papajoe222

Check the spacer under your cast control knob. If it's dimpled, turn it over. It sounds like you either lost it, or it's really worn down.

I prefer with a skirt, for both fishing the bottom and just under the canopy. Getting that skirt to pulsate, IMO, not only moves water, but gets their attention visually.

There is no easy answer for someone just starting out. A few suggestions though. Fish a jig, or worm until you are familiar with how it feels. When you feel a tap, keep light tension on the bait and hesitate. If the line tightens, goes slack, or your jig feels heavier or lighter SET THE HOOK. Two things I always suggest to someone starting out; go a little heavy with your jig or bullet weight. It will help you maintain bottom contact and SLOW DOWN. You'll soon learn to distinguish a bite from a rock. As stated before, rocks don't move.

Try moving your topic to the reflector ice forum. I'm sure one of the members that frequents it can give you the answer.

A small piece of electrical tape does the job. There's really no need to tie the line to the spool as I've never had a bass 'spool' me and I've never heard or read of it happening. They just don't make long runs that you need to concern yourself with running out of line.

Why did I never think to carry one in my boat? Oh yea, I don't own a Whopper Plopper. Silly me.

50+ years fishing jigs for bass, I think I can challenge Catt for that 'longer than anyone else on the forum. Then again, I know I can't challenge his productivity over the years. ?

They do make a great trailer for a jig when you wan a small profile. Trim the skirt at the hook bend and thread one on. Great topwater, especially if you're limited to how much gear you can take with you. Many ways to rig it.

Easy answer; Whenever you want or need to get the bait down on the bottom, use a heavy enough weight to be able to feel when it's moving on the bottom. For swimming a worm, use one heavy enough to keep it in the zone you're targeting throughout your retrieve. For fishing the tops of weeds, or when you want an enticingly slow fall, go weightless. Remember that the more salt in the plastic the more it will sink, so go with thinner worms to stay on top of the weeds

The Megabass do have a nice thin hook point, but the rest of it is like 3X thick and I doubt if they'd straighten very easily. I just may give them a shot on my jerkbaits as I have a terrible hook up percentage with them in the early spring.

my mistake. I thought you were hooking them in the roof of their mouth and the hook point was coming out on top their head. Sounds like they're slapping at it rather than biting it. Smallmouth?

Were you hooking them in the mouth area before? Sounds like they're taking it deeper. You can do a couple of things. You didn't mention what type of line you use, but something with less stretch (heavier lb. test). Is one thing. Another would be speeding up your retrieve slightly. Going a little heavier on the jig will allow you to run it faster, but still run it at the same depth you have been.

What Catt said and I'll add that I'll start with a slow fall in colder water and fast fall in warmer water. I also take into consideration the overall size, or bulk of the jig 'package' I prefer a compact jig that falls quickly under cold front conditions or in clear water and a bigger profile in overcast and off color conditions as a starting point.

I use a #1 Gammy circle hook on a wacky rig with an 'O' ring. I use that hook for all my instructional outings whether with children, or adults, wacky rig, drop shot, or split shot Unhooking a gut hooked fish can be traumatic to a child to the point that they focus more on that than the enjoyment of catching.

Mine is about a dear friend who, sadly, is no longer with us. We had gone fishing together on numerous occasions, but always from shore. I was the first to purchase a boat and couldn't wait for the opportunity to take him with. As it turned out, we planned a trip to his grandfather's cottage on a branch of the Fox river. The first time he hooked a fish he began stomping his feet in excitement as he fought it. Here was this 6ft.4in. burly 35yr. old acting like a six year old that had never caught a fish before. I laughed so hard and so long that I couldn't see through the tears in my eyes to land his fish. He never let me forget it. Not laughing at him, but loosing that fish.

I've been using 6lb. on my shallow cranking outfit and liked it so much I went with it in 10lb. on my regular cranking outfit. Haven't really noticed stretch being a factor, but then my prior cranking line was mono.

Thanks Wayne. I'm suspecting the prop as it's gotten beat up this season more than normal. I have the correct transducer including the protector. I had eliminated prop turbulence for the reason you mentioned. I think I'll remove the prop and run the motor at 75% to see if it may be a harmonics or possibly the shaft.

If you have the equipment, a hollow body frog with a couple of rattles inserted inside could get you what you're looking for. If not, a Colorado spinnerbait or boot tail swim bait will give off plenty of vibration. If you an add a rattle, even better.

I'm looking for some decent, light wire trebles to put on my grandson's crankbaits. He'll be fishing from shore and I want him to be able to straighten out the hooks should he get hung up. He's already lost a few and I don't want him to get 'gun shy' about fishing cover for fear of loosing baits. Many of the cranks on the market come with 2X or heavier hooks. This not only makes getting a good, long distance hook-set difficult, but even using braid, those hooks are difficult to straighten.

It isn't you. The biggest downside to bank fishing is the limited access to spots that are productive year round. The fewer places that offer you access, the more your chances of getting skunked increases. It sounds to me, like there is no reason for the fish to be where you are fishing. Deeper water near by? Signs of forage using the area? The presence of isolated cover? In the absence of these, there is no reason for bass to frequent the area or even use it as home base. Just because a spot produced in the past, isn't a reason to probe the area over and over with no results. We call this fishing 'history' For whatever reason (spawning, forage moving into the area, etc.), at one point the area was productive. Seasons and conditions change. To be successful on a fairly regular basis, you need to both, be able to recognize when change occurs and change along with it. Often, that means changing tactics. Sometimes, it means changing locations.

I have one of the smaller Humminbird down imaging units transducer mounted on my trolling motor. Lately I will loose the signal when turning up the motor's speed. It never did this before. I thought it might be turbulence from the prop causing it, but the transducer is mounted forward of the prop. Could it still be from turbulence? If so, is there anything adjustment wise I can do to the unit? I checked the owners manual and the problem isn't addressed in it.

Any type of line can be used for any application, different lines perform better with certain applications.Although braid is recommended by pros for certain top water lures (frogs, buzzers, etc.), mono performs better with treble hook hard baits. Braid really shines when strength and sensitivity are wanted (Jigs, worms, C-rigs, etc.) Along with its floating characteristic, mono stretches which makes it easier for a fish to get your presentation in it's mouth and doubles as a shock absorber during the fight. It's a good choice for most treble hook lures. Fluoro is denser than mono and because of that is more sensitive than mono, is less visible and it sinks. It's a great choice for presentations where sensitivity and stealth are needed. Clear water and soft plastic presentations are when it really shines. Unlike mono's stretch characteristic, think of a rubberband, fluoro will stretch initially, but does not recover to its original state. Co-polymer lines are designed to give you the best characteristics of one type of line while reducing their shortcomings. Hope that helps clear it up a bit for you. If you know how, you can move this topic to the rods, reels, line and knots forum. If not, the mods will eventually do it. You'll get more views and responses when posting in the applicable forum.

It sounds like a perfect scenario for a punch rig. Another option might be a bubba shot, depending on how thick the vegetation is. If the weeds don't reach the surface, a wake bait can be retrieved at any speed and a light weight shakey head with a saltless worm will rest atop thick weeds.

I really don't know the answer to why it's there, but I do know what happens if you move the line tie to that position and plug the original hole. You'll end up with a bait that will glide more from side to side rather than the typical walk you get with it on the underside of the nose. It's a great modification for fishing a glassy surface or whenever you don't want to make a lot of disturbance. It's a bit more difficult to walk that way and that may be the major reason the line tie was moved on the original. It's a possibility that they never re-tooled the molds.

There are only two baits that I use different hooks or split rings on as a modification. Both poppers and walking topwater baits. Adding a 3X strong to the rear when I want the nose up, or on a popper changing out the front hook to one to get it to spit more. The other is on suspending jerk baits. I'll add an additional split ring or two to get the bait to suspend the way I want it to, or to get the nose down when suspending.