CeeJay

Yep, those are some beauties there CJ. Works of art. You're really making me want to get back into making my own lures and jigs

That's a really good idea. I'm going to try that tape rigging. Do you put the hook through both tape and the senko's body, or do you insert the hook between the tape and the lure?

I've always believed that not just bass, but most sunfish, feed from top to bottom in the water column. Wherever the easy prey happens to be at the time, on the surface or down on the bottom. I wouldn't label or categorize largemouth and smallmouth bass as "bottom feeders" though.

Anyone use them? Anyway I'm going to pick up a 14' telescopic tomorrow...just to have as an occasional fun option in my panfish arsenal. The whole not having a reel thing is a little disconcerting though. I remember landing bluegill just fine back in the day, but sometimes a bass or catfish would take my panfish bait and it was intense. I doubt the long pole will replace anything I have, but I'm kind of excited to hopefully try it out early next week after all this rain stops

Whatever this is called is how I rig my Senkos...is it "Texposed"? The terminology and variants get confusing. This one is the 3" that caught my pb largemouth...now retired

I guess I use the "Texposed" rig? Or whatever it's called when the hook is threaded through the bait like usual weedless rigging, but then pulling it up and through so that the hook point is laying flat and against the top of the worm (or senko). I test them by dragging across the carpet floor, and then make adjustments if it snags the carpet.

I sometimes wonder if there's any species of fish that inline spinners won't catch. Great lures and I can't wait to toss some spinners in Colorado this fall....and maybe finally catch a trout For what it's worth I have most of mine rigged with a single hook now, after a particularly gruesome/disturbing incident with a large crappie years ago. And changing out the hooks doesn't seem to effect the action of the spinners.

Hey Smalljaw thanks for taking the time to share your preferences and experience with hair jigs. Much appreciated

Welcome Chris. Great people here on the forums, it's a huge library of information Mitchell's Avocet is a great reel for the price. I've had my S500UL for years and it's still going strong.

I bet fishing around or near waterfalls is very beautiful. Oftentimes when I'm fishing the river I stop and take a moment to look around and listen to the rapids upstream. Fishing "live water" is new to me this year and I'm really enjoying it. Anyway I'd probably drift a senko or worm in your situation, as ETS mentioned above.

I used to have a 12' telescopic pole and caught many sunfish on it. But that was a long time ago when I was experimenting with pretty much every method of fishing. But I'm seriously considering getting a new long pole for panfishing the river. As a bank angler and now shallow wader, I'd like to get a pole in the 12-14 foot class. Combined with a small float and hook baited with Gulp or even small artificial flies, I don't see any reason not to try it out again. There are a surprising amount of options...not just online but even at Walmart. All are dirt cheap...most are fiberglass, and the least expensive are actually made from cane. Thoughts and/or suggestions on reel-less panfish poles? I've read that many a pro Crappie Tournament has been won on long poles...so even though it seems like a step back to childhood, professional panfish anglers seem to use them successfully. I don't know, it just seems like it'll be fun to swing out a micro-bait for bluegill on a pole. Thoughts and/or suggestions on reel-less panfish poles? Experiences? Rigging methods?

Awesome. Sounds like you're picking up the subtleties of bass angling very fast. 4am is perfect, it's just so much fun to fish while most people are still sleeping. I try to hit the water by no later than 5am. Yep, a nice and easy cast is a thing of beauty and the lure will fly far. I use spinning tackle, but whenever I rush a cast (which happens from time to time) I lose a good amount of distance compared to a smooth relaxed cast. Good luck and have fun

I used to use good old aberdeens in small sizes (2-6) and never had the hook straighten, even on some pretty big fish.... all the way up to 20 pounds (I'll possibly stop referencing my PB 20 pound Carp soon, haha). Mono line was no doubt one of the key reasons why those thin hooks held. The original reason I used those aberdeens was simply because I could thread more corn on the shank, but then I started using hair rigs and discovered that the hook style doesn't really matter. You could hair rig some corn attached to bait holders, circles, etc. In my opinion having line with some stretch, a lubed smooth drag on the reel, and a rod of 7 feet length or longer are more important when it comes to landing (as opposed to hooking) big Carp.

Have you noticed that cool action the Crickhopper makes when very slowly reeled in on the surface? I love how the "tail" wags side to side...drives the Bluegill crazy Might as well keep this thread going for Bluegill related information...I could talk about them all day. Speaking of the Crickhopper, I also like Rebel's Teeny Wee Crawfish and Teeny Wee Frog....great Bluegill cranks, and bass seem to enjoy them as well.

That's really cool Longo, congrats! I'd love to catch a Muskie one of these days.

Welcome CrazyFluker. Northern VA...my old stomping grounds. I really miss some of the ponds and lakes I used to fish over there, but I definitely don't miss the traffic haha

Really cool pics. Moths can be really beautiful. There was a Luna moth (or some similar type) outside the kitchen window here the other night.

I have no idea why he blacked out the streets....but he said he has only caught 2 fish there. So I just assumed he was looking for info on how to catch more. But what do I know Yeah it's definitely weird though...

Trout seem to have an aversion to me There's a lake I used to fish frequently when I lived in Virginia. My PB largemouth (5 lbs) and bluegill (1.3 lbs) were caught there. Anyway, every October they would stock it with trout. Tons of people looking to fill their freezers and fridges would show up when the trout were dumped in. And they all seemed to do quite well...mostly on Berkley trout dough baits, but also some small spoons and inline spinners. Well I caught exactly zero trout tossing my Kastmasters, Cleos, and numerous inlines. So I became slightly annoyed, said to heck with it, tied on a spinnerbait and caught some bass instead It was frustrating though, I really wanted to catch a trout because I'd never caught one. Hopefully my luck will change when I move to Colorado in a few months.

I'm pretty sure the OP was asking how to fish it successfully, not what it's called.

Welcome. Lots of great info here on the forums and great people as well. I think there's a bit of a terminology and technical difference between those of us in the Americas and those over seas. For example I recall reading instructions on a European and also an Australian angling site that said braided line "backing" should be used on the reel before spooling up with mono...I have no idea why, unless the spools of the reels are much larger in those countries. Here in the US many anglers will use braid as their main line, with a length of mono attached as a leader. But other than that, the term "backing" is more applicable to fly fishing than with casting/spinning gear. Hopefully I didn't confuse you even more

Oh ok, yeah I have a couple bucktail jigs and some other types of hair jigs. I wasn't sure if the OP was referring to jigs in general, or the silicon skirted bass jigs in particular. In any case I really like the SK Bitsy Bugs as far as skirted jigs go. But my favorite jigs are Spro Bucktails.

Are they hair jigs? I'm not too familiar with bonefish lures other than flies.

I tend to be a "romantic" when it comes to the outdoors and angling especially. Hiking trails along the river...looking for good spots, watching the birds, turtles, snakes, etc The solitude of "fishing fine and far away" to quote Charles Cotton. Bank fishing (and now my ventures into shallow wading) brings me peace and quiet and is very soothing, especially out here along the Shenandoah. I'd love to have a canoe, but I doubt I'd use it more than once a week. As far as racing around reservoirs on a bass boat, just not my thing even if I could afford it. I guess I'm a fly angler at heart, but not in technique. (I plan to be buried with my spinning tackle when the time comes, I love spinning so much)

Strike King Bitsy Bug jigs are my favorites.