jomatty

the two ways that ive had success with this bait are fishing them with a 1/16 screw in weight (how gary suggests fishing them most of the time) and dragging it like a swimming frog over pads or swimming it right on the surface. ive had a lot of success doing this on days when the fish wouldnt touch the frog. when i fish them with the screw in weight it is a slow steady retrieve occasionally killing the bait i almost wrote this bait off after the first few outings but am glad i didnt, although i still dont use them that much. matt.

i use those things that john j posted and they are cheap and have worked well.

man rw what a day to not have the camera along with you...

i tried the booyah and the original as well as the strike king and nada, except for at night. and i definitely have tried them on more than one occasion for whoever suggested that i had not given them a fair shake. i was just giving one example of a time when im quite certain i could have fashioned something from a rock and leaves and caught fish but struck out on the chatterbait. matt

i dont know what the worst injury is and this turned out to be no big deal but it is def. one of my most memorable injuries... i was fishing with another member and had forgotten my sunglasses. he is a great guy and fisherman and this was just a freak thing where the boat turned, he had a moment of inattention, and wham i got a face full of trebles. rogue jerkbait right in the eye. i felt to try to take it out and to my horror on of the hooks on the treble was actually under my eye lid and laying against my eye. it hurt like hell, and i didnt know if my eye was actually hooked or what. the other trebles were caught in my cheek but that wasnt a major concern. i thought we were going to the hospital as i didnt know what to do. as he pulled out to head to shore i started fiddlin with it. then i picked up my eye lid and pulled it out, and the hook just fell right out. no harm done, a little red spot on my cheek that went away quickly, and we even had time for a few more casts. had us both rattled badly for a second though, and ive never seen someone sorrier for a simple mistake. anyways, that was no big deal as it turned out (although it hurt like hell) but it sure was close. to have a treble hit you in the eye and slide up under your eye lid is probally about as close as it comes to losing an eye or something in the boat. next time ill probably remember my sunglasses. matt

chatterbaits are my june challenge and i cant wait for the month to be over so i can put up my picture of a skunk and never throw one of these things again. seriously the fish where i live run from these things like the plague. one day last week we were absolutely killing em. i was catching em on spinnerbaits, swimming jigs, hopping jigs, swimbaits, senkos, cranks, lipless cranks, lizards, shaky heads, i mean whatever i threw i caught fish on and in no time. i thought this would be the perfect time to finish this challenge up. no luck at all. i had one on that i almost got off but it hit it the very second the bait hit the water so im pretty sure if i had a rock tied on it would have hit it. unreal. i know some people love these things but i cant catch a thing on it. the water was clear and i literally saw fish just high tail it in the opposite direction. tried swimming it at every imagineable speed as well as yo yoing and fishing like a jig and got nothing. the only time ive ever had any luck with these d**n things is at night and i may try it again at night but for the most part im just looking forward to not using these anymore. matt

tell us more about that armageddon i read an article about it and it sounds pretty incredible. at $250 or whatever it certainly should be. how do you like it compared to the other big hardbaits and do you see enough of a difference to warrant the extra $$? just curious, matt

catt, have you tried it with a 3x lizard? anyone else swimming lizards on the top?

i dont know if i think the elasticity thing is true or not (im not disagreeing im just not sure). it def handles better later in the day if it has been spooled before the trip but im not sure about the stretch issues. on the hookset i dont find it to have a noticeably less stretch than mono even after a break in period. i do prefer it though and find it to be slightly more sensitive (power of suggestion maybe) and will continue to use it.

thank you rw, i realize those things and they are all excellent points. what i was talking about was more what lbh was refering to, times when you know heavier equipment would be more effective but you go light for fun. im probably not gonna be doing that any time soon but it is in my mind as when i was younger i had a lot of fun wade fishing with an ultralight rod for smallies. and i dont know that i agree that a medium action rod is good for a lot of applications. things like jigs or any sort of texas rig are just much easier to consistently do well with a heavier action rod imho. avid you are right those x points are incredible. i still use owners most of the time as i can pick them up at the local tackle store but i sure do like the x points. matt

just curious how many of you guys use ultra light equipment solely because you enjoy the fight more on it? when i was younger i almost always used light weight equipment and used to have so much fun, even with fish under 2 lbs. now days im so often using a baitcaster with a medium heavy action or even a flipping stick that even good sized bass offer little in the way of resistance. to be honest im not actually thinking about changing my tactics. i enjoy fishing with a baitcaster a lot, and i like the equipment but i do miss the fights and sometimes when im fishing a shaky head or something on spinning gear it is so much fun, compared with watersking em in on my baitcasting equipment. it just seems that i rarely catch a fish that i have to be especially careful with. a good fish where i fish is around 3 lbs and i can generally make fairly short work of them. last year i caught 3 fish in the 5 lb range (my personal best being 5.4) and while those took some care they were not what i would call a huge challenge once they were hooked. 2 of them were caught frogging on 65 lb braid and a heavy action rod and one of them i even swung into the boat. there is the ethical issue of fighting a fish too much, but i dont think that is too big of a deal as long as you dont go overboard. this is just a long rambling way of asking how many of you guys lighten up specifically to make the fight more fun. im not asking about dropshotting or finesse fishing because that may be the best technique for the time, im talking about specifically for a better fight and more excitement. matt

we have all heard that florocarbon line is no stretch, but i wonder if that is totally true. now dont get me wrong i realize that no line, even braid, is no stretch. im refering in relation to mono. im not sure that floro stretches less than mono. the only data ive seen on it was at tackle tour and their finding seem to support that it has as much stretch as mono lines. i still like floro, and it is the line i use more than any other but i dont find it to be any less stretchy than mono. just curious what others thoughts are on this, matt

after the fork trip i read about some guys swimming a lizard. i tried it out with fairly good success. the way i was originally doing it and the way i understood they were doing it was with a splitshot subsurface. i had a lot of success with that but also stumbled upon something else that has been productive that i havent heard anyone else mention. i have been using a 3x lizard weightless and fishing it essentially like a soft frog. the action is very good and it actulally looks a lot like a frog with a slimmer profile. ive been able to get some bites in areas that i was unable to get bit with frogs and i think its slimmer profile is more attractive than a frog at some times. there are definitely some advantages to frogs as i think they may appeal to larger fish and can be more easily fished on bait casting equipment. there are also a few advantages to lizards as i think that they are more attractive under the water and i got a lot of bites swimming it over the weeds and then killing it at the edge. anyways just thought id share and was interested if anyone else is doing this and if anyone has anything to add, matt

there is no doubt that you can catch fish with these. there is also no doubt in my mind that if you can spend the money there are much better options out there that will give you a lot less headaches. less than half of the storm baits are useable imo as most will run on there sides at any speed. take a look at how the lead head is centered in the lure and you can usually get a pretty good feel for how the bait will run in the water.

This is more a philosophy question than a question about specific baits. just wondering how you guys choose a different bait for a different situation. i mostly use trial and error. honestly if im fishing topwater i usually use a sammy or spook jr, and may try a popper but dont expand too much. sometimes if the water is stained i will go with something louder than a sammy but that is almost always my first choice. anyhow does anyone have a better system

when you guys fish topwater for smallies in rivers what are some of your favorite type of lures? for me my favorites are poppers which is weird because i dont generally like to fish them. i much prefer walking type baits. for some reason ive had more luck catching smallies in a river with popper type stuff. what do you guys like?

i never use anything but gold or silver blades but am interested in the replies as this is something i prob should add to my repertoire.

if you need something cheap to transport fish i would just get one of those large plastic tubs from wally world and add an aerator. this should keep them alive and healthy for a fairly long time to be transported. i know that member john j has a similar set up he uses to transport fish to his pond and he seems to have luck with it.

personally i put a lot more stock in contrast. im much more interested in available light and water clarity than matching the hatch.

man those bass look so fat and healthy i really hope they were not shot during the spawn. i doubt these guys would have a problem with shooting them right off of the beds but if so that really bothers me. spear fishing in general sounds like fun to me. i would never do it for bass, or for any fresh water fish for that matter, but i would love to go diving in the ocean and spear fish for dinner. ive seen it some on tv and it looks like a lot of fun.

ya cant stand up can you? that would be cool...i keep hearing you say good things about these things and i would like to get a canoe but am not that crazy about fishing sitting down. dont know why or have any good reason other than i dont like it that much. matt

that is crazy. i dont know what a mudfish is but it sounds like something i dont want to put my hand near. sounds like you had an incredible day though with a lot of big fish.

thanks guys, it was a lot of fun. he comes with me a lot and these are the kind of days that he loves. when the fishing is slow it can test his patience (probally a character defect that i passed along days like this though he is just so excited. at one point i saw him put his rod down and run in a two big circles and im pretty sure he was just so excited that he didnt know what to do with his energy lol for a 4 year old he is fairly proficient. he can fish with a spinning rod, although he almost always uses his little closed faced pflueger underhang. hes a good kid and im fortunate to have him as a fishing partner...

went to a pond today with my son and we had a blast. the first cast i caught a nice one on a LFT magic shad, and then picked up my other rod and caught one on my second cast with a sammy. as im reeling in the fish that demolished the sammy i see my son fighting a fish on his rod (at this point he is using a nightcrawler). so we doubled up and he was excited. he is only 4 and these days are so much fun. we went on to catch a fish every other cast or so for the next 40 minutes or so. he switched to a senko and caught a bunch on them as well. i caught a bunch on the LFT swimbaits and the sammy, as well as on a spinnerbait and a lipless crank. then the sun came up and we couldnt buy a bite. after all that action i didnt want to slow down and fish a jig or a worm, and my son was tired so we packed it up and went home. lot of fun... my son caught one that went 3.4 pounds and i caught a handful in the 3 lb range (didnt weight the ones i caught) and a ton of smaller fish. far and away the most fun ive had yet this year. matt

ive had decent luck with soft frogs at night but dont hear of many folks fishing with them at night. i usually prefer a buzzbait but the frogs work well too. ed, dont listen to them that headlamp makes you look official and serious. i wear one at all times even when its not dark for these reasons and my mom says i look great