michang5

FWIW... My "finesse" setup is a Stradic 1000fi spinning reel with 10# PowerPro Super 8 Slick braid with a 6# Invizx leader. Rod is 6'6" MF. Biggest fish I've caught with it was a 5# LMB.

The Boga that weighs to 15# shows weights by quarter pounds. I have it, and it is excellent. A friend caught a DD a few months and I gave him my Boga to weigh it. The pic I took clearly shows the him, the fish and the 10# mark on the scale. No doubting the weight. I used it on my PB 7.25# and another friend weighed his PB 6.5# with it over a week ago. Super portable. I use a large caribiner and attach it and my BPS hook remover to my fishing backpack.

Finesse worm: weightless wacky, nose hooked on drop shot, wacky on drop shot. Trick worm: nose hooked on drop shot, c-rig.

I don't know what the #5 orings are for. I want to say they were around the sink repair items. If you find the orings work for you, I definitely recommend ordering more here: http://www.oringsandmore.com/nsf-b70-orings-size-010-price-for-100-pcs/ Less $5 shipped for 100 rings. Woot!

I don't have experience with Sunline, but my buddy just picked up some 10# Sniper last Saturday morning and attached it to his Kanzen braid. That afternoon I saw him absolutely horse a 6.5# bass out and over 12-15' of slop and vegetation and deposit it at his feet. I was super impressed. I'd be surprised if the Sniper was the weak link in your setup.

As for the original question: I have yet to test the two in an aquarium or a pool. But I will tell you that my experience with the o-ringed senko has produced probably 100 fish since I started fishing for the first time last July. It was the setup I started with and I still throw it today. Went out on Friday and caught 10 at local pond. My buddy was struggling with t-rigged senkos. He then tried them wacky and started getting bit, but he kept losing fish. Turned out his hook was too small and he was hooking through the senkos. I gave him my exact setup and he caught 5 or six. The next day we went out again and he went straight for the o-ringed senko and caught 10 himself. Try it both ways and let the fish tell you if the action is sufficient. I suspect you will catch fish either way. Then you will need to make a decision about cost. You will go through more senkos sticking the hook through them. My experience with the shrink wrap and hook through was that it is not as durable as the o-ring.

I'm sorry to say, but you're doing something wrong. For a 4" or 5" senko, go to Home Depot or Lowes and buy the #5 o-ring in the plumbing department. Slip on to senko (I use the bottom half of a Bic 4-color pen for my wacky tool).Hook on to a Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap Hook in Size 1 or 1/0. Or an Owner Wacky Hook in Size 1 or 1/0. Other similar shaped and size hooks should work, but I'm familiar with those two. If you lose a 5" senko while casting or fishing this way, PM me and I will PayPal you the $1 worth of materials. The only time I lose a o-ringed senko is if I get it stuck in a tree and rip it out. And the occasional 4" one might slip off because it's smaller.

Here is a tip on the Alberto that I figured out when I first started tying it... Get a wooden clothespin (the kind with metal spring in the middle). Take the fluoro line and make your loop. Pin the loop closed 4-6" below the bend. The clothespin acts like a third set of fingers holding the line together. It also has a bit of weight that can keep the line slightly taut.* Use your fingers to thread the braid through, make the twists, and hold the line as you make the twists back up. *If I'm sitting down in a kayak or on my living room floor, I'll hold the pinned clothespin in the bend of my knee. It stabilizes the whole thing and I can tie the whole knot in seconds. Caveat: Yes, I know I'm going to be in a world of hurt if I ever lose the clothespin while fishing. I've had to use my hands-only once or twice. I wasn't as fast, but I could still tie the Alberto. But 99% of the time I have the clothespin.

Braid with fluoro leader on spinning gear is most of what I throw. I've used 20# braid to 10# fluoro. I currently throw 15/10 and 10/6 on my two setups. I also run long leaders of 12-20'. I always use the Alberto knot to join the two lines. Learn from the man himself: I always use the Palomar knot at lure/hook. I very seldom break the line due to fish or hookset. If I'm snapping line, it is because I'm hung due to a bad cast. And I am always surprised -- because it happens so infrequently -- if I break off at the leader knot. Make sure you're using quality line. My braid is PowerPro Super 8 Slick. My fluoro is either Seaguar Red Label or Invizx. Long ago I bought a box of Vicious fluoro at Walmart that kept snapping on hooksets. I got rid of it in favor of the Seaguar and have not looked back. Hope this helps.

I don't want to derail this thread with fishing reports, but I believe this still attempts to answer the OP's original questions. Went out this morning and tied on my new Pop-R. Sun had already been out for over an hour. No clouds. 68 degree air temp. Variable breeze (N 9-16mph) and the water had some intermittent chop along with the slow current. Hit each cast area at least 3 times before throwing to another. Varied intensity and cadence with several pauses along with way. Could hear the nice "bloop bloop" from far and near. As mentioned earlier, I would have covered deeper spots, the drop-off, and the huge shallow grass bed. Nothing after 30 minutes. Switched to the Spook Jr. and did the same. Nothing after 20 minutes. Tied on trusty dropshot and tried two baits. Nothing after 20 minutes. Packed up and went to work. The frustrating thing is that I saw at least 6 splashes at the surface (half of which were reachable from where I was casting). Could have been carp or other non-bass, of course. I plan on trying the lures on a different BOW soon. Keep plugging away before I move them to the back of the tackle box.

As I come up on my first anniversary of bass fishing (started in July 2013), it's going to be interesting to refer to my log and see how much I've learned. At certain points later in the year a few small lightbulbs went off and I started noting trends and basic patterns ("in August there is a ton of grass on top, and if I throw a frog there, I got bit"). It will be cool to see if they are reproduce-able in 2014.

Picked up a Pop-R at Academy today. Looking forward to trying the entire topwater arsenal tomorrow morning. Thanks again.

I use an iPhone app called Flava. You can upload photos, tag and search keywords (searching "senko" for example will bring up all trips that I caught fish using them), and store it all on their servers so you can also access from a desktop computer web browser. It also will geolocate based on the uploaded photo's GPS info. The service is free and you can also use it without the app at takeflava.com. Caveats: - Maybe they'll start charging money someday. - Maybe they shut down someday; although they will send you an export of your entire profile via HTML that you can do something with if you know how. - I fish a lot and upload lots of photos. I've used about half of the space they give you. I don't know what happens when I reach my limit. Maybe I can pay for more storage. Maybe I'll just create another profile. Check it out.

I've had luck using a drop shot with the weight low enough to keep your hook and bait above the algae. Finesse worms or tiny flukes or other small soft plastic. Cast it out and drag/twitch back. You're likely to pull some algae on the weight, but it won't interfere with the business end.

Will someone please remind me again which way is "backwards?" Should the tentacles/skirt be on the hook-eye end? I picked up a pack after reading the Guaranteed To Catch Fish thread. I like that I could bomb it farther than any other lure. I did remember getting a few bites (and maybe one dink), but otherwise it was unremarkable. Set them aside and haven't grabbed them since. I love the GYCB senkos and shad-shaped worm, so it isn't any bias against the durability or price.

I'm in Central Texas so it's HOT. Don't have a thermometer, but the lake reports from TPWD say it's around 64–68. I'll definitely take a look at the feathered treble hooks. But honestly, I just need to go for it. I went out in a kayak on Saturday with intentions of throwing the spook jr./puppy and a scum frog. I was expecting sunny skies and calm water early in the week. Turned out to be overcast, windy and choppy. At the last minute, I chickened out and tied on my confidence rig (wacky senko) and did OK. But I'm left wondering what could have been. Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

Interesting... I went out on Saturday with these exact conditions (overcast with wind and ripples). I had originally intended to throw a spook and frog to test the topwater. But a reply in a different thread made it seem like those would be best for glass-smooth water, so I backed off and tied on a wacky senko. Did OK, but now wondering if I should have tried Plan A. I know the fish don't read the books, but I really need to find a cheat sheet on what (wind, sky) conditions are best suited for: spook, frog, jitterbug, squarebill. So much learning still to do...

I use this guy and really like it: http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-SqueezeOut-Hook-Remover/product/10213376/ Your Rapala ones look similar at the business end, so it should be fine. I owned a pair of 8" curved forceps that worked OK, but I the locking mechanism would pop open on its own. And I found it a bit difficult to push DOWN with them since there is nothing to contact the hook (hard to explain). The hook remover tools have that "U" shaped notch on the stem can apply pressure when you push down towards the fishes tail.

I've had some luck with a Cavitron buzzbait and a Scumfrog, but I really want to figure out other topwaters. I spent 40 minutes this morning with a Zara Spook Jr. and a Zara Puppy. I was on the bank casting out to 12-16 FOW and retrieving it over the drop-off and back over 2-6 FOW with a large bed of grass underneath. Water alternated between glass smooth to having a bit of chop. Cloudy skies. Same conditions another morning with a jitterbug. Not a bite with any of 'em. And last year's jitterbug experiments also caught zero fish. I switch to a drop shot and usually can pull in a few. Any suggestions?

I mainly fish from the bank, using 10-20# braid with 6-10# fluoro leaders. For a two-week period last year I tried to go straight braid. I was able to catch fish, but I lost so much braid each time I snagged. I had to respool after a few trips and went back to leaders after. As for breaking off line, I reel in the line until it's pretty taut. Then I wrap the line a few times around my Boga Grips and pull. One time I tried to pull it by hand and cut myself. Only time this technique doesn't work is if I'm in a kayak and snag on a high tree branch that bends a lot. Then I have to cut it.

My shirt would have: Zoom GYCB Gamakatsu PowerPro Seaguar Not counting rods and reels, this covers ~90% of what I use.

Sorry, but this question is a bit pointless. No offense. I have 2 one-piece rods. I like them. I have 1 two-piece rod that I bought for travel. I like it. When I go camping with the family and the CR-V is jam packed with gear, I have to take my 2-piece. Today, I had to load my daughter and two classmates in the Prius. I wanted to fish after so I had to take the 2-piece. Normally I can put my back seat down so I drive around with all three rods in the car. I don't see this as a question of preference, but necessity.

When/where would you thrown the split-shot rig over the drop-shot rig? Is the SS better for a certain type of terrain or depth or something? I've been doing very well lately from the bank with a drop shot setup with the weight 10-18" below the hook. The BOWs I've been fishing have lots of underwater grass and vegetation right now, and I think keeping the bait above/on top the grass has been key. Any reason to try a split shot rig?

x2. Learn this. Once you get it down, tell others. I started bass fishing July of last year. Gut hooked and killed a few fish in September. Learned this technique from the fine folks here. Haven't lost one since. I find it hard to remove the hook with needle-nosed pliers. I had a pair of forceps that worked pretty well. Lost those and got the BPS hook remover. Works great.

x2. My main line is 12# RL fluoro.