papajoe222

A couple of suggestions. Use a frog with a pointed nose like a Mann's. It'll come through the eel grass better than one with a wider snout. More importantly, experiment with your retrieve. Not only the speed, but the pauses. My most effective summer retrieve in vegetation involves 4 o 5 quick jerks followed by a long pause. I've let it sit for over a minute before the fish would explode on it. If you've ever spooked a frog from the bank, that is exactly what they do. Other days they want it with long jerks, short jerks, frequent pauses and even burned back, so experiment. Frogs are not just early morning/evening topwaters. Don't be hesitant to try them mid-day.

I gave up trying to recover it, even though I dropped a waypoint on my Lawrence unit. It's in 45ft. of water and even If I could see it on downscan, I doubt I'd be able to snag it. Besides, it gives me a reason to purchase a new reel. I love Daiwa reels, but have been hesitant about purchasing one incorporating the T-wing. Not that I've heard anything negative, it just looks like a screw up waiting to happen when I go to clean it. I just may bite the bullet and get one. WTH, I can always sell it, right?

I had a massive brain fart today and one of my workhorse TD Advantage 150H went swimming along with its best friend for the last decade. I was tempted to jump in after it, but then realized I'm 73 and that puppy was sinking fast. Anyway, I'm looking to replace the reel with another reliable high capacity one. Nothing too pricey, If I can get away with something in the $150 range I'd be happy. I don't remember the line capacity on these reels (I still have two), but it needs to be more than the 100-120yrds of 12lb. test most of the low profile reels hold now. The one I lost was used exclusively for trolling and hooking into a good sized fish doesn't leave much line to play with on those models. Suggestions and relating any good or bad experiences with any would be appreciated.

This is basically the same approach, but I switch baits to something more subtle after a couple of casts with the buzzzer. The reasoning behind it is to get the fish interested and looking upward. Then something like a jerk bait or popper gets them to strike.

Many years ago (more than I care to admit) I read an article in a magazine. This was long before the internet was born. Anyway, the article mentioned a way to get bass fired up. Basically, it involves running a buzzbait over some prime cover or structure a few times and then switching over to a more subtle presentation. The reason this tactic works when bass aren't biting is the buzzbait does two things, it gets the fish in a defensive mood and it gets them looking up. The follow up lure was something that also stayed above the fish. As Flukes and Senkos were not around, a Rapala, or a Pop-R were the recommended follow up . I decided to give it a try next time things were slow and low and behold, I was able to keep the skunk away. Although this isn't something I do on a regular basis, I will, on occasion dust this one off , which surprisingly works just as well today as it did back in the day. The Rapala and popper have been replaced by other lures, but I'm sure they would still produce as well as back then. I've actually caught quite a number of bass on the buzzbait after the third or fourth cast. So has anyone heard of doing this, or actually done it themselves?

I only throw black or white buzzbaits. The fish don't seem to have a preference for any particular. I own some other colors, but they've never gotten wet except for when I pull the skirt off and add a white or black soft plastic. Then they're no longer a different color.

It depends on the cover I'm fishing. For target fishing like dock pilings, timber, etc. I'll work the cover and out a few feet, reel it in and cast it out again. For weeds, if I'm working above them, or along the edges, I'll work it until it clears the weeds by a couple of feet and do as above. If I'm fishing structure, I work it all the way back. I don't want to miss out on a fish that's interested in my offering by showing it to her and then immediately taking it away.

My compartments get hot when the sun beats down on them for hours. When I reached for my mid depth crank box today, I had to drop it a second after I picked it up, it was that hot. The high temp today was 81, but I'd bet the temp in that compartment was 110+ One reason why I take all my tackle out of my boat, it's stored outside. I lost a couple of Big O's a while back due to swelling.

The weeds were in 14-15ft. topping out around 12ft. The best spots on weed beds were where a mixture of different weeds, mostly pond weed mixed with hydrilla or coontail moss began, or where the weeds grew to the top and layed on the surface. This is all from water that sat close to deeper water. I would look for points of weeds, or indentations.

Thanks again to all who chimed in on this. Tried a double fluke rig presented over the weeds today, along with a punch rig and beaver combo. The double fluke rig was a bit of a pain to cast accurately, butshortening the leaders, helped. Has anyone tried adding weight to this rig? I was using stout, EWG hooks for a little added weight. If so, where do you add the weight? The weeds weren't super thick and punching would not have been my first choice, but once I switched to a lighter weight, it was like turning on a switch. I think the ROF made the difference in getting bit.

Most hair jigs I use are 1/8-1/4oz. If I add a trailer, it’s a curly tail grub on a jig with shorter hair. I work them along the bottom, dragging the ones with the trailer and working the others with either short hops, or a yo yo style retrieve. I use them mostly for smallmouth, but early pre-spawn they work well for largemouth, too.

The active fish are wearing camo sneakers. If you look close, you can see the laces.

For those that fish from shore, or from a boat without the aid of electronics, a 'search bait' is a valuable tool in locating active bass. Most anglers will automatically think of crankbaits when this topic is discussed, but others like a swim jig or spinnerbait are equally effective in searching out active fish. I'm wondering if anyone else used a jerkbait (hard or soft plastic) as a search bait? Although my boat is equipped with electronics at both the console and the front deck, when fishing shallow water, I rarely mark fish even though I know the bass should be in the general area. One of my favorite ways to search out those areas is with a Norman Speed N, or a jerkbait. When worked fast they will draw strikes from both active fish and those in a more neutral mood. Once I get bit, I'll make a few more casts with that bait until I don't contact any more fish. Often times the fish will swipe, or slap at those offerings. Either way, I'll then switch to a presentation that I can methodically cover that smaller area. This approach has been extremely effective this season on an old gravel pit where the deepest water is 12ft.

Thanks for all the replies. So I left the hard baits at home and only brought some swimbaits and creature baits (along with my tubes and worms). The girls were holding on deep structure, so i rigged a creature on a 1/2oz. football jig, added a rattle and surprised myself by boating four LM over 18in. Normally I would have chosen a C-rig with a tube or worm. The Rage Swimmer produced three dinks holding tight to shallow cover. I’m going to try some Flukes on a lake with a lot of weeds this weekend. That and a punch rig/beaver.

I know there was a thread here recently about bringing only soft plastics for a one day outing. It got me to thinking and I decided I'm not versatile enough with my choices as I mainly fish hard baits (I consider a jig/pig a hard bait }. My confidence soft plastics are tubes and ribbon tail worms, although I do fish a stick worm early in the season. I have creature baits, beavers, toads, trick worms, swim baits and about most of the varieties out there and I've caught fish with all of them. I want to gain confidence in the others and am looking for input as to which of the many offerings you would pick if it were the only one you took in the boat for a day. Please don't say a Ned rig or a drop-shot. I know they catch fish, but I'm looking for baits I can fish using a baitcaster.

I remember some heated discussions among family and neighbors when I was growing up (back in the dark ages) about whether a three pound channel cat fought harder than a smallmouth, Ahhhhhhhhhh, I left out I don't know about that one, but I do know that if a bluegill could grow to that size, a new king would be crowned. I didn't include all the bass species, or the saugeye, but feel free to add any species you feel can dethrone the smallmouth.

I switch it up, but no matter what retrieve I use, you can bet that worm is falling vertically multiple times during the retrieve. Sometimes it a slow lift and let it fall on slack line while watching my line. Other times, I'll let it fall under tension, so it fall on a bit of an angle. When using a weighted version during the summer, I'll stroke it along breaklines or deep weed edges. Believe it or not, sometimes a simple chuck and wind will get some violent strikes. In other words, I experiment until I find what works best on that particular day.

I don't have a TilTok on my desktop, but I will tell you that I stopped using EWG hooks on my C-rigs back around the time I retired (14yrs. ago). I switched to good ole round bend, off set worm hooks and I haven't looked back since. I just seem to loose fewer fish using them. I don't know if it's because the hooks point sits farther back, or because it sits higher than most EWGs so it has more bite. I don't know what hook he's proposing, but I'll bet the angle from the hook eye to the hook point is the reason he suggests it.

I keep a pair of extra long needle nose pliers in my boat for pike and muskie fishing. They come in handy at times like that.

I worked in a casino, on my feet all day, for a couple of years. After my first week, my feet were killing me. I looked around at what others were wearing and the majority of them had quality sneakers on. Some Nike, some New Balance, some Adidas, but all were cross training style. One thing I added was a pair of WalkFit supports inside my first pair of New Balance sneakers and by the third day I wore them, my foot and back pain stopped bothering me. I wear that same pair as my fishing shoes. If you're like me, you stand the entire time you're fishing and you don't spend a lot of time running around the lake. One other thing I added after I turned 65 was exercising my legs. You'd be surprised how much good muscle tone in your legs can help reduce foot strain.

I was lucky enough to be a part of our annual Cops and Bobbers fishing derby for the youngsters of our town. It's run by our local FOP lodge and drew just over a hundred kids today. The fishing couldn't have been any better as every entrant caught fish, mostly bluegill. The 10-14yr old class caught the most bass, 14 with the biggest being a 16in. fish. the older group of 14-17yr olds only had four entries, but they were able to catch 6 bass and a nice 21in. walleye. I love teaching kids about bass fishing and these guys and gals were like sponges, absorbing the tips and suggestions I was dishing out. When the fishing ended and before the prizes winners were announced, many of those entrants came up to me asking questions about spawning bass, different retrieves and what was the difference between some of the baits we were giving away. The majority of bass had finished spawning, but the shallows were potted with bluegill beds. The local BPS, WalMart Dick's and all of the sponsors were extremely generous with donations, and every child received either a rod/reel combo, bass pro gift card, a tackle box filled with lures, hooks, weights and, of course, bobbers, or their choice of four lures,or bags of plastics. I'm happy to say that every child there left with more enthusiasm about the sport than when they first arrived. Today was a glimpse of the future of our sport and from my viewpoint, It looks very healthy.

There is truth in this for sure. We have a shocking survey done every year at one of the clubs I belong to. They do this to evaluate the management of the lakes. For the last four years they've shocked a minimum of 18 bass over three pounds and that number includes a couple of 5lb.+ fish on the main lake and 8 bass including a 7lb. 15oz. gal on the smaller lake. Those numbers haven't changed over that time period, but the board gets numerous complaints about the poor bass fishing. What has changed is both the killing off of weeds one week prior to Memorial Day and the fact that everyone and their guests are throwing stick worms and Flukes and they are doing so randomly because they have only shoreline cover and docks to cast to. I have difficulty finding fish. Some days I'll spend up to two hours searching out baitfish because even my honey holes are void of fish. When I do locate the baitfish, I can put 5 or 6 quality fish in the boat over the last two hours I'm on the water. I forgot to mention, I leave the stick worms and Flukes at home. My point is; The fish are there, but they've adapted to their environment and the fishing pressure. If you can figure out how, you're ahead in the game.

This experience taught me a lesson I'll likely never forget. One of the first tournaments I fished out of my own boat, I drew an old fart as a non-boater. It was a slow day, to say the least, by noon I still hadn't boated a keeper. The old codger, on the other hand, had three quality fish in the live well and the kicker was that we were both throwing the same bait. Now before all you grey hairs start getting on me, this was back in the late 70's and I was young and thought I knew most everything there was to know about bassin'. I started concentrating on what he might be doing that I wasn't. I watched his rod tip angle, how fast he was cranking, how often he paused, or sped up the bait......Nothing, nada.... he was mirroring exactly what I was doing. I made a cast to an old dock piling as we approached it with nothing to show for my efforts. I looked back and that wise old man was waiting until we passed that piling before he cast back at it. Yep, #4 and his biggest of the day. WTH I just cast to that dang post with the same friggin lure, This guy must have some magic up his sleeve, was my conclusion. At weigh in, I sat there fishless while he had a lock on third place. He must have seen the big question mark hovering over my head as I sat there licking my wounds. "You're wondering how I caught those fish using the same bait you were, aren't you? I nodded and he said two words; different angles and walked past to his car with his winnings. The thick skull I have kept me from understanding what he meant for the entire two hour trip home. It was only after I began putting my gear up in the garage when I dropped a couple of rods on the floor. There they sat, in almost a perfect X pattern when the light finally came on. Not only will I never forget that lesson, I realized then that my knowledge of bassin' barely scratched the surface. I'm 74 and still learning.

I'm heading down to Mississippi for a week or so and I'm looking for places to wet a line (from shore). Preferably retention ponds or smaller lakes with shore accessibility. I'll be stopping in Nesbit on the way down and there's a small lake on the property of the place I'm staying. I'm also guessing that the spawn is over down there and figured, being shore bound, I'd stick with a worm for bottom contact, a frog for topwater and a spinnerbait for in between. Any other suggestions would be helpfull. Thanks