Snipe Hunter

Caught once. About 20 years ago before I had a boat. I got up early Easter morning and headed to a pond on Maryland's eastern shore. It was drizzle and light rain, no sun. I was standing on the shore throwing a Rat-L-Trap into a large flat and crushing them. I saw the GW in his truck and I didn't think twice about it. He asked for my license and I didn't have it on me. An hour drive home and a ticket.

I fished a Rooster Tail when I was a kid and caught everything from bass to trout to bluegill and crappie. If I needed to catch fish for food and I could only have one lure it would be a Warden's Rooster Tail, brown with a gold blade.

This is tough. They'd be different if I was hungry and needed to catch fish to eat. No particular order. 4" Pumpkin seed powerworm Hank Parker Classic Spinnerbait with the gold Indiana blades. Strike King KVD Jerkbait Chrome and Blue Rat-L-Trap white sluggo Senko Tube Jig Black and blue jig Firetiger Bomber or similar Buzz Bait

I completely agree. That's one of the reasons I don't fish tournaments anymore. Tournaments force me to fish for numbers. I'm perfectly content not catching fish if I'm looking for a wall-hanger. So I'm usually fishing bigger baits than I would if I were fishing a tournament. And if by chance, I bump into a feeding school, they're usually big fish.

Years ago I was fishing a tournament on Lake Anna in Va during the spawn. I could see fish on beds and see fish cruising bluegill beds. I couldn't buy a bite to save my life. I could get them to follow a natural colored Gitzit but they lost interest pretty quickly. The tube was falling too quickly and it laid flat on the bottom. I was using fairly light line on a spinning rod, maybe 8-6 lb? The water was gin clear, like the lakes I used to fish in Ca. I broke up a Styrofoam coffee cup and stuck pieces of it inside my tube jig. That made it fall much slower and stand straight up on the bottom. That made all the difference in the world and I started getting bit. The problem was the the chemicals in the soft plastic dissolved the foam so I had to "reload" the tubes now and then. Now I keep tube jig floats in the boat. I use "Foam Backer Rod" and cut 1" to 3/4" pieces and keep a bunch on hand. The soft plastic of the bait doesn't affect the foam. It also allows me to use a heavier head so I can cast further. I've also rigged them weightless and hooked them like a senko with a sliding egg sinker. With light line and a big tube with a big float in it you can cast it out and pump the rod and it will just go up and down in the same spot. Don't even reel it. Pretty cool on a bed. I've also rigged them with just enough weight to suspend it and work it like a fluke or jerk bait. Killer for smallies. My PB Northern came off one of these rigged on the egg sinker fishing a brush pile in 15ft.

We don't see too many bass over 6 pounds around these parts so if I thought there were 10 lb bsss swimming close to me, I'd toss my pride out the window and put on a shiner. The shiners are pretty easy to catch with a throw net. Buy a can of bread crumbs and lure them in. You'll see the shiners break on the crumbs. Then throw the net. Toss one out under a bobber and wait. I still think you can get one on a buzz bait or big spook though.

Match the hatch, right? Shad? Crappie? Sounds like they're well fed so I'd concentrate on reaction baits. Something to get their attention. I might also think about BIG baits. Being that the place has stained water, I'd think about noisy baits and baits with good vibration. Maybe BIG baits also. Jigs with rattles. I'd probably throw shad colored lipless cranks like Rat-L-Traps and Red Eye Shads. Also big spinnerbaits. Even though it's muddy, they'll can still run down a bait if they can hear it and feel it's vibration. I tend to throw large (easy to find) baits in heavily stained water, but that's just me. I'd also consider jerk baits with rattles. For whatever reason, people tend to ignore top water baits sometimes. You've seen bass feeding on the surface, throw a buzz-bait or a spinner bait up top, breaking the surface or a big spook. I'm not sure what you've tried but I get in a rut where I start throwing soft plastics on the bottom even though the fish have given me enough clues to do something else.

I used to pour my own worms and crawdads. If you go this rout, keep your colors separated. If you mix colors and re-melt worms together, you sort of get varying degrees of opaque baby poop brown. I never got the original color back, it gets muddy. The plastic looses it's flexibility too. The second run isn't as soft as the first. I was playing with making soft crank baits so the harder plastic worked out fine but not so well for the worms.

Great stuff. Every one of 'em.

I don't get much done around the house during fishing and baseball season. So I go into overdrive in the off season. I just moved a laundry room from the basement to the second floor and finished remodeling two bathrooms. I'm about 90% done gutting the master bath and bedroom. I hope to get it done by the end of march. I generally work on the house in the winter.

1980. I fished a Western Bass tournament (which I think morphed into Redman Pro-Am) on Lake Comanche in Ca and caught a 9.lb 4oz. I was 19yo. If there ever was a picture it's probably long gone. It wasn't the big fish and I didn't finish in the money. Caught it on a blue Big-O. Since then, I've had a few around 5lb. 5 seems to be the magic number around here.

I'm glad you like your BG, I liked it too. I liked the Nasci better, it fit my needs, the Diawa didn't. I thought the BG 4000 was a closer comparison to the Shimano to get the same drag capability on the Diawa, I would have to buy the Diawa BG 5000. It's huge and 22 ounces vs Shimano's 10.4 ounces. As far as the metal body, I've been fishing 45 years and never worn out the body of a spinning reel or broken one so that wasn't important to me. This won't be my first plastic body reel. I haven't heard of anybody wearing out the body or breaking a Nasci. The Diawa reel had zero information about it on Diawa's website. So I can't comment on "direct drive". Not sure what that means in a spinning reel. Obviously, it's got gears, Diawa says theirs is machined so I'm not sure how direct drive and gears can be the same thing. Again, if I were buying a trout reel or something for panfish where drag wasn't important, I might have bought a BG but I'm fishing heavy baits (2+ oz jig heads, heavy spoons) for heavy fish and I would have had to buy the bigger BG.

I just spent a couple hours looking at reels at Bass Pro. I was looking for a spinning reel, light, smooth and good drag. I do a good bit of light tackle striper fishing and catch LMB in the same waters, on the same baits so I wanted something that worked for both. I also wanted something I could work a pike with without it beating the reel up so I was looking for something a little larger than what I normally use. At the end, it came down the the Diawa BG and the Shimano Nasci. Both reels are supposedly designed for salt water. I do a lot of tidal fishing. I'll also catch 30+ inch stripers on a fairly regular basis with it. My budget was in the $100 range. It will go on a St. Croix Mojo Bass MH. I wound up buying the Shimano Nasci 5000. I have a Shimano 4000 Sahara and the 5000 Nasci is the same size, just lighter. I intended to get something in the 4000 size range. The Nasci is 10.4 oz in the 4000 size and 10.4 oz in the 5000 size. The BG is noticeably heavier at about three ounces heavier. I was really surprised at the weight difference. Particularly once I put the reels on the rod. I would have had to buy the Diawa BG 3000 to compare with the weight but the 3000 only has a 15lb drag vs. the 24 lb drag on the Shimano Nasci. Big difference. The drag washers on the Nasci are noticeably larger than the ones on the BG. There were two things I liked better about the BG. One was that I thought the BG was just a tad smoother (maybe) and the bail flipped a little easier after the cast. If I didn't know about the differences in the drag or the weight of the reel, I probably would have bought the BG. I thought 15 lb drag was way too light for the size and weight of the reel.

Typically Shimano spinning reels. I do a lot of smallmouth fishing so I don't have nearly as many baitcast reels and they tend to be whatever feels right on a rod. As far as rods, I don't have two alike I buy what feels good. I'm not the tackle snob as I used to be.

Aside from the obvious points, there's a couple flats in about 6ft of water I'd be looking at as soon as the water starts to warm. Particularly, whichever area has sun in it first in the AM. The biggest one is the far upper left bay. It's near deep water. I'd be hitting that transition between the flat and the deep water in the spring pre-spawn. There's a similar area under and just to left the word "North". And another flat at the lower bend of the lake near deep water. I suspect they will get grass first and be the warmest areas as soon as the sun starts warming the lake. The points the rest of the year.

If you look at the stern, there really is no "V" to the hull, it's almost completely flat. It's actually too flat. Only the bow has any V to it which is nice in rough water like I see sometimes in the bay and lakes. And you're right, it is a deep hull. It's not so much about how deep the hull is, it's about how deep it's draft is and it floats pretty high. When the stars align, I'll replace the hull with a modified V/John like I mentioned above. One of these days, I'll bump into one with a 40hp rating. I'd rather buy used, new would be around 4k and I don't want to pay that. Some jet-boats use a "tunnel" hull. I understand the concept but I don't really see the advantage. It's my feeling that a tunnel has more drag because it looks to me like there's more hull in the water while on plane and the sides act like keels. Ideally, you don't want much keel/strakes as they make jets harder to steer. It wants to track the direction of the strakes. But, nearly all aluminum boats have strakes of some sort. You want the ability to slide sideways a bit to get the full benefit of steering with a jet. Prop boats steer with the rudder under the prop, jets steer with thrust. Mine will run wide open in less than 6" of water. A proper 6 deg. deadrise hull will run in less than that. An inboard like the one in the video will run in just a couple inches but you better not stop. From everything I've read, ideally, you want about a 6-7 degree deadrise ("V") for a jet. You want any air bubbles pushed out to the sides of the boat before it gets sucked up into the pump. You don't have to worry so much about that with a prop because it's submerged below the bubbles.

It's a mid 80's Sylvan with an '89 Suzuki 55hp 2 stroke. Heavier than I'd like but it works. As far as the hull goes, it's riveted. I've clipped some rivets off on rocks and replaced them with stainless screws and fiber washers. There's also a gash under the gunnel that is packed with "Kitty Hair" (short fiberglass strands in an autobody filler). I have to replace it now and then. I was real close to scrapping the hull when aluminum prices were high and replacing it with a 16ft Tracker/Grizzly. One of these days I'll bump into a cheap used hull more suited for a jet. Although... this has been a good boat, it's great on the Susky flats and pulled more than one prop job out of the shallows.

Harry and Charlie. Rick Clunn if they weren't available.

Are you fishing anywhere near some deeper water? I catch a lot of small smallies in the Upper Potomac and Shenandoah. Almost (maybe all) of my bigger fish came in or near deep water. When I say deep, I'm talking about 6ft if I can find it. They may not be in it but they'll be near it. Fish the fast water near deep spots.

I run a 17ft aluminum with a 40hp jet outboard. It's nothing compared to the one in the video but it can get to most of those places, I just have to be a little more careful. I run it in deep water, lakes etc too. It's fine but has it's limitations. For instance, rough water. The intake will suck air if running too fast in rough water. It needs to stay in contact with water. Only about an inch is submerged. You loose around 20% hp using a jet pump. My motor is rated 55hp (Suzuki dt55 ) but only 40hp with the jet. The boat is rated for 40hp. 40 is plenty to move a 17ft aluminum. They're also a pain to drive at low speeds, they don't steer like a prop driven boat. The sweet-spot between under-steer and over-steer is sometimes hard to find. I don't enjoy putting it on the trailer. I found the boat on ebay for $3001 about 12 years ago. It's hit many rocks and looks like it. That's what it's for. I had to go to Conn (from Maryland) to get it.

I still throw a firetiger 3A Bomber in tidal water and still catch fish on it. I still like the action, casting ability of a "Sluggo" over just about any other soft jerk bait and I've consistently caught bigger fish on them. I still think the Hank Parker Classic spinnerbait with the gold Indiana blade is the best spinnerbait I've ever used and I don't have any now. The two best days I ever had with a crankbait was with a Poes (Silver/ blue back) coffin bill. Best tournament I ever had was with a Chrome and Blue rattle trap. I still like throwing a rattle trap to find active fish. I've probably caught more fish on 4 and 7" pumpkinseed power worms than any other worm.

They don't serve the same purpose. What kind of reel did you buy? The tension knob acts like a drag which applies even drag on the spool during the entire cast. You would normally set less drag for light baits and heavier drag for heavy baits. The drag on the spool helps prevent backlash during the cast. The (usually numbered) brake knob is set to kick in when your bait begins to loose velocity towards the end of the cast when your spool is spinning faster than the velocity of the bait allows the line to feed out. It applies breaks to the spool to match the velocity of your bait to help prevent backlash towards the end of your cast..

You know, Something I've noticed about bluegill on bass beds is that the bass chase them away from the nest but don't necessarily eat them. I've done much better with creature baits, tubes, lizards etc on beds. I also like real light line, long soft "non-spooking" casts and a lot of patience while fishing beds. I do have a favorite set-up for bed fishing. Buy a roll of 1/4" or smaller Foam Backer Rod. Home Depot will have it. It's cheap. Cut little pieces off about 3/4" long. Rig tubes either on a very light jig head or texas rigged with the hook point exposed. I'll peg the sinker up a few inches but not a lot. No more than about 6". Stuff that 3/4" piece of foam rod inside the tube. That will make it float. If it's on a light jig head it will fall slowly. I like a fairy big tube. The tube will stand straight up. Work it like a shaky head in the nest. If it's texas rigged with the weight pegged up about 6" and the hook exposed, the tube will hover just over the nest. Just move it enough to make it interesting. Sometimes just "do nothing". Be patient. I've caught more fish on beds with that rig than all others combined. Again, I use light line like 6lb florocarbon and a spinning rod. The hook point has to be out. I like a light wire hook like a Gamakatsu and a tiny worm weight, bigger if I have to fight wind. The bass isn't eating it, they're only getting it out of the nest so sometimes you only have a quick second to set the hook. that's why I want the point exposed. You might not even feel the hit but you'll see the white of the inside of the fish's mouth when he picks it up or see your line move. I've done it with floating worms and lizards too but the fish always seem to bite the wrong end of the worm, even when I hooked it in the middle so I pretty much stick with something smaller like a tube where I have a better chance of the hook being inside their mouth. I didn't invent it, I wish I did. I over heard a story about guys putting alka seltzers in tubes and it was banned in tournaments. This was the legal alternative. I started doing it in Ca in the clear water lakes and it works just as well out here in the east.

I grew up on the west coast going to the Camel GT road races, watching Winston Cup on TV and fishing the Redman tournaments. Nothing has really changed except BASS has more competition now. Everybody has more competition now. There's more advertisers, more tackle companies all trying to get top billing. BASS is a business, just like any other. If it weren't, it would have gone the way of the dodo a long time ago. I don't drink, I no longer smoke or dip and those were my choices. I hope I raised my kids to make the right choices. Sure, there's jerks, just like any other sport or group. There's jerks at church too. That's life. I'm ok with it. Now, if if we could get pro football players to quit dancing every time the camera is on them and get Major League Baseball to either let Pete Rose in the hall of fame or stop advertising Fantasy Baseball Gambling sites throughout the whole game we might be on to something. I think what BASS has done for the sport, particularly their roll in making catch and release as normal as breathing is a pretty significant accomplishment. Business is business. We just need to teach our kids to make sound decisions. Whether they do or not is up to them.