papajoe222

Cotton Cordell Crazy Shad, WoodChopper, Smithwick Devil's Horse

WTG Steve. Awesome baits/fish/sportsman. Always good to hear from you.

Smithwick Rouge. They offer both suspending and floating models in different sizes. Their Perfect 10 has gotten a lot of positive feedback.

I'm always happy to see bass showing interest in what I'm offering because I know I can get their attention. I've solved the oh so important piece of the puzzle; location. Fishing is like figuring out a puzzle, you accomplish the task by following clues. Those fish are giving you a big clue, they're showing interest in what you're offering, but they're also telling you something isn't right. That puzzle piece looks like it should fit, but something is off. Did you try slowing down your retrieve, or speeding it up? I'm not talking about once you've seen the fish, I mean the entire cast. Mix it up on the same cast. If that doesn't work, try something else like changing colors, size, a similar lure with/without rattles, or as someone mentioned the line. Rarely is a major change (switching the type of lure) needed to turn followers into biters.

I slow down if I'm not catching them with a fast moving bait. Seriously, if I have confidence that the structure I'm fishing should hold staging bass, I attempt to find out if they are aggressive by using a fast moving bait. If not, why wouldn't I try something that would tempt fish in a neutral, or negative mood?

My go to is a jig. Hands down, it likely accounts for 50% of my catches for a season. My favorite is a ZaraSpook, but a hollow body frog is moving up the list and giving it a good run.

I recently stopped fishing club tournaments, but when I did I would estimate around 75%. The one or two invitational tourneys I would fish that percentage would drop to about 50% and similar to others, those winnings barely covered expenses if that. The one positive thing those other tourneys did for me, as far as becoming a more versatile angler, was teach me how to better prep for an outing.

The majority of reels I own are Daiwas. They are easy and simple to maintain as the majority of them are assembled similar. The feel in my hand is close from one model to another and some of the parts are also interchangeable between models.

You mean the Jimmy Houston Knot? LOL

Out of the box, I rarely find a bait anymore that needs tuning and when I do, it's likely a wooden bait. I do, however, intentionally tune cranks to run to the right or left. It's a great way to get a crank to run under a dock and then deflect off of one or more supports. If I know I'll be fishing a lot of docks with cranks, I'll rig two rods with opposite running baits. It also works great for standing timber. I keep a 'tuner' hanging around my neck whenever I fish crankshttp://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Tuning-Tool-Key/product/52284/.

Welcome to BR Bass (and all fish species) feed year round. The question I think you wanted to ask is: Will female bass be actively feeding with water temps. in the mid 40's? There are a lot of variables to consider and the biggest would be recent weather conditions. IF daytime temps. have been consistently warm AND the sun has been shining over the previous three or four days, the bass should begin moving from their winter homes. Catching will likely be better later in the day when the sun has had a chance to do it's thing, but don't expect to find numbers of fish up shallow and close to shore. A flat sided, bluegill colored crank or swimbait may pick up some fish, but if you're fishing Webster or any of the lakes near it, a perch pattern may be a better option as they will make a move to the shallows before the bluegill do.

Mine are not prescription, but I did add 150X bi-focals (the stick on ones) so I can tie knots with 6lb. mono.

Try the 580 in green (not green mirror). Like WIGuide, I wear mine from sun up until sundown and sometimes longer. I'm an old fart and sometimes forget I have them on.

About the only thing you can do to avoid it is to shorten the length of your pause. The downside is, doing that can turn them off the bite. I know guys that will smash down the barbs on the tail treble to minimize severe damage to the gills when this does happen.

Hair jigs, tubes, suspending jerk baits, Spooks and spinnerbaits. Smaller in rivers and in spring.

Mustad Ultra Point Big Mouth light wire tube hook

He also mentions another hook, the HP hook. It's also a wide gap hook without the bend behind the line tie. It has a small clip that keeps the tube from sliding down its shaft. The down side to that hook is that it doesn't work well with solid nose tubes. Nore than likely, however, you're using too small of a hook, or your gear isn't beefy enough to drive what is similar to a worm hook home. The hooks gap should be twice the diameter of the tubes when it is collapsed.

I've been told that straight fluoro is more sensitive than braid on slack line. Take it for what it's worth,

Welcome to the forums. When you get the chance, stop by the introductions forum and tell us a little about yourself. He likely had a big bow in his line also. Chances are he's very good at line watching while you were likely waiting to feel the bite. Bow in your line, or not, you need to watch where the line enters the water, especially on slack line presentations. That may have been the other difference, he may have been letting the tube free fall and you were letting it fall on a semi-tight line. Don't be afraid to ask questions of your partner, especially if he is more experienced.

I've been looking to add another Daiwa Exceller EXE baitcaster to my collection, but have been hesitating. A workhorse in my collection is an older TD Pro that I'm guessing is 8-10yrs. old. It's didn't see use last year, but I hung onto it rather than use it as a trade in at the BPS Classic. I'm glad I did. The wife was at a resale shop and called me to let me know they had some fishing gear and she thought one of the reels looked familiar. I checked it out and although it was an Arid 100H (I don't own one), I figured for $5 it was worth it just for parts. The star drag w/clicker and the swept handle with the bearings in the grips fit that old workhorse perfectly and actually reduced the weight. I cleaned her up and switched out the bearings and for just over $13 she's back in service paired to her old AllStar partner, which I just gave a face lift to. A new reel would have been nice, but I'm really pumped about using that combo again. Love tinkering with my gear.

Welcome to the site. Just a bit of friendly advice; Many of the members here, like myself, have a slightly twisted sense of humor and a question like yours just begs for some twisted answers. My left hand was my first thought. The tool holder on my boat is made of nylon strapping with loops and is mounted just under the gunnel.

I really like the look of the ramp thread work, but haven't seen any 'how to' videos on it. Can someone post a link, or recommend literature on how it's done?

The near zero stretch of fluoro is a misconception. Both mono and fluoro will 'stretch'. The big difference there is that mono will return to its original configuration.

It looks sick. Not just the stomach, but its entire body, looks malnutritioned. Spawning does take its toll on females, but I've never seen it that drastic.

I know this sounds obvious , but I'd suggest something that either imitates a crawfish and stays on or near the bottom, either solid red or a combo of brown and red. I do have a question for you: What did you catch those fish with? Venturing a guess, I'd say a dark colored bottom contact bait. The same or similar type bait with red in the color scheme may get you an extra fish on your next outing.