MIbassyaker

The only color dilemma I encounter with senko style baits is whether or not I need the chartreuse tip. Stained/murky = yes, clear = no. Otherwise, it's a plain green pumpkin, plain watermelon, or black, and the three are mostly interchangeable.

I don't do it much, but sometimes I'll backreel instead of loosening the drag if the drag seems too tight for the fish, just momentary; I don't land them with the anti-reverse switched off, though.

Digression: I don't know anything about tying jigs, but I have discovered my wife has tons of crafting wire. Suppose I ask her if I can "borrow" some for exactly this purpose; what should I check to see what she has?

yeah, pike are quite edible, but annoying to clean. I never keep them though.

late spring/early summer -- weightless flukes and other soft jerkbaits midsummer -- jigworm/shakey-head worm late summer -- worm or craw on texas rig early fall -- poppers and propbaits october through april = almost no fishing (sad)

Several years ago, Field and Stream listed the curly tail grub the greatest lure of all time: Http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/fishing/bass/2006/04/50-greatest-lures-all-time Along with in-line spinners, 3" and 4" curly tail grubs on 1/8 oz jigheads were the first artificial lures I ever regularly caught fish on. Granted, it wasn't always bass -- I have caught crappie, rock bass, white bass, yellow perch, walleye, pike, and channel catfish on them too-- but they'll definitely catch both largemouth and smallmouth. You can fish them any way you fish any other plastic bait (especially a tube), although they've always seemed to work best hopping or swimming. I like using a yo-yo retrieve -- cast, let fall, lift by raise with the rod tip to 12 o'clock, drop the rod tip while reeling the slack, raise again, etc.. Or swim with a crank-pause-crank-pause...etc.

Right, ok, it's not so much that I think those things are not worth it, it's that I want to get a handle on what they actually are. I can walk a Storm chug bug or a Heddon chug'n spook (although I don't use walking baits very often). Does a Pop Max walk better? Does it walk $10-$12 better? Spitting and chugging...I'm not sure what better vs. worse actually means for this sort of thing. Does a high end popper have better durability? I've got old hula poppers and Rebel Pop-rs that have taken a ton abuse, over many years, and still catch fish; I see no evidence they lack of durability. Do you see what I'm saying? I'm not against paying more for a better lure. I just want to get to the bottom of what the added value per added price over the ol' cheap stuff actually is.

Um...could I hear some explanation as to why I would want to buy a "high end popper"? This is a serious question -- for the particular model you like, what added value, exactly, would I be paying a high-end price for?

I've got the 10'-diving baitball crankbait -- also from a subscription box. I have only used it a few times and haven't caught anything with it. Although it looks great in the water and I'm sure it catches fish just as well as any other crank of similar size and depth. I can't imagine myself choosing to buy one, though, given I can get 2 Shad Raps or DTs for about the same price.

The random pack seems like a gamble but it really isn't -- you know everything is going to be quality.

You can get that deep throat hook on other heads from Siebert too. Look for the Dredge series While it's not my latest purchase, check out this Random Jig Pack I ordered from Siebert Outdoors back in June: Clockwise from top left: 3/8 Green Craw Grid Iron 1/4 Caldwell Special Brush 1/2 Sapphire Shad Swim 1/2 Falcon Craw Dredge Brush 1/4 Pumpkin Orange Bullet All randomly chosen by Mike -- I didn't know what I was getting until they showed up...notice the hook on the bottom right!

Carolina: Meh. No big loss. You'd probably get more out of a mojo/finesse carolina/split-shot rig anyway.

I have not one but two DSG stores within 1/2 hour of me. Looks like I may be visiting them both tomorrow.

For braid, I double the palomar knot for good measure -- make a second overhand knot before putting the lure/hook through the loop end. Just make sure to wet the line well before cinching.

Absolutely. Very similar specs to the main combo I use for many of those things, especially weightless plastics, shakey heads, and mojo/split-shot rigs.

Yes, sure. The real question, though, is: which details? Some presentation details are simply going to be more important than others. And if line invisibility was a detail that more than doubled your catch with any regularity, there would be no dispute on this topic -- it would simply be part of common experience. Nobody would even be selling, or buying, colored lines of any kind. In any case, in the absence of clear evidence that line visibility matters, I have a hard time believing a fish who will strike virtually every artificial lure design ever conceived could reasonably be expected to care about it.

Every combo should be black and silver. That would make this much easier. I like to pretend I'm mainly interested in being practical, but it bothers me waaaayy more than it should when rod and reel colors clash.

You guys know there is more to live bait fishing than putting a worm on a hook below a bobber and making it sit there for 3 hours, right? Fishing a ned rig or other grub on a jighead is not much different than fishing a small shiner or other minnow on a jighead, a very common northern rig for smallmouth and walleye. Think your strike-detection is pretty good? OK, come fish some crawlers with me on on a live-bait split-shot rig with light spinning tackle. If a bait company created an artificial shiner or nightcrawler that squirmed around on its own like real live bait, and smelled and tasted like the real thing, I'm sure you'd never buy one and use it, right? Right?

Awesome -- those are gorgeous. I have had my eye on a Dredge Pack for my next Siebert order, and I see the Dock Rocker head has now been added to the options for that pack.

I dig it. Nice video, nice fish.

I caught my first bass - a 12" smallie - around the age of 13 on a nightcrawler. I had never seen one before, and Dad and I didn't even know there were bass in the river we fished (turns out there were some quite a ways upriver; they've expanded their range since then, I hear, nowadays there are a lot more in the section we used to fish). We used live crawlers, minnows, and sometimes frogs mostly to catch catfish, but sometimes drum, goldeye, and if we were really lucky, the occasional walleye or pike. I got into lures around then because I wanted to start targeting particular species, like that cool-lookin' bass. Since then I've used live bait occasionally for panfish or walleye when I'm out with family, but not for anything else in a long time.

"Hell hath no fury like an angler forced to wait a few more days for his TW order" Ordered mine on Friday. Regular ground; not 2-day. Scheduled Delivery updated to: Tuesday 9/15. Sounds like most of you are still getting yours before I'm getting mine.

Keep doing what you're doing, Bill! I enjoy hearing your perspective.

1) Lots of things worth trying, but a wacky rigged stick worm (like a senko), and a surface popper like a Rebel Pop-R may be a good start. These should be very easy to pick up for a panfisher. Get used to letting lures like this fall and/or sit for a bit before moving them. Bass often hit things like worms as they fall. And they'll often watch floating lures for a few moments before deciding to strike. 2) Find cover. Don't be afraid of making short casts to weeds, logs, under docks etc. And don't ignore very shallow water if there is good cover or shade there. 3) you can get by with the same gear and baits for both species -- a medium or medium light spinning rod/reel combo with 6lb -10lb mono line is fine to start. However you'll tend to find smallmouth and largemouth in different locations as they tend to prefer different habitats. Your waters may be different, but I catch smallmouth in rocky rivers and streams, and I catch largemouth in weedy lakes and slow-moving river backwaters.

actually, that's exactly why I prefer the Tiny torpedo over the larger size: the blades seem to spin more reliably, and the bass don't seem to care that it's a bit shorter.