papajoe222

A little late on my part, but welcome. There are a ton of members here that only fish rivers and natural lakes, so visit the site often for some great info you can apply to your fishing. Don’t be shy about chiming in. We don’t see many posts about river smallies. Maybe you can share some knowledge/experience on the subject.

I assume that normal (not high or low) barometric pressures are different for different areas of the counrty. What do you consider normal for your region. Around here it seems to be right at 30.0. Anything above 30.12 and I know it’s going to be a tough gh day on the water

Dude, if the fish were fighting over ice cubes you have your answer. Depending on fish location, I'll often use bottom contact lures like shakey heads, or big worms, or something to target those fish holding off the bottom like a drop shot. For shaded targets, I prefer fast moving baits like a spinnerbait with smaller thin blades, or a crank with a tight wobble. I did well with a blade bait in that situation last season.

Changing your lure after a having fish follow what your throwing is, IMO the last thing to try. The first would be to change your retrieve. Bass normally only follow baits that are steadily retrieved, so adding a pause, or quick increase in speed will often be all that's necessary. The second would be to stay with the same bait in a different color. With the wacky rig, increasing the fall rate would likely have been all that was needed, or changing the worm's color.

Yes, in clear water smaller baits are often more productive than their standard sized counterparts and so it is with using finesse jigs using them in the same places and under similar circumstances. However, IMO they are not a good choice for inactive fish and reason #1 is their slower fall rate. Inactive fish will strike a fast falling jig, or a slow falling one that is placed within its small strike window. In clear water #2 it is difficult to hit that small target area with a long cast.

Winter bass are opportunist feeders, much more so than in warm water. They also rarely chase down a meal. That A-rig presents them with an opportunity for a big, easy meal that they will expend a little energy to get. Come summer, the warmer water and more active fish, other baits become more beneficial as bass will chase. Fishing the rig is like deep cranking, it can take a lot out of you. Will it work in the summer, heck yea. I've actually caught a few doubles with it in early July and at times, fish will move quite a distance to smash it. (smallies are notorious for doing so) If your in great physical condition, like a smallie angler we all know, you could likely fish it for hours with success. Me, I'll fish a double willow spinnerbait.

Welcome to BR. Be sure to visit the introductions forum and tell us a little about yourself. You don't lack the necessary tackle, the variety you have now is a great start. What you lack, is knowledge. Knowledge about bass behavior, which takes some studying. More importantly is your lack of knowledge about the lures you're using and how and when to use them. Funny thing about bass is they often times want a lure presented a certain way and if you only know one way to work that lure, you miss out. For example: A tube can be both rigged different ways and retrieved different ways. The bass may be all over hitting a jig rigged with a light weight jig head inside because of that spiral fall it produces. If you're rigging it Texas style with a bullet weight in front, it's going to fall too fast and straight down with no action on the fall. Same bait, different rigging and presentation. It's the same with most lure types when it comes to presentation. A straight, chuck and wind retrieve will sometimes catch fish, but a stop and go one may be what they want. Experiment with the lure you have tied on before you switch to something else. You may be surprised and what you learn and catch some fish in the process.

Thanks for sharing everyone. I love reading the stories that go with your answers and figured I'd share mine. A friend had just purchased a long canoe to take his wife and son out in. He wanted to take it somewhere local to try it out, so we headed out to my club lake with his son. We approached a deadfall with a big boulder sitting in the water next to it. I told his son to cast between the tree and boulder. He missed the target by a couple of feet. As he began reeling in, I said: 'Not there.... there! as my crank landed directly between the two objects. I think I turned the reel handle once and it was fish on. The way that fish took off for deep water taking line and the canoe with it, I thought it was a big cat. Then she came up and out of the water with an awesome, tail wagging jump. Wide eyed at the sight of it, his son said "Holy #@&!" and I don't think my buddy even acknowledged what he'd heard. She measured out at 23.5in. and 6lb.11oz. when we finally got to shore and weighed her. That was July 12,1986. Fast forward to July 16, 2013 same lake and, again, early afternoon. Not much activity and that's when I'll usually tie on a Spook. First cast to the edge of some lily pads that Spook just disappeared. No surface disturbance, it just was there and then it wasn't. She never did come up, but she didn't want to give an inch either. Measured her at 22in. and scaled here then an there at 7lb. 4oz.

Just wondering what age you were when you caught your PB bass? You can share the size and/or a pic if you’d like. I’m curious as I was 63 when I caught my PB and 36 when I’d caught my previous one. BTW, they were 7lb.4oz. And 6lb.11oz. If I can figure out how to post a pic, I’ll add one later.

Your line guide pawl is occasionally jumping out of the worm gear's groove at its X at that end. One of two things could cause that. One is dirt, or grease building up on that end, the other is a worn pawl. If the pawl is the culprit, you can tighten its cap a little. That will also tell you if the pawl is the reason.

You beat me to it. A heavy power m/f rod is ideal for froggin'. It's also good for C-rigs as the length is a big benefit.

Two things you can do to reduce your hang ups. First is to go with a lighter weight jig. The tube will tumble a little when the current pushes it rather than sit on the bottom only to be pushed under or between rocks. The other is to work it faster when casting directly up current. Basically for the same reason as going lighter. I would still recommend going lighter. If you need more weight for casting reasons, go with a beefier tube. You'll have the advantage of more weight, but a slower fall than going with a heavier jig.

I like a tail weighted Spook the majority of the time as I'm able to keep the bait in the target zone a lot easier. Like a boat getting on plane, it takes a bit of pop to get it moving. When I want a slow, wide walk, I opt for one that sits flat on the surface. They are also easier to steer around obstacles as they glide a lot more when paused.

There are two trains of thought when it comes to jig hook sets. One calls for a little slack in the line before setting and the other doesn't. What they both do call for is a quick, strong set and I''m assuming, if you do a lot of fly fishing, yours is more of a hard sweep of the rod. As for your drag occasionally slipping on the hook set, I'd only be concerned if it allows more than a couple of inches of line out. If it's a concern, you can always drop your thumb on to the spool on the hook set.

You're looking good, weather wise, for next week. In ponds with steep banks, much like strip pits, bass tend to gravitate to the similar areas both when feeding and when in a neutral mood. When feeding, you will most likely find the forage and bass shallow. The exception would be deeper cover and with clear water, vegetation can grow down to 15.ft+ If available, those weeds could hold fish all day. Neutral fish, however will likely be suspended at the same depth, out from the bank, throughout the pond. Shade and wind current are your friends on this type of water as shade will extend farther off the steep banks and wind will move the plankton to the wind blown shore much quicker than in a large body of water. Super clear water is a situation that screams soft plastics and smaller ones will likely get you more bites. Finesse jigs with smaller trailers are a good choice for active fish, just make sure to use long casts, and a weightless stick worm allowed to fall to the level of suspended fish could get some bites.

Exactly. The hook point should come through the worm on an angle the same way you rig a worm on a straight shank worm. If you scrunch up the worm, and bring the hook point through and skin hook it on top, its going to look weird. It'll still catch them, it just looks off.

I used them back then, but doubt that I’ll go back to using them. They work, no doubt, but they’re a pain to remove and if you leave them on a jig the hook ends up rusting. I actually had a tool that looked like a big crochet needle that would slip over the barb so I could remove them with much less effort.

Yea, I think you and BB86 got it right. I really didn't think that could be the case because you were getting blow ups on it. I've had it happen, and I've heard from others, that an identical lure just doesn't produce like others, but in those cases, it just wasn't getting bit. Sounds like it's time to get another, but I'd purchase it from a different retailer.

Did you try a different color? Sometimes the same frog in a different color will make the difference.

You have some good baits. I'd look at adding some color options. Smallies seem to like colorful spooks. Their wounded shad is a favorite of mine. I've also added a splash of yellow to the underside of a bone colored one to bring them up.

Bait monkey says: "Pick up some Mepp's spinners and some RoadRunners."

The OP's question was which condition contributes to your success. Negatively, without a doubt, it's a high barometer/post front conditions. Positively, it's low light and wind. Both of which reduce light penetration and will expand the strike zone of the bass.

Just an observation, but working a spook as fast as you can over bass busting a school of shad, may have been the reason you were missing some of those blow ups. Not saying the switch to the Rapala wasn't a productive one, just that slowing down may have resulted in some hook ups on the spook. The first thing I do when fish are striking a lure and not hooking up with them, is change my retrieve speed. Often, that's the only change necessary to put fish in the boat.

Tournament fishing spawned the practice of overpowering the bass and getting it to the boat as quickly as possible. That's understandable in situations like pitching and punching cover, but for many treble hook presentations, it becomes a gamble. Those of us that grew up using medium power spinning gear and 6lb. or 8lb. test mono learned how to play a fish. It's also the part of catching a fish that's is the most fun. When I hear of anglers bending hooks while fighting fish, I know it wasn't because the fish was so big that the hook bent and the fish was lost.

Ticking the tops of weeds and pausing, or ripping the lure to free it of weeds is an awesome way to trigger strikes from fish in those weeds. The problem is, many anglers can't recognize when that first tick occurs and continue reeling burring the crank into the weeds. One 'trick' to avoiding that is to use a crank that only runs to the depth the weeds top out at. A better option is getting a 'feel' for the crank you're using. You'll be surprised that after a while, you'll be able to feel when it catches on that first weed top. Some weeds, such as pond weed and some grasses, have a crisp texture and are easier to free with a quick rip of the rod tip. One other thing to consider is your crank's lip design. Square bills will catch a lot more than a bill similar to what a Bomber Model A has.