papajoe222

I admit that I'm only faced with that cold of water for a few weeks in the spring after ice-out. During that short window, I rely on two presentations; vertical yo-yoing a blade bait. Notice I didn't say jigging, just a slow lift of a foot or so enough to get it vibrating and letting it fall. I'll let it sit on the bottom for a while before repeating. Dragging a hair jig slowly along the bottom is the other. I use 1/4oz.- 3/8oz. maribou jigs that I tie myself. I underwrap a layer of deer belly hair to keep the maribou from collapsing completely and again, I'll let it sit for a while after moving it a foot or so.

I've used a couple of methods that have worked well. One is a lazer stud finder placed on the reel seat pointed at the tip guide. once that is in perfect allingment, I'd wrap the guides and replace the lazer . the red line of the lazer should pass over the center of each guide. The other is to tape a long piece of hi-viz line to the center of the reel seat. Run the line through the guides and add tension to the end. Looking down the blank from above, you'll easily see any guide that is off center.

I don't build many rods, so it takes a while to get comfortable doing some things. Trim bands are one thing I still struggle with. That is, until I watched a YouTube video that Jake Hutchinson did. It adds about ten seconds (for me) to wrapping a guide and there's no concern about a loose band. I've tried a number of ways for adding trim bands to both the beginning and end of a guide wrap and sometimes it would take wrapping nine guides before I felt confident not to mention the extra time and effort they took. Anyone have an easy, single trim band video. I'm going to attempt a build with micro guides and would like to add them.

I throw them in cold water when a blade bait isn't producing, which isn't very often. I just have a ton of confidence in a blade. That being said, there have been days when it gets totaly ignored and that's when I break out a tail spinner. It has saved the day on more than one occasion. Seems to me that it happens more in water under around 45 degrees. Maybe it's the faster fall rate.

I frequently shop at BassPro/Cabela's, both in store and online. When you figure in the cost of shipping from some online places, their prices are competitive, even if their selection of name brands isn't. I can check to see if my nearest store has what I'm looking for in stock. If not, I order online and have it shipped to the store for pick-up.

A crank with a round or coffin bill will turn on its side when hitting an object. This exposes the hooks to whatever the object is as the crank passes over it. Snags happen if you continue to reel after the bait's bill contacts the potential snag. If you aren't experienced enough to tell when your bait is approaching a possible snag, you need quick reflexes to stop reeling so the crank can right itself and float up before continuing your retrieve. There are few square bills that will dive very deep, so a coffin bill is your next best bill shape, but they, too don't run very deep. A round or egg shaped bill, like most mid to deep diving cranks have is best suited for deeper water and learning how to avoid snags while still initiating contact with them, is something to learn. IMO, carry a good lure retriever while learning and keep it handy because even the best crankers get snagged.

Only a woman would ask a question concerning length or girth.

I remember you posting about that trip upon your return. If you came up empty fish wise, it would have really put you off going there again. Only two in 50+ years. The first was a MH cranking stick. A musky hit my crank on a short line. Broke it in half on the hook-set. The second was a cranking stick I built. I was attempting to retrieve a snagged crank and the wind blew the boat over the snag and the rod went between the boat and the trolling motor shaft. Before I could hit the spool release, it was too late. I literally cried as I put about 30 hours into that custom build.

Only if the water temperature is below 60 degrees. It helps keep the bait up in the water column and adds resistance so I can retrieve it slower. The only one I use is a Kalin's Lunker Grub. In the day, it was an Uncle Josh pork rind.

IMO, there's only two reasons to add a trailer to any spinner or buzz bait; To add bulk and to add resistance to slow down the retrieve. Some would say to add action. Either way, on a small bait, I really don't see the need, but you're the one that's going to be throwing it, so go with whatever knocks your socks off.

Fishing related, I organize my tackle, inventory it, make a list of items to purchase, swap out, or sharpen hooks as needed, clean and lube all reels, clean rods and check guides for defects, replace all Z-Rust strips and then organize my pegboard of extra baits. Sometime in early March, I'll rotate the tires on my trailer, repack the bearings, grease everything that has a grease fitting, including the jack and run the optimization program on the onboard charger. Normally I'll do two rod builds over the winter, one for a family member and another for a vet from my local VFW. As for non-fishing actilvities, I'll load a few hundred rounds of .223 plinking ammo and a hundred or so for bench rest for both it and my .308.

I envy you guys, I wish I had the funds for a trip to Baccarac. Heck, I'd settle for a guided trip on Lake Fork.

Are you going to hook up with your Baccarac fishing partner that's not on this site anymore? Just curious.

While doing a decorative but wrap, I noticed a mistake. I want to remove it all from the blank and start over. One problem; I used U-40 color lock 2 on the threads. How can I clean the blank after peeling off the threadwork? It’s a water based polymer.

Line choice, for me, depends a lot on, not only water clarity, but the equipment used. For casting gear, I almost always use braid. The exception is when fishing rip rap. If the water is super clear, I may go with a mono or fluoro leader. For hair jigs, fluoro gets the nod and for spinning gear, it's braid to a long fluoro leader as straight fluoro has a tendency to jump off the spool in the higher pound tests.

Sometimes, it's the guy in the back seat that outfishes the guy up front. As a non-boater I would drive my partner for the day crazy some times, throwing the same lure as him and out catching him two or three to one. Many times it was his fault as he would cast to the sunny side of some form of cover and I'd follow casting to the shady side. Sometimes his cast would result in a splash down where mine was a soft entry. And sometimes and I really believe this happens more often that many anglers think; His cast would land behind the fish and by the time it turned to investigate, he was already into his retrieve. I'd follow and the fish would then actually be looking in that direction. Fish on.

I replaced the pump about 15 years ago when I didn’t open the oil reservoir vent. The resulting below zero temps pushed the oil through the pump and into the carbs. It was a pain in the keester to replace then and I was 15 years younger.

I have a 50hp Mercury with oil injection and the injector is malfunctioning. Can I just run a gas/oil mixture rather than replacing the injector pump?

burn it, stroke it, slow roll it, yo yo it, pop it off the bottom, wake it. About the only thing I won't do with one is dead stick it, oh and let it sit on the deck all day. If I have one tied on when I leave the launch, it's gonna get used.

C-Rigs It was my go to presentation for decades. Great for covering structure quickly and finding potential hot spots along the way. With the addition of a quality depthfinder on the bow, and the good success I've had with football jigs, I only used it a few times in the early spring and never tied on on the rest of the season. Kind of like deep cranking for me, I found an alternative presentation that accomplishes the same thing with less work. I'll likely use it in the future on a new lake, or again in early spring, but other than that, it'll sit in the box at home, not in the boat.

Overall, the 2024 fishing season sucked for me. Between shoulder and heart issues, my on water time was basically cut in have from previous years. My average outing was under four hours. Add to that, many days were fished during what I consider off hours, noon 'till four. Lastly the new club lake director decided to use chemicals to kill off the weeds. They killed everything. The loss of that valuable cover really affected the ecosystem. The water would be clear one day and muddy the next. The O2 levels fluctuated so much, air pumps were needed to prevent fish kills. The number of small bluegill, the main forage, all but disappeared as they had no place to hide. I didn't catch any thing over 4lb. after they killed off the vegetation until the third week in October. After a 32 year membership there, I won't be renewing next year.

You do realize that equation results in a negative answer. To be a little more specific, a whole lot less.

I’m not saying I have in the past 🙄 but next time you’re roaming around in the woods, pick a few for me. You don’t need to send them to me, I’ll just fly out on my magic carpet to get ‘em.

I can't believe it's the second week of November, and I'm still catching active fish. The boat is winterized, so I'm limited to fishing from shore, mostly ponds. Seeing as ponds cool down much quicker than lakes, I was surprised to catch fish on a crank today. I started off with a nose hooked Senko, but the first two fish I caught had choked it. Seeing as they were active, I switched to a flat sided crank and a moderate to fast retrieve was getting hammered. All fish were caught with the whole bait in their mouth. I even caught my biggest bass ever from this pond and I've been fishing it for about five years. I only fished for two hours and got seven fish, five on the crank, IN NOVEMBER!

I go heavy, 3/8oz. as I rarely fish a shakey head in water under 15ft. When I move it, it's with an upward sweep and reel that will move it 3-5ft., let it sit and let it sit some more. On occasion, like when I'm looking for a change in bottom composition, I'll drag it, but more often than not, I'm using a football jig for that.