the reel ess

Downsize everything. Wacky rigged Trick Worm. Try bubble gum color. A realistic Craw imitation, weighted and T-rigged. Use things you know others aren't.

After reading some of your other threads I must conclude you work for Zoom. That would be pretty cool if you did. I love Trick Worm.

I won't leave home without a Rat L Trap and a plastic craw. I can't think of any real superstitions. I used to wear a particular hat but it has proven to let me down.

Crappie

I managed three yesterday on three different lures: Jig, Rat L Trap and Husky Jerk. What brand fluke is that on the chatterbait? We have shiners where I fish but I don't see many gold plastics.

I feel like I can get a bite on a black-blue T-rigged Chigger Craw even when they "aren't biting".

It's my favorite Trick Worm color. My buddy has a pink X Rap that works as well.

That's the right hook for that worm. Could be just a one-day thing. I fish the Trick Worm like a jerkbait a lot of the time and an EWG hook wouldn't be ideal. But I do use EWG for craws and bigger worms.

I can say without a doubt that Berkley Powerbait and Yamamoto Hula Grubs are WORTH IT! Some are not going to produce a whole lot more than others.

They can see it. I fish mostly permanently stained waters and use black/blue almost all the time. Works year round.

Me too!

I use premium hooks that won't ever get any sharper than they are in the pack. So when they get dull, which rarely happens, I throw away and grab a new one. Since I started using Gamakatsu hooks, I've lost a lot fewer fish. I used to hate using T rigs on spinning gear because I just didn't get good leverage on the hookset, but no more.

I have found it's a lot easier to get a hook in the fish with a normal worm hook. I usually use the offset shank because I'm in the kayak and I want to change the Zoom Trick Worm from T rigged to wacky. These worms seem to get more bites for me and bunch up less on the hook. But if I was only going to wacky rig, I'd choose a 2/0 Mosquito. I'm not too worried about weedless because I'm usually in the kayak.

A guy on this board who works on reels told me to do it and I did. The problem with that is the next time I went fishing, all my BC reels had too little drag on them.

A rattle will catch attention as well. Also, using black in stained water helps. If you T-rig craws, put a glass bead between the bullet weight and the hook. It'll click every time you twitch the rod. It just flat works.

Put a curly tail white or chartreuse grub on the hook and you'll catch more fish.

Look on your rods. I do that sometimes to discover I have it tied on.

I've come to realize that not even most men like to fish as much as I do. I'll fish for hours for one bite. In fact, not getting a bite motivates me even more. I'm stupid like that.

I bought my daughter a kayak and surprised her with it. She likes to go with me when it's warm. It's not her first choice, but if I inform her I'm going and give her the option of going paddling or hanging around the house with mom, she'll usually go. This usually buys me 2 hours of fishing time. If mom's going shopping, she's on that train. That buys me all day to fish. I might even go three places if they aren't biting well. My daughter wants to paddle down a river with me but doesn't care for fishing. Last time we went together, she got close to me while I was casting a frog to some lilies. Then she started beating the floor of her kayak with her paddle. I said "What are you doing, trying to save the fish from me?" She said "No, there's a spider in my kayak."

They told me to superglue the hole in the nose, which I did. But I was catching them on the Pad Crasher by that point. I'll get back to them this year.

Around here, it's mostly the month of April. If you haven't fished the spawn by that month here, you won't be fishing it. If the dogwoods are in bloom, spawn is in full swing. Fish are already staging for it now. You need to start when it's still an uncomfortable temp. Even if spawn is a ways off, your the bites this time of year are mostly from good quality fish as they store up calories for the spawn. Go to drops and weed edges near spawning flats. Fish all around from bank to deep water. They're somewhere in there. The biggest mamas tend to spawn the earliest.

I'm not very good at it either. But last year was the most I've targeted bedding bass because I've lately been fishing private waters. There were beds almost all the way around the reservoir. I caught bass mostly on the weightless Trick Worm, Rapala floating minnow and some on wacky stick worms. I caught over 50 one day on a Torpedo, but it was very overcast and even sprinkled rain. I missed a lot that day too so I think it was mostly bedding males trying to run the thing away from the nest. I couldn't buy a bite on that bait next time out. When I've seen them on the bed, I've cast a worm, craw or lizard past it and pulled back through it. Get the hook point out because sometimes they won't hold the bait long. Use a bright color to make it easier to see. I have a bluegill swimbait to try this spring and I'll try a dropshot after watching people do it on TV. I need to gain confidence at that anyway.

I should add that a lot of people swear by the red craw color in winter.

Lipless cranks are a good cold water bait. I use rat L Traps though. I have fished these where there are little or no weeds with less success. So the presence of weeds seems to be the right scenario. In cold water, I like to reel it as slow as possible without getting fouled in weeds on the bottom. It takes practice. In cold water, 40's and below, fish won't chase a bait far, if at all. so slow is the name of the game. When the water warms well into the 50's, other reaction baits seem to work better for me. I might still catch a few on them here and there and they'll usually be better quality fish. Then these will shine again in the fall when bass are chasing bait ahead of the winter. A faster retrieve seems to work better then. Sometimes you can mop up with this bait in the fall. BTW, I have 7 Rat L Traps and another lipless crank someone gave me in red craw, bluegill, bleeding shad and gold metallic. I almost never use any other than the gold metallic, 1/2 oz. I can't seem to buy a bite on other colors. Maybe just coincidence, but I'm superstitious. Fish have made me a believer.

After a few bites on the 7.5" Trick Worm, it'll get torn and I'll bite a little off the top and re-rig it-how I know it really tastes salty. I swear just the little difference in size seems to turn the fish on again as if it's a whole different bait. I think the action is better on the shortened worm.