papajoe222

I can't really help because I can't remeber the last time I got skunked. Of course at my age I can't remember..........................What was the question again? Seriously, I get bummed out whatever season it is. The fish just seem to be a little more difficult to locate in the summer as they don't roam as much as in the spring and fall.

Whether or not you cut the old hook, or remove the hanger you'll want to add a split ring. I personally prefer standard length shanks on the front aned either go with the next size down or a short shank on the back to keep them from tangling. I replace most of my trebles every off season, so I opt for Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp for cost reasons.

I respect that you disagree that it's more a sight bait and the fish need to see it. I don't always agree with me either.

I added a third battery to my boat when I upgraded my trolling motor to 24V. I love the new motor, but I'm not happy with the way the batteries are secured (a strap) I'd much prefer some style of clamp down mount and was wondering if there is a tray of some sort that is made for that purpose. I haven't had any issues over the past eight years with the strap securing the battery, I'd just think a sturdier bracket would reduce vibration and in doing so, extend the life of the batteries.

I'm questioning why you would choose a white spinnerbait to use in dark water. If that's the only one you own, I'd change out the skirt for use in stained water. At the very least, add a trailer that would make the bait more visible.

The purpose of adding a hole is to let water out the back that's been forced into the bait from the opening at the line tie. If the water has no place to go, it will fill up the body and the frog will sink or at the very least sit too low to work properly.

A Senko is a great sight bait. In other words the fish have to see it for it to be effective. Even though the water in that lake is clear, the thick hydrilla prevents the majority of fish from seeing it. You either need to switch to a bait that will get into the weeds, or one that will give off more vibration that the fish would feel and possibly investigate. For this time of year, I'd go with a hollow body frog adding a lot of action with frequent pauses or a wake style crank or a spinnerbait over the tops of the submerged weeds.

Terminator's black spinnerbait with the beveled Colorado blade. I forget what it was called, but it flat outfished any other I've used at night.

What depth, cover and/or structure do you plan to target?

Man, I like threads like this that get you to thinking. What's great to is the fact that there is always something to be learned and what better teachers than the group on this forum. Lilly pads on the left and matted grass on the right which would that bass choose? I doubt he would choose either because of the type of weed. Mike has a point and I along with others can mention what we think, but using only one factor in attempting to determine fish location is like having only one known value when attempting to solve an equation. In the above, I'd choose the one closest to deep water.

Glad to hear of your success. What color was the water, or I guess a better question would be how deep was the light penetration and how deep were you fishing?

Making a presentation to suspended fish can be difficult. My answer to that difficult task is to use a slip bobber to present your offering to them. Jigs are my prefered offering, but small spoons, wacky rigged worms, even live bait are all options as are some I didn't mention. I don't spend too much time on suspended fish, but I will use the depth they're holding at in my search for more catchable fish.

If you consider yourself to be a good angler and you don't include some knowledge of a bass' habitat, you're fooling yourself. I think the reason you don't see a lot of print about different types of weeds is that many impoundments rarely have an abundance of weed grouth let alone a variety. In lakes that do, I agree that understanding what type of bottom it grows in and what type of forage relates to it can make the difference between catching and an exersize in casting. In my area, weeds are the main form of cover and knowing, for example, that pike and musky roam the cabbage, helps me eliminte those areas when I'm after Mrs. Bass. Great topic

I never peg my weights anymore. My reasoning is simple. The sole reason for Texas rigging is the ability of the fish to pick up your bait without feeling the resistance of the weight. They can't do that when the weight is pegged. I'll even fish a T-rig in brush or grass for that sole reason. I'll either attach my worm to a jig head or use a weighted hook if I'm not concerned with the fish being weight shy. I would never consider pegging the weight on a C-rig either.

Nice job on the video. I'd attempt making one, but if I didn't end up breaking the camera lense I might scare off the few fans I have. There are three topwater baits that I love to use during the summer. A buzz bait, a frog and of course a spook. Not that I don't use chuggers,poppers and warblers, I do. The first three are my confidence baits. As for soft plastic baits in the shallows, I also have three favorites. A Fluke, a Senko and a tube. I always have the Spook, Senko and a tube tied on one of the rods on my deck whether I'm fishing shallow or not.

I like the fact that they are fatter than most and in the summer time, I'm looking for the wide wobble of a fat bodied crank. The craw patterns have really produced along the rip-rap for me.

I've gotten lazy in my old age and haven't kept a fishing log this year, but I still will break out those of recent seasons as reference. Today was one of those times. I can't remember the last time there were so many fishing boats on my home lake as there have been the last couple of days. Today it seemed the bite really shut down as a result and after some limited success this morning I didn't plan on going out later this afternoon. After checking out my logs from a few years ago I spotted a very similar situation where I had awesome success with a jerkbait. My plan not to go out again changed and I stuck mainly to jerk baits, both hard and soft, for the afternoon outing. I didn't have the awesome success I had in that previous outing, but managed to do much better that earlier in the day especially with good sized fish. Hard, fast twitching on slack line with a longer pause tossed in a few times was the key with the hardbait and just letting my Fluke sink motionless into pockets of deep weeds picked up the biggest three. The wind did shift and increase somewhat for the afternoon, but none of the other presentations I attempted was getting any love. I guess in my own mind I don't consider a slim minnow bait something to go to under pressured conditions. Hopefully in the future it will be one of my first considerations. That middle water column seems to be more and more productive during the day around here and lack of cover does not seem to reduce the fish's willing to strike.

Spinnerbaits can be awesome fish catchers and I'm a recent convert to the one you mention. Spinnerbaits get the nod from me on windy days or at night, basically when light penetration is broken up or limited. The one thing, as with any lure, you need to determine is the fish's location in the water column and try to keep your spinnerbait in that zone. The other thing I'd recommend is varying your retrieve speed during the course of a cast until you determine how the fish want it (if they want it at all). Sometimes it's a burning retrieve just under the surface, sometimes is a slow roll just off the bottom and often times, it's something inbetween. If there isn't any cover to bounce it off of, give the rod tip an occasional pop or stop reeling for a second. The interruption in blade revolution often is the thing that will trigger a strike.

She outfishes me almost every time out, but won't admit that my great guide service is the reason.

The pads are tough to fish from shore as far as landing the fish goes. If you opt not to get down into them with your presentation,a Fluke, stick worm, or speed worm can be used with the gear most guys have. If you have a combo with braid, break out the hollow body frogs and hang on!

Two quick questions. How thick are the weeds? Do the weeds grow to the surface, or is there open water above them? If the weeds are thick and you're not accustomed to getting down into the heavy stuff, stick with the edges both shallow and deep. If there is an abrupt edge, look for irregularities in it and concentrate on those. If there is a layer of a foot or more of open water above them, a Fluke or Senko are hard to beat when it comes to catching numbers. For thick or weeds that surface a hollow body frog, or speed worm can draw some explosive strikes. Be sure to pause them over any obvious openings in the weeds and use tackle stout enough to either get them out of the thick stuff, or hold them on until you can go to them.

I stay out as long as I plan to and sometimes longer. If I have only four hours free, I'll be ouit the whole four. If I go night fishing, sundown to just after sunup is the norm. When I'm on vacation the little time I spend off the water is to sleep. The longest I've gone is just under 13 hours, but that was when I was young and spry. Now if I go out for ten hours, I'm usually ready for a nap.

The weeds look like a mix of some type of cabbage and maybe sand grass. I'm guessing this is a natural lake somewhere north. Wherever it is, a hollow body frog or Johnson spoon with a 4in. ribbontail should also be productive.

I limit my choices to only three 'colors' as I don't put a lot of faith into subtle differences in color on a fast moving bait or one that runs more than 10ft. deep. Natural (shad or bluegill or craw), bright (firetiger, chartruse), Dark (red, black). Between shallow-medium, and deep runners, square-round, coffin and spoon bills, flat,-fat and long bodied baits, suspending and floating and silent and rattle baits. Three color variations are all I can afford! Hey, I just figured out what my answer to the wife's 'why are you buying another crankbait' question should be.

The heavier weight you use, the easier it is to keep your swimming worm (or jig) just off the bottom. The extra weight works against the natural lift of the bait. One thing I'll suggest that you may have figured out already and that is to make bottom contact a few times during your retrieve. This keeps you oriented to the bottom, especially when that bottom is irregular or may change in composition.