papajoe222

Years ago, I fished from an inertube float. Today a new breed of personal fishing 'boat' has become etremely popular, Kyaks. The biggest drawback that I find when using these forms of water travel, is limited space with no means of mounting electronics in what space there is. Trust me when I say I've seen about every idea concieveable for doing so. Some involved adding to the existing 'boat' while others incoorperated towing some sort of floating platform behind or connected to the side. Those many years ago, I began using one of the cheapest and easiest depth finders that was small enough to carry in a prescription medicine bottle. Not only was the space problem taken out of the picture, so was the guess work of determining depth. This miracle little jewel of a tool is called a crankbait and when used has the bonus of actually putting fish in your 'boat'. Think about this: If you fish from a single person vessel you likely only carry one rod and reel combo. You aren't out on the water respooling that reel, you do that at home and likely use the same line each time. What you have is a constant base to use when determining not only depth, but cover and bottom composition. Just add a crankbait. You don't even need to know how deep the one you tie on runs although it helps. Add a shallow, med. and deep running crank and you can find everything from drop offs to bottom composition changes, wood, weeds....... you get the idea. If you're really looking to use electronics and not experiencing the simplicity of fishing from these forms of enjoyment, go out and get one of those goofy remote units with the bobber thingy and the Dick Tracy wrist viewer or whatever, but a word of advice if you opt to go that route........ your smart phone will interfere with the signal when you're texting mommy what time you'll be home and asking what's for din din.

I, too, don't concern myself with line visibility when using braid. I'd venture to say smoke or green braid, the thinner the better for most applications, but if watching your line is a key factor in the presentations you'll be using go with something high viz and break up the the color with a green or black sharpie every few inces for aka foot or so above the line tie.

Outings like yours will contribute to your becoming a better angler. For one thing, the knowledge you gained from an outside force was reinforced with your personal experience. Those lessons aren't forgotten as easily. For another thing, you tested that knowledge in a somewhat controlled situation. You knew the fis were there. Congrats on a productive outing. BTW, you also learned that a fish's activity level has a lot to do with which presentation will or cannot work.

I think I read somewhere that the memory span of a bass is something like 30 seconds. I also recall that becoming conditioned to a particular bait doesn't involve memory, just negative reinforcement. If a fish is active and returned to the water in the area you caught it, there is a good chance it can be caught again. I had a fellow club member catch an weigh a bass that he saw me catch. I recognized it because of a sore spot on the top of it's head and the hole my worm hook left in the area of it's mouth just behind the lip. He was only a few hundred feet behind me working the same weedline.

I look for conditions where running a spinnerbait just under the surface should be producing, but isn't. My first choice is to switch to a Colorado blade to slow it down, my second is a wake bait. Those conditions would be when I suspect the fish to be active and in the upper water column. Overcast, breezy, high water. The cover could be weeds topping out just under the surface, submerged lay downs (horizontal type cover). The other situation would be to cover a feeding flat looking for actively feeding fish although I know guys that swear by them when the bass are busting shad on the surface.

You can purchase jig rattles at most big retailers. The ones I use are clear and look like Mickey Mouse with the rattles sticking back from the ears. LOL If I find a link at BPS, I'll post it for you. http://www.basspro.com/Northland-Fishing-Tackle-Buck-Shot-Rattle-Rings/product/1822/?cmCat=CROSSSELL_THUMBNAIL

A bit of advice when it comes to catching really nice fish like this one. Take a measurement, a photo and let her go exactly like you did. She may have weighed 5.75lb. on your scale today, but if you weigh her, how is she going to gain weight over the next 10-20years. One of my biggest fish was 23in. long and I'm not saying what her girth was because she's gained over a pound just mounted on my wall.

The fact that you aren't finding fish in the same areas where they spawned isn't surprising. Neither is the fact that you can only catch them on plastic worms. Fish in small bodies of water don't have a lot of options when it comes to just about anything they do. The forage those fish are relating to obviously isn't one that schools, thus the bass don't either. The main forage is likely of the bottom dwelling variety and that's the major reason for your success with a presentation that targets the lower water column. They also appear, from your description, to be mostly ambush feeders (vs. hunters) which could explain the need to move on after catching. Chances are that fish or another will use that same spot again, so don't forget to return to it fairly frequently. There is no need to over think in this sport when you have success. It's when you don't that you need to think things through to the best of your ability..........or quit and go golfing. Personally, I'd rather attempt to figure out a living being with a brain the size of a deer fly than chase a little white ball all over the country side attempting to hit it into a hole rather than pick it up and just put it there. Did I mention doing so in a clown outfit? Wait, wait, wait...................Sorry, my brain got off on the golf exit

It's one thing to know what to watch or feel for and a whole different ballgame when it comes to actually doing it. As kikstand454 mentioned a lot of it comes down to experience. Overall time on the water experience and experience with whatever you happen to be using. There are guys that know their crankbaits so well that they swear they can feel the difference when a fish is following their bait. The first time I fished a deep, rocky point with a jig I was setting the hook every time it hit bottom only to have it hit bottom again followed by another hook-set on my part. When I finally hooked up with fish on about the fourth hook-set I was certain that I'd just missed the fish on the first three!!! BTW, this is a great way to work a jig over rocky bottom in the summer and early fall.

One of the things I really love about this sport is that I can make it challenging on myself, or it can be a relaxing, meditating use of the time I have to spend on it. One of the ways I challenge myself is to always look for ways to up my game and today I was reminded of one of the littlest things I do that can and has paid off in my limited success. I am constantly changing out split rings on my treble hooks for different situations. A lot of product develeopment and marketing has been put into short shank, EWG hooks, SureSets, etc. in the way of treble hooks. The results have upped the game for many of us, but what I've been doing is adjusting the size of both the hooks and split rings on my baits for different conditions. If I'm fishing deadfalls, I want the belly hook of my crank to ride close to it's body. That same crank over a gravel bottom, the biggest split ring that I can use and even a bigger hook as long as it doesn't tangle with the rear hook. Even the oval split rings used mailnly for line ties have the benefit of adding a little extra distance from the lures body and bigger split rings also give the advantage of less leverage for the fish when fighting not to mention the number one advantage.........better hook-ups. Nest time, before you head out on the water, think about where and how you'll be using your gear. Little tweaks like this can make the difference. Even if it only means one more fish on the line.

I can't remember where I originally saw this tip, but if you thread one end of a barrel swivel on your line before attaching your hook, thread the front of your plastic on the hook and then thread the other end of the swivel over the barb and up the shank to the bend by the eye before you insert the hook point back into the plastic, your plastic won't slide down past the bend. They're cheap, weigh next to nothing and you likely have some in your C-rig box that will fit over the barb of the hooks you use.

I add a packing peanut inside to get a tube to float high behind a Carolina rig and I also was fishing them like you do a fluke before zFlukes were introduced.

It can definately be a time consuming project and I too, got into it to occupy those fishingless hours of the off season. Keeping that in mind, one bit of advice; Don't rush things on your first build. I was in a bit of a hurry to complete my first that I didn't address thread color preservation and ended up with the main color bleeding into my trim bands. Not easy to see, but of course it's the first thing I notice when I use the rod. Good Luck and I hope you have fairly deep pockets and plenty of patience.

If the lure and the equipment you've been using are the same, then I would look at what you may be doing differently. Standing vs. sitting, or a different rod angle can not only change the retrieve, but your view of the slack you need in your line. Not attempting to place the blame on you, but sometimes we fail to look at the operator and assume it has to be the equipment when something changes.

Fish location and activity levels are governed by many different factors, some of which you didn't take into consideration. Oxygen content and forage availability stand out as major considerations in the situation you describe. It could be that the cooler, clear water was more oxygen rich or the muddy, warmer water had low levels. Some fish rely heavily on their sight feeding skills and will seek out clearer water if available. Hard to determine, but cudos to you for not predetermining where they would be and wasting valuable fishing time where the fish either were not active or were absent.

Thanks They look very similar, but the blades were regular buzzer blades similar to the old JawBreaker

I agree with anything in the 6.1-6.4 range. The only thing I use a faster reel for is when I'm target fishing. Once I'm past the target it gets me in ant too mu next one quicker. Slower is just going to result in either lost or gut hooked fish.

I ended up loosing a very productive buzzbait to a very aggressive musky and have been searching for a replacement with no luck. It was a double, counter rotating bladed version. The only two bladed baits I've discovered have double arms and both the blades on my lost bait were mounted on the typical single arm. Anyone know of a company that still distributes such a configuration? This was a safety pin style buzzer, not an inline.

Don't psych yourself out. Remember that everyone will be fishing the same conditions and if you're having difficulty finding fish, so is everyone else. Fish your strengths and hopefully the water level will drop some beforehand.

If possible, I prefer to pre-fish it twice under different conditions. The closer to the date of the tourney, the better. I do more searching with my electronics than actual fishing. I'll attempt to locate at least three spots with decent numbers and check those areas again on a subsequent outing to see if the area still holds fish. If it's a small body of water and I have concerns that others may sit on those spots, I'll look for subtle spots close by that the fish my retreat to if pressured. If it's a big lake, I'll do my homework with a topo map marking spots similar to the ones I physically checked out While on the the water. I don't like to actually fish for any length of time, just enough to confirm the fish I'd marked are indeed bass and decent size. My reasoning is that I don't want to have too many preconceived ideas about what will actually put fish in the live well on tournament day.

Disappointing finish for this one, but not for the year. Only boated four keepers, but one just under 6lb. Gave me a total of 34lb. 14oz and a third place finish. Not my best finish this year, but with an avg. weight over three pounds I'm very happy. There's always next year, God willing, if I decide to continue competing. If I decide to hang 'me up I'll be doing so on a positive note. Best of luck to those of you with upcoming competitions. For now, this tired old man is going to take what he considers a well deserved rest.

Well I ended up telling him how I do it after dinner. He appologized for going off on me, said he was just frustrated because he feels he doesn't have a chance now for AOY. I told him there's always the big bass trophy for the season. That fish could be caught later today. He's going to check out my rigging for the crank, but he doesn't fish a C-rig much and that's pretty much the way I get that shallow crank to the bottom of the water column. I'm hoping to get a decent limit with a couple of hours left to cull. I had one dink to fill out my limit yesterday and am in 8th 14oz. behind the leader. Haven't finished first yet this year, but I'm still confident especially because I've had a full day on this lake and the weather looks to continue to be fairly stable.

I love my Daiwa reels ,but the low geared ones leave me wanting my Curado back. I prefer brakes over magnets for that application. I'm thinking that is why I can get the cranking model so much cheaper. Thanks for the replies. I don t care what the reel appears to be as long as it lives. Up to the performance I've come to expect after the swap.

I started using circle hooks when my kids were new to the sport. They were either gut hooking the fish or forgetting to set the hook. Circle hooks eliminated both problems when using live bait. I transitioned them and the wife to fishing plastics, but continued using the circle hooks. Now I use them for most of my finess worm presentations from wacky rigs to drop and splitshotting For the big stick worms I've been using cat fish. Circle hooks when wacky rigging. I have to remind myself that it's a circle hook so that I just raise the rod and reel, but it's getting easier to remember as I only use those presentations with spinning gear. I have tried them when Texas rigging, but found it difficult to rig, even when skin hooking. A hook with a pronounced bend above the barb comes through many snags fairly well if you use the rod to maneuver through them. Reeling with the rod tip high will get you hung.

I prefer Deep Middle N's, the Raps don't have the bouyancy I like.