papajoe222

As has been mentioned, this technique requires a certain mind set. What hasn't been is that it, similar to drop-shotting, is one you use in high percentage areas. For me, that means one of the few spots on a lake that I have caught larger than average fish as the only time I've used it is when targeting the big girls. If you can find those areas on your lake, or one you plan to try, forget about numbers and plan on getting only one to three bites in an outing. If you can commit to being content with that, the results (big ones) could very well hook you on to the stitching train. Almost every Bass I've caught over 6lbs. has been caught using my variation of this technique.

I have two rods that I use for topwater. One is a short, St.Croix with a pistol grip, I think it's the only pistol grip offering they have now. The other is an old Bill Dance signature 6'6" MH paired with an even older Daiwa ProCaster that I use for full sized Spooks, Lucky 13s, Pencil Poppers and the like. I have a Fuego for the new combo to replace that old, heavy one and I'm looking for recommendations for something to pair it to. Sensitivity isn't an issue, but weight is. looking to spend $150ish max. This is the first one I considered, but my older St.Croix are heavier than what their rated and I'm thinking maybe the Med/Fast would be better but the only one they offer is https://www.scheels.com/p/78064701292/?queryID=c7544be32cae1e78b25b2d897e367695

It was my secret lure for fall tournaments until I stopped fishing them in ‘98. Kept it secret even after I did.

It’s basically a straight retrieve through the upper water column. I add a few rod twitches or a quick turn of the reel handle. Experiment with retrieve speed.

I may have mentioned this a time or two over the years; I began throwing white, skirted jigs with a white grub trailer over 20 years ago. After it dawned on me that the fish were hitting it within seconds after it hit the water, I began yo-yoing it around 4-8ft. below the surface. That increased my strike ratio, but it wasn't until I began a fairly straight retrieve that the light in my pea brain came on. I was basically swimming a white jig with a trailer. It has been a staple presentation for me once the water temperature drops to around 70 until it dips below 45 or so. It worked so consistently that when the water temp. rises above 45 in the spring, I started using it then, too. I don't know when the term 'swim jig' started being used, but how many of you throw a white one in the fall? If you don't, why not?

I ran into hookup struggles when using a fast action rod and braid for spinnerbaits. When I would hookup, the fish were almost always hooked in the lip, not behind it or farther back in its mouth. I went back to using my old spinnerbait rod which has a Mod action (MH Power) and continued using braid and my hookups increased to what I consider normal. If you want to keep using the same rod, I'd recommend mono. Big Game under 20lb. test and a hookset that takes it from 9:00 to 11:00 with a turn of the reel handle will get you what you need.

I own a ton of spinnerbaits, but rarely throw one anymore, mainly because I can add a paddle tail swimbait to an underspin if I want flash. Those soft plastic swimbaits have all but replaced spinnerbaits, except in the fall when I'll throw a short arm over a weed bed and let it helicopter down the edge. Otherwise, I can count on both hands how many times I pick one up during the season.

What makes a spinnerbait worth $35? It's a combination of two things. First someone needs to put that price tag on one and second, someone needs to be willing to part with enough cash to purchase three, quality spinnerbaits because he either has way too much money to spend on fishing gear, or he is of the mindset that there is a magical spinnerbait out there that will always catch fish, you just need to pay that kind of price to get one. I prefer Stanley and Terminator SBs, but to each their own. Just don't ask me to give up my Stanleys.

How much is that muskie bait and where can I get one? I fish alone the majority of the times I get out, especially when I'm targeting a new lake or one I haven't been to in a couple of years. I fish to catch and to figure out where they are, what their mood is and what it takes to catch them on any given day. When I'm out with someone else, my focus changes to making sure that someone has a good time an hopefully catches a few fish. Most of the time that someone is a youngster, or a veteran that either has never been fishing, or is a novice.

I'm partial to Stanley VibraShaft and SK's Scorcher. I only run a trailer in the spring and then it's a Kalin's Lunker Grub. If I'm burning it, I run it just under the surface. If not, it's normally a yo-yo type retrieve sometimes popping the rod tip, other times with a quick turn of the reel handle followed by a short pause. The only time I employ a straight retrieve is when I'm slow rolling and even then, I'll occasionally give it a quick burst. I don't mess with skirt colors, but I do experiment with blade sizes and colors.

I just finished reading Pete M. Anderson's article about fall fishing being the favorite for many anglers with spring maybe slightly more popular and it got me to thinking. I know spring is my favorite season to go fishing for the big girls, but summer is my favorite for catching. Although I dislike dealing with pleasure boaters, jet skiers, bugs and the heat, I have my best days during the summer, especially when there's been stable weather conditions for more than three days. IMO, it's much easier to locate numbers of fish and develop a pattern that can last as long as the weather remains stable. Catches of 20-30 fish can be repeated in the days that follow with little, if any, tweaking of the previous days pattern. While those numbers pertain more to smallmouth, which tend to gather loosely in bigger groups than largemouth and are more aggressive, IMO, largemouth seem easier to pattern. So what's your favorite season for catching and why?

The Trokar tournament tube hook is pretty beefy. I, Personally use Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp tube hooks when punching tubes. I like the gap on either hook, but the Trokars are too pricey for my budget.

If you're concerned about too much stretch using a 5ft. leader of Invsix your concern is misplaced. If you're using straight fluoro and line stretch is a valid concern, Sniper would be an option.

A Daiwa Fuego 6.3:1 paired with a StCroix Mojo MH/M crank rod will get you where you want to be.

I hear you. I'm 74 and when I got on the water Monday it was 74. Three hours later it was 89 and not a cloud to be seen. Then the breeze died and so did my energy. If I'd been on my home lake, I could have found refuge in the shade of some shoreline trees. It was my shortest outing of the season, but I have a feeling it was a preview of things to come.

The one big advantage a jointed swimbait has over a soft plastic one is that when paused, not only will it sink much slower (if at all), but some will actually turn their head as if to look behind when paused and given slack. I only own two multi jointed baits and I can tell you to hang on when you pause one, because the hits that come on that pause will test your composure. As to when to use one, I don't have any specific situation except when the fish are keyed on a horizontal presentation vs. a vertical one.

I don't recall seeing this mentioned. Try cutting a slit in the belly of the bait from just behind where the hook goes in there to just in front of the belly weight. That will allow the bait to collapse more and less plastic for the hook to penetrate, exposing more of the hook. I do this with all my hollow body swimbaits and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't help here.

That happens to me more and more lately. I know I have something somewhere because I'd never discard it, but I'll be danged if I can find it when I'm looking for it .

No winter fishing for me as I hate ice fishing. For spring, hair jigs and jerkbaits with a blade bait or a crank added when they start moving shallow. Summer, Jigs, worms and cranks get the most use, with topwater making an appearance when I want a little more excitement. In the fall, hardbaits get the majority of use. Spinnerbaits, cranks and topwaters with a worm for a vertical offering.

YES! Especially a walking bait. Unlike you, I will choose a topwater when I encounter active fish any time of day. Just last month, the largemouth were crushing a jerkbait over the tops of weedbeds. I picked up a Super Spook Jr and had a blast catching 2-3lb. fish. The bite died, but for an hour or so, it was what I dream of. My PB largemouth came on a Spook at 1:00PM on a sunny afternoon. Although largemouth tend to ignore topwater void of cover on sunny days, smallmouth will travel a good distance to hit one most anytime of day in clear water. I've had them rise up for a spook from 20ft. of water and more.

One of my favorite, late summer/early fall baits is a short arm, single blade spinnerbait. As there are few offered from lure companies, I make my own from standard 1/2oz. baits. It's a simple enough modification that most anyone can do. Before the weeds up here start dying off, I can run one of these over the top of the weedbed and then let it helicopter down its edge. Lately, I've been partial to an Indiana blade as I prefer to run it at a good clip over the tops and a Colorado blade tends to run on its side when doing that. Occasionally, it will get slammed when running over the tops, but most hits occur as the bait helicopters down the edge. If you don't have any Indiana blades, just downsize to a 3/8oz. bait. For those of you that fish bluffs, this is a killer presentation when allowed to drop down. Cast parallel to the bluff as it will pendulum toward you from the resistance of that big blade. If you're looking to throw something different this fall, give a short arm a shot.

Honestly, less than $100. Not that I didn't want to as the bait monkey has me on speed dial and likely ran up a hefty bill with calls to me. I've been seriously chasing Ms. Largemouth since the early 70's and collecting gear along the way. Other than line and a few bags of soft plastics, there was noting I needed and I made a New Year's resolution not to buy gear just because I want it. That being said, please remember that I am a fisherman and we have been known to stretch the truth on occasion and who actually keeps New Year's resolutions?

I normally have one of each. The worm rod is the same no matter the depth I plan to fish; Quantum Tournament Grade MH and what I consider a Mod/Fast. My jig rods vary. For pitching, I like my 7ft. 3in.Browning Boron/Graphite, MH it has a fairly fast action with just enough flex in the tip section for pitching. If I'll be casting, be it a football, or Arkie jig, it's either a 7ft. St.Croix Premier H/Fast (Fluoro), or a 7ft. Mojo H/Fast for braid. These are older, moderately priced rods with plenty of sensitivity for this retired basser.

Back in the early 70's, there were articles in 'Fishing Facts' about making and using creature baits (there weren't any mass produced ones available then). I figured, why not and attached two worms together at a 90 degree angle. The resulting 'creature' caught a ton of fish, but twisted my line badly, to the point that I stopped making and using them. I've done some other lure modifications since, but the only one I still do is tune crankbaits to run to the right or left, for dock fishing.

I, too, am a hard bait lover. Cranks, spinnerbaits and topwater get the most attention, but over the past few seasons, I have been known to pick up a spinning rod when my mainstays weren't producing. I've been a serious bass angler for the better part of 60 years and the only soft plastics I ever used were worms,tubes and jig trailers. I will still downsize before picking up that spinning rod, but it has gotten results almost every time I have.