Ozark_Basser

10-12 or 12-14 for sure.

Any body tried these? They look good. How well do they walk, skip, hook up ratio, etc?

Jitterbugs at night in the summer are a good way to catch the bigger ones. Bring a flashlight but don't shine it on the water. They can and probably will be super shallow. During the day its all about stealth. Make long casts. A good rule of thumb is if you can see them, they can see you, and you probably won't catch them unless they are on beds in this situation. I like using an old Rebel F30s floating minnow in gold and black where I live in the summer. It SLAYS creek smallies.

That blue craw is awesome! What colors do you use to paint it?

Graphite. More sensitive than glass and lighter.

I never mess with them. I use the heavy weed guards on the ones I make, and I don't think it hinders hook ups. Jig hooksets take a little practice. You'll lose fish starting out, but that's just because jigs are heavy and bulky, and its harder to penetrate their mouths with a thick jig hook. Just reel down until your line is tight then drill 'em. If you stick one good with a 5/0 jig hook and keep your line tight, they won't come off unless they jump. Cutting them shorter will have zero effect on how well you hook up unless you cut it before the hook point which defeats the purpose of having a weedguard in the first place. I'll cut mine shorter when I make jigs with 3/0 hooks just because it looks too long, and that's the only reason.

Anybody tried these? What are some characteristics? Stiff? Whippy?

Fish it however you want. I generally just drag them on the bottom. I would look at arky style heads if I were you. They go well with wood and you can skip them into hard to reach areas under those limbs.

Regular=moderate. I personally wouldn't use it for anything but trebles. Just my opinion.

I just got a curado i in the mail. I'm digging it. Feels solid like the curado e. Easier to palm than the e. It also casts further. Got it off eBay for 140. 7.2:1

Play by play? I would love to here some highlights and the outcome?

It doesn't matter. Try whatever you want. If a bass will bite this.....and they do.....a lot, then they will bite just about anything that looks alive, and sometimes things that aren't alive. I have seen someone catch a five pounder on a peice of a hotdog. Feel free to experiment.

You can use a flipping stick for casting a jig, but its a little harder to cast as accurate or skip docks with a long rod. For 3/4 oz football heads in deep water a flipping stick is not a bad choice though. It just depends on where you fish and personal preference.

Definitely. Kind of hard to skip out of a kayak though. Practice in a parking lot with a small jig. They'll be there in the fall as well as long as there is bait. It would be the first place I'd check. Fish can be hard to pattern in the fall on our lakes. I've always approached fall with more of a run and gun approach. Sometimes it pays off. Sometimes it doesn't.

I would ask around to see what works best in the waters you fish, but color is pretty much subjective. You can't go wrong if you have shad, crawfish, and bluegill patterned crankbaits where I live. I like brighter colors in stained water and natural colors in clear water.

Generally a longer, stouter rod is more handy for winching fish out of cover. Its also easier to pitch and flip farther with a longer rod.

They're not too bad for flatheads either! Thanks! I'll have to give this a try when I get everything to do it. After buying everything for building rods and making jigs, it might be a while.

^^^^^Then that's probably where I'd go if distance was of no concern. Florida has been on fire for huge bass this past season. I'd get a guide.

I checked out the map on http://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#@36.554441,-92.260065,14zWhat I would do first is try to find some areas with gravel in Bridge's Creek or anywhere for that matter. Bass will use these areas to spawn and will stage in these areas before they spawn. Id start fishing where the bank changes from rock to gravel trying lots of different baits making sure i stay in contact with the bottom. On your first pass, take that square bill, lipless cranks, or spinnerbait and work it back to the boat making sure it grinds the bottom, bottom contact is very important. Cast whichever one you decide to use toward the bank and as soon as it hits the water start a steady retrieve. Don't be scared to reel any of those baits pretty fast. Mix up your retrieves and see what works, but more times than not they will want it pretty fast. It will be easier to keep the square bill on the bottom, but with lipless cranks, I would try more of a yo yo retrieve by ripping the bait up off the bottom and letting it fall back down doing this all the way back to the boat. I'd make a second pass with a jig with a twin tail trailer or Texas rigged soft plastic after that. The spinnerbait is something I would prefer around shallow wood cover, especially if that cover is found in one of those gravel areas. I like to cast spinnerbaits past the cover, if possible, then as it goes through the cover I like to deflect off of it. The deflection is what will get you bit. It will take a little while to get the hang of this before you can do it without losing a lot of spinnerbaits. It helps to keep the spinnerbait high in the water column or close to the surface. The best looking spot is that submerged bridge with the road bed located around the mouth of Lick Creek. Use the link I gave you to check it out. That spot will hold fish all year long. I'd say it gets fished a lot though. Either way, you could spend all day there. I'd use some bottom contact baits like jigs etc. Learn to feel the bottom. It will be harder to do this in deeper water. All in all, you don't have a huge area to fish so I'd be hitting up every point, cove, or anything that looks different or "fishy." I know this is a lot of information, but feel free to ask questions about something if you don't understand. Good Luck!!

I assume the twenty foot deep upper creek channel you are referring to is on Norfork? As far as that section of the lake goes, you should be able to find a good deal of fish there as the water starts to warm. I would just fish that whole area starting shallow then work my way deeper toward the channel if i wasn't catching fish. The water isn't as clear back there as the rest of the lake, so I'd pick up some wiggle warts for sure. Finesse jigs with a twin tail trailer and a worm on a shakey head up in the buck brush will get you a lot of bites as well.

Swim jigs through the thickest stuff you can get them through. Topwater. Soft plastics/jigs in the super thick stuff.http://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#@47.991671,11.839022,3zIf you want to see a topo of the lake.

Casting gear. Rod depends on cover. I don't fish it around tons of mats or anywhere where I would need a a heavy or exheavy. I usually just throw it on a 7MH with a high gear ratio reel. The MH makes it easier to skip the frog as well. Braid is a necessity if it is a hard body frog. You can't walk it without braid.

Probably my favorite soft plastic. My first few PB's were caught on hula grubs.

#13 I thought I invented that!!!!

I own the 7MH signature series which is the cheaper model and I love it. The tip on both the signature and tactical series are really soft, but they don't lack in backbone one bit. They are light for the price point as well. I think you'll like it.