papajoe222

You never know what the fish prefer until you try something. That being said, as a general rule, lures that make some noise or surface disturbance in dark or contrasting colors are a good starting point for muddy water conditions. If they work, your bait search is over. If they don't, a more subtle presentation may be just what they're looking for. As a side note, Heddon does market a Spook with rattles.

Depending on your location, it could have been bedding bass or bream that were protecting the nest.

I'm not familiar with that reel, but it doesn't sound like the problem is with the drag. Try backing off all the way on the drag setting and then pulling the line out. If the noise appears the same, I'd guess something is rubbing against the spool shaft. If the noise dissappears, remove and clean the drag washers.

I take it you don't practice lip landing, so I'd suggest getting a net that's rubber coated. The hooks don't catch on the netting. Unhook and release the fish (or put in your live well) and then go back and remove the lure. Often times you can just lift the fish out of the net without the hooks catching the net.

Yo-Zuri Hybrid UltraSoft isn't a true fluorocarbon, but it has many of the same positive characteristics. In addition, it's very manageable and less expensive.

Unless I missed it, changing the size of the bait hasn't been mentioned. As Glenn said, you were doing something right, you just needed to tweak your presentation a little. Add a size change to the equation and if you're still not hooking up, they all must be female bass. We all know how finicky the ladies can get. Sorry smalljaw67, I just read your reply. It is worth rementioning...............isn't it?

A buoyant crank is one that floats up quickly when paused. You won't hang up as often if you pause it when it bumps into something and a lot of times that's when you'll get bit.

For a bank fisherman, I'd suggest a topwater, spinnerbait, bouyant crankbait, stick worm and a jig.

Jerkbaits are long and slender, often called minnow baits (Original Rapala) with short, narrow lips and most cranks are egg shaped and can have bills of different lengths and shapes.

I like the black shad, especially under low light conditions. Depending on the wind and water depth, I'll use anywhere from 1/8oz. to 4/8oz. With a 3/0 EWG. They are also a great choice for C-rigging and if I recall correctly, they are also available in a 10in. version

In reality, the only one that can tell you which reel will fit you best is you. Find a dealer and mount the various models on the rod you plan on pairing it to. You're looking at spending some serious cash, shouldn't your homework include some experimentation?

Most guys will think I more than a little crazy (and they'd be right), but I don't fret over fish that get off. Don't get me wrong, it's disappointing. I like to look on the bright side, the fight. I don't beat myself up over what I could have done. I try to rember what I was doing and where, when the fish hit. If I stay awake at night thinking about it, I'm reliving the excitement. Now, rewind to my tournament days and I can tell you honestly that I've lost plenty of sleep over lost fish. Is the glass half empty, or half full?

Smithwick Rouges are available in both floating and suspending models,different sizes and color options, Rapala Originals and Bomber Long A's are a few.

Here, when the cottonwoods start shedding, the gills are on the beds and the bass are pretty much done.

Removing one of the trebles isn't the answer as it will alter the attitude of the bait during the pause and it likely will rise rather than suspend. An alternative would be to replace the stock hooks with light wire trebles and check how the lure suspends. You can add SuspenDots if the bait rises after the switch. As a side note: A jerkbait is normally worked with very short pauses in warmer water and I don't think one that sinks in warmer water is going to run any deeper when worked quicker, although I normally use floaters once the spawn is over.

For years I Carolina rigged small cranks to get them deep, mostly to offer the fish something different at that depth. The past few seasons, although I have a lot of confidence in deep cranking, I've been physically unable to. I saw Bill Dance using that rig with a lipless crank and figured any bait could work with it.

I'll offer another alternative that works well with spinning gear. A Booyah Boo Rig. It's a smaller version of an umbrella rig with spinner blades rather than jigs on all but the center arm. That arm is flexible and has a clip or snap to which you can attach any number of baits. It's a great way to get any size crank down deep.

Except for connecting two lines together, I'm down to using one of two knots; Palomar and SanDiego Jam. Both are simple knots to tie and offer little loss of line strength.

Dang! I don't know how you guys do it on those big lakes. Talk about information overload. I have a difficult time on the small natural lakes up here. It'd take me half a season to decipher one of those smaller creek arms. Hat's off to those of you that do.

For topwaters, other than buzzers and frogs, you can't go wrong with mono. It floats, has some stretch so you don't tear the trebles out of the fish and maintains a good percentage of its rating if it gets nicked. Unless you'll be using smaller/lighter lures, a M/H mod.fast action rod should handle the task nicely For spinnerbaits and buzzers, go with your line of choice. You will want to go to a heavier lb. test as that single hook takes more force to set than a treble hook. For the same reason, you'll want a rod with a little more tip. A M/H fast action will handle this well Sensitivity is not a major concern with any of these presentations and If funds are tight, your spinnerbait rod can double for topwaters, just be sure the fish has the bait (whichever rod you choose) and go easy on the hookset The mods may move this to the rods, reels, line and knots forum where it will get more looks.

Use the Abu for heavier set-ups and the Ethos for the lighter ones. You may need to swing a little harder to set the hook with the Ethos, or go with braid as someone suggested.

Cabela's Prodigy is on sale for $55, I believe. Aluminum body, 10 bearings, Aluminum spool and Magforce magnetic cast control, 7.9oz. and it's available in both right/left and two gearings.

I've been using circle hooks when I wacky rig weightless stick worms for a few seasons. I started some youngsters out using them and liked the result so much that I started using them myself. Last season I began using them to nose hook those weightless worms and the only problem I had was not letting the fish get the whole bait in its mouth before I started reeling. There is a bit of a learning period that you go through, as when you do detect a pick up you want to set the hook. Unless the vegetation is heavy, I don't encounter too many problems with the open hook.

Dang! It only has 160K? I'd put that one in the lemon catagory.

Tube jig. IMO, it's the easiest to skip and the lighter wire hook makes for easy/long distance hook-sets.