papajoe222

Berkley offers a weedless wide gap in both weighted and unweighted versions. It has a light weed guard that works fairly well. I mainly used the weighted versions for a faster fall in deeper water. Not sure how they'd work in current, but they gotta be better than an exposed hook.

Old school here A ribbon tail worm, Culprit or Zoom, on a true Texas rig (sliding bullet weight) and a 5in. tube for punching. Almost all others are used as trailers, or rigged with the hook exposed.

I don't fish chatterbaits, but I do use them on buzzers and spinnerbaits. What I've found is that the skirt (if you don't remove it) needs to be cut short enough to allow the tail enough water to make it work. My #1 paddle tail rigging is with an underbelly weighted hook and #2 is on a Siebert Supreme Arky Jig. I reduce the weed guard to five or six and fan them out. Awesome hook up rate. #3 is an underspin which I mainly use pre-spawn.

If I'm not skipping a tube under the dock, I like to throw a deep diving craw colored crank that I tune to run right or left depending on which side of the dock is shaded. I use 12lb. Big Game and retie often. Between digging hard into the bottom and banging of dock posts, it'll get hammered more often than the tube.

the new American series are made here in the USA at a cost that rivals imports.

Frozen???? In Knoxville??? I think I know why you forgot it there. Trippin' on the roof. Thank the Man upstairs you got down without slipping on the ice. If I'm a hammer, it's a tack hammer. Dinks love me.

I have to give credit to Mike for the idea. His jigs come in plastic bags and I leave them stored that way. When I first rig up a jig, I plan on putting the bag in my shirt pocket. If I change jig color or weight, I'll cut the first on off and hang on the back side of my windshield, tie on the one I choose to try and at the end of the day, I'll have two bags in my pocket, one for the hanging jig and one for the jig I'll cut off when I get home. I also put a fresh piece of Zerust in every bag. I despise rusty hooks on my jigs.

I've already started organizing my tackle for next season, doing a lot of downsizing. Not so much the amount of tackle I carry in my boat, but the size of the containers I've been using. So I came upon some small, 3X3in., zip lock bags that the wife uses for her jewelry beads. I place a jig in each bag, mark the weight and style on the bag and end up with a gallon size zip lock that holds all my jigs. I do the same for my hair jigs, although a quart size bag holds my stash. Bare jigs.... style and weight marked in another quart bag. I can dump any of those bags on the deck, pick out the one I want, and I'm actually saving time vs digging through a 3700 tackle box to find the right weight and style.

To take more than four veterans fishing along with four younguns under 10yrs old. I know I likely won't have trouble attaining the second, but the first was a challenge for me as I do all my fishing now days during the week, or at night on the week-ends. The majority of vets at my local American Legion and VFW still have jobs and for first time fishers, night fishing is a no no. The other goal I have is to get my bum shoulder fixed, or strengthened so that I can fish the way I love to fish, chluckin and windin. I just checked my response from last year's inquiry. I didn't make it, so am I not allowed to change for the upcoming season? I don't do well with failure.

For me, today, anything over 30yrds is a long cast. Having shoulder problems limits overhead casting to cranks and I have to give that a rest a couple of times an hour. Everything else is a roll cast and 45ft. is long for everything but lipless. Gave up pitching, but 25ft. was about the furthest I'd attempt.

I've never been in a DSG that carries fishing or hunting gear. They stopped carrying that stuff about 5yrs. ago. Didn't shop there prior to that and for sure, am not going to start.

This is one of those that makes you think......................................I'll get back to you. Seriously, I can think of 10 lakes ranging from 55acres to 2500. The most productive for both size and numbers have been out of state to the north and east. A smaller, 85acre one in Wisconsin is considered a muskie lake and is kept quiet by the locals as it is surrounded by privet property. The bass fishing is nothing short of fantastic and the numbers of fish over 4lb. is truly something for a lake that far north. There are also some retention ponds I fish that are fairly young, but whet my whistle when I can't get on the lakes.

Just as with most hard baits, you could have a dozen of the same bait and one will just, flat out, catch more fish than the others. That particular spook was the quietest one I've ever had, and I had/have dozens. That and the fact that it sported a hand tied feathered treble. It walked and 'talked' different.

Funny story. I lost My favorite Spook last year, Sent it sailing and it just kept going. I looked for an hour or so and chalked it up to checking my loop knot more often. This year I was talking to the fella that won angler of the year at our club. He knows I love fishing Spooks and told me he'd been having great success throwing one he found. I described in detail the one I lost. He got this depressed look on his face knowing it was the one he found and had been using. I told him not to worry, I wasn't going to ask for him to give it up. I'm just glad it's out there catching fish. I'm still looking for one that can produce like that one.

Thanks for posting Just what I've been looking for. I've been purchasing from a seller on that auction site, but the baits have no hardware or hooks and by the time I add that cost, I may as well just spend a little more and get the whole package.

Just an add on to clarify my posts. I use straight braid for flipping/pitching jigs and straight fluoro for casting them. Even though I am a stickler for line watching, I like the sensitivity advantage fluoro gives, but I'm still not confident using it because I'm having difficulty adjusting my hook set.

Lightweight buzzers do this more often than heavier ones and that's likely why yours with the Pit Boss wouldn't run on its side and it would with other trailers. I don't throw many buzzers that aren't at least 1/2oz. as I don't use them with trailers. If I want to slow down, I switch to a floating buzzer, or a double prop bait. I'll start throwing them as soon as the water temps reach the low 40's.

I always had issues with the weed guard. I'd end up either trimming them, or removing them. I have a love affair with in-line spinners of all sizes. I've caught everything from bluegill to muskie on them. There was a company, back in the day, that made a similar bait that sported a turtle back blade. 1/21oz. bait. That thing caught me more pike and big walleye than any bait since.

Thanks for the replies. I was going to wait for the kit I ordered, but seeing as I have 2/3 of the bottle, I’ll give using it a go.

I haven’t done any custom wrapping for over a year. I just finished a butt wrap for a friend and when I went to mix the Flex Coat and the resin had crystallized. I don’t know enough about epoxies to take a chance on using it. I know it will become a liquid if heated, but will it then be viable when mixed with the hardener?

A curly tail grub on a belly weighted hook was my first 'swim bait' I still use that set-up on occasion. I've never used them on a T-rig, but I have used 4in. curly tail worms with good results.

Exactly my thought. I stopped using Ned style jig heads. Last fall (2022) I was shore fishing and lost the only Ned jig I had with me. I put a ball head jig and the tail section of a floating finesse worm and tied it on using a snap. That combo stood tail up every time and I was able to continue catching fish. Not exactly ideal, but a lot cheaper than Ned jigs..

My recommendation was to use straight fluoro if visibility was a concern. Braid to leader has no advantages over using either type of line alone. The #1 reason to use braid is its no stretch. The #! reason to use fluoro is its low refraction (visibility). Not to say that braid or fluoro don't have other, positive qualities. Using both together, IMO negates the strengths of both lines.

Mine are Daiwa Alohas paired to a 6’6” ML/F StCroix and an Acid (spiral) wrapped Forecast 6’ ML spinning blank. One of my biggest bass this year 5+lb. Was caught on the Forecast combo.