papajoe222

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And here I thought you were going to ask why there isn't a Lunker Club on this site. Silly me.

The only time I use a stinger hook on a hair jig is if I'm tipping it with a minnow and then only if there'sa light bite going on. Otherwise I make sure the hair of the jig doesn't extend much past the bend of the hook. You can make your own stingers with heavy mono and your hook of choice. Just snell tie the hook and add a loop on the other end to pass over the hook point, or if you make your own leaders, you could crimp a few x-tra short leader/hook snells. A little side note; White hair jigs with a pink, red, or orange head work great on the big lakes of central Wisconsin. Just sayin'

I have yet to make a claim, but every few years, I do a photo inventory of my gear. What I keep in the boat is videoed as I do a 360 so I can include all the equipment in the compartments, electronics, etc. I don't need to empty the compartments as the audio records what I say, so I just vocalize what's there. I'll likely do the same for my rods, reels, and tackle I keep in the house as it's actually easier for both me and my agent to go over. You don't realize how much you have invested in tackle alone because it's purchased over years, eg. I have eight crankbait boxes with at least 125 cranks. That's almost $1K just in cranks. Without some inventory or visual proof, it would be difficult to file an accurate claim.

White or pearl colored baits work all year around here and I often wondered why no one ever uses a whie jig. I can't even find them at my local shops most of the time. They're a killer alternative to spinnerbaits in the spring and more so in the fall.

That's because you didn't stick around last year's road trip. I use them in the spring for extra lift and action, plus they hold scent which I normally don't use on a spinnerbat as it ruins their skirts. I rely strictly on Kalin's Lunker Grubs. Once the bass are into the nest building stage of prespawn, the trailer gets tossed and the spinnerbait goes into storage for a while.

For hard baits, I would get at least one of the following in a natural color (shad, silver, gold, etc) spinnerbait, crankbait, topwater popper/chugger, and an assortment of worms and craws for soft baits. Once you become confident in your ability to catch fish with those, you can experiment with different sizes and colors as you budget allows.

Last week, while still on heavy medication, I casually mentioned to the wife that tackle wise I was ready for the fishing season to begin. Rods,reels, boat and tackle, with the exception of needing some purple worms were all set to go On Sunday my kid shows up and I tell my lovely wife that we're heading to Bass Pro with my grandson to do a little shopping. She picks up her néw iphone6 and I hear myself making the above statement. She follows up with "You got 100 purple worms in the mail on Friday, you'd better not come home with anymore fishing gear." She knows I can never come out of that store without dropping at least$100. SPOILED BY THAT STUPID PHONE, I left with my tail between my legs. When I returned home with a new tent, I got the : What did I tell you when you left? To which I whipped out my iPhone and let her hear her own words! I may be old, but I've been playing this game a LONG time.

Yes sir, bassin gear in MH will get the job done. If you know there are pike in the 36"+ range in the lake, be sure to have a reel that holds plenty of line. Spinnerbaits and spoons will get you plenty of action. I have a tackle box devoted to them and most of the lures in it are bassin' stuff. That and some smaller muskie baits, but the rods are both 7ft. MH paired with Daiwa Advantage reels and 30lb. braid. Don't forget the leader!

If you're concerned with memory, you can still spool now and do one of three things after ice out. Remove the spool and let it soak in a glass of water, tie or hook your line to a tree and walk off 30yards of line under tension followed by pulling by hand to stretch out the line, or just start fishing with it. 6lb. isn't going to be springing off your spool, just retaining the coils which may reduce casting distance at first.

I've caught both largemouth and smallies as early as the first week in April up here when water temps. climbed quickly in only a few days, but they don't become a regular on my boat's deck until post spawn. A good time to first try them out is when you get results burning a colorado spinnerbait just under the surface. Let it break water occasionally during the retrieve, if you get positive results it's time to tie on a buzzer.

I use a wide variety as I like different line tie options for the different seasons, but one that I'm looking forward to trying out this season is a 'stupid' jig head I purchased off ebay. they have a quality hook and if rigged normally still give plenty of action to the tube on the fall. For a 90 degree line tie, I like Arkie's for the thin diameter hook and the price. for a 60degree, I've been using Venom, but prefer something with a lighter hook.

I could see a fish like that being caught at some remote lake, but at a lake that close to a major city? Wow

As long as it's been brought up twice, I'll add what my searches have shone me and please keep in mind, I despise fluorocarbon. Almost all the fluorocarbon lines I was able to locate on various sites show a smaller diameter than 'mono' for the same pound test lines, and thus the resulting reduction in friction. What is farthest from the truth, as far as the numbers show is that 'mono' and fluoro have the same diameter for equal pound tests. Some copolymers do have identical diameters to their fluorocarbon counterparts, but with the exception of Trilene XL, the majority of those lines have either fluorocarbon based formulas, or are coated fluorocarbon variants. Stretch is a whole different discussion as temperature has a profound influence as to the amount of, or lack of stretch on both line types.

I'd opt for one that runs shallower during colder water periods and pick a suspending model like a FatFreeShad, cranking to max depth and reeling with pauses intermittently. The colder the water, the longer the pauses. Pre or post spawn, I would opt fo something that just contacts bottom occasionally. For the summer period, I'd use something that runs deeper than the bottom reading. Crank it down and grind it all the way until starts it's upswing. Using a deeper diving bait will insure bottom contact throughout the most productive part of the cast, will transmit more information to you about bottom content, transitions and if you loose contact early on, depressions you may not have noticed.

OUCH! I am listening to him and have fishing to thank for the motivation to do my physical therapy. I will say that I will never have three procedures done at once again. By the time I finish all the therapy, it's time to start again. On the plus side, the drugs are great and I don't have to worry about keeping myself occupied You guys can get your mind out of the gutter, I'm not THAT old.

So I visit this small deep lake in Indiana to target these ugly things because of their fight/size. They remind me of smallmouth when it comes to the fight they give you compared to the size and the ones in this particular lake average 10lb. The general size of bass and crappie is on the generous side vs. their length. My largest bass there was only 19in., but weighed just under five pounds. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else targets these prehistoric things or if anyone believes that they will cross stretches of land to reach habitable water?

On a recent show Jimmy Houston said: "All my winter largemouth speek Spanish." I had tears in my eyes I laughed so hard. What's your favorite one-liner and who said it? That should eliminate all the Yo Mama replies

My Dr. says the earliest I should consider attempting to catch fish would be May 1st. I told him I'd likely be on the water some time in April. He said that he new I was hard of hearing, but didn't know I was hard headed. "I heard you just fine and you can ask anyone, I'm not hard headed. I just don't figure I'll catch anything, so why hold off until May?"

I'll sit in for your wife, if you'll sit in for my dog................................wait a minute, I don't have a dog. (that's me on the right)

Choose one of the brands mentioned within that price range and you won't go wrong.

Just wondering where you've been getting your information. Of the two lines (fluoro and mono) diameters differ for identical pound test ratings. The resistance of the line DOES dictate the maximum depth a crank will achieve. Lastly, fluoro's sinking characteristic has nothing to do with how deep a crank will run. Cranks will attain almost identical depth with lines of the same diameter. It, fluoro, is a better choice for deeper cranking because if it's smaller diameter and lower stretch characteristic, the latter of which is misuderstood . BTW, I never use line with a diameter greater than .013in.(12lb. mono) unless I want a crank to run shallower than it's rated. 15lb. mono on a DT-6 reduces not only the depth it will run, but hinders it's action. To answer the original question, yes you can and in most applications I prefer it.

I weigh the tail end of a spook down when I want to work it with a lot of action without a lot of forward movement, as when target fishing. If I'm covering water quickly, I want the spook to sit verticle as it allows for more of a glide after the twitch.I also move the line tie to the tip of the nose which gives it more forward movement. The one thing you don't want to do is add drag to the tail section in the form of feathers, which keeps the nose of the bait from moving side to side. I reallly like feathered trebles on topwaters as they give the bait a little action when sitting still, but NEVER on a Spook unless you want to pull the dog instead of just taking it for a walk. I experimented with adding buck tail to the rear treble. Not as much drag, but I didn't feel it added anything when the bait sat motionless.

Or pass a rest room without attempting to empty your bladder. You never know how long it will be before you have another opportunity. Always have a pair of side cutters within reach. Attempting to locate them when a fish is hooked on one treble and your hand is hooked to the other will teach you this the hard way

Took this pic of the ones i keep in the boat.