the reel ess

What's the brand of that jig?

T-rigged, 3/16 oz tungsten bullet weight, black glass bead, 4/0 Gama EWG hook with a Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw. I rarely use jigs. Been experimenting lately with this. But so far I'm not getting as many bites as I do with the traditional T-rig.

How do you rig it? I use the Super size and the Chigger Craws T rigged. But the smaller (Ultravibe) is just a little too small for even my smaller EWG hooks. I've tried it on a shakey jighead but have better luck T rigging. I like to put a black glass bead between the bullet weight and the hook. I started because someone on here suggested it would protect the line from the tungsten weight. But I'm a believer now that the clicking attracts bites. I have since heard the same thing from Scott Martin. After switching to the the Powerbait Chigger craw...Man, fish will hold on to that thing a long time! Even when they feel you, they won't drop it.

Chigger Craw. Most of my bigger fish last year came on this. All on black/blue Zoom Super Speed Craw. This used to be my favorite but I can't find them in stores anymore.

I'm sure if I had been born a native American before white expansion, I would have been one of the tribe's fisherman. And probably hunter as well.

I think most have suggested that he not shoot those instigators.

nm

“Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” Mark Twain

Lew's LFS Tournament MB. $125, very low profile, aluminum frame, dual braking systems, 14 lb. carbon drag, compact and light, casts a mile and I can't seem to make it backlash.

My wife ordered a log book from Amazon that's really for fly fishing, but I just adapted. At first it doesn't seem like it helps much. But I have more than a year in it and it's nice to be able to go back and see what worked, what didn't and what was caught.

At this point in my life (45 years) I seek to avoid competition from anglers who'll spend endless amounts of $$$ to catch more fish than me. I got tired of going to the lake on a Friday night, testing out the boat, getting up with the chickens and going to the best spots I know only to discover 2 bass boats already there. I spend the rest of that day looking for places people are not. And heaven forbid there's a tourney that day! And that's not a recipe for success. It's like you need to fish Tuesday thru Thursday to avoid the crowd. I do want to be alone or the only boat (or kayak) on the water if I can. I have 2 large ponds and one private reservoir at my disposal as well as a couple other places I can get in occasionally by permission nowadays so that's what I do most of the time. I prefer the kayak to the big boat because it's just less of a hassle. People who think you can't catch as many or more large fish from a kayak are missing out on a lot of fun. I eityher fish from the back of my buddy's Tracker or I'm in the kayak. It's bassin' for the soul.

I'm hearing good things about the Academy reels. They have a lot of choices under $100. Compare the features to the brand names and I think you'll recognize the value. I have a Lew's LFS Tournament MB that I can't seem to make backlash. The base LFS reel has most of the same features for $99.

I have only been "skunked" once this calendar year and I started in early January-actually, I never stopped. But I've had to resort to fishing for small fish a couple times to avoid it. At this point, catching one tiny dink is not the reason I go. But after not getting a bite for 3 hours, I'll certainly target a small one. This has not been my most productive spring. It got really warm early, then we had off and on cold snaps. I think it spread out the spawn so they were never really in spawn in good numbers. Even so, I've caught a 6.4 lb and lost another monster. I resort to T rigs, specifically craw imitations. I'l' look for any cover or structure. I always have one tied on. A worm No bigger than 6" should work just as well. I just have the confidence of knowing a big fish will occasionally bite that craw. There were a few times last year when all I caught was one good fish on the craw.

Of course size matters to big fish. But the #1 way to catch big ones is to fish where there are some. Then the bait size is secondary. I just lost what would have been a PB Sunday on a T-rigged Hula Grub...not known as a monster bass bait but more of a numbers bait. All my fish over 5 lbs last year except for two came on a craw imitation. Most of them on either a Zoom Super Speed Craw or a Berkley Chigger Craw. And the other fish over 5 came on a Rat L Trap and a Chug'n Spook, Jr. I'm left with only one conclusion and that is that big bass eat craws. But they ALL came from the same body of water.

But Big Boobs are BIG BOOBS. I have both and I like the Pad Crasher so much I bought the popping and junior versions. It may just be a confidence thing because when I first tried the SPRO, I didn't have the best setup for it. It seemed all I did was get bites and never land them. I landed the first bite on the PC.

I find ponds looking on maps, but I ASK.

I bought this rod in Frog model to use for frogs and jigs: http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/fishing-rods/casting-rods%7C/pc/104793480/c/104764680/sc/104823180/cabela-s-tournament-zx-bass-casting-rods/1619298.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fcasting-rods%2F_%2FN-1102351%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104823180 The jury's still out. I've only caught one on a jig. The butt cap came off in the boat. It took me days to figure out what it came from. I superglued it back on. I use 50# PowerPro braid. I have a Lews Tourney MB 7.1:1 reel on it. I got better casts out of my Falcon 7' MH. But I wanted to dedicate it to T rigs.

That second one is a shellcracker (redeared sunfish). They're a little morwe rare of a catch, even when you know they're in a body of water. Right now they're spawning here. Nice fish! Oops! I see the comments above now. You'll have that when you browse with a phone.

2 rods, tackle box, a small cooler with a few beers. If I can drive close to the water, I bring the arsenal. That would be private water. I had an owl try to snag my Jitterbug twice last night.

It just happened Sunday evening. Spawn is over and the fish have moved to the first piece of structure or cover. I cast my Texas rigged black/blue Hula Grub toward a rockpile on the bank. On the first sweep of the rod, I feel just pressure and the bait doesn't move. I gave line thinking it was hung on something and the line moved away so I swung away. It was a fish and a big one. It didn't so much fight or resist as it did STAY DOWN. To tell the truth, it felt like a log that was just slowly moving towards me. I was dragging it across the bottom. I got it to the boat and started it up toward the surface when the hook came free. It had barely broken the skin on the bait. I don't know why it didn't penetrate. It was a new Gama hook, 50# braid and a Falcon 7'0" MH rod. It was a small hook though due to the bait size. My buddy got a look at the fish. He was in position to grab it for me. He says 8 lbs min. and he's caught several over 8. It would be my PB by at least 1.5#. I've come close to that PB a lot of times but never beaten it. I hadn't even lost a big fish in about a year. I was disappointed but not as distraught as I would have been just a couple years ago. I've already got a 6.4# this year from these waters and I know there are bigger in there. I went yesterday evening but only caught a couple 1 lb'ers. I'll get my PB in there one of these days.

I have this one in this pattern. http://www.***.com/Savage_Gear_Glide_Swimmer/descpage-SGGS.html Haven't caught a thing on it yet. The reason I bought baby bass pattern is there are no shad or trout where I usually would use it.

You think Roman labor comes cheap these days?

My favorite is the frog (not toad). My PB came on an older one. My best lately is the Chug'n Spook, jr. Last summer I cleaned up with it in the evenings. My best all-time is the Pop R, small size. My best for one day is Heddon Torpedo-50+ fish in a couple hours. I probably should have switched over to a buzzbait for some size, but I was in the kayak and you gotta run what you brung, to use a racing analogy. My new obsession is to catch one on the Devil's Horse. I also have a new Hula Popper, Jitterbug & Field Mouse. Honorable mentions: Buzzbaits, Chug Bug & Spook have produced at various times for me. I caught 5 in 5 casts once on the large Spook and not one bite since. When that pattern really kick in this summer I'm going to take 5 rods rigged with topwaters and one with a craw and see what I can accomplish.

My favorite numbers bait from pre- to post-spawn is the Zoom Trick Worm, T-rigged, weightless. If there's any stain to the water use a neon color. If it's clear, use a watermelon or other more natural color. Toss it out and work like a jerkbait, keeping close enough to the surface to see a strike. That will help set the hook without fish feeling you. If that won't work, just deadstick it. Toss it out and slowly drag it with no action. If still no takers, downsize to the Finesse Worm. Same thing, but smaller. I haven't tried the small Senko as FL Mike recommends, but I've had some surprise success with the wacky worm when they wouldn't bite anything else. My latest cure for lockjaw is the Yamamoto Hula Grub, T-rigged on a small extra wide gap hook with an 1/8 oz bullet weight. If using BC combo, make that 3/16 oz. I've been trying to use it on a jighead, but having more luck T-rigged. Black/blue flake is my favorite color in craws. Where I fish it outcatches the others 3-1. So I always seem to have an extra bag of watermelon that never gets used. A side note on craws: bigger bass love them, even the smaller ones. And I consider the Hula Grub a craw imitation. When you start seeing activity, that's the time to start with the reaction baits, like the Shadow Rap. The Spook will work best around sunrise and sunset. Bass are unlikely to bite it or must topwaters at high noon. For more numbers, try the smaller size Rebel Pop R. Color really doesn't matter as much as time of day. Early and late. As the water warms and humidity grows, topwaters produce better. Keep at it and good luck. This is a great place for advice. And look at the videos on this site here for beginner advice. Subscribe to this site's YouTube channel. Glen has some killer videos that will get you on the right path. This is a great time to get the basics down and catch some numbers in spring.

I use those too. My favorite squarebill is the Bandit FlatMaxx.