Bass Slayer 72

I have to vote on plastic, I've had some good catches with wood, but mostly my top-water not the cranks.

In addition to the sound advice from above post, I like to experiment the deep cranks, I will throw different colors and sizes, when I am retrieving the crank I try to keep the wobble slow and lethargic giving the bass a chance to decide to take it, I like to use Blk on bright days, I’ve heard that to a bass dark colors moving will look like a bait fish trying to get away and they go after it before they realize they shouldn’t. I will also throw out a spinner let it sink and the same retrieval…

The biggest bass I’ve caught to date was on a blue gill, I fish a lot with my kids and they in turn catch a lot of small gills, perch, and sunfish. I like to use a 2-3 inch baitfish I will spin it and throw it out on a bobber towards a drop off or in front of a weed bed, or pads. I try to keep them out of the grass so they attract bass, my fishing buddy (77 yrs old) showed me when fishing for Pike & Walleye, he’d poke one of the eyes of the bait fish so it wouldn’t freak out when the big boys come for it, I don’t know if that really makes a difference but it’s always fun to hear olden day techniques…. He still uses a cane pole, I laughed until he caught way more, and much bigger fish than me…consistently….=

I have put some in my fish basket, just to get them out of the way and released them later. I think that little fish attract big fish, so I'll fish anywhere I see bait fish or smaller bass, I just might fish on the outer rim or towards deeper water where I think larger bass might hold. I also have had good fishing when my boys are bobber fishing for blue gills and sunfish.

I love this thread, my mother was an avid angler and she taught me a lot about fishing, now that she is passed I have spent considerable time teaching my children, and I confess that I get a deep satisfaction watching my daughter catch fish and spending time with her on the water… I hope she will always take time throughout her life to fish.

I've only run straight braided for a few years now, hasn't seem to hurt our fishing seasons at all, If I'm missing out on bigger fish.....Sssshhh don't tell them that...lol

I mainly use 3 rod n reels; Shakespeare Ugly Stick with a Shimano SEDONA 4000FD spooled with #14 lbs braided line Shimano FXS-66MB-2 rod with a Shimano SIENNA 4000RD spooled with #10 lbs braided line Shakespeare Ugly Tiger with a Quantum –OPTIX reel spooled with #20 lbs power pro braided The Ugly Stick is my work horse and my Shimano rod is my flippin stick, the Tiger is my salmon rod/trolling set up.

This is a hot topic with my brothers and I, they fish mainly with Mono, or Floro, but I spool only braided with no leader, on my ugly stick (my work horse) I am using Fire line Crystal line and I don’t think it’s made me catch less fish. I like to play a fish, but the # 1 Golden Rule of our boat is, “Get it in the boat”… but I mainly fish with my son’s and they HATE to lose a fish just before we can net it. The younger ones do have mono on, but my 15 yr old went out and bought himself some fire line #10 lbs test, he caught a 26 inch Bowfin earlier this year, which was amazing to watch and I’m positive he would have lost her on 4-6 lbs mono. I guess I say if your catching fish with what you’ve got, and your fishing the way you want, go for it. No matter what you use, you’re going to have good days and bad, only way to be sure of your catches is to switch to Dynamite…..LOL

I just used a blk Sharpie marker to write on our tackle boxes, that way if I'm not in the boat (have a BPS walleye board mounted on boat) then all we have to do is hold it over the tackle box, problem is my largest box is only 16 inch long, but at least I know from their about how big, one purchase I will be making soon is a scale, since length is the determining factor in keepers I've only used a ruler. After reading so many stories on here, I start to wonder about weight.

I start out the youngsters with a youth pole, the kind you can get from Walmart or sporting store with a hollow handle, that way when it goes in the lake you have time to get it before it sinks; after a few seasons of them catching fish, they can upgrade to a better rod n reel, but I like to save that for a reward for not dropping the pole in or snagging everyone in the boat, anchor line, fish basket, ect….. I have seen Styrofoam float straps that you can put around the base of the pole to make it float if dropped, I’ve never tried them, but I bet it would work.

Just a few days ago I was fishing with two of my boys, I was using a small bomber crank and a perch hit it and took two hooks in the mouth, it fought a bit and while I was bringing it up to the boat a pair of large mouths where actively hitting the perch. I yelled at my boy to cast in the same area, he had on a bass stopper fire tail worm and the 2nd bass hit his worm. I think the excitement of the perch caused an instinctive feeding frenzy of the bass while I removed the lure from the perch I could see the 1st bass not far from the one my boy had on the line.

I don't know if it will help, but lake fork has a product made for frogs it's a third hook that acts as a trailer it attaches to both hooks and is said to increase hook ups and reduce those hits from the back that don't set. I purchased a pair, but have yet to try them out.

I prefer the fish parallel to the shore or drop off, I like to deadstick or flip a worm with no weight or as little as possible as long as the tail gets the spiral drop effect. I will crank the opposite side, but topwater from the shore out to grass or pads helps the cause… =

With 5 kids and the wife, the water is calming no matter what the catch is for the day, I rarely get upset anymore, unless everyone around me is catching fish and I'm not, then it's more of a "what the heck" or an injury to my pride....lol One way to avoid getting skunked is to throw a line in with a soft bait on, I like to use a fire tail bass stopper 3 open hooks, I'll dead stick that while I cast out my spinner or crank, last few years when I'm not paying as much attention to that line, I'll get one on.

Hello all, my name is Jason and I’ve been fishing since I was a kid, my mother was an avid fisherman and I spent many sunrises and sunsets with her in her boat on lakes, I have five children 15 yrs, 7 yrs, 5 yrs, 3 yrs and our last will be 2yrs this month and they all love to fish, well except for the 2yr old he likes to throw his pole in the water when I’m not looking or my tackle…..= We mainly fish local lakes in the north Michigan area, we like to get into the White River and Muskegon river for smallies, Pike, and trout, this year I’m going to give Stealheading a try. I take my oldest son every year to Tippy Dam for the Salmon run and he’s hooked….(pun intended).