumped and threw the hook last week, etc." Those are good for photos and stories, but keep in mind, for tournaments, the only thing that matters are the fish that you physically bring to the scale at the end of the day, and that the official scale doesn't lie. - Realizing that you can fish all you want, but sometimes, it can be a crapshoot, and be a matter of luck. That hawg may just happen to be at your favorite dock/ laydown/ brushpile/ piece of offshore structure at the same time as you or someone else.

Right. So I went to Field and Stream today, and had the opportunity to play around with a Helix 5 with side view and GPS, and even though it was only demo, I was able to move the cursor around in side imaging mood, and mark a waypoint. Unfortunately, they only had the Striker 7 with down imaging out as a demo. Does the striker 7 with side imaging have anything where I could mark a waypoint from what I see on side imaging?

Gotcha. So the 7 inches of the Strikre vs 5 inches on the Helix is the big thing?

Hey guys, so I am looking to replace the Lowrance x51 pro sonar that came with my boat (Bass Tracker PT 170 TX) on the console, and get into the sidescan/ GPS crowd, so I can find some offshore structure spots that aren't community holes. Preferably looking to keep it in the 500 dollar range, and in particular, have been looking closely at the two models listed in the title. Was wondering if anyone has experience with these units, especially with respect to maps, clarity of the image, and ease of installation?

Those are both good reels to start out with or to learn baitcasting, I started out with an Abu Garcia Silver Max, and I still use it as a backup. I've never been very pleased with the rods that come with most combos, however.

Lol, couldn't help but think of Office Space when I read that.

It's hard to give a concrete answer to this, as it can change so much based on the day, conditions, boat traffic, fishing pressure, etc. I also think it's worth separating your spots into a few categories: Primary spots, secondary spots, and numbers spots. Primary spots are the spots you have the most confidence in, and where you feel the most comfortable fishing and catching based on your preferred techniques. Secondary spots are hit or miss areas which you may check, or areas where you may just throw a search bait looking for those loner fish that are spread out. Numbers spots are the spots you'll go if you just want to catch some, even if you have to weed through dinks. To me, these are rocky flats and shorelines. I used to only go to these areas when looking to fill a limit at the end of the day, however now they are among my first stops, as I'm looking to catch a limit early on, get my confidence up, and set the tone for the rest of the day.

Thanks for the support everyone. Fortunately have two more district tournaments and Mr. Bass last chance to qualify, or I can qualify through my club if I place in the top five in total points. Ended up taking it back to the store, and they gave me my money back for it. They also measured it against the other ones they had, and it seems that I just got a defective one. Just bad luck all around.

Around 5 probably. Still nice, nevertheless. Reminds me of a couple weekends back, when I had just parked my truck and trailer at Raystown early in the morning, and was walking down to my waiting boat, eager to get to my down lake spots while the topwater bite was still on, and catch some fish before the 4th of July whacko crowd showed up. Sure enough, a guy in a VW beetle pulled up, and started telling me how he was fishing live shiners from shore the night before, and caught two bass over 12 pounds. I started saying "Wow really? Sounds real nice" just trying to get him to end the conversation so I could start my day. In my mind, I'm thinking "either youre full of BS, your scale is majorly malfunctioning, or you need to call up the fish warden ASAP, since you just may have tied or broke the state record twice in one night."

For cranking, I like a graphite rod that still has a soft tip and parabolic bend. I use a Duckett Ghost crankin' rod. You may wish to look into one of the cranking rods that has a fiberglass/ graphite hybrid resin, as these can offer you the best of both worlds. Also, are you changing out the hooks when you purchase a new crankbait? I have never been pleased with hooks that are on lures directly out of the package, as a result, I like to switch to either Gamakatsu or Mustad trebles, depending on whats available at my local shop. Finally, I suggest reeling with the tip down and to one side so that you can get the bait deepest, say in a 5 o clock position. When you do feel a hit, in order to set the hook, just turn to the nearest side and reel up the slack. It's tempting to set the hook straight up and down as you would with many other baits, but I find that I hook significantly more fish by setting to the side.

I gotcha, yea once I google mapped it, I realized it was much bigger than I expected, yet, even just from Google earth, could see the water getting a bit clearer as you move down lake. But, as you said, it does look like this area has a lot going on. So some of what I suggested should give you a some good starting points, and everything else is just a matter of covering water, and breaking it down. If you aren't in any immediate hurry to need to learn this section of the lake (ie a tournament coming up in the near future), itd definitely be worth breaking it down into sections, or imaginary "mini lakes" if you will, and just working one thoroughly each time you go out there.

Only way to find out is to give it a few shots and fish it, can't hurt right?

Well, first thing, the good news is that, by finding the thermocline, or being able to ballpark it, you can safely eliminate a lot of water that is deeper than that. Now, Ive never seen this lake in person, so it's hard to mention everything. But, being that you said it's stained water, fish will often tend to move a bit shallower than in clear water. I would first look at some of the shallower timber, especially laydowns near shore, and work this heavily. Especially look for areas where there is some sort of irregularity to the cover (ie timber leaning different ways, jutting out oddly, etc) Would be worth a few passes, say once with a reaction bait, once with a flipping bait, and once with a finesse bait, say a squarebill, flipping jig, and weightless senko, respectively. If you don't get bit and you're not in a tournament, well, you've just eliminated some more water, so no harm no foul. Another key area in this department is rocky/ rip rap areas. It's been my experience that these can be good numbers areas. Also, I would look at where the channel swings close to shore (where the contour lines near shore are very close together) In the heat of summer, bass will either go to deep water, or deep into cover, and these areas offer both. In addition to throwing into the cover, I would recommend "spoke casting" some parallel to the bank, as this will keep your bait in the strike zone a very long time. As the day goes on, they move a bit deeper, so it would definitely be beneficial to start hitting points. It looks like there are plenty of swings and points on that lake. Cover each point thoroughly, and when you do get bit, make a mental note of where you hooked the fish, and slow down a bit, as there are likely more in the area. Also, I'm not sure where the dam area/ tail end of that lake is in comparison to where the area selected is, but if you don't like fishing stained water, and would like to fish clearer, going down lake towards the dam would help you find some clearer, cooler water. Good luck

Figure out the primary forage of the lake, and match it to a T. Natural colors are key in that situation, I've found that white/ salt and pepper colors can be in very clear water. Also, downsize with some finesse techniques. Ned rigs, tubes, drop shots, weightless worms, etc.

In my opinion, the three techniques you selected each require three different actions of rods, so if your budget is not an issue, I would look into more than one.

Also, when you do catch one, make sure you make a note of the exact area where you caught it, maybe even throw a marker buoy over there. There will often be more in the same area.

Well, Sunday we had our first FLW bass federation district tournament of the year, and being that it's my goal to qualify for the State Championship this year, I was stoked. Since there were 26 boats, and we were the third tournament of the weekend on this lake where the term "the ol' five pound limit" is often used, we all knew fishing was going to be tough. Fishing ended up being slow but better than I expected. Started out on my favorite rip-rap bank and caught two dinks on a crankbait, then started slow dragging a senko. Had two fish on that I got close enough to see but managed to shake the hook off. Finally landed what was a keeper, just over the minimum. Or so I thought. Moved to a spot I like to save specifically for tournaments, and begin flipping some post stuctures and wood, and caught two keeepers, one that was decent, and another that was just over the limit. Had another one on that was good but got tangled in some tree limbs, I spooked him out when I went to get my lure out of the tree. Later on, started throwing a drop shot and Ned Rig around looking to fill the limit. I managed to land one more nice fish, but then only caught one more dink for the day. From talking to some other competitors, I thought my four fish would be enough, probably wasn't going to win, but may at least place. When I pulled up to the weigh in, I brought my fish over to the scales, and they proceeded to measure my two "barely measuring" fish that I had, as they had with all the others. Sure enough, while they had easily been over the 12 inch minimum on the Field and Stream dink board I have been using all year, on the "gold standard" board the tournament officials were using, they were barely measuring 11.5 inches. They proceeded to throw out my two "barely measuring fish" and penalize me two pounds from the remaining two. I tried pleading my case a bit, stating that they were easily legal on my dink board, and even comparing my dink board to the one they were using, when I found that, to my astonishment, it was about 1/2 inch or so shorter than theirs . Unfortunately, was told that, while it was unfortunate, there was nothing that could be done. When I got home, ended up measuring it one more time, just to be sure it was mine, and not theirs that was off. Not sure if I just got a bad one, or all of these ones are like this. Needless to say, heading over to the store first thing after work today to talk to somebody about it. In a way, its good that I found this out. Forget the tournament, If I had been checked by the fish warden, would've had some explaining to do.

I keep my crankbait selection to 5-6 broad categories: - Crawfish colors - Shad Colors - Bluegill/ Perch/ Panfish colors - Chartreuse/ Black ( muddy water colors) - Location specific (trout colors are big here)