papajoe222

It all depends on what you want the worm to do for you. Do you want it to ride higher off the bottom (floating worm), give off a lot of vibration (ringed, ribbon, etc.), do nothing but follow the ruckus your weight and bead are creating ahead of it (Senko style), or are you trying to imitate a crawfish or salamander? Almost any soft plastic can be used on a C-rig and some hard baits for that matter. That's one of the great things about this sport........experimenting until you find something that either works, or works better that what you've been using.

Some states have restrictions on how many 'lures' you can have tied on to one line and I was wondering what you guys do to comply with those regulations without altering the effectiveness of the rig. I have a couple and the one arm on either of them that seems to get the most attention is the one that has something different than the other arms tied to it. I was thinking of attaching willow leaf blades to the outside arms and my swimbait to the center, longer arm (this seems to be the one that gets the most attention and the one I always rig something different on). Any suggestions on how to stay legal and still utilize all the attributes of this rig?

Most guys abandon rip rap after the pre spawn/post spawn once the water has warmed up, but it can be a great producer if you keep a couple of things in mind. First and foremost is the fact that it was put there to eliminate, or reduce the effects of waves beating on the shore. That means that there is a good possibility that the wind is blowing into the rocks and that can mean awesome fishing anytime during the year, but especially in the spring and fall. During the summer months, bass may move in during peak activity levels and retreat to deeper water nearby when in a neutral mood. They may do this several times a day, so if you've been experiencing good action only to have it die off, move deeper and check out the transition area where the rock ends and the natural bottom composition begins. Active fish will hit just about anything that you can put into their zone. Inactive fish need to be enticed or surprised. You can't beat a top-water for enticing them and a crank will definately get a reaction strike if you can figure out how they want it. Paralleling casts can be effective once you determine where in the water column they are. A few casts with a deep diving crank cast perpendicular to the rocks will help you determine where that is. Neutral fish likely won't react to much of anything, but if they're the only option, I'd go with a Senko or drop shot in the area I mentioned earlier. If rip rap is the only type of cover available in a given area, it becomes more desireable to the bass to hold in it. Avoid long stretches of it, especially if it's all the same general size and the water around it is a constant depth. If there is other cover availabe, fish the transition area where the two types of cover meet and also where they mix together.

The other thing that will twist thelin, is moving your rig with the reel instead of the rod. With a slow pumping action, most of the twist that occurs when pulling the rod tip up will uncoil when you drop the rod tip down. Give a slight pause when the rod reaches the 10:00 position then reel it down to nine o'clock or lower before repeating.

The key to rigging with this type of hook is the way you initially instert the hook (on an angle) and how you burry the hook point into the plastic to make it weedless (also on an angle) Before 'worm' hooks with offset eyes were the norm, this was the style hook used on plastic worms. The offset was designed to address the problem of the worm's head sliding down the shank and balling up at the bend. Different types of 'keepers' were used prior to the offset, but most failed with regularity. I still run a toothpick through the worm's head and eyelet on some of the softer Gulp baits and others as a precaution, especially after the first time the worm slides off the keeper as the channel the hook shank put in the worm has become enlarged.

Odds are good that the fish are stressed from the high temps. and low water level, not to mention low oxygen levels. Although they still need to eat, their activity level is very low despite the higher water temps. This results in stunted, skinny fish that are reluctant to chase down moving forage. The shorter days and cooler nights will help jump start more activity, but the fish will still be reluctant to chase down their prey. Keep that in mind when selecting your offering. Unless your Flukes, Rogues, jigs, etc. are getting pounded by agressive fish, stick with them rather than faster moving baits. The one exception would be a suspending crank that can get down and stay there when paused for long periods.

If the weeds are too heavy to bring a spinnerbait through (milfoil, coontail, duckweed), fish the tops and outside/inside edges. For the deeper edges, downsize your blade (single) to keep it down. For fishing over the top, try adding a jig rattle just behind the skirt. For the inside/shallow edge, wake a Colorado or Indiana bladded bait. You can get away with heavier line when fishing these weeds. Don't be afraid to tick the tops or edges and then rip the bait to clear it. Often that is the trigger that'll get you bit. If the weeds are sparce or there's room to swim the bait through them (cabbage is an example) fish the same areas, but actually get into them. Braid is great for doing this as it cuts right through most weed stems. Oh yea, loose the trailer hook. Loose or rigid, it'll be more of a hassle than a benefit.

I'm old school. Super Spook Jr. although I've been known to throw a Torpedo when conditions warrant a little more noise.

If I'm target fishing (docks, stumps, etc.) I use a 6'6" MH paired to a 6.3:1 reel. If I'm slow rolling deep structure/cover, it's a 7'6" split grip in MH with the same reel The only other difference is the line. 15lb. Stren High Impact on the first set-up and 30lb. SpiderWiire Stealth on the second. BTW, I fish from a boat and that impacts my choice a lot. If you're a shore fisherman, chances are you're looking for distance and a longer rod makes a big difference.

I had this same problem with the same hook and to solve it I started using harder plastics. Some of the softer worms and such develop a hole wherever the hook goes through and seem to slide along it. A harder plastic wants to regain it's shape and although you're still putting a hole or shaft in the worm when rigging, will grip the shaft better. The other thing you can try is a drop of gorilla glue where the keeper is.

If you choose to go after the fish when they're suspending, chances are pretty good that you'll need to put your presentation in their face for a long time. Good electronics will let you 'watch' your jig or spoon as it falls so that you can stop and keep it in that zone. You may want to try a suspending crank paused just above the school. This would be an excelent choice if the fish are suspending below baitfish schools. Most guys don't have the patience for either of these techniques, but there's good news for them (and me). First you need to find the depth the fish are suspending, now move to the nearest structure (points,humps, ledges) that intersects that depth and look for cover on it. These spots on a spot are major producers on impoundments in the summer. The other good news is that some fish will always be shallow providing there is forage, cover, and deep water access. Hit these spots at the right time and you'll not only be targeting those shallow fish, but the ones that move shallow to feed. The fish that are deep have the roaming baitfish to feed on and although they may come up in the water column, they rarely will move into the shallows until the baitfish do. I would start my day targeting the shallower fish and move out until I find am active bunch. If I pick up a fish here and there early, it's a good indication that the fish are active and I can target those spots on a spots I mentioned early and get into some fast action as those fish will turn on quicker that the schools suspending over deeper water. A note on your presentation here; cast from shallow to deep on these spots or at the very least, parallel them. Your presentation will be sure to contact the zone and if you do excite the school, you won't scatter it into deeper water when you do catch one.

On one lake I fish for muskie, I consistantly catch bass on my musky tackle. For the area, they are above average size (in the 4-5lb. range). The two must productive for both the muskie and bass are a DepthRaider and a 1oz. single willow spinnerbait. I've had a few follows on an 8in. swimbait by muskie, but seem to do better on pike with it. I think the lack of larger forage (perch and walleye) may tie into the equation. On other lakes that I target, the musky prefer bigger lures and I've yet to catch a bass on one of them. I use big hard baits on a regular basis in both the spring and fall for bass, but then I'm strictly targeting big fish. Mepps GiantKillers, Musky Jitterbugs and big spinnerbaits get the call most of the time, but I had good success with the bigger Storm pre-rigged swimbaits this spring.

Just my $.02 the reason the industry is going to longer and longer rods is because that is where the demand is. Just ask any retailer in the industry how many short rods the have tossed because even when priced below cost they wouldn't sell and you'll discover why they don't carry them. Even the big retailers ran into this and the rod industry responded. A good custom rod maker can make you a two piece 7 or 8 ft. rod as well as a one piece 6ft., but if the industry produced them, they'd end up getting tossed out by retailers too.

I have cranks, top-water and other hard baits that I fish barbless. I do loose about 50% of the fish I hook up with, but I don't keep the fish I catch, so landing them isn't important to me. My fishing partner gets more upset than I do when one gets off because he likes to practice CPR. That said, I always use hooks with barbs in a tourney for obvious reasons.

Papajoe222 is what I go by on most of the forums that I frequent. I've beem bishing for most of my 62yrs. and for the most part I fish artificials. Born and raised in Chicago, I mainly fish natural lakes, although I have fished Table Rock and a few other impoundments. I've been a member of a local club for over 30yrs. and have learned a lot of lessons on those waters that have paid off on others. My personal best LM was 7lb.3oz. caught last year. Prior to that it was a 6lb.7oz. caught on the same lake 16yrs.ago. Although my passion is bass fishing, I also love tangling with musky and will often combine a trip so that I can target them both. My favorite lake for that is in northwest Wiscon and I take two trips there almost every year. I mainly fish alone from my Tracker, but my favorite fishing partner is my wife and she has outfished me on a number of occasions when I abandoned my strategy of letting her beat me.

I love fishing a Spook and will go with a SuperPook or Jr. in murky water, or at night. On windy days, fishing open water, I too, shy away from surface baits and go with a spinnerbait fished just under the surface to four ft. under. If, and only if, I'm target fishing I'll go with a prop bait. The more chop there is, the more, or bigger props I use. A mag. Torpedo is easier to cast than say a twin prop cigar style like a Smithwick Devil'sHorse and a WoodChopper spits more water than the Torpedo. If the fish are hammering any of those baits shortly after or before I pause them, I'm going with a buzzer and covering a lot of targets quickly.

I fish alone more often than not and up until last season NEVER wore a life vest unless I was operating the big motor. Last year, I fell overboard while attempting to unsnag a lure that I thought I could reach. No problem, I just swam back to my boat and climbed in, no worse than if I'd jumped in to cool off. Later that year, I went overboard again when my partner made a quick move in the back and I was off balance in front. The water temp was 52 and it was windy. It took me 20min. in the water to catch up to my boat (my partner wasn't schooled in operating either the electric or gas motors). Luckily, I keep a cushion attached to a 50ft. line on deck and he was able to toss it to me and pull me in. I still didn't learn my lesson and I almost paid for it with my life this spring. While fishing an unfamiliar lake I'd been following a drop from about six feet down to just over 15ft. I turned to reacquier the drop and was met by a five ft. boulder. The boat stopped, but I kept going. Luckily for me, I was tossed into the deeper water and not into the boulder ridden shallow side. The water was again on the cold side although it wasn't as windy as before. I was alone however, not only in my boat, but on the lake. I now wear an automatic inflatable and although it was expensive, I think my life is worth much more. My wife made me promise to always wear it. I don't have to worry about breaking that promise, alone or not that vest is on my person. Go for the automatic. If I'd have hit my head on a boulder, my wife would be a widow and my kids without a father not to mention I wouldn't have experienced the great fishing my first full year of retirement.

I'm partial to heavy, straight shanked hooks with some type of keeper just behind the eye. Unlike offset worm hooks, you'll need to angle the hook point through the nose of the bait to T-rig it. The full power of your hook set is delivered to the hook point with this type of hook. My next preference is for the same style hooks with some sort of hitch hiker that's inserted into the nose of the bait. Using a jig with your craw or otter as a trailer is another option. It also adds the benefit of the skirt's movement and the attractant of the rattle.

My advice to anyone targeting big fish is: Don't expect a lot of bites when looking for big fish because you shouldn't be fishing areas where schooling or smaller bass frequent. I fish a lot of lakes in Wisconsin and Michigan for bass and do fairly well, but when I'm targeting big fish, I target only a couple that I know from experience hold numbers of big gals. I use big baits, both hard and soft, but I don't limit myself to them exclusively. If I get four or five bites per outing, I consider the day successfull and on occasion one or two of those fish will be smaller than I expected to catch. If you know the lake produces some nice size fish, by all means fish it. If you know of an area lake that consistantly produces them, study it, learn it, and when you do catch a beauty, analize every aspect of where, when, how and why and you'll begin catching them on a more regular basis and become confident that you can catch your personal best on that lake every time you go out.

Because of age and joint pain, I'm really limited to short periods of deep cranking. I've been using braid with no leader the past few seasons. It's my belief that, even in clear water, line visibility at 18+ft. has little effect on strikes/hook-ups. Yes, the heavier/thicker line does dampen th lure's action, but there really is no way to determine if that is resulting in fewer or more strikes. I learned years ago how to get a #7or#9 Rapala down deep and keep it just of the bottom at any depth................Carolina rig it. I've gone back to doing this, but with other types of crankbaits rather than the thinner Rapala. My favorite is a shallow running crank. You can tie it on a short leader for easy casting, and the wide woble and high floating properties show fish something they rarely see down deep. Oh yea, you can use the heaviest line you have spooled for this, just go down to 8or10# on the leader so you don't kill the action. the other great thing about this set-up is that it won't float up out of the fish's zone when paused or dead sticked.

Changing out hooks on a Rooster Tail is a pain. It's much easier to sharpen them. If you have a hook file, be carefull not to take off too much stock as they tend to do. Just a couple of light swipes on both sides should do it. If you're using a stone, you may need to hit each side a few times. Either way, be sure to check the sharpness until you're satisfied. If you have a stone or file with a grove in it, give the backside a quick swipe too. BTW, you'll be filing off the corrosion protection, so keep a close eye on the hooks in the future as they'll rust in the area you've filed.