papajoe222

I don't change baits, for the most part. I change locations because the fish do. The only different bait I throw in the fall is a white jig/trailer. I can present it like a spinnerbait, or any number of jig retrieves. It occasionally produces in the spring, but nowhere near the way it does once the water temp. Starts to steadily drop. That is when I consider fall to begin.

Interesting. My assumption is that guide on the bottom is fairly close to the stripper. For heavier baits, I don't see that affecting distance much, but on lighter presentations I would think it would make a difference.

I've built two for myself. Both are for bottom contact baits. A while back I built a spinning and casting rod using the same blank. To me the spinning rod seemed to be more sensitive an I reasoned that was because the line was always in contact with the guides. A spiral wrap gives me that plus the benifits of a baitcaster.

The more information I have about a lake or a spot on the lake, the more specific I can be when it comes to what combo of equipment I want to start with. Even when fishing from shore, if I can obtain a topo map prior to getting to the spot, I have an idea as to the general depth and bottom content. Once I'm there, I'll observe the surrounding shoreline and the water itself for clarity and the presence of vegetation and forage. If I'm driving along and come to a body of water I've never fished before, I'll reach for something that will cover the water column and is fairly weedless. For me, that's a tube bait either T-rigged or with an internal weight. I use a baitcaster, but most use spinning gear.

As far as bottom contact baits go, I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference what the bait resembles. The locations you target and the type and speed of the retrieve, to me, are more important. You can hop, crawl, drag, swim, or dead stick any soft plastic rigged any way you want. If it's moving too fast/slow or they want a horizontal vs. a vertical presentation, they're going to ignore it no matter what it is. I base my decision on which style bait to use by the way I present them. A falling or swimming presentation gets a bait with a lot of action, while for dragging or deadsticking, less action is better IMO. That's why a tube is my favorite soft plastic. I can work it both ways.

Out fishing with the grandson this morning. We were in the shade of a big tree on shore and I'd placed my sunglasses atop my cap. A bee started buzzing him and without thinking I grabbed my cap by the bill and swung at it. Missed the bee and watched my Costas sail away.

Bill Norman FatBoy. My three biggest this summer were caught on it. Straight out of the package, third cast, both sets of hooks in her mouth, the first one was the biggest.

You spend your off season doing projects geared toward next season. You keep spare parts for your outboard, trolling motor, electronics, reels along with extras of your favorite lures in a special compartment of your boat, but never think to check your spare tire's air pressure. You know exactly where to find that bone colored Spook knock off that you've had for five seasons but never used, but for some unknown reason can never remember where you laid your keys down this morning. You check the extended weather forecast two weeks prior to a one day trip with some guy you met last week. One more cast turns into two more hours on the water, getting caught in rush hour traffic, and dealing with an irritated spouse upon your return, but you find yourself repeating this scenario frequently because it's so worth it.

I think, as in hunting, knowing your prey. It's food preferences, mating rituals, seasonal movements, along with its physical strengths and weaknesses. Is its eyesight more important than its hearing or smelling. You get the pic. Learning all you can about the fish is the cornerstone to confidence as that information is applicable to whatever water you may be on.

I live in the flat lands of Illinois and anytime I'm driving outside the state, this is what I do. You ask the busty blond bending over in front of you to move so you can see the crankbait display better.

??? That's one I've never come across. Could it have taken on some water, or chipped the lip?

As long as you are using equipment that can handle fishing a jig, the weed guard shouldn't be a concern. With most novice jig anglers, the large diameter hook is what becomes a concern. With suitable line, rod and hook-set you'll find a jig hard to beat no matter where you fish it. An easy way to get a bait under the dock is to tail weight it. It will fall away from you on slack line. You can add weight to most compact plastic baits, but an internal weighted tube rigged backwards has a ton of action both when backing under a dock and when you pop it off the bottom. A little off topic, but be sure to check your line frequently no matter what technique you may be using. That goes for your hooks, too.

I fish a lake in SW Wisconsin that is no wake from 8:00PM-10:00AM. Picked up a 22in. LM the eve of July 4th. The locals got this one right because everyone gets to enjoy the lake no matter what day it is.

Important: When rigging a worm with a straight shank hook like this, be sure to angle the hook point down, NOT STRAIGHT into the worm. (as in the third pic Mosster47 posted). Reverse the angle when inserting it back into the worm. Some guys like to run the point all the way through the top ad then back it down just past the edge. I like to just break the skin. The way I set the hook, getting the point through the worm and into the fish's mouth Isn't a problem

I have a 24V MotorGuide with70lb. thrust. It's a bear to steer on high speeds as the torque wants it keep it turning and my normal response is to let up pressure on the pedal. I've had the remote 24V and steering was a breeze, but with the model I had the speed or thrust setting remained where it was set with no indicator to show what it was when you turned it back on. One too many times it was on high and the motor was turned when I pressed the remote. The last time it pulled the mount off the bow and bent the mounting bolts . time I almost went over the side.

That is what most use, but you could just use a strip of black electrical tape on the spool if you want to spool up with just braid. You don't need to waste the line you have on. if you have another reel, use it to rake the line off (or spool that reel with the braid) and then put it back on the first reel.

You got your answer. The line is slipping around the spool.

If I'm using a shakey head, I'm dead sticking it a lot so I use a thin floating worm. The slightest bit of current, or just attempting to hold the rod still gets that thing wiggling. Before I went to hand poured, Berkley Havoc worms did a fine job.

Mid-summer, 9:55AM, water temp. 78. air temp 72, Barometer 30.1, two days after a major front moved through. I was slow walking a SuperSpook Jr parallel to a vertical drop (7-15ft.) just off a small hump. I'd worked that same area earlier, but was walking that bait a lot faster. Caught one on the slow tapering side of the hump working it slow and immediately moved over to the steeper side. I can't say for sure, but I'm confident that the change in speed made a difference as that fish was suspended 15yrds. off the drop.

If shade were the only factor to consider, the northeast side of the lake would offer shade longer. That shade would position fish facing out (west). With other contributing factors being unknown, I'd concentrate on the east side, not only because of shade, but the wind is out of the west, or southwest most often.

I'm with WIGuide on this, but a sure way to find out if rod action is the reason you're having difficulty is to attempt to work the frog with the tip up rather than down. If you're still having difficulty walking it, it's very likely the rod, not it's length.

As long as you mentioned it, a fish caught with a reaction bait doesn't necessarily mean the fish are active. When used as a search tool, it is valuable because it gives away fish location. Many guys will immediately put it down once that first fish is caught and go to a presentation that allows them to pick apart an area. Others will probe the area with the reaction bait. The big difference, IMO, is that when the fish aren't active, the angler that sticks with the reaction bait may pick up another fish while the one that switches may clean up. Of course, there's the flip side when the fish are active and the guy with the reaction bait cleans up in short order. I prefer the 'let them tell me what they want' approach and will stick with the reaction bait before switching. Even if it's working, I'll make a few casts with a jig or worm.

I can see where the braid backing making a filled spoil lighter may help, but not if it's going out when being used for backing Possibly you're thinking using braid as the main line with a leader attached.

Summer time? Chart/white Stanley VibraMax double willow.

It's happened to me on a number of occasions, but the best was catching a fish with my wife's favorite crank hanging from its side. She'd hooked a nice smallie and after about the fifth or sixth jump, her line went slack. I couldn't guess as to why because I saw that both sets of trebles had found something to bury into. The front one was completely in its mouth and the rear one had caught on the outside of its mouth. The line had broken a few inches from the lure and I figured we'd never see it, or the fish again. Two hours later about a hundred yards from where she'd hooked it, I tied into the same fish on my favorite topwater. When I got it to the boat, there, stuck in its side was her crank. It must have done something to get that front treble out of its mouth only to have it impale itself a second time. The wife was none to happy to discover that the crank was now mine as finders-keepers applies to found lures too.